The fire, which broke out on Sunday night, killed at least 32 people and left more than 70 injured, 24 of whom are still in critical condition, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

The cause of the fire at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar is still under investigation.

An investigation into the cause of the fire and whether the bar was following safety regulations is ongoing. Most of the people who were killed were found trapped in windowless bathrooms, where they may have sought to escape the flames, police said.

Natthaphong Lakhorn, 26, was at the beer hall on the night of the fire with four companions. He was sitting near the stage when the fire broke out.

He recounted seeing white smoke coming from the stage, which he at first thought was an effect from dry ice before realizing it was the start of a fire.

“When the fire broke, I just ran, and then all power went out,” said Natthaphong, who said that one of his companions, a relative, died in the fire. “It was so hectic.”

On Wednesday, Natthaphong went to the Phahonyothin Police Station in Bangkok to give a statement. Photos of personal belongings, like smartphones, left behind the bar on the night of fire adorned the walls.

Bandages covered both of Natthaphong’s ears and part of his forehead. Before registering with the police, he said that he plans to seek compensation for these injuries.

Kanticha Singkhon, 25, was at the police station to pick up a handbag and other personal belongings of her mother, who died in the fire.

With her mother gone, Kanticha said she is now responsible for her younger brother.

“I want them (the owners of the bar) to be the one reaching out to the families. Rather than having us come to the police station ourselves because they (family members of victims) would be going back to their hometowns by now,” she said. “They won’t have time, because each victim came from far away.”

A lawyer representing the bar owners told local media that survivors and family members will initially receive 10,000 baht (approximately $300) in compensation.

“It’s not enough money for a funeral — I had to take a loan to arrange my mom’s funeral,” Kanticha said. “I have not had any financial arrangements, and no one has contacted me.”

Some places could see a staggering 10 to 20 inches of rain, raising particular concerns among National Weather Service forecasters for people vacationing there and who might not be familiar with the flash flood threat. The areas at greatest expected risk included all or parts of Medina, Frio, Uvalde, Kinney, Maverick, Zavala, Val Verde, Edwards, Real and Bandera counties.

The Pecos, Rio Grande, Nueces, Frio, Medina and San Antonio rivers could all flood, forecasters said.

And areas outside of the worst forecast still faced a possible 2 to 6 inches of rain, including Kerr County. The city of Kerrville Police Department on Monday night and Tuesday said it already barricaded some roadways because of high water.

The warnings arrived barely more than one year after flash flooding killed 119 people in Kerr County on the July 4 holiday, when many children were attending summer camp and families packed RV parks and vacation homes. Residents continue to feel intense anxiety when it rains and were watching the forecasts.

Weather experts after last summer’s flood cautioned that it is impossible to predict precisely and with certainty where the heaviest rain might fall. That’s why people need to have a way to receive weather warnings and be aware of how they might need to act.

State legislators have since required certain areas prone to flash-flooding to install warning sirens, a process that is ongoing. The state also mandated new safety standards at youth camps, but it took no action on other recommendations such as standardizing training for local emergency management coordinators.

Gov. Greg Abbott midday Tuesday issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties in recognition of the threat to make resources available.

“Texas is positioned to respond quickly and effectively,” Abbott said in a statement. “I urge all Texans in affected areas to monitor local weather forecasts, avoid driving through flooded roadways, and have emergency supplies ready.”

Storms had already dropped more than 10 inches of rain north of Uvalde as of Tuesday, with more heavy rain also falling in parts of Medina, Bandera and Kerr Counties, according to the National Weather Service Austin and San Antonio Office. The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday was urging people to stay home and reporting on roadways that had flooded. Bandera and Medina County also reported multiple road closures, including on U.S. 90.

Forecasters expected a lull in storm activity before it ramped up again overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning.

“All areas are kind of saturated now across the Rio Grande, Edwards Plateau and in portions of the western Hill Country and U.S. 90 corridor,” forecaster Jason Runyen said at an afternoon webinar. “Any additional heavy rainfall that occurs is going to run off very, very quickly.”

Here’s what you need to know

• Counties under flood warning brace for looming overnight deluge
• New flash flood warnings issued in Hill Country counties

July 14, 2026, 11:50 p.m.

Counties under flood warning brace for looming overnight deluge

Amid warnings Tuesday night about imminent flooding, South Texas and Hill Country towns braced for river overflows and submerged roadways into Wednesday morning as forecasters estimated rainfall to continue to batter the region.

The National Weather Service late Tuesday noted storms had stalled over Bandera County as well as Uvalde County, where the agency also warned of “swollen” creeks and rivers causing floods. Flash flooding had already been observed in Uvalde and Medina counties, according to their emergency management offices.

Flash flood warnings for Bandera, Medina, Real and Uvalde counties that were scheduled to expire at midnight were extended until 8 a.m. Wednesday. NWS discouraged travel in the affected areas and warned that it expected rainfall at 2 to 4 inches an hour.

Medina County’s Office of Emergency Management warned in a social media post that Seco Creek, which runs through several counties under warnings, was at risk of flooding. The office urged residents to be alert through the night in the event an evacuation was called, and announced five road closures.

The NWS also reduced a warning for Bexar, Comal and Kendall counties to a flood advisory, noting that 2 to 6 inches of rain through the night were still expected.

— Ayden Runnels

July 14, 2026, 7:45 p.m.

New flash flood warnings issued in Hill Country counties

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for several counties on Tuesday evening as rainfall was expected to worsen through the night.

The warnings issued for parts of Bexar, Comal, Kendall and Real counties include San Antonio International Airport and the Guadalupe River State Park, where NWS warned that “life-threatening” flash flooding was expected or potentially already underway. Warnings for three counties were issued at 6:20 p.m. and are in effect until 11:15 p.m. but may be extended. An additional warning for parts of Bandera and Real counties was issued at 8:15 p.m. with a midnight expiration set.

A portion of Bexar County north of San Antonio was also placed under a brief tornado warning by the NWS that expired at 7:15 p.m.

The new warning adds to two already issued flash flood warnings covering most of Uvalde and Medina counties, scheduled until midnight Wednesday. The City of Uvalde opened a temporary community shelter Tuesday afternoon for those who could potentially be affected by the flooding.

In Edwards County north of Uvalde, the sheriff’s office posted photos of roadways already flooded midday Tuesday, and CNN drone footage of Sabinal showed roads completely covered by the rainfall. Several counties in the affected regions under an NWS flood watch announced road closures in preparation for any flooding occurring through the evening. Texas Game Wardens reported several swiftwater rescues earlier in the day in several South Texas counties including Uvalde.

— Ayden Runnels

Disclosure: CNN has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Ayden Runnels contributed to this story.

“I thought before the game about starting with a changeup and I thought it would be funny," he said.

He didn't. And the hitters were not laughing.

Cease struck out the side in the first inning, combining with 10 relievers on a three-hitter that led the American League over the National League 4-0 in Tuesday night's All-Star Game.

Cease fanned Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and CJ Abrams around a walk in the first inning, when he got six misses among 15 swings. He became just the seventh pitcher to strike out three in an All-Star opening inning after Carl Hubbell (1934), Warren Spahn (1949), Jim Palmer (1977), Dave Stieb (1983), Pedro Martinez (1999) and Brad Penny (2006) — four of them Hall of Famers.

After speaking with Justin Verlander, the senior AL All-Star, Cease gave up the idea of starting with a changeup and instead threw Schwarber a 96.9 mph four-seamer.

“Verlander talked me out of it," Cease said. “So we started with the heater and then I was glad we did.”

Pitchers struck out 27, a record for a nine-inning All-Star Game, 15 of them by AL hurlers.

“That’s the game now. Guys’ stuff is unbelievable,” said AL manager John Schneider, also Cease's skipper in Toronto. “I think the bullpen guys kind fed off of it. They were all excited coming off the mound. It speaks volumes to how good the pitching is, for sure.”

All-Star MVP Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single and Ben Rice followed with an RBI single in the first against Cristopher Sánchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies.

Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox added an eighth-inning home run off the Los Angeles Dodgers' Justin Wrobleski, who was pitching on his 26th birthday, for the game's only extra-base hit. The AL won for the 18th time in 23 games and holds a 49-45-2 advantage overall.

“The pitching was just dominant today,” Bellinger said.

Singles by Soto in the fourth, Pete Crow-Armstrong in the eighth and Otto Lopez in the ninth were the only hits by the NL, which failed to advance a runner past first.

Parker Messick, Michael Wacha, Joe Ryan, Nick Martinez, Cade Smith, Drew Rasmussen, Jacob Latz, Louis Varland, Aroldis Chapman and Bryan Baker finished the 10th All-Star shutout and first since the AL’s 2-0 win in 2013 at New York’s Citi Field.

Some starting star power was missing, with Jacob Misoriowski, Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani all unavailable. Just six pitches reached 100 mph, the fewest in an All-Star Game since 2021.

Bellinger and Rice both singled on up sinkers from Sánchez, who struggled through a 34-pitch inning that included three hits and two walks.

“It just took me a little time to soak it all in and enjoy it,” Sánchez said through a translator.

Documenting the day

Managers and starters entered through replica Liberty Bells in front of each dugout, walked to home plate and used a feathered quill to sign an oversized lineup card, as if they were Founding Fathers affixing names to the Declaration of Independence. MLB donated the card to the Hall of Fame.

Dirt around the plate was surrounded by 13 stars, one for each of the Colonies.

After the fourth inning, a video was played of kids bicycling to a sandlot game with a narration by Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons. As footage was played of Ray Charles singing “America the Beautiful” at Game 2 of the 2001 World Series, the kids biked onto the field and started interacting with the All-Stars as fireworks went off above the ballpark.

“We were all one of those kids," NL manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers said. "Some of these kids might never get a chance to be on a major league field. So for them to have that opportunity to be — have a conversation with an All-Star is something that they might never get that chance again, right?

Bellinger thought back to his youth.

“We’re all little kids at heart playing this game even though it’s a challenging game," he said. “We’re all still those little kids with big dreams.”

Early exit

Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero was hit on the outside of his left hand by a 97.6 mph sinker from St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien in the third inning and immediately left the game. The 23-year-old, fourth in the major leagues with 28 home runs, stayed down for a few moments before he popped up and ran straight into the clubhouse. X-rays were negative.

Been a while

Mike Trout, a 12-time All-Star who hadn’t played in the game since 2019 because of injuries, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

___

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

Days of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East by Iran — and both nations’ attempts to assert control of the waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas trade passes during peacetime — threaten to push the region back to all-out war.

The U.S. first imposed the blockade in mid-April and then lifted it in mid-June, a day after signing the interim deal that set a 60-day period for negotiations over issues like Iran’s nuclear program, but talks have stalled as fighting over the strait has intensified.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” it said.

When U.S. President Donald Trump announced the return of the blockade Monday, he also said he would impose a 20% fee on ships passing through the strait. But he dropped the plan to collect fees hours before resuming the blockade, citing requests from allies in the Persian Gulf.

Both US and Iran launched attacks as blockade reimposed

The U.S. carried out another wave of strikes as it reimposed the blockade, striking dozens of targets over seven hours, the U.S. military’s Central Command said Wednesday.

Missile alert warnings went out in Bahrain and Kuwait early Wednesday morning as they faced incoming Iranian fire, something that’s been a daily occurrence, further straining a ceasefire in the war. Jordan also said it shot down three incoming Iranian missiles. Iran claimed attacks on the three nations.

U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, said in a statement that Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf Arab countries.

“U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” Cooper said.

There are at least 19 U.S. warships in the Arabian Sea, including two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship with more than 1,000 Marines aboard. Central Command also said in a social media post that there are “hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East.”

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively shut the passage by attacking and threatening ships. That sent the price of oil, fertilizer and other goods soaring.

Iran has more recently attacked ships moving through the strait on a route near Oman overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran’s control, setting off the recent violence. The U.S. has threatened to reopen the strait by force — but experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of ground troops.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, criticized America’s ongoing attacks targeting his country.

“The U.S. is the aggressor, not the victim,” he wrote to the world body’s leader, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Trump says he’s replacing the fees with Gulf investments

Trump said Tuesday that he was called by the region’s “kings and emirs,” who suggested an alternate arrangement to charging ships fees to pass through the strait like the president proposed a day earlier.

“They said we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars,” Trump told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office.

Trump said he preferred that arrangement to charging tolls “because I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait.”

It was unclear if the investment deals would be new commitments relative to what Trump announced after a visit last year to the Middle East.

Trump’s plan to charge fees would have been a change to longstanding American policy and a departure from U.S. promises that the strait would remain open to all without tolls.

Trump told Fox News Channel on Tuesday night that more U.S. strikes against Iran were coming over the next two days and that bridges and power plants could be targets by next week unless negotiations resume. Already, the U.S. has struck at least one bridge.

“You better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left,” Trump warned.

Strikes and counterstrikes resume across the Mideast

U.S. Central Command said it struck several areas in Iran earlier Tuesday; Tehran acknowledged the strikes but provided no overall casualty or damage assessments.

Hours after the U.S. said it ended its strikes, the Iranian city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf was hit in at least four locations, the IRNA news agency reported. Explosions in the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the southern port city of Bandar Abbas also were reported by Iranian state media Tuesday night.

The attacks again raised the possibility that Gulf Arab states were retaliating against Iran without discussing it in public.

Kuwait separately said an Iranian attack wounded four members of its navy Tuesday and set a building on fire.

The interim peace deal is in peril

Under the interim deal, Iran agreed that passage through the strait would remain free of charge for 60 days — but the agreement left open what would happen after. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees. The U.S. has disputed that.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, briefly topped $87 early Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war. The price dipped to $78 in the aftermath of Trump’s announcement that he had changed course.

Regional mediators meanwhile are still trying to get the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table.

The House passed a bill Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent. Proponents, including the White House, argued the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. The vote was 308-117.

Daylight saving time is that period between spring and fall when clocks in most parts of the United States are set one hour ahead of standard time. States could opt out if their respective legislatures act to do so before the bill's enactment. The Senate would also have to pass the bill before it could be signed into law, but it’s unclear if it will do so.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said Americans are ready to “ditch the switch," saying that changing the clock twice a year creates unnecessary disruption. More important, he said, it would give families more daylight time in the evening to spend outdoors and support local businesses.

“In my home state of Florida where tourism is a cornerstone of our economy, having more predictable daylight hours is a practical improvement that benefits workers, businesses and visitors alike,” Bilirakis said.

Detractors said permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings where children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.

“Millions of Americans will wake up during the winter months in complete darkness with the sun not rising until long after people get up and travel to school or work or have to go about their days,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass, said he supported the bill, but he questioned whether it was the best way for Congress to be spending its time.

“For folks getting crushed by rent, groceries, utility bills and healthcare costs, is this really the best the majority can do?” McGovern said. “Is this really the most pressing issue before the American people at this moment?”

A 2025 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that if forced to choose, most Americans would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening.

If they had to choose one option for the entire country to use, more than half of adults — 56% — prefer making daylight saving time permanent, with less light in the morning and more light in the evening. About 4 in 10 prefer standard time, with more light in the morning and less in the evening.

The White House weighed in before the House vote, calling the “Sunshine Protection Act” a popular, common-sense reform and saying advisers would recommend the president sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Members of Congress have long been interested in the potential benefits and costs of daylight saving time since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. The Senate passed a bill four years ago to make daylight saving time permanent, but it stalled in the House.

A 28-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder and terror crimes remains in custody on an extended detention warrant under the Terrorism Act that allows police to question him for up to another week.

“It is clear that this was a targeted attack,” Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing told reporters. “We are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation, and the motivation that sits behind that attack.”

The death of Widdecombe, 78, a former member of Parliament, shocked the British political establishment, where she was long known for blunt-spoken socially conservative views opposing abortion and the expansion of LGBTQ+ rights.

Counterterror police took over the investigation Monday after new evidence was discovered. Devon and Cornwall Police have been criticized for originally saying the killing was not believed to be a terror-related crime and there was nothing to suggest it was politically motivated.

Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez defended her agency Tuesday, saying new information often changes the nature of a fast-paced investigation.

Police believe Widdecombe was attacked on Wednesday just past noon. She failed to show up for a scheduled TV interview about an hour later and was found dead the next day in her isolated rural home in a village in southwest England.

Police did not disclose a cause of death, saying only that she had sustained “serious injuries.” Taylor called it a “brutal attack on a 78-year-old lady in her own home.”

The suspect was arrested Saturday in South Yorkshire county in northern England, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the village of Haytor on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, where Widdecombe died.

Police have conducted extensive searches at his home and Taylor said they found evidence of planning, but he declined to provide details.

The man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of murder, but additional evidence found while he was in custody led police to rearrest him on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

The suspect has not been named because he has not been charged.

Widdecombe was in the House of Commons from 1987 to 2010, serving in roles including prisons minister in Prime Minister John Major’s 1990s Conservative government.

She found fame after leaving Parliament as a contestant on the reality television shows “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Celebrity Big Brother.”

She later joined the Brexit Party, briefly serving as a member of the European Parliament before Britain left the European Union in 2020. Most recently, she joined the anti-immigration Reform UK party, often appearing in the media as a spokesperson.

The killing renewed concerns for politicians about security, which was tightened in the past decade after the murders of two serving members of Parliament. Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, and Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group.

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS

• FLOOD RISK CONTINUES: Rain resumes tonight, Wednesday, and Thursday. Flooding likely in spots
• • SAN ANTONIO: Localized bullseyes 6″+
  • WEST OF SA & HILL CO: Localized bullseyes 10″+
• BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON: Rain ends for San Antonio, flood risk continues west
• WEEKEND: Quiet and warm

FORECAST

TUESDAY’S RAINFALL TOTALS ALONG HWY 90

TONIGHT & WEDNESDAY

More rounds of heavy rain are expected tonight into Wednesday. The most likely areas to see flooding will be those along Highway 90, mainly west of San Antonio and north into the Hill Country. A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect through Thursday.

THURSDAY AND BEYOND

The heaviest rainfall will slowly shift west toward the Rio Grande on Thursday. By Friday and into the weekend, rain chances will decrease, while temperatures warm.

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• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
• Hourly and 10-Day Forecast
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At approximately 8:34 a.m., a man reported his white truck stolen, a BCSO spokesperson said Monday. The man had a GPS monitor in his vehicle, which led authorities to its whereabouts in the 17100 block of Benton City Road.

Deputies were dispatched to the Benton City Road location in south Bexar County where they found 21-year-old Reymundo Fabian Carbajal inside the stolen white truck, the sheriff’s office said. He was later arrested and faces two charges, including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and theft of property $30,000 < $150,000.

BCSO said six others were detained at the property. Some of the detainees had active warrants, including Xavier Andres Servin, 29, and Raul Alaquinez, 45.

Servin faces four charges stemming from his arrest in Von Ormy.

• Possession of a Controlled Substance PG1 1g < 4g (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
• Theft of Property $2,500 < $30,000 (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
• Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon by a Felon (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
• Failure to Identify as a Fugitive (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)

Servin previously had eight active warrants out of four separate counties.

• Engaging in organized criminal activity (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
• Smuggling aliens (Edwards County Sheriff’s Office)
• Burglary (Kendall County Sheriff’s Office)
• Criminal mischief worth between $2,500 and $30,000 (Kendall County Sheriff’s Office)
• Theft of a firearm (Kendall County Sheriff’s Office)
• Burglary (Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office)
• Criminal mischief worth between $2,500 and $30,000 (Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office)
• Theft of property worth between $2,500 and $30,000 (Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Alaquinez had an active warrant for theft between $2,500 and $30,000 in Frio County.

During BCSO’s search on the property, deputies found a second stolen vehicle.

The sheriff’s office said deputies are continuing to investigate the area, which may result in more arrests.

Read also:

• Records: Case against ex-SAPD officer James Brennand dismissed following new Erik Cantu accusation
• Person dies in ‘severe flash flood’ on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland

No one has died in the outbreak on Manhattan's Upper East Side, but 49 patients have required hospitalization, though 34 so far have gone home, city Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said. City data show two new cases were diagnosed from samples taken Sunday and Monday, compared to as many as 11 per day from earlier samples.

“All of these things together paint an encouraging sign,” Martin said at a virtual news briefing.

It came a day after City Council Speaker Julie Menin, a Democrat and Upper East Side resident, complained that the Health Department wasn't doing and disclosing enough. A message seeking comment was sent Tuesday to Menin's office.

Legionnaires' disease is a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and can spread in building cooling systems, hot tubs and showerheads. In many cases, people contract the disease by inhaling tiny droplets of contaminated water; Legionnaire's doesn't spread person-to-person.

The illness is treatable, but it is fatal in about 10% of cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven people died and more than 100 were sickened during an outbreak last year in New York's Harlem neighborhood. The sources turned out to include cooling towers — devices sometimes used for cooling large buildings — at a city-run hospital and the site of the city's public health lab.

Health officials are working to identify the origin of the Upper East Side outbreak, which was first identified on July 2 from two cases in close proximity. The investigation expanded to encompass three heavily residential ZIP codes.

The city said Tuesday it has inspected all 183 cooling towers in the area, and about 75 of them came up positive on first-round tests that don't distinguish between live and dead bacteria.

Those buildings include the Metropolitan, according to a list the city released Tuesday. The storied museum said it was working on the required cleanup and follow-up testing. It's normally closed Wednesday and canceled the day's few activities to ease the cleaning.

City officials said last week that they got positive tests at the Guggenheim Museum, private schools, Park and Fifth Avenue apartment houses, and more.

Most already finished the required cleanups, which entail draining and disinfecting the cooling towers, Martin said. The remaining buildings are to be done by Thursday.

Martin noted that the city used to await results from second-round tests for live bacteria before ordering such cleanups but this year decided not to hold off. The tests take about two weeks.

“The protection of Texans is my top priority,” Abbott said in a news release. “As severe storms and the threat of dangerous flash flooding continue across the state, this disaster declaration ensures we can rapidly deploy state resources to support local communities. Texas is positioned to respond quickly and effectively.”

The disaster declaration covers 59 counties, stretching from the Gulf Coast to Central Texas region.

>> Click here for the latest forecast

According to KSAT’s Weather Authority team, parts of Bexar County saw up to 3.5 inches of rain on Tuesday.

Abbott activated 24-hour operations at the state emergency operations center and is urging Texans to stay off flooded roads, monitor local weather forecasts and have emergency supplies ready.

More counties may be added to the declaration “as conditions warrant,” according to the release.

Read also:

• LIVE COVERAGE: KSAT tracks storms in San Antonio, Hill Country, surrounding areas
• KSAT Connect: Viewers share photos of lightning, flooding in San Antonio area

Competing with chants from protesters gathered outside, Houston resident Olivia Smith told city leaders to demand the names of ICE agents involved in the shooting, one of two fatal shootings involving ICE in the past week.

“They acted illegally and murdered an innocent man simply for being brown. Where is the law and order in that?” she said. “It has never been about law and order. It has always been about preserving the deeply ingrained culture of white supremacy, working hand in hand with pursuit of profits.”

More than 100 signed up to address the City Council during Tuesday’s meeting, the first since the 52-year-old father was shot and killed after being stopped by ICE agents using unmarked vehicles. Some speakers shouted demands and slammed the podium while others in the standing room-only audience cried. During tense moments, the crowd yelled, “Shame! Shame!”

Dustin Rhodes, a 17-year-old Fort Bend ISD student who said he’s disappointed in his local leaders.

“We are told that ICE is here because our streets are flooded with dangerous criminals,” he said. “Yet a beloved father is dead. We have eyes, we have ears, and we are paying attention. … There is no point in pretending that ICE is here to protect us, and any attempt to continue that lie will only show that our safety is not your concern.”

Keatan King, an associate pastor at Saint Philip Presbyterian Church in West Houston, pleaded for action.

“I implore you to do everything in your power to ensure the independent investigation of the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and to establish higher standards of accountability for ICE agents: body cameras on, masks off, identification presented, guns holstered,” she said.

City Council Member Alejandra Salinas spoke after King, saying she attends her church: “We are going to be out there protesting with you, and we are going to do everything to make sure HPD does everything in its power to make sure no stone is unturned, and we get justice for Lorenzo.”

Whitmire committed to conducting a local investigation into the shooting on Friday, days after he said the city had no jurisdiction to investigate the involvement of federal agents.

Whitmire also on Tuesday directed Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz to send a letter to Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin and ask for the Texas Rangers to conduct their own investigation. This came a day after Martin said that DPS has “received no request from any local law enforcement agency” for assistance in the shooting investigation, according to a letter he sent in response to a July 8 demand from several Democratic lawmakers for the state agency to open its own probe. 

DPS didn’t immediately respond to The Texas Tribune’s question about the Houston leaders’ request. 

Diaz also met with the FBI on Tuesday regarding the case, according to his letter and a social media post by the federal agency. Other attendees, the FBI’s post said, included federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas, the Texas Rangers and Harris County District Attorney’s Office, which is also running its own investigation into the shooting.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Whitmire addressed media reports that ICE will suspend most vehicle stops in the wake of deadly shootings of immigrants in Houston and Maine, calling the directive too late.

“It’s a shame that it has to come after a loss of life,” Whitmire said. “But the community is making a difference, and we will continue.”

City Council Member Edward Pollard said he wants more clarity on the city’s next steps.

“An independent investigation, that’s very vague — I think it needs to be extremely direct,” he said. “I think it needs to be coming from the city. We have one of the largest police departments in the nation with resources and abundance, and I know that they’re fully capable and qualified to do a task to bring forth clarity, answers, insight.”

Tuesday’s emotional meeting came a few months after the City Council debated how extensively police should cooperate with federal immigration agents, including ICE.

The council in April approved an ordinance limiting police interaction with ICE agents, prompting an investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the city of breaking a state law banning “sanctuary city” policies. Gov. Greg Abbott also stepped in by threatening to withdraw $110 million in public safety grants and blocking Houston from future funding if the ordinance remained in force.

About a week later, the ordinance that passed on a 12-5 vote was heavily amended with the support of 13 council members. Much of the ordinance’s initial language was stripped, including a section that said administrative warrants issued by ICE — versus warrants signed by a judge — were not enough for police officers to arrest or detain an individual.

Another hurdle facing the Houston City Council is House Bill 2127, dubbed the “Death Star” bill by opponents that prevents cities and counties from creating local ordinances that overstep state laws as a way to dilute progressive policies.

Cities including Houston sued the state to block the 2013 law. A Travis County judge ruled in August 2023 that the law was unconstitutional, but the 3rd Court of Appeals overturned that decision.

City Council Member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz told the audience they have another tool to hold leaders accountable: voting.

“Everybody here is appalled, but it’s not much we can do if we don’t have you doing more than coming and talking and protesting,” she said. “We need you at the polls.”

Jeana Magallon, a Houston Independent School District teacher, told the City Council about breaking up a fight between two students and telling them about the “importance of talking out our issues” and “getting a trusted adult involved in their problems.”

The response stunned her: “My fifth-grade student looked me in the eyes and said, ‘That’s not real life, miss. ICE wouldn’t do that to me. Police don’t do that. They fight, they hurt us.’”

“What could I say to him?” Magallon said through tears. “We are teaching our children to expect violence towards them. So please, for my students, for our children, justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — this is on all of you.”

Kendrick Sampson, a Houston resident and actor, asked the City Council, “Why aren’t y’all protecting us? Where do y’all draw the line?”

“It should only take one, it should be not one more, not one more murder,” he said. “If you’re not going to protect us, we should not protect y’all. We shouldn’t protect y’all seats.”

Maria Cervantes, a 57-year-old Houston resident, said: “ICE hunts us worse than animals because when we call animal control, do they just shoot the animal? No, they pick them up right alive.”

“I don’t even consider ICE law enforcement,” she continued. “They’re just like hunting dogs that are killing us left and right.”

Drivers spent much of the day navigating standing water, flowing creeks and flooded roadways, forcing many to adjust their travel plans.

Some even said they had to turn around after encountering impassable roads.

The rain also filled yards, pastures and ranch land. While many property owners welcomed the moisture, they said the amount of rainfall in such a short period was surprising and has prompted them to closely monitor low-lying areas prone to flooding.

>> Click here for the latest forecast

“My husband was waving his arms out the window, trying to get the cars to stop,” one resident said. “All it takes is one swoop and you’re going down.”

Local officials say they are prepared to respond if conditions worsen. Mayor Erik Gomez emphasized that communication remains essential during periods of heavy rainfall, urging residents to stay informed and avoid flooded roads, especially when familiar routes may no longer be safe.

More storm coverage on KSAT:

• WATCH: Good Samaritan rescues man swept into flooded creek in Sabinal
• Gov. Abbott issues disaster declaration for Bexar County as severe storms move through Texas
• KSAT Connect: Viewers share photos of lightning, flooding in San Antonio area

Days of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East by Iran — and both nations' attempts to vie for control of the waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passes during peacetime — threaten to push the region back to all-out war.

The U.S. first imposed the blockade in mid-April and then lifted it in mid-June, a day after signing the interim deal that set a 60-day period for negotiations over issues like Iran’s nuclear program, but talks have stalled as fighting over the strait has intensified.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” it said.

When U.S. President Donald Trump announced the return of the blockade Monday, he also said he would impose a 20% fee on ships passing through the strait. But he dropped the plan to collect fees hours before resuming the blockade, citing requests from allies in the Persian Gulf.

Both US and Iran launched attacks as blockade reimposed

The U.S. carried out another wave of strikes as it reimposed the blockade, striking dozens of targets over seven hours, the U.S. military's Central Command said Wednesday.

Missile alert warnings went out in Bahrain and Kuwait early Wednesday morning as they faced incoming Iranian fire, something that's been a daily occurrence, further straining a ceasefire in the war.

U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, said in a statement that Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf Arab countries.

“U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” Cooper said.

There are at least 19 U.S. warships in the Arabian Sea, including two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship with more than 1,000 Marines aboard. Central Command also said in a social media post that there are “hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East."

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively shut the passage by attacking and threatening ships. That sent the price of oil, fertilizer and other goods soaring.

Iran has more recently attacked ships moving through the strait on a route near Oman overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran’s control, setting off the recent violence. The U.S. has threatened to reopen the strait by force — but experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of ground troops.

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, criticized America's ongoing attacks targeting his country.

“The U.S. is the aggressor, not the victim,” he wrote to the world body's leader, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Trump says he’s replacing the fees with Gulf investments

Trump said Tuesday that he was called by the region's “kings and emirs,” who suggested an alternate arrangement to charging ships fees to pass through the strait like the president proposed a day earlier.

“They said we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars,” Trump told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office.

Trump said he preferred that arrangement to charging tolls “because I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait.”

It was unclear if the investment deals would be new commitments relative to what Trump announced after a visit last year to the Middle East.

Trump’s plan to charge fees would have been a change to longstanding American policy and a departure from U.S. promises that the strait would remain open to all without tolls.

Trump told Fox News Channel on Tuesday night that more U.S. strikes against Iran were coming over the next two days and that bridges and power plants could be targets by next week unless negotiations resume. Already, the U.S. has struck at least one bridge.

“You better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left,” Trump warned.

Strikes and counterstrikes resume across the Mideast

U.S. Central Command said it struck several areas in Iran earlier Tuesday; Tehran acknowledged the strikes but provided no overall casualty or damage assessments.

Hours after the U.S. said it ended its strikes, the Iranian city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf was hit in at least four locations, the IRNA news agency reported. Explosions in the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the southern port city of Bandar Abbas also were reported by Iranian state media Tuesday night.

The attacks again raised the possibility that Gulf Arab states were retaliating against Iran without discussing it in public.

Kuwait separately said an Iranian attack wounded four members of its navy Tuesday and set a building on fire.

The interim peace deal is in peril

Under the interim deal, Iran agreed that passage through the strait would remain free of charge for 60 days — but the agreement left open what would happen after. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees. The U.S. has disputed that.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, briefly topped $87 early Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war. The price dipped to $78 in the aftermath of Trump’s announcement that he had changed course.

Regional mediators meanwhile are still trying to get the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate diplomatic process, said Pakistan-led mediation was working around the clock to reactivate the ceasefire.

___

Toropin and Binkley reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo; Will Weissert and Ben Finley in Washington; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

The vigil came one day after the Texas Department of Public Safety discontinued the AMBER Alert issued for Cisneros. Despite the alert being canceled, authorities said the investigation remains active and the San Antonio Police Department is leading the case.

Family friends, neighbors and people who had never met the Cisneros family stood side by side, holding candles, praying and offering words of encouragement for those closest to the child.

Among them was Rosenda Menchaca, a longtime family friend of Ozana’s grandmother, Petra Rodriguez.

“It really has affected me,” Menchaca said. “There’s all these unanswered questions. I’m just really hoping that the baby is safe wherever she’s at. She’s just a little baby.”

Menchaca said she has known the family for years and met Cisneros when she was only three days old.

“My heart just sunk into her,” she added. “I fell in love with her when I held her.”

As the vigil took place, Menchaca said her thoughts remained with the infant and her mother, 19-year-old Maximina Cisneros.

“I just hope that wherever she’s at, she’s not out in this rain and this heat,” Menchaca said.

She said attending the vigil was her way of showing support to the fullest degree.

“I’m a family friend for many years, and I just really wanted to be here,” Menchaca said. “The community wants to pray for a good outcome.”

Throughout the evening, many attendees echoed similar sentiments, hoping for answers while also encouraging anyone with information to come forward.

“If you see something, just say something and call 911,” Menchaca said. “There needs to be justice, whatever the outcome might be.”

The community gathering comes after several developments in the investigation over the past week.

An AMBER Alert was issued on July 10 after San Antonio police said the infant had last been seen at the 600 block of Roosevelt Avenue.

Authorities identified Maximina Cisneros as a person connected to the investigation. On Friday, she was found at a home on Parkview Drive, just streets away from a location where officers found skeletal remains in a park bush.

Maximina Cisneros was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries.

Investigators did not confirm whether the remains found at Concepción Park were connected to the case.

In a statement to KSAT on Tuesday evening, SAPD said Ozana Cisneros “remains actively missing.”

“The alert has not produced any leads, and the department continues to investigate,” SAPD said.

For Menchaca, the decision to discontinue the alert only added to her concerns.

“I was more in shock,” she said. “Why is it discontinued? Everybody should still be looking. This baby needs to be found. There needs to be a lot of answers.”

She said the uncertainty has been difficult not only for those closest to the family, but those concerned in the San Antonio community.

“It’s overwhelming,” Menchaca said. “Not just for myself, but my children and everyone.”

As candles flickered Tuesday night, those gathered shared a common message: They hope Ozana Cisneros is found, they hope investigators uncover the truth and they want her family to know they are not facing the situation alone.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• AMBER Alert for 7-month-old Ozana Cisneros discontinued; SAPD says infant ‘remains actively missing’

But driving through them could end up being an expensive decision.

Customers at Cambridge Auto Center consistently come in with an issue to the vehicle after driving over large puddles of water, Jake Calohan, assistant manager of the auto shop, said.

A constant issue is the skid plate located underneath the vehicle coming loose and scraping the road while the vehicle is moving, Calohan said.

“Skid plates are just basically big pieces of plastic that go under the whole car to protect against water from going up over into the engine,” Calohan said.

When going through big pools of water, the weight of the water can cause the plate to become loose and potentially drag down.

“You’ve submerged that thing to the point of where the body panels are starting to get into the water,” Calohan said. “Your door lines get under the water, that’s when water starts coming in and starts killing all the computers or worst case scenario gets in your engine and kills it.”

Some people can end up paying thousands of dollars in repairs, according to Calohan.

Calohan pointed to a vehicle currently in for repairs and said, “it’s here for a whole engine replacement because they drove through a big puddle and water went up over the top of their engine, got inside of it, and just ruined the engine.”

Drivers are recommended not to force a vehicle to drive forward if it starts acting like it wants to shut off after going through a pool of water.

Calohan said you could make any damage that just happened even worse.

Read also:

• WATCH: Good Samaritan rescues man swept into flooded creek in Sabinal
• KSAT Connect: Viewers share photos of lightning, flooding in San Antonio area

Despite the alert being discontinued, San Antonio Police Department acting Police Chief Jesse Salame told KSAT “Ozana Cisneros remains actively missing.”

“The alert has not produced any leads, and SAPD continues to investigate,” Salame said Monday night.

In a statement, DPS said the agency “continues the activation of an amber alert until the requesting agency asks that it be discontinued.”

According to the initial alert, which was issued Thursday, the infant was last seen at 6 p.m. June 10 in the 300 block of Roosevelt Avenue.

DPS said Ozana Cisneros was last seen with Maximina Cisneros, 19, who was wanted in connection with the alert. SAPD confirmed Maximina Cisneros, who is the infant’s mother, was found Friday near the 200 block of Parkview Drive.

She was taken to a local hospital with unspecified injures, police said.

Around 9 p.m. Friday, SAPD found skeletal remains in a nearby South Side park during their search for Ozana Cisneros. SAPD said at the time it’s unclear if the remains found are human and if it’s connected to the AMBER Alert.

On Monday, Texas Search and Rescue confirmed to KSAT they joined the investigation.

The award comes a year after he helped evacuate campers from the catastrophic Hill Country floods that cut off roads and capsized rescue boats near Camp Mystic.

Ruskan, a petty officer stationed in Corpus Christi, said he still remembers the early-morning call that sent his crew toward the flooding with only limited information.

Watch KSAT’s full interview with Ruskan below:

“There’s a couple of hundred people trapped. And it’s near San Antonio, and we’re gonna go help them out,” Ruskan said. “That was pretty much all we had for briefing.”

When the crew arrived, Ruskan said they faced dangerous weather while flying through valleys and over flood debris.

“You would see trees where you shouldn’t see trees. There were cars where there shouldn’t be cars,” he said.

Ruskan said he was the first rescuer on the ground at Camp Mystic and took a moment to steady himself before beginning evacuations.

“I think I probably took like three seconds just to breathe,” he said.

Over the next four hours, Ruskan and his crew helped evacuate around 180 campers and counselors, he said.

Ruskan said he was credited with assisting 165 people into a U.S. Army aircraft, while other members of the Coast Guard crew assisted in evacuating an additional 15 people.

“Between the four of us, we got 180 people out of there to safety,” Ruskan said. “I couldn’t have gotten in there and done any rescuing if we didn’t get there safely.”

Ruskan said the campers were coping with fear and uncertainty as evacuations continued.

“They’re missing friends. They’re missing loved ones,” he said. “So just kind of being able to talk through them, be like, ‘Hey, I just need you to keep it together for a few more moments.”

Months later, Ruskan said he reunited with the family of one of the girls he rescued, Milly Cate McClymond, when he was honored at the State of the Union.

“They were super thankful,” Ruskan said. “And I was, you know, just trying to hold back tears and let them know I was OK.”

Ruskan said he learned of the ESPY award in a call in which he was asked if he knew about Tillman, the former NFL player who left professional football to join the Army after the Sept. 11 attacks. Tillman was later was killed in Afghanistan in 2004.

Ruskan said Tillman’s legacy resonated personally because a relative was a New York City firefighter who responded on Sept. 11.

“The past winners of the Tillman Award have just been like awesome Americans,” Ruskan said. “They’ve done great things; they’ve saved lives.”

Ruskan told KSAT that he left a previous career in accounting to join the Coast Guard and felt it was a calling.

“My parents definitely had a little hard time at first being like, ‘You’re going to really leave your accounting job, and you’re gonna go join the Coast Guard?’ I said, ‘Mom, it is what I want to do. It’s exactly where I want to be.”

Ruskan said the recognition has not changed the day-to-day nature of his work and that the memory of the flooding remains with him. He also emphasized the bravery of the children and credited the entire crew.

“That’s going to be in the back of my head for the rest of my life,” he said. “And to all the kids we were able to pick up, thanks for being tough, thanks for being brave.”

Read also:

• US Coast Guard rescue swimmer during Hill Country flooding to receive Pat Tillman Award at ESPYs

The man who was killed in Biddeford was identified as a 25-year-old native of Colombia. The Colombian Embassy said it was in contact with U.S. authorities about the Colombian national's death and “is providing the necessary consular assistance to his family.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said in a post on X that agents were surveilling an address for a person with a final order of removal from the country. When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone coming from that address, the "vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department said.

Prior to the brief ICE statement on the incident, Maine U.S. Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against ICE agents in Biddeford, a coastal city roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland. The agents involved didn’t have body cameras, he said.

When asked about the contrasting statements, King told CNN that that's what the investigation is all about.

“Did this young man actually try to run over an ICE agent or was he in danger of running over other people in the street?" he said. “Was there a reasonable expectation of bodily harm or deadly force to justify this shooting?”

DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.

King, an independent, said Mullin also told him the officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it was not for the person who was shot. King said Mullin told him that earlier information that the man was the target of an enforcement action was incorrect.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said Mullin told her the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Messages seeking comment were left for the inspector general’s office and the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The Maine attorney general’s office, which is also investigating, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent. The office said the agent who killed him has been placed on leave.

Witness says he heard driver say, ‘I tried to stop’

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-floor window after hearing a “pop, pop, pop” sound and saw a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb” with an SUV behind it. The driver was wounded and the car started moving down the street until the SUV hit it, Boucher said.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said, getting choked up. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.'"

Boucher said he saw an ICE officer bring a medical bag to where the man was lying before an ambulance and fire truck arrived. At one point, Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.

“I was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect," Boucher said. "I don’t remember his exact words.”

Video from a security camera at a nearby business, obtained by the AP, shows a white vehicle approaching an intersection at a modest speed before making several slow circles. A law enforcement SUV blocked its path and two officers open the driver’s door and dragged out a limp body.

It was not clear from the video at what point shots were fired.

The man was authorized to work in the US, advocates say

Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said the man who was killed was authorized to work in the U.S.

After the shooting, his family contacted the Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, but they weren't ready to speak publicly about the shooting, said the group's executive director, Mufalo Chitam.

Mary Hayes, who lives close to where the shooting happened, said the man lived nearby with his wife and daughter.

“I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground,” Hayes told the AP as she held a piece of cardboard with “No ICE Stop ICE” written on it. “I watched a little girl crying with a little pink backpack on because she’s never going to see her father again.”

Sadie Dilboy said the man killed in the shooting regularly came to her laundromat and would bring his daughter, who he'd give quarters to buy candy from the vending machine.

“He was such a good person,” she said. “He was always cleaning up.”

Anti-ICE protesters gather near the scene

Several hundred demonstrators gathered in Biddeford on Monday night to wave anti-ICE signs and call for the agency to be abolished.

“We will always be a city of immigrants,” said Maine Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat from Biddeford.

A handful of pro-ICE and pro-Trump protesters demonstrated across the street.

Some demonstrators had gathered in the city within hours of the shooting. Amy Goodman arrived with a sign that said “Stop Killing Us” and directed it toward police working at the scene.

“Sadly, it’s something we’re seeing a whole lot more often lately, and I’m mad about it,” she said.

A recent uptick in Trump's immigration crackdown

On July 7, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.

The shootings come amid a Trump administration push to carry out its mass deportations agenda. During the five-day period at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people.

The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, the arrests are surging. The administration’s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

Hundreds of Maine ICE arrests since Trump’s return

ICE had a significant presence in Maine earlier this year, which prompted several protests. Immigration officials later said in late January that they had ceased “enhanced operations” in Maine after hundreds of arrests.

A Homeland Security spokesperson said at the time that some Maine arrests were of people “convicted of horrific crimes" including aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Court records show that while some had felony convictions, others had unresolved immigration proceedings or had been arrested but never convicted of a crime.

ICE arrested 546 people in Maine between the start of Trump’s second term and March 11, 2026, the most recent data available, according to ICE arrest data provided to the University of California, Berkeley Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the AP.

About 45% of arrested people had criminal backgrounds. During the equivalent 416-day period before Trump took office, roughly 69% of those arrested had criminal backgrounds, the data shows. ___ This story was first published on July 13, 2026. It was updated on July 14, 2026, to correct the age of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. He was 25, not 26 as the Colombian Embassy previously stated.

___

Willingham reported from Boston and Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak in New York, Aaron Kessler in Washington, Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.

The official opening at midnight on Tuesday — after a border fence was fully removed — allows a new freedom of movement under a historic treaty between the European Union and the United Kingdom. It came after years of post-Brexit wrangling.

The contested British Overseas Territory of 38,000 people is perched at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, in a strategic location mere miles from Morocco where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.

Soon after midnight, crowds crossed freely between Spain’s La Línea de Concepción and Gibraltar in both directions. Many wore Spanish soccer jerseys after Spain’s victory against France in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, adding to the celebratory mood.

“What you feel here is the brotherhood between the two people,” Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told Spanish broadcaster RTVE.

A deal that took years to realize

When Britain left the EU in 2020, the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc had been left unresolved.

Previous talks on a deal to ensure people and goods could keep flowing across the border had made halting progress. In 2025, the EU and U.K. announced an agreement on those issues, with the two sides and Gibraltar’s government signing a treaty Tuesday that eases border crossings.

The U.K.’s Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty said Tuesday that the agreement secured Gibraltar’s long-term economic future and interests.

Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade representative, praised the agreement, too.

“It has taken four years of patient, complex negotiation, but the outcome speaks for itself,” Šefčovič said. “It is a very special feeling to see a fence come down.”

Without a deal, Gibraltar could have a faced a hard land border with full passport checks, posing economic risks for the territory deeply dependent on some 15,000 Spaniards — almost half of Gibraltar’s workforce — who cross the frontier every day for work.

Leisure visits by people crossing both sides of the border would have been affected, too.

“People who are visiting family in Spain, or whose Spanish family is visiting them in Gibraltar. Children who are going to football matches and extracurricular activities, either in Spain or in Gibraltar. They will be able to do that without having to worry about frontier queues,” Picardo told The Associated Press in an interview.

The deal in effect brings the territory into the EU’s Schengen free travel area. At Gibraltar’s airport and port, entry and exit checks will be conducted by both U.K. and Spanish border officials. The arrangement is similar to what’s in place at Eurostar train stations in London and Paris, where both British and French officials check passports.

Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. Relations between the two countries on the issue of Gibraltar have had their ups and downs over the centuries. The treaty that removed the border fence does not resolve the territory’s contested status.

In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in the Rock, as the territory is popularly known in English, supported remaining in the EU.

Travelers to Gibraltar from countries outside the Schengen area — including the U.K. — will have to contend with the EU Entry-Exit System, or EES, which was rolled out in Europe in April and replaced passport stamps with biometric data collected through photographs and digital fingerprints.

Facial recognition cameras at the Rock

With the border fence gone, Gibraltar officials have set up live facial recognition cameras at entry points and throughout the territory.

Chief Minister Picardo said the territory will have many more CCTV cameras, and that it has increased its police presence as well as resources for customs and Coast Guard agencies.

“The fortress has become a digital fortress now,” Picardo said.

Under an agreement with the city, the Bonham Exchange has until Aug. 1 to have a completely installed, inspected and approved fire sprinkler system on at least its first floor. Without that, its certificate of occupancy will expire, effectively shutting down the club.

Javier Guerra, an attorney for the Bonham Exchange, said it would not be able to make that deadline. However, he said, the club has just secured a loan that will cover the entire sprinkler system and is poised to sign a contract for the work.

It will take an estimated five months to do the work on the entire building, he said.

“We would ask the city to give us additional time as we are moving forward in good faith,” Guerra said in a texted statement. “Unfortunately some time was lost early on as we hoped money would be furnished from other sources, but we now have the money necessary to make the installation required.”

The city declined to comment when KSAT asked Tuesday if such an extension might be possible.

Guerra confirmed the “other sources” in his statement had been a reference to Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, who had publicly promised to help raise the money more than five months ago, telling reporters on the day the agreement was signed that she was “on the hook for helping to raise money.”

“I’m going to do what I need to do and work hard, and I hope others will chip in as well so we can save this institution,” Jones said at the time.

Asked what she was committing to specifically when she said “helping to raise money,” Jones told reporters, “The way in which you fundraise. You call and say, ‘Hey, can I count on you for X amount of money,’ right?”

However, Guerra and the club’s general manager, Joan Duckworth, said that never ended up happening.

Duckworth said there had been some early meetings with the mayor and Bryant Ambelang, CEO of Silver Ventures, the development company behind the Pearl. But she said their ideas weren’t focused on fundraising but rather changing the Bonham’s business model, such as dividing it into multiple parts to allow other bars to come in.

The ideas were non-starters for Duckworth, who is concerned about preserving both the 19th century building and Bonham Exchange’s history as an LGBTQ+ landmark.

“The only contact I’ve had is where she brought in totally new business ideas that would take away it from being the gay institution it’s been for 45 years,” Duckworth said in a Friday phone call.

Ambelang did not return multiple calls to his office.

Duckworth told KSAT she was still open to the mayor helping fundraise.

“I’m trying to hope that she is a person of her word,” she said.

The San Antonio Area Foundation confirmed the mayor’s office had inquired about opening a charitable fund for donations but ultimately did not set one up.

An apparently unrelated GoFundMe page named “Save The Bonham Exchange” had just over $5,000 in donations on Tuesday.

Why Jones backed off her promise isn’t clear. KSAT has been requesting an interview with the mayor on the subject for the past week, but her office has not made her available.

Compliance agreement

Duckworth said Jones’ fundraising promise was why she agreed to the club’s current sprinkler installation timeline with the city in the first place.

In December 2025, the Bonham Exchange was one of seven bars and clubs in the city that, according to the city, hadn’t retrofitted their buildings with automatic sprinklers or lowered their occupancy to below 300 people to comply with a 2018 fire code change.

Six of the seven ended up signing “compliance agreements” by Jan. 31, which required restricting occupancy to fewer than 300 people and having trained staff on site look for fire hazards until they fix the issue.

The Bonham Exchange held out at first. Duckworth was concerned it wouldn’t be able to raise enough money if it cut its occupancy levels.

Supportive council members pushed to let the bars and clubs operate at full capacity for another year. However, at the urging of the mayor, who was concerned about safety of the buildings, Duckworth ended up signing an agreement before the council could take up the issue at a Feb. 5 meeting.

Under the agreement, the Bonham Exchange must close its second floor and dramatically cut occupancy while sprinklers are installed.

The club can only allow up to 299 people inside until the first-floor sprinklers are finished; then it can allow up to 343. Once sprinklers on both floors are finished, the occupancy can return to 686 people.

The agreement only allows up to six months for each floor’s sprinkler installation.

While Duckworth signed the deal Feb. 5, city officials didn’t sign until the next day.

A confrontation in a side room during the council meeting between Jones and Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1) over the Bonham Exchange issue also led to Jones’ censure.

Previous coverage of this story on KSAT:

• San Antonio’s oldest gay bar faces closure over lack of sprinklers

The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

In Florida on Tuesday, a third man in roughly a week died during an encounter with immigration officers. This time, a 28-year-old man was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.

The suspension of vehicle stops allows room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator’s office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending stops.

Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national.

DHS said Monday that an officer, “fearing for public safety,” shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and facing a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the person attempted to flee in the vehicle and the officer fired.

That was a shift from how King earlier described the encounter, when he said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the man who was shot.

DHS, which oversees ICE, didn’t respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.

In a scathing post on X, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”

Petro, who has openly quarreled with U.S. President Donald Trump, urged Trump to provide an explanation and accused ICE officers of treating Durán Guerrero as “an inferior being without rights.”

The shooting also sparked outrage in Maine, where hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday outside an ICE detention center in Scarborough, just up the coast between Biddeford and Portland.

“These people are killers and they must leave our state now,” organizer Todd Chretien told the crowd.

Maine’s congressional delegation on Tuesday demanded a “comprehensive, transparent, and expedited investigation.”

Questions surround the shooting

Durán Guerrero's shooting marked at least the ninth time ICE has used deadly force since Trump began his immigration crackdown.

Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield, but the officers involved in the shooting didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions. Among them are how close the officer was to the vehicle when they fired, whether officers told Durán Guerrero to stop, and why ICE believes he had put the public in danger.

“We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters Tuesday that the investigation needs to play out.

“If officers acted inappropriately or illegally, they’ll be held accountable," he said.

Maine's attorney general’s office, which noted that it’s working with federal agencies to investigate, said initial statements suggest the driver was trying to flee in the direction of the officer, whose name hasn’t been released and who was placed on leave.

The state's other senator, Republican Susan Collins, said Mullin told her that DHS’ Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Democrats seeking to unseat Collins in November sought Tuesday to connect her with ICE's methods, which have drawn public scrutiny and derision. Collins later said in a statement that although ICE needs to improve, eliminating the agency would make the nation less safe.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is vying for Collins' seat, called the ICE officers at the shooting “thugs” during a vigil Tuesday evening in Lewiston.

“That agency is broken and we need to go back to a time where the rule of law united all of us regardless of the politics,” she told the crowd.

Video shows the shooting's aftermath

According to neighbors and public records, Guerrero lived in an apartment about 150 feet (46 meters) from where his car came to a rest outside an apartment building across the street from a pawnshop and laundromat.

Video from a nearby business' security camera obtained by the AP shows a white car slowly approaching an intersection before making several circles. A law enforcement SUV blocks its path and two officers open the driver’s door and drag out a limp body.

It isn't clear from the video when the shots were fired.

Daniel Boucher said he heard a “pop, pop, pop” and ran to the intersection.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.’”

Boucher said the officer who shot Durán Guerrero walked close to him.

“He looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”

Durán Guerrero is survived by his wife and young daughter

Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S.

Neighbors say Durán Guerrero was a friendly and familiar face even though they rarely chatted because he didn’t appear to speak English.

Claudia Morton, who often waved to Durán Guerrero, was distraught.

“The whole world should be crying,” she said.

Dozens of Durán Guerrero's relatives and neighbors gathered in Bucaramanga, his hometown in northeastern Colombia, to remember him on Tuesday. They stood outside his parents’ home, holding candles around a table where a photograph of him rested beside a statue of the Virgin Mary.

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This story has been corrected to show that the Colombian Embassy says Durán Guerrero was 25, not 26 as the embassy had previously stated.

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Brook reported from New Orleans and Sisak from New York. Associated Press reporters Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

The suspect, identified as Sergio Alejandro Morales-Villareal, is wanted for theft of property valued between $2,500 and $30,000, according to the sheriff’s office.

Morales-Villareal allegedly collected “large upfront payments” from multiple households for electrical work and made repeated excuses for delays before he eventually stopped responding to clients altogether, the sheriff’s office said.

A family lost around $6,000, BCSO said. One person lost $1,500, while another lost $1,100.

The sheriff’s office suggests the following tips before hiring any contractor:

• Verify licenses
• Avoid making large upfront payments
• Keep copies of all receipts and messages
• Watch for delays or sudden silence

Anyone who believes they were targeted in the scam is asked to contact the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office at 210-335-6000.

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The battle of the two No. 10s could be pivotal to deciding Wednesday's match in Atlanta.

“We know how good Messi is,” England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said of the Argentina great, whose enduring brilliance has been on show again even at the age of 39.

Messi and Bellingham have been inspirational in their teams' respective runs to the final four. And Wednesday's match may well be determined by which one has the biggest say on the day.

Messi is playing England for the first time in his storied career.

“He's scored so many goals and contributed to so many goals as well throughout his career, it's great to finally go up against him,” Pickford said.

Settling the GOAT debate

Messi is already considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time and he seems to be on a mission to settle the debate about where he stands in the history of the sport.

Already the all-time top scorer in the World Cup with 21 goals, he could surpass Argentina icon Diego Maradona by leading his country to back-to-back world titles.

His eight goals in the tournament so far have been pivotal to Argentina's run and his moments of magic have dragged his team through big scares against Cape Verde and Egypt.

“It’s just incredible his campaign, this tournament, how he carries that team it’s just, absolutely incredible,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said of Messi. “There are no words ... left for this kind of achievement, the responsibility and the quality that he shows again in this tournament.”

Argentina's World Cup triumph in 2022 saw Messi emulate Maradona by captaining his country to the title. Maradona lifted the trophy in 1986 and was runner-up with Argentina four years later when it lost to West Germany in the final.

“Trying to draw inspiration from what Diego did is difficult. Only Leo can do that,” said Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. “Diego is a national icon for us, and hopefully, we can achieve something similar to what that team did.”

Doubts about Bellingham

England has a talismanic No.10 of its own in the form of Bellingham, who is at the opposite end of his career to Messi.

At the age of 23, Real Madrid star Bellingham is already playing in his second World Cup and his fourth major tournament for England. He has six goals, including two each in the last two rounds against Mexico and Norway.

Not bad for a player who was dropped by Tuchel in the lead-up to the World Cup, prompting debate about whether he'd even be in England's starting XI.

There is no doubt anymore about a player who Tuchel described as "world-class” after two goals against Norway in the quarterfinals.

Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, who also has six goals, have spearheaded England's run to the semifinals.

Tuchel said the duo had delivered “like crazy” at the World Cup.

It is Bellingham, however, who has provided the biggest moments in the last two games.

“We all strongly believe it’s a team sport and no one is doing it alone, but of course we are also relying on the world-class moments of world-class players,” Tuchel said.

The key to victory

Both England and Argentina will need to find a way to limit the impact of each other's big stars.

Tuchel said he had considered trying to man-mark Messi by deploying one player to shadow him throughout the game.

“Everyone knows the spaces where he wants to show up. If you analyze the matches, you feel like he sees stuff just earlier than anyone else on the field,” Tuchel said. “I think we found some patterns in their game, but if you close the patterns he will find maybe a new one and create a new one. That’s a super strength. That’s just what it is.”

If Messi is the main focus of England's attention, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has to contend with the double threat of Bellingham and Kane.

“We’re facing great players, two of the best in the world,” Scaloni said. “We will try our best to neutralize them. We have our weapons and we will try to prevent them from having a good game.”

A fierce rivalry

England vs. Argentina is a fierce rivalry that goes beyond the soccer field, with tensions also relating to the 1982 conflict over the Falkland Islands.

There have been numerous clashes at the World Cup.

Argentina captain Antonio Rattin, whose death was announced on Saturday, was sent off in a bad-tempered quarterfinal match against eventual champion England in 1966.

Maradona scored his infamous “Hand of God” goal in 1986 - and England also felt aggrieved when David Beckham was sent off for kicking out against Diego Simeone in 1998 before losing in a penalty shootout.

Most recently England beat Argentina in the group phase in 2002, with Beckham scoring from the penalty spot.

“If a fixture provides so many iconic moments you cannot just say it’s just another football match, but as a coach we do exactly that,” Tuchel said. “We don’t speak about the historic events. We don’t speak about the iconic moments.”

One of those iconic moments was Maradona's second goal in the 2-1 win against England in the quarterfinals win in 1986 when he dribbled the ball from the halfway line before scoring.

“That will be forever in our hearts. It was just such a beautiful goal,” Scaloni said. "Anybody who loves football will remember that in the best way possible.

“It was just a coincidence that it was against England, but had it been against anybody else, it would have been just as beautiful.”

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

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Officials say the new 1 million-square-foot JCB Texas facility currently being built on the South Side is looking to fill multiple positions by the beginning of August.

JCB is a global company based in the United Kingdom that manufactures construction equipment around the world.

According to the company’s website, JCB has been operating in the United States for 80 years, and San Antonio will be home to its largest U.S. facility.

From 8 a.m. until noon, company hiring officials will be out at the actual grounds of the facility, located at 13210 Palo Alto Road, for the hiring event.

JCB Texas is looking to hire welders, fabricators, forklift drivers, machinists, paint technicians, maintenance, logistics, assembly and a lot of other positions.

Anyone interested in working for the company is encouraged to show up at the job fair with a resume, a photo ID and any certifications you may have.

Jade Zemtsova, senior human resource manager for JCB Texas, said HR staffers will be going through applications and conducting interviews and assessments of skilled applicants.

“We will be giving assessments, so we have basic dexterity assessments, we have skilled assessments for leadership qualities for team leader roles that we’re looking to fill,” she said.

She said the company is looking to hire qualified applicants by Aug. 3 in order to have new employees start and finish their two-month company training by the time the new facility opens in October.

“We’re looking to develop and train them for at least two months before we open, about our processes, our machinery, our equipment, and make sure everybody is developed for success,” Zemtsova said. “That’s the main goal here, is to get people trained up and launch their career with us.”

She said they are hoping to offer employment right on-site Friday during the hiring event and roll people into pre-employment.

Also, Zemtsova said applicants need to be aware, if selected for an on-the-spot interview at the site, the full interview process could take between 45 minutes to an hour.

If you are planning to attend the event, Zemtsova strongly recommends registering before going out to the job fair so they can fast-track processing your application.

You can access the registration page for JCB Texas’ job fair scheduled for Friday by clicking here.

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According to court records, Jose Roberto Medina, 30, took a plea deal Tuesday on a charge of burglary of a habitation to commit another felony, which is considered a first-degree felony.

Terms of the deal include an 18-year prison sentence. Medina is eligible for parole after serving nine years, according to Olmos Park Police Department Sgt. Melissa Campbell.

During a Tuesday news conference, UIW Police Chief John Catts said Medina unlawfully entered a student’s on-campus apartment on April 30 and exposed himself to the student.

Medina gained access into the on-campus apartment because one of its doors was unlocked, according to Catts. Medina fled campus before officers arrived.

Later on May 1, Medina followed two women who were out for a run in their neighborhood, according to an Olmos Park PD news release.

Medina peered into one woman’s home and “actively engaged in masturbation,” according to Campbell. He fled the scene when the woman confronted him.

UIW police positively identified Medina as the suspect on May 4 and reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety for assistance in its investigation.

UIW police detective Mark Sanchez said law enforcement took Medina into custody later that day without incident inside a bathroom at the San Antonio Country Saloon, which is located in the 1100 block of West Hildebrand Avenue.

Additionally, Medina was convicted Tuesday on misdemeanor voyeurism (Class A) and indecent exposure (Class B) charges. Court records show he fulfilled time served requirements on both misdemeanor counts.

Olmos Park police believes there may be more potential victims and are encouraging them to come forward.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Olmos Park Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 210-829-3241 ext. 314.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Peeping Tom suspect taken into custody, Olmos Park police say

Storms dumped up to a foot of rain in some rural areas of Texas, leading to dozens of high-water rescues across the region and officials shutting down portions of a busy highway for hours near Uvalde, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of San Antonio. A flood watch also included Kerr County, where catastrophic flooding last year along the Guadalupe River killed more than 100 people.

No deaths or injuries Tuesday were immediately reported.

The National Weather Service warned that storms overnight could dump more than a foot of additional rain to some places into Wednesday, creating potentially catastrophic impacts from flash flooding in areas west of San Antonio. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for dozens of counties.

“Intense rain rates and compounding effects from multiple rounds of storms will result in a dangerous flash flooding threat through Thursday,” the National Weather Service said.

Authorities on Tuesday posted videos of a rescue crew in a boat down flooded streets and one vehicle being swept away by fast-moving waters. Five people were rescued by members of the Texas Game Warden Search and Rescue Team and four were rescued by a local game warden, said Maggie Berger, a spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

In Uvalde, officials said there had been at least two dozen water rescues. They opened a local event center for anyone displaced by flooding. In Sabinal, officials were also making plans for a shelter.

Ali al-Zaidi emerged as a consensus candidate in Iraq after months of deadlock over the premiership following last year’s parliamentary elections. Trump endorsed al-Zaidi for the job after he threatened to cut off U.S. support for Iraq if another candidate became the country's next prime minister.

“Mark my words, I knew what I was doing,” Trump said in the Oval Office as he sat alongside al-Zaidi for his first visit outside Iraq as prime minister. “This man is going to be a great leader in the Middle East, beyond Iraq. His influence is going to spread all throughout the Middle East.”

Speaking through an interpreter, al-Zaidi said that he was conveying his greetings from the “oldest civilization in the world” and that the focus of his U.S. visit would be to announce an “economic partnership” between the two countries.

The issue of Iran loomed large in the discussions Tuesday. Iraq has been under pressure to disarm a network of Iran-backed militias operating in the country, some of which launched attacks on U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in February. Officially, the Iraqi government has given non-state armed groups until the end of September to disarm, but some of the most powerful militias have said they have no intention of doing so.

Al-Zaidi stressed on Tuesday that there will be no justification for their existence after Sept. 30. A Trump administration official said ahead of the Oval Office meeting that the U.S. will make “informed” decisions based on Iraq’s efforts to disarm Iranian-backed militias inside its borders. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss the administration’s strategy ahead of al-Zaidi’s visit.

Al-Zaidi has been called ‘Trump of the Middle East’

Iraq’s dominant parliamentary bloc called the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shiite parties allied with Iran, initially said it would back former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom the Trump administration viewed as too close to Tehran. Trump, a Republican, got personally involved, threatening to block support if al-Maliki returned to power.

Since al-Zaidi's formal installation as prime minister-designate in April, the Trump administration has kept up its outreach to ensure the U.S. can wield significant sway in Iraq, particularly in extricating the Iranian influence that is deeply entrenched inside the country.

The parallel backgrounds of Trump and al-Zaidi have also bolstered their rapport. Victoria Taylor, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council, noted that al-Zaidi has been likened to “Trump of the Middle East” considering his business background and lack of political experience.

“When you value business success, I think then it’s very appealing to look at an Iraqi prime minister who is likely a billionaire and can be really pointed to as a political outsider,” she said.

But Taylor added that “the reality is much more complicated,” noting that al-Zaidi was chosen by the current political infrastructure in Iraq and will be “beholden in some way to that system.”

“I’m not always sure that there’s a full appreciation of the challenge that this prime minister will face in actually trying to really dismantle core parts of the political system,” she said, noting the obstacles that al-Zaidi will face as he tries to disarm the Iran-backed militias or challenge political corruption.

Underscoring the complicated competing interests that al-Zaidi is confronting in Iraq, the new prime minister sidestepped a question about Trump's remarks on the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“At that time, I wasn’t involved in politics," al-Zaidi said. "Let’s talk about the future.”

Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Chatham House think tank, said he expects that “the U.S. will put significant pressure on al-Zaidi” to move ahead with disarmament during his Washington visit “and Zaidi will respond by saying, ‘But I need support — intelligence support, technical support, armed support.’”

“There is a scenario in which, if the Iraqi government starts going after these groups, they will also go after the government,” Mansour said. “And this is a scenario that I think that the Iraqi government is apprehensive about.”

Oil pipeline deal is set to be signed, Iraqi officials say

The two governments are also poised to finalize a significant energy deal.

Two Iraqi officials said an agreement is slated to be signed Friday between Iraq, U.S. companies Chevron and TI Capital, and Qatar’s UCC for construction of an oil pipeline that will connect southern Iraq’s Basra to western Iraq's Haditha and from there to the Ceyhan port in Turkey and the port of Baniyas on Syria’s coast. The pipeline is projected to carry about 2 million barrels of oil per day. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Neither Trump nor al-Zaidi elaborated on the pending deal publicly during their Oval Office meeting, but the U.S. president said Iraq has “tremendous potential" because of its oil.

Later, a senior Trump administration official said the U.S. is “facilitating conversation” between Iraq and Syria on future energy projects. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations among the governments.

Al-Zaidi cracks down on corruption

Al-Zaidi received Trump’s blessing, despite the fact that he was chairman of a bank, Al-Janoob Islamic Bank, that was among the financial institutions banned by Iraq’s central bank in 2024 from dealing in dollars amid pressure from the U.S. to crack down on money laundering and funneling of funds to Iran.

Since taking office, al-Zaidi has made a public show of cracking down on corruption. His government has conducted raids and arrested dozens of current and former lawmakers and government officials accused of corruption, including some affiliated with former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

The Iraqi premier’s delegation to Washington includes a number of Iraqi businessmen and government officials, and al-Zaidi’s office said in a statement that the aim of the visit is to “strengthen economic and development partnerships, attract investment, and expand the role of U.S. companies in implementing infrastructure projects” and to further develop the oil-rich country’s energy sector.

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An earlier version of this story was corrected to show Trump said “if we are not there to help,” not “if we are there to help.”

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Follow the AP's coverage of Iraq at https://apnews.com/hub/iraq.

Oliphant died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from age-related issues, said his son, Grant Oliphant.

A multidimensional artist who also created sculptures, lithographs and oil paintings, Oliphant was widely considered the most syndicated editorial cartoonist in the U.S. During the 1980s, his daily political cartoons appeared in more than 500 publications in the country and around the world.

For over five decades, Oliphant’s work ridiculed powerful figures — from President Lyndon B. Johnson to Donald Trump — with a blunt and meticulous stroke. He drew Jimmy Carter with large teeth and lips, alluding to his background as a farmer and the cultural stereotype of adaptation to rural work, and depicted Ronald Reagan, whom he thought was uninterested in the suffering of the American people, with a cork in his ear.

Those who knew Oliphant said his gift was to merge the shrewdness of an observer of the political scene with a witty sense of humor into art.

“He redefined what it meant to be a political cartoonist and to be fearless in his work,” said Bill Banowsky, director of the documentary A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant. “His work has a fierce pursuit of bringing injustice to light. And he was very effective.”

Oliphant tackled controversial subjects that were largely deemed unacceptable by the establishment at the time. That included the Catholic Church and its pedophilia scandals in 2002 and Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza in 2008. But his ethnic caricatures also drew complaints about false stereotypes and racism from organizations like the Asian American Journalists Association and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1935, Oliphant started as a copy desk aide at a local newspaper, where he discovered his interest in art while seeing a cartoonist at work. His first in-house cartoonist job was at The Advertiser in his hometown.

“He decided cartooning could merge his interests in art and commentary,” Grant said. “He wanted to be the best in the world.”

About a decade after he moved to the U.S., Oliphant joined The Denver Post in 1964 and won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1967. He thought the prize committee had honored the weakest piece of work he’d submitted for consideration, and criticized the prize process itself afterward.

He later joined The Washington Star and moved to Santa Fe in 2002.

Oliphant began losing his eyesight due to glaucoma around the age of 80 and had to retire from professional cartoon work, Grant said. Still, he painted at home in Santa Fe.

“He loved the creative ferment of Santa Fe. We had constant parties at his house far into the night with a wide range of thinkers, musicians and writers,” said Hampton Sides, a Santa Fe-based writer and friend of Oliphant. “He enjoyed the constant interplay of ideas.”

With the current political environment, Grant said it seems society has lost the capacity to receive humor and debate and contrary opinions.

“My father challenged the idea of the political establishment being sublimely serious as it is,” Grant said. “We really need that in today's America.”

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Russian crewmates Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off as scheduled at 7:47 p.m. (10:47 a.m. EDT, 1447 GMT) aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 for an eight-month stint on the orbiting outpost. Their spacecraft docked smoothly at the station in automatic mode about three hours after the launch.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, the first visit to Baikonur by a NASA chief in eight years that highlighted the ongoing cooperation in orbit between Moscow and Washington, despite tensions over Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Before the launch, Isaacman met with the head of Russia's state corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov. Speaking during Monday’s meeting with the crew, Isaacman thanked Roscosmos for its efforts to prepare for the mission, saying that “the integrated work performed over the past several months reflects the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved.”

Isaacman also had a meeting with Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. Manturov's office said they discussed prospective cooperation on the International Space Station and other projects.

The mission is Menon’s first space flight and the second for Dubrov and Kikina.

The trio will join NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev.

Once bitter rivals in the space race during the Cold War, Russia and the U.S. cooperate on the space station and other projects. That relationship was marred by tensions after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, but Washington and Moscow have continued to work together, with U.S. and Russian crews flying to the orbiting outpost on each country’s spacecraft.

Plans for broader cooperation, including possible Russian involvement in NASA’s Artemis program of lunar research, have fallen apart. As Russia has become increasingly reliant on China for its energy exports and imports of key technology amid Western sanctions, Roscosmos has started cooperation with China on its prospective lunar mission.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a decades-old desegregation mandate for the Concordia Parish School Board, handing a victory to President Donald Trump’s administration, which has pushed to end the court-ordered plans. The school system has been a focal point in the administration’s attempt to end legal cases dating to the Civil Rights era.

The U.S. Justice Department spent decades fighting for such cases but reversed course under Trump. Officials in his administration have framed the remaining segregation orders as federal intrusion into local school systems. Louisiana officials agree they're no longer needed and describe them as relics of a time when Black students were once forbidden from attending some schools.

“The good people of Concordia Parish elected their school board to govern their schools — not unelected federal judges,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in announcing the ruling. “Today’s decision puts that authority back where it belongs."

Members of the Concordia Parish School Board did not immediately respond Tuesday to emails seeking comment.

Families who brought the suit are no longer involved.

The Concordia Parish case dates to 1965, when the area was segregated and home to a violent offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan. Black families in Ferriday, a town on the central-eastern border of Louisiana, sued for access to all-white schools, and the federal government intervened. As the district integrated its schools, many white families fled Ferriday.

The district’s schools came to reflect the demographics of their surrounding areas. Ferriday is still mostly Black and low-income, while neighboring Vidalia is mostly white and takes in tax revenue from a hydroelectric plant.

Some parents and civil rights groups have argued that desegregation orders remain important tools to address vestiges of segregation such as racial disparities in student discipline, academic programs and teacher hiring.

The Concordia Parish order was used to force a mostly white charter school that opened in 2013 to prioritize Black students and create a more integrated student body.

Congo has been battling an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola since May, with no approved treatment or vaccine. The Africa Centres for Disease Control says it is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.

“Perhaps the most alarming finding is that many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in their communities without ever reaching a health facility and without receiving care,” Chikwe Ihekweazu said after returning from Bunia, in Ituri province, one of the worst-hit cities. “And as of today, 80% of new cases are outside our contact lists and so are coming to us from unknown chains of transmission.”

People who die outside the health system cannot be isolated, treated or have their contacts traced promptly, increasing the risk of further transmission.

The outbreak, Ihekweazu said, “continues to outpace the response efforts.”

As of Monday, at least 1,926 people have been infected, of whom 702 have died, in three provinces in Congo from the rare Bundibugyo virus, Congolese authorities said. Cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.

Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva that his visit to Bunia had been “quite encouraging on many fronts, but also deeply concerning.”

Treatment capacity in Bunia is now close to 800 beds, with capacity increasing every week, and lab capacity has grown from 1 to 14 labs, an effort the emergency chief lauded.

However, Ihekweazu said that despite “our best efforts ... we have not caught up in the race.”

A funding gap, attacks on health centers, an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, and mistrust among local communities have hampered the response.

Dozens of healthcare workers at an Ebola virus treatment center in northeast Congo went on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses on Monday. On Tuesday, they agreed to resume work under the condition that the government pays them within 72 hours.

“Just one day of strike action has already caused damage. Patients were unable to access the center," the striking health workers said in a statement. “We hold the government solely responsible for any loss of life if the site closes after this ultimatum.”

The Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15 after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, according to the WHO. Clinical trials for treatment began last week after researchers launched a highly anticipated study in the hope of fighting the virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on July 11 that a U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in Congo has tested positive for the Ebola virus, without providing further details.

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Associated Press writer Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.

The request follows the death of Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston. Since the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement, 14 in ICE custody and three in agency operations.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry had previously said it would make the request, which was formalized on Tuesday, according to the ministry. It said a similar request will be also sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The United States is not legally obliged to act on the requests.

Also, the Mexican government said it has started sending letters to U.S. detention centers where Mexican migrants have died, demanding they “immediately cease the actions or omissions that resulted in these deaths, such as preventing access to prompt and expedited medical care, as well as the application of policies incompatible with medical and penitentiary standards.”

The first center to receive the letter was Adelanto, in California, where four Mexican migrants died.

The letters are a first step toward “the eventual filing of civil lawsuits” against the companies that operate the detention centers to stop human rights violations, according to the ministry.

Last week, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said his country would go directly to U.S. authorities to request criminal investigations in cases of Mexicans killed in ICE custody or enforcement operations.

Salgado Araujo, who had no criminal record and had lived in the U.S. for 35 years, was shot last Tuesday while driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston. His death sparked protests in Houston and demands for an independent investigation from Democrats and Salgado Araujo’s family.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 52-year-old Araujo had rammed an ICE vehicle, and that a federal agent fired a weapon in self-defense.

Velasco also sent a letter to Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, requesting that U.S. authorities gather information on the deaths of the Mexican migrants in ICE custody and analyze the “compatibility of these events with international human rights obligations.”

The foreign minister also asked Türk to seek the opinion of the Human Rights Council, a U.N. intergovernmental body that promotes human rights, on the cases and offer recommendations.

The developments mark an escalation in Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s response to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Sheinbaum earlier this year ordered Mexico's diplomatic missions across the U.S. to regularly check in with ICE detainees, and her government even lodged a complaint with Türk.

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It was the third death in a week involving encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, following shootings in Texas and Maine.

The 28-year-old was among four occupants of a vehicle that stopped in the parking lot of a gas station and convenience store in the St. Augustine area before 7 a.m. During an encounter with agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations, the four fled on foot, with one darting across a busy road into the path of the semi, Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Dylan Bryan said in an emailed statement.

The driver of the semi stopped and tried to help the man, Bryan said.

It was at least the 10th death involving encounters with immigration agents since President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation campaign last year.

It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the encounter Tuesday. In an emailed statement, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed it had conducted an operation and said the Florida Highway Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations were “investigating an incident resulting in the death of a Mexican national.”

The department did not respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press about the status of the other three occupants of the vehicle.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, a Democrat from Jacksonville, called the death a tragedy that resulted from an out-of-control agency.

“Whether it’s ICE agents gunning down a father in the streets of Houston, shooting a young man in Maine or conducting operations right here in Northeast Florida that result in a deadly crash, the outcome is the same: fear, chaos and death,” she said.

In two other cases, people died after fleeing agents and being struck by vehicles.

Last summer, a man running from immigration officers outside a Home Depot store in southern California died after being hit by an SUV as he tried to cross a freeway. Homeland Security officials said that 52-year-old Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, of Guatemala, was not being pursued by immigration authorities when he was struck.

In October, a pickup truck fatally struck 24-year-old gardener Josué Castro Rivera, of Honduras, on a highway in Norfolk, Virginia, as he tried to escape authorities during a traffic stop. Authorities said Castro Rivera’s vehicle was stopped as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and that Castro Rivera had “resisted heavily and fled.”

The Mexican government on Tuesday said it had asked state attorneys general in the U.S. to review the deaths of migrants in ICE custody or during raids for possible criminal prosecution.

Dennis Sochor was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of killing Patricia Gifford on Jan. 1, 1982, just hours after meeting the 18-year-old woman at a New Year’s Eve party.

Sochor was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up at the 6 p.m. execution time. Asked by the warden if he had any last words, Sochor said he did.

He apologized several times to the Gifford family, saying he was “deeply sorry” and also thanked his own loved ones for their support over the years. Then he commended his spirit to Jesus Christ shortly before the drugs began flowing at 6:03 p.m.

Sochor underwent about a minute of heavy breathing and then some seconds of sputtering. After two minutes in which Sochor appeared to go still, the warden looked into his eyes, shook his shoulders and yelled his name without getting a response. A medic was summoned at 6:14 p.m., soon after pronouncing Sochor dead.

Another 74-year-old inmate just a week younger than Sochor at the time of execution was put to death last month. And later this month, the state is preparing to execute an 80-year-old, the state’s first octogenarian facing a lethal injection.

The execution plans highlight the aging death row population in the U.S. and the busy death chamber in Florida, which has now carried out 10 of the 16 executions conducted in the nation this year — more than every other state combined.

Marilyn Gifford, Patricia’s sister, said after witnessing the execution that Sochor’s death brings some closure to the family, but it’s bittersweet since her body has never been found. She encouraged anyone with information that could lead to the remains to contact authorities.

“He had 45 years to return Patty’s remains to us, but he cruelly chose not to,” Gifford said, reading from a statement. “We never got a chance to lay her to rest in God’s arms. Without closure, every happy memory of Patty is immediately crushed by the tragedy of her murder.”

Gifford also pointed out that Sochor got to live more than twice as long on death row as her sister lived her entire life. “Tonight’s execution was appropriate because Dennis Sochor was a lifelong brutal and sadistic man,” she said.

It’s unclear why Florida scheduled the executions of the three prisoners consecutively.

Maria DeLiberato, legal director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, noted that in Florida the governor has practically sole discretion when it comes to scheduling executions. In many other death penalty states, the scheduling is up to the courts.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' office did not respond to emailed requests for comment about the recent pace of the executions.

A New Year's Day killing

According to court records, Gifford was celebrating the upcoming New Year with a friend at a Fort Lauderdale area bar when they met Sochor and his brother.

The four spent hours talking, but after the friend became ill and went to sleep in her car, Gifford left with Sochor and his brother to get breakfast. But instead of going for food, Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded area and attacked Gifford, according to investigators.

Sochor was later arrested in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges and extradited to Florida. Sochor’s brother told police Sochor was responsible for Gifford’s disappearance, and Sochor himself confessed on tape to choking Gifford and disposing of her body. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1987, and he was sentenced to death.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Sochor's final appeal without comment.

Oldest inmates executed in Florida

On June 25, Florida executed 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer for the killing of his wife Karen. Until Tuesday, Spencer was the oldest inmate executed in Florida.

According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the oldest inmates previously executed by the state were both 72: Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting of a state representative, Charles Schuh Jr.

Meanwhile, Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, is scheduled to be executed July 28 for the killings of his ex-girlfriend's parents.

If executed as planned, he would become the second oldest prisoner known to be put to death in modern U.S. history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr. Moody was executed in Alabama in 2018 for killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney during a wave of Southern mail bombs.

The billionaire businessman was keeping up from afar, and he attended Spain's 2-0 victory over France in the semifinals AT&T Stadium on Tuesday.

“I think first and foremost, he’s just a big event guy,” said Chad Estis, the Cowboys' executive vice president of business operations. “He loves the NFL. He loves the Dallas Cowboys. But he has a passion for events as much as anybody that I know. He very much wanted to ensure that the stadium was operating well.”

Judging by fans who eagerly anticipate seeing themselves on the giant video board that hangs above the center of the field and under the retractable roof — and then jump and wave for joy when they do — the venue temporarily renamed Dallas Stadium by FIFA has been a hit.

The Jones family has a suite for the World Cup, and that's where Jones was shown on the video board with his wife, Gene Jones, sitting next to him. The polarizing figure was met mostly with boos from the sellout crowd of 70,176.

Jones and some family members often leave the country on his yacht this time of year — between the end of offseason workouts for the Cowboys in June and the start of training camp in California in late July.

As a result, Jones wasn't there in person for a pair of record-setting performances from Argentina superstar Lionel Messi. Or Japanese fans leaving entire sections spotless by picking up after themselves — twice. Or Portugal star and career men's international scoring leader Cristiano Ronaldo's final World Cup game.

Those types of seminal moments were what Jones had in mind with the design and building of a stadium that opened in 2009 and in barely more than five years had hosted a Super Bowl and NCAA championship games in football and men's basketball.

Jones also was thinking about the fan experience, having used his own lessons from touring stadiums in Europe to include large standing-room viewing areas on three levels at each end.

An extensive art collection is punctuated by Anish Kapoor's stainless steel sculpture dubbed “sky mirror” outside on the east plaza. Kapoor is the creator of a similar sculpture in Chicago nicknamed “the bean.”

To prepare for the World Cup, the Cowboys pumped another $350 million into a stadium with an original price tag of $1.2 billon. The video board looks the same, but there were upgrades in the guts of that, along with new carpeting and furniture mostly in premium areas and an overhaul of the fan shop.

“I cannot tell you how many people come to our stadium and say, ‘I can’t believe this is 17 years old,’” Estis said. “People think it feels new. The whole thing’s been great, but it feels like it culminates in this phenomenal match tomorrow.”

FIFA's in charge

Jones had to turn the stadium over to FIFA, which means the governing body got to put up curtains on the huge sliding glass doors on the west end for the only game where the setting sun could have shined into the eyes of the players.

NFL players, including Cowboys, losing footballs in the sun has been an occasional issue each fall. Each time the topic comes up, Jones flatly refuses to consider curtains. He prefers the asthetics and expects coaches and players to make game plans around the setting sun.

It will be too early in the day for the sun to be an issue when Spain and France play for a spot Sunday in the World Cup final at the home of the New York Jets and Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Jones wanted that final, but settled for the consolation prize of the most games, including sharing the semifinals with the home of the Atlanta Falcons, where Argentina and England play Wednesday.

“It’s just another great moment in an unbelievable sports legacy,” said Dan Hunt, co-chair of the local organizing committee and son of the late Lamar Hunt, who was one of Jones' rivals as owner of the Kansas City Chiefs.

“He’s been a world champion,” Dan Hunt said. “He’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He’s hosted Super Bowls, hosted almost everything you can at AT&T Stadium. And this is just another moment.”

That suite spot

Oh, one other thing Jones had to give up — his personal suite at the 50-yard line. Estis said FIFA thought it was perfect for a VIP area.

“We're like, ‘Wait a minute. Are you serious?’” Estis said with a chuckle. “I mean, I understand it. That's why Jerry's suite is there. It's the prime spot.”

Jones is giving up his prime spot for arguably the biggest single global sporting event to come to his venue. He'll just be in a different suite.

“I think I could imagine him being a little emotional about it,” Estis said. “To see him in design meetings and his attention to detail and his care for what the stadium looked and felt like to people, what it looked like from different angles walking up to it. He just he was so involved in the creation of what it is.”

Jones is set to feel the soccer vibe — finally.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The France striker will have to settle for a third-place match and the continuing chase for another Golden Boot award in a tight race with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.

Mbappé, one of the biggest stars of this year's World Cup and one of the game's greatest scorers, just couldn't generate many chances in his team's 2-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Mbappé and Messi have eight goals each so far at this year's tournament. Mbappé, who won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar, holds the first tiebreaker with a 3-2 lead on assists. Messi and defending champion Argentina will play again on Wednesday in the other semifinal match against England.

Both players will then have one more match before the award is decided. France will play the loser of the other semifinal match in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spain will take on the winner in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the final.

“At the end of the day, you take all the glory when you win,” Mbappé said. "When you don’t win ... it’s part of the game. As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility, and I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”

Mbappé had the fewest touches of any forward in the first half with 15. Perhaps his most prominent moment was trying to persuade referee Ivan Barton that the penalty resulting in Spain's first goal shouldn't have been called.

The foul by Lucas Digne on teenager Lamine Yamal stood, and Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty kick in the 22nd minute, put Spain ahead for good.

Mbappé's best chance came in the 67th minute when his shot deflected off Spain defender Marc Cucurella and went just wide. La Roja already had a two-goal lead at that point.

“It’s a team who loves to have control of the game, control of the ball,” Mbappé said. “That’s what we let them do. We let the midfield too much time to play, and at the end of the day they had quality to play. It’s difficult when you don’t change the play of Spain. We weren’t at the level to go to the final.”

The 27-year-old Mbappé was issued a yellow card in the 86th minute when he rushed toward Unai Simón just as the Spain goalkeeper was bending over to pick up the ball. The two collided, sending Simón to the grass.

Mbappé started the match against Spain after exiting in the 77th minute of his team’s 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco, when he scored his eighth goal of the tournament.

Mbappé also scored eight goals four years ago in Qatar, where France lost to Messi and Argentina in a penalty shootout in the final. France beat Croatia to win the World Cup eight years ago in Russia.

“They (France) can punish you at every single moment, so I think the focus in every single minute was key in this game,” Spain midfielder Rodri said. “Unbelievable effort by everyone.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The Spanish team managed a record sixth shutout in seven games so far, winning 2-0 in the semifinals Tuesday against one of the most prolific scorers in World Cup history.

Teenager Lamine Yamal certainly was correct when he said France should fear Spain. That despite FIFA's top-ranked team being led by Mbappé — their captain with 20 goals in his 20 World Cup games before the semifinals — Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, who has a tournament-high five assists.

“We were up against one of the best national teams in the world, but today, they were facing the best team in the world,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot after a heady play by Yamal drew a foul, and Pedro Porro added another goal to put Spain in its second World Cup final.

A day after his 19th birthday, Yamal was denied a goal on a close offside call that came soon after Porro's give-and-go with Dani Olmo in the 58th minute had put Spain up 2-0. But it was Yamal's smart play against a veteran defender that gave Spain the early lead.

Spain will face either defending champion Argentina or England on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the river from New York City.

“So difficult to get to this moment, but we want more," Spain midfielder Rodri said. “We want to win this World Cup.”

After trying to become only the third team to reach three consecutive World Cup finals, France instead will play in the third-place game in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday.

“Spain has been able to defend well,” departing France coach Didier Deschamps said through a translator. “They’ve closed out all the spaces and also we’ve made some technical mistakes. So it is difficult to create problems when the technical level is below standard.”

Argentina and England play Wednesday in Atlanta in the second powerhouse semifinal match.

This win on soccer’s biggest stage marked the third summer in a row that Spain beat France in a tournament semifinal match. Yamal scored in a 2-1 win in the 2024 European Championship semifinals just days before his 17th birthday, and La Roja won 5-4 in Nations League play last year.

Yamal was quick to point out that France should be concerned after Spain's quarterfinal win over Belgium set up another semifinal matchup.

"It’s a team who loves to have control of the game, control of the ball. That’s what we let them do," said Mbappé, who got none of his three shots on target. “It’s difficult when you don’t change the play of Spain.”

Spain has outscored opponents 12-1 since a scoreless draw against surprising Cape Verde to open group play. The lone goal allowed by goalkeeper Unai Simón was in the quarterfinal game against Belgium that snapped his World Cup record of 650 scoreless minutes.

This World Cup run has extended Spain's unbeaten streak in regular time to 37 matches (28 wins and nine draws) since March 2024. That broke the country’s previous record of 35 in a row from 2007-09.

The loss broke France’s record-matching streak of six consecutive World Cup wins, which the team also accomplished in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

Oyarzabal’s penalty kick in the 22nd minute came after Yamal drew a foul when kicked by defender Lucas Digne.

After a poor first touch with his head, Digne was trying to clear the ball when Yamal raced in from behind to challenge in the penalty area. The ball hit off the elbow of the leaping teen before he was kicked by Digne, playing in his 63rd game for France only six days before his 33rd birthday.

Oyarzabal’s fifth goal of this year’s World Cup marked the first time either team had trailed in their seven games in this tournament. It was his 30th goal in 60 international games for Spain.

For the second goal, Porro broke free and received a pass back from Olmo, who got the touch just before getting knocked off his feet by defender Dayot Upamecano.

“We knew that we’re a very tough team, we’re doing things really well," Porro said.

France allowed only two goals in its first six games in this tournament.

Spain had two other real scoring chances in the first half.

There was the a free kick from just beyond the box after Adrien Rabiot drew a yellow card for a foul on Olmo in the eighth minute. Alex Baena’s kick went directly into the wall of French players.

After France goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s attempted clearing pass in the 38th minute instead went straight to Baena, there were several quick passes before Fabian Ruiz's close-range shot was denied on a nifty play by Upamecano.

Mbappé, who is tied with Argentina great Lionel Messi with a tournament-high eight goals and leads the race for the Golden Boot on the assist tiebreaker, still has the third-place match to add to his tally. Messi has two games left in his sixth World Cup to try to win the Golden Boot and also increase his overall record of 21 goals at the tournament.

“As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” Mbappé said. "We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island’s ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries.

Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs. A solution for fuel imports is not yet in sight.

The state-owned Electric Union reported that a problem with a generating unit in the eastern province of Holguín caused “a sudden frequency change,” resulting in the SEN blackout around midday.

Both the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Electric Union indicated that “protocols for its restoration have been activated,” meaning that “micro-islands” are being established and then interconnected to provide power to priority locations, such as hospitals and food processing plants.

By the afternoon, some parts of the capital Havana had power restored, The Associated Press confirmed, while authorities indicated that 4% of the city had received electricity. The provinces of Guantánamo and Cienfuegos reported that they had begun distributing power to their hospitals, and Matanzas confirmed that power had been restored to the city’s historic center.

Last week, two nationwide blackouts — on Monday and Friday — left more than 9 million Cubans in the dark, adding to two others in March, as well as several regional outages.

The blackouts have a significant impact on the population and, combined with the energy embargo, have led to transportation limitations, reduced work hours and flight cancellations, in addition to serious public health consequences.

The power outages also affect basic activities such as cooking, water supply, and internet and telephone service.

On the streets of Havana, the blackout didn’t surprise residents.

“These blackouts are normal in Cuba now. If something else happened, it would be strange,” said Roberto Liana, 69, a retail store clerk.

Meanwhile, many were trying to adapt to the circumstances, like Sayli Aguilera, 25, a mother of two. “We’re improvising and doing what we can,” she said.

Many families have installed solar backup systems such as panels and portable batteries, and the main mode of transportation for the population consists of electric motorcycles and tricycles equipped with photovoltaic power.

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

A federal immigration agent fatally shot a motorist just south of Maine's largest city on Monday, the second time in a week that ICE has used deadly force on American soil and at least the ninth death since President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown. It was the first for Maine, a Democratic-led state with a relatively large immigrant population that Trump targeted earlier in the year immediately after two high-profile ICE shootings in Minnesota.

The agents involved in the Maine incident were not using body cameras, and the victim, a 26-year-old Colombian national, was not the target of their probe, officials said.

The shooting sparked a swift and aggressive backlash from Democrats, who are still reeling from the sexual assault allegation that forced their party's Senate nominee, Graham Platner, to quit the race late last week. Platner denied the allegation, which many former allies described as credible.

Democratic officials are scheduled to select a Platner replacement at a July 25 convention, leaving the party's nominee just a few months to try to unseat a longtime incumbent in a race seen as critical if Democrats are to win back control of the Senate.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, several would-be Collins' challengers descended upon the scene — and her office — to speak out.

Senate hopeful Democrat Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director, drew a direct link from the shooting to the Republican senator's oversight of ICE's budget as chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

“She's got power, but she didn’t use it to rein in a rogue agency, and instead gave them a blank check to kill,” Shah said in a press conference outside Collins' office on Tuesday. “It is time to abolish this broken agency. It is time to fire the leadership that has let it run wild. And it is time to retire politicians like Susan Collins who have made this lawlessness possible."

Collins is in Washington this week for Senate business.

Phoebe Keller, a spokesperson for the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Collins worked to secure specific ICE “protections” in the federal spending bill signed into law at the end of April. They included $20 million for body cameras, $2 million for deescalation training and $20 million more for increased oversight of detention facilities.

At the time, Senate Democrats were demanding a series of reforms that would have required ICE agents to wear body cameras, restricted the use of face masks and banned enforcement actions near sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals and courthouses.

The Republican-controlled Senate ultimately rejected the reforms.

Collins says she spoke with DHS Secretary

“While the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions that I spoke with DHS Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops," Collins said in a brief statement Tuesday.

The ICE shooting and the immediate backlash in a state Trump lost by 7 points suggests that Collins may have only begun to answer tough questions about the situation and her role in funding the agency.

Democrats, who acknowledged that the Platner scandal likely makes their fight to defeat Collins more difficult, were nonetheless hopeful that the shooting will shift the conversation back to Collins' record. The Republican has represented the state in the Senate since 1997 and regularly touts her power as the Appropriations Committee chair as a reason to keep her in the Senate for another six years.

“This tragedy refocuses the conversation from Platner fallout to the real world impact of Susan Collins voting to give ICE tens of billions of dollars with zero reforms,” said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. "The impact will be real.”

Earlier this month, an ICE agent fatally shot a man in Houston after he attempted to evade arrest in his vehicle during an operation. In January, two people were shot and killed by federal officers within days of each other in Minnesota.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said earlier this year that Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to an AP-NORC poll. The poll suggested political independents were increasingly uncomfortable with Trump's tactics.

Hundreds attend vigil after Maine killing

On Tuesday, the shooting dominated the political conversation on the ground in Maine.

The day after a vigil turned out hundreds in Portland, a group of several dozen protestors gathered near an ICE facility in Scarborough and condemned Collins for supporting legislation to expand funding for ICE. Protesters waved signs stating “Stop the murder” and “End this terror.”

“Does anyone here feel safer because this man was shot in cold blood?” said Kelli Brennan, co-president of the Maine State Nurses Association. “Does the senseless murder of this man make any of our lives better in any way?”

Former Maine Senate leader and logger by trade, Troy Jackson, now a candidate to replace Platner, declared “ICE out” at the Portland vigil and held an “Abolish ICE” sign at a protest outside Collins' office on Monday.

“Immigrant communities are living under constant threat from an agency that operates with cruelty and impunity,” Jackson said during an online progressive organizing meeting Monday night. “We need accountability and leaders who believe every person deserves dignity, safety and due process.”

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, who was also in the organizing meeting, called the shooting “murder” and said “we must abolish ICE now.”

“This is the second person ICE has killed in less than a week, the latest attack from Trump’s masked, unaccountable thugs,” Markey said, noting he voted against the creation of ICE in 2003.

Less than a week after Platner's exit, however, he is still a part of the conversation — even if he is not the focus anymore.

“You poured your hearts, your time, and your energy into building this movement alongside another candidate than me. And I know that there’s real pain, anger, and disappointment. And I’m not going to try and minimize that,” Jackson said. “But look, this movement has always been bigger than one person."

He continued: "We can defeat Susan Collins and elect a senator who will never forget what side they’re on.”

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AP writers Matt Brown in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed.

Heavy rainfall fell across several areas along U.S. Highway 90 from Hondo to Uvalde and northward into Bandera County.

>> ⚠️FLOOD RISK CONTINUES⚠️: Heavy rain has fallen overnight, especially west of San Antonio

According to the Uvalde Police Department, officers conducted 24 water rescues on Tuesday. A police spokesperson said residents rescued from high-water rescues have been relocated to the William R. Mitchell Uvalde County Fairplex, which has been set up as a temporary shelter.

Others who need to relocate to a safe area can also go to the temporary shelter.

Rounds of heavy rainfall continued across the area through the morning hours. More rounds could potentially happen later Tuesday.

Read also:

• Map: Emergency road closures in San Antonio, Bexar County, Hill Country and Texas

The Republican president has been guarded about what he plans to say in the 9 p.m. Thursday speech, scheduled as he confronts a collapsing deal to end the war with Iran. He also faces numerous domestic issues, including recent deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Asked for a preview of the speech on Tuesday, Trump offered scant detail but said he has “really big news.”

“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” Trump said in the Oval Office. He refused to go further, saying he wanted to “save it” for the moment, though he also hinted he would be talking about a hodgepodge of issues.

“We’ll be discussing other things, too,” Trump said, without elaborating. “It’s going to be a very big announcement.”

Trump has used the power of the primetime presidential address — typically reserved for milestones — to deliver politically charged speeches before, including one in December when he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats. But Thursday's address seems poised to go even further, using the moment to amplify election lies before an audience of millions in an effort to boost Republican prospects before midterms that threaten to hobble Trump for the remainder of his term.

On Monday, when asked about the speech, Trump repeated baseless claims of voter fraud in the Los Angeles primary race for mayor. During the interview with conservative outlet Newsmax, Trump said Republican Spencer Pratt lost his primary bid because of fraud, citing in part California's slow vote count.

Federal prosecutors said they were opening fraud investigations in the state last month after Trump drew attention to the claim.

The president's preoccupation with voting fraud and election security dates back at least to 2016, when he refused to say whether he would accept defeat to Democrat Hillary Clinton. After he won, he convened a voting integrity commission to support his claims that widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote, though the commission disbanded without uncovering any such evidence.

Four years later, after he lost the 2020 election to Biden, Trump again claimed cheating and zeroed in on the Democrat's narrow win in Georgia. Trump called the state's secretary of state and pressured him to “find 11,780 votes,” just enough votes to overturn Biden's victory in the state. He, along with than a dozen allies, was indicted in the state though the charges were later dropped.

Repeated audits and reviews -- manyrun by Republicans, including Trump’s own then-attorney general -- have found no significant fraud occurred in 2020.

Before winning in 2024, Trump was again laying the groundwork to claim cheating if he lost. After returning to office, he stocked his administration with officials who back his false claims of 2020 election fraud.

Trump made voting regulation central in this term

Frequently declaring that he won the White House “three times,” Trump has made voting regulation a core issue during his second term, demanding legislation that would require voter ID and sharply limit mail-in voting. Facing midterm races that will decide control of Capitol Hill, Trump has stirred new claims to cast doubt on election results that could challenge his power in Washington.

Earlier this year, FBI agents raided elections offices in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing materials from the 2020 election. Tulsi Gabbard, then Trump’s director of national intelligence, traveled to Atlanta to oversee the execution of the search warrant.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, campaigning in Georgia for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and governor's candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, smiled Tuesday when asked about Trump potentially rehashing the 2020 election in his national address.

He called it a strategy “for losers.”

“I think people are exhausted by having conversations about elections that happened six years ago, that we have the answer to,” Moore said. “He continues to bring this up because he cannot get out of his mind that he actually could have lost.”

Beyond Georgia, Trump has widely taken aim at states that allow voters to submit ballots by mail. Trump said he called a U.S. attorney in California and demanded scrutiny of the governor's primary last month as votes were being counted.

Last week, Trump ousted the remaining members of the federal Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan panel that resisted his efforts to require would-be voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering.

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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

Down the street, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to the White House after strongly backing the political novice’s bid for office. Iraq has been under pressure to disarm Iran-backed militias that attacked U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities after the U.S. and Israel instigated the Iran war.

The U.S. launched more strikes on Iran early Tuesday after Trump vowed to blockade Iranian ports and charge 20% of their cargo for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Later Tuesday, he said he was backing away from the tolls and pursuing another arrangement following discussions with Gulf allies.

And in Maine, protesters are raising unanswered questions about the ninth fatal shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents since Trump's immigration crackdown began.

The Latest:

Trump doesn’t rule out using ground forces in Iran

The president suggested he wasn’t interested in continuing negotiations immediately with Iran because “they lie.”

He also said the last contact he had with negotiators was an hour ago.

Trump said U.S. forces had been careful not to harm Iran’s civilian population with strikes up until now, but he warned Iran: “You better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left.”

He didn’t rule out using U.S. ground forces to ensure that his key objectives are met, especially when it comes to removing Iran’s enriched uranium.

“Sometimes you need a ground campaign,” Trump said, though he also suggested that “other people might do it for us” without elaborating.

Trump dials up the bravado against Iran

In an interview with the Fox News Channel, the president said the U.S. plans to launch at least two more days of strikes against Iran and that such attacks will continue “until I say it’s enough.”

He likened Iran to “a great boxer.”

“You think you have them beat, then they’ll come back and give you a shot,” Trump said.

The president said U.S. forces would “hit them very hard tonight, very hard tomorrow night” and begin targeting power plants and bridges as soon as next week unless Iran comes to the table and negotiates — a threat for escalated bombing that the president has made for months.

Briefing requested from Homeland Security to discuss ICE use of force policies

The Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee has requested a bipartisan briefing for next week from the Department of Homeland Security to discuss ICE’s use of force policies and the deployment of body cameras.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who represents a congressional district on New York’s Long Island, said Homeland Security hadn’t yet responded to the request.

“You had two shootings this week. I don’t think anybody wants that. I know for a fact, Secretary Mullin doesn’t want that,” Garbarino said.

White House launches cybersecurity clearinghouse to rush AI-found software fixes

The White House has established a cybersecurity clearinghouse to help identify and quickly fix vulnerabilities in software that artificial intelligence models have detected.

The clearinghouse is named “GOLD EAGLE” and was developed as part of a June 2 executive order signed by Trump to provide oversight for rapidly evolving AI technologies.

After AI models such as Anthropic’s Mythos exposed weaknesses in classified government computer systems, the administration has sought to find ways to protect against the risk cyberattacks and intrusions made possible by AI.

The Trump administration has stressed that the U.S. is leading in the AI race, though the claim comes with the caveat that there is no apparent finish line to cross.

National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said the clearinghouse was officially launched on July 2 by the departments of Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security in consultation with the White House.

Fears of burnout for Supreme Court’s security staff

Kagan says that when she joined the court in 2010, the need for security was vastly different. She drove herself to work, and security personnel only came along for high-profile speeches.

That started to change after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, and the need ramped up after the leak of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Today, each justice has a security team of four to eight people, and they’re having to work overtime to provide the level of security needed, raising fears of burnout, Barrett said.

Supreme Court now requires NDAs for employees, Justice Barrett says

She said the move and others are aimed at controlling leaks of internal deliberations.

She said the court has long required confidentiality agreements, but recently upgraded to nondisclosure agreements with carveouts for whistleblowers.

The documents serve as an “additional check” on inappropriate or illegal information sharing.

They come after the 2022 leak of the draft opinion overturning abortion as a constitutional right, a major breach for the nation’s highest court.

The new NDA requirement was previously reported by the New York Times.

Collins calls attacks on judiciary ‘appalling’

Republican Sen. Susan Collins said rhetoric from public figures attacking judges is “appalling.”

The Maine senator said officials on both sides of the aisle have gone after the judiciary. Collins, who is up for reelection this year, pointed to examples of criticism of the conservative-majority court from the left.

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, meanwhile, highlighted Trump’s targeting of justices who ruled against him and struck down his wide-ranging tariffs.

Trump administration orders ICE to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings

Administration officials issued the order after two deadly shootings in little over a week, a person familiar with the matter told the AP.

The order Tuesday came a day after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian man in Maine, renewing criticism of the agency’s tactics during enforcement operations. The suspension is not absolute and there’s room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations.

The Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer, “fearing for public safety,” shot and killed the man Monday in the city of Biddeford.

New York City’s mayor calls for abolishment of ICE

Zohran Mamdani made the demand in a post Tuesday on X in response to the fatal shooting of a man in Biddeford, Maine.

“ICE is killing our neighbors,” Mamdani wrote. “ICE cannot be reformed. Abolish ICE.”

Outgoing Colombian president slams fatal shooting of citizen in Maine

In a scathing post on X, Gustavo Petro of Colombia described the fatal shooting of a Colombian citizen in Biddeford as a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”

Petro, who has openly quarreled with Trump, called on him to provide Colombia with an explanation for the killing. He accused ICE officers of shooting the Colombian national “for believing him to be an inferior being without rights.”

Petro, who will leave office in less than a month, said he expects Colombia’s foreign service to pursue legal action against those responsible for the shooting.

Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia’s Trump-backed president-elect, has not commented publicly on the case.

Official vying for Pentagon budget job skirts questions about Iran war costs

Prime Minister al-Zaidi noted that it’s “my first visit to the United States of America” and it’s “not just like any visit.”

He said from the Oval Office that the visit is about announcing an “economic partnership” with the United States. Al-Zaidi said all remaining U.S. forces will be out of Iraq come Sept. 30 “while U.S. companies will be inside Iraq” and investing in the country.

He also thanked Trump for extending a “warm welcome,” which included a last-minute offer of lunch.

“I have no idea what we’re going to be eating, but it will be fine,” Trump said before ending the joint press availability.

Iraqi leader al-Zaidi says his first US visit is about ‘economic partnership’

Prime Minister al-Zaidi noted that it’s “my first visit to the United States of America” and it’s “not just like any visit.”

He said from the Oval Office that the visit is about announcing an “economic partnership” with the United States. Al-Zaidi said all remaining U.S. forces will be out of Iraq come Sept. 30 “while U.S. companies will be inside Iraq” and investing in the country.

He also thanked Trump for extending a “warm welcome,” which included a last-minute offer of lunch.

“I have no idea what we’re going to be eating, but it will be fine,” Trump said before ending the joint press availability.

Trump says his Thursday address will touch on ‘free and fair elections’ but reveals little else

Asked for a sneak peek of his scheduled national address, the president said it will be “really, really big news” but added he’d “rather save it.”

“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections you don’t have a country,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “We’ll be discussing other things, too. But it’s going to be a very big announcement.”

The Republican president has said little else about the address, which he announced on social media on Monday. His post said only that he will be “making a Speech to the Nation on Thursday evening” at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Asked about it on Monday, Trump quickly pivoted to discussing what he called a “busy news day,” talking about the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham and other topics.

Trump hails report showing inflation declining

The president blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for the rate of inflation having spiked to three-year high just last month. Biden, Trump said, “could create inflation like anybody.”

But Trump cheered a report Tuesday showing that prices dropped 0.4% from May to June, the largest monthly drop in four year and way down from a year-over-year gain of 4.2% in May.

Trump added of inflation, “It’s not my fault. We are putting it to sleep.”

“The report was incredible. Inflation is way down,” Trump said, before urging voters, “Remember that for the midterms.”

“Nobody else could do it,” Trump said.

Trump says FBI is ‘wasting their time’ on Sen. Graham’s death

Trump said he doesn’t know why the FBI is looking into Graham’s death.

The president said the late South Carolina senator had “a problem” and that what ultimately took his life “is actually something that’s very hard to detect.”

A preliminary medical examiner’s report said Graham had a tear in his aorta.

Trump said he’s watched medical reports about Graham’s case and had White House doctors explain to him what happened. “And this is something that is very almost undetectable,” Trump said, adding that there’s not much that can be done about a torn aorta.

“So I don’t see a lot of evil there. I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along, and I don’t think the FBI, I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing it,” Trump said of an investigation.

Trump says Gulf allies asked him to move from tolls to trade deals in Strait of Hormuz

The president explained his thinking in backing away from a 20% toll on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying he was called by “kings and emirs” and other leaders who suggested an alternate arrangement.

“They said we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Trump said he prefers that arrangement to the tolls he previously said the U.S. would impose. “I like that actually, because I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait,” Trump said.

Trump praises Iraqi PM, says he’s a ‘great leader’ who will hold office for a ‘long time’

Trump said he and Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had a “great meeting” in the Oval Office and will now have lunch together because of their “tremendous chemistry.” Lunch wasn’t on the original schedule.

“We’re going to do it on the fly,” Trump told reporters about the meal.

Trump heaped praise on al-Zaidi in front of reporters, calling him a “great fan of America.”

“He’s a great leader. I think he’s going to be there for a long period of time,” Trump said, emphasizing “long.”

“He’s changed that country so much, especially toward their thinking about the United States,” the president said.

Trump also commented on the prime minister’s youth and looks.

“He’s young and he’s handsome, which I don’t like. I’m not happy about that,” Trump joked.

Justices Kagan, Barrett split on enforcement mechanism for Supreme Court’s new code of ethics

All nine justices agreed to the code in 2023 amid a storm of criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.

Kagan and Barrett both said the court is taking the code seriously, but Kagan also supported creating a way to enforce it. The liberal-leaning justice acknowledged it could be tricky since any enforcement would have to come from the judicial branch and the Supreme Court sits at its head.

Barrett, who is part of the court’s conservative majority, said she wasn’t so sure. There are significant questions over who would do the enforcing and how, and it’s not clear whether there is a way to address them effectively, she said.

How does the court decide emergency appeals?

The relatively quick process of deciding emergency docket cases centers on whether the petitioner will eventually win, and how they could be legally harmed if the court doesn’t step in, Barrett said.

The justices declined to talk about specific cases, including suits where the court sided with the Trump administration and allowed cuts to the federal workforce to proceed.

The court often begins by considering the case from the petitioner’s point of view, Barrett said, though Kagan pointed out the court can also consider how the other side might be affected if the court intervenes.

Supreme Court justices address rise in ‘shadow docket’ appeals

Kagan and Barrett address the rise in appeals on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket.

While the court can’t control how many are filed, Kagan points out that some high-profile decisions may have encouraged attorneys to file more appeals. Those appeals are decided without full briefing or arguments, Kagan said, and “we should consider those downsides.”

Iraqi PM arrives for White House meeting with Trump

Trump was waiting outside the entrance to the West Wing to greet the prime minister when he arrived. They shook hands and exchanged small talk before entering the White House with their arms around each other’s backs.

“Love Iraq,” Trump replied to a reporter’s question about his message to the people of Iraq.

The leaked Dobbs opinion’s shadow on the Supreme Court’s security concerns

Kagan said threats against the Supreme Court increased after the leak of a draft of the opinion that later overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, and have continued to grow since then.

In 2022, shortly after the leak, a would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties. Chief Justice John Roberts has condemned the threats to all U.S. judges, saying during a speech in March that criticism of judicial opinions is understandable, but personally directed hostility is “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

Supreme Court justices testify before Congress on increasing security funding in rare appearance

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Tuesday that a sharp increase in threats targeting her and other justices has increasingly encroached on their personal and family lives.

During a rare appearance before Congress, Barrett said she had to wear a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son.

“I didn’t expect that performing this service would put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was, why I had to wear one,” she said. The hearing marks the first time justices have testified before Congress since 2019.

▶ Read more

Warsh vows to crush inflation but offers no hint on the Fed’s next move

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s written testimony to Congress says the Fed will make high inflation “a thing of the past,” but provides no signal about the central bank’s next steps.

Fed policymakers “have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation,” Warsh will say when he testifies Tuesday before a House committee. “And we share a resolute commitment to restoring price stability.”

Yet about half of the 19 members of the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee expect they will have to raise the central bank’s key rate by the end of the year to defeat inflation, while nearly half have penciled in no change or even a rate cut. Warsh faces a stiff challenge in reconciling the divided committee while navigating a rapidly-changing economic outlook.

▶ Read more

Lindsey Graham’s sister prepares for her Senate swearing-in

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon as his temporary replacement after his unexpected death over the weekend, and will serve out the rest of his term ending in January.

Graham earned a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling and has worked as an optician and at various state agencies. She’ll be the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate.

“It is such an honor,” she said, as dozens of Graham staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her during a statehouse news conference. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

▶ Read more

Trump to welcome Iraq’s new prime minister to the White House

Al-Zaidi has been under pressure to disarm a network of Iran-backed militias operating in the country, some of which launched attacks on U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran.

Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Chatham House think tank, expects that “the U.S. will put significant pressure on al-Zaidi” to move ahead with disarmament “and Zaidi will respond by saying, ‘But I need support — intelligence support, technical support, armed support.’”

“There is a scenario in which, if the Iraqi government starts going after these groups, they will also go after the government,” Mansour said. “And this is a scenario that I think that the Iraqi government is apprehensive about.”

‘Dangerous.’ ‘Brazen.’ ‘Unprecedented.’ ‘Uncharted territory’

Reaction has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving Trump’s new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The White House Correspondents Association holds its rescheduled dinner celebrating the First Amendment in less than two weeks, with Trump planning to attend. The first was scuttled when a shooter opened fire in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill the president.

“The WHCA condemns any act of intimidation against journalists, including attempts to pressure them into revealing sources,” said a statement from the group’s president, Weijia Jiang.

▶ Read more

What does the Supreme Court want from Congress?

Security is central to the court’s budget request of $228 million — roughly 10% more than the last fiscal year.

Nearly $15 million of that would go to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for each.

Another $2 million would fund more Supreme Court police officers and an off-site residential security post to speed emergency responses.

The U.S. Marshals Service reported 564 threats to the hundreds of federal judges around the country during the last fiscal year, and justices have not been immune: Barrett’s security detail had to defuse a fake 911 call at her house, and her sister was the victim of a bomb threat. A would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Chief Justice John Roberts has condemned the threats, saying it’s “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

June inflation report shows complicated outlook for Trump on economy

The White House will have reasons to rejoice in the June release of the consumer price index, as prices fell 0.4% on a monthly basis in large part because of tumbling oil prices tied to the now deteriorated ceasefire with Iran.

But prices still rose 3.5% over the past 12 months, well above the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2%.

And the monthly decline could be short-lived, with oil prices jumping again as fighting intensifies in the Middle East.

Prices for the global benchmark of Brent crude oil have risen nearly 8% in the past five days of trading to about $81 a barrel on Tuesday, a sign that inflation could soon pick up again as the American public begins to focus on the November midterm elections.

Attacks resume across the Mideast

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck several areas in Iran, targeting “coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities.” Iran acknowledged the strikes, but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. military said.

Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Trump called it “another major attack” and said the U.S. was “putting the blockade back.”

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and three tankers that traveled through the strait.

Here's Trump's rationale for charging tolls in the strait

U.S. Central Command said on social media that it “will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas” beginning Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT, and will “support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.”

A notice to mariners released Monday by the U.S. military warned of using force if ships don’t comply. It also said the military will let through humanitarian shipments.

The statement follows Trump declaring that the U.S. would be reinstating the naval blockade and charging a 20% toll on eligible cargo.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” Trump said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, would not say whether the military would be collecting tolls, and referred questions to the White House.

Trump to address the nation on Thursday

The president posted on social media that he would be “making a Speech to the Nation” at 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

Trump appeared to refer to himself in the third person in the post.

He did not disclose the details of his planned speech, but the announcement comes after he said he would block Iran-related ships from traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and that the U.S. would charge a 20% fee on all cargo going through the waterway.

Asked in an interview with Hugh Hewitt what his Thursday address will be about, Trump made it sound like nothing out of the ordinary.

“It’s just going to be a speech like a lot of my speeches,” he said, without offering any more detail.

It all starts with diabetes and obesity and evolves from there.

“One half of San Antonio is either pre-diabetic or diabetic, and then you have the obesity. It’s almost endemic,” said Dr. Sherwyn Schwartz, the longtime senior endocrinologist for the Evolution Research Group.

KSAT has done several stories about Schwartz’s research that found a large percentage of those patients end up with fat around their liver.

That can progress to a liver disease called NASH, which stands for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Its symptoms are usually silent. Once leg swelling, belly boating and yellow eyes show up, the disease is severe — 20% to 30% of people with NASH end up with scarring on their liver, called cirrhosis, which can be deadly.

“It can shorten your lifespan by 10 to 20 years and increase the risk of liver cancer by 17 times,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the point is to catch NASH before it turns into cirrhosis. He said if caught early enough, there are treatments to keep the disease from developing.

“The only way to make a diagnosis of fatty liver to NASH is a liver biopsy. That’s a puncture. It’s invasive and it’s expensive,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz and Dr. Greg Gonzaba are both longtime experts on this in San Antonio. They are one of just four teams chosen by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health to find out an easier way to diagnose NASH.

The research is being run out of Gonzaba’s primary care clinic in San Antonio.

“I’m honored and humbled to be part of this national project that can help millions of Americans,” Gonzaba said.

The subject is personal to Gonzaba, who lost a close friend and many others to NASH.

“My friend from medical school, a 53-year-old physician in Austin, a medical director for Seaton and he passed away from fatty liver disease,” Gonzaba said.

Now, he’s determined to make change.

Gonzaba and his team are doing scans and blood tests as part of this research, trying to find a biomarker or indicator that someone has NASH and to what degree.

“To make an analogy, an A1C is a test that screens and or we use to track diabetes. If we could find something very non-invasive and simple like that for NASH, that would be ideal,” he said.

They’re hoping at least 200 people in San Antonio will sign up to be a part of their study.

Anyone who is diabetic and overweight may qualify for the study, meaning they could get their own health checked and help keep their community healthy in the future.

To see if you qualify, call 210-319-4883.

Beyond the study, Gonzaba encourages people to get to the doctor for regular checkups, and request liver scans if they are at risk for fatty liver.

He also encourages people to get some exercise and eat healthy to avoid any diabetes or liver disease progression.

Related stories on KSAT:

• Doctor comes out of retirement to help solve ‘silent killer’ fatty liver
• Hundreds call to get scanned for fatty liver disease after KSAT story airs
• San Antonio doctor developing possible first treatment for fatty liver disease

The guest of honor? An orange traffic cone.

Tuesday’s arrival of the “Boston Cone” marked the latest chapter in the city's unlikely love affair with Scotland’s Tartan Army, whose habit of placing traffic cones atop statues during the team's World Cup run last month turned the humble orange cone into one of the tournament’s defining symbols.

“I have to admit, this is probably — yes, it is — my first official welcoming ceremony for a traffic cone,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in the airport's Terminal E, before signing her name to the cone. “But it’s a pretty special one, isn’t it? Because this cone tells the story of what happened this summer. What happened in Boston, what happened in Massachusetts.”

“And special thanks to the Scots for drinking all the beer,” she added to laughter. “I do promise you, when you return … we will never again run out of beer in Massachusetts.”

During Scottish fans’ World Cup visit, Boston bars struggled to keep up with the Tartan Army’s thirst, with some running out of beer and scrambling for emergency deliveries. The fans transformed parts of Boston into an unofficial outpost of Scotland, filling downtown with bagpipes, songs and chants while bright orange traffic cones sprouted atop some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks — from Samuel Adams outside Faneuil Hall to Red Auerbach outside TD Garden, former Mayor Kevin White near Quincy Market and even the beloved Make Way for Ducklings statues in the Public Garden.

“There are still some traffic cones atop our most important statues,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joked Tuesday, recalling how Boston had “unofficially become New Scotland.”

The official commemorative cone, decorated with illustrations celebrating Boston and Scotland and the slogan “No Boston, No Party,” will spend the next week visiting landmarks across Massachusetts to raise money for mental health charities before returning home to Scotland.

The tradition dates to Glasgow, where placing bright orange traffic cones atop public statues began as a late-night prank in the 1980s before evolving into an unofficial symbol of the country’s irreverent humor. The best-known example is the Duke of Wellington statue in the city center, where the cone has become so iconic that repeated efforts to remove it have been met with public opposition.

“It’s an in-joke that’s gone too far, actually,” one of the cone's Scottish escorts, Danny Campbell, said, laughing as he stood beside the cone in a kilt. “But no, it isn’t a joke. This is a metaphor for life.”

Campbell said people can become consumed by “going to our jobs and cooking sausages and all the sort of serious stuff that adults have to do” and lose sight of what matters.

“That’s what our countrymen represented when they came here,” he said, speaking of Scottish fans' stay in Boston. “They left stomachs and cheeks sore from laughing, they cleaned up after themselves, they spread joy and these people came together with humor and they built relationships with each other.”

“This is not just a silly cone,” Campbell said. “It means love. It means love, and that is the whole point.”

___ See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Supporters of Ukraine have been working for more than a year to pass a bill that would impose steep tariffs on goods from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports. They unveiled a revised measure Tuesday with the goal of depriving Russia of money it uses to fund its war against Ukraine.

Some lawmakers worried the original bill was too broad and could harm the economies of some of the U.S.'s strongest allies that have also helped Ukraine. The White House wanted to ensure the president had adequate flexibility to waive sanctions when it is the national interest to do so. The revised bill attempts to address both concerns.

The final bill more narrowly applies the tariffs to the world's top five purchasers of Russia oil or natural gas, according to a summary. China and India are at the top of that list, sponsors said. It also dramatically reduces the tariffs from a blanket 500% to up to 100%, and it provides exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce those imports.

The bill also includes sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, and Russian financial institutions and energy projects. It would also expand U.S. sanctions to target older, reflagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and energy revenues.

Graham said he was making progress with Trump

Graham and colleagues who had been working on the legislation issued a statement Friday announcing that significant progress had been made in talks with the Trump administration. The senator passed away late Saturday before the revised bill could be unveiled.

Graham had just returned from Ukraine and discussed the sanctions bill with President Donald Trump in a call shortly before his death.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who was working with Graham on the legislation, said he would be in favor of naming the bill after Graham.

“It's part of his legacy,” Blumenthal said.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Monday on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bring the sanctions bill to the floor immediately “in honor of Lindsey,” saying “it will pass overwhelmingly and help our allies in Ukraine.”

Thune said he was “hopeful we can make that happen."

“It would certainly be an incredible legacy for him if, in fact, we can find a path forward. It’ll take Democrats and Republicans here in the Senate to do that,” Thune said on CNN.

The bill has support from more than two dozen senators so far and aides said the list was growing. The House passed a much different bill last month that included more than $1 billion in security and reconstruction aid for Ukraine as well as making another $8 billion available for Ukraine’s defense through loans.

Blumenthal said he spoke with Graham last week about the progress he had made in talks with the White House.

“He was absolutely ecstatic. You know, I’ve never heard him quite as exuberant.”

Lawmakers want to act quickly

Graham traveled to Ukraine last week and offered the country reason to be optimistic, telling reporters that sweeping, hard-hitting new economic sanctions against Russia were finally within reach. He said he would be heading back to Washington to meet with bipartisan leaders to advance the proposal.

Lawmakers said no one had done more to advance the sanctions bill than Graham. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said Graham was overjoyed when Trump gave the nod to move forward.

“He did a lot of big things, but this one he believed would have the largest impact, would make the biggest difference,” Britt said.

Senators said the war has generated a heavy human and economic cost for both nations, but Ukraine has momentum on its side.

“Unfortunately, if the Kremlin is able to fund its war machine through the sale of oil and gas, it's going to be able to keep going, and that's what this bill is going to do," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. "It's going to stop those purchases. It's going to make clear those purchases come with real costs."

It's unclear when the bill will come up for a vote in the Senate, but Blumenthal said Thune has made clear he's ready to move “when we have the votes.”

“And I think we have the votes,” Blumenthal said.

Late Friday night, Mayor Janeshia Grider posted a video to the city’s Facebook page.

Grider said the vote to remove City Council member Susan Street during Thursday’s meeting happened because the council believed Street’s conduct was disruptive.

“The behavior cited included repeated interruptions during another council member’s speaking time, anger and rudeness directed towards staff,” Grider said. “The conduct was found to directly interfere with the orderly transaction of city business. This action was not taken lightly.”

Grider also said she had heard from several citizens over the years who reported feeling “uncomfortable, at times intimidated and disappointed by the lack of decorum” during council meetings.

Street was elected to Kirby city council last year. The council members represent approximately 8,000 residents.

KSAT Investigates reached out to Street on Tuesday for a response to the mayor’s comments. This story will be updated with her response.

Grider posted the video instead of responding to KSAT Investigates reporter Daniela Ibarra’s emailed request for comment, which was sent Friday morning.

On Monday, KSAT reporter Pachatta Pope reached out to Grider for an interview. Grider said she did not want to speak with KSAT and accused the station of twisting the narrative.

Grider later called KSAT and asked another email request for an interview. Before KSAT had the chance to send the email, Grider shared the following statement:

“As Mayor of the City of Kirby, I am deeply concerned about what I believe is a growing culture of intimidation in our community. Based on what has been reported to me by residents and city employees, a small group of fewer than 15 individuals has created an environment where people are afraid to speak publicly.

This goes beyond political disagreement. I have received reports of ongoing bullying and harassment directed at community members, city staff, and public officials. I have also been told of incidents involving people contacting employers and an employee reporting unexpected visitors at their home. That is disturbing and unacceptable.

One resident told me, “I live alone” and another “I don’t want them to come after my family.” No one should feel afraid to participate in local government or voice their opinion.

I encourage the media to review the public community pages and social media posts for themselves. Do your own research and examine the pattern of conduct. Kirby deserves respectful dialogue not fear, intimidation, or harassment."

Kirby Mayor Janeshia Grider

This is not the first time Grider has refused to respond to KSAT Investigates.

In 2025, KSAT Investigates caught up with Grider before a city council meeting after she refused to answer five requests for an interview about rehiring Brian Rowland to serve as Kirby’s city manager.

KSAT uncovered that the city had fired Rowland the previous year after employee complaints, but hired him back with a pay raise.

Kirby council member removed from July 9 meeting by police

During the July 9 meeting, the council discussed an agenda item about the Texas Water Development Board.

Street asked Rowland why an application did not have an amount listed for how much financial assistance the city was requesting to extend water lines.

“Resolutions come through all the time with empty spaces on them,” Street said. “I’ve just never called it out before. I’m doing it now.”

If the resolution did not pass, Rowland said the city would not be able to apply for the grant.

“I’m just asking if you can fill these in next time. Would that be possible?” Street responded. “Would it be possible to give us the appropriate information prior to the meeting?”

Grider asked Street if she was finished.

“Not if you’re about to come after me,” Street said. “No.”

Grider told Street that she was on her second warning.

“You just seem to be rushing me because you sounded like you were about to tell me I was being inappropriate or something,” Street replied. “I’m pointing out the actions that are not getting taken to fill in the information for council members who do not have access to [Rowland’s] office on a daily basis.”

Street said her questions to Rowland often go unanswered.

Off camera, a man suggested that the council could bring forward a motion to expel Street from the meeting.

Grider gave Street a third warning, but she did not indicate what the warning was for.

In a 4-3 vote, council voted to expel Street from the meeting, but a reason was not given.

According to footage from the meeting, Grider asked a Kirby police officer to escort Street out of the meeting. Video posted by the city showed a Kirby police officer walking up to the platform next to Street, but the footage stopped before she left.

In March, city council was set to talk about and possibly take action on removing Street from Kirby’s city council.

Records obtained by KSAT Investigates show Rowland made a formal complaint against Street. He accused her of creating a hostile work environment, which she denied.

“They’re coming after me because I ask a lot of questions that they don’t want to answer,” Street said at the time. “I ask them in council, I email the city manager and ask questions and I don’t get the answers.”

However, questions remain about whether the council has the authority to remove an elected official.

While the city manager declined to comment, UTSA political science professor Jon Taylor told KSAT Investigates that removing a council member in a city with Kirby’s form of government is not a simple process.

Under the Kirby City Charter, a removal would require a recall election — which is triggered by a petition signed by registered voters.

If enough valid signatures are collected, the issue would then go before voters for a final decision.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

On Wednesday, July 15, all Bexar County residents can visit the zoo for $8. The zoo is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Locals Day zoo tickets can be purchased online. One guest per party must provide an ID or utility bill with a Bexar County resident address.

For anyone who can’t visit the zoo on Wednesday, don’t worry. There are more Locals Days planned throughout the year.

Upcoming Locals Day events:

• Aug. 6
• Sept. 5
• Sept. 13
• Oct. 9
• Nov. 27
• Dec. 4

To learn more about the zoo or its exhibits, click here.

Read also:

• San Antonio Zoo welcomes 1-year-old female giraffe from Tulsa

The appearances from Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan were the first of their kind since 2019. Their testimony came weeks after the conservative-majority court handed down a series of major opinions, including one that increased President Donald Trump’s power over federal regulatory agencies and one that rejected his wide-ranging tariffs. Those rulings and more sparked harsh personal criticism of the justices.

The main focus of the hearings in the House and Senate was a request for increased security funding for the justices. Like judges around the country, they’ve faced a surge in threats of violence and intimidation.

Barrett said she had to take a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son. “I didn’t expect that performing this service would put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was, why I had to wear one,” she said.

While security was the major theme of the justices’ testimony, ethics and the shadow docket also emerged as lines of questioning for members of Congress in packed hearing rooms with lines out the door.

Security is central to the Supreme Court's budget request

The Supreme Court requested a total of $228 million for next fiscal year, a roughly 10% increase over the year before. About $18 million of that is for maintaining the building and grounds.

Much of the requested operating-budget increase, $14.6 million, would go to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for each.

The U.S. Marshals Service reported 564 threats in the last government fiscal year, an increase that includes threats to the hundreds of federal judges around the country.

The nine-member Supreme Court has also been targeted, including by fake 911 swatting calls and pizza deliveries in the name of a judge’s murdered son.

Barrett said her son opened their door in May to see their street filled with police cars responding to a fake swatting call that her security team quickly dispersed. Last year, her sister was the victim of a bomb threat in Charleston, South Carolina, police said. No bomb was found.

In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, a would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties. Threats to the Supreme Court have continued to grow since then and are expected to be up 38% this year, Kagan said.

She condemned rhetoric from public officials targeting judges for personal criticism when they disagree with their rulings.

“When political figures of any stripe are trying to intimidate judges and justices to do things that they like rather than things they don’t, that’s where we really have crossed the line,” she said.

Kagan and Barrett differ on ethics code enforcement

Multiple Democrats brought up the Supreme Court's relatively new code of ethics, adopted in 2023 during a storm of criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.

While the justices agreed that members of the court are taking the code seriously, Kagan supported creating a way to enforce it. The liberal-leaning justice acknowledged, though, that enforcement could be tricky. That would have to come from the judicial branch and the Supreme Court sits at its head.

Barrett, who is part of the court’s conservative majority, said she's not sure an enforcement mechanism is possible. It's not clear there's an effective way to address questions about who would do the enforcing and how, she said.

“I am certainly fully committed to the code as are all of our colleagues, but because of some of the complexities I'm just not quite sure" about enforcement, she said.

Kagan cites downsides to the rise in emergency appeals

The Supreme Court has seen a sharp rise in appeals to its short-term emergency docket, where the justices make quicker decisions in cases still working their way through the court system.

It's been especially busy during Trump's second term, as his administration appeals orders blocking parts of his wide-ranging agenda to the nation's highest court. The government notched a string of wins in this manner, on cuts to the federal workforce, restrictions on transgender members of the military, and more.

Such decisions are usually made without a detailed explanation, and while the orders are designed to be temporary they can nevertheless have real-world effects.

“There are downsides of using emergency relief," Kagan said. “You don’t get the kind of briefing that we ordinarily do. We don’t get the argument we ordinarily get." She added: “We should consider those downsides when we decide how often to grant relief.”

___

Associated Press video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this story.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission last week referred two complaints to the Brown County district attorney's office, which can choose to bring criminal charges over violating the state law against election bribery. Prosecutors have 40 days to report back to the commission.

Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was deeply involved in the effort to flip majority control of the highest court in battleground Wisconsin.

The tech titan and groups he supported spent at least $20 million on the candidate backed by Republicans, Brad Schimel. However, he lost by 10 percentage points to Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford.

A month after the lopsided loss, Musk announced that he would be spending far less on political campaigns. Spending on the election topped $100 million, making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.

Prosecutors will decide if Musk should be charged over the $1 million checks

The complaints, which are confidential under state law, were brought by voters in Milwaukee and Green Bay, which is in Brown County. Musk handed out checks at a rally there just days before the election.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission, consisting of three Democrats and three Republicans, voted 5-1 in closed session on Thursday to refer the complaints to the district attorney, the commission's spokesperson Emilee Miklas said.

Brown County District Attorney David Lasee, a Republican, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

The motion approved by the elections commission said it found probable cause that Musk broke Wisconsin law by making a social media post offering $1 million to people who voted in the Supreme Court election “in order to induce them to vote in that election.”

Spokespeople for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Musk gave $1 million checks to 3 Wisconsin voters

Three Wisconsin voters received checks from Musk, including two who got them in person at the Green Bay rally. Two weeks before the election, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, offered $100 to voters who signed a petition in opposition to “activist judges,” or referred someone to sign it.

Crawford's win kept liberals in control of the state Supreme Court, and their majority grew to 5-2 after Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor's victory this year.

Musk’s spending on the 2025 race has already resulted in one lawsuit filed by a government watchdog group, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which seeks to prohibit him from ever again offering cash payments in the state.

That lawsuit is pending in Brown County. It alleges that Musk and two groups he funds violated prohibitions on vote bribery and unauthorized lotteries and that his actions were an unlawful conspiracy and public nuisance.

Attempts to stop Musk failed in 2025

Wisconsin's Democratic attorney general sued to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, but was rejected by state courts.

Musk’s attorneys argued in legal filings in 2025 that Musk was exercising his free speech rights with the giveaways and any attempt to restrict that would violate both the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.

The payments are “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate,” Musk’s attorneys argued in court filings.

Musk’s political action committee used a nearly identical tactic before the 2024 presidential election, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second amendments. A judge in Pennsylvania said prosecutors failed to show the effort was an illegal lottery and allowed it to continue through Election Day.

In this week’s episode, our hosts speak with Texas Tribune reporters Uriel J. García and Colleen DeGuzman about the unanswered questions and investigations in response to the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

Watch the video above or subscribe to the TribCast on iTunes, Spotify, or RSS. New episodes every Tuesday.

The rescue happened around 8:30 a.m. as more than 12 inches of rain fell in the area, causing creeks to rise rapidly and creating dangerous flooding conditions.

>> Click here for the latest forecast

David Flores, who did not want to be interviewed on camera, recorded the rescue as he made his way through the swollen creek toward a man identified as “Nathan.”

“I’m coming. I’m coming toward you, Nathan,” Flores can be heard saying in the video.

As Nathan clung to a tree in the rushing water, Flores encouraged him to keep talking and hold on.

“Come on, keep going. Go through the trees,” Flores said as he carefully moved through the current.

The video shows floodwaters reaching Flores’ chest as he made his way across the creek. Nathan is seen gripping the tree while trying to catch his breath as he waited for help.

After reaching Nathan, Flores helped him out of the creek, and both men made it to safety.

Flores told KSAT he was in the right place at the right time.

The rescue comes as South Texas continues to deal with dangerous flooding brought on by heavy rainfall. Officials continue to urge residents to avoid flooded roadways and waterways, warning that fast-moving water can quickly become life-threatening.

Read also:

• LIVE COVERAGE: KSAT tracks storms in San Antonio, Hill Country, surrounding areas
• KSAT Connect: Viewers share photos of lightning, flooding in San Antonio area

The relatives of Youlin Chen of Boston broke their silence this week, apparently after they saw no sign from the Chinese government that it was planning to release Chen — even after President Donald Trump brought up the case when meeting Xi in Beijing in May, according to Global Reach, a Washington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing home Americans wrongly detained abroad.

“I have not been able to speak with my husband for over 600 days and am concerned for his health and well-being," Yufang Rong, Chen's wife, said in a statement released by Global Reach, which has been advising the family since Chen's detention.

“President Trump has taken a personal interest in freeing Youlin. Since taking office, he has already freed 106 people and I know that he and his team will bring Youlin home to us," Rong said.

Chen is the only U.S. citizen determined by the State Department to be wrongfully detained in China, Global Reach said. The designation means those cases are of high priority to the U.S. government and can lead to intense diplomatic efforts to secure releases. The Biden administration in 2024 secured the release of three wrongfully detained Americans from China.

“President Trump has been clear that he wants every American detained abroad to return home, and he has reunited over 100 individuals with their families since taking office this term," Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said when asked about Chen's case.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Chen as a wrongful detainee in March. The State Department said Tuesday that the U.S. government has raised Chen's case directly with Chinese officials, calling for his immediate release. Reuters reported earlier on his detention.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Tuesday that there is no “wrongful detention” in China and that judicial agencies handle cases in accordance with the law.

If not resolved, Chen's case could “figure prominently” when Xi is expected to meet Trump in Washington in September, said Eric Lebson, a Global Reach adviser to Chen’s relatives. The family decided to speak out now because Chinese officials do not appear to be acting on Xi's commitment to Trump after the U.S. president raised Chen's detention in May, Lebson said.

The seismologist was detained in November 2024 by state security agents during a personal trip to visit his parents in Beijing, and he has been charged with espionage, Global Reach said.

Chen has worked as a U.S. government contractor for the State Department and Air Force Research Lab, with much of his work involving collaborating with Chinese colleagues to analyze seismological data, Global Reach said.

Chen’s arrest is “likely an effort by Chinese officials to learn about the techniques the U.S. uses to detect nuclear tests using seismic data,” the group said.

U.S. embassy personnel have been allowed to visit Chen several times but are not allowed to discuss the case with him, the group said.

Sen. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, vowed Tuesday to do “everything within my power to advocate for” the immediate release of one of his constituents.

“It is my hope that increased attention on his unjust detention will force the Chinese government to do the right thing and release Dr. Chen and allow him to return to his family in Massachusetts,” Markey said.

On June 8, 2026, Cantu, 21, was sentenced to two years of deferred adjudication after he took a plea deal on a 2025 burglary of a habitation charge.

The deferred adjudication sentence came weeks after he received credit for time served for both a 2024 misdemeanor assault case and a two-year prison sentence after violating his probation twice.

Following a July 13, 2026, continuance hearing and a new allegation against Cantu, Brennand’s aggravated assault by a public servant charge was dismissed by the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.

If convicted, Brennand — whose trial was expected to begin July 20, 2026, — could have faced up to life in prison.

Here’s a timeline charting the two’s legal troubles from the night of the shooting to the present day:

Oct. 1, 2022: San Antonio Police Department records showed that Erik Cantu evaded ex-SAPD officer James Brennand in a maroon BMW sedan near U.S. Highway 281 and Bitters Road. Records showed that Brennand did not engage in the pursuit but documented the car’s license plates.

Oct. 2, 2022: Brennand encountered Cantu in the parking lot of a McDonald’s on Blanco Road. Brennand, who said he recognized the BMW from the night before, approached the vehicle and opened the driver’s side door without announcing himself as an officer.

Cantu, who was eating a burger in the car with then-17-year-old Emily Proulx, reversed the vehicle and attempted to drive away, police records showed. Brennand fired multiple shots at the BMW, striking Cantu. Proulx told investigators that after the shooting, Cantu stopped the car near a Las Palapas restaurant and surrendered to responding officers. He was taken to a hospital for gunshot wounds.

Oct. 3, 2022: Brennand was placed on administrative duty, the San Antonio Police Department said.

Oct. 5, 2022: Brennand, who had been with SAPD for seven months, was fired from the police department. Bodycam footage of the shooting was made publicly available.

Oct. 7, 2022: Charges filed against Cantu were dismissed by Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales. Cantu was initially charged with evading arrest with a vehicle and aggravated assault.

“We have since reviewing (sic) the footage. I’ve instructed my office to dismiss the cases against this young man,” Gonzales said.

Oct. 11, 2022: Brennand was charged with two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant. SAPD Chief William McManus called the shooting video “horrific.”

Cantu’s attorney, Brian Powers, told KSAT that the teenager was unconscious and on life support.

Oct. 12, 2022: Brennand was released from jail after posting a $200,000 bond.

Oct. 13, 2022: SAPD officials said that Cantu was not driving a stolen vehicle. Brennand had initially said he suspected the car Cantu was driving was stolen.

SAPD confirmed that the license plates did not belong to the vehicle but that it was not stolen.

Oct. 19, 2022: Cantu’s family hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump to assist in Cantu’s representation.

Oct. 28, 2022: KSAT requested the additional video from Brennand’s body-worn camera and other officers, in addition to the police report, under the Texas Public Information Act.

City of San Antonio officials argued against releasing the information and requested that the city keep the records private under an exception in state law.

Nov. 4, 2022: Cantu’s family said that the teenager was no longer on life support after undergoing extensive surgery.

Nov. 23, 2022: Cantu was released from the hospital. A Bexar County court hearing for Brennand was rescheduled due to an assigned judge being out of court for the week.

Dec. 1, 2022: Brennand was indicted by a Bexar County grand jury for two counts of aggravated assault of a public servant and one count of attempted murder.

Dec. 2, 2022: Emily Proulx, the passenger in Cantu’s car the night of the shooting, also hired attorney Ben Crump in a precursor to a civil lawsuit.

Dec. 6, 2022: Cantu was hospitalized again for organ complications related to the shooting.

Feb. 24, 2023: Brennand had his first hearing in a Bexar County courtroom. He was represented by attorney Nico LaHood.

June 9, 2023: Brennand made his second court appearance. Prosecutor Daryl Harris told the judge he was still collecting evidence.

“I’ve also been made aware of some incidents involving the defendant in his employment as an officer that could be probative to this matter,” Harris said in court.

July 14, 2023: Cantu and Proulx were arrested and charged with theft. According to authorities, the duo stole a car charger and air freshener from a Walmart.

Aug. 21, 2023: Cantu sat in on a court hearing for Brennand. Harris and the defense updated the judge on the case.

Oct. 20, 2023: Brennand’s attorneys filed a motion seeking a change of venue in his upcoming trial. His attorneys argued that Brennand would not receive an impartial jury due to the extensive media coverage the incident received.

Oct. 23, 2023: Cantu was named as a suspect in two felony evading arrest cases that occurred less than a week apart, according to SAPD records.

In the first case, the driver of a vehicle traveled 100 miles per hour in a 65 mile-per-hour zone and evaded police in a pursuit. Six days later, an SAPD bike patrol officer attempted to stop a driver who also evaded authorities.

Investigators linked Cantu to the cases from a physical description, the car’s license plate and an Instagram handle on the car. The records showed that a woman, who claimed to be six months pregnant with Cantu’s child, said she was assaulted by Cantu in August.

An SAPD spokesperson said Cantu had not been formally booked on any of the charges.

Nov. 13, 2023: Cantu was taken into custody on a felony warrant for evading arrest with a vehicle, Bexar County court records showed. Authorities had responded to a disturbance call where a woman, who identified herself as the mother of Cantu’s girlfriend, said he would not leave the apartment.

Cantu was taken into custody and was issued a criminal trespass warning, an incident report stated.

March 7, 2024: A Bexar County judge heard arguments for a change of venue in Brennand’s trial. The judge did not rule on the matter and said that he would view the presented evidence before making a decision. Court records obtained by KSAT revealed that Brennand no longer faced an attempted murder charge in connection to the Cantu shooting.

March 20, 2024: Brennand’s request for a change of venue was denied. 437th District Court Judge Joel Perez ruled that Brennand will be tried in Bexar County.

March 25, 2024: The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office announced that it would be recusing itself from Erik Cantu’s evading arrest cases.

April 15, 2024: Cantu and Proulx filed a civil lawsuit against Brennand. The lawsuit stated that Cantu and Proulx were seeking “money for each element of damages that will fairly and reasonably compensate Cantu, Jr. and Proulx for their harms and losses suffered in the past and those which will, in reasonable probability, be suffered in the future as a result of the injuries incurred by Plaintiffs.”

May 1, 2024: Brennand’s trial was set for Nov. 12, 2024, on a charge of deadly conduct with a firearm.

June 24, 2024: A judge denied a request from the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office to recuse itself from a pair of cases involving Cantu. The judge said the district attorney’s office must move forward and prosecute Cantu.

Nov. 7, 2024: Cantu was arrested after a warrant for his re-arrest was issued the month before. Prosecutors said he repeatedly violated terms of his community supervision in his felony evading arrest cases.

Court records obtained by KSAT revealed that Cantu had skipped court-ordered drug screenings on Sept. 11 and Oct. 9. The records also showed that he operated a motor vehicle on Oct. 8, in violation of the conditions of his community supervision.

Dec. 3, 2024: Cantu was transferred to a county counseling facility after a judge ruled that he had violated his probation. Cantu’s attorney argued that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the 2022 shooting has affected his decision-making.

March 6, 2025: Brennand was issued a new trial date set for April. Prosecutor Neil Cordero told Judge Joel Perez that the state was close to being fully prepared for trial.

March 26, 2025: Sources told KSAT that issues with evidence led to another delay in Brennand’s trial. His trial was postponed without a new date set.

May 10, 2025: Cantu completed a program at the county counseling facility and was refitted for a GPS monitor. As part of his conditions, he was barred from driving for the remainder of his probation and was required to wear a GPS monitor.

June 27, 2025: Brennand’s trial received a new start date of Oct. 17 for jury selection. Testimony was set to begin three days later on Oct. 20.

Sept. 22, 2025: Cantu was arrested again on an assault charge stemming from a 2024 case. An arrest warrant affidavit stated that Cantu threw a woman to the ground and repeatedly assaulted her on Sept. 28, 2024. The warrant for his arrest was not issued until Sept. 18, 2025, nearly a full year later.

The district attorney’s office filed a motion to revoke Cantu’s community supervision.

Sept. 26, 2025: A Bexar County judge denied a request to delay Brennand’s trial. Defense attorney Jason Goss made the request where he argued that attorneys involved with Brennand’s defense would be tied up with a different trial less than two weeks before its proposed start date.

Oct. 13, 2025: Cantu appeared in court nearly one month after his latest arrest. Judge Stephanie Boyd agreed with Cantu’s attorney to give the defense additional time to review medical records related to the 2024 assault charge. Cantu is expected to be back in court on Nov. 18.

Brennand, the officer accused of shooting him, awaits a trial date.

Nov. 18, 2025: Judge Stephanie Boyd sentenced Cantu to eight years probation after he violated the terms of his probation last year.

Dec. 4, 2025: Cantu is arrested once again, this time for stealing Proulx’s tablet from her apartment and messaging her friends.

Dec. 6, 2025: Proulx asks the court and District Attorney’s office to drop the charges against Cantu for stealing her tablet.

Dec. 15, 2025: In a courtroom on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said that court security deputies took Cantu into custody on two motion to revoke probation warrants for evading.

It is unclear when Cantu will make his next court appearance on the evading arrest charges.

March 30, 2026: Cantu made a court appearance for a probation revocation hearing.

Due to discovery issues with the witness’ attorney, the hearing was originally delayed from March 2, 2026, to March 26, 2026. According to county court records, the court appearance was delayed a second time with Boyd temporarily out of the courtroom during the week of March 26, 2026.

No decision was made during the March 30 hearing, which meant he was expected back in court the following day.

March 31, 2026: Cantu made his second court appearance in as many days.

Again, however, no action was taken regarding his probation.

April 1, 2026: Cantu returned to court. In the first case of Judge Stephanie Boyd’s morning docket, she agreed with prosecutors’ position to revoke his probation.

As a result, Boyd sentenced Cantu to two years in prison with credit for time served.

April 17, 2026: Brennand appeared before Judge Joel Perez in Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court.

Perez tentatively scheduled jury selection for Brennand’s trial for July 20.

April 20, 2026: Cantu was sentenced to time served by Judge Mary Roman inside Bexar County’s Court at Law No. 8. The case stemmed from a 2024 Class A misdemeanor assault.

Ultimately, Roman decided the “time served” sentence was adequate due to the two-year sentence Cantu received from Boyd on April 1.

May 22, 2026: According to Bexar County jail records, Cantu was designated as a parolee in absentia on the evading arrest violations and was released from custody.

June 1, 2026: Cantu was indicted on the Dec. 4, 2025, burglary of a habitation charge, which was considered a second-degree felony.

June 8, 2026: In lieu of going to trial, Cantu accepted a plea deal and pleaded no contest on the burglary of a habitation charge. Boyd sentenced him to two years of deferred adjudication, which means he will not serve any additional time behind bars.

July 1, 2026: According to a SAPD incident report obtained by KSAT, a police officer was called to an East Side apartment complex after a woman — who said she had been dating Cantu for a “couple of months” — accused Cantu of making threatening “comments that were concerning” to her.

July 13, 2026: After the July 1, 2026, incident involving Cantu came to light, prosecutors in Brennand’s case asked Judge Joel Perez in Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court to delay the start of the trial beyond July 20, 2026.

Perez, however, denied the state’s request.

Less than 90 minutes after Perez’s denial, just before 11 a.m., the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office elected to dismiss Brennand’s case due to “further investigation.”

At approximately 9 p.m., San Antonio police officers said they arrested Cantu following a brief foot pursuit on the Northwest Side.

Cantu was booked on three charges, including a parole violation, evading arrest and the reinstatement of a 2025 burglary of a habitation count.

It was Cantu’s seventh arrest since October 2022.

At this time, Cantu has not been arrested or charged with any crime in connection with the July 1, 2026, incident.

More recent Erik Cantu coverage on KSAT:

• Erik Cantu won’t serve additional prison time, receives 2-year deferred adjudication sentence
• Erik Cantu sentenced to 2 years in prison on evading arrest charges

Sotheby's said the 67-million-year-old fossil, nicknamed “Gus,” is now the most expensive set of dinosaur bones ever auctioned off, besting the almost $45 million price tag for a nearly complete stegosaurus sold by the same New York auction house in 2024. The previous record holder had been a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed “Stan” that sold for nearly $32 million in 2020.

“Gus is not only an exceptional find, but a specimen that’s been excavated, documented, prepared, and cared for with real excellence,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice chair, said after the sale was completed. “The market responds when great specimens are taken care of in the right way.”

Why the bidding for this T. rex was intense

Standing upright with its tail extended and right foot slightly raised, “Gus” is an adult dinosaur specimen measuring about 12 ½ feet (3.8 meters) tall and 38 feet (11.5 meters) long.

He's about 61% complete, with what Sotheby's describes as an “exceptionally preserved” skull including a gaping jaw of powerful teeth, two “well represented” feet and a number of rarely found bones, including a furcula, or wishbone.

The fossil was discovered in 2021 on a ranch in South Dakota and named in honor of property owner Gary Licking, who died during the roughly five year excavation, restoration and mounting process.

The auction house said the winner, who participated by phone and wants to remain anonymous, outbid six other prospective buyers during Tuesday's 10-minute bidding battle. The piece had been estimated to fetch anywhere from $20 to $30 million ahead of the sale.

“Try a bigger bite,” auctioneer Phyllis Kao cajoled the bidders at one point during the auction, which was conducted live and online. “It’s a T. rex, after all.”

Scientists want ‘Gus’ on public display

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, an advocacy group of scientists, scholars and students, said scientifically significant fossils such as “Gus” should be publicly displayed in museums and other research institutions so that they can be “preserved, documented, and accessible for future generations.”

“Our hope is that the new owner recognizes the extraordinary scientific and educational value of Gus the T. rex and that they aim to keep it in the public trust by immediately donating it to an accredited natural history museum,” Kristi Curry Rogers, the society's president-elect, said in a statement Tuesday. “That outcome would ensure that this remarkable specimen continues to advance science, rather than becoming unavailable for study.”

Indeed, “Apex,” the stegosaurus, the previous dinosaur fossil record-holder, is currently on long-term loan to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. “Sue” the T. rex, the first dinosaur ever sold at auction in 1997, also by Sotheby's, is a centerpiece of the Field Museum in Chicago.

And “Stan” is on display at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, posed in combat with another fossilized T. rex over the remains of a triceratops.

A Cretaceous king and Hollywood staple

Tyrannosaurus rex, whose name roughly translates to “King of the Tyrant Lizards,” stood firmly at the top of the food chain when it ruled during the late Cretaceous period.

With its fearsome jawline and comically stubby arms, it has become the most recognizable and beloved of the dinosaurs, depicted in everything from children’s programs like Barney, the purple T. rex, to the enduring “Jurassic Park” movie franchise.

The great beasts roamed what is today western North America, during a time when the region boasted “warm climates, high sea levels, and rich coastal floodplains” that allowed their primary prey, giant herbivores like the triceratops, to flourish, according to Sotheby’s.

“I’m Joe Lombardo,” he said as the officer arrived at the passenger-side window, police body camera video obtained by The Associated Press shows.

Gov. Lombardo was pulled over May 15 by an officer from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the agency Lombardo led as sheriff for eight years. The officer walks up to the passenger side of a light-gray Ford pickup truck and says, “Hello, how are you doing, sir?” according to the video.

Lombardo is in the driver's seat, with his wife Donna Lombardo in the passenger seat.

The officer begins to explain the reason for the stop, and Lombardo interrupts to say, “I’m Joe Lombardo.” The officer says, “I’m aware,” and continues to explain the stop was initiated because he did not see Lombardo stop at a red light before making a right turn.

“Come on, man,” Lombardo says.

The officer replies, “You’re good to go, sir. Appreciate ya. Have a good day,” and then walks away.

The whole interaction lasts about 15 seconds of the 1 minute and 10 second video.

The police department said the governor did not receive a citation but did not say why, however law enforcement officers say it is common to not give a citation over a minor violation.

Lombardo's campaign said the governor and his wife were headed to the airport when they were pulled over.

“Governor Lombardo spoke with the officer, fully complied with all instructions, and was promptly on his way,” the campaign said in a statement Tuesday. “He remains grateful for the professionalism of the officer involved and for the service of law enforcement officers across Nevada.”

The video, which was obtained via public records request, comes to light months before the November election, when Lombardo, a Republican seeking reelection, will face Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford.

Steve Grammas, the president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, said the interaction wasn't uncommon. Officers stop drivers, explain why drivers are stopped and then let them go on their way.

“It really is a big nothing in my opinion,” he said.

Grammas, whose union endorsed the Republican governor, denied Lombardo received any special treatment. Typically officers ask for the driver’s license in order to identify them, but the officer already knew who the governor was, he said.

“Being that it is the governor, the former sheriff, odds are he doesn’t have warrants, does not have a suspended driver’s license, and so there’s no need to run that person,” Grammas said.

Grammas added that the governor didn’t identify himself as the governor, and simply said his name.

Edward Obayashi, a deputy sheriff and policy adviser who teaches an ethics and policing class in California, said there is nothing unethical about what the governor or the officer did.

“We let motorists off with a warning all the time,” Obayashi said.

Obayashi said that it was obvious the officer already knew who he was stopping because he ran the license plate, and the governor identifying himself is a common courtesy.

Simpson appeared before Judge Joel Perez inside Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court.

During Simpson’s most recent court appearance in May, Perez told the court that an outside judge is reviewing “extensive” evidence connected to the case. Once Perez reviews the judge’s findings, he “will decide what to disclose to the defense.”

On Tuesday, Perez announced that the outside judge’s review of evidence was complete. The judge will present the evidence to the prosecution and defense teams later this week.

Perez also said he was informed Tuesday of a possible “civil litigation” matter regarding Simpson. When asked if the state was ready to discuss the civil matter in court, prosecutors said they preferred to clarify details with the civil division of the Bexar County DA’s Office before reconvening with Perez and the defense.

The judge tentatively scheduled another status hearing 45 days from Tuesday. According to court records, the next hearing is set for Aug. 31.

KSAT reached out to the DA’s office Tuesday morning for additional details regarding the “civil litigation” matter.

In a response, a DA’s office spokesperson, citing a gag order, declined comment to KSAT.

Perez asked the prosecution and Simpson’s team to begin planning to take this case to trial, which includes collaborating on a potential witness list and any body-camera redactions.

“Everybody is telling me that this is going to be a long trial,” Perez told the court Tuesday.

A trial date for Simpson has not been set.

Background

Investigators said the couple was involved in a dispute with one another prior to Suzanne Clark Simpson’s October 2024 disappearance.

Authorities linked Simpson, 55, to his wife’s murder since she was first reported missing on Oct. 6, 2024, after a party at The Argyle in Alamo Heights. Simpson reported his wife missing the following evening.

While Suzanne’s body has not been found, her husband was taken into custody on Oct. 9, 2024.

Bexar County court records show that Simpson was charged with murder on Nov. 7, 2024. He was indicted one month later.

His business partner, James Cotter, has also been charged in connection with the case.

Cotter is accused of helping Simpson hide an AK-47 that was illegally modified. Authorities said the firearm was modified into a “machine gun” that was not properly registered.

In October 2025, a judge ruled to have Cotter’s GPS monitor removed.

Surveillance footage gathered by investigators showed Simpson driving with three large trash bags, a heavy-duty trash can and a “large bulky item” wrapped in a blue tarp the day after his wife’s disappearance, an arrest warrant affidavit previously revealed.

In February 2026, KSAT reported that Simpson’s defense team accused the Olmos Park police chief of mishandling evidence and violating a gag order.

Simpson’s attorney alleges that Olmos Park Police Chief Fidel Villegas violated the gag order and allowed Olmos Park Mayor Erin Harrison to privately review physical evidence in the case.

The motion, which seeks personnel files, claims Villegas gave Harrison access to all physical evidence in the department’s possession after a judge had prohibited disclosure of evidence to non-parties.

In addition to murder, court records show that Simpson has also been charged with tampering with a corpse and possessing prohibited weapons — both third-degree felonies.

If convicted, Simpson faces up to life in prison.

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.

More recent coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Potential Brad Simpson murder trial date delayed by ‘extensive’ review of evidence, judge says
• Defense motion alleges Olmos Park police chief violated gag order, mishandled evidence in Brad Simpson case

The S&P 500 added 0.4% to recover some of its 0.8% loss from the prior day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9%.

Stocks got help from easing yields in the bond market, which fell after a report said U.S. consumers had to pay prices for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 3.5% higher last month than a year earlier. That wasn’t as bad as May’s 4.2% inflation rate or the 3.9% that economists expected for June.

Less bad inflation takes pressure off the Federal Reserve, which is considering raising interest rates. Higher rates would keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

Following the inflation report, traders see less than a 17% chance that the Fed will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting in a couple weeks. That’s down from the nearly 42% probability they saw the day before, according to data from CME Group.

Rebounds for big, influential tech stocks also helped steady the market. They’ve swung sharply in recent weeks on worries that they shot too high in the euphoria around artificial-intelligence technology and that the voracious demand for AI chips and data centers may fade if they don’t produce the promised profits and productivity.

Micron Technology rose 4.9%, and Nvidia climbed 4.1%. A day before, they were two of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 after falling 4.4% and 3.5%, respectively.

To be sure, big risks remain for inflation. Fighting in the Middle East is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that oil tankers use to exit the Persian Gulf and deliver crude to customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, briefly topped $87 in the morning. Following its leap of nearly 10% on Monday, it got back to where it was before the United States and Iran signed their interim deal to halt their fighting in the middle of last month.

Brent’s price later pared its gain and settled at $84.73, up 1.7% from Monday’s settlement. It eased after Donald Trump backed away from his threat made Monday to charge 20% on all cargo going through the strait to reimburse the U.S. military for its protection.

Wall Street’s other big focus this week is the start of earnings reporting season, as companies tell investors how much profit they made from April through June. The pressure is on companies to deliver big growth to justify how high their stock prices have jumped. Indexes are near records despite the recent swings caused by worries about AI stocks.

Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo all on Tuesday reported fatter profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Their reports showed strength for their trading desks and suggested spending by U.S. consumers remains resilient.

Their stocks mostly rose following the results. Goldman Sachs jumped 9%, but Citigroup fell 5.3%.

IBM was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 and the biggest reason the Dow lagged behind other indexes after dropping 25.2%. That was its worst day since at least 1972, according to data provider FactSet.

CEO Arvind Krishna said performance for IBM’s software and infrastructure businesses fell short of expectations last quarter after customers shifted their spending toward servers, storage and memory to get ahead of expected price increases caused by the AI boom.

“These conditions require our teams to execute perfectly, and this quarter we faltered,” Krishna wrote in a letter to investors. “We did not adapt and move quickly enough, and numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall.”

All told, the S&P 500 rose 28.25 points to 7,543.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9.63 to 52,508.27, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 233.83 to 26,107.01.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.58% from 4.62% late Monday. That halted its run higher from 3.97% before the war with Iran began.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh testified before lawmakers on Capitol Hill for the first time since taking over leadership of the central bank. He pledged to make high inflation “a thing of the past” but offered no signal about the Fed’s next steps.

In stock markets abroad, indexes inched higher in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.7% as SoftBank Group Corp. rose 3.3%. It’s a big investor in AI, and Chairman Masayoshi Son gave a speech in Tokyo where he derided the idea that there is a bubble in investments in capacity for AI.

Stocks rose 1.4% in Shanghai after the government reported China’s exports jumped 27% in June from a year earlier as AI drove strong demand for computer chips and other technology.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The civil rights suit, filed in federal court Tuesday, names the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, as the architect of what it describes as an ongoing conspiracy to silence members of the pro-Palestinian movement by smearing them as antisemites.

Those efforts were aided by Canary Mission and Betar, two pro-Israel groups that maintain online lists of Israel's critics, often alongside unsubstantiated claims that they are affiliated with Hamas, according to the lawsuit.

Activists placed on those lists “were nearly automatically targeted by the Federal Defendants for arrest and removal," the suit claims, adding that the "process of nomination to punishment was frictionless.”

Lawyers for Khalil argue this “public-private partnership” could violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law that sought to restrict government coordination with vigilante groups.

The suit, led by the Center for Constitutional Rights, seeks unspecified damages and a judicial order to end the alleged conspiracy.

Inquiries to the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, did not comment on the lawsuit, but said in an email that the executive branch “has the lawful authority to take actions that will protect the public and to ensure the integrity of our immigration system.”

The suit comes as Khalil’s deportation case appears headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Khalil described the purpose of the latest filing as “exposing the network of organizations, particular actors and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent.”

“If constitutional protections can be cast aside under political pressure today, they can be cast aside tomorrow against anyone,” he added.

A former graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil gained prominence as a spokesperson and leader for student activists protesting against Israel and its actions in Gaza.

He was arrested in March 2025 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in his campus apartment and quickly became the face of the Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Khalil then spent 104 days in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child, before a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release.

Soon after his arrest, both Canary Mission and Betar boasted of their role in flagging Khalil's noncitizen status to the government.

Betar — an Israeli company that claimed to use facial recognition software to identify masked protesters — also claimed it had compiled a longer list of names and given it to the Trump administration. The group has since agreed to dissolve its nonprofit status, following a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James accusing its members of harassing Palestinians.

Khalil's lawsuit traces the origins of the alleged conspiracy to a blueprint from the Heritage Foundation, entitled “Project Esther,” which called for the expulsion of noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.

The report also suggested, without evidence, that participants in those protests should be seen as part of a “highly organized, global Hamas Support Network.”

In May, as the Trump administration ramped up its crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists, one of the report’s authors, Robert Greenway, appeared to acknowledge the foundation's influence, saying that it was “no coincidence that we called for a series of actions to take place privately and publicly, and they are now happening,” according to the suit.

Greenway, a former adviser to Trump, did not reply to a request for comment.

Khalil, meanwhile, has forcefully denied that his criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism. While government officials — along with Canary Mission and Betar — have linked him to Hamas, they have offered no evidence to support the claim.

“My beliefs are not wanting my tax money or tuition going toward investments in weapons manufacturers for a genocide,” Khalil previously told The Associated Press. “It’s as simple as that.”

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development.

Trump, a Republican, issued proclamations under the Antiquities Act to reduce their size by about 90% each. He took similar actions during his first term, but those were reversed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The latest move comes as Trump and other Republicans have drastically reshaped the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have sought to expand drilling, mining and logging on public lands, while removing protections for imperiled species and rolling back rules for conservation.

“They took the land from the people quite honestly,” Trump said at a signing event at the White House Monday. “We’re giving it back.”

President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, and President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, created Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 under the Antiquities Act. The 1906 law gives presidents the powers to protect sites considered historic, archaeologically significant or culturally important.

Davina Smith-Idjesa, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said tribal leaders had braced for a reduction since Trump was elected to a second term. She said it was “heartbreaking” and accused federal officials of sidestepping their legal responsibility to consult with tribal nations that would be impacted.

“From a Navajo perspective, Bears Ears is not simply a piece of federal public land,” Smith-Idjesa said. “This is a living cultural site that holds our histories, our ceremonies, our traditional foods and medicines and our ancestors’ footprints.”

‘Big day for Utah’

Utah officials had long fought against the monument designations and argued that the state should be in charge of controlling its own lands. Trump in his first term reduced their size, calling their creation a “massive land grab.” Combined they spanned more than 3.2 million acres (1.3 million hectares), an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

Trump reduced them Monday to less than 303,000 acres (123,000 hectares) combined.

That's a greater reduction than his first term, when he left Grand Staircase Escalante at 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) and Bears Ears at 213,000 acres (86,000 hectares).

“This is a big day for Utah,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox as he stood next to Trump at the White House. “These monument designations are supposed to be the smallest area as possible to protect the antiquities.”

Bears Ears was the first national monument created at the request of tribal nations that consider the land sacred. The landscape contains ancestral villages, ceremonial and burial sites and features in some tribes’ creation and migration stories. Its designation honored five tribes in the region — Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute and Uintah-Ouray Ute.

Home to hundreds of thousands of objects of cultural and scientific significance, Bears Ears is jointly managed by an agreement between tribal nations and federal agencies.

Grand Staircase-Escalante consists of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings. It holds large coal reserves, while the Bears Ears area has uranium.

The national monument designation provides sweeping protections not just for significant geological features or artifacts but also for the surrounding landscape, banning drilling, mining and new construction nearby. Proponents of Trump’s move to downsize say the protective boundaries stretch too far and hinder mining for critical minerals.

Trump asserted Monday that people can not hunt, fish or “virtually not even walk” on the monuments. That's false: Hunting, fishing, camping and other recreation are permitted under state and federal regulations, said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a conservation group.

Biden designated or expanded more than a dozen monuments and had a goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

Trump’s policies are largely the opposite: He wants to tap into the natural resource wealth of federal lands that total more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) and offshore areas under federal control, such as in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.

That’s drawn backlash from Democrats who warn of the wholesale disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain.

“Today’s executive action is another chapter in this administration’s war on the West," Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said Monday. He added that Trump was “turning the Antiquities Act on its head."

Land sale proposals fell flat

Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last year that federal officials would review and consider redrawing monument boundaries as part of a push to expand U.S. energy production.

Trump in his current term has used proclamations to lift commercial fishing prohibitions within expansive marine monuments in areas of the Pacific Ocean and in the Atlantic Ocean off the New England coast. Those monuments were created by Democratic and Republican administrations. The effort to boost the fishing industry, which has been challenged in court, marks a dramatic shift in federal policy by prioritizing commercial interests over efforts to allow the fish supply to increase.

Some Republicans have tried to sell or transfer federal lands to states or other entities. Those efforts have largely fallen flat: A push by some GOP lawmakers in the House to sell public lands ran into bipartisan opposition, while another proposal by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah to sell more than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square kilometers) of federal lands was removed from Republicans' big tax and spending bill.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year turned back a lawsuit from Utah officials who sought to wrest control of vast areas of public land within the state from the federal government.

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Hannah Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

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This story was first published July 13, 2026. It was updated July 14, 2026, to correct that the monuments were a combined 1.3 million hectares, not 13 million hectares.

The Department of Homeland Security later said the officer fired his weapon when the man they were pursuing attempted to flee the scene, threatening “public safety.”

It’s a narrative that has been repeated again and again since the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown began, with federal officers confronting drivers then saying they opened fire when their vehicles became a danger. That's despite decades of warnings from policing experts that shooting into moving cars presents a danger of its own and should almost always be avoided.

The Embassy of Colombia identified the man killed Monday in Biddeford, roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland, as Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national. Some friends, neighbors and an advocacy group have spelled his name “Joan.”

Nine dead in immigration operations

He is the ninth killed during immigration operations since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. At least four of those deaths involved people in vehicles, including one last week in Houston, a trend so troubling U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday she urged DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”

A person familiar with the matter told AP Tuesday that administration officials told immigration officers to suspend most vehicle stops. Some policing experts say Immigration and Customs Enforcement should never have conducted traffic stops.

“They’re saying that all these cases are justified because the officers were in danger,” said John Sandweg, who was acting director at ICE, which is part of DHS, during the Obama administration. “But then why the hell are we putting the officer in danger by asking them to execute traffic stops?”

Sandweg, who estimates there have been roughly 18 traffic-stop shootings during the immigration crackdown, noted there are many other places to make arrests, from homes to workplaces.

“It becomes a much more risky and dangerous situation once you start to pursue someone,” said John Gihon, an immigration lawyer who was an attorney at ICE from 2008 to 2014. “That’s going to escalate.”

Gihon said that during his tenure at ICE he regularly trained deportation officers about vehicle stop policies. He said officers were advised they have discretion on whether to pull over someone they are trying to arrest. But if that person refuses to get out of their car and drives away, the guidance is to let them go and track them down another day.

“If they refuse, you are not pulling them out of the vehicle, you are not putting yourself in front of their car,” he said. “This policy is for everyone’s safety.”

But fatal vehicle stops keep happening during Trump’s second administration.

There was Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, shot during a late-night traffic stop in South Texas in March 2025, and Renee Good, a mother of three shot and killed in January as she drove her car through the streets of a Minneapolis residential neighborhood amid growing anti-crackdown protests.

Last week, it was Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican builder shot and killed as he drove his crew to a worksite in Houston, where he had lived and worked for decades.

Shooting into moving vehicles creates danger for all who are near

Each time, officials insisted the federal officers had fired because they feared they or someone else could be killed by the vehicles.

“Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X after Good was killed. “The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”

That shooting was captured on multiple bystander videos that contradicted the administration’s narrative and prompted widespread anger and protests against the officers' use of deadly force.

Much remains unknown about the others.

Officers were not wearing body cameras in the Salgado Araujo or the Durán Guerrero killings, despite DHS announcing months ago that it would outfit all officers with cameras.

Geoffrey P. Alpert, an expert on policing at the University of South Carolina, said without video evidence, investigators must rely on witness statements.

“There’s certainly a pattern, a practice, a trend that is disturbing,” Alpert said, adding that police departments decades ago began prohibiting officers from shooting into moving cars because if the driver is injured or killed, they can lose control, turning the vehicle into “an unguided missile,” threatening anyone nearby.

“Every bullet needs to be understood: why was it fired. Every time an officer pulls the trigger, we need to know why,” Alpert said. “We talked about that last time, and we’ll talk about that the next time.”

Texas lawmaker notes conflicting descriptions of Houston shooting

Doubts are already swirling about the official story the administration told about the fatal shooting of 52-year-old Salgado Araujo in Houston.

DHS officials said in a statement that the Mexican national ignored commands and was trying to evade arrest, then attempted to ram his car into an officer, who opened fire in self-defense.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia said she visited the facility where the men who were in the vehicle with Salgado Araujo are being held and spoke to two of them, raising “many alarming questions” about the administration’s claims.

“Here’s the deal. I visited with them separately, and their stories were consistent, and paint a totally, totally conflicting version of the events,” Garcia said. They said that at no time were any of the ICE officers in front of the vehicle. Instead, they told her the officers were on the passenger side and shot Salgado Araujo, who was driving, through the passenger side window. The window had been open because the vehicle’s air conditioning was broken.

The DHS story quickly shifted

What exactly led to the deadly shooting in Maine remains unclear. Officers were in Biddeford, surveilling an address for a person with a final order of removal from the country, then tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone coming from that address, DHS said.

Maine U.S. Sen. Angus King said DHS Secretary Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers.

But nearly 12 hours after Durán Guerrero was killed, that story shifted: DHS issued a statement saying the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

When asked about the contrasting statements, King told CNN an investigation would reveal the truth.

The state’s Office of the Attorney General announced it would investigate the shooting in coordination with federal authorities, promised transparency and encouraged witnesses to come forward.

On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered near an ICE facility in Scarborough, Maine. They held up a large banner reading “No more ICE killings” and signs saying “stop the murder” and “end this terror.”

“We need to never see this happen in the streets of Biddeford, Maine, and in this country,” said Democratic state Sen. Mattie Daughtry, said during the protest. “Never forget the human toll of what has happened here in Maine, in Minnesota, in Texas.”

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Santana reported from Washington, D.C., Sullivan from Minneapolis and Galofaro from Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press reporters Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, and Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed.

More than 30 states have reported infections this year, and current data from them shows the number of infections surpassing the record U.S. mark of about 4,700 set in 2019. The illness is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics.

Health officials have not yet definitively identified what is causing the infections. On Tuesday, federal health officials said there may be different infection patterns in different places, although they believe cases in at least four states — Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia — are linked.

Michigan officials blame lettuce

In Michigan — where more than 3,300 cases have been reported — officials say early information points to lettuce or salad greens as a possible culprit.

After conducting more than 1,000 interviews with patients, “early information has shown lettuce as a common product that regularly comes up during the investigation,” said Natasha Bagdasarian, the Michigan health department's chief medical executive.

Because of that commonality and because produce has been behind some past cyclospora outbreaks, Michigan officials advised consumers to buy whole heads of lettuce, discard the outer layers and thoroughly wash what is left. They also suggested people avoid bagged lettuce and pre-mixed salad kits.

On Tuesday, the Taco Bell restaurant chain issued a statement saying it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities."

In a call with reporters on Tuesday, federal health officials did not directly respond to a question about whether they are looking at Taco Bell or any specific food vendor or distributor.

“FDA certainly is continuing its traceback investigation on multiple produce items, also including locations that are reported by the case patients before they became sick,” said Donald Prater, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food, in response.

Cyclospora causes ‘explosive’ diarrhea

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.

The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.

The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by other germs, including salmonella and E. coli. Many cases are never linked to a specific food or other source and, for years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019.

Experts say it's likely that cyclospora cases historically were underreported, in part because some common tests used to check for food poisoning have not been geared to detect cyclospora. They attribute the increasing trend in cases to climate change and better detection.

2019 was the worst year for infections

The worst year in the U.S. for infections was 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported, according to federal data on confirmed and suspected cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps those numbers, but they traditionally lag what is posted by individual city and state health departments dealing with local outbreaks in real time. On Tuesday, CDC officials issued a health alert that said that since May 1, the agency is aware of 1,645 confirmed domestic cases and more than 5,100 that require further analysis to confirm whether the infections were acquired in the U.S. The reports come from 34 states, and no deaths have been reported, the CDC said.

The true number of cases is likely larger than what has been reported so far because some people may have milder illnesses that they don't seek care for, said Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, in the call with reporters.

It can take days to weeks for someone exposed to the parasite to develop symptoms. It's not clear to what extent people currently are being infected, or whether many of the exposures happened earlier. But Biggerstaff said official expect that case numbers will continue to grow through August.

The CDC also posted information about the investigation of an outbreak affecting the four states.

The federal alert did not detail how many reports came from each state. But Michigan officials have reported more than 3,300 cases, officials in northwest Ohio said they have seen more than 1,100, New York City officials counted more than 400 and Illinois reported more than 200.

Officials do not think all can be tied to a common source. In Illinois, for example, more than half the people with infections said they had traveled outside the United States, and at least some may have been infected elsewhere.

But Michigan officials believe a large share of their total is likely due to a linked domestic outbreak. CDC officials did not go into detail about why they currently think cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia are part of the same outbreak.

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Associated Press writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.

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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.

Position Summary

The Big Game Coverage Assistant plays an important role in supporting the production and execution of the station’s weekly high school football coverage across San Antonio and the surrounding communities.

Responsibilities

• Assist with building the weekly game night rundown.
• Create and update graphics for sportscasts.
• Print scripts and organize game-day materials.
• Maintain phone contact lists for schools, coaches, and athletic staff.
• Build and update a scrolling ticker featuring scores from approximately 70 local games each week, including about 60 Friday night matchups.
• Contact schools and teams weekly to verify and update game contacts.
• Monitor games by communicating with schools and stadium personnel to gather score updates.
• Update scores and game information on KSAT.com and the station’s social media platforms
• Upload sportscasts and game highlights to KSAT.com.
• Provide additional production support to the Sports Department as needed.

Qualifications

• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Ability to multitask and work efficiently in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Comfortable using computers and learning newsroom production systems.
• Must be dependable and able to work evening hours throughout the football season.

Schedule

• Temporary, part-time position.
• Up to 20 hours per week.
• Typical shifts are 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., depending on the game schedule.
• Must be available to work various evenings during the football season, with Fridays being the primary workday.

If you’re passionate about sports and want to be part of one of South Texas’ premier high school football coverage teams, we’d love to hear from you!

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.

To apply, please send resume to: Sean Talbot,

stalbot@ksat.com

KSAT 12

1408 N St Mary’s

San Antonio, TX 78215

No Phone Calls Please

KSAT is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, KSAT will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination.

The payment — representing the $5 million jury award, plus interest — was made Monday from an account where it had been held in escrow since the 2023 verdict, according to court records. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed the payment Tuesday.

“We are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment,” Kaplan said in a statement. Carroll herself later wrote on Substack that “the eagle has landed.”

Trump's lawyers have vowed to continue appealing.

Trump deposited the money in an escrow account shortly after the jury ruled against him. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money.

Trump’s lawyers then sought but were denied an emergency order to block the payment. The one-sentence denial set no conditions on how Carroll may use the money. Her lawyers have said in court papers that she plans to put it in a retirement account.

Trump's attorneys have since filed another appeal seeking to stop or reverse the payment.

The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in a New York luxury department store dressing room and defamed her after she told the story publicly in a memoir in 2019, during his first term as president.

Trump insisted nothing sexual happened between him and Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. Trump claimed she was “totally lying” and “ not my type ” in a 2019 interview. He said he didn't know her, dismissing a 1987 photo of them and their then-spouses at a party as inconsequential, and he accused her of harboring political motives and trying to sell books at his expense.

Trump didn't attend the trial, where Carroll testified that their flirtatious and friendly chance encounter at the department store turned violent.

Carroll sued Trump after New York changed its laws to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue over attacks that happened in the distant past.

Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll by a separate Manhattan jury after a 2024 trial where Trump briefly testified.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually abused. Carroll has agreed to be named.

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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed.

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This story has been corrected to show that Carroll collected over $5.6 million, not $5.8 million.

The Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone, or PROMISE Act, comes on the heels of the latest Social Security Board of Trustees’ annual report, which found that Social Security’s retirement trust fund is projected to face a funding shortfall in 2032, a year earlier than last year’s projections.

Even with it being clear for years that Social Security was running out of money, Congress has been loath to act. Making changes to the program — and potentially cutting benefits — has long been politically unpopular, and lawmakers have repeatedly kicked Social Security and Medicare’s troubling math to the next generation.

“The longer Congress waits, the more difficult it will be to address the program’s financial shortfall,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., one of the bill’s authors, said in a statement. “We were elected to solve problems — we owe it to our kids and grandkids to protect and strengthen this critical program.”

Durbin, who is retiring, is joining with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia; independent Sen. Angus King of Maine and outgoing Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina in backing the Social Security legislation, which calls for an “independent, bipartisan advisory committee” that would make recommendations to Congress.

Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., signed onto the bill right before its introduction.

The bill is designed to force Congress to confront Social Security’s long-term financing problem by guaranteeing that lawmakers vote on a solvency plan. It culminates in an up-or-down vote on a plan that restores Social Security solvency for at least half a century.

Committees, however, have been here before. That happened as recently as 2024, when House lawmakers undertook an effort with the backing of several in GOP leadership to form a federal debt commission that would include tackling the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

The effort collapsed when Americans for Tax Reform — led by its president, Grover Norquist — aggressively lobbied against it.

Social Security's looming funding shortfall is mainly the result of lower projected birth rates, reduced immigration and reduced trust fund revenue due to the costs of Republicans’ massive tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, according to the Board of Trustees' report.

The looming challenge for the programs is a partial funding gap, not a collapse. Even after trust fund depletion, the system will continue issuing benefits, albeit at reduced amounts.

Traditionally, Republicans have been skeptical of endorsing tax increases, while Democrats have been critical of calls to raise the age of Social Security eligibility. In 2022, members of the House Republican Study Committee proposed raising the age at which someone could qualify for Social Security and Medicare.

Social Security benefits were last reformed roughly 40 years ago, when the federal government raised the eligibility age for the program from 65 to 67, based on recommendations from a commission under the leadership of Alan Greenspan.

Still, there are ongoing bipartisan calls to find a way to provide long-term funding to Social Security.

Last month, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times calling for raising the cap on the Social Security payroll tax.

For 2026, the payroll tax cap, or maximum amount of earnings on which you must pay Social Security tax is $184,500.

Americans for Tax Reform organized a lengthy and aggressive rebuttal with comments from scores of conservatives in opposition.

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill — or Hillsborough Law — imposes a legal duty of candor on public officials to tell the truth about public tragedies whatever the impact on their reputation.

It is named after the 1989 disaster in which 97 Liverpool soccer fans were killed in a crush at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. An independent inquiry in 2012 found the police had covered up their own mistakes and blamed the deaths on unruly supporters.

The bill completed its passage through the House of Commons after a delay caused by wrangling over whether it would apply to Britain’s spies. After pressure from bereaved families, the government has agreed that the intelligence services will also be covered by the duty of candor, but with a “secure process” for disclosing information if it could affect national security.

The bill will become law after being approved by the House of Lords, Parliament's upper chamber, in the coming weeks.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised to bring in the law during his 2024 election campaign, opened the debate on the bill in the Commons in one of his final acts as leader.

He said victims' families “have waited years and years too long” for justice.

Starmer's successor Andy Burnham, who is due to take over as prime minister on Monday, has long campaigned on behalf of the bereaved families.

In his first speech in the Commons since being elected as an MP last month, Burnham said the Hillsborough Law was “a rewiring of the state and a passing of power from the authorities to the hands of ordinary people.”

Paying tribute to Starmer, he said it was happening “because of the prime minister’s commitment to a country based on justice and fairness, and we thank him for that.”

The 54,000-capacity Hillsborough Stadium was nearly full for a FA Cup semifinal match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, when more than 2,000 Liverpool fans poured into a standing-only section behind a goal. Many victims were crushed against metal fences or trampled underfoot, and suffocated.

With hooliganism rife in English soccer in the 1980s, a narrative blaming drunken, ticketless and rowdy Liverpool fans was created by the police, and was only overturned by years of campaigning by bereaved families.

An original inquest in 1991 found the deaths were accidental, a conclusion the victims’ families refused to accept. Those findings were overturned in 2012 after a far-reaching inquiry into the disaster that examined previously secret documents and exposed wrongdoing and mistakes by police.

In 2016, a jury at a second inquest found the victims had been “unlawfully killed” as a result of failings by the police, the ambulance service and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, which ran the stadium. It found the behavior of fans did not contribute to the deaths.

In 2023 the government apologized for the way the families were treated over the decades and for the delay in its response to the report.

An investigation by the police watchdog concluded last year that 12 officers would have faced gross misconduct proceedings, were they not dead or long retired.

Labour lawmaker Ian Byrne, who was at Hillsborough and survived the tragedy, said he hoped the law would mean “that no grieving family will ever have to come to fight the state simply to uncover the truth.”

“This law is far more than Hillsborough,” he said in an emotional speech. “It is about the kind of country we choose to be, a country where power tells the truth, where public servants serve the public, where justice is not delayed until campaigners grow old, and where no family is ever left to walk alone.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday imposing the country's first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.

The move pushes the state into a raging debate over how to regulate the AI industry, as concerns over rising electric bills and environmental risks collide with a desire to stimulate local economies and foster the U.S. tech sector.

“The bottom line is that progress shouldn't arrive with a higher utility bill, deleted water supply or noise pollution, so we have no choice but to address these challenges created by these massive facilities,” Hochul said at a celebratory signing ceremony in Brooklyn.

President Donald Trump has warned states not to slap regulations on the AI industry, echoing tech companies in arguing such moves hamper job growth and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing field.

Earlier this year, Maine seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled after a mill closed.

Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.

New York's executive order pauses state permitting for new large data centers and directs state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the governor’s office said.

Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition, a trade association, said the moratorium “will ensure that those investments, jobs, and economic activity flow elsewhere rather than to New York — with impacts far beyond the data center industry.”

The decision in New York also carries political significance for Hochul's reelection campaign and the state's tight congressional races this fall, as Democrats move to address affordability concerns over high utility bills. In addition, the governor this year softened New York's ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases, citing rising energy costs for consumers.

Hochul’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, opposes a statewide moratorium and says local governments should be allowed to strike deals with tech companies for data center projects that promise enough economic benefits.

In a statement Tuesday, Blakeman said the governor “doesn’t work with local governments and business leaders to figure out how to get things done,” while pledging to “modernize our economy to bring costs down and create good jobs.”

The state Legislature this year approved its own moratorium bill, but Hochul's office described the legislation as complex and said it needed additional work. Instead, the governor opted for an executive order that would take effect immediately.

State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, joined the governor during the signing ceremony. “If Big Tech is coming onto our turf, it should be on our terms,” she said.

New York, at this stage, has not been a destination for the largest hyperscale data centers.

Graham was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday to fill the remaining months of her brother’s current term and arrived in Washington just a day later to take the oath of office. Senators, staff and family members looked on in the packed chamber, many of them visibly emotional, as Graham was sworn in by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the most senior Republican senator.

A separate special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Lindsey Graham’s seat, as he had been seeking a fifth term this year.

Darline Graham, who will be the state’s first female senator, has not previously held public office. She has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She is married to Larry Nordone but will be known in the Senate as Darline Graham, her legal name.

She said on Monday that her older brother, who raised her after their parents died, had always been there for her. “And now, I will be there for him,” she said.

After she was sworn in, Graham walked to her brother's desk and stood behind it as dozens of senators from both parties lined up to shake her hand or give her a hug. She attended the weekly Senate Republican luncheon before the ceremony, where Lindsey Graham's former colleagues told stories about him and welcomed her to the Senate.

Graham, 71, died unexpectedly on Saturday in Washington. A preliminary report from the medical examiner said he suffered a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic dissection.

One of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, Graham was the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was set to become the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress. Darline Graham will receive her own committee assignments in the coming days.

Graham has often been by her brother’s side

Lindsey Graham, who was not married and did not have children, was exceptionally close to his sister. He became her legal guardian after their parents died, when he was 22 and she was 13. She often appeared at his campaign events and supported him in speeches and campaign ads, and she was there as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year, along with her children and grandchildren.

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words,” his sister said as McMaster announced her appointment. “But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

McMaster said the two had spoken “in the wee hours of Sunday morning” after Graham’s death, and he asked her to serve.

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Graham to fill the seat earlier Monday.

Senators welcome Darline Graham in the Capitol

The weekly Republican luncheon is generally a serious discussion of the week's agenda. But on Tuesday, Lindsey Graham's colleagues told stories and remembered his sense of humor while welcoming his sister into the fold.

“It's personal for us,” said South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who sat next to Graham on the Senate floor. He said senators also tried to offer support for Darline Graham, “who has been put in a position of not only losing her closest family member, but then also being asked to step into this role."

Rounds said that Lindsey Graham, who was known for his quick wit, “was a character, and he was the guy that made everybody feel like you were one of his closest friends.”

Several of South Carolina's House members attended the swearing in, lining up in the back of the Senate chamber, as did prominent members of Trump's administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and special envoy Steve Witkoff. His son-in-law Jared Kushner was also there.

South Carolina holds a special primary in August

According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s death, or July 21.

The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after that filing period closes, or Aug. 11. Any necessary runoff would follow two weeks after that, or Aug. 25.

From that point, the new nominee would have just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.

Several Republicans are potentially eyeing a run, including Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Republican Reps. Russell Fry, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman.

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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard contributed to this report from Columbia, South Carolina.

According to a notice published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week, the now-recalled vehicles were made with a certification label that incorrectly states their gross axle weight rating, or GAWR, which reflects the maximum weight that each axle of a vehicle can support.

The NHTSA warns a wrong GAWR label “may lead to an overloaded vehicle,” which could increase the likelihood of a crash.

Subaru has not been aware of any crashes or injuries resulting from this issue in the U.S., according to recall documents. And no mechanical repair is needed — but the company plans to mail impacted owners a “corrective certification label” to place over the faulty one. Customers may also choose to have a dealer place the new label on their cars, free of charge.

The labeling recall covers certain 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid, 2025-2026 Forester and Forester Hybrid, and 2019-2026 Ascent vehicles.

Owner notifications are set to go out in late August — and additional letters will be mailed “once the remedy is available,” NHTSA documents note. In the meantime, drivers can also confirm whether their specific vehicle is included in this recall and find more information using the NHTSA's website and/or Subaru's recall lookup platform.

The Associated Press reached out to contacts for Subaru of America — a New Jersey-based subsidiary of the larger Japanese automaker — for further comments Tuesday.

Buffett also said in his statement that he wants all of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway stock worth more than $140 billion donated to charity by the end of 2034. Previously the plan was for his three children to distribute his remaining fortune within 10 years of the 95-year-old investor’s death.

“Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034,” Buffett said in a statement. “The goal is to have the grants grow annually to each of the three foundations managed by each of my children and the annual grant to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation grow at a somewhat greater rate.”

Buffett did not immediately respond Tuesday to questions. CNBC said Buffett was scheduled to give the channel an exclusive interview on the topic Wednesday morning.

The Gates Foundation thanked Buffett for his gifts in a statement Tuesday and said the foundation remains in a strong financial position thanks to Gates' pledge to donate 99% of his remaining fortune to the charity, which plans to close in 2045 after distributing the money.

“The Gates Foundation is grateful to Warren Buffett for his decades of support for our work. His gifts, totaling more than $47 billion, have helped us expand and deliver on the foundation’s mission to improve health and opportunity for people around the world,” the charity said in its statement.

Buffett's latest gifts are roughly equal to last year's donations

The majority of Buffett’s charitable gifts — worth more than $61 billion — have gone to the Gates Foundation since he announced the plan to give away his fortune in 2006. He has been giving blocks of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and the four foundations run by his three children regularly.

Buffett plans to give about $4.5 billion in stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation this year and about $500 million in shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Novo Foundation, which are run by his children.

So the total amount of donations announced Tuesday is similar to the roughly $6 billion in donations he made last summer, with Buffett’s family foundations getting significantly more than in previous years that would seem to account for the money that would have gone to the Gates Foundation.

Gates has denied any ties to Epstein's crimes

Gates denies any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He said he only met with Epstein because he thought it might help him raise money for charitable causes.

Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found dead at the Manhattan federal lockup in August 2019 and his death was later ruled a suicide by New York City’s medical examiner.

Buffett already said in 2024 that he planned to cut off donations to the Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his fortune. The decision he announced Tuesday will accelerate that plan.

The two billionaires were the best of friends

Buffett and Gates used to be exceptionally close friends who talked often, played bridge online and even took vacations together. Gates also served on the board of Buffett’s conglomerate for years and the legendary investor sat on the board of the Gates Foundation. But Buffett told CNBC in March that he hadn’t talked to Gates for months since before the Epstein files were released. The disclosures began in December 2025 and continued into this year.

In the past, Buffett stood up for Gates. Three years ago, Buffett cut off a man who was presenting a resolution at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting after he questioned Gates’ character because of his ties with Epstein. Peter Flaherty was arrested that day for trespassing even though he had been approved to make the presentation beforehand. The charge was later dropped, but the incident led to a lawsuit, which is still pending in the courts.

Buffett can't believe how many people Epstein fooled

Buffett said to CNBC “it is astounding to me that anybody could be that successful as a con person” but Epstein found a way to exploit the weaknesses of others. Buffett would not discuss Gates’ involvement, but said he doesn’t want to be involved with anything that could be investigated later.

Gates discussed his ties to Epstein with the staff of his foundation recently. Gates appears multiple times in the Justice Department’s release of documents connected to its investigation of the late financier. The Justice Department’s files include email correspondence between Gates and Epstein about philanthropic projects, calendar entries documenting dates they got together, and photos of Gates at events the two men attended.

The foundation announced that it hired someone in March to assess the foundation’s past engagement with Epstein and review its policies to vet any future philanthropic partnerships. Gates and the rest of the foundation’s board expect to get an update on that investigation sometime this summer.

Buffett told CNBC that he’s amazed at how many wealthy and powerful people have been caught up in the Epstein scandal.

“I mean, it, here you had a guy that was a convicted guy, a sensational con man, and the percentage of people that he knocked off,” Buffett said. “I mean, whether it was, he found their weakness. It might have been sex. It might be power, it might be, whatever it might be. And I don’t see how anybody could have pulled that off.”

Buffett said he’s glad Epstein never came to Omaha, where he has lived for more than six decades. Buffett is regarded by many as the world’s greatest investor who built up Berkshire over the years by buying insurance companies like Geico, major utilities, manufacturers and well-known brands like Dairy Queen and the BNSF railroad.

Buffett stepped down as Berkshire CEO in January after 60 years of leading the company, but he remains as chairman and the largest shareholder. Greg Abel is now CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

It marks the second straight quarter of strong results from the banks, which have benefited from market volatility since the Iran war began in late February.

Both consumer-facing and market-focused banks reported revenue and profit growth that beat even the most optimistic Wall Street expectations.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index, which tracks the performance of two dozen banks rose 0.7% in afternoon trading.

Here's a look at how and why banks have continued to thrive despite a clouded economic future.

JPMorgan hits records

JPMorgan Chase logged $16.9 billion in second-quarter profit as its equities trading division again took advantage of market volatility triggered by the war in Iran.

The nation's largest bank by asset size, JPMorgan said that revenue in every line of its business hit record levels in the quarter, including its markets division, where revenue grew 35% over the same period last year. Revenue in its equity markets division skyrocketed 86%.

JPMorgan earned $6.14 per share in the period, beating analyst estimates of $5.59 per share. Managed revenue came in at $58 billion, also topping the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

JPMorgan shares rose 1.8% by midday.

The consumer keeps spending

Bank executives highlighted a surprisingly strong U.S. consumer even as inflation remains elevated, in part due to the higher oil prices brought about by the war in Iran.

Bank of America said that consumer spending expanded, outperforming expectations. Consumer investment assets grew 18% year-over-year and average deposits and spending all increased from the first quarter, the bank said.

JPMorgan reported revenue of $20.3 billion from its consumer banking division in the period, a year-over-year increase of 8%.

Wells Fargo also reported improved consumer activity, reflecting a broadly healthy U.S. economy.

“Consumer spending is higher, charge-offs and delinquencies are lower, and savings and investments are growing across consumer segments,” Wells CEO Charlie Scharf said.

The unresolved conflict in the Middle East, however, remains a potential economic hurdle for consumers and businesses alike.

Oil prices fell back near prewar levels earlier this month, but they’re back up more than 10% this week after the U.S. renewed attacks on Iran and President Donald Trump announced a new blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil. At $3.86 per gallon, gas prices remain well above prewar levels but below their peak of around $4.50 in May.

Dimon said on a conference call that JPMorgan remains “appropriately cautious” in light of the current global economic risks.

“We cannot predict how these forces will ultimately play out,” Dimon said. “They may remain manageable, but they could also cause meaningful disruptions when they shift or collide.”

IPOs and mergers expected to stay hot through 2026

Dimon said that revenue from the New York bank's investment banking division rose 30%, accelerating to the highest level since 2021 as the thirst for initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions remained strong.

All the major banks played a role in SpaceX's record-setting IPO in June, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley acting as lead underwriters. The offering brought in $75 billion, more than all U.S. IPOs combined in 2024 and 2025, according to Renaissance Capital.

Renaissance expects the IPO market to extend its hot streak into the second half of this year, also driven by larger deals such as Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix’s “mega-listing” on Friday that raised $26.5 billion.

Global mergers and acquisition activity also accelerated in the second quarter of 2026, with announcements up 64% year-over-year and closings up 33%, according to Morgan Stanley.

Goldman Sachs said revenue from advising on mergers and acquisitions in the second quarter rose 17%.

Iran war the main source of market volatility

Markets have been swinging up and down since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, with military strikes from both sides interspersed with pauses in fighting and vague temporary truces.

Investors’ concerns that the war will last a long time has triggered high volumes of selling in financial markets, while hopes for a resolution and a freer flow of crude oil has inspired optimism and buying.

Though volatile markets can cause anxiety for individual investors, high-speed Wall Street trading desks can take advantage of the wild gyrations. Big swings in markets tend to increase activity on trading desks, leading to higher commissions and fee revenue for the banks.

Goldman Sachs said it brought in $15.52 billion in revenue from its banking and markets division in the period, 53% higher than last year's second quarter and a 22% increase over 2026's first quarter.

Citigroup's market revenue also topped its first quarter figure and was up 45% over the same period last year.

Overall strong second-quarter results

Wells Fargo reported a 22% jump in net income for the quarter to $6,4 billion. Revenue of $22.6 billion topped Wall Street estimates.

Scharf said the San Francisco bank benefited from a strong economy and its newly unleashed ability to invest after years of government oversight. Shares of Wells Fargo fell 2.6% at midday.

Goldman Sachs earned $6.6 billion in the quarter, or $20.98 per share, on $20.3 billion in revenue. Its shares rose more than 7%.

Bank of America’s profit rose to $9.1 billion, up 27% from a year ago. Bank of America’s shares climbed 1.7%.

Citigroup also beat Wall Street's projections for revenue and profit but its shares fell 4.5%.

Consumer prices dropped 0.4% from May to June, the largest monthly drop in four years, the Labor Department said Tuesday, after rising 0.5% in the previous month. On a yearly basis, inflation declined to 3.5%, down from a year-over-year gain of 4.2% in May and lower than many economists expected.

Excluding the food and energy categories, core prices were unchanged from May to June, a positive sign that underlying inflation is declining. On a yearly basis, core prices rose just 2.6%, down from 2.9% the previous month. Core inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

The core figures suggest that the gas price spike from the Iran war, while it pushed up airfares and some other costs, hasn't so far led to broad-based, sustained inflation, economists said.

“This reading is very much in the camp that the inflation we've had this year is transitory,” said Michael Metcalfe, head of macro strategy at State Street Markets. “Yes, gas prices went up, but nothing else did, more or less.”

Yet oil prices rose for a second day Tuesday as the United States renewed attacks on Iran and President Donald Trump announced a new blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil. The increase threatens to undo at least some of the progress that occurred last month.

And many Americans have soured on the economy after five years of elevated inflation, posing a risk to Trump and Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.

For his part, Trump on Tuesday blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for the rate of inflation having spiked to athree-year high just last month.

“It’s not my fault," he said. “We are putting it to sleep. ... Inflation is way down.”

“Remember that for the midterms," he added.

Yet inflation has risen since Trump's inauguration last year, to 3.5% from 3% in January 2025. It jumped even further after the Iran war began Feb. 28, when it was just 2.4%

Benign report could make Fed rate hike less likely

Tuesday's report likely reduces pressure on the Fed to boost its short-term interest rate to combat inflation. Last month, Fed officials left their key rate unchanged at about 3.6%.

“Today's report gave some breathing room for the Federal Reserve in deciding whether and when to raise interest rates,” Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide Financial, said.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, in written testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday that the Fed has “no tolerance” for high inflation which he pledged would become “a thing of the past.” Yet he provided no hints about what steps the Fed may take in coming months. Warsh will face questions later Tuesday from members of Congress.

More goods and services saw slower price gains than expected

A wider range of prices cooled last month than economists had forecast. Electricity prices, which have been elevated by spiking demand from data centers, fell 1% from May to June, though they are still 4% higher than a year ago. Clothing prices dropped 0.6% from May to June but are 3.9% more expensive than a year earlier.

Groceries rose 0.2% from May to June and are up 2.7% from last year, while apartment rental costs cooled, rising just 0.1% last month and 2.8% from a year ago.

The inflation-fighters at the Fed remain sharply divided over next steps, according to minutes of their June 16-17 meeting. About half of policymakers support raising interest rates by the end of the year to cool borrowing, spending, and price increases, the minutes showed. Another half are willing to wait for signs that inflation may resume falling as gas prices decline, though the minutes predate the recent flare-up of violence in the Middle East.

And the situation in the Middle East continues to change hour to hour. On Tuesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 4.6% to $87.13 after the United States and Iran each said the Strait of Hormuz is under its control. Gas prices have also risen about 6 cents a gallon in the past week, to a nationwide average of $3.86 a gallon.

“Today’s number is a very good reading, but so much is going to depend on what happens in the Middle East," Bostjancic said.

Next steps

Many Fed officials have flagged massive investments in the build out of artificial intelligence infrastructure as a factor that could worsen inflation by pushing up prices for memory chips and other semiconductors, as well as electricity. With chips so much more expensive, companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Dell have announced price increases for laptops, tablets, and video game consoles.

Other Fed officials have offered conflicting views on what steps the Fed could take next. On Monday, Fed governor Christopher Waller said he was worried about core inflation, which he noted had risen from 3% last December to 3.4% in May, according to the Fed's preferred measure. He pointed out that the cost of more than two-thirds of services have risen by 3% or more compared with a year ago.

“If we get another hot reading on core inflation this week, then the (Fed) will need to consider tightening monetary policy in the near term,” Waller said in a speech in New York.

But last week John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that if core inflation stays at a 0.2% monthly pace for the rest of this year, the Fed could avoid hiking rates. Tuesday's data is along the lines of what Williams wants to see.

Other signs of where prices are headed are mixed. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said last week that a survey found that nearly half the companies in its region that have paid tariffs still plan to lift their prices further.

Separately, Walmart last week said it was rolling back prices on thousands of items, including ground beef, potato chips, toys, and clothes. Trump praised the move on social media and sought to take credit for the reduction, though the company did not mention Trump in its announcement.

In a complaint to the U.S. Office of the Special Counsel filed Monday, Wyden requested an investigation into whether the June calls violated the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that restricts certain political activities by federal employees. The Oregon Democrat said Kennedy acted inappropriately by interfering with elections that Trump's Republican administration wants GOP candidates to win.

“Kennedy has spent sixteen months using his official position to undermine the health and well-being of his fellow Americans, and now he is using his official position to undermine the integrity of democratic elections too,” reads a statement from Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, which plays a role in overseeing the nation's health agencies.

The accusation comes as Trump has dispatched Kennedy to swing districts around the country as a key surrogate for the administration, promoting its widely popular efforts to encourage healthy eating and exercise. It takes issue with another task Kennedy reportedly did on behalf of the administration: calling Libertarian candidates to push them to drop out of two races where they could be spoilers for GOP candidates. At stake is control of Congress in a competitive midterm election year, where any win could be decisive in shaping the next two years of federal policy.

Spokespeople for Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Claims center on 2 competitive US House races

The calls Wyden references in the complaint include a June 8 call with Marco Battaglia, a Libertarian candidate running in Iowa's 3rd congressional district, and a June 11 call with Rick Stewart, a Libertarian candidate running in Iowa's 2nd congressional district.

They are among the three of Iowa's four congressional districts that are expected to be some of the most competitive in the country, and Libertarian candidates in recent election cycles have drawn support from 2 to 3% of voters. Republicans in Iowa filed challenges to Battaglia and Stewart's nominating paperwork, and Battaglia was removed from the general election ballot, while Stewart remains. Both cases are being appealed in district court.

“They don’t want our people in there. They feel we are spoilers,” Stephanie Berlin, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, said Tuesday. “This is just another example of the major two parties trying to strangle us out of ballot access.”

Libertarian Party leader recorded a call with Kennedy

Berlin sat alongside Stewart when he spoke with Kennedy and was the one to record the call, which she said she interpreted as Kennedy offering quid pro quo even as he “skirted the line.”

Kennedy did not make any specific request of or offer to Stewart in the recording, according to a copy shared with The Associated Press. Kennedy said he could be Stewart's “liaison with the White House" and suggested Stewart could, like Kennedy himself, “make an agreement that puts me in a position where I can make a real difference in people's lives.”

“I can't go into specifics because, you know, there's legal prohibitions about that," he said. "If it's something that you want to work on together ... if there's other ways that you think you might be effective, you know, like I said, I will be your advocate."

The Washington Post previously reported on Kennedy's recorded conversation with Stewart.

Stewart told the AP it was clear that Kennedy wanted him to drop out, though he said he suspects Kennedy “did his best to stay on the correct side of the law.”

“That's how all politics works,” Stewart said. “Everybody does their best to avoid breaking the rules, but they also do their best to go around the rules.”

Wyden was more explicit, saying Kennedy’s offer of federal employment to Stewart amounted to illegal quid pro quo and that Kennedy needed to be held accountable.

Battaglia also told the AP last month that Kennedy called him to encourage him to drop out of the race but he did not have a recording.

Watchdog group calls Kennedy's comments a ‘clear violation’

Donald Sherman, president of the nonpartisan government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said there are several instances in the recording of Kennedy invoking his official position and responsibilities as health secretary. Sherman said that makes it a “clear violation” of the Hatch Act that's worthy of investigation by the Office of Special Counsel.

“I don’t want to be fighting subpoenas for the next two years instead of improving America’s health,” Kennedy said in the call to Stewart. “So for me, there’s an immediate, pragmatic reason for this phone call.”

There are ways Kennedy could make a political call that do not violate the Hatch Act but he would have had to call from a personal phone from a personal office and would have had to avoid referring to the government or his government office, Sherman said.

“Invoking the White House specifically, referring to his official duties and his official role as HHS secretary, is where he blurs the line between whether he's calling as a government employee or as a private citizen," Sherman said. "That's where the problem comes in.”

In the past, many other senior government officials have faced Hatch Act complaints. During the first Trump administration, the Office of the Special Counsel sent senior officials 15 warning letters about running afoul of the decades-old law. And Karine Jean-Pierre, former press secretary for President Joe Biden, was also found to have violated the law with references to “MAGA Republicans” during White House briefings. Penalties for Hatch Act violations are uncommon, and the Office of the Special Counsel did not recommend any fines or other punishments for Jean-Pierre.

Trump has taken steps in his second term to assert more control over independent agencies like the Office of the Special Counsel — a posture that could influence whether it acts on Wyden's complaint. Early in his second term, Trump fired the head of the office. The Supreme Court ruled recently that the president can fire members of independent agency boards without cause.

Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the watchdog group Public Citizen who has himself filed Hatch Act complaints against Trump administration officials, said he doesn’t expect the office to act on what he considers a violation in Kennedy's case.

“RFK using his official position, citing his official position, in his phone call and his connection to the White House and his ability to get the White House to provide favors – all of that would constitute a direct violation of the Hatch Act,” Holman said.

The Office of the Special Counsel could recommend that RFK be removed from his role, Holman added, “but I am not expecting that.”

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Swenson reported from New York.

Blanche will need the support of all GOP lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee in order to advance his nomination to lead the Justice Department, which he has done in an acting capacity since April.

Blanche is expected to face scrutiny over issues including the department's investigations into President Donald Trump's foes, a contentious deal to settle Trump's IRS lawsuit and its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files when he appears before the committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Here's a look at key topics likely to dominate the hearing:

‘I love you, sir:' Blanche & Trump's close relationship from the courtroom to DOJ

Blanche came into the public spotlight as the lead attorney defending Trump in his hush money trial in New York. The close relationship they forged then — and the unwavering loyalty Blanche has shown to Trump since joining the Justice Department last year — is likely to command the spotlight at the hearing.

Trump has made clear his desire to use the Justice Department to pursue his political opponents. And Blanche has accelerated investigations into perceived foes of the president since Pam Bondi was fired after failing to deliver criminal cases against Trump's political enemies.

Democrats say Blanche is acting as if he were still Trump's personal attorney.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump praised Blanche's record at the Justice Department, calling him “tough, brilliant, and 100% LOYAL to our Constitution, and the American People.”

"He is a great lawyer, always very fair, and every Republican Senator should vote to CONFIRM Todd Blanche, ASAP!" Trump wrote.

Blanche has strongly rejected accusations that the administration has weaponized the department for political purposes, saying in an ABC interview in February that "there’s not a whiff of political partisanship in what we’re doing.”

The Justice Department has historically prided itself on independence from the White House when it comes to prosecutorial decisions. But Blanche has insisted he sees no problem with the president’s interest in Justice Department matters and says he has felt no pressure to placate Trump.

“We have thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions going on in this country right now," Blanche said at a press conference in May. “And it is true that some of them involve men, women and entities that the president in the past has had issues with and believes should be investigated. That is his right, and indeed it is his duty to do that.”

When asked at the time about his potential nomination for attorney general, Blanche said that if Trump chose someone else for the job he would say: “Thank you very much. I love you, sir.”

Blanche has tried to walk a fine line when discussing Jan. 6

Blanche's past comments surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could face renewed scrutiny.

Blanche has said he was not consulted on Trump's sweeping clemency grant for some 1,500 people charged in the riot, including people convicted of attacking police. Pressed on the matter during his confirmation hearing for deputy attorney general last year, Blanche said that people who commit violence against law enforcement “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Asked whether he would advise the president in the future against pardoning violent offenders, Blanche told lawmakers last year that “violence against law enforcement is never something that should be tolerated.”

But in front of a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in May, Blanche touted the Jan. 6 pardons as an accomplishment for the administration, saying to cheers in the audience that “by 5 p.m. on Jan. 20, every one of them was either pardoned or had their sentence commuted."

“So when folks say we’ve done nothing, I say ‘you have a very short memory,’" Blanche told the crowd.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose vote is likely to be crucial for Blanche's nomination, has said he will not support anyone for attorney general who equivocates on the events of Jan 6. Tillis, however, recently said he doesn't have any concerns about Blanche's record regarding Jan. 6.

With the death of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, there are 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel. If even one Republican on the committee votes against Blanche, it could scuttle his nomination.

‘We are not moving forward with the fund, period.’ Will that assurance be enough?

Arguably the rockiest stretch of Blanche’s tenure atop the Justice Department has been a $1.776 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the president who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system.

Blanche was the public face of the initiative, which emerged from a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The fund faced instant bipartisan congressional backlash, exemplified by a tense closed-door meeting at which shouting Republicans confronted Blanche over the planned payouts.

Weeks later, he revealed on behalf of the administration that the idea had been scrapped, saying at a hearing, “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.”

Nonetheless, expect Democrats to press Blanche on whether he has truly foreclosed the possibility of reviving the fund, especially since Trump remains vocal about his desire for compensation for his supporters and since the Justice Department has balked at a judge’s insistence that it assert in writing that it won’t bring back the compensation.

Tillis has been sharply critical of not only the fund but a separate aspect of the IRS that guarantees Trump and members of his family immunity from audits. Blanche has repeatedly said that the IRS protection remains intact, something that Tillis and others are expected to demand answers about. A federal judge on Monday stopped short of voiding the audit immunity deal but called into question its legal legitimacy.

Questions over the Epstein files have never gone away

Blanche was deputy attorney general when the Justice Department in the summer of 2025 found itself besieged by crisis over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. A year later, questions remain, despite the department's release last January of what it said were more than 3 million pages of records from its sex-trafficking investigation of the late financier.

Blanche will unquestionably be grilled about the case, especially after Bondi told lawmakers behind closed-doors after her ouster as attorney general that Blanche was the department’s point person on the release of the Epstein documents.

Trouble began in February 2025 when Bondi presented far-right influencers at the White House with white binders that she said contained the Epstein files but in reality actually consisted of largely public materials.

Things worsened last July when the department said in an unsigned statement that it would not release any additional records from the investigation, only to be forced into a reversal by an onslaught of criticism across the political spectrum and legislation from Congress that mandated the records’ disclosure.

But the staggered release was beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims. Some names, email addresses and other identifying information was either unredacted or not fully obscured.

Blanche has faced additional scrutiny over his unusual trip to a Florida prison to interview Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, as she serves a 20-year sentence for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. After the interview, Maxwell was moved from the low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

It was a list of things to do on the weekend after missing the cut.

“He was like: ‘Hey, you can practice at the facilities. You can still go to the gym. You can also go to the next tournament.’ It was basically all my options,” Scheffler said Tuesday ahead of the British Open. “He never sent it to me, but he told me about it.”

The reason the text was created — without being sent, to Scheffler's disappointment — was missing the cut at the Scottish Open, his first missed cut in nearly four years, a streak of 78 consecutive cuts that was the longest since Tiger Woods set the record (142) from 1998 to 2005.

Frustrating, yes. Despair? Hardly.

“You never want to have a weekend off, but going into a tournament when you're defending, there's always a bit more stuff to do,” Scheffler said. “So it wasn't the worst thing in the world.”

Among his duties was officially returning the claret jug he won last year at Royal Portrush, a ritual the Royal & Ancient has turned into a ceremony. Then, it was playing an exhibition with Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and others.

But key to Scheffler's early arrival was Royal Birkdale, which has hosted the British Open more than any other links course in England since it first joined the rotation in 1954.

He had never seen it. Scheffler had not seen conditions like this — a combination of yellow and brown, which translates to firm and fiery in a links vocabulary. St. Andrews came close in 2022, but Jon Rahm recalls the greens still being soft enough to allow for low scoring.

Scheffler ticked off two items on his friend's list — he went to the gym in Scotland and then headed to the next tournament. That allowed him time to play 18 holes on Sunday, and to limit his energy in sunbaked Blighty to nine holes on Monday and Tuesday.

His general assessment: “The ball is just going to run forever.”

Is it driver to take it over the bunkers and possibly reach the green on the 393-yard, downwind 16th hole, or hit iron off the tee? Is the redesigned fifth hole at 321 yards worth trying to reach with a pond to the right, a series of bunkers short and a wee part of a wee burn to the left?

“On each hole there's a good bit of strategy. There's a decent amount of thinking,” Scheffler said. “If it wasn't as firm as it is now, there would be as much decision-making. But I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges.”

Rose is among four players — and at 45, the youngest — to have played Royal Birkdale three times in the Open dating to 1998. He was a 17-year-old amateur that year, full of joy and optimism when he holed out a wedge for birdie on the 18th to tie for fourth. He didn't finish in the top 50 his two times as a professional.

Rose certainly has more experience than Scheffler, but only to a point.

“A links course is interesting because you never really get to know them that well,” Rose said. "Like 2008 I think it was, weather was dreadful. It was wet. You might have been hitting 2-irons and 3-woods into par 4s, and now you could be flicking 52-degree wedges.

“A golf course can play so differently decade to decade when we come back that you never really get to know the course that well.”

Scheffler said he felt at peace about his game, and he certainly looked the part. His game didn't look deplorable in the Scottish Open, just a matter of not hitting it terribly close and not making many putts and then moving on.

It was no less frustrating — Scheffler is a killer when it comes to competing, which is one reason he has been No. 1 longer than anyone since Woods — but it was filled with perspective.

“I don’t think it hurts as much as coming close to winning and finishing second,” Scheffler said. “I felt like coming in second at Travelers hurt more than missing the cut, but missing the cut is significantly more frustrating is how I would describe it.”

He's had plenty of experience finishing second. Scheffler's lone victory this year was his first tournament in January at The American Express. Since then, he has had four runner-up finishes, including the Masters. The most recent was a playoff loss to Viktor Hovland at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago when Scheffler missed a 4-foot slider.

“I think just towards the end of the season, you get a little tired,” Scheffler said. "I got a couple days off, reset the mind, reset the body, and just kind of get back to feeling even and at peace. I've had a very solid year, but like I said, frustrating at times because I’ve been close and I haven’t been able to get it done like I have been in years past.

“I'm excited to try and defend my title this week.”

That hasn't been done at the British Open since 2008 when Padraig Harrington won at Royal Birkdale. One week could change Scheffler's outlook on the year. But it's a week that presents a test the likes of which he hasn't seen all year.

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

Federal authorities initially used that language Monday when talking to state officials about the actions of a Maine driver who was fatally shot by immigration officers. In public statements, Department of Homeland Security officials shifted their description to say officers fired into the vehicle “fearing for public safety.”

It was the second time in a week that federal immigration authorities shot and killed someone behind the wheel of a car, initially accusing the driver of attempting to ram into immigration officers.

But while the weaponization of a car is often used to justify the use of deadly force against a driver, the legal definition is a lot less clear cut.

State legislatures and some courts say cars can be considered weapons

In numerous state and federal courts, judges have agreed that vehicles can be considered weapons when they are used to inflict harm. But many of those cases have been considerations of whether enhanced charges such as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon can be levied against a person after an injury or death was already caused by a vehicle.

Many state laws that address assault with a vehicle are designed to enhance manslaughter or other charges against people violating traffic laws or driving requirements. Judicial opinions have largely focused on crimes of negligence, road rage or driving while intoxicated, and in rare instances, cases where someone purposefully drove their car into a crowd of people.

They rarely deal with the question faced by police or federal law enforcement officials of when a moving vehicle should be considered a dangerous weapon, and when that allows for the use of deadly force.

Training often says to move rather than shoot

Many law enforcement departments and agencies weigh the potential for unintended harm heavily when instructing officers or agents on when it's acceptable to fire a weapon at a moving vehicle.

Many department policies tell officers to move out of the way of a vehicle rather than shoot because of the potential harm to bystanders who could be struck by unintended gunfire or by a careening vehicle if the driver is incapacitated.

Policies often say a suspect fleeing is not enough justification for using deadly force. Some require another weapon such as a firearm being used as a threat from the person in the vehicle to establish a clear threat to public or officer safety.

Experts say many factors determine when a car is weaponized

Exceptions exist in many use-of-force policies for what became a familiar scene abroad and at times in the U.S. — a person driving a vehicle into crowded public streets to inflict as much damage as possible.

But, experts say those exceptions have been used as a defense in situations where a person was not posing the same level of threat.

They say officers and juries should consider factors such as the speed of the vehicle, whether there are large gatherings of people on the sidewalks or nearby, and the reason for the initial police interaction. For example, a person fleeing an armed robbery at a bank might pose a higher danger than someone fleeing a traffic stop.

Robinson made an impact almost from the start with the Atlanta Falcons and then took his game to another level last season when he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage and was picked as the All-Pro running back.

That production helped Robinson win the honor of being named the top running back in the league by The Associated Press.

A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top five players at running back, basing selections on current status entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Robinson got three first-place votes, one second and was the only player named on all eight ballots to win the voting with 41 points. San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey got two first-place votes and finished second with 33 points, with Baltimore's Derrick Henry also getting two first-place votes and coming in third with 30 points.

The other first-place vote went to Saquon Barkley, who finished fourth, with Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs coming in fifth.

Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor and Buffalo's James Cook also received votes.

1. Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Robinson, the eighth pick in 2023, is one of the top dual-threat backs in the league, finishing fourth in the league in rushing last season with 1,478 yards to go along with 820 yards receiving.

He became the second player ever with at least 1,400 yards rushing and 800 yards receiving in the same season, joining Steven Jackson, who did it in 2006.

Robinson led the NFL with 2,298 yards from scrimmage and scored 11 TDs on the season.

2. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

McCaffrey has established himself as the most dangerous receiving threat out of the backfield and is a focal point of Kyle Shanahan's passing game in San Francisco.

McCaffrey wasn't the explosive runner last season as he had been earlier in his career, rushing for 1,202 yards and averaging just 3.9 yards per carry. He more than made up for that with 102 catches for 924 yards as he nearly became the first player ever with two seasons with at least 1,000 yards rushing and receiving.

McCaffrey generated an NFL-best 119 first downs, matching the most for any player in the past 15 seasons.

3. Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens

People have been waiting for Henry to shows signs of decline as he reached his 30s but it hasn't been evident yet.

Henry has topped 1,500 yards rushing in each of the past two seasons after turning 30, with his five 1,500-yard seasons tied with Barry Sanders for the most ever.

Henry ranked second in the NFL last season with 1,595 yards rushing and is 10th all-time with 13,018 yards. He set a record last season with his seventh 200-yard game and has a record-tying four seasons with at least 15 TD runs.

4. Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles

Barkley took a step back from his record-setting 2024 season when his 2,504 yards rushing in the regular season and playoffs were the most ever as Philadelphia's offense was less potent last season. He still managed to rush for 1,140 yards and scored nine total TDs to earn some support in this voting.

5. Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions

Gibbs has been a scoring machine since entering the league with Robinson in 2023, when he was picked four spots later at No. 12 overall. Gibbs' 49 career touchdowns are the most ever for a player before turning 24 years old, topping the previous mark of 47 set by Lions legend Barry Sanders.

Gibbs rushed for 1,223 yards and added 616 more receiving last season when he scored 18 overall TDs.

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

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year old Houston man and Mexican national, was killed by an ICE agent last week when agents stopped his vehicle as part of a targeted operation pursuing a different man. Less than a week later, federal agents killed a 26-year-old Colombian man in Maine in his vehicle.

The policy is expected to be temporary while ICE agents receive more training on conducting vehicle stops, according to media reports, and will not apply to cases involving serious criminal targets.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters Tuesday that she had urged Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to take this step in the wake of Monday’s ICE shooting in Maine.

“While the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions that I spoke with DHS Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops,” Collins wrote on X.

The White House referred a request for comment to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond when asked if vehicle stops were being halted.

The policy change will represent a significant shift in how ICE conducts enforcement operations. The agency — under pressure to ramp up arrests and deportations since the beginning of the Trump administration — regularly conducts vehicle stops, which can be performed without a judicial warrant.

But ICE’s decision did not satisfy all Democrats, who have called for more permanent changes, including abolishing the agency.

“A temporary training won’t solve a deeply ingrained problem,” said Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Houston. “ICE has been radicalized. Its agents have shot and killed unarmed people across the country. The agency needs to be torn down to the studs.”

The construction worker, later identified as 63-year-old Baltazar Rubio-Olvera, was removing dirt from the school’s crawl space with a mini-excavator.

>>Construction worker dies at Converse Elementary School, Judson ISD says

According to a news release, Rubio-Olvera became trapped between the equipment and a concrete beam, which led to his death. As a result of the incident, OSHA opened an investigation into Rubio-Olvera’s death.

The organization said it cited D.L. Bandy Constructors Inc., Rubio-Olvera’s employer, with one violation for “removing the rollover protective structures from mini-excavators” and “adding fabricated parts” to make the equipment fit inside the crawl space.

The agency also issued 15 “serious” violations related to confined space hazards, which include:

• The apparent failure to identify and evaluate permit-required confined spaces
• Conduct required atmospheric testing
• The lack of adequate ventilation and communication
• The failure of adequately training its employees
• Designate confined space personnel
• Implement required entry and rescue procedures

The staffing company, Pacesetter Personnel Services, was also issued two violations for allegedly failing to ensure permit-required confined space entry procedures were followed as well as failing to provide confined space training to temporary workers, the department said.

OSHA proposed $276,399 in penalties against D.L. Bandy Constructors, Inc. and $23,170 for Pacesetter Personnel Services.

According to the release, the companies have 15 business days from the receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that she will serve the remaining months on Graham's current term, which expires in January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said afterward that she will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon.

She will be the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

“It is such an honor,” Darline Graham said as dozens of her brother's staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling tears. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

Graham died on Saturday at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but his sister was often by his side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads.

After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his sister, for whom he later became legal guardian. They were very close, and she was there as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year, along with her children and grandchildren.

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words," she said, emotion rising in her voice. "But I'm going to do this. I got it.”

Introducing her, McMaster said the two had spoken “in the wee hours of Sunday morning” after Graham's death, and he asked her to serve.

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Nardone to fill the seat earlier Monday.

Darline Graham has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She lives in Lexington, is a graduate of the College of Charleston and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling.

How will a special primary work?

A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Lindsey Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a fifth term this year.

The rare open Senate seat has ignited a scramble among South Carolina’s most ambitious conservatives, who have been eager to climb the political ladder.

Republicans just finished a sprawling and bruising contest to figure out their nominee for succeeding McMaster, who is wrapping up his second term. State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the nomination, overcoming a field that included Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — all of whom are now eyeing Graham’s seat following his death over the weekend.

According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s death, or July 21.

The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after that filing period closes, or Aug. 11. Any necessary runoff would follow two weeks after that, or Aug. 25.

From that point, the new nominee would have just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.

All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal election. For the special election primary, that would have been June 27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a message seeking clarity about the process.

Who could replace Graham?

Graham died on Saturday night, and a preliminary medical examiner report said he suffered a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic dissection.

In the hours after Graham's death was announced, South Carolina’s Republican circles were already swirling with rumors about possible replacements.

Evette, who has served nearly eight years alongside McMaster and received his endorsement in the governor's race, is one possibility. She lost the June 23 runoff to Wilson.

Mace and Norman could run in the special primary as well. Neither of them are running for reelection to their House seats.

But another Republican from the state, Rep. Russell Fry, could be a possibility. The two-term lawmaker represents the growing area around Myrtle Beach, and he's been a top Trump ally.

Businessman Mark Lynch, whom Graham defeated in the primary, may jump into the race. So could Mark Sanford, the state's former governor who served two separate stints in the House.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who lived in South Carolina before joining the Trump administration, has fielded calls about potentially replacing Graham but doesn’t have interest in the role and enjoys working for the president, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.

How does Graham's death affect the general election?

No Democrat has won a Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double digits. When Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin.

So while history suggests that Graham was en route to a fifth term, Republicans are carefully surveying the landscape.

Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews won the Democratic nomination last month and has raised more than $8 million in the race, and she had just under $3 million cash on hand at the end of May, according to federal filings. Graham had taken in $6 million, with just over $4 million on hand.

In a statement Sunday, Andrews called on South Carolinians to join her “in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude" to Graham for his service.

Harrison, noting that he and Graham “had our share of political disagreements,” wrote on social media that he “always appreciated that even in our fiercest political battles, we could still share a conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina and the institutions we were both privileged to serve.”

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Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

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Kinnard reported from Charleston, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

Council member Susan Street was elected last year. The council members represent about 8,000 residents.

During the July 9 meeting, council discussed an agenda item about the Texas Water Development Board.

Street asked City Manager Brian Rowland why an application did not have an amount listed for how much financial assistance the city was requesting to extend water lines.

“Resolutions come through all the time with empty spaces on them,” Street said. “I’ve just never called it out before. I’m doing it now.”

Rowland explained if the resolution did not pass, the city would not be able to apply for the grant.

“I’m just asking if you can fill these in next time; would that be possible?” Street responded. “Would it be possible to give us the appropriate information prior to the meeting?”

Mayor Janeshia Grider asked Street if she was finished.

“Not if you’re about to come after me, no,” Street said.

Grider told Street that she was on her second warning.

“You just seem to be rushing me because you sounded like you were about to tell me I was being inappropriate or something,” Street replied. “I’m pointing out the actions that are not getting taken to fill in the information for council members who do not have access to [Rowland’s] office on a daily basis.”

Street said her questions to Rowland often go unanswered.

Off camera, a man suggested council could bring forward a motion to expel Street from the meeting.

Grider gave Street a third warning, but did not make it clear what the warning was for.

In a 3-4 vote, council voted to expel Street from the meeting, but did not give a reason why.

According to footage from the meeting, Grider asks a Kirby police officer to escort Street out of the meeting. Video posted by the city shows a Kirby police officer walking up to the platform next to Street, but the footage stops before she leaves.

KSAT Investigates emailed Grider and council members Sylvia Apodaca, Joe Molina, and Dawn McCormick on Friday to ask why they voted to expel Street, and we reached out to Street for comment. This story will be updated once a response has been received.

This is not the first time Street has been targeted by her fellow council members.

In March, city council was set to talk about and possibly take action on removing Street from Kirby’s city council.

Records obtained by KSAT Investigates show Rowland made a formal complaint against Street, accusing her of creating a hostile work environment, which she denies.

“They’re coming after me because I ask a lot of questions that they don’t want to answer,” Street said at the time. “I ask them in council, I email the city manager and ask questions, and I don’t get the answers.”

However, questions remain about whether the council has the authority to remove an elected official.

While the city manager declined to comment, UTSA political science professor Jon Taylor told KSAT Investigates that removing a council member in a city with Kirby’s form of government is not a simple process.

Under the Kirby City Charter, a removal would require a recall election — triggered by a petition signed by registered voters. If enough valid signatures are collected, the issue would then go before voters for a final decision.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

Canada has suspended several animal exports from Texas due to concerns about the New World screwworm, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is immediately suspending the export of horses, pigs, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, deer, elk, moose, llamas and more. Imports from other states are permitted, provided the animals have not resided in or passed through Texas during the 21 days immediately prior to their arrival in Canada.

The USDA stated in a news release on Tuesday that its accredited veterinarians must include information on whether the animal resided in or was transported through a state affected by New World Screwworm, and that exporters/shippers have been advised that this is required; otherwise, the shipment will be refused entry into Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced in a news release that it will continue to work closely with its United States counterparts to assess developments and adjust measures as needed.

“While our colder climate is not hospitable for the long-term establishment of the fly in Canada, they can survive shorter periods of time in the summer months,” the CFIA stated in the news release. “Taking this action now is an appropriate risk mitigation measure to prevent its introduction and protect animal health.”

The decision comes after an infestation of flesh-eating flies was confirmed in South Texas in June, setting off alarm bells for the state’s cattle industry.

Since then, the New World screwworm has continued to infiltrate livestock and other animals in Texas, with 34 confirmed cases as of July 10.

The Texas Animal Health Commission identified a potential cause last month: small wildlife and rodents, such as armadillos, opossums, and rabbits.

Until then, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has pointed to multiple causes, including border policies under President Joe Biden and the illicit movement of cattle at the hands of drug cartels.

However, the source of the first case of New World Screwworm remains under investigation, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Other health experts say it’s still undetermined what allowed the invasive pest to finally breach the Texas-Mexico border.

The USDA closed all southern ports of entry to livestock imports from Mexico in May 2025 and has kept them closed since then, preventing cattle from legally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

Experts project that 500 million sterile flies are needed weekly to eradicate the pest, and at the moment, the U.S. government is producing about 100 million every seven days out of a facility in Panama.

That capacity is set to expand, but not enough to reach the 500 million threshold. And other technologies officials hope to pair with fly sterilization are not yet ready for deployment or are the subject of disagreement, leaving the Trump administration and Texas officials without a speedy path to eradicate the threat.

Bruce Meyer, who took over when Tony Clark was forced out in February, said the sport was thriving despite assertions by Major League Baseball that massive change is needed.

“I have watched over the last few years the owners, the commissioner’s office, try to convince fans, the consumers of their product, that the product is broken,” Meyer said ahead of the All-Star Game. "The supposed stewards of the game have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince those same fans that they don’t have hope or they shouldn’t have hope or that the product that they’re paying to consume in record numbers is somehow broken. I think it’s perverse.”

Attendance has averaged 29,230 this season, up 1.2% from 28,895 through similar dates last year. MLB is on pace for its highest attendance since 2017.

Management in May proposed a salary cap system, which players say they will never accept. MLB launched a “Level the Field” campaign claiming fans support a cap that contains a floor.

“In order for this game to reach its full potential we need to continue to address concerns that our fans have, particularly concerns that go to the core of what we’re about, that is competitive balance,” Manfred said in a separate question-and-answer session.

“We need to make sure that fans in markets at the beginning of the season have a realistic belief that their team has a chance to win," he added. "I think that we need a system where fans, particularly in smaller markets, can have some hope that the players that are signed and developed by their organizations can actually stay there through free agency and honestly I think we need a system where there is a more robust free agent market, so if you don’t want to go to New York or Los Angeles, you have a realistic opportunity to get a viable free agent contract.”

Fans have responded positively to MLB's changes in the 2020s, which include expanded playoffs in 2022, a pitch clock in 2023 and an appeals system to robot umpires for strike zone decisions this year.

“We got that momentum by listening to our fans and making changes that, candidly, the MLBPA was not interested in,” Manfred said. “Those changes have paid off in terms of creating that momentum, and the best way to lose momentum is to stand still.”

No small-market team has won the World Series since the 2015 Kansas City Royals. The Los Angeles Dodgers, coming off their second straight title, had a $323.3 million opening-day payroll for their 40-man roster and a $163.7 million tax for a $487.1 million total. Cleveland had the lowest payroll at $75.5 million.

“It defies human experience to ask a fan to think that the bottom end of that gap has the same opportunity to win as the top,” Manfred said. “There is no question, OK, that everybody in any sport is not going to win once every 30 or 32 years depending on how many teams you have, but the data in our sport is stark. Your opportunity to make the playoffs if you are a larger-market team is dramatically higher and your opportunity to proceed to the subsequent rounds, that advantage grows with each round.”

Meyer said unions for players in the NFL, NBA and NHL agreed to caps under duress.

“In one way or the other they were broken or forced into it,” he said. “I believe that this system is bad for players and would be for generations to come."

Baseball’s five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to immediately start a lockout, the sport’s 10th work stoppage since 1972. No games have been lost since a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 caused the World Series to be canceled for the first in 90 years.

“Teams in every market across the league can afford to compete," Meyer said. “Many of them are choosing not to. From our standpoint, that’s the biggest problem in the game right now."

Meyer said owners want a cap to guarantee profits and increase franchise values, a system he called “subsidized mediocrity.”

“They don’t want it because they’re just so concerned about the fans,” he said. “If they were so concerned about the fans, they would listen to the fans all across baseball who are literally chanting 'Sell the team.' They want their owners to sell the team because they feel they're not competing."

Manfred did not want to comment on whether he thought President Donald Trump, who said he supports a cap, would attempt to intervene in bargaining.

“It would be wildly, wildly inappropriate for me to speculate about what the president of the United States might do or not do in a hypothetical situation,” he said.

Manfred defended MLB's advertising campaign supporting a cap.

“Sometimes the other side may not be completely accurate or fair in terms of their recitation and what’s going on,” he said.

___

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

The Peach Bowl and the Kickoff Game say the deal is worth “multimillion” dollars and marks the first time a neutral-site college football game has incorporated NIL compensation for student-athletes.

The NIL agreement also will involve third-party entities. According to the announcement, as many as two dozen Auburn student-athletes will promote the game through social media posts, public appearances, advertisements, in-game promotions and branding opportunities.

“In the new NIL era of college football, this will be an innovative way to create wins for the teams, programs and student-athletes,” said Peach Bowl Inc. CEO David Epps in a statement.

“This new model is a true win-win scenario where Auburn and its student-athletes get a financial boost in the NIL space. At the same time, it’s a potential game changer for neutral-site games like ours who want to bring added value to participating teams and make it a more attractive and lucrative opportunity.”

Auburn opened its 2025 season with a 38-24 win at Baylor. This year's rematch originally was scheduled as an Auburn home game. The teams agreed to move the game to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, also the home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and the Peach Bowl.

The Kickoff Game is the nation's longest-running neutral-site game and will be televised by ABC at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Auburn will be making its fourth appearance in the Kickoff Game. It will be Baylor's first appearance.

Peach Bowl Inc. operates the Peach Bowl as well as the Kickoff Game.

___

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.

Road closures in Bexar County

• Gass Road, south of Culebra Road
• Specht Road at Cibolo Creek
• Old Fredericksburg Road at the county line
• Scenic Loop near Blue Hill Drive
• Doheny at Culebra Creek

Medina County road closures

• County Road 111
• County Road 211
• County Road 232
• County Road 241
• County Road 251
• County Road 252
• County Road 271
• County Road 311
• County Road 331
• County Road 341
• County Road 342
• County Road 343
• County Road 351
• County Road 353
• County Road 365
• County Road 371
• County Road 381 at FM 471 North
• County Road 422 at Parker Creek
• County Road 429 at Seco Creek
• County Road 429 in D’Hanis
• County Road 433
• County Road 441
• County Road 442
• County Road 445
• County Road 446
• County Road 450
• County Road 451
• County Road 452
• County Road 455
• County Road 456
• County Road 512
• County Road 542
• County Road 2615
• County Road 4516
• County Road 4526
• County Road 4545
• County Road 5219
• All roads in D’Hanis, located south of U.S. Highway 90, have “standing water”
• Constantinople Street
• Old River Road

Bandera County road closures

• Old School Road and Privilege Creek Road
• 1100 block of Hackberry
• Maple Street (State Highway 173-State Highway 16)
• Bandera Blvd Mulberry-Buck Creek
• Privilege Creek and State Highway 16 near Deer Creek Road
• Peaceful Valley Road
• Chaparral Court
• Elm Pass
• Chipman Lane
• Pioneer RV Park
• Lower Mason Creek Road
• Winans Creek
• S Seco Creek
• Mazurek Road
• Williams Creek Road
• 1st Street
• Spring Road
• Reid Road
• Upper Mason Creek Road
• South Goat Ridge Road

Hondo PD releases list of road closures

• Ave. C 22nd Street (Slough Crossing)
• Elm Slough Crossing in the 400 block of 15th Street
• Elm Slough Crossing in the 400 block of 16th Street

The first map below shows the latest road conditions at low water crossings in Bexar County. Below that you will find a statewide map of current road closures from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

• Avoid these notorious roadways prone to flooding during heavy rain in San Antonio
• Find the latest on the storms here from KSAT’s meteorologist, including forecasts, warnings and watches and an interactive radar.

Bexar County low-water crossing status

Read more about the map below and find the full version at BEXARflood.org.

About the map above, via Bexarflood.org:

“Each dot on the map indicates a location of a Bexar County HALT sensor - HALT stands for High water Alert Lifesaving Technology. The sensors detect rising water and send real time information to this website: green means the road safe, yellow means the water is rising and red means the road is closed. By subscribing to alerts through this website, you can receive text or email alerts when low water crossings you choose to monitor have water over the road.

“Bexar County has installed more than 150 HALT systems in our community to warn drivers to turn around with either flashing lights or a combination of flashing lights and gates.

“The map was developed through a partnership between Bexar County, the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority. These partners monitor local weather and road conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

• Get weather alerts based on your location from the free KSAT 12 Weather app. Click to download on iPhone OR click to download on an Android phone.

Hill Country and statewide road closures

Read more about the map below and find the full version at DriveTexas.org.

More tips from KSAT:

Remember, ‘Turn Around, Don’t Drown’: Tips for staying safe while driving in the rain

Read more: CPS Energy offers power outage tips

Live Doppler Radar

According to an SAPD report, officers were dispatched on a wanted person call just before 9 p.m. Monday in the 12400 block of Interstate 10 west.

When police approached Cantu, officers said he disobeyed commands and began fleeing on foot. Authorities quickly caught up with Cantu and took him into custody.

Bexar County jail records indicate Cantu, 21, was booked just before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on the following three charges:

• Evading arrest with a previous conviction
• Parole violation
• Burglary of habitation (reinstated from a December 2025 incident)

A judge set Cantu’s bond at $20,000 on the new evading arrest charge, records show. As of Tuesday afternoon, he remains in custody at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.

Cantu’s connection to Brennand

On Monday, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office separately dismissed Brennand’s aggravated assault by a public servant charge due to “further investigation,” citing a separate investigation into Cantu stemming from an incident earlier this month.

According to an SAPD report obtained by KSAT, a 20-year-old woman told officers she was in a car with Cantu on July 1 in the 1000 block of Locke Street when he allegedly “made concerning comments that placed her in fear.”

The woman said Cantu, who was driving the vehicle, then stopped the vehicle and “demanded” she get out of the car, the report said.

On June 8, Cantu was most recently sentenced to two years of deferred adjudication on a 2025 burglary of a habitation charge. At the time, the sentence meant he would not serve additional time behind bars.

Cantu’s Tuesday arrest reinstated the burglary of a habitation charge, which is considered a second-degree felony.

The nature of Cantu’s parole violation is unclear at this time. Additionally, Cantu has not been criminally charged in connection with the July 1 incident.

Background

In October 2022, Brennand fired multiple shots at a BMW driven by the then-17-year-old.

Brennand, who was fired from SAPD three days after the shooting, was captured on body camera footage opening the door of Cantu’s vehicle and shooting at him as Cantu attempted to drive away.

Brennand believed Cantu’s vehicle had evaded him the night before as he attempted to pull it over.

The shooting drew national attention. Cantu suffered serious injuries and spent months recovering.

More related coverage of this story on KSAT:

• ‘I knew I was innocent from the first day’: Ex-SAPD officer breaks silence after case dismissal
• Records: Case against ex-SAPD officer James Brennand dismissed following new Erik Cantu accusation

Fed policymakers “have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation,” Warsh said in his first appearance before Congress since becoming chair May 22, replacing former chair Jerome Powell. “And we share a resolute commitment to restoring price stability.”

Still, Warsh heads a sharply divided rate-setting committee, with about half of the 19 policymakers penciling in higher interest rates by the end of the year in forecasts released last month. Another half have signaled that they support keeping rates unchanged or even cutting them. Warsh faces a stiff challenge in reconciling the divided committee while navigating a rapidly-changing economic outlook.

Warsh spoke to the House Financial Services Committee soon after the government reported that inflation fell 0.4% from May to June, driven down mostly by cheaper gas prices. Core inflation — which excludes the volatile energy and food categories — was unchanged last month, a broader slowdown in price increases than economists expected.

Compared with a year ago, inflation dropped to 3.5% from 4.2% in May. Core inflation rose just 2.6% in June from a year earlier, down from 2.9% in May, a positive sign that higher gas costs haven't yet lifted broader prices. Still, the core figure is above the Fed's 2% target.

The cooling inflation figures reduce pressure on the Fed to combat higher prices by hiking interest rates. Still, the renewed conflict in the Middle East has already driven up oil prices and could reverse some of the progress on inflation in coming months.

Warsh, asked about the price figures, said they represented just one month of data and suggested he does not see inflation as defeated.

“There might be some that look at this morning's data and say, ‘mission accomplished,'" he said. “That is not my view.”

Guidance on next steps

In keeping with his stated policy of providing less guidance about the Fed's policies, Warsh did not signal whether rate increases would be necessary to combat inflation. The next meeting of the Fed's rate-setting committee is July 28-29.

Under questioning from members of the House committee, he explained a bit more his thinking about pulling back on what Fed-watchers refer to as “forward guidance.”

“If we were to give you my projection today about what we’ll do when we meet in two weeks,” Warsh said, Fed officials are more likely to accept information “consistent with our priors and rejecting information that’s inconsistent.”

“When we have news for you about exactly the methods of solving this problem, we’ll be very clear about what they are,” he added later.

Warsh was pressed by Democrats on the committee to explain how he would react if President Donald Trump, who repeatedly attacked his predecessor, demanded that he cut rates or take other steps that weren't justified by the economic data.

“Are you ready for that?” Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, asked.

“My commitment to you is to follow the law and follow the data, follow our very best judgment,” Warsh said.

Warsh also cited the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow Fed governor Lisa Cook to remain on the central bank's board, thwarting Trump's attempt to fire her for now, as a sign the high court sees the Fed as independent.

“To the extent there were questions about it, the court has answered those questions,” he said.

The renewal of the Iran war has caused oil prices to climb again after they had fallen back to nearly their prewar level. Gas prices had fallen about 20% from their peak but have also increased in the past week and are still about 35% higher than they were when the U.S. attacked Iran Feb. 28.

Some Fed officials have argued that underlying inflation, even excluding the impact of gas prices, remains elevated and may require higher interest rates to defeat.

Impact of technology investments

Another factor that could boost inflation for the rest of this year is the massive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure by the so-called “hyperscalers,” such as Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. The spiking demand for memory chips and processors has sent semiconductor prices soaring, leading to price hikes for laptops, tablets, and video game consoles.

Warsh said Tuesday that AI investment is “the most striking feature of the economy right now" and added that the Fed is “monitoring the implications” for inflation and jobs.

Other Fed officials have stepped in to provide guidance as Warsh has declined to do so. Fed Governor Christopher Waller on Monday said that another “hot” inflation report Tuesday would mean the Fed would have to consider raising rates “in the near term.”

But last week John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that if core inflation stays at a 0.2% monthly pace for the rest of this year, the Fed could avoid hiking rates. Williams' approach implies the Fed would keep rates steady for some time while it monitors incoming data.

Alexander, who signed a two-way deal with Utah last week, made contact with the Bulls' Caleb Wilson while driving toward the basket and, after tossing the ball toward the hoop, went behind the basket clutching his side. He then dropped to the ground, seemingly in great pain.

The 23-year-old Alexander was taken from the Thomas & Mack Center court on a stretcher. The incident occurred with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Jazz said Tuesday that Alexander had a left rib contusion.

Alexander played three seasons at Creighton and skipped his final year of eligibility to turn pro. The G League rookie of the year for the 2024-25 season played 24 games for the Denver Nuggets the same season and nine game for the New Orleans Pelicans last season.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

They do this in a grassroots, community-led way: helping families preserve photos, documents and memories; recording oral histories; and building a digital archive and museum exhibits so these stories are accessible for education and the public.

Their work makes the region’s history more complete by adding an African American lens to the broader San Antonio story, from Spanish colonial days through the Texas Republic and beyond.

KSAT Community Phone Bank

To strengthen efforts to preserve, share and celebrate the stories of African descendants across San Antonio and the Southwest, KSAT Community will host a phone bank benefiting SAAACAM.

The live televised “Every Story Matters” fundraiser runs 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12. Representatives from SAAACAM will be available to help collect contributions and answer your questions.

Community contributions help sustain free educational programming, public exhibits and long-term preservation of oral histories. Donations also support development of a future cultural center envisioned as a hub for sharing personal stories, learning from one another, honoring those who came before and ensuring the community’s history is not lost.

With traditional funding for museums and cultural organizations shrinking, community giving is increasingly critical to protect irreplaceable local history and expand access to learning opportunities.

Donations can be made through SAAACAM’s Givebutter page. From $10 to $100, every gift supports preservation, education and the long-term goal of a permanent home for these stories.

SAAACAM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit preserving and sharing the history and cultural heritage of African descendants in San Antonio and the Southwest. Through community-led archiving and digitized exhibits, it brings a holistic African American lens to regional history and serves as a steward of historic resources. SAAACAM is a member of leading museum and oral history associations.

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.

“Seeing my grandma and all these people affected made me feel like I had to do something, even if it was from the U.S.," said the 18-year-old, who has spent the last couple weeks preparing food for volunteers at the Doral, Florida headquarters of the nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission.

Izaguirre is one of thousands of people who have participated in an exceptionally large grassroots humanitarian effort based at GEM, supported by donations from across the U.S. and beyond and still going strong nearly three weeks after the catastrophe.

Hundreds of volunteers still show up each day at GEM's warehouses in Doral, where about half the population is of Venezuelan descent. They sort donated supplies –– curated to address the latest needs –– and prepare them for transport to Caracas on daily flights.

GEM's system, facilitated by the U.S. State Department, has given members of the Venezuelan diaspora and others an outlet to support the ongoing crisis, and a trusted mechanism to send aid amid widespread concern about theft and corruption on the part of Venezuelan officials.

“Whatever we can get to the Venezuelan public is what counts,” said Izaguirre.

The effort also underscores the stunning dynamic shift between the U.S. and Venezuela since President Donald Trump ordered then-Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s capture in an early morning raid on Jan 3. With military personnel again on the ground, the U.S. has assumed a response role that would have been unimaginable before January, when Trump said the U.S. would “run” the country and seized control of its oil exports.

“This is a whole different animal,” said GEM founder and president Michael Capponi, who was denied entry to Venezuela while trying to deliver aid during the reign of Maduro, who long rejected humanitarian help, equating it to foreign intervention. “We land a private plane, it gets unloaded by U.S. soldiers, it goes in a truck we pay for and to a warehouse that we completely control. It doesn’t touch the hands of the Venezuelan government.”

GEM quickly activated a supply chain

The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart on June 24, killing at least 4,500 people with thousands more still missing. They destroyed 190 buildings and damaged over 850, Venezuelan officials said, leaving 17,000 displaced and ravaging critical infrastructure providing electricity, clean water and sanitation.

GEM's headquarters became a donation collection point almost immediately. Some donors were initially skeptical that aid could reach those who needed it without being stolen or misused by a notoriously corrupt government, Capponi said. After GEM made its first successful aid distribution, the movement grew bigger than he'd seen in decades of global response.

Companies like Goya, Walmart and Amazon contribute supplies while professional sports teams have donated funds. But much of the aid is still amassed from thousands of individuals' contributions.

“They’re going to Walmart with their credit card, buying 15 cans of food and bringing it in a shopping bag,” said Capponi. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when it’s 2,000 people... it’s an enormous amount of aid.”

Lines to drop off aid at GEM have at times been so long police had to help manage traffic. Supplies arrive from across North America: Two brothers drove a U-Haul of goods from Canada. Another group arrived from Mexico. Trucks have rolled in from Nevada, Texas and California.

As many as 1,000 volunteers across three warehouses sort and pack. They fill pallets with essentials like diapers, and assemble individual care packages with enough sustenance and hygiene items to last two people about five days. They also tuck in notes of encouragement: “Te queremos Venezuela,” one reads. “We love you, Venezuela.”

GEM aims to deliver at least 100,000 care packages monthly for the next three-to-six months, while also addressing upcoming needs, like longer term housing.

Volunteers have taken vacations from work to put in hours at the warehouses, said Billy Richardson, director of U.S. logistics. Others arrive after work. “We almost have to kick them out at the end of the day,” Richardson said.

Mariela Vila showed up because she remembers how affected she was when Hurricane Maria pummeled her homeland of Puerto Rico in 2017. “The Latino community in general gathered together to help Puerto Rico, and that made me feel really well,” said Vila, 25, who has worked full-day shifts at GEM since the effort began. “So I felt the need to help Venezuela.”

U.S. assumes a complicated role

Nearly one million pounds (454,000 kilograms) of supplies have been deployed so far from GEM headquarters to its recently leased Caracas warehouses. GEM collaborates with local nonprofits and trusted community members to organize distributions in the hardest hit areas, often twice daily.

But it is the U.S. State Department that facilitates the shipments with the Venezuelan government, making it possible for GEM to operate in the country, even getting help from the U.S. military. On Saturday, U.S. Marines maneuvered an amphibious landing craft onto a Venezuelan beach and unloaded GEM packages that were then passed to 2,000 people lined up for aid.

Partnerships with GEM and other nonprofits allow the U.S. to tap into existing logistics and donation mechanisms, a State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press, adding that the effort with GEM leverages “the Venezuelan American diaspora and private partners who want to donate.”

Several other U.S.-based humanitarian groups told The Associated Press they also have been able to operate without interference from Venezuelan officials. Some depend on collaborations with established local nonprofits.

Despite the U.S. response, questions remain over its influence in Venezuela, especially while it controls billions of dollars in oil revenue.

“There are a lot of transparency questions that linger on the use of that fund in a moment in which Venezuelans really need that money to be used for the protection of Venezuelans,” said Laura Cristina Dib, Venezuela program director at the human rights organization Washington Office on Latin America.

John M. Barrett, U.S. charge d’affairs for Venezuela, told reporters last week that revenue from Venezuelan oil production, currently controlled by the U.S. Treasury, is being made available for relief efforts.

Asked for further details, a State Department spokesperson said the U.S. was "supporting the Venezuelan interim government’s budgetary operations, improving Venezuela’s liquidity and access to capital during the recovery," adding that the U.S. has contributed over $386 million to earthquake response independent of the oil revenue.

In the coastal city of Maiquetía last week, Yoniel Reyes sat inside a tent, examining the contents of a GEM package he’d just received during an aid distribution, packed and sealed 1,300 miles away in Doral. There were instant meals, bottles of water, canned food, hydration powder and hygiene kits.

“I never imagined I would be receiving aid from the U.S.,” said Reyes. “We Venezuelans are thankful, very thankful.”

——

Associated Press videojournalist Juan Pablo Arraez contributed to this report from Maiquetía, Venezuela.

——

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.

There are ongoing Flash Flood Warnings across Edwards, Kinney, Medina, and Uvalde counties from torrential rains. Some of these areas have seen over 6-8 inches of rain, and flooding is ongoing.

>> ⚠️FLOOD RISK CONTINUES⚠️: Ongoing flooding west of San Antonio and in Hill Country

In Bexar County, rain is adding up, causing some street flooding.

This is just our first day with rain. Rounds of rain will continue in some spots through Thursday, and a Flood Watch remains in effect.

More weather coverage on KSAT:

• LIVE COVERAGE: KSAT tracks storms in San Antonio, Hill Country, surrounding areas
• How campers, visitors can stay safe ahead of potential flash flooding along Frio River

Graham, who had turned 71 just two days before dying on Saturday, was far younger than many of his Senate colleagues and appeared to have been in good health. He suffered a tear in his aorta, according to a preliminary report from the medical examiner.

It was the second time in less than a month that emergency personnel were dispatched to the home of a U.S. senator. In early June, Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate leader, was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons.

After weeks of increasingly dire speculation about his health, he finally revealed on Sunday that he had fallen and suffered from mild pneumonia. He released a photo, complete with a copy of the day’s newspaper.

Graham’s death and McConnell’s hospitalization have come amid an ongoing reckoning about the nation’s aging leaders, two years after the disastrous presidential debate that sparked widespread panic among Democrats about then-81-year-old President Joe Biden’s capacities and accusations of a cover-up.

Some politicians have continued to obscure details about their health challenges, asking for privacy despite their public positions, and fueling conspiracy theories.

“I think we need some transparency,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Monday. “I wish Sen. McConnell and his team would have done that earlier, I think it would have resolved a lot of questions.”

McConnell is admitted to a hospital

McConnell, who at 84 is only the third-oldest member of the Senate, was admitted to the hospital on June 14 with barely any explanation. Aides said he was “receiving excellent care" but offered no details about his condition.

The dearth of information fueled a wave of speculation about his prognosis, with Laura Loomer, a Trump ally and conspiracy theorist, claiming on social media that a "high level source close to the White House” had told her he was “officially brain dead.”

But McConnell, who will retire from Congress at the end of January after serving as the longest-ever Senate leader, said in a statement that he is on the mend. He said a fall had led to his hospitalization and that he was “briefly unconscious" and treated for mild pneumonia.

“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older," he said. “Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it.”

That wasn't enough to put speculation to rest. On social media, many refused to believe the veracity of a photo his office released that included the front page of the “Sports” section of The Washington Post.

Conspiracy theories about McConnell’s health are “a symptom of our times," said Sen. Rand Paul, who is also from McConnell's home state of Kentucky. Paul said people should “give him a break.”

“People think they have a right to know everyone’s medical problems," he said, "but I don’t know, where does it begin and where does it end?”

Trump's medical reports offer limited details

The oldest person ever elected president, at age 78, has long offered only the rosiest picture of his health.

“Everything checked out PERFECTLY," he boasted after his last physical in May, adding that he took yet another cognitive test aimed at detecting early dementia and has “aced them all.”

His past medical reports have been criticized for offering limited detail and including statistics that some health professionals have viewed with skepticism.

When he first ran for president in 2016, Trump declined to release his health records, breaking with longtime precedent. He instead offered a four-paragraph note from his doctor declaring that he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” Rep. Ronny Jackson, White House doctor during Trump's first term, later drew headlines when he extolled the president's “incredibly good genes."

When he was infected with COVID-19 in the midst of his 2020 reelection campaign, Trump's doctors and aides withheld key details of his treatment and tried to downplay the severity of his illness.

And after an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally, Trump aides kept the public in the dark for days, declining to discuss the extent of his injuries or release medical records after assuring he was “fine.”

Kean Jr. goes absent for months

The obfuscation extends beyond the septuagenarian and octogenarian set. New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. spent four months missing without explanation before he finally disclosed late last month that he had been in treatment for depression.

He said in a brief floor speech after his return that he had remained silent about his condition because he is a “private person by nature."

He won an uncontested primary during his absence, despite missing more than 100 votes in the House, and is running for reelection.

The approach stood in contrast to Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, who disclosed his hospitalization for clinical depression the day after he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment. He also suffered a stroke while running for office.

Biden's stumbles doom his reelection effort

Biden's halting gait, frail appearance and frequent verbal stumbles eventually doomed his 2024 reelection campaign. After a debate in which he frequently lost his train of thought, he chose to withdraw from the race, sparking an unprecedented swap at the top of the Democratic ticket that ultimately paved the way for Trump's return to office.

Many others have refused to retire. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, died in office in 2023 at the age of 90, after years of declining health, including a bout of shingles. Though she returned to the Senate after her illness, she appeared frail and confused at times. It was later revealed that her office had failed to disclose in real time that she had contracted encephalitis while recovering.

Longtime Republican Rep. Kay Granger of Texas spent the final months of her more than two decades in Congress, when she was in her early 80s, suffering from what her office called “unforeseen health challenges” that made travel to Washington difficult.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, 88, the longtime House delegate for the District of Columbia, announced earlier this year that she would not run for reelection amid questions about her competency.

___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

“You never know how long it lasts,” said Pogačar, who is on course to equal the record for Tour wins. Only Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault have five Tour victories to their names.

“We just need to be grateful for this moment to be riding in the biggest race of the world,” the 27-year-old Pogačar said.

Pogačar, who had already sapped his rivals’ morale with victory on the iconic Col du Tourmalet on Thursday, again stamped his authority with a break just over 900 meters from the summit of the Col de Pertus, the penultimate climb on Tuesday’s hilly stage.

Pogačar’s main challenger Jonas Vingegaard couldn’t follow and Pogačar quickly made ground on Richard Carapaz before powering past him 200 meters before the summit. The Slovenian rider didn’t slow down. Pogačar was 5 seconds ahead of Carapaz at the summit, and 18 ahead of Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz, Juan Ayuso and Paul Seixas.

He then increased that lead.

At the finish line, Pogačar was 32 seconds ahead of Evenepoel for his 24th stage victory altogether – his third on Bastille Day, France’s national holiday – and the third already at this Tour.

Seixas, French fans’ greatest hope, was third, 34 seconds behind.

Vingegaard could only finish 44 seconds behind Pogačar, leaving the yellow jersey holder with a lead of 3 minutes, 36 seconds after 10 stages.

Pogačar already had the biggest lead he has ever had at this stage of the race.

Teamed to perfection

Pogačar's UAE Emirates-XRG teammates controlled Tuesday's stage even when Mathieu van der Poel, the winner of the previous stage, was among a group of 31 riders that pulled away before the first climb of the day on Côte de Pailherols.

Javier Romo emerged to lead alone but he was never allowed to get too far ahead. Carapaz attacked after the Spanish rider was caught by the peloton and he in turn was powerless to prevent Pogačar surging past on the Col de Pertus.

“The team did a super good job. We targeted this stage a long time ago,” said Pogačar, who remembered being beaten by Vingegaard “fair and square” at Le Lioran two years earlier. That was the Dane's last stage win over his rival.

“Today I had similar legs in the finish, completely destroyed,” said Pogačar, who added he couldn't hear anything over his radio because of the noise from fans. “I didn’t know I was going to win until the last kilometer.”

Some fans booed, but Pogačar said he didn't mind.

“To all the guys that were booing, they give us more power,” he said.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

It was the first time in almost two weeks that Ukraine said it had downed Russian ballistic missiles, which are harder to stop than drones or cruise missiles and have pummeled the country in Moscow's 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian air defenses likely used the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile system that is the most effective way of countering ballistic missiles, but ammunition for it has been in short supply amid the Iran war despite European efforts to make up for the shortfall.

Paris cheers Ukraine along the Champs-Elysees

Along the cobblestoned Champs-Elysees in Paris, crowds cheered Ukrainian troops marching in the annual Bastille Day parade, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received an ovation from European leaders who showed solidarity with Kyiv. Ukrainian aviators trained in France flew aboard two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.

Zelenskyy was in France seeking a remedy to his country's air defense problem, and he announced Monday that Ukraine is joining with nine other nations to form a coalition that will build a shared ballistic missile shield for Europe. Ukraine and its partners could jointly develop a mass-produced, low-cost system in the next 12 months, he said.

The Bastille Day parade featured about 500 troops from the ″coalition of the willing″ group of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s postwar security. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a ″great honor″ to welcome them to the parade.

Tuesday's attack in Kyiv caused fires at two warehouses and also damaged a school, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement it targeted military manufacturing facilities that produce long-range missiles and drones.

Moscow is seeking to choke off Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities deep inside Russia that have caused critical fuel shortages, frustrating the public and, Western analysts say, are hindering the Russian army’s advance on the front line.

Ukraine’s air force said one ballistic missile and 25 drones struck 17 locations, while falling debris was reported in 10 locations.

Ukraine seeks to bolster air defenses ahead of winter

Ukraine urgently needs to improve its air defense shield before winter. Much of the country is at the mercy of Russian missiles that have hammered its power grid since 2022, making winters almost unbearable.

President Donald Trump said at the NATO summit last week that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot systems itself. However, they are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to produce, so it will likely be years before any Ukrainian-made systems are ready to deploy.

Ukraine strikes more Russian oil facilities

Ukraine, meanwhile, kept up its long-range onslaught on Russian targets, especially oil facilities.

An attack in southern Russia's Krasnodar region caused a fire at the Afipsky Oil Refinery that was later put out, authorities there said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine also hit an oil refinery in the city of Salavat in the Bashkortostan region, some 1,400 kilometers (900 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Bashkortostan Gov. Radiy Khabirov confirmed an attack on an industrial area in Salavat, but didn’t say what was hit.

In addition, the Ukrainian navy struck four Russian tankers operating as part of Moscow's so-called shadow fleet of aging tankers of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging international oil sanctions and a patrol boat, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine claimed Monday it struck 105 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov next to the Crimean Peninsula between July 6-13.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 288 Ukrainian drones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rebuffed ceasefires offered by Zelenskyy.

“This war must be brought to an end, and all reasonable diplomatic proposals are on the table,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

—-

Eva Van Dam contributed from Paris.

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

Kent Carpenter, 73, was with his Filipina companion in a house in the coastal town of Sibulan, in Negros Oriental province, on Sunday night when the masked men forced their way in.

One drew a gun and shot Carpenter in the head, killing him instantly, police said his companion told them. The men took a laptop, an unspecified amount of cash and a backpack before fleeing, national police spokesperson Col. Allen Rae Co told reporters.

Regional police spokesperson Lt. Col. Joem Malong told The Associated Press that Carpenter's companion sustained unspecified injuries and was being treated. Investigators were trying to determine the motive for the killing and identify the attackers.

Carpenter was a marine biologist who had worked as a lecturer at the Silliman University, in Dumaguete city, Negros Oriental, Malong said.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We assure the victim’s family, the community and our foreign visitors that this case is being treated with utmost urgency and no effort will be spared until justice is served,” regional police director Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño said.

Carpenter had been a biological sciences professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, since 1996. His research — which focused on the Philippines and the Coral Triangle between the Indian and Pacific oceans — shaped conservation efforts around the world, university officials said. They said he was on an extended research assignment in the Philippines and planned to retire in September.

“He dedicated his career to expanding our understanding of the world’s bodies of water and protecting some of its most vulnerable ecosystems,” Old Dominion President Brian Hemphill said in a statement. He described Carpenter's killing as sad and devastating. “His scholarship and passion impacted and inspired many individuals locally, nationally, and internationally.”

On his university webpage, Carpenter wrote that his research in marine conservation biology centered on assessing the extinction risks to fish species and plants. In 2010, he told the AP that unchecked global warming could lead to the extinction of all coral reefs on the planet within 100 years.

“You could argue that a complete collapse of the marine ecosystem would be one of the consequences of losing corals,” he said. “You’re going to have a tremendous cascade effect for all life in the oceans.”

Carpenter's interest in the Philippines stemmed from his Peace Corps assignment there in the 1970s, according to a 2007 Old Dominion newsletter.

Several Philippine environment and biodiversity centers mourned Carpenter's death. Silliman University said Carpenter was an exceptional scientist, who had collaborated with the university on marine research work and studies since 1976.

“Dr. Carpenter made ground-breaking contributions that transformed global understanding of Philippine marine biodiversity,” the university said.

Fire managers try to anticipate nature's next move, placing thousands of firefighters, hundreds of engines, batteries of bulldozers, and fleets of helicopters and air tankers where they'll make the biggest difference.

This year, they're dealing with persistent drought made worse by record-low snowpack levels and consecutive days of hot, dry and windy weather. Hundreds of homes have burned, three firefighters were killed battling flames in Colorado, and a helicopter helping with another Colorado fire crashed into a reservoir, killing the pilot.

National preparedness has yet to reach its highest level, but resources are getting stretched as new fires pop up daily.

“The U.S. Wildland Fire Service is prioritizing pre-positioning of crews, engines and aircraft in areas with the highest likelihood of wildfire activity,” the agency said in an email to The Associated Press when asked about available resources. “This allows for quicker initial attack when new wildfires ignite, which is often the most effective way to keep fires small.”

US preparedness level ratchets up

The National Interagency Fire Center, a collection of federal and state agencies that support on-the-ground wildfire fighting efforts, sets the preparedness level at 1 to 5 based on fire activity, resource demands, weather and conditions on the ground that can be fuel for a fire. By late June, surging wildfire activity prompted coordinators to move the needle to level 4 and begin funneling more crews to the hottest spots.

The national fire center has confirmed more than 2,100 fires since the beginning of July. The explosion of fire activity across the West led to the assignment of more highly skilled and experienced incident management teams. Some have traveled from Alaska and California to help with fires in the Great Basin region.

As of Tuesday, 17 such teams were overseeing nearly 17,000 people spread across more than a dozen states.

It’s typical to see preparedness increase in July and August, but fire managers are hopeful they can juggle resources to avoid maxing out.

Over the past decade, fire managers have reached the top preparedness tier an average of 25 days annually, with the longest stretch happening in 2021, according to federal statistics. The earliest the designation ever occurred was June 21, 2002.

Firefighters hit the road to help

The U.S. has 10 geographic area coordination centers — or GACCs — that mobilize firefighters and other resources.

Mike Morgan, director of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, noted during a news conference in early July that his state was getting help from an Alaska team.

“Thank God that they have the ability to free those resources up,” he said. “So I think at the moment I would say I feel pretty good about where we’re at. But I’m very concerned about where we go.”

In southeastern Utah, more crews arrived to help with the Babylon Fire, the largest active blaze in the U.S. at 166 square miles (430 square kilometers) — an area larger than Seattle.

In all, more than 5,650 square miles (14,633 square kilometers) have burned in the U.S. so far this year — more than the size of Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks combined — outpacing the average for the past decade.

Sharing resources requires balance

The most recent outlook shows above normal wildfire potential in July from the Four Corners region — where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet — north to Oregon, Idaho and Washington. It's not expected to simmer down until September.

Christopher Dunn, an assistant professor of wildfire risk science at Oregon State University, said those outlooks help determine how and where to mobilize resources. Those resources shift as the fire season moves from region to region.

In a busy year, states must weigh whether to free up resources to help elsewhere or pressure federal officials to keep crews in reserve in case of increased risk. That's what Dunn describes as hoarding resources.

“So there is sort of this delicate balance that has to be walked there, where you share, they share, everybody shares,” he said, “and everybody benefits from that sharing while not overextending your resources so much that you find yourself in a losing position.”

But along with sharing comes added exposure for firefighters who are in the field longer. That means more overtime and greater opportunities for burnout.

“With all this sharing and all of this increase in fire everywhere, we’re just going to see increased pressure on them to work more and work harder and essentially burn out quicker,” Dunn said.

Each fire season reignites debate over public investment in a permanent wildland firefighting workforce and what agencies can do to retain their most experienced personnel.

“More experience is critical when dealing with extreme conditions,” said Camille Stevens-Rumann, a former wildland firefighter and an associate professor at Colorado State University.

Red flag warnings determine strategy

Even with more resources, there's little firefighters can do when facing multiple days of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures. Stevens-Rumann said that's where the advance strategic positioning of resources comes in.

“They can be available for when those conditions die down, like in the evening,” she said. “But when we have day after day of red flag warnings and high winds, it’s really hard to control a fire.”

Even though Stevens-Rumann has been on the front lines and studies wildfires, it's unsettling when flames are close to home.

“There’s no denying it. It’s easy to disassociate that when you’re on a fire crew and you’re arriving to a place that you don’t have a connection to, per se, to fight a fire. You know, you’re there to do a job,” she said. “But when you see it in your own backyard, it’s definitely a totally different experience.”

This year, firefighters are being directed to attack every blaze as quickly as possible to limit growth, reversing a decades-long trend in which managers let some fires burn to clear brush and dead vegetation to reduce future risks. Stevens-Rumann said there are concerns about what that means for firefighter safety and work done on the landscape to slow the flames.

“It doesn’t do us any good to build miles and miles of line that just get burnt over, over and over again,” she said, noting newer strategies are helping managers figure out where best to take a stand.

Volunteers watch for smoke

Having eyes on the ground — or rather above the tree canopy — can help spot fires early. Despite once numbering in the thousands, there are just 350 lookout towers left in the U.S., with many staffed by volunteers due to dwindling budgets, said Michael Guerin, chair of the Forest Fire Lookout Association.

They're not just in the West. New Jersey opened a new one this year, and they're also used in Pennsylvania, Maine and other eastern states.

The recent fires have forced the evacuation of some towers in Colorado. Meanwhile, Guerin and fellow volunteers in California are ready for things to pick up in their state when the Santa Ana winds arrive.

Satellites could help in the future. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced in early July that the first satellites had been launched into orbit as part of a space-based wildfire detection system.

For now, the lookout volunteers use a map, compass and familiarity with landmarks to pinpoint the location for initial attack crews. But their job isn't done, Guerin said.

“We then become the overwatch — the people that keep them safe while they’re doing the hard work on the ground.”

Reaction in the media world has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One — a legal maneuver seen as a troubling escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to control and intimidate independent media outlets.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Media advocates and analysts expressed dismay at the tactic, even after months in which news organizations drawing President Donald Trump’s ire have been attacked both in courtrooms and in the court of public opinion; media access to corridors of power has been blocked; and a Washington journalist’s home has been searched by federal agents.

“They have used the levers of power to intimidate and demonize professional journalists who report stories that are unfavorable to the administration’s desired narrative,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN White House bureau chief who is now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University.

He called Friday’s subpoenas “dangerous and uncharted territory, but merely an extension of what we have seen from this administration and president.”

“Don’t like a poll? Sue the Des Moines Register," he said. "Don’t like the way an interview is edited? Sue ‘60 Minutes.’ Don’t like the coverage of the gifted Air Force One? Order the FBI to investigate and subpoena the journalists for what is, by the way, a story that is in the public interest.”

Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at home

Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at their homes, the Times said. Sought by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, they seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan this week.

The new jet in question, a present from Qatar that Trump's administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week. But the Republican president used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey.

The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the switch had come at the urging of the Secret Service and that the newer plane lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. On social media, Trump denied security concerns.

The subpoenas were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on Friday to talk about the matter, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Times said the meeting lasted around eight hours.

The fact that the operation was conducted from the White House itself was particularly egregious to analysts like Sesno, who called the coordination “unprecedented.”

“This graphically illustrates the pressure and influence the White House and president have brought to bear on law enforcement that is supposed to be independent and driven by facts, not politics,” he said.

The Justice Department has justified the subpoenas by saying that “to be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”

“We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country,” the department said in a weekend statement. "But DOJ also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information, which means not sharing classified information.”

The National Press Club called on the Justice Department to immediately withdraw the subpoenas.

“Every American should understand what is at stake,” Mark Schoeff Jr., the club’s president, said in a statement. “When federal agents arrive at the homes of journalists with subpoenas, it is not ordinary law enforcement. It is an extraordinary assault on the freedom of the press that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.”

Also expressing solidarity with the Times journalists was the White House Correspondents' Association — which, in less than two weeks, holds its rescheduled dinner, with Trump planning to attend the event that celebrates the First Amendment. The first dinner was scuttled when a shooter opened fire in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill the president.

“The White House Correspondents’ Association stands with the New York Times reporters who were targeted for doing their jobs to uphold the public’s right to know how its government operates,” said a statement from the group’s president, Weijia Jiang. “The WHCA condemns any act of intimidation against journalists, including attempts to pressure them into revealing sources.”

Trump's administration has initiated multiple lawsuits against media outlets

Trump’s animosity toward news outlets whose agenda runs counter to his own isn't new. But in his second presidential term, he has launched an escalation, often harnessing the levers of the federal government or attempting to do so. These efforts have taken place both in actual courtrooms and in the court of public opinion.

The president has sued various news organizations whose coverage he dislikes. He has also threatened to revoke TV broadcast licenses. His Federal Communications Commission chairman is seeking to penalize shows like ABC’s “The View,” where some hosts speak out against Trump, by having the FCC explore revoking its exemption from equal-time rules.

The legal skirmishes include an escalating dispute between the media and Trump’s Defense Department over reporters’ access to the Pentagon. The Times has filed two lawsuits over a policy requiring journalists to be accompanied by escorts at the military complex.

The White House has also battled with The Associated Press over the news organization's refusal to follow Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And it has battled with The Wall Street Journal over reporting about Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to the president — including an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s signature.

Last month, the Justice Department withdrew subpoenas it had issued that sought to compel reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to testify before a grand jury, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Post confirmed that one of its journalists received a subpoena from the Trump administration as part of a broader crackdown on media leaks that in January also included the extraordinary step of an FBI search of the home of another journalist at the newspaper and the seizure of her electronic devices. The media world was stunned by the search of the home of reporter Hannah Natanson, who was covering Trump’s transformation of the federal government.

The Times is now gearing up for battle against what its lawyer David McCraw has called “this brazen act.”

In an internal memo seen by the AP, the newspaper's executive editor, Joseph Kahn, criticized the subpoenas, praised his journalists' work and said: “We expect to prevail. We have the best legal team in the business. ... The law protects news gatherers from this sort of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power. It is essential that the courts reaffirm that protection and quash this overreach. We are confident they will in this case.”

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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.

Tau is one part of a toxic duo fueling Alzheimer’s but prior attempts to develop drugs that can target the protein have failed. Two Alzheimer’s drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, try to clear buildup of the better-known amyloid protein and can modestly slow cognitive decline.

The new findings suggest Biogen's diranersen did more than lower tau levels. The study of about 400 people found signs that it also slowed cognitive decline, in one small subset enough to be comparable to amyloid therapy, according to results presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in London. Biogen is planning a larger study to try to prove the drug’s benefit.

“This is really quite promising if it were to hold up” in that next-step testing, said Jessica Langbaum of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix, who wasn’t involved with Biogen’s study.

“This is early days,” cautioned Dr. Reisa Sperling of Mass General Brigham, who also wasn’t involved in the study. But “I think it will reinvigorate interest and investment in lots of tau mechanisms, and the field needs that.”

It’s one of multiple novel attempts to fight the mind-destroying disease, including a possible tau vaccine, an experimental heart drug that might do double-duty for some people at high risk of Alzheimer's, and ways to help medicines more easily get across the so-called blood-brain barrier.

New approaches are needed to fight the leading cause of dementia

It’s not clear exactly what causes Alzheimer’s, which affects more than 7 million Americans and tens of millions worldwide. That sticky amyloid protein starts building up to form plaques in the brain about two decades before symptoms appear. But amyloid alone isn’t enough to cause Alzheimer's. Many scientists believe that amyloid buildup eventually triggers an abnormal form of tau to form tangles in neurons, setting off symptoms.

Diranersen is what’s called an antisense oligonucleotide that doesn't attack tau buildup but instead instructs a tau-producing gene to produce less.

“If you lower tau production, you are lowering the amount of the abnormal tau that needs to be cleared by the microglia, by the clearance mechanism in the brain. And so you are enabling the normal clearance mechanism to have more capacity to clear the tau,” said Dr. Cath Mummery of University College London, who led the new study.

Today’s anti-amyloid drugs are given through the bloodstream via infusions or injections. Diranersen is injected into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, a straighter path to the brain.

Biogen's tau drug missed a key study goal — but was still encouraging

Biogen’s study included people with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s, randomly assigning them to different doses of diranersen or a placebo. Back in May, Biogen and partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced that the lowest dose — given every six months — had the strongest effect. That was a counterintuitive surprise and meant the study didn't meet its planned goal of showing that higher doses brought greater benefits.

Still, scientists had been anxiously awaiting details about how much that twice-a-year spinal shot really helped. Five of six different brain tests showed diranersen recipients’ memory and other cognitive abilities still worsened but more slowly than those given dummy shots, Mummery said. In one test of the lowest dose, that translated to a 26% reduction in cognitive decline — “approximately the same” change seen in earlier tests of amyloid drugs, she said.

Side effects included injection site pain and a temporary state of confusion that could appear a few days after the shot and last about a week, she said. But there were no signs of brain inflammation, which can affect recipients of anti-amyloid drugs.

Alzheimer's researchers also target tau in a broad new study

The University of California, San Francisco, last week opened a first-of-its-kind study known as the Alzheimer’s Tau Platform. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, it will test a variety of experimental anti-tau therapies against and in combination with today’s amyloid treatments. First up is a vaccine called AADvac1 designed to train the immune system to recognize and fight a specific worrisome portion of the tau protein, said UCSF's Dr. Adam Boxer.

The “platform” approach will expand to locations around the country, allow addition of other tau drugs to test and include people with Alzheimer’s-related protein buildup who aren’t yet showing symptoms, he said.

Other studies hint at new ways of attacking Alzheimer's

Researchers told the Alzheimer’s meeting that an experimental cholesterol-lowering drug called obicetrapib might do more than help heart health. They're exploring if it also might lower buildup of Alzheimer's-related proteins in people who carry a genetic risk for the disease.

Why? That gene, called APOE4, also affects how the body processes cholesterol. Obicetrapib maker NewAmsterdam Pharma plans to begin a study soon to test if the drug's cholesterol effects also can mitigate the Alzheimer's risk in people carrying one or two copies of that gene.

Companies also are trying to get Alzheimer’s drugs into the brain faster and at higher volumes, by penetrating the protective lining meant to protect the brain from harm. Denali Therapeutics' CEO Ryan Watts describes it as “hitching a ride” with iron that naturally gets into the brain. His company is pursuing drugs that target tau and amyloid using that “transport vehicle” technology.

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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.

Records obtained by KSAT Investigates confirm Apple’s Crash Detection system repeatedly provided a San Antonio emergency call taker with Pesina’s precise latitude and longitude coordinates and an estimated search radius of two meters.

However, San Antonio police officers did not respond to those exact coordinates.

Instead, officers were sent to a nearby address along Southwest Loop 410, searched the area for less than 15 minutes and then cleared the call, dispatch audio confirms.

Thirty-seven hours later, Pesina’s loved ones used the same coordinates provided by Apple’s emergency alert to locate her vehicle and her body.

“I believe if they would have done their job they would have found her, but they didn’t,” Pesina’s mother, Mercy Villarreal, said.

A crash, an automated 911 call and exact coordinates

Pesina was driving to work shortly before 6 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2025, when investigators said she crashed through a guardrail along Southwest Loop 410 before Palo Alto Road and into Leon Creek.

Moments later, her iPhone automatically contacted 911.

Audio obtained by KSAT Investigates captured the automated emergency message.

“The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to the phone,” the message states before providing Pesina’s latitude and longitude.

The coordinates were repeated multiple times during the call.

However, the 911 recording confirms the call taker repeatedly talked over portions of the automated message.

A dispatcher eventually relayed to officers a nearby street address: 12401 block Southwest Loop 410 eastbound lanes where officers responded.

Officers searched, then moved on

Dispatch records and police radio traffic show officers searched the area after being dispatched.

Apartment surveillance footage obtained by KSAT Investigates shows officers driving back and forth in front of the complex along the highway — blocks from the crash scene — just after 6 a.m.

At one point, an officer requested assistance from SAPD’s helicopter unit to search the wooded area off the roadway.

“We didn’t find anything on the roadway. Is there any way that EAGLE is available just to check the wooded area off the highway?” an officer asked.

The request was denied because the helicopter was not flying at the time, dispatch records confirm.

Minutes later, officers ended their search after being informed that traffic cameras in the area did not show signs of a crash.

Had officers responded to the exact latitude and longitude provided by Apple’s alert, those coordinates would have placed them directly in Leon Creek where Pesina’s vehicle and body were ultimately discovered.

Expert: Crash detection can be a ‘lifesaving tool’

Cody Breunig is a former police officer-turned-digital forensics expert who has extensive knowledge of Apple Crash Detection technology.

He reviewed details of the case, including the 911 audio, for KSAT Investigates.

“It’s baked into the hardware. It’s based on thousands of hours of crash data that Apple has collected and trained their device on,“ Breunig said. ”Quite frankly, it’s a lifesaving tool."

Breunig said emergency operators are generally trained to listen carefully to automated emergency alerts because they often contain critical location information.

“Most operators know to listen,” Breunig said. “That’s one of the biggest things we can do.”

Breunig said the case should prompt a review of what happened.

“I think it’s an opportunity for any individual who is in charge to look at and analyze what went wrong,” Breunig said. “It’s a sad situation all the way around. And the reality is, Apple tries to account for confusion that might happen when it’s system calls (911).”

Family members followed the coordinates themselves

As hours turned into more than a day, Pesina’s family continued searching for answers.

Pesina’s loved ones repeatedly contacted law enforcement seeking information about the crash, after two of her relatives received the same Apple crash alert and coordinates.

Using the coordinates from the alert, family members drove to that area of Southwest Loop 410.

At approximately 6:53 p.m. on Nov. 18 — 37 hours after the crash — Pesina’s boyfriend’s father called 911.

“We found the vehicle in a ditch,” the hysterical caller told a dispatcher. “We came looking for her.”

“She’s deceased. She’s deceased,” the caller said as cries can be heard in the background.

SAPD fought release of records

KSAT Investigates obtained the 911 recordings, crash report and incident detail report earlier this year after SAPD attempted to withhold them from public release.

City officials argued the records were related to a closed criminal case that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication, contained information protected by the Texas Transportation Code and contained information on a motor vehicle operator’s license.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office in March ordered SAPD to release the requested records after the AG’s office determined the information was related to a person who was deceased.

SAPD released the audio recordings and written records in mid-May — nearly two-and-a-half months after the AG’s ruling.

The department declined requests to make a member of its administration available for an interview.

SAPD officials did not answer questions from KSAT Investigates about whether any dispatchers, call takers or officers were disciplined in connection with the Pesina search or whether any procedural changes have been implemented since her November crash.

“I just feel like they failed her. And she was there by herself from Monday to Tuesday. And it really hurts,” said Villarreal. “They could’ve done more. They could have sent more policemen. They could have sent a helicopter. They could’ve sent dogs.”

Autopsy findings

Pesina died from blunt force injuries suffered in the crash, an autopsy released by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office shows.

The autopsy report does not indicate how long Pesina survived after the crash.

The report notes there was no evidence she drowned, since her head was above the water level when she was removed from the vehicle Nov. 18.

For Villarreal, the unanswered questions remain difficult to live with.

“Even though she was gone, at least I could have held her hand,” Villarreal said. “At least I could have kissed her. And I couldn’t even do that. And it just hurts. It just hurts.”

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

Arredondo’s defense team is seeking testimony from federal agents who responded to the Robb Elementary School shooting, arguing that their accounts are critical to preparing for his state criminal trial.

The hearing stems from a federal lawsuit filed by Arredondo after U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to make certain agents available for testimony.

Arredondo faces 10 counts of abandoning or endangering a child in connection with the law enforcement response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.

His state criminal trial is scheduled for next year. KSAT will have a crew in Del Rio, but cameras are not allowed in federal court.

Read also:

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• Attorney for ex-Uvalde CISD PD Chief Arredondo ‘not surprised’ by Adrian Gonzales’ not guilty verdict

As of 9:24 a.m., more than 700 customers are affected by the outages, according to the Medina County Power Outage Map.

Most of the outages are happening along U.S Highway 90, located west of San Antonio, the outage map shows.

At the moment, there is a Flood Warning in effect for Medina, Bandera and Uvalde counties until 8 a.m. Tuesday.

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