The decision by the 57-year-old veteran of three presidential races sets up a fourth campaign like no other: potentially seeking votes while subject to monitoring and with a judge possibly deciding how, and for how long, the punishment is applied.

Le Pen said she will appeal the ruling to France’s highest court and that the process will suspend the sentence that she be electronically monitored for a year.

“I will therefore campaign without an electronic bracelet,” she said in a television interview Tuesday night. “Tonight, I am a candidate for the presidential election."

Appeals court clears her pathway for another run

The appeals court ruling earlier Tuesday cleared the way for Le Pen by shortening a ban handed down by a court last year that kept her from seeking public office for five years.

But it also said she must wear an electronic monitor, a constraint Le Pen previously said would make campaigning impossible.

But after huddling for hours with other leading figures of her National Rally party, Le Pen made clear Tuesday night that she believes she won't be subjected to monitoring at all, and that her appeal to the Court of Cassation will vindicate her.

"My hands are clean," she said.

The highest court previously said it would be able to rule before the presidential election, with the first round in April and a knockout round in May.

“I want to pursue all the legal avenues available to me so that I can defend my innocence,” she said.

A similar situation arose in former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s corruption case. An appeals court sentenced him in 2023 to serve part of his sentence under electronic monitoring. Sarkozy appealed to the Court of Cassation, which suspended Sarkozy's sentence pending its review before ultimately upholding the conviction. He wore an electronic ankle monitor last year.

Appeals court confirms Le Pen's guilt but reduces punishment

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The appeals court ruled that Le Pen oversaw years of misuse by her National Rally party of European Parliament funds by paying staff with money intended for European Union parliamentary assistants. She denied criminal wrongdoing but said during the trial that the party had made a “mistake.”

The ruling upheld guilty verdicts for all 11 accused, including Le Pen and other party members. The party itself also was declared guilty. The court ruled that it embezzled 2.8 million euros ($3.2 million) over more than 11 years.

“The facts are serious,” said the chief judge, Michèle Agi.

But the court scaled back punishments handed down by a lower court last year.

From five years handed down in March 2025, Le Pen's ban on seeking office was cut to 45 months, with two-thirds of it suspended. Le Pen has already served 15 months of the ban, meaning that the potential obstacle is now removed.

The verdict also cut her prison sentence from four years, two of them suspended, to three years with two suspended.

Le Pen previously said that not being able to make a fourth run in 2027 would amount to “political death.”

Le Pen went straight to her party’s office

From the courthouse, Le Pen went to the National Rally's headquarters in Paris, to consult her protégé Jordan Bardella and others. Bardella, a European Parliament lawmaker, would have been Le Pen's replacement as the party's presidential candidate if she had decided that electronic monitoring prevented her from running.

But a Le Pen has been on ballot papers at every presidential election since 1988: four times for her father and three times for her.

Her embezzlement conviction leaves her open to attacks from critics and potential election opponents. But she quickly sought to turn the verdict into a campaign message, making the point that the court ruling restored the option for voters to cast ballots for her next year.

The party was called the National Front when her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founded it in 1972. It ditched that name in 2018, part of Marine Le Pen’s efforts to broaden her appeal by moving away from her polarizing father’s legacy. His associations with people who collaborated with France’s Nazi occupiers in World II and his multiple hate-speech convictions, including Holocaust denial, made the National Front anathema to many voters.

The court, in written notes detailing the verdict, made clear that it had the 2027 election in mind. It noted “the voter’s freedom of choice” and said the ban from seeking elected office that Le Pen has already served repaired harm done to public integrity by her wrongdoing.

“Disregarding this would undermine the principle of freedom to stand for election, an essential condition for the democratic expression of universal suffrage,” the court said.

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Associated Press journalists Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Paris contributed to this report.

Trump also criticized NATO’s abilities to function without American leadership and power, expressing disappointment at the refusal of some NATO allies to join the Iran war he launched alongside Israel without consulting them. And he insisted again that Greenland should be “controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.” Of all of his threats to NATO and its member countries, this has posed the greatest danger to the organization.

Alliance leaders meanwhile are trying to show increased military capabilities as the American focus shifts from defending Europe. The two-day summit will showcase military projects worth billions of dollars aimed at persuading Trump they’re making a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO.

The Latest:

US Treasury revokes a general license authorizing the sale of Iranian oil

The Treasury did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry on why the license was revoked Tuesday, though notice came after three tankers were hit in the latest attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

In June, Treasury issued a license that authorized the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil, that would last through Aug. 21. U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the time said lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” to end the Iran war.

Justice Department alumni urge lawmakers to reject Blanche’s nomination

In a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, more than 1,200 former Justice Department employees accused acting Attorney General Todd Blanche of instilling a “culture of fear” within the agency’s workforce.

Blanche is expected to appear July 15 before the committee considering his nomination to become attorney general.

Justice Department alumni pointed to the loss of roughly 16,000 employees through firings, resignations and voluntary departures. They wrote that “the consequences of Blanche’s attacks on DOJ’s apolitical workforce radiate beyond the halls of Main Justice, affecting the entire country.”

The letter was signed by lawyers who worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

In a statement, the Justice Department said the signers included “partisan activists” and “multiple former disgruntled Biden administration officials,” some of whom were involved in the criminal cases against President Donald Trump. The department noted support Blanche has received from law enforcement groups including the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Protesters march peacefully against NATO in Istanbul

Thousands of protestors from leftist, pro-Palestinian and Kurdish parties in central Istanbul marched against the NATO summit being held in Ankara Tuesday, chanting, “Murderer, USA, get out of our country.”

“We are here to protest the hosting in Ankara — at a cost of millions of dollars — of NATO, an organization we regard as a massacre machine established to preserve global hegemony,” said Ali Gültekin, 21.

Günçağ Aydın, 42, a spokesperson for the leftist Red Party, said that leftist groups faced intense pressure from the government ahead of the summit.

“Hundreds of our friends have been detained, but we continue to speak out, saying that NATO is a coalition of what we regard as killers and imperialist powers,” Aydın insists.

The protest ended peacefully and without arrests. Earlier Tuesday, police broke up a small demonstration in Ankara, where protests were banned during the NATO summit, and arrested about 20 people.

NATO leaders dine on sea bass, beef, dumplings and baklava

The White House shared details of the menu for the dinner, which had a first course of flatbread and a honeycomb. It was followed by vegetables and yogurt, traditional dumplings and a choice of sea bass or beef.

Dessert was Baklava with milk, a pistachio foam and traditional Turkish Maras ice cream.Trump arrives at NATO leaders’ dinner

Trump has returned to the Turkish presidential compound for a dinner for leaders of NATO members.

Trump gave a thumbs-up as he walked the blue carpet past a military honor guard to meet Erdogan and his wife who waited at the top of some stairs for him.

Trump shook their hands and spoke to them for a few minutes before posing for a photograph.

He then continued speaking to Erdogan for a moment more before they went inside together.

US establishes energy framework with Japan and Korea on sidelines of NATO summit

The trilateral cooperation agreement was agreed to by Secretary Marco Rubio and his Korean and Japanese counterparts on the margins of the summit to “advance our mutual security interests and paves the way for partner countries to meet their energy security needs,” the U.S. State Department announced in a press release Tuesday.

The memorandum of understanding between the three countries is aimed at accelerating deployment of advanced nuclear reactors in other countries, initially focusing on the Indo-Pacific region.

The release said the U.S. is also committing more than $10 million in new funding for a State Department program aimed at providing technical support to relevant countries.

NATO leaders arrive for dinner hosted by Erdogan

NATO leaders are arriving at the Turkish presidential compound for a dinner hosted by Erdogan.

The leaders are walking along a turquoise‑colored carpet lined with soldiers dressed in historic military garments, before ascending steps where they are greeted by Erdogan and his wife, Emine.

Four NATO allies could face strife over defense spending

Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic could be in hot water with the Trump administration after new NATO defense spending figures showed they’re struggling to meet the organization’s old target.

NATO leaders agreed last year to invest 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 — 3.5% on core defense requirements and 1.5% on upgrading security related infrastructure like roads, bridges, ports and airports.

The Trump administration is expecting a “first report card” to be handed in by European allies and Canada to demonstrate progress. It’s threatened to take unspecified action against those lacking a solid plan to make the grade.

Some are still struggling to meet NATO’s old target of 2% of GDP. Slovenia is expected to fall short, with just 1.6%. Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic are forecast to barely make 2%.

How will Netanyahu react?

Rahm Emanuel’s remarks could prompt a similarly fiery response from Benjamin Netanyahu, who famously once called the Democrat who had ambitions of being the first Jewish speaker of the U.S. House a “self-hating Jew.”

The prime minister faces his own battle for reelection in October, and may try to use a confrontation with Emanuel for political gain by appearing to stand strong in the face of international criticism.

As for Democrats, Emanuel’s speed represents a particularly frontal strategy for possible presidential contenders gauging how to address the fallout from Israel’s war in Gaza and Netanyahu’s perceived tilt toward Trump ’s Republican Party.

Emanuel, a longtime Israel supporter, tells AP he has a blunt message for Netanyahu

Rahm Emanuel told The Associated Press in an interview from Tel Aviv ahead of his speech on Wednesday that he’s avoiding interactions with elected officials so as to not interfere with upcoming elections. Instead he’s visiting a hospital serving Israelis and Palestinians and meeting with the family of an Oct. 7 hostage.

Emanuel said Israel’s continued military response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has been “reckless and careless in the treatment of Palestinian life — not only the military campaign but using food and medicine as an instrument of your military goals.”

Asked whether Israel had committed genocide, the stalwart of Democratic centrists said the question should not be considered in isolation without also examining conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.

“I’m ready to have that discussion,” he said, “but I don’t think it should be politicized, and then dilute the power of what genocide means.”

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What is NATO’s Article 5?

Article 5 is at the heart of the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It states that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members.

That security guarantee is the reason previously neutral Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO and why Ukraine and other countries in Europe also want in. It has only been invoked once, in the wake of the Sept.11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.

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Turkey’s opposition leader criticizes Trump for not visiting Ataturk tomb

Ozgur Ozel said Trump would be the only visiting U.S. president not to pay his respects at the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

He said every visiting U.S. president since Eisenhower in 1959 had gone to the monument to honor Ataturk, who remains a revered figure in Turkey.

Talking about Trump’s welcome, Ozel said the president should be greeted by children “holding pictures of the 165 girls killed in Iran” – a reference to an airstrike on a school at the start of the Iran war.

Ozel was removed as head of the Republican People’s Party by court order last May. However, many believe the ruling was politically motivated and still consider him the de facto opposition leader.

Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden did not visit Turkey but he did lay a wreath at Ataturk’s tomb as vice-president in 2011.

Explosions rock Damascus as France’s Macron visits Syria

The explosions in Syria’s capital on Tuesday injured at least 18 people, the interior ministry said, as France’s president met with his counterpart in a landmark visit. Both leaders later announced the reappointment of ambassadors, marking a major restoration of diplomatic ties after years of civil war.

It was the second attack in Damascus in a week and a setback for President Ahmad al-Sharaa as he welcomed the first major Western leader to visit since the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad in late 2024. But French President Emmanuel Macron was safe in the presidential palace when the explosions happened, and voiced support for the country’s new direction.

“Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria,” Macron said on X hours later. Both he and Al-Sharaa will next appear in Ankara, Turkey for the NATO summit.

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Three tankers hit in the Strait of Hormuz, British military says

The British military now says three tankers were struck Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a third ship was hit by a drone in the critical oil-shipping waterway, where two other tankers had been attacked earlier in the day.

The third ship sustained minor damage, with no one injured, and continued on its way, the UKMTO said.

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes and later charge fees, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast.

Security is tight in the Turkish capital

Air defenses are on alert, and tens of thousands of police will be on duty.

Neighborhoods around the summit site are closed to traffic, and some state workers have been given time off to help keep roads unclogged.

Public gatherings are banned; however, Turkish police detained more than 20 protestors at a demonstration in central Ankara against the NATO summit on Tuesday.

Erdogan’s government has prioritized security, and authorities have carried out raids on people allegedly linked to extremist groups ahead of the summit.

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Trump says US will lift sanctions that prevented sales of F-35 jets to Turkey

Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program.

There are still a number of legal hurdles before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. program, but the removal of the sanctions — issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act — would help ease the process for Ankara to regain access to the F-35s, a top goal of Erdogan.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said in response to a question at the presidential palace in Ankara. He said Cabinet officials were working on the matter.

Earlier, he said that the possibility of selling the F-35s to Turkey is “certainly something we will consider.”

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Erdogan hopeful over US defense sales

Erdogan expressed hope that the U.S. will sell F-35 planes to Turkey, saying the U.S. president always stands by his word.

At a joint news conference with Trump, Erdogan also said the two leaders would take up the issue of the sale of jet engines to power Turkey’s domestically-produced KAAN fighter planes.

He said Turkey expects Trump to “repeat the positive news” he previously gave about supporting Turkey’s defense projects.

Trump repeats his insistence that the US should control Greenland

Trump says the semiautonomous island, which is part of NATO ally Denmark, is “an important part for the United States,” and that he does not intend to let Greenland be threatened by China and Russia. He repeated the false claim that it’s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Erdogan.

Of all Trump’s threats to NATO and its member countries, Trump’s repeated insistence that the U.S. should acquire Greenland has posed the greatest danger to the organization. NATO is founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each other’s territory and not threaten to seize it.

The British military says a second ship has been hit in the Strait of Hormuz

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center made the announcement Tuesday, hours after it said a tanker traveling off the coast of Oman in the strait was struck by a projectile and caught fire.

Iranian state television reported on the earlier attack, saying the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings, while not directly claiming responsibility. Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, and is suspected of attacking other ships that have tried to transit the strait close to the Omani shore.

Talks between Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the initial attacks by the U.S. and Israel that launched the war. Iranian mourners have called for the death of Trump.

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NATO official dismisses fears of a Russian attack on alliance members

A senior NATO official speaking on the sidelines of the summit in Ankara Tuesday said that despite some “reckless” actions by Russia, including airspace violations over Poland, Romania and Estonia, he believes the alliance has been successful in deterring Russia from any potential attack on a member country.

“I see absolutely no indications whatsoever that Russia is interested in any sort of conflict with NATO,” the official said.

He said Moscow is overstretched by its war in Ukraine and knows NATO would respond to any attack on a member.

“I would say now that Russia is deterred, but Russia is deterred because of the actions that we are taking,” he said.

Rahm Emanuel will assail Netanyahu in Tel Aviv speech as American politics shift against Israel

While Trump is in Turkey demanding loyalty from NATO allies, a leading Democrat will be in Tel Aviv, directly accusing the president’s military partner of driving Israel into a “dead end.”

Potential presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel plans to denounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and call for an end to U.S. subsidies of Israel’s defense budget in a speech Wednesday at Tel Aviv University.

“You’ve lost Europe,” Emanuel will say, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. Castigating Netanyahu for doing little to end the Iran war, he’ll note that “support for Israel is plummeting around the world.”

About 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024. Roughly half of Democrats believe Israel’s government has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government.

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Trump says he thinks Russia-Ukraine war will be settled ‘hopefully soon’

The U.S. leader was asked about his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled for Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit, and responded by saying he’s had great recent phone conversations with both the Ukrainian president and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They both want to get it settled now,” he said.

He added later that Erdogan is “helping us get it settled.”

Trump refreshes complaints against European allies

At his bilateral meeting with Erdogan, Trump said he was testing European allies when he asked for their help with the Iran war.

“Italy turned us down and Germany turned us down and France turned us down,” Trump said. “And that’s OK. But, you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us?”

The complaint has been a central point of conflict between Trump and NATO, which he has described as a “paper tiger."

Trump says he has great chemistry with Erdogan

As they sat down for a bilateral meeting, Trump showered praise on Erdogan, saying they have a “very special relationship” that benefits both countries.

Asked about what makes their relationship so strong, Trump said there’s “a chemistry that works between us.”

“Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him,” Trump said, gesturing to Erdogan. “Sometimes you don’t get along with the weakest, most pathetic people.”

Trump says he’s going to consider selling F-35 jets to Turkey

The president was asked by a reporter as he met with Erdogan whether he’ll allow the sale of the American fighter jets to Turkey, which had been banned from the program after purchasing Russian missile defense systems.

“It’s certainly something we will consider,” Trump said as he sat with his Turkish counterpart.

He said that “Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly urged the U.S. not to sell the jets to Turkey, saying it would upset the balance of power in the Middle East.

FIFA praises World Cup referee who Trump claimed was ‘suspect’ after red card for Balogun

FIFA has defended the reputation of World Cup referee Raphael Claus in rare pushback on comments by Trump, who questioned his integrity for sending off Folarin Balogun.

Trump suggested on Monday at the White House, without elaborating, that the 46-year-old Brazilian referee was “a little bit suspect if you check his past.”

Trump set off a furor by successfully intervening with FIFA to ensure the United States forward could play against Belgium despite his red-card penalty. FIFA praised Claus, now working at his second World Cup, in a statement published before the U.S. lost 4-1 Monday night.

“Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated the highest standards of professionalism and integrity,” FIFA said, calling Claus “one of the world’s leading professional referees and a valued member” of its team of World Cup match officials.

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Zelenskyy reiterates call for Ukraine to join NATO

Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO, saying that his country’s armed forces are highly experienced and resilient would only boost the alliance’s defense capabilities.

“Ukraine belongs in NATO,” Zelenskyy said at a defense industry forum, near where NATO leaders were due to gather later on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said that Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.

“Do you believe it would be right to live outside NATO, a country and a people with this level of defense capability?” he said.

The Treasury issued the 60-day license last month, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of an interim agreement to end the fighting between the two countries. Treasury officials did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry on why the license was revoked.

The revocation came hours after the British military said three tankers were struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. They were the latest attacks targeting vessels moving through the fuel-shipping waterway that is central to negotiations seeking a permanent end to the war between the U.S. and Iran.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Three tankers were struck by projectiles Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the British military said, in the latest attacks targeting vessels moving through the fuel-shipping waterway that is central to negotiations seeking a permanent end to the war between the U.S. and Iran.

The new assaults were the most in a single day since late April, according to U.N. International Maritime Organization figures. The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war.

One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the U.K. maritime agency said.

Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

Location details provided by the U.K. agency show all three attacks occurred off the coast of Oman or the neighboring United Arab Emirates, making it likely that the ships were using the route near Oman.

U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Tuesday's attacks.

Talks between US and Iran are on hold

The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war launched Feb. 28. An interim deal has been strained.

Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the U.S. Iran then attacked Gulf Arab states.

In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel.

Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war. Mourners at his funeral have called for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Authorities flew Khamenei's body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners honored him Tuesday.

Tanker struck in latest attack in strait

One tanker was carrying liquid natural gas south through the strait near Limah, Oman, when a projectile hit the left-side engine room and sparked a fire, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center said.

Iranian state TV, quoting anonymous sources, implied that Tehran carried out the assault on a tanker it said was carrying natural gas from Qatar. However, there was no official claim from the Islamic Republic for the attack.

Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He called it a “serious and explicit violation” of international law.

In a post on X, he said Qatar holds Iran “fully legally responsible” for the attack.

Later Tuesday, the U.K. maritime agency reported that an oil tanker was hit on its left side as it exited the strait near the Omani-Emirati border. A third tanker was struck by a drone off Oman, the agency said.

Iran’s joint military command warned last Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also said that interference by U.S. forces in the strait “will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”

But the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, told shippers Monday that the route around Oman “has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”

Ships going to the north on the Iranian route must register with Tehran. Those going south work with Oman and the U.S.

Speaking Monday at the White House, Trump warned Iran that it would need to “make a deal, or we're going to finish the job.”

“I'd rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people,” Trump said. “We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.”

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the vessels' routes and later charge fees for passage, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and the U.N. to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast.

The data firm Kpler reported that over last weekend at least 108 ships crossed through the strait using various routes.

Mourners gather in Qom for Khamenei's funeral

Iranian state television aired live images Tuesday of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for Khamenei. Shiites believe the mosque once hosted Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and is supposed to one day reappear to bring justice to the world.

Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, were displayed on banners and posters held by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make an appearance at the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday.

The government-run IRNA news agency reported that Khamenei’s body was taken Tuesday night to Najaf, Iraq. Processions are planned for Wednesday in Najaf and Karbala, the two holy cities of Iraqi Shiism. Iraq has a sizable Shiite population and is home to major Shiite religious sites and centers of learning.

Khamenei, who was 86, will then be returned to Iran to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

A Ukrainian military intelligence officer confessed to killing the bombing suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, with the help of a former law enforcement officer, said the security service, known as the SBU. The military intelligence officer said he acted on his own and without the knowledge of his superiors, the SBU said.

Both men were detained on suspicion of murdering Berezovska, a Ukrainian national whose last known residence was in Germany, according to authorities. They also “may have been involved in planning” last week's bombing, Monaco prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said late Tuesday.

The bombing attack at an apartment building entrance in Monaco reportedly injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a tycoon with links to Russia. A woman and a child who were with him were also injured, and the Monaco prosecutor said last week that one of the victims was in a life-threatening condition.

The attack shocked Monaco, a coastal playground for the rich and famous known for its tax-friendly incentives, royal family and Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Authorities have not disclosed possible motives for the bombing attack, or the killing of Berezovska. Based on the sophistication of the remote-controlled explosive device that was used, investigators in Monaco said last week that they believed multiple people were involved in the attack.

In Kyiv, the mysterious events have raised concerns among some lawmakers about how Ukraine’s Western allies are reacting to a possible assassination attempt in Monaco that is now linked to at least one member of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

“I hope it will not have a serious impact. But our allies deserve an explanation,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party.

Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.

One possibility is that the bombing in Monaco and Berezovska’s killing are connected to the Yermolaiev family’s business dealings, said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, who believes it’s too soon to implicate the Ukrainian state.

Fesenko noted that at the end of April, Yermolaiev’s son, Artur, had settled charges brought against him in Estonia related to an alleged phone scam that took in more than 100 million euros ($114 million) from citizens in multiple European countries between 2019 and 2022, according to local media reports. As part of the deal, the younger Yermolaiev paid an 8.5 million euro fine.

Monaco's head of state, Prince Albert II, described last week's bombing as “an odious act.” The 39-year-old Berezovska was identified as the main suspect by Interpol, which issued a so-called Red Notice seeking her arrest on charges of attempted murder and criminal conspiracy. The notice said Berezovska has a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow.

Yermolaiev built his fortune through the Alef Group, a diversified business that includes commercial real estate, manufacturing and agriculture. Sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023 for his Russia ties, Yermolaiev has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago.

Interpol on Tuesday said it had no immediate comment on the arrests of the Ukrainian military intelligence officer and former law enforcement officer.

The SBU said investigators had focused on the two men after discovering they had repeatedly transferred cryptocurrency and money through bank accounts to Berezovska.

Investigators said they found Berezovska’s body during a reconstruction of the crime based on one suspect’s testimony. Investigators recovered spent pistol casings at the scene, the SBU said.

Authorities said the basement of the former law enforcement officer’s home appeared to be used as a torture chamber. It was not immediately clear if this is where Berezovska’s body was found.

The SBU said it had shared all available information with authorities in Monaco and was continuing to investigate those who ordered and organized the bombing attack there.

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AP Writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.

The Boston University CTE Center, which investigates the long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and others, analyzed Kneeland's brain tissue after his death. Researchers determined Kneeland, who was 24, was in stage one of four of CTE.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org

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CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in athletes in contact sports, combat veterans and others who experience repetitive blows to the head. It has been known to cause violent mood swings, impulsive behavior and depression. It can be diagnosed only after death.

“While this diagnosis does not change the tragedy of his passing, it provides important context about some of the struggles he may have been facing. We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high contact sport athletes might be struggling with,” Kneeland’s family, including his girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, said in a statement issued through the Concussion and CTE Foundation.

“Raising awareness is important to us. We continue to remember Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life. One Love,” the family said.

The abnormality has also been linked to deaths in the National Football League, as well as in hockey and soccer.

Kneeland shot himself after evading authorities in his vehicle and fleeing a car crash on foot.

The chase happened after police said Kneeland didn’t stop for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers over a traffic violation. Authorities lost sight of the vehicle before locating it crashed minutes later.

As authorities were looking for Kneeland after he fled the crash site on foot, a dispatcher told officers that people who knew him had received a group text from Kneeland “saying goodbye,” indicating he might be suicidal.

According to a 2021 study by the Harvard Medical School and the Boston University CTE Center, NFL players are more than four times more likely to develop ALS than other men.

Dr. Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion & CTE Foundation, noted Kneeland's diagnosis comes even amid a modern era of concussion protocols in professional and college athletics and better safety equipment.

Kneeland started playing tackle football when he was 7 years old. He played at Western Michigan University before he was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.

“We have no reason to believe the current generation is at a lower risk of CTE than previous generations. Concussion protocols do not prevent CTE, because CTE is caused by repeated head impacts, not just concussions,” Nowinski said. “If we want to reduce CTE risk, we must implement CTE prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number and strength of head impacts at every level of the game.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

• STRAY DOWNPOUR: This afternoon
• SAHARAN DUST: Light round of dust on Wednesday
• SATURDAY RAIN CHANCE: Heavy, scattered downpours possible

FORECAST

STRAY DOWNPOUR TODAY

A few showers/storms have popped up along the sea breeze near the coast this afternoon. They have a 20% chance of making it to the San Antonio metro area through sunset.

LIGHT SAHARAN DUST WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY

Dry weather takes over tomorrow, however, skies may appear a bit hazy. A light round of Saharan dust will spread across South Texas tomorrow and Thursday. The concentration should be light enough to where you likely won’t feel any impacts.

SCATTERED DOWNPOURS SATURDAY

A deep round of Gulf moisture will spread into the area Friday night into Saturday. This type pattern should result in scattered downpours. A 40% chance of downpours is in the forecast for Saturday afternoon. While it won’t be raining the whole day, any downpour that develops could put down good rainfall.

QUICK WEATHER LINKS

• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
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Luis Garza III, 18, was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $40,000 bond, records show.

The shooting happened around 4:50 a.m. Monday in the 3000 block of Loop 1604 westbound, which is located near Wiseman Boulevard.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, officers had responded to a call for an individual with a gunshot wound to their upper body.

Upon arrival, officers said they located a 16-year-old boy, who was later pronounced dead.

After further investigation, officers determined that the gun was accidentally fired and hit the boy, SAPD said.

Garza was arrested and charged with manslaughter, which is a first-degree felony, court records show.

Read also:

• Bexar County records 4 suspected domestic violence murder-suicides in less than 3 weeks
• Second man arrested in connection with South Side murder, affidavit says
• Motorcyclist arrested after traffic stop leads to DPS pursuit, troopers say

Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie fared no better at the World Cup in 2022 and 2026 than Tim Howard, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore did in 2010 and 2014.

“We want to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world and we just still have that next step to come,” Pulisic said after Monday night's error-filled 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16.

For all the billions of dollars invested with the goal of boosting the national team into the world's elite, the Americans remain soccer plebians.

After reaching the semifinals of the first World Cup in 1930, the U.S. didn't even qualify between 1950 and 1990. Since then, the Americans were eliminated in the round of 16 in 1994, 2010, 2014, 2022 and this year, failed to advance past their group in 1990, 1998 and 2006, and flopped in qualifying for 2018.

“It’s not like you are in a rocket and you improve and you grow. ... It’s not linear," U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.

The U.S. won three games in a World Cup for the first time, beating Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia-Herzegovina while losing to Turkey and Belgium. The Americans benefited as host, a seeded team that didn't face a top-10 nation before the Red Devils.

By the next World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (with three games in South America), Pulisic, McKennie and Adams will be 31.

Which players increased value for the US national team?

Folarin Balogun led the U.S. team with three goals, looking like a top striker, and gained worldwide notoriety when his red card suspension for awkwardly landing on an opponent’s ankle was lifted after a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump. A former Arsenal youth player, the 25-year-old striker is entering the fourth season of a five-year contract with French club Monaco and could be set for a move to a bigger club.

Malik Tillman became the first player since France's Bernard Genghini in 1982 to have two free kick goals in a World Cup. The 24-year-old midfielder is entering the second season of a five-year contract with German club Bayer Leverkusen. He had a difficult 2025-26, getting dropped from the starting lineup between late March and the season’s final match.

Does US coach Mauricio Pochettino stay in the job for another 4 years?

Pochettino said he will speak with the U.S. Soccer Federation after a rest period to discuss whether it wants him to stay beyond the expiration of his contract this summer and whether he wants to commit to a four-year cycle.

“We had positive conversations with Mauricio before the World Cup about the future. We agreed we would continue those conversations following a chance to rest and reflect post World Cup,” the U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement Tuesday. “We have a great deal of respect and gratitude for Mauricio, his staff and everyone part of the program. We have shared excitement about our potential and also shared clarity about the amount of work at all levels still required to achieve our ambition.”

The Argentine took over from Gregg Berhalter in late 2024 after first-round elimination at the Copa America. His first year included failures to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League.

“We were in a mess,” he said. “I’ve seen this team show that we can play football. We can play soccer. We can compete. That we need keep improving — a lot of young players with a lot potential and future.”

Trouble spots on the field need work for the national team

Goalkeeper has gone from the United States' biggest strength from 1990 through 2014 to a huge weakness in the past decade and appears to be at its weakest since the 1980s.

Long gone are the days when Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan inspired confidence.

Zack Steffen and Matt Turner both failed to establish themselves with big European teams. Matt Freese, who supplanted Turner as the first-choice starter last year, gifted a goal in the loss to Belgium that will be replayed on blooper reels.

Gabriel Slonina, Chris Brady, Patrick Schulte and Roman Celentano, who head the next generation, have the next cycle to establish themselves as possible No. 1s.

Central defense also is a concern. Crystal Palace's Chris Richards is the only American playing at a top club and his World Cup partner, Tim Ream, at 38 became the oldest U.S. player at any World Cup.

Qualifying should be easier with 48-team World Cup tournaments

With the expansion of the field to 48 nations, including six from North and Central America and the Caribbean, World Cup qualifying is not likely to be challenging for CONCACAF's powers: Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

All three were eliminated in the round of 16 after Curaçao, Haiti and Panama were eliminated with last-place finishes in their groups.

Unless the U.S. shows vast improvement, it will not be seeded for the 2030 World Cup and likely will face a world power in the first round.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Republicans currently have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and Maine is viewed as a necessary win for Democrats to gain the minimum of four new Senate seats.

But now there’s a question of whether Platner, who denied the allegation, will remain on the ballot and, if he does, whether he can defeat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Here’s a closer look at the top races that Democrats are targeting.

Democrats see some pickup opportunities

ALASKA: Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola’s candidacy against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has buoyed her party.

Peltola, one of a handful of Democrats who’ve won in Republican dominated states, was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, winning special and regular elections in 2022 for the state’s only House seat.

At center stage for the state’s Aug. 18 primary is drama involving a man running with the same name and party affiliation as Sullivan. The state supreme court has said the challenger is qualified to be on the ballot.

Peltola’s campaign and state Democrats have denied Sullivan's allegation that they're working with the challenger to cause confusion..

MAINE: Platner catapulted to the Democratic nomination despite earlier controversies. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer initially backed sitting Gov. Janet Mills but reluctantly aligned behind Platner -- until Monday’s latest bombshell accusation.

Now, Schumer and many Democrats are pushing for Platner to withdraw. If he does that by July 13, Maine Democrats can put a replacement on the ballot. If not, Platner could face Collins with minimal national party support.

If Platner drops out, his replacement could meet a similar challenge to what presidential candidate Kamala Harris faced in 2024, when she had a late start to appeal to a general election audience without having won the nomination in a competitive primary.

Meanwhile, Collins has won elections for 30 years despite no Republican presidential nominee, including President Donald Trump, winning Maine since 1988.

NORTH CAROLINA: Democrats landed one of their prize recruits with former Gov. Roy Cooper, who has never lost a statewide election through four terms as attorney general and two as governor. Republicans answered with Trump’s handpicked candidate, Michael Whatley, who’d previously served as state GOP chairman and as the Republican National Committee chairman.

Whatley was viewed as a prodigious fundraiser and ideal Trump surrogate in a state the president carried three times, and he has history on his side -- Democrats have won just two U.S. Senate races and one presidential contest in North Carolina in the last three decades.

Yet Cooper won governors races in two of Trump’s three presidential cycles and is leveraging his centrist image at a time when independents have soured on Trump. That leaves Whatley with the difficult tasks of satisfying Trump's core supporters without alienating other voters; introducing himself to voters who don’t know him; and convincing enough North Carolina voters that they’ve been wrong about Cooper for decades.

OHIO: Democrats are counting on former Sen. Sherrod Brown to unseat Republican incumbent Jon Husted in what’s shaping up to be another expensive contest in the state — its third in four years.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC, has pledged $79 million to defend Husted, a former lieutenant governor appointed to fill the seat after JD Vance became vice president.

Brown served three terms in the Senate before losing a tough reelection contest in 2024.

Ohio has steadily trended Republican. But Brown won previously as an advocate of unions and the working class, and Democrats believe he can attract some of the voters who’ve helped Trump win the state three times.

Underdogs could offer surprises

IOWA: The state, which Trump won three times gives Democrats an opportunity to flip a seat with two-term Republican Sen. Joni Ernst's retirement.

Democratic Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek faces Trump-endorsed Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.

Turek is a relative newcomer to elected office and has pointed to his experience winning in a red state House district as proof he could appeal to independent and moderate Republican voters in November.

Hinson is a three-term House incumbent representing northeastern Iowa, and claims Trump needs a fighter who would “always have his back.”

TEXAS: State Rep. James Talarico, a 37-year-old seminarian, has become a national fundraising phenomenon.

Talarico faces the scandal-ridden Republican nominee Ken Paxton. The Texas attorney general has weathered an impeachment attempt by his own party, a yearslong corruption investigation and public airing of his martial difficulties. Through all that, Paxton has won multiple reelections.

Democrats were buoyed by their primary turnout of about 2.3 million eclipsing Republicans’ 2.2 million, something that hasn’t happened since the state flipped to Republicans in the 1990s. But the challenge for Talarico is turning that momentum into a racially, ethnically and geographically diverse coalition in November.

The seats Democrats have to hold

GEORGIA: Sen. Jon Ossoff is the only Democratic senator running for reelection this year in a state Trump won in 2024.

He had no primary opposition, and he’s been a fundraising force with more than $30 million cash-on-hand as he entered the general election campaign. Ossof has attracted national attention with his unapologetic broadsides against Trump.

Republican Rep. Mike Collins is playing catchup after winning a bruising GOP primary runoff. He must navigate skeptical Republicans who believe he’s too conservative or controversial for this battleground state. Collins repeats Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, and he’s also facing a House ethics inquiry over allegations that he misused taxpayer money to pay the girlfriend of a former top aide.

Collins’ strongest line of attack against Ossoff comes on immigration. Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, named for a Georgia nursing student killed by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally. The 2025 law, among other provisions, requires immigrants accused of certain crimes to be detained by federal law enforcement.

Ossoff voted for that legislation after Trump returned to the White House. The senator had previously voted, along with all Senate Democrats, to block consideration of an earlier Republican version — offered as an amendment to a 2024 spending bill — that would have prohibited undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes from obtaining legal status. Collins and Republicans frame those votes as Ossoff flip-flopping on immigration enforcement.

MICHIGAN: Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ retirement opens up a seat the party must hold in a key presidential battleground that Trump won twice and former President Joe Biden carried in 2020.

The Aug. 4 Democratic primary pits moderate Haley Stevens against progressive Abdul El-Sayed. It was a three-way race until Mallory McMorrow, who had backing from some progressive Democratic senators, suspended her campaign.

Stevens and El-Sayed have split support among Democratic senators. Stevens has the support of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while El-Sayed has support from Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives.

Stevens has also benefited from heavy outside spending, including nearly $8 million from a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, has run on issues like Medicare for All and halting all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. He has campaigned with popular-yet-controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has millions of followers online and has said things such as that “America deserved 9/11.”

The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, in 2024.

Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, has long backed Platner in the high-stakes race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, but he said in a statement that he spoke with the candidate and “in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

Platner, who denies the allegation, has not heeded the calls to resign. Instead, he posted a video on Monday saying he was considering the next steps for his campaign while canceling town hall events.

Platner posted the video after reports that a woman who previously dated the first-time candidate said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop.

The allegation is the latest in a string of controversies Platner has faced and so far weathered since the oyster farmer and Marine veteran entered the race. But the seriousness of the assault claim has put the Maine contest — and Democrats' ability to win control of the Senate — at risk, with even some of his strongest supporters questioning whether Platner should continue his campaign.

If Platner steps down, a possible succession battle would inflame a Democratic divide as the party seeks unity ahead of the November midterms.

Platner became a populist hero among the party's left flank, pulling far ahead of an establishment-backed candidate, Gov. Janet Mills, in the primary. Now, if he quits the contest, progressive groups are demanding that the state's Democratic Party choose a similarly shake-up-the-system candidate to replace him.

“To the Democratic establishment: This is not your opening,” said Joseph Geevarghese, who leads an organization founded by Sanders, Our Revolution.

A Platner voter is ‘heartbroken’

Joanie Monteith, a passionate supporter from the southern Maine town of York who organized a trivia night about Platner in March, said through tears Tuesday that she was devastated by the news. She was waiting for another public statement from Platner before making a decision about whether she could keep supporting him.

“I’m numb, and I’m waiting for what Graham has to say," she said. "I’m trying not to be a part of this public trial. And I’m heartbroken. And I’m heartbroken for him and his wife.”

She added that she believes the allegations are serious.

“I’m not going to blame a victim. Because if this is true I feel very bad for the woman,” she said.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. She said in a CNN interview on Monday evening that she opted not to fight back for fear of Platner, a former Marine, becoming more violent.

Another Maine voter, Lee Holman, said she wants Platner to stay in the race.

“I feel like the people of Maine have spoken,” the Democrat said. “If they wanted Janet Mills, they could have voted for her.”

She said the allegation against Platner may be legitimate, but she questions the timing. Democrats, she added, can be too quick to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” by calling on politicians facing allegations to resign.

“Every time we think we have a chance to snatch our democracy back, something gets in the way,” she said.

Replacing Platner may further divide Democrats

The pressure for Platner to withdraw from the Senate race has only increased given the short deadlines Maine law allows for replacing general election candidates.

There is no mechanism for Democrats to remove Platner from the ballot, meaning Platner must first opt to drop out of the general election before a replacement can be selected. The deadline to withdraw is 5 p.m. on July 13.

Just who should replace Platner if he drops out appeared to be further splintering Democrats. Some argued the next Democrat should echo Platner's progressive messaging, pointing to his success at rallying voters across the state. Others cautioned that having ties to Platner will only doom an already uphill campaign against Collins.

Joe Baldacci, a Democratic state senator, said he’s concerned about what the latest allegations will do to the voter excitement over the past year.

“I think the major concern, even with a nominee, a new replacement, is that person is going to start very much behind the eight ball,” Baldacci added.

Mills, who sought the Democratic nomination but dropped out before the June 9 primary, could be considered as a nominee. Mills was supported by Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer but abandoned her campaign saying she couldn't raise the money needed to compete.

Another possible replacement is Troy Jackson, Maine’s former state Senate President, who unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee earlier this year with the backing of Platner and Sanders.

While Jackson hasn’t publicly said he’d run for the Maine Senate seat, he did file paperwork Tuesday to launch a Senate exploratory committee with the Federal Election Committee. Separately, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna threw out his name as someone who stands up for “progressive values” after the California Democrat withdrew his support for Platner.

Nirav Shah, the former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday he was “evaluating” whether to join the race should Platner depart. Shah came in second in this year’s Maine Democratic gubernatorial primary, where he was considered more moderate compared with Jackson.

Jordan Wood, a former U.S. Senate candidate who then switched to unsuccessfully run for Maine's 2nd District, posted Tuesday that he was “continuing conversations” with voters about joining the race.

Other names include Shenna Bellows, the current Maine Secretary of State; Dan Kleban, founder of Maine Beer Co.; Maine U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who is not running for reelection; as well as Hannah Pingree, currently Maine's Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

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Kruesi reported from Providence, R.I.

Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull described Tyler Robinson's alleged movements before and after Kirk was killed as prosecutors played previously unseen campus surveillance videos in state court. The defendant first arrived on campus about four hours before Kirk was killed, Hull said.

Prosecutors say they intend to seek the death penalty in the case. They are trying to convince Judge Tony Graf that they have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge.

Robinson has not yet entered a plea. His attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

In a video shown Tuesday, Robinson goes over a railing onto a rooftop, crouches down and runs to a site overlooking where Kirk was speaking, Hull testified. After the shooting, Robinson runs back across the roof, drops to the ground and flees on foot, Hull said.

Investigators later found the suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — wrapped in a towel in some nearby woods. Later that night, a police offer again spotted Robinson in the campus area, Hull testified.

This week's preliminary hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case. Authorities allege Robinson, 23, shot Kirk on Sept. 10 while the 31-year-old activist and ally of President Donald Trump was speaking to a crowd of thousands.

Court to hear statement from defendant’s roommate

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester questioned Hull's handling of the crime scene on the day of the shooting. She also asked about a bullet that was found on campus at a different location than the alleged shooting site.

Hull said that bullet was traced back to a law enforcement officer who had “cleared” his weapon, ejecting an unused bullet. He also said a handgun in a backpack was found at the scene.

Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on the prosecution's claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” Robinson also sent a text saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

Robinson's defense team pushed back Tuesday on the idea that he was hostile to Kirk's politics. Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA, a group co-founded by Kirk that galvanized the conservative youth vote to help Trump win a second term.

"This doesn't say anything about Mr. Robinson's state of mind," Novak said about the statement from Turning Point USA board member David Englehardt. “I don’t think that this court should be deciding— based on the record before it — where, if at all, politics and religion intersect.”

Judge Graf ruled that the statement was relevant and said it would be “provisionally admitted” with a final decision at a later date.

Prosecutors have a low bar

This week marks the first time Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, have been in the courtroom since the case began. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Robinson’s parents, Matt and Amber Robinson, also have been present.

The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk and should stand trial. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Legal experts say that means prosecutors should have little trouble advancing their case.

Prosecutors also this week plan to present video from Sept. 11 when Robinson turned himself in to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, recorded testimony from Robinson’s roommate, DNA linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon and witness statements.

Spectators camped out for hearing

Utah County residents Denae Branch and Jean Rivera lined up outside the courthouse in Provo around midnight Tuesday and snagged one of the few seats available to the public for this week's hearing.

The women said they were in the crowd when Kirk was shot and now think about it every day.

“It feels like a lot of the world just kept spinning and we’re still dealing with the trauma of it,” Branch said. “Our hearts and minds are still trying to process it and, yeah, it kind of helps being here.”

Rivera on Tuesday wore a shirt that read “FREEDOM” -- just as Kirk did on the day he was shot. She said she hoped to hear testimony about Robinson’s alleged confession note.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

“Texans are just struggling to take care of basics right now,” Hinojosa said in an interview Monday. “This idea just is common sense. It is money that is our money. It’s there. It should go to the people who work hard in this state who need it.”

The $1,500 one-time rebate program — which Hinojosa dubbed a “corruption tax refund” — would cost the state $17 billion, her campaign estimated. It would be drawn from Texas’ rainy day fund — which is formally known as the Economic Stabilization Fund and serves essentially as a state savings account — which stood at a record $24.8 billion as of November 2025.

Hinojosa’s rebate proposal — which would require legislative approval — would draw down roughly two-thirds of the current account and leave around $10 billion in reserves. Her campaign pointed to estimates by the comptroller’s office that the fund will grow by roughly $2.5 billion to $3 billion a year, and historical trends that kept the account at around $10 billion for several years before swelling after 2022.

“It’s never been hoarded the way it currently is,” she said, adding, “We cannot find an economist who says it makes sense for us to be sitting on this money. It is irresponsible. This money should be in our economy in Texas.”

Hinojosa has embraced populist policy in her challenge to Abbott, whom she has accused of working on behalf of GOP megadonors at the expense of everyday Texans. She rolled out the rebate proposal at a Houston grocery store Tuesday, kicking off a week of campaign stops around the state meant to illustrate how $1,500 checks could help working people.

Abbott, meanwhile, has made a sweeping property tax cut plan the centerpiece of his campaign for a fourth term. He has proposed ending school property taxes for homeowners, imposing tighter limits on how much property values can rise and making it harder for local governments to raise taxes even as their regions grow. And while he has largely ignored Hinojosa’s existence while on the campaign trail, he has railed against Democrats more broadly for opposing property tax cut measures he and other Republicans argued would improve affordability.

Recent public polling found Abbott leading Hinojosa by around 6 percentage points, while the U.S. Senate race at the top of the ticket between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton was tied. The incumbent governor remains a formidable opponent, with a staggering $96 million in his campaign coffers at the end of February compared to Hinojosa’s $617,000. Still, Texas Democrats are hopeful that a favorable political landscape fueled by discontent with the Trump administration, rising everyday costs and anti-incumbent sentiment can help them flip a statewide seat for the first time since 1994.

In announcing the proposal, Hinojosa charged Abbott with “hoarding” money in the rainy day fund and framed the idea as one that would give struggling Texans relief while maintaining necessary reserves in the state’s savings account. Her campaign said she would declare the “affordability crisis” an emergency item on the first day of her term, enabling state lawmakers to act on the rebate proposal as soon as the legislative session begins in January.

“There is one fight in this country, and the fight is this: Is this going to be a state that is by and for the people, or is this the billionaires’ world and we just live here?” Hinojosa said. “This helps to give Texans what they need right now to be able to afford to live and thrive in Texas.”

The Legislature created the rainy day fund in 1988 to help Texas weather fluctuating economic conditions. Largely funded by oil and gas tax revenues, the account has ballooned in recent years, with the Texas comptroller’s office projecting that it would exceed the cap on its balance and reach a record $28.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2027.

The Texas Constitution limits the fund’s maximum balance using a formula based on how much general revenue was deposited into the account during the previous biennium. The fund is also subject to a statutory minimum balance of $12.4 billion for the 2026-27 biennium, according to the comptroller’s office.

State lawmakers have approved a total of $17.4 billion in spending out of the rainy day fund since its creation, according to the comptroller’s office. That spending has gone toward water infrastructure projects, natural disaster relief, public education and more. As the fund has grown, lawmakers have intensely debated how much of it to spend and how.

Rather than one-time investments in such programs, Hinojosa argued that her rebate proposal would be one of few policy ideas that a supermajority of lawmakers could get behind.

“We are paying into a system that is working against us, and I can’t think of anything else where we would all come together and have the votes to spend that kind of money to benefit real Texans,” she said. “I can’t imagine any politician voting against $1,500 to their constituents.”

Three-fifths of the state lawmakers must agree to draw from the rainy day fund in order to plug budget shortfalls, and two-thirds support is required to tap the fund for any other legislative purposes.

Originally published on the Texas Tribune.

Read also:

• Trump Accounts can help children become financially ‘well off’ before adulthood, expert says

Prosecutors were expected to present a recorded statement from Robinson's roommate and more videos from law enforcement on Tuesday.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination on the Utah Valley University campus, for which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence.

Here's the latest:

Judge says the statement is relevant for consideration

Before the lunch break, State District Judge Tony Graf said the statement from Turning Point USA board member David Englehardt is relevant as it relates to Charlie Kirk’s political expression.

Graf said prosecutors allege Tyler Robinson targeted Charlie Kirk because of Robinson’s beliefs about Kirk’s political expression.

Determining the difference between religious expression and political expression is a different matter, the judge said, but he also noted the statement contains additional information about the tax status and practices of Turning Point USA.

Graf said the statement is “provisionally admitted,” and he will decide later if it will be fully admitted as evidence.

Defense says the Turning Point USA member’s statement isn’t relevant

Defense attorney Richard Novak says the statement from Turning Point USA board member David Englehardt won’t help the court decide whether the “victim targeting penalty enhancement” is valid.

The state law allows penalty enhancements if a defendant targeted a victim because of the defendant’s perception of the victim’s political expressions, Novak says.

But Englehardt’s statement is all about what is in Englehardt’s head, he says, and that’s not relevant to the case. Englehardt’s mention of Bible passages also isn’t relevant, Novak says, and won’t help the court make any decisions about the case.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride says the statement is relevant, because it clarifies what Charlie Kirk’s business does. It also goes to motive, McBride says.

Kirk engaged people in debate on religious and political issues, McBride says, and encouraged people to follow specific values.

Attorneys debate statement from Turning Point USA board member

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride wants a “self-authenticating statement” from Turning Point USA board member David Englehardt to be admitted as evidence. The statement is notarized, McBride says.

But defense attorney Richard Novak says he’s concerned about the authenticity of the statement, and he doesn’t think some of the information contained in the statement is relevant to the case. He doesn’t want it to be admitted as evidence.

Novak says he doesn’t intend to question Englehardt’s beliefs or what Englehardt says were Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s religious beliefs. The document contains Englehardt’s opinions, Novak says, and references a Utah law that deals with a “victim targeting penalty enhancement.”

Investigator says weapon was found in area where Robinson had been seen

Under redirected questioning by the prosecution, former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull says he saw Tyler Robinson enter a wooded area twice when reviewing surveillance video.

Investigators later recovered a rifle from that same area, Hull says.

Defense attorney asks Hull about gun, autopsy, videos

Under questioning by defense attorney Kathryn Nester, former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull acknowledges that he wasn’t present for Charlie Kirk’s autopsy, but interviewed the person who did it.

He also didn’t directly handle the processing and shipping of a gun collected during the investigation, Hull says.

Nester also asks about video from a doorbell camera shown in court on Monday. Hull says the person who had the doorbell camera told investigators that they thought the person captured in the video was bald and that there were three people in the vehicle.

When it was presented in court, the video was described as showing Tyler Robinson’s vehicle, with just one person exiting the vehicle.

Defense attorney asks about witness descriptions of a person on the rooftop

Former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull acknowledges that the surveillance video showing a person on the roof of the Losee building doesn’t reveal any distinguishing facial features.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asks Hull how some witnesses who took a separate video of the person on the roof described him to authorities. The witnesses thought the person was an officer doing an “overwatch,” or maintaining a security position on a roof, Hull says.

The person on the roof appeared to be in a prone position for 15 to 30 seconds, Hull says.

Spectators camp out overnight to attend the hearing

Denae Branch and Jean Rivera were among the first people lined up outside the courthouse around midnight, trying to snag one of the 14 seats available to the public. The Utah County residents camped out overnight Tuesday, both wearing “FREEDOM” merchandise from Charlie Kirk’s podcast, after they did not get seats inside on Monday.

They were in the crowd at Kirk’s event at Utah Valley University when he was shot, and both said they think about it every day.

“It feels like a lot of the world just kept spinning and we’re still dealing with the trauma of it,” Branch said. “Our hearts and minds are still trying to process it and, yeah, it kind of helps being here.”

Rivera said she hoped to hear testimony about defendant Tyler Robinson’s alleged confession note.

Some courthouse windows are shrouded

The windows on the fourth floor of the courthouse, where the preliminary hearing is taking place, have been covered with black plastic sheeting.

They were not covered yesterday.

Defense questions investigator about the day of the shooting

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is asking former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull about how he handled the crime scene at Utah Valley University on the day of the shooting.

Hull says he arrived on campus about 1:30 p.m., after Charlie Kirk had been rushed to a nearby hospital. He learned around 2:30 p.m. that he was going to be in charge of the investigation, Hull says.

He says he was made aware that the amphitheater area had been cordoned off and preserved as best as possible given the large number of people present when the shooting occurred.

He says a bullet found on scene was attributed to a law enforcement officer who had “cleared” his weapon, ejecting an unused bullet.

Hull says there was another firearm found at the scene: a handgun in a backpack.

Court is back in session

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is cross-examining former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull.

A second video with ‘enhancements’ is introduced as evidence

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill has introduced a video with circled highlights, zooming and other alterations apparently designed to help viewers understand what they are seeing.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester objected to the video being introduced as evidence, saying she is concerned about its authenticity and that it will be unduly prejudicial against her client.

State District Judge Tony Graf agrees to admit the video as evidence, but says he’ll view it without showing it to the public or the media since it’s essentially the same footage as the previous video.

Compilation video continues with a vehicle Hull says belongs to Robinson

Hull says a Spanish Fork police officer had an interaction with the vehicle early on Sept. 11. When Hull spoke with that officer later, the officer was able to look up vehicle records via a partial license plate number.

The plates showed Robinson was one of the registered owners of the vehicle, Hull says, and the Spanish Fork police officer said the driver was a male whom he believed to be Robinson.

Hull says video shows Robinson walking with a ‘limp’ and climbing to rooftop

Former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull says Robinson is shown in another video returning to campus in different clothing and walking with a limp, with one leg held mostly straight.

Video clips show him walking in front of the Losee building, Hull says, and then to the area where he could access the building’s roof.

Yesterday, former Utah Valley University Officer Chris Bagley testified that he saw a “sniper pad” in the gravel atop the Losee building roof.

Additional clips show an individual climbing onto the roof, running across it and then laying prone in the corner of the building. Hull says he believes the person to be Robinson.

The individual then lowers himself off the roof and leaves the area while carrying something in his hand, Hull says. The time stamp is 12:44 p.m.

Compilation video shows Robinson’s movements on Sept. 10

Former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull is narrating the video as it plays in court.

Some clips from various Utah Valley University surveillance cameras show Tyler Robinson driving into a parking garage, walking away, returning and leaving, Hull says.

Other clips show Robinson walking with a backpack. Robinson purchased a meal from Chick-fil-A at one point in the day, Hull says. Later, as Robinson moves across campus, he is no longer carrying a backpack.

He leaves campus for a second time around 11 a.m., Hull says.

Judge says the compilation video can be shown publicly

The defense team wanted the video published only to the court and not to the press videographer in the courtroom. Allowing news coverage of the video would taint the jury pool for any future trial, violating Tyler Robinson’s constitutional rights, defense attorney Michael Burt said.

But David Reymann, an attorney representing news organizations, asked the judge to allow this and other non-graphic videos in evidence to be shown to people in the courtroom and in media coverage of the case.

“The spectators in the courtroom have a right to know what the court is viewing, so they can understand how you’re making your decisions,” Reymann says.

The compilation video is expected to show Tyler Robinson walking around the Utah Valley University campus on the day of the shooting. That’s relevant, Reymann says.

Judge Tony Graf says he recognizes the importance of balancing Robinson’s constitutional rights as well as the importance of transparency. He says this video is different from the three videos of the shooting introduced as evidence yesterday, and so it can be shown publicly.

Former lead investigator David Hull is on the stand

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill is questioning Hull, the former Utah State Bureau of Investigations agent who testified yesterday about surveillance videos and other footage gathered during the shooting investigation.

Sturgill is asking Hull about a compilation video that includes clips from several different videos. The prosecution team wanted to introduce the compilation as evidence yesterday, but the judge declined after the defense team said the prosecution had not established “foundation.”

The process of establishing “foundation” for evidence generally includes having someone testify about exactly what an item is, including its authenticity and relevance.

Erika Kirk is back in the courtroom today

Tyler Robinson’s parents were also seen entering the courthouse this morning.

State District Judge Tony Graf is giving attendees a reminder of his rules for behavior, including “maintaining a courtroom environment that is safe, respectful, orderly and faithful to the rights and dignity of every person involved.”

It’s warm in the courtroom, so the judge says everyone should feel free to drink from their water bottles.

The defense frequently objected to the introduction of evidence

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester’s attempts were largely overruled by the judge Monday.

When Nester asked Bagley about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled, he acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn’t know whether it had been fingerprinted.

Utah is an open carry state, meaning people can carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit.

Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in on individuals or had circles drawn around them.

Prosecutors said they would try again Tuesday to introduce that video with the alterations removed.

Prosecutors must pass a low bar to advance Robinson to trial

The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk and should stand trial. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors, as a result, should have little trouble advancing their case, said Mark Kouris, a former prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City.

“This standard is extremely low, and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing,” said Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Robinson’s demeanor in the courtroom

The defendant sat quietly between his attorneys throughout the hearing, looking at the prosecution’s exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. His wrists were shackled to a chain around his waist.

Kirk and Robinson’s families were in the courtroom Monday

Monday marked the first time Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and his widow, Erika, were in the courtroom since the case began. Robinson’s parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks.

Prosecutors showed several graphic videos of Kirk’s shooting, including the moment he was shot and security administering first aid, as they made their case.

Kirk’s family briefly walked out of the courtroom twice — when Bagley, the university officer, started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus and again when prosecutors introduced the videos. Each time, they returned.

The court will hear a statement from Robinson’s roommate

If prosecutors follow the order of an exhibit list they submitted earlier this year, they will present a video from the Washington County sheriff’s office from Sept. 11 — the day Robinson turned himself in — and recorded testimony from Robinson’s roommate.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Robinson also reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

Prosecutors have also said they plan to present DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. In addition, they are expected to argue the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law.

What happened during the first day of the hearing?

The court proceedings on Monday produced no major revelations but marked the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case against Robinson, who is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk.

Former Utah Valley University Officer Christopher Bagley testified that he witnessed the shooting while the conservative activist was speaking to a campus crowd of thousands on Sept. 10. Soon after, Bagley went to a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk’s location, he said.

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley told the court.

More video is expected during the hearing

Prosecutors seeking to convince a Utah judge to put the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on trial are expected to present more law enforcement video and a recorded statement from the defendant’s roommate as a weeklong preliminary hearing continues Tuesday.

The court proceedings began Monday and so far have produced no major revelations but marked the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case against defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, who is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk, an ally of President Donald Trump.

▶ Read more

A child was originally hospitalized in critical condition, but a University Health spokesperson later told KSAT the child is now in fair condition.

The hospital’s trauma unit is treating the child for burns suffered in the first explosion.

Crews responded to the initial fire around 6 p.m. Tuesday in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive, which is located near Thousand Oaks Drive.

Around 8:30 p.m., however, KSAT crews heard a loud “boom” and saw flames shooting out of a second home nearby.

CPS Energy sent KSAT an updated statement just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, where a spokesperson for the utility said for the first time, “Electric and gas services in the Preston Hollow subdivision are clear and safe.”

Marc Whyte, the District 10 councilman, said his office and the city are currently working on creating a website to give out updates on the investigation as they become available.

CPS Energy will keep its customer response unit at the Northeast Senior Center through Sunday.

In an updated statement sent on Sunday, the utility said its CPS Energy Customer Response Unit and gas team members are helping customers relight gas pilot lights and answering questions about natural gas service upon request.

CPS Energy is also arranging debris cleanup in the area and has assisted more than two dozen customers since Tuesday.

CPS Energy said if any customers at any point smell gas, they should leave the house immediately and call CPS Energy at 210-353-HELP (4357) or 911.

North East ISD teacher, pastor among those injured

Two adults and one child suffered burns and were hospitalized after the first explosion. Two additional adults were hospitalized as a result of the second explosion.

One of those hospitalized is a teacher at MacArthur High School. A North East Independent School District spokesperson told KSAT that the injured educator is Kimberly Nowell, who teaches math at the school.

Nowell’s husband, Tim, is a pastor at Wayside Chapel, a North Side church located in the 1700 block of Northwest Loop 410.

On Tuesday, July 7, a hospital spokesperson said Tim Nowell was released and is in good condition. Kimberly Nowell remains hospitalized in good condition, according to the spokesperson.

The couple’s teenage daughter also attends the school, according to a letter sent Wednesday to MacArthur High School parents and guardians.

“I have already met with our staff to inform them of this tragic situation,” MacArthur High School Principal Joaquin Hernandez wrote in the letter obtained by KSAT. “Additionally, Ms. Nowell’s classes are being supported with the assistance of our counselors and administrative team. Our priority is to ensure students have immediate access to support.”

According to Wayside Chapel, Nowell is a “student pastor” who has served in that ministry for more than 17 years.

Jason Uptmore, the church’s lead pastor, released a statement to KSAT on Wednesday afternoon.

“We are grateful that Tim, Kim, and Ali (the couple’s daughter) are stable,” Uptmore said, in part. “Tim and his family are deeply woven into the fabric of who we are as a church. We recognize that the road ahead will be long, but we are committed to walking with them.”

A Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) spokesperson identified the other two explosion victims to KSAT as Mayte Reeves and Jose Ochoa.

Reeves was previously in critical condition, but has now been released from the hospital. Ochoa is in good condition and has been released from the hospital as well, the BAMC spokesperson said.

SAFD’s response

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

The first house sustained significant damage and will likely be demolished.

In all, 10 homes along Preston Hollow Drive were evacuated following the explosions, SAFD Chief Valerie Frausto said.

Some residents can return home

Whyte told KSAT all residents except for six households on Preston Hollow Drive can return home Wednesday night, April 22.

The six households who cannot return include the two homes where the explosions occurred and immediate neighbors on that side of the street.

Police said the residents on the other side of Preston Hollow Drive are on a different power grid, but the ones where the explosions happened are not.

Affected residents being housed in temporary accommodations

In a Facebook post from Whyte, impacted residents are being housed in Airbnbs temporarily as crews work to continue clearing the homes under evacuation orders.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the utility said its unit has “connected with more than two dozen residents.” Any additional impacted customers are encouraged to call 210-353-2783.

A CPS Energy spokesperson said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead the investigation into both explosions. Going forward, the utility will “coordinate any updates” with NTSB, the spokesperson said.

According to the agency’s statement earlier Wednesday, it shut off power in the area to keep customers safe.

Click here for the latest update on power outages.

In a statement Tuesday night, District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, whose district includes Preston Hollow Drive, said, “CPS will work with all displaced people on hotel costs.”

“Any displaced residents should call our office tomorrow and we will help them be reimbursed,” Whyte said.

In a follow-up statement on Wednesday afternoon, the councilman said he is standing “with those affected as they begin the recovery process.”

“We are deeply grateful for the swift and professional response from our first responders, as well as the continued support from the Red Cross, CPS Energy, and the Northeast Senior Center,” Whyte said on Wednesday. “Their efforts have been critical in ensuring public safety and assisting those in need.”

Whyte also said anyone impacted by Tuesday’s explosions are asked to contact the District 10 office.

If anyone thinks they smell gas in their homes, CPS Energy said they should leave their house immediately and call CPS Energy at 210-353-HELP (4357) or 911.

Lawsuits filed against CPS Energy

Jose Ochoa and Mayte Terrie Reeves filed a joint lawsuit on Monday, April 27, in Bexar County district court, accusing CPS Energy of negligence after they were injured in the explosions.

Two days after the April 27 filing, court records show Reeves and Ochoa nullified the suit and sought a different law firm to represent them.

The residents officially filed their new lawsuit on May 5, according to documents obtained by KSAT Investigates. Lyons & Simmons, LLP, a Dallas-based law firm, now represents Reeves and Ochoa.

Lyons & Simmons, LLP is the same firm that took on the lawsuit of an East Side family injured in a 2021 house explosion.

Last year, a Bexar County jury ordered CPS Energy to pay the family $109 million in damages. A CPS Energy spokesperson later said the utility only paid the East Side family $3 million.

On April 21, Ochoa and Reeves’ home was the second to explode in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive.

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

Their lawyers claim the explosion at their home was “entirely preventable.”

“Though Plaintiffs (Reeves and Ochoa) survived, the Explosion and resulting fire left them catastrophically injured and permanently scarred,” the suit alleges. “They face a long, painful road ahead and their lives have been irreparably altered.”

As a result of the explosion, the victims are requesting a jury trial and are seeking $1 million each in damages.

Lawyers are also accusing CPS Energy of being negligent by “failing to hire, equip, and train competent and skilled workers” to safely operate its natural gas system around the home.

“CPS Energy had actual, subjective awareness of the risk but proceeded with a conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others,” the new lawsuit states. “CPS Energy’s conduct, acts, and/or omissions, singularly or in combination with others, constituted gross negligence which proximately caused the Explosion and Plaintiffs’ injuries and damages.”

A CPS Energy spokeswoman told KSAT after Ochoa and Reeves’ April 27 lawsuit that the utility does not comment on active litigation.

Timothy Nowell, Kimberly Nowell and their daughter — who were all injured in the first house explosion — filed their own lawsuit alleging accusing CPS Energy of negligence on May 8.

The Nowell family, who is also represented by Lyons & Simmons, LLP, is seeking more than $1 million each in damages following the blast.

CPS Energy wishes to withhold information on explosions

Following multiple KSAT requests, CPS Energy is seeking to withhold select details regarding the homes that exploded on April 21.

In two separate letters to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, the San Antonio-based utility requested the office’s opinion as to whether it can redact internal incident reports, root cause investigations into the blasts, service calls and any gas complaints made at both homes located in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive.

KSAT has repeatedly requested information about the explosions and what led up to them, but the utility has mostly provided updates on support and relief efforts.

NTSB takes role of lead investigator

In a statement to KSAT on Thursday, April 23, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that it is investigating the natural gas-fueled explosions on Preston Hollow Drive.

The NTSB said its investigation will be centered around witness statements, available incident footage, the weather around the time of the explosions, pipeline operating practices and procedures, pipeline maintenance records, the extent and path of released gas or hazardous liquid and other information.

As promised, on May 21, the federal agency released a preliminary report 30 days after the April 21 explosions.

Among the new findings in the investigation were a CPS Energy employee on scene injured in the second explosion after responding to the first house explosion. Additionally, the utility isolated and plugged the gas leak at approximately 1:40 a.m. on April 22 — more than five hours after the second blast.

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

When the homes were built

Bexar County property records show one of the homes involved in the explosions was built in 1993.

The other home was built in 2000, according to records.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• 5 hospitalized, 3 in critical condition, after home explosions on North Side, SAFD says

The Argentina great scored another goal — his eighth of the tournament — and led his team to an improbable 3-2 victory over Egypt on Tuesday despite trailing by two with only 11 minutes of regulation time to play.

The defending champions will next face either Switzerland or Colombia in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Messi, who was in tears after the final whistle, scored his record-extending 21st goal at the World Cup in the 83rd minute to level the score at 2-2.

Enzo Fernandez scored the winning goal in stoppage time to complete one of the great World Cup comebacks. Cristian Romero started the rally in the 79th minute.

“This is a phenomenal group that never gives up," Fernandez said. "Four years have passed since Qatar, and we’ve come to enjoy another World Cup — and we want to win it again. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

Argentina had trailed 2-0 on goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico.

Messi also missed a chance in the first half when his penalty kick was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir. He later hit the post when the score was 1-0.

Argentina is bidding to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brazil did so in 1958 and 1962.

“I’m so emotional," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. "What a group of players, brother.”

For much of the game, it looked like it would be a painful exit for the 39-year-old Messi in what might be the last of his six World Cups.

Egypt took a surprising lead in the 15th minute when Ibrahim got ahead of Lisandro Martinez to meet Marwan Attia’s cross and head the ball into the bottom corner.

Argentina was quickly given the chance to level the match when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico in the box moments later. Referee François Letexier pointed to the penalty spot and Messi stepped up with an expectant crowd waiting for him to score.

Shobeir had other ideas, diving to his left to block the shot for Messi’s second penalty miss of the tournament after also failing from the spot against Austria in the group stage.

Despite being the all-time leading scorer at World Cups, Messi has now missed four of eight penalty kicks at the tournament.

After Messi hit the post later in the half, Shobeir pulled off another great save to stop Julian Alvarez from close range.

Egypt thought it had doubled its lead in the second half when Mostafa Zico finished off a sweeping attack. But the wild celebrations were cut short when a foul earlier in the move was confirmed on video review and the goal was disallowed.

That second goal for Egypt did come in the 67th from a similar break, and this time Zico’s effort counted. It just wasn't enough.

___

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

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The 1970s-era office building is being converted to luxury apartments, and is the former global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Initial reports of falling bricks at around 8 a.m. sent firefighters rushing to the busy corridor near Grand Central train station and the landmark Chrysler Building.

New York City officials were using drones to monitor the building to avoid having to send people inside. A nearby school that has 400 students was among the evacuated buildings, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

“The building remains unstable,” Mamdani said at a news conference at the scene. “This is an extremely serious situation.”

Fire Chief John Esposito said the way the steel-framed building is constructed, “it would not be a total collapse, it would be more of a localized collapse.”

Ahmed Tigani, the city’s building commissioner, said officials had not seen evidence that debris fell off the building. Nevertheless, nearby streets remained closed to people and vehicles. Mamdani said there were no reports of injuries.

The office-to-residential conversion would add more than a dozen stories and redesign an adjoining tower, according to Gensler, the architectural firm leading the project. With more than 1,600 units, it has been billed as the largest conversion in the city’s history, Gensler says.

A spokesperson for Gensler did not return a voicemail and email seeking comment.

Officials found two columns had buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors and floors were sagging between the 21st and 26th floors.

First responders and city officials were working closely with the project engineer to develop plans to shore up the impacted flooring, Mamdani said. If it's deemed to be secure, engineers will enter and begin making repairs.

“This is a minute-by-minute assessment," the mayor said.

The building commissioner said workers will need to add emergency beams and columns to stabilize the compromised ones.

“Our top priority right now,” the mayor said Tuesday morning, “is the safety of those who live in this area and the safety of those who work in this area.”

___

This story has been updated to correct that city officials revised the building’s height to 37 stories, not 38.

___

Izaguirre reported from Lindenhurst, New York.

Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers Ltd. engaged in unlawful activities. He said there was a shortage of evidence to support the claims and found a possibility that the reporting came from legitimate sources.

“In substance, the claimants’ case invites the Court to conclude that, because the information was private and because Associated cannot positively explain how it was sourced, the article must have been unlawfully sourced,” Nicklin wrote. “That is not a permissible approach.”

The ruling scuttles a bid by Harry and six others, including singer Elton John and actor-model Elizabeth Hurley, seeking substantial damages but could leave them with massive legal bills. ANL put the legal costs for both sides above 50 million pounds ($67 million) for years of case preparation and an 11-week trial.

The publisher called it an “overwhelming victory” and a “magnificent vindication” of the Mail's journalism.

The newspapers had denied the allegations as “preposterous,” insisting the roughly 50 articles at issue were based on lawful sources including friends, royal aides and publicists who offered information to reporters.

Harry said the court had denied him the justice and accountability he sought.

“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected," Harry said in a joint statement with another claimant, anti‑racism activist Doreen Lawrence. “However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted.”

Harry's campaign against the press yields mixed results

The 436-page decision leaves a mixed legacy for Harry's trio of lawsuits accusing tabloid publishers of using unlawful tactics, such as phone hacking or hiring private detectives to dig up dirt on his life.

Harry won a judgment in 2023 that condemned the publishers of the Daily Mirror for “widespread and habitual” phone hacking. Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s flagship U.K. tabloid, The Sun, made an unprecedented apology for intruding on his life for years and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

Mark Stephens, a media lawyer not involved in the case, said Harry's first significant loss was due to a lack of evidence such as admissions of culpability that he had in previous lawsuits.

“This was always a mosaic case where little inferences from different things were being put together by the lawyers for Prince Harry,” Stephens said. “Associated Newspapers' lawyers cleverly rearranged the tiles to show an innocent picture as opposed to the culpable picture that the claimants' lawyers were trying to demonstrate.”

The verdict, released remotely with no court hearing, coincided with Harry’s visit home to the United Kingdom, which has been dominated by headlines over his latest efforts to repair a rift with his father, King Charles III.

Harry has said his litigation — in which he broke with royal family tradition to seek relief in the courts — was a primary source of his falling out with his father and brother, Prince William.

His grudge with the tabloids runs deep and his legal actions are part of his larger quest to reform the news media that he says damaged his relationships and made him “ paranoid beyond belief.”

He blames the press for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris, and for attacks on his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, that led the couple to abandon royal life and move to the United States in 2020.

“They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery,” he testified as he choked back tears in the witness box during the trial in January.

Newspaper editor says Harry is a hypocrite

Associated Newspapers' Editor-in-Chief Paul Dacre called Harry “a confused and angry young man” and said he felt sorry he had been drawn into the case. He mocked Harry’s tell-all memoir, “Spare,” which included details of drug use, losing his virginity, and dishing dirt on his kin.

“There isn’t a laundry in the cosmos big enough to wash all the dirty linen he has aired about his own family,” Dacre said. “For him to complain about his privacy being invaded takes not just the biscuit but the whole tin. Poor Harry.”

Attorney David Sherborne said at trial that the Daily Mail and its sister publication, Mail on Sunday, used their journalists, freelance reporters and private eyes for “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering” to snoop on his clients.

Defense lawyer Antony White said Harry was inclined to see unlawful evidence gathering everywhere but the more likely source of stories about him came from “ordinary, legitimate journalism.”

Other claimants in the case were actor Sadie Frost, former politician Simon Hughes and John’s husband, David Furnish.

The Mail trial played out differently from the Mirror case, with journalists parading to court to defend their work. Some Mail reporters pointed to official mouthpieces, such as a palace spokesperson, and others named their sources to dispute Harry’s assertion that his “social circles were not leaky.”

“They were not all tight-lipped,” Katie Nicholl, a former Mail on Sunday editor, said about Harry’s associates. “I had very good sources in the inner circle.” ___

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

General. By submitting an entry to the GMSA July 2026 Road Trip Ready Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”), brought to you by KSAT (“Sponsor”), entrant acknowledges and agrees that entrant has read, understands, and agrees to be bound by these official Sweepstakes rules (“Official Rules”). By entering the Sweepstakes, entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Official Rules, or the Sweepstakes itself, and agree to be bound by all decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions are binding and final in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Failure to comply with these Official Rules or any Sponsor instructions relating to the Sweepstakes’ Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes.

Eligibility. The Sweepstakes is open only to legal U.S. residents who are a minimum of 18 years of age or older at time of entry and reside in Sponsor’s Designated Market Area in Texas, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (“DMA”). Employees of Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, prize suppliers, and any other vendors providing services in connection with this Sweepstakes and members of these employees’ immediate families (spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings and their spouses) and those living in the same household with these employees, are not eligible to enter or win.

How To Enter. The Sweepstakes begins at 6:00am on July 10, 2026, and runs through 12:00pm on July 30, 2026 (the “Sweepstakes Period”). Sponsor’s time clock will be the official time clock of the Sweepstakes. To enter, you must completely and accurately fill out the Sweepstakes entry form provided on the Sponsor’s Sweepstakes page at www.ksat.com/contests/2026/07/07/missed-the-june-giveaway-dont-worry-gmsa-road-trip-ready-is-back/ (“Entry Form”). Entrants must be the natural person assigned to any submitted email account by the provider responsible for the assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such email account. Entrant must also be an authorized account holder for any submitted telephone number. Limit one entry per person and per email address and per telephone number during the Sweepstakes Period. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void such entries and that entrant may be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. The use of automated or third-party software or web site to enter and/or play is prohibited. Entries that are inaccurate, incomplete, illegible, or corrupted are void and will be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. If Entry Form permits or requires submission of user-generated content (“UGC”), by entering into the Sweepstakes, entrant represents and warrants as follows: (1) that they created and fully own or have properly licensed all UGC materials or information, can submit such UGC without violating any applicable law, agreement with any third-party, and/or third-party right of any kind (including without limitation any intellectual property, data protection, privacy, or publicity right); and (2) that all UGC entrant hereunder will be true and correct in all respects. UGC may not contain personally identifiable information or other similar sensitive/confidential information of any third-party or content that is offensive, inappropriate, or inconsistent with the Sponsor/Co-Sponsor’s image or the spirit or purpose of the Sweepstakes. By submitting UGC, entrant represents and warrants that all UGC content complies with the User Conduct section of the Sponsor station websites Terms of Use available at https://www.grahammedia.com/terms. UGC may not have been previously published or otherwise made public elsewhere. Furthermore, without limitation on anything set forth herein to the contrary, Sponsor will have the irrevocable, transferable, and fully sublicensable right and license (but not the obligation) to exploit all such UGC in any manner it so elects to promote the Sweepstakes, its business, brand, products, and/or services, throughout the world in perpetuity, and in all media, now or hereafter known. All received entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned except as disclosed in these Official Rules. By checking the relevant box or selection in the registration form, entrants agree that the Sponsor and Co-Sponsor may contact the entrant via email with advertising information for selected goods or services. If you do not wish to receive these materials do not check the relevant box in the Entry Form. If at any time you do not wish to receive these materials in the future, please use the unsubscribe procedures contained in the email message.

Selection of Winners. One potential winner will be selected by KSAT via random drawing on July 30, 2026, from among all eligible entries received during the Sweepstakes Period.

Odds. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Winner Notification and Verification. Potential winner will be announced on GMSA on July 31, 2026, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. In addition, Sponsor will attempt to notify the potential winner(s) via the telephone number or email address provided on the Entry Form (“Notification”). Potential Sweepstakes winner(s) must completely and accurately execute and return any required affidavit of eligibility, release of liability, publicity release and/or prize acceptance form (“Forms”) within 24 hours of Notification. Potential winners may be required to display a copy of a valid government photo ID in addition to the submission of any Forms. A potential winner may be disqualified and, time permitting, an alternate winner may be selected by random drawing from among all remaining entries if: (1) a potential winner cannot be contacted/does not respond to Sponsors’ first Notification attempt as directed; (2) a winner does not fulfill the eligibility requirements; (3) a winner does not adhere to the Official Rules; (4) a winner does not sign and return the Forms or provide required ID by the deadline set forth above; and/or (5) if the Notification is returned as undeliverable, refused, or declined. A POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNER IS NOT A WINNER UNTIL HIS OR HER ELIGIBILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY THE SPONSOR. Sponsor reserves the right to contact all Sweepstakes entrants using the contact information provided in the Entry Form in connection with the Sweepstakes entry. The official record(s) of entries will remain the property of Sponsor. If a printing, programming, or other error leads to more prize claims than there are prizes provided for in the Official Rules, prize(s) will be awarded in a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received at each prize tier.

Prize(s) One $500 gift card. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of prize: $500. 00. Unless otherwise stated, subject to winner verification and compliance with these Official Rules, all prizes will be available for pick up at the office of KSAT (address provided below). Sponsor and Co-Sponsor not responsible for loss, delay, or damage in shipping. There will be no substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent for prizes, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor, which may substitute prizes of comparable value. Limit one prize per person and per household. Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes related to the award of the prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or auctioned. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. All properly claimed prizes will be awarded provided a sufficient number of eligible entries are received, but in no event will Sponsor award more prizes than are provided for in the Official Rules. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded. For tax purposes, the winner of a prize with an ARV of at least $600 will be required to accurately complete and submit IRS Form W-9 to the Sponsor and Sponsor will arrange to issue an IRS Form 1099 MISC to winner reflecting the value of the prize.

Disclaimer and Representations. Each winner assumes all liability for any injuries or damages caused or claimed to be caused by winner’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or the acceptance and/or use of any prize, and releases the Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, agents, and employees (collectively, “Releasees”), from any such liability. Releasees are not responsible for: the failure of any entry to be received by the Sponsor because of electronic device errors or failures of any kind, internet disruption, telecommunications, network, electronic, telephone or mobile service outages, delays, busy signals, or any equipment malfunctions or other technical difficulties that may prevent the Sponsor from receiving any entry submission; entries that are illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, garbled, delayed by computer transmissions, lost, late or damaged; any injury or damage to the entrant’s or any other person’s electronic device related to or resulting from participation or accessing or downloading any materials related to the Sweepstakes; or any human errors, any inaccurate transcription of entry information, errors in any promotional or marketing materials or errors in these Official Rules. If you choose to enter using your mobile phone, standard message and data rates may apply.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual from participation in the Sweepstakes if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such person: (a) has attempted to tamper with the entry process or other operation of the Sweepstakes; (b) has failed to comply with or has attempted to circumvent these Official Rules; (c) has committed fraud or attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes; or (d) has acted toward Sponsor, any other entity affiliated with the Sweepstakes, or any other entrant in an unfair, inequitable, threatening, disrupting, or harassing manner. If a dispute arises regarding compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may consider, in its sole discretion, data reasonably available to Sponsor through information technology systems in Sponsor’s control, but Sponsor will not be obligated to consider any data or other information collected from any other source. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of such Official Rules. If there is a conflict between any term of these Official Rules and any marketing or entry materials used in connection with the Sweepstakes, the terms of these Official Rules will govern.

Sponsor also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes if an insufficient number of entries are received or if the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including, without limitation, as a result of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failures of any sort, or for any reason beyond Sponsor’s control. If due to circumstances beyond the control of the Sponsor, any event related to the Sweepstakes or prize is delayed, rescheduled, postponed, cancelled or has a change of venue, the Sponsor reserves the right, but is not obligated, to cancel or modify the Sweepstakes. Notice of cancellation or modification of the Sweepstakes will be published on Sponsor’s website. If cancellation occurs prior to Sponsor’s receipt of any entries, Sponsor will not be obligated to award prize(s). If cancellation occurs after Sponsor’s receipt of entries, winner(s) will be selected by random drawing from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to cancellation, provided Sponsor is able to do so.

Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner’s name, home city and state, likeness and/or voice for commercial purposes including advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation. The winner’s name and city of residence may be posted online and disclosed to those who make a timely request for a winners list.

By accessing these Official Rules or entering the Sweepstakes on https://www.ksat.com/ you are deemed to agree to be bound by https://www.ksat.com/ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

In Case of Dispute. EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED, ENTRANTS AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THIS PROMOTION, OR PRIZE AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS, AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED BY ENTRANT WITH REGARD TO THIS PROMOTION, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL DAMAGES INCLUDE ATTORNEYS’ FEES, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Sponsor(s) in connection with the Sweepstakes will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of state where the Sponsor is located as set forth below (“State”), without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. The state and federal courts located in the State will be the exclusive forum for any dispute relating to these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes. All entrants and winner(s) agree, by their participation in the Sweepstakes, to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State and waive the right to sweepstakes jurisdiction.

Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.

Winner List. For the name(s) of the winner(s), send request and a self-addressed stamped envelope to Sponsor at 1408 N. St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78215 Attn: KSAT Insiders, or request it via email at: insiders@ksat.com . Be sure to specify the name of the sweepstakes for which you are requesting the list of winner(s). Request must be postmarked after Sweepstakes Period and received by Sponsor no later than 60 days after the close of the Sweepstakes Period.

Sponsor/Administrator: Graham Media Group, Michigan, Inc. d/b/a KSAT-TV 1408 N. St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78215

Christian Nathaniel Lopez, 19, faces one count of capital murder by terroristic threat and one count of tampering with physical evidence, Bexar County court records show.

He was officially booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center just after 3:15 a.m. Tuesday on a combined $850,000 bond, records indicate.

San Antonio police officers responded to the shooting at approximately 6:30 p.m. on June 23 in the 9100 block of Excellence Drive, which is an apartment complex located near Southwest Loop 410 and Old Pearsall Road.

Upon arrival, officers found a 14-year-old boy, identified as Michael Alvarez, Jr., dead from apparent gunshot wounds, the warrant said. The officers also located a 16-year-old suspect, identified in the warrant as Jeremiah Delgado, suffering from at least one gunshot wound.

According to the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, Alvarez died of two gunshot wounds: one to his head and another in his neck. The office also said Delgado died of a gunshot wound to his chest.

The ME’s office ruled both deaths as homicides.

Surveillance footage shows exchange of gunfire

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the apartment complex that showed a vehicle arriving. Lopez was seen exiting the front passenger seat and approached Alvarez near the front of the vehicle.

Moments later, Delgado — armed with a gun — then approached Alvarez from behind while wearing a mask and gloves, according to court documents.

The footage showed Delgado pointed the gun at Alvarez’s back. Delgado and Lopez acted “in concert” as they attempted to rob Alvarez, the affidavit states.

At some point, investigators said Alvarez allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Delgado. During an exchange of gunfire, court documents said Lopez was also shot.

The footage also showed Delgado shooting in Lopez’s direction immediately before Lopez reacted as though he had been shot.

As Delgado fell to the ground, the warrant states he fired more rounds, which struck and killed Alvarez.

After the exchange of gunfire, the surveillance video showed Lopez pick up Delgado’s gun before he entered the vehicle and fled the scene.

Witness interview with SAPD

Officers later obtained a description of the suspects’ vehicle and subsequently located it at a nearby auto parts shop. SAPD detained a male witness, who was seen driving the vehicle, and took him to the Homicide Unit for questioning, the warrant states.

During the interview, the witness told investigators that before the shootout, Lopez had contacted him and asked for a ride to purchase THC vape pens.

At the crime scene on Excellence Drive, authorities said they located multiple THC vape pens on Alvarez.

The witness told SAPD that he picked up Lopez and Delgado. According to the warrant, Delgado entered the witness’ vehicle wearing a mask and gloves while armed with a gun.

While driving to the apartment complex on Excellence Drive, the witness told police “he became suspicious” that Lopez and Delgado had the intention to rob someone and admitted he “should have refused” to give them a ride.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, the witness, who remained in the car, told investigators he instructed Delgado to exit the vehicle near the complex’s entrance. The surveillance footage corroborated the witness’ account, the affidavit states.

The witness said Lopez then instructed him to park the vehicle near the apartment’s leasing office while Alvarez walked toward the vehicle.

According to the witness, Lopez and Alvarez began talking toward the back of the vehicle. Delgado approached them from behind, which prompted a physical altercation and shootout, the witness told SAPD.

After the shooting, court documents state that Lopez entered the vehicle and told the witness to drive away. The witness said he attempted to call 911, but Lopez “ordered him to terminate the call,” the affidavit states.

Cellphone left at crime scene

During another interview with SAPD, the witness said Lopez threatened him with a gun and told him to return to the crime scene to retrieve his cellphone.

The witness attempted to return to the scene. However, according to the warrant, he decided to drive away from it after seeing a “large number of people” had gathered in the area.

A review of the 911 call also corroborated the witness’ story. During the call, police said Lopez was heard telling him to return to the scene to recover his phone.

Investigators later recovered a cellphone from the scene. Based on its location, the witness’ statements and the 911 call, detectives believe the cellphone belonged to Lopez.

After the witness gave police Lopez’s alleged number, detectives later called the number and the phone found at the crime scene began to ring, the affidavit states.

Relative provides key details

In an interview with SAPD, Lopez’s relative said Lopez arrived home after the alleged attempted robbery suffering from a gunshot wound. Lopez told the family member he was shot “while attempting to purchase marijuana,” his arrest warrant states.

The relative told police they made multiple attempts to contact emergency services, but Lopez ended those calls.

According to the relative, Lopez exited through the back door of the home and ran toward an alley. A white pickup truck “unknown” to the relative then arrived, picked up Lopez and fled from the area before medical personnel arrived, the affidavit states.

According to an SAPD spokesperson, Lopez is the only suspect arrested in connection with the case at this time.

More recent crime coverage on KSAT:

• Motorcyclist arrested after traffic stop leads to DPS pursuit, troopers say
• Man charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with Southeast Side crash, SAPD says

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

TONG’S THAI RESTAURANT

1146 Austin Hwy, San Antonio, TX 78209

Tong’s Thai Restaurant is a longtime San Antonio favorite serving authentic Thai cuisine alongside select Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. Known for its welcoming atmosphere and extensive menu, the restaurant has become a go-to destination for everything from traditional curries and noodle dishes to more adventurous specialties. Guests can also choose from more than 40 varieties of bubble tea, making it a popular spot for both lunch and dinner.

Menu favorites include the award-winning Haw-Mok seafood custard, Green Curry, Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, and the spicy Pad Khi Mao, also known as Drunken Noodles. House-made spring rolls, flavorful coconut-based curries, and generous portions have helped Tong’s build a loyal following, offering diners a well-rounded taste of authentic Thai cooking in the heart of San Antonio.

MR. TERIYAKI

12922 Potranco Rd, Ste 134, San Antonio, TX 78253

Mr. Teriyaki is a locally owned fast-casual restaurant serving fresh teriyaki plates, sushi, and generously sized bento boxes in West San Antonio. The restaurant is known for preparing meals fresh to order, combining quality ingredients with quick service and affordable prices that have made it a neighborhood favorite.

Signature dishes include grilled chicken, beef, and salmon teriyaki plates served with steamed rice and vegetables, along with oversized bento boxes filled with sushi, gyoza, egg rolls, and salad. Guests can also enjoy wok-tossed lo mein, fried rice, fresh fruit teas, milk teas, and boba smoothies, creating a menu that delivers bold flavors and satisfying portions with every visit.

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

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

Introducing the July 2026 GMSA Road Trip Ready Sweepstakes, and one lucky winner will receive a $500 gift card to help cover summer travel plans — whether that means gas money, a weekend hotel stay, attraction tickets, or a little “treat yourself” spending for the trip.

What you can win:

• One (1) $500 gift card

When you can enter:

Mark your calendar — entries are only open during this window:

• Starts: Friday, July 10th at 6:00 a.m.
• Ends: Thursday, July 30th at 12:00 p.m.

When we’ll announce the winner:

Don’t miss the big moment:

• Winner announced: Live on GMSA on Friday, July 31st

Ready, set…road trip

Whether you’re heading to the coast, hitting the Hill Country, or just looking for a reason to take a getaway, this is your chance to grab an extra $500.

You can read the Official Rules & Regulations here.

If the entry form does not populate below, please refresh your screen. For additional needs, please reach out to insiders@ksat.com.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% even though the majority of stocks within the index rose. The drops for stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry dragged the Nasdaq down 0.6%, as of 2:14 p.m. Eastern time, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 153 points, or 0.3%.

The weakness began in Asia, where Samsung Electronics tumbled 6.9% in Seoul. The tech giant gave a preliminary look at its performance for the second quarter, and the numbers were strong. Samsung Electronics said it expects to say its operating profit surged roughly 1,800% from a year earlier.

Analysts called the numbers surprisingly good, but they still weren’t enough for investors after its stock came into the day having well more than doubled in the year so far.

On Wall Street, AI stocks have been under similar pressure in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high and that AI may not produce enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chips and data centers worth it.

Micron Technology fell 5% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Intel sank 9.1% and also weighed heavily on the market. Nvidia, which is the largest stock on Wall Street by value because of the AI boom, rose 1.1% after slipping earlier in trading. That helped ease some pressure on the broader market.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, fell 5.2% in its first trading after getting included in the Nasdaq 100 index.

Outside of tech, Vertex Pharmaceuticals fell 1% after saying it agreed to buy Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $85 per share in cash. Crinetics, which develops therapeutics for endocrine diseases, soared 98.8%.

Rivian Automotive dropped 15.1% after the electric vehicle company said it's selling 75 million shares of its stock, which dilutes the ownership stakes of earlier shareholders.

Stocks also felt pressure from a rise in oil prices after the British military said three tankers were struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. That hurt hopes that the war in Iran may be winding down and that the Strait of Hormuz may fully reopen to oil tankers carrying crude to customers worldwide from the Persian Gulf.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.9% to $74.11.

Higher oil prices put upward pressure on inflation, and Treasury yields climbed in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.52% from 4.48%

High yields worldwide have been rattling investors after oil prices burst above $100 per barrel earlier in the summer because of the war. The worry is that high inflation may force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to hike interest rates. High rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 4.9% because Samsung Electronics alone makes up more than a quarter of the index.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.1%, and Germany's DAX lost 1.4% for two of the world's bigger moves.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death was not released.

Johnson and his late wife, Joan, started Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.

Johnson Products also was a national sponsor of the hit 1970s music and dance television show “Soul Train.”

“Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America,” his family said in a statement.

Johnson's memoir, “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street,” was published in 2024.

“I had an epiphany,” Johnson said in a statement released by the book's publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”

Johnson was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago as a child with his family. Their move occurred during what’s called the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Blacks moved to northern and midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression.

To help the family financially, Johnson shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley.

“Those early experiences shaped the values that guided him throughout his life: humility, determination, personal responsibility, and the golden rule: treating everyone the way he wished to be treated, with dignity and respect,” his family said.

Johnson later would found Independence Bank, and he became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.

___

Williams reported from Detroit.

In a Monday news release, the automaker said it will invest $3.6 billion in its South Side plant that will create a “second vehicle assembly line” for the production of Toyota Tacoma trucks and add 2,000 jobs by the start of 2030. The plant is already home to Tundra and Sequoia production.

The release states the expansion will also add 2.5 million square feet to Toyota Texas, doubling its size by 2030.

According to the company, Toyota Tacoma production will be phased out at its manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico, before shifting to the San Antonio plant over the next four years.

“Toyota’s continued investment in North America is a testament to our confidence in the region’s workforce, innovation and long-term growth potential,” TMNA President and CEO Ted Ogawa said in a news release. “By expanding our San Antonio plant, we are deepening our commitment to American manufacturing, creating meaningful and sustainable jobs, while advancing our mission to deliver high-quality vehicles that meet the changing needs of customers today and into the future.”

The carmaker’s expansion was applauded by state and local leaders ranging from Gov. Greg Abbott to San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.

“This Texas-sized investment reflects the strength of our workforce and the unmatched business advantages found only in our state,” Abbott said in a news release. “Supported by the Texas Enterprise Fund and JETI program, this expansion will deliver economic opportunities to generations of San Antonio families and further cement Texas as the premier destination for world-class advanced manufacturing.”

“San Antonio proudly hosts Toyota, and we’re excited to be selected for additional expansion,” Jones said in a news release. “This is a significant recognition of the talent our city offers, as well as the investments our community is willing to make to support Toyota’s growth. We look forward to expanding the Toyota family in San Antonio.”

Earlier this year, Toyota announced an additional 400 jobs were coming to the South Side plant in the form of truck axle production.

More related coverage of this story on KSAT:

• San Antonio City Council unanimously approves Toyota incentive package
• Truck axle production coming to South Side Toyota plant, will bring 400+ jobs

Bexar County’s rabies cases have risen over the past three years.

There were 12 cases in 2024, 22 in 2025, and 29 confirmed cases so far this year, a Texas Parks and Wildlife official told the Hollywood Park City Council in June.

Concern is heightened after an incident in late May in Hollywood Park, where police reported a child was bitten by a rabid fox while playing outside his home.

The Hollywood Park Police Department said officers arrived and the fox charged at them. Animal Control Officers put the fox down and sent it for rabies testing. The boy had injuries and was taken to a clinic, but he was in “good health”.

Bexar County Public Health Director Andrea Guerrero is urging residents to stay alert around wildlife, keep pets vaccinated and report stray animals.

“Vaccination is the strongest tool against rabies infections,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero added that public health officials monitor the entire county with animal control officers and partnerships with other agencies, relying on community reports to identify potentially infected animals.

How to spot a possibly rabid animal

Health officials say signs can include:

• Unusual or aggressive behavior
• Nocturnal animals out during the day
• Neurological symptoms such as drooling, stumbling or disorientation

Animals most likely to carry rabies include bats, skunks, coyotes, and foxes.

At a North Side park, visitors told KSAT they appreciate the reminder to stay vigilant.

One park visitor, Michelle Hansen, said she’d heard about rabies-positive foxes turning up in San Antonio.

Dog owner Trevor McCulley emphasized prevention: vaccinate pets, keep dogs under control and don’t bring animals into public spaces if you can’t manage them.

If an animal happens to bite you, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

To report suspicious wildlife or animals:

• City of San Antonio: Call 311
• Bexar County (outside city limits): Call 210-335-9000

The rabies “hot zone” on the state map also includes areas near New Braunfels in Comal County and Guadalupe County, underscoring the need for awareness across the region.

Read also:

• Rabid fox bites 2 people in Atascosa County, animal control officials say

Trump called the semiautonomous island “an important part" for the United States, as he repeated the false claim that it’s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships and said he won't let Greenland be threatened.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The NATO alliance was founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others' territory and not threaten to seize it. At the summit, European countries and the alliance's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, were already working overtime to address another longstanding Trump complaint: that European allies do not spend enough on their own defense.

Separately, Trump announced that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program — in a nod to his warm ties with summit host Erdogan.

Trump cites Erdogan ‘chemistry’ as he lifts an obstacle on F-35s

Turkey's purchase in 2019 of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems sparked years of tensions, despite the warm personal relationship between Trump and Erdogan dating back to the U.S. president's first term.

Legal hurdles remain before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. F-35 program, but the removal of sanctions issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act would help ease that process. Regaining access to the F-35s is a top goal of Erdogan.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said in response to a question, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were working on the issue.

Trump said the possibility of selling F-35s to Turkey is “something certainly we’d consider” given the countries' relationship, and that “Turkey’s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.”

Erdogan expressed hope that the U.S. will sell the F-35s, saying the U.S. president always stands by his word.

Trump and Erdogan showed off their fondness for each other. Erdogan greeted Trump with an elaborate ceremony involving military officials on horseback and jets overhead emitting red, white and blue smoke.

Asked what makes their relationship so strong, Trump said there’s “a chemistry that works between us," adding that “Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him.”

Turkey's access to U.S. F-35s could complicate relationships elsewhere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has urged Trump not to sell the fighter jets to Turkey, saying it would put Israel in danger.

“This is not a force for peace and stability,” Netanyahu said on CNN. “When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression its wake.”

There is also opposition among U.S. lawmakers to Turkey having the F-35s as long as the Russian missile defense system remains in its possession. Even if sanctions are lifted, the Trump administration still faces restrictions under U.S. law that prevents Turkey from being able to purchase the fighter jets if it owns the S-400s.

NATO has ‘moment of great pride’ on defense

Earlier in the day, NATO showcased military projects worth billions of dollars — an investment Rutte called “money well spent" and one clearly meant to try to satisfy Trump.

Rutte was speaking to government ministers and defense industry officials at a forum billed as NATO’s “big reveal,” to the thrum of techno music.

NATO does not own weapons — these are the property of member countries — but it has 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with newer surveillance drones.

A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will supply up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced.

“It’s a moment of great pride,” he said.

Some projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.

Representatives from 15 nations announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus. Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones.

Rutte had told reporters on the eve of the two-day summit that “we will announce tens of billions in new contracts.” However, at Tuesday's event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy pushes for NATO entry

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for his country to be allowed to join the alliance, saying his country's armed forces are highly experienced and would boost NATO's defense capabilities.

He highlighted Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russia and hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month. He is set to meet with Trump on Wednesday in Ankara.

“Frankly we take no pride in this,” Zelenskyy said, noting that the war with Russia — now in its fifth year — is one "we did not seek but one we are forced to fight.”

Concern is mounting among some European countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

Yet a senior NATO official, speaking on the summit's sidelines, said that despite some “reckless” actions by Russia, including airspace violations over Poland, Romania and Estonia, the alliance has been successful in deterring Moscow from any potential attack on a member country. The official insisted on anonymity to brief reporters.

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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Andy Wilks in Istanbul and Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

Many of the investment firms that underwrote SpaceX's initial public offering issued their first research notes about the company Tuesday, and almost all recommended that investors buy the stock and forecast it to trade above $200 in the next 12 to 18 months.

But after topping $200 in its first week of trading, the stock is trading around $152 per share, just above where it opened on June 12, its IPO day. Investors may be looking cautiously at the same factors that have Wall Street so enthusiastic about the stock.

Analysts are focused on SpaceX’s potential to lead the market for space transportation and infrastructure. The company's reusable rockets allow it to transport people and cargo into Earth's orbit and it is aiming for deeper exploration of the solar system. Most of the company's revenue currently comes from its Starlink satellites, and AI innovations are expected to advance that technology.

“SpaceX’s ambitions, and potential impact on humanity, are bigger than any company’s we’ve ever seen,” said a analysts from J.P. Morgan, in a research report.

The bank expects the stock price to reach $225 by the end of 2027. It cited the company's competitive advantage in space transportation, with about 670 orbital launches and a nearly 99% success rate with its Falcon rockets. Most payloads launched into orbit since 2023 were through SpaceX.

The company has dominated the reusable space rocket market with its Falcon 9, but its gigantic Starship rocket is the key to launching bigger pieces of cargo, including data centers.

Investment bank Raymond James is by far the most optimistic. Its analysts expect the stock to eventually reach $800 per share and consider SpaceX a key industrial company for the 21st century.

“Just as railroads, electric grids, and the Internet reshaped prior economic eras, we believe SpaceX is building the foundational platform for the next generation of industrial capacity,” the analysts wrote in a research report.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk decided to take the company public because it needs money to fund its ambitions, including putting more satellites and eventually data centers into space. It's more ambitious goals include establishing a colony on Mars.

For now, Starship is still in the test phase and no technology exists to put data centers in space or send people to Mars. Wall Street analysts acknowledge that a delay or failure to establish a steady schedule of launches for Starship is a risk that could torpedo their forecasts.

SpaceX ended its first day on Wall Street in June with a market value of more than $2 trillion and is still sitting around that level. That made Musk the world's first trillionaire, though his net worth has since fallen back below $1 trillion, according to Forbes.

A few banks on Wall Street are more cautious about the company's prospects. Equity research firm MoffettNathanson said it sees the potential, but has given the company a more “neutral” rating and sees the stock eventually sitting at $131 per share. The concerns are over many of the unknowns related to regulatory issues, technology and demand.

“It is, in short, a bet on any and all things made possible by a virtual lock on rocket manufacturing and launch," MoffettNathanson said in a report.

The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted a suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and advised Olympic sports bodies to end a three-year program vetting Russian athletes for neutral status.

The IOC said the timing was because qualifying events are starting for the L.A. games, and “the need to offer equal access to these competitions to all athletes.”

The move, which also signals a return for Russia in team sports, was expected since the IOC advised two months ago that athletes from Belarus, which was Russia’s ally in the full military invasion of Ukraine in 2022, should be allowed again to compete with their full national identity.

“We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said at an online news conference after she chaired an executive board meeting.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist swimming for Zimbabwe, Coventry said it was a fair decision and noted: “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I had to pay the price when my country was going through things and being sanctioned.”

Barriers remain

The IOC's guidance to reintegrate Russians in international events is not binding for the governing bodies of individual sports.

“Our country’s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to restore the rights of our athletes,” Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov said Tuesday.

Track and field is not following suit.

Asked about the IOC’s decision, World Athletics referred The Associated Press to its decision last week maintaining a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in its international events.

In soccer, FIFA and European body UEFA have continued to exclude Russia in competitions like the World Cup and Champions League, avoiding likely chaos because teams from other countries would refused to play those games.

The IOC also reiterated its “solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine” and ongoing financial support.

Russia's return

Among top-tier Olympic sports, swimming's governing body World Aquatics lifted its restrictions on Russian athletes in April.

The ROC was suspended in 2023 when the Russian Olympic body incorporated regional sports councils from occupied regions of eastern Ukraine. But the IOC said "the ROC confirmed that it does not, and will not, conduct any activities in these territories.”

Just 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics as approved neutrals, and combined to win five medals, with just one gold.

The Russian team in Los Angeles could now be closer to the more than 300 athletes sent to the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, that returned with 71 medals including 20 titles.

Athletes still monitored

To be approved for neutral status, Russian athletes had to show no links to state military and security agencies. They also should not have publicly supported the war in Ukraine .

The IOC will continue to monitor social media posts by Russian athletes, Coventry confirmed, citing the “role models” requirement in the Olympic Charter.

“That is strong enough leverage that we would need at any time in order to decide who would be willing and deserving to come to any Olympic Games,” she said.

IOC official James Macleod said the Olympic body gets referrals from Ukraine about problematic social media posts by Russian athletes: “Those are always taken into consideration.”

Flag, anthem to return in October?

The IOC did not yet approve letting Russian athletes and teams compete with their flag and anthem. That decision will come “at an appropriate time,” it said.

The next Olympic competition is the 2026 Youth Summer Games in Dakar, Senegal opening Oct. 31.

The IOC said to “address the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition,” those athletes must give multiple doping controls and be part of a recognized testing program.

The IOC said it will continue to “not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.”

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AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in Düsseldorf, Germany, contributed to this report

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

The accounts were launched on July 4 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last year. Families can open an account for their children as long as they are younger than 18.

John Kiernan, managing editor of WalletHub, said the account is similar to a traditional IRA or individual retirement account and is designed for families to invest into the market on behalf of their children. According to Kiernan, the account can help kids become financially “well off” before they become adults.

The 530A Account tracks major indexes, including the S&P 500.

Kiernan said families who invest the 530A Account maximum of $5,000 annually could help their children accumulate more than $100,000 by the time they turn 18.

“Anyone who contributes to this consistently over time will be able to take part of the rising tide of the stock market, which is good,” Kiernan said. “A lot of people are left out.”

Families can receive $1,000 from the federal government to invest in the 530A Account if their children were born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, are a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number and listed on a parent or guardian’s tax return.

The government projected a potential investment totaling in “$13 million by the time you’re 55,” but Kiernan suggested most maximum contributors will help their children be “well off after a long period of contributing.”

The money is supposed to stay in the account until the child turns 18. Funds can then be used for higher education, buying a first home and other qualified expenses under traditional IRA rules.

“It’s definitely something that anyone who has a child who’s under 18 should look into and contribute money to,” Kiernan said. “Anyone with a child could benefit.”

Kiernan encouraged parents to look into opening an account, even if they aren’t able to invest in directly.

According to Kiernan, “parents, grandparents, other relatives, friends, the child, employers, qualified nonprofit organizations” have the opportunity to help contribute to a 530A Account investment.

How to sign up

There are three ways:

• Online: TrumpAccounts.gov
• Mobile: Download the Trump Accounts app
• Tax return: File IRS Form 4547 alongside your 2025 tax return

Additionally, the child’s Social Security number, date of birth and address are needed to complete the application.

Read also:

• Trump Accounts launch Saturday: What parents need to know before signing up
• New bill could raise federal minimum wage to $25 an hour nationwide

The unexpected resignation is an effort by the anti-immigration politician to preempt a standards investigation that could have seen him ejected as a lawmaker, and to present himself as the victim of a witch hunt by the media and his political foes.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said in a statement broadcast by his party. Media outlets were not allowed to attend the broadcast and he did not take questions.

Farage faces a parliamentary standards investigation about undeclared and potentially rule-breaking donations, including a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift he received from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. A finding of wrongdoing could lead to Farage being suspended or expelled from Parliament. But he has made the first move by triggering an election for his seaside seat of Clacton in eastern England.

“The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said. “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election.”

And, he said: “I will fight to win.”

Farage won Clacton comfortably in the 2024 election, taking 46.2% of the vote, and stands a good chance of winning reelection. Reform UK said it was willing to pay for the special election, which may deflect claims it is wasting taxpayers’ money.

Farage’s opponents were unimpressed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the announcement “a desperate stunt” from a man “up to his neck in sleaze.” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed Farage was having a “hissy fit” and triggering an “ego by-election.”

Farage may run almost unopposed. The opposition Liberal Democrats called on other parties not to enter the contest in order to starve Farage’s “vanity project” of oxygen. The Labour party said they would not stand a candidate, as did the Conservatives who also confirmed they would not run.

The gambit may only postpone Farage’s problems. Even if he wins, the standards inquiry is likely to resume.

Farage tipped by some as a future prime minister

Scrutiny of Farage’s finances has spurred speculation about the future of a politician some considered the favorite to be prime minister after the next national election.

One of the most high-profile and controversial figures in British politics, Farage has had an outsized impact as a champion of leaving the European Union and foe of large-scale immigration. He was key in securing victory for the “leave” side in the 2016 EU membership referendum.

His rise has echoes of Trump’s nationalist, anti-immigration playbook. Farage has capitalized on — critics say stoked — concerns about migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, which he has called an invasion, and alleges that white people face discrimination from police.

He also rails against “the establishment” and the media, which he claimed are using “foul means” to stop him.

A skilled communicator whose supporters see a beer-drinking plain-speaker, and whose critics see a populist rabble-rouser, Farage has had a checkered political career and was only elected to Parliament in 2024 after seven failed attempts. Farage also has a history of walking away from parties he led, stepping down from both the UK Independence Party and its successor, the Brexit Party, in the last decade.

Reform UK has only eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons but consistently leads opinion polls over the governing Labour Party and the main opposition Conservatives.

Farage’s party was the big winner in local and regional elections in May that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the hands of his own Labour Party.

But Reform UK has lost three consecutive special elections that it hoped to win, a possible sign its support may be sagging. The most recent loss was to Labour’s Andy Burnham, who is likely to succeed Starmer as prime minister within weeks.

Donors include a crypto billionaire and a fraudster

Parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is investigating the 5 million pound donation to Farage from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman based in Thailand. Farage says the money was a personal gift that he used to fund security and came before he was elected to the House of Commons.

U.K. rules state that newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds ($400) they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

Farage is also facing questions about claims, reported by the Sunday Times, over his financial relationship with George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur, convicted fraudster and on-off aide to the Reform UK leader.

Cottrell was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in 2016, while traveling with Farage, over allegations he offered to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers. Indicted on 21 counts relating to money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion, he agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of wire fraud, admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer. He served eight months in prison.

Cottrell, 32, remains close to Farage, and The Sunday Times said he gave the politician funding for staffing and security before Britain’s 2024 general election, as well as the use of a London townhouse near Buckingham Palace.

Though playing home games outside of their actual home arena has become a regular occurrence for the Spurs over the past four seasons, the new agreement allows for the most home-away-from-home games in several years and without the same restrictions as the most recent agreement.

Bexar County commissioners voted 4-0 to allow the home-away-from-home games for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 regular seasons. Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert abstained.

Calvert, who represents the area around the Frost Bank Center, raised concerns about what the community would get out of allowing the games outside the county-owned arena.

“When we’re talking about such sizable public investments, return and partnership have to be true partnership,” Calvert said.

Other commissioners, though, were eager to support the item, like Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebecca Clay-Flores, who said the team brought the county together in its latest NBA Finals run.

“This is about more visibility. This is about marketing. This is about more branding,” she said.

The Spurs have a non-relocation agreement with Bexar County that prohibits them from playing more than two of their 41 regular-season home games away from the county-owned Frost Bank Center in any one season.

Since 2022, though, Bexar County commissioners have approved amendments to allow the team to play up to three or four games away from the Frost Bank Center, including in Austin, Mexico City and the Alamodome.

Though the 2022 request initially spooked fans, who were wary of a potential relocation to Austin, the team has painted it as a way to expand its fanbase.

The county allowed for up to four home games outside the Frost Bank Center in the 2022-2023 season, one of which was at the Alamodome.

The next year, commissioners allowed for up to three home games outside the arena for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons.

The three-game limit was also included in the amendment that commissioners approved in July 2025 for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 seasons. However, that amendment also specified that two of the games had to be within 100 miles of the Frost Bank Center and the third could be played outside of the U.S.

The amendment commissioners approved Tuesday did not specify where the four “home” games must be played, though it does not permit them during the playoffs.

San Antonio is scheduled to play two games against the Pelicans in Paris and Manchester next January. Only one is likely to count as a home game for the Spurs.

The four home-away-from-home games could become the new norm for the team, which plans to move into a new, city-owned $1.3 billion arena at Hemisfair by the time their lease with the county expires in 2032.

The San Antonio City Council approved a non-binding term sheet for the new arena, which would allow for “four home games outside the Arena but in the Spurs’ home territory (which may include the Alamodome).”

Read also:

• Spurs seeking permission to host another home game away from Frost Bank Center

Two weeks before this year’s primary elections, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the creation of a tip line for the public to report people or groups suspected of voter fraud.

“Free and fair elections are a cornerstone of a thriving republic, and with the authority granted to my office by the Legislature, we will stop at nothing to uncover and stop any illegal voting activity,” Paxton said in a February news release announcing the tip line.

The announcement linked to guidance from his office about election laws in Texas, which included a requirement to be a U.S. citizen, a prohibition on collecting mail ballots on behalf of others and a warning that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records or to establish a residence for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election.”

“You must register to vote using the address where you reside,” the attorney general’s guidance stated.

Despite his own warnings, Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years, including in May’s runoff that made him the Republican nominee for U.S. senator, according to records obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.

State Sen. Angela Paxton said in a 2025 divorce filing that Paxton, whom she accused of adultery, moved out of their Collin County home a year earlier. But Paxton continues to list the home’s address in the northern Dallas suburb on his voter registration. Angela Paxton declined to be interviewed. A source close to the Paxtons said the attorney general has not moved back into the home since leaving.

It is unclear where Paxton has lived for the past two years, but reporting by ProPublica and the Tribune has linked him to a home in neighboring Denton County since February.

Three election lawyers told the news organizations that Paxton may have violated the same Texas laws his office cautioned about in its news release.

ProPublica and the Tribune reached out to Paxton’s campaign on June 3, 15 and 25, asking why he remained registered to vote in Collin County when he appeared to no longer live there and about his connection to the Denton County property. A reporter also left a voicemail on his personal cellphone on June 25. The news organizations sent his government office and campaign staff an email on Monday with a detailed list of questions, including a request for Paxton’s response to election lawyers’ belief that he may be violating the law. 

Paxton and his office did not reply until Monday’s email. Campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy did not answer the questions from the news organizations. Instead, she issued a statement saying that the attorney general has been “a national leader on election integrity, with a long record of defending Texas elections.” Cercy said that “attempting to insinuate otherwise and tear him down with a baseless, lie-filled tabloid story is not real reporting.”

Asked twice to provide specifics about what they believed was inaccurate, the campaign did not respond. 

Voting in an election when the voter is ineligible is a second-degree felony under Texas law and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. But prosecutors rarely bring cases challenging individual voters’ residency claims because they are hard to prove, the election lawyers said.

State courts have repeatedly ruled that there is no single way to determine where someone lives, and judges must consider multiple factors, such as where a voter sleeps or stores personal belongings. Prosecuting such cases also requires proof that a voter “knowingly” or “intentionally” broke the law.

Even if it’s clear that someone doesn’t live at the address where they are registered to vote, state law allows them to remain registered if their absence is temporary and they intend to return. The provision is commonly used by college students and military service members.

“So long as you truly intend to return, I think you’re fine,” said Beth Stevens, an election lawyer who worked for the Harris County clerk and the Texas Civil Rights Project. “When you start doing things that suggest, ‘Oh, I’ve fully moved. I’m just wink-wink saying I intend to return,’ that’s when you get into questionable territory.”

Paxton’s public and contentious split from his wife could make it difficult to argue that he intended to return to the home they own and where she continues to reside, said David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer for the Justice Department.

“I think there would be questions raised about a residence where someone does not live, does not spend the night and can in no way have the intent to continue to reside. Those would probably raise red flags in any state,” Becker said.

Becker, who is now the director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works to build public trust in elections, added that the situation is particularly problematic because Paxton’s job is to enforce election laws.

“Certainly, the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Texas, someone who has made claims about election integrity and made it a priority of his office, should be charged with knowing the laws of residencies of the state of Texas with regard to voting,” Becker said.

Paxton has advocated for strict enforcement of the state’s election fraud law, including in cases against voters his office alleged had falsified records about where they lived. In 2018, the attorney general’s voter fraud unit arrested nine people on suspicion of using residential addresses where they did not live to vote in a municipal election in Edinburg, in the state’s Rio Grande Valley. County prosecutors, acting on behalf of Paxton, later dismissed the charges after failing to secure a conviction against the mayoral candidate they alleged had encouraged those voters to register at false addresses. The candidate, Richard Molina, said he was innocent and said the prosecution was politically motivated.

Clark Birdsall was not the attorney on those cases but defended another resident whom Paxton prosecuted for illegal voting. Birdsall was stunned that the attorney general appears to have voted under an address where he does not live.

He called it “especially egregious that someone such as Ken Paxton appears he’s not conforming to the law.”

State privacy laws allow some politicians and law enforcement officials to shield their voter registration information from public view. Paxton does not do so. His opponent in the Senate race, Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, does. Talarico’s campaign said he lives and is registered at the north Austin home he purchased in 2022. ProPublica and the Tribune were not able to independently confirm this.

Paxton’s campaign did not raise any issues with Talarico’s voter registration. In her statement to ProPublica and the Tribune, however, Cercy said, “Talarico has actively campaigned against voter security measures” and has said he opposes voter identification requirements. She pointed to a 2021 Fox News interview in which the state representative said he opposed voter identification rules that would require Texans to provide their driver’s license number or partial Social Security number for mail ballots. Talarico said hundreds of thousands of Texans, who don’t drive, lack a driver’s license. He did not directly answer a question about Social Security numbers during the interview.

The Talarico campaign did not respond to a request for comment. 

Paxton’s living arrangements since he separated from his wife are not public, but information obtained by ProPublica and the Tribune offers some indication of where he may have been residing since February.

In mid-February, a trust bought a 5,000-square-foot home listed for $2.4 million in a gated community in Denton County, according to the appraisal district and the seller’s real estate agent. The trust did not disclose its ownership to Denton County officials. Trusts are not required to by law, a spokesperson for Travis County’s appraisal district said.

Paxton shares a separate blind trust with his wife, Angela, that they have used to purchase property and other assets. For years, the address listed for that blind trust had been an office building in Collin County. But that address was changed to the Denton County home a week after the property was purchased.

Angela Paxton said through a spokesperson that she has no connection to the Denton County home or the trust that purchased it. The trustee of the Paxtons’ trust, family friend Chip Loper, did not respond to questions about the address change.

In June, a reporter knocked on the door of the Denton County home. No one answered. When the reporter placed a letter for Paxton in the mailbox, an envelope addressed to Warren Paxton, the attorney general’s given name, was visible.

Later that week, Paxton appeared on a podcast with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Video from the podcast showed Paxton seated in front of a fireplace and mantle that were nearly identical to those depicted in the home’s online real estate listing. One resident also told the newsrooms that they spotted Paxton in the gated community.

Separately, the Daily Mail reported in May that Paxton had moved into the Denton County home with Tracy Duhon, whose extramarital affair with Paxton, the news outlet said, prompted his wife’s divorce filing. The Daily Mail also published a video of Paxton and Duhon that it reported was taken at an airport in Iceland in late June. The video was quickly seized upon by Talarico, who depicted Paxton as out of touch with Texans. Duhon did not respond to questions about her connection to the Denton County property or about the Daily Mail reporting.

Paxton is not registered to vote in Denton County, voter rolls show. Instead, since February, he has voted in Collin County twice: once in the March Republican primary and once in the May runoff. Each Texas county elects its own slate of local officials, which is why state law requires voters to register where they live.

Ekow Yankah, a law professor at the University of Michigan whose expertise includes election law, said Paxton’s voter registration situation should remind the attorney general of what studies have consistently shown: that intentional illegal voting is rare.

“You would think that somebody who’s going through this would learn a little bit of humility that lots of things which look on their face, like technical violations of the law, are usually explained by totally ordinary things,” Yankah said. “It’s only if you’re utterly cynical and ignore all the evidence that you make a claim that, in fact, these cases are attributable to nefarious criminal intent.”

Paxton cannot claim ignorance of the law because he enforces it, said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. In fact, as attorney general, Paxton should avoid even the appearance that he is not following the law, Blank said.

“We expect these laws to be understandable by ordinary citizens,” Blank said. “When our elected officials who are tasked with passing and enforcing these laws exhibit troubles in engaging with the voting process themselves, that raises serious questions.”

Misty Harris contributed research. Cassandra Jaramillo contributed reporting.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin 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 Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Down a set after untimely double-faults, Gauff rallied past Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.

The two-time major champion raised her arms in the air after Pegula sent a weak backhand into the net on the first match point in an all-American quarterfinal on Centre Court.

“I’ve been going three sets almost every match. I feel like when you have that faith in yourself as a competitor, when the match goes a distance, you know when you lose one set, you’re not panicking,” Gauff said in an on-court interview.

With the victory, the 22-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova, who completed the feat at the 2007 French Open, the women's professional tennis tour said.

Gauff will face 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday’s final. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, eliminated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 6-4 on No. 1 Court.

In Gauff's six previous appearances at the All England Club, she had never gotten past the fourth round. But perhaps experience at the grass-court major is starting to pay off.

“I think after seven years playing this tournament it’s finally the first time I can walk on Centre Court and I didn’t feel nervous,” she said. “So I don’t know if I’m becoming a vet.”

The “vet” was undone by early double-faults, though, putting herself in a hole to start the match. She led 40-0 right away but lost the next five points — including two on double-faults — to go down 1-0. After breaking Pegula in the sixth game, Gauff was immediately broken to love with two more double-faults.

Gauff called the last two sets “really great tennis.”

“Jess' ball is so flat and low. So I think I just needed to address that ... be in there in the rallies and just play the tennis that I wanted to play. And I think I started to land more first serves in the court,” said Gauff, who cranked up one serve to 126 mph in the third game of the second set. “So I think that also helped and just trusting my shots.”

Sinner beats Struff

On No. 1 Court, defending champion Jannik Sinner kept his title defense on track by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.

The top-ranked Sinner continues to put his French Open meltdown behind him. He needed five sets to get past 50th-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, but since then they've been straight-set victories, allowing the 24-year-old Italian to avoid marathon sessions.

Sinner will next face either seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Novak Djokovic or third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime. The men's final is on Sunday.

In the completion of a fourth-round match, second-seeded Alexander Zverez beat Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) to set up a quarterfinal Wednesday against sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz.

Heating up at Wimbledon

Under a sunny sky, the early afternoon matches started with the temperature at 29 Celsius degrees (84 Fahrenheit) and expected to rise to 31 C (88 F).

Sinner, who lost in the second round at the French Open amid a heat wave in Paris, used an ice towel around his neck on changeovers.

Early in her match, Gauff asked the chair umpire: “Do you guys have an ice pack?” The American dabbed what appeared to be a blue ice pack to her cheeks and top of her thighs.

___

AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.

___

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

Officers responded to the crash just after 1:45 a.m. Tuesday on Interstate 10 near the off-ramp to Interstate 35 northbound.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, the man was traveling towards downtown when he lost control of the vehicle.

The vehicle crossed all of the interstate’s main lanes, struck a retaining wall and rolled over before coming to a stop, the report said.

SAPD said the man was then ejected from the vehicle.

The department said its investigation is ongoing. Further information was not readily available.

Read also:

• Man charged with manslaughter after gun accidentally goes off, kills teenager, SAPD says

The lawsuit depicts a coordinated campaign between the U.S. and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and pressure them to return to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments and an ongoing war. The Department of Homeland Security denied that it is sharing asylum application records with the Iranian government.

Roughly 600 Iranians were put in immigration detention last year, according to public records obtained by the National Iranian American Council. In June, an Iranian woman was among the two dozen migrants the U.S. deported to the Central African Republic — in a marked departure from a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced a large number of Iranians to flee.

The U.S. government is allowed to work with government officials of foreign countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, federal regulations passed in the late 1990s prohibit the government from sharing information that could reveal that the individual getting deported applied for asylum.

“Congress made these confidentiality protections mandatory precisely because lives depend on them, and no agency and no administration, of either party, may set them aside,” said Ali Rahnama, the interim executive director of Iranian American Legal Defense Fund.

Starting in March 2025, the U.S. State Department arranged monthly meetings with Iranian officials, using the Pakistani embassy as an intermediary, in which U.S. officials shared detailed, sensitive information about detained Iranian immigrants who the U.S. government hoped to deport, lawyers for the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and the Public Citizen Litigation Group wrote in a complaint.

The information included details about asylum applications filed by people who say they were persecuted for converting to Christianity, for their sexuality or for participating in the Women, Life, Freedom protests against the Iranian government in 2022, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

ICE forced Iranian asylum applicants who had been detained in numerous facilities, mostly southern states, to meet with an Iranian government official who had extensive and specific knowledge about their applications, according to the complaint. The information was shared even after the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran started the Iran war in February 2026.

Homeland Security said in a statement Tuesday that ICE works to get travel documents for detainees in their custody and that ICE facilitates “consular access to detained individuals, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policy.”

“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” DHS said in a statement.

The lawsuit is seeking to halt sharing information about asylum seekers with the Iranian government and appoint an independent monitor to prevent future disclosures.

“Despite the U.S.’s ongoing war with Iran, the administration seems more committed to mass deportation than protecting human lives,” Michael Kirkpatrick, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group said in a statement.

The complaint names the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the Department of State as some of the defendants.

The allegations come amid President Donald Trump’s ambitious and aggressive immigration crackdown that involved over 600,000 deportations and causing roughly 1.9 million immigrants to voluntarily leave in 2025 alone, according to an announcement made by DHS.

Iranian officials acknowledged in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump's administration. That month, the first of three deportation flights brought dozens of Iranians back to Iran. The second deportation flight was in December 2025, and the final recorded deportation flight departed at the end of January 2026, roughly a month before the war on Iran started, and just weeks after the Iranian government killed thousands of citizens as part of a brutal crackdown on protests. The New York Times reported at the time that some of those deported in the flights in September, December and January were asylum seekers.

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Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.

It was the second attack in Damascus in a week and a setback for President Ahmad al-Sharaa as he welcomed the first major Western leader to visit since the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad by insurgent groups in late 2024. Syria’s new rulers have wrestled with outbreaks of violence as they assert control, but the capital had been largely peaceful.

French President Emmanuel Macron was in the presidential palace when the explosions happened. An official from the Elysee Palace said he was safe and the meeting with al-Sharaa continued, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Macron’s security.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

“Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria,” Macron said on X hours later. “This morning I met Syria in all its diversity. I saw dignity, courage and determination.”

Later, al-Sharaa and Macron announced they have agreed to reappoint ambassadors after more than a decade, marking a major restoration of diplomatic ties.

“Our meeting marks a historical milestone,” al-Sharaa said. France had closed its embassy in 2012 but symbolically reopened it in early 2025.

Macron, who played a major role in pushing Europe and the United States to drop most sanctions that were imposed on Syria under Assad, was in Damascus before heading to Ankara, Turkey, later Tuesday for a NATO summit that al-Sharaa also would attend.

A large plume of smoke was seen at the site of the blast near the Four Seasons Hotel, where Syrian media reported Macron was staying. Footage on social media showed a van and a motorcycle on fire and bloodstains on a busy street near the headquarters of the Tourism Ministry and the Damascus National Museum.

The Interior Ministry in a statement reported by Syrian state media said one bomb had been placed in a garbage bin and the other in a parked car. It said four of the wounded were police officers, and no deaths were immediately reported.

On Thursday, an explosive device detonated in a cafe near the Justice Palace, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20.

Syria's government sees Macron's visit and the signing of over a dozen agreements with Paris and large French companies as a major boost for the country's new authorities in their bid to rebuild the country battered by a 14-year uprising-turned-civil war under Assad.

One agreement was to kick off the process of returning some 51 million euros ($58.3 million) in illicit assets that belonged to Rifaat Assad, the late uncle of Assad. Other agreements included rebuilding the destroyed water and electricity infrastructure in the city of Homs, providing technical assistance to Syria's Central Bank as it undergoes financial reforms and bolstering cargo infrastructure at the Damascus airport.

“The outcome of this visit confirms that Syria is steadily moving toward a new phase of international partnerships based on shared interests and mutual respect," a Syrian foreign ministry official told The Associated Press, who said the perpetrators of the attack will be brought to justice. "Attempts to destabilize the country will not alter this trajectory.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The explosions represent a challenge for al-Sharaa, who has pushed to assert full control over Syria, appeal to minorities skeptical of his Islamist-led rule and win the support of Western governments who were concerned about his past leadership of the formerly al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group. His government has promised political and economic reform after decades of autocratic rule.

The conflict in Syria killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions. Infrastructure lies in ruins. While other nations and businesses have made large investment pledges, the country still needs hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild and lift millions out of poverty.

Before arriving at the presidential palace, Macron met with members of Syrian civil society, though his office did not give details.

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed.

Police said the shooting was reported around 10:45 p.m. on July 4 at an apartment complex in the 1700 block of Lamar Street, near North Mittman Street.

Upon arrival, SAPD said its officers found multiple people with apparent gunshot wounds outside the complex.

According to a preliminary report, officers were told several people walking near the area began firing at a residence, striking multiple individuals both inside and outside the building.

In a Facebook post, police initially said three people were walking when they shot a gun toward the complex.

The man, later identified as Cory Goode, was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His cause and manner of death remain under investigation.

Among the five others wounded were two girls, ages 5 and 12, an unknown person, a 41-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man. All were taken to local hospitals in “critical but stable condition,” police said.

SAPD’s Facebook post stated one of those shot was a suspect, though the preliminary report does not confirm that detail.

Several individuals were detained for questioning, the report states, but no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.

It is unknown what led up to the shooting. The investigation is ongoing.

One traveler breezes through a priority security lane and heads straight to an invite-only lounge for craft cocktails and a chef-prepared meal before boarding early. A flight attendant offering a glass of champagne and a warm hand towel welcomes the passenger to a spacious seat at the front of the plane.

The other traveler stands in a line at every step — security screening, a café selling $16 sandwiches, a crowded gate — then boards with one of the final groups, hoping there’s still room for a carry-on in the overhead bin before folding into a cramped middle seat. After the cabin lights dim, sleep comes in fragments, and a travel pillow does little to ease a stiff neck.

The contrasting journeys are no accident. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest U.S. airlines have pulled out all the stops to court premium passengers who are willing to pay for comfort, convenience and exclusivity. Budget-conscious travelers may notice a widening gap between the back of the plane and up front as the carriers increasingly build their businesses around selling first-class, business-class and premium-economy seats.

“We can’t win by trying to provide the cheapest. We have to be able to win by providing the best," Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a recent Fortune podcast interview.

The strategy embraced by Delta and rivals American Airlines and United Airlines marks a notable evolution for an industry that spent decades making air travel more accessible. Now, the nation's largest carriers are reconfiguring aircraft to expand premium seating, designing new fleets with larger premium cabins and investing billions in amenities that extend the top-tier travel treatment beyond their jetliners.

But United CEO Scott Kirby has pushed back on the idea that the industry has become solely focused on chasing big spenders. He said United’s premium investments are part of a broader strategy to boost the experience of every traveler, pointing to initiatives such as seatback entertainment and improvements to the airline’s mobile app.

“We’re investing nose to tail for all customers,” Kirby said last month on financial firm Morgan Stanley’s Exceptional Leaders podcast.

Premium cabins have become airlines’ most valuable real estate

The premium playbook didn’t emerge overnight.

Airlines used to fill empty first-class seats mainly by giving their most loyal frequent flyers free upgrades. Delta rewrote the rules in the early 2010s by using sophisticated pricing tools to offer more of those seats to coach passengers who were willing to pay a little more, said Henry Harteveldt, president of travel advisory firm Atmosphere Research Group.

The strategy unlocked demand airlines hadn’t fully recognized, encouraging more travelers to trade up and laying the groundwork for today’s broader premium push.

“Travelers could and would pay for noticeably more comfort, noticeably better service, noticeably more amenities, if the price was right,” Harteveldt said.

Then came the pandemic. When business travel collapsed and Zoom replaced many corporate trips, airline analysts wondered whether carriers would once again have to lure travelers with cheap fares. Instead, eager leisure travelers proved willing to splurge on premium seats and perks, convincing airlines that demand extended well beyond the traditional business road warrior, Harteveldt said.

That confidence has only grown. Premium demand is now a fixture of quarterly earnings calls, with airline executives regularly touting premium revenue as they compete for higher-spending travelers.

“When you think about what’s different and what’s changed over the last 10 or 15 years, the premium products used to be loss leaders, and now they’re the highest-margin products," former Delta President Glen Hauenstein said last summer. “That’s really the headline.”

Analysts say premium cabins — a category that expanded with the introduction of premium economy seats featuring more legroom and amenities at a fraction of the cost — now generate a disproportionate share of airline revenue compared with the space they take up on commercial aircraft.

On heavily trafficked transatlantic routes, business-class tickets can bring in nearly as much revenue as fares and fees paid by passengers in the much larger economy cabin, according to an analysis by consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Airlines are competing with chef-designed menus and high-end skin care

The premiumization of air travel has become impossible to miss, even for travelers who only get a glimpse through an airport lounge door or while walking down an airplane aisle.

Delta’s new first-class lounges resemble upscale restaurants, with open kitchens plating dishes such as hamachi crudo, cocktail bars serving made-to-order drinks, soundproof relaxation pods and outdoor decks overlooking the tarmac.

American has partnered with the James Beard Foundation to refresh its lounge menus with dishes like Thai basil and chili crispy shrimp. The airline also redesigned its newest Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners for long-haul international flights around individual business-class compartments with sliding privacy doors, lie-flat seats longer than a standard twin mattress and amenity kits that might include a celebrity facialist's brand of sheet masks and under-eye patches.

United’s newest business-class cubicles add oversized 27-inch entertainment screens, caviar service, luxury skincare products and multi-course dining on long-haul international services. The airline said its revamped menus “feature flavors and dishes” inspired by cities across its network.

“Marie Antoinette would feel very comfortable on any of the big three airlines these days,” said William J. McGee, senior fellow for aviation at the American Economic Liberties Project. “But instead of saying, ‘Let them eat cake’ in the back of the plane, she would say, ‘Let them eat Biscoffs.’”

Air travel is getting more stratified as fuel costs increase fares

The airlines' pursuit of higher-paying passengers shows no loss of momentum. On board Delta's next-generation Airbus A350-1000 aircraft arriving in 2027, nearly half the cabin will be devoted to premium seating. American has said it plans to expand premium cabins by 50% by the end of the decade.

Yet the new era of luxury in the skies is unfolding alongside a very different reality for other U.S. travelers as broader inflationary pressures have added to the strain on household budgets.

New York-based travel advisor Mary Auteri said more of her clients are “experiencing sticker shock” as fares and add-on fees have gotten more expensive since the Iran war broke out and pushed up the price of jet fuel, one of the largest operating costs for airlines.

A group of friends in their 20s recently asked Auteri to price out flights to the sugar-white sand beaches of Punta Cana, a resort town in the Dominican Republic. After she sent them an itinerary, they said they had found what looked like the same flights on Google Flights for more than $100 less.

But the cheaper fares were basic economy tickets that excluded seat assignments, checked bags and flexibility to change plans. Once those costs were added back in, the trip no longer fit their budget.

Baggage fees, seat-selection charges and other add-on costs fall heaviest on economy travelers, McGee said. For wealthier travelers, those fees may amount to little more than an inconvenience. For budget-conscious travelers, they can determine whether a trip happens at all.

“The idea that we’re all created equal? Not in the airlines’ eyes," McGee said. “Not by any means.”

In a matchup of two of the hardest hitters on tour, that was Naomi Osaka's strategy against top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the most highly awaited matchup of Wimbledon so far this year.

Sabalenka had beaten Osaka in all three of their previous matches this year — including at the same stage of the French Open last month.

“On the clay courts I felt like she was pushing me back a lot. I just tried to do it to her first,” Osaka said.

The tactics worked, and Osaka outslugged Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the first time on Sunday.

Osaka’s pace and flat groundstrokes overwhelmed Sabalenka.

“Obviously we’re big ball strikers. It’s not like I’m going to start running around the court trying to draw an error from her. I can only focus on my strengths," Osaka said.

"I just tried to serve really well, because it’s grass. I also tried to get the upper hand in the rallies first.”

Osaka's power had an even bigger impact than usual as her balls flew through the air faster on the warmest day of the tournament so far: The temperature during the match reached 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit).

“She overpowered me,” Sabalenka said. “I felt like it was incredible level from her."

Besides Paris, Sabalenka also beat Osaka in Indian Wells, California, and Madrid this year.

“That really sucked,” Osaka said. “So I wanted to turn it (around)."

When it was over, Osaka performed a few fist pumps, let out a brief smile and then placed her racket over her head and spun around in delight to celebrate her first career win on Centre Court.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun on the court," Osaka said. "And to do it here, it really means a lot.”

Mental health and maternity

It was Osaka’s first win over a No. 1 player since beating Ash Barty in Beijing in 2019. That was before Osaka, a former No. 1 herself, took breaks from the tour to manage her mental health in 2021 and for maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023.

Osaka's daughter turned three on Thursday.

After getting routed by Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open in May, Osaka said she “shut everyone out” on her team and "literally just got on a plane back home.

“It wasn’t the most professional thing to do,” she said. “I felt really ashamed about what I did. So then after that I just told myself, ‘Hey, I’m nearing 30, I really got to enjoy the time that I have.’ Also, obviously tennis is very, very important to me, but I have a life outside of that. I have to treasure tennis in the way that I can, which is not putting too much importance on it.”

Sabalenka to ‘forget about tennis’

It’s the second straight Grand Slam in which Sabalenka has failed to reach the latter stages. After a stunning meltdown against Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarterfinals last month, Sabalenka said she “just want to quit tennis.”

This time, Sabalenka said she wanted to “get completely drunk, forget about tennis, and try to get in better shape.”

Sabalenka and Osaka have each won four Grand Slam titles. All their major trophies have come on hard courts — at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Osaka is coming off her first grass-court final. She had to retire against Karolina Muchova in Bad Homburg, Germany, last weekend because of a foot injury.

She'll now get a rematch with Muchova, who beat 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Kimono walk-on fashion

Before the match, Osaka came out in the white kimono she’s been wearing for her walk-ons at Wimbledon — which was inspired by a character in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Unlike at the French Open, when the designer for Osaka's walk-on outfits “was sewing things immediately after I won,” the kimono was designed in Japan, so “it’s not like (the designer) can make a brand-new thing every time.”

Instead, Osaka is using variations on the same outfit. For her past two matches, she's employed “the free-robe vibe” inspired by an anime called Bleach.

Aces and winners

Osaka saved the only two break points she faced and put 87% of her first serves in play — compared to 69% for Sabalenka.

Osaka also led 8-5 in aces and 21-15 in winners in the match, which lasted less than 1 ½ hours.

“What could I do if the person is acing and hitting the lines, just going for her shots without any fear?" Sabalenka said. "She was just going for it.

“Level-wise, today,” Sabalenka added, “I wasn’t world No. 1.”

Coco breaks through

Coco Gauff reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by overcoming Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 just before the 11 p.m. curfew.

Gauff will next meet fellow American Jessica Pegula, who beat Iva Jovic — another American — 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Djokovic edges Federer

Earlier on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic beat 132nd-ranked qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for a record 106th match victory at the All England Club.

Djokovic will next play third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6 (0), 6-3 and will next meet Jan-Lennard Struff, who advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired while trailing 4-2 in the fifth set due to a strained abdominal muscle.

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This story was first published on July 5, 2026. It was updated on July 7, 2026 to correct the score of Coco Gauff’s victory over Belinda Bencic.

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

The case has been wending its way through the courts for years and stems from attempts by conservatives to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin over President Donald Trump in 2020.

Here’s what to know:

A conservative activist brought the case

The case tested the line between protecting personal privacy rights and ensuring that ineligible people can’t vote.

Former travel executive Ron Heuer and a group he leads, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, brought the lawsuit in 2022 alleging that the number of ineligible voters doesn’t match the count on Wisconsin’s voter registration list. The lawsuit doesn't specify how many people could be affected.

In Wisconsin, a guardianship order is granted by a court giving a person certain legal rights over another who is determined to be unable to make decisions about their life. A court has the power to remove the right to vote from a person under a guardianship order if the person is determined to be unable to understand “the objective of the election process.”

Heuer asked the state Supreme Court to rule that counties must release records filed when a judge determines that someone isn’t competent to vote so that those names can be compared to the voter registration list.

Heuer’s attorney, Erick Kaardal, argued that privacy concerns could be balanced with the public’s right to access government records by redacting identifying or sensitive information on the forms.

But the attorney for Walworth County said those seeking access to the records wanted to cross-check ineligible voters against the names of those registered. They can’t do that, attorney Sam Hall said during oral arguments, without releasing the person’s name and address.

Hall praised the ruling, saying it “protects the privacy of vulnerable individuals while preserving their dignity.”

Kaardal did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, which advocates for public access to documents but did not take a position on this case, said the court’s decision was “narrowly tailored and should not have a huge impact.”

The council praised the court for clarifying the standard for deciding similar cases in the future, but that “it’s always disappointing when access to public information is curtailed.”

Liberal justices who control Wisconsin Supreme Court reject the cas

e

In the 5-2 ruling on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority along with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn ruled that the records are not public as the conservative activist had claimed.

The court took the case after two lower state appeals courts issued divergent rulings. One appeals court, based in Madison, denied access to the records while another appeals court, based in Waukesha, said in 2023 that the records should be made public.

It ordered Walworth County to release them with birth dates and case numbers redacted.

The Supreme Court overturned the appeals court ruling that the records should be made public.

State law is clear that the records being sought are not public and “the Alliance has no right to the records,” Justice Janet Protasiewicz wrote for the majority.

Conservative justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented, saying the court adopted “an overbroad and unworkable definition of what records pertain to a finding of incompetency” to include the forms that indicate a person has been found ineligible to vote.

Those forms are not pertinent to the finding of incompetency and are therefore subject to the open records law, Ziegler and Bradley wrote.

The case was one of several targeting the 2020 election

The case was an attempt by those who questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential race to cast doubt on the integrity of elections in the presidential swing state. Heuer and the WVA filed lawsuits in 13 Wisconsin counties in 2022 seeking guardianship records.

Heuer and the WVA have pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election in a failed attempt to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin. Heuer was hired as an investigator in the discredited 2020 election probe led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. The probe found no evidence of fraud or abuse that would have changed the election results.

The WVA also filed two unsuccessful lawsuits that sought to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin.

Trump won Wisconsin in 2024 after losing in 2020

Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and the recounts Trump requested. Trump won Wisconsin in 2024 by about 29,000 votes.

There are no pending lawsuits challenging the results of the 2024 election or calls to investigate the outcome.

The survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research arrives at a moment when a once-consensus foreign policy issue is increasingly polarizing Americans along partisan and generational lines, driven by criticism for Israel's conduct nearly three years after the outbreak of its latest war with Hamas in Gaza.

About one-third of U.S. adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government. About 2 in 10 Americans say Israel has not and the rest, about half, don’t know enough to say.

A similar share, 30%, of Jewish adults say Israel has committed genocide, although about half, 49%, say it has not.

Harold Kalmus, a 69-year-old Democrat from Arden, Delaware who describes himself as Jewish by birth, said he remembers being proud of Israel when he was younger. Not anymore.

“I realize that there is a threat from Hamas. And I realize they’re in a very difficult situation, but what they have done is just an unspeakable horror,” he said of Israel’s military action against the Palestinians. “They’re trying to wipe out a civilization as far as I’m concerned.”

The findings show sharply eroded views of Israel in the U.S., nearly three years after Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead in Israel, mainly civilians, while 251 hostages were taken back to Gaza. More than 73,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and militant deaths, including more than 1,000 killed since the beginning of the latest ceasefire. American sympathies had been shifting toward the Palestinians and away from the Israelis since around 2020, according to other polling, but has nose-dived since the latest war in Gaza began.

Many Americans, about 4 in 10, don't know enough to say whether Israel’s immediate military response to Hamas’ attack or its ongoing military operations were justified. Among those who did have an opinion in each case, most say the initial retaliation was justified — but a majority think its current actions are not.

About three-quarters of Jewish adults said Israel's initial response was justified, but only about 4 in 10 believe that about its ongoing operations.

Only about one-third of U.S. adults view Israel as an “extremely” or “very" important issue to them personally. But it's been a searing topic in American politics as the relationship between the two countries remains tense, just four months before high-stakes midterm elections determine the balance of power in Congress for President Donald Trump’s final two years in office. Vice President JD Vance recently criticized Israeli leaders who have expressed frustration with Trump, while vocal critics of Israel recently defeated establishment-backed Democrats in New York and Colorado primaries.

Democrats' support for Israel drops

The AP-NORC poll reveals a decisive shift within the Democratic Party.

About 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, up from 45% in an AP-NORC poll from January 2024 when former President Joe Biden was in office. That includes 51% of Jewish Democrats in the new poll.

Roughly 6 in 10 Democrats, 62%, say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” of the Palestinians, up from 49% in 2024. Younger Democrats — those 45 and younger — are still more likely than older ones to say that the United States is “not supportive enough” of the Palestinians, but older Democrats are catching up to their younger counterparts. About 57% of older Democrats now say the U.S. should do more for the Palestinians, up from 39% two years ago.

Joy Jennik, a 73-year-old Democrat from Brookfield, Wisconsin, said she didn’t have strong opinions about the U.S. relationship with Israel until after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Now, she believes Israel is guilty of genocide.

“The Gaza Strip, there’s not a lot left of it. Those poor people are barely living,” said Jennik, a retired home economics teacher.

GOP stays behind Israel, but less so among young Republicans

Just a sliver of Republicans, 13%, describe Israel’s actions as genocide, although there is an apparent age gap. About 2 in 10 Republicans under 45 say Israel has committed genocide, while about 1 in 10 Republicans ages 45 and older say the same.

Overall, 60% of Republicans describe the U.S. support for Israel as “about right." Only about 2 in 10 Republicans say that the United States is “too supportive” of the Israelis, although Republicans under 45 are more likely to say this.

The share of Republicans overall who say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel has not changed meaningfully since 2024, but the share who say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” has shrunk from 39% to 15%.

Mike Cardona, a 70-year-old Republican from suburban Phoenix, said he's pleased with the level of support that the U.S. is giving Israel and rejects the notion that Israel has committed genocide.

“I wish they’d gone in harder and better,” Cardona, a retired industrial supply salesperson said of Israel's military action in Gaza. “Unfortunately, some innocents will be hurt, but Hamas and Hezbollah never took that into consideration when they were killing children and women in Israel.”

Netanyahu is broadly unpopular, while views of Mamdani are split

In interviews, several respondents emphasized that their criticism of Israel was focused on its leaders, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is perceived as closely aligned with Trump after repeated clashes with Democratic presidents.

Overall, only 20% of U.S. adults have a favorable view of the Israeli prime minister, while about twice as many, 38%, have an unfavorable view. About 41% don't know enough to have an opinion.

Netanyahu is particularly unpopular among Jewish adults: about 6 in 10 view him unfavorably, while about one-third see him positively.

Younger adults, regardless of party, are more likely than older adults to say they don't have an opinion about Netanyahu. But while older Republicans see Netanyahu more positively than negatively, younger Republicans' views tilt unfavorably.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has gained prominence as an outspoken critic of Israel, and 27% of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of the 34-year-old democratic socialist. Another 28% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable opinion, while 44% don’t know enough to say.

Jewish adults, who overwhelmingly identify as Democrats, have a more positive view of Mamdani than of Netanyahu, with 44% viewing the New York City mayor positively, 39% viewing him negatively, and 17% saying they don't know enough to say.

About half of Democrats overall have a favorable impression of Mamdani and only about 1 in 10 have an unfavorable view of him, while the rest, about 39%, don't have an opinion.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-Israel relationship is not top of mind for many Americans as they think about the upcoming midterm elections.

For people like Michael Ripka, a 34-year-old stage hand from Casper, Wyoming who typically votes Republican, the economy is by far the most important thing on his mind.

“Everything is mad expensive,” he said. The conflicts in the Middle East, he added, is “100% a very big distraction.”

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Sanders reported from Washington.

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The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll included interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and the margin of sampling error for Jewish adults is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points.

The sequence of events that culminated with the February indefinite suspension of Sgt. Kelly Bender is now at the center of a federal retaliation complaint.

A monthslong KSAT Investigates review of disciplinary records, internal complaints and civil service appeal documents found the investigation leading to Bender’s firing began after she raised concerns about the workplace conduct of then-Lt. John Zuniga.

Bender, a 23-year veteran of SAPD, was indefinitely suspended and effectively terminated after city officials concluded she intentionally approved inaccurate timekeeping records connected to a training event attended by several crime scene investigators last summer.

The city maintains Bender knowingly falsified records. Her attorney argues the punishment was excessive and retaliatory.

According to city disciplinary records, three crime scene investigators attended a multi-day training seminar last July in Central Texas.

While the employees’ leave forms reflected off-site training, entries in SAPD’s internal work-status tracking system listed them under different categories, including special assignment and substitute employment, records show.

SAPD investigators contend the discrepancies created an unnecessary demand for overtime staffing and that the training had not been properly authorized.

Bender was indefinitely suspended for rules violations including conduct prejudicial to good order, discipline records show.

However, Bender’s attorney, Ben Sifuentes, claims the incident amounted to a supervisor attempting to improve the skills of her staff and the time off paperwork had been handled the same way by previous SAPD supervisors.

“That’s past practice. And, if it’s past practice, it’s not misconduct. What she was seeking was the enhancement of her troops,” Sifuentes told KSAT Investigates. “That’s what leaders do. You make your troops better.”

Complaint against lieutenant preceded inquiry

Documents reviewed by KSAT Investigates show the department’s scrutiny of Bender began after she reported workplace concerns involving Zuniga.

Zuniga and an SAPD sergeant began looking into the timekeeping discrepancies late last July, records show.

That inquiry came after Bender reported concerns about Zuniga’s conduct to a captain, according to records obtained by KSAT.

After Bender returned from her relief days in mid-May 2025, she noticed that Zuniga “was acting colder and more hostile toward me,” records show.

In a formal SAPD harassment complaint submitted last August, Bender described multiple incidents involving female crime scene investigators who raised concerns about Zuniga’s behavior.

According to the complaint, one female CSI told Bender the lieutenant’s actions at a crime scene made her uncomfortable.

Another CSI told Zuniga, “Sir, you’re in my space,” while they were at a scene, the complaint states.

Bender wrote that she began running interference between Zuniga and female CSIs at major scenes to prevent him from invading their personal space.

The complaint also described an incident in which a crime scene investigator reported that Zuniga aggressively wagged his finger in her face while ordering her to “be quiet and move.”

“If the department wanted you to have kids, they would pay for them,” Zuniga remarked to a female trainer in a separate interaction, the complaint states.

Lieutenant cleared, sergeant fired

SAPD’s Internal Affairs Unit investigated the allegations against Zuniga, records show.

In January, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus determined no disciplinary action would be taken against the lieutenant. Less than three weeks later, Zuniga retired from SAPD, according to records.

Days after Zuniga’s retirement, McManus moved forward with Bender’s indefinite suspension.

According to Sifuentes, the punishment exceeded the recommendation made by the department’s own disciplinary review board: the Chief’s Complaint and Administrative Review Board (CCARB).

“Even the people who initiated the complaint against her recommended a suspension of only three days,” Sifuentes said.

McManus declined KSAT’s request for an interview.

In a written statement, an SAPD spokesperson said the chief does not discuss disciplinary cases once final discipline has been imposed and noted the chief is not bound by recommendations from the department’s review board.

Federal retaliation complaint remains active

Bender is no longer pursuing a civil service appeal of her termination and retired from SAPD Feb. 4 — the same day she was handed the indefinite suspension.

The move allows her to access pension and retiree health benefits that would not be available to her if the appeal was ongoing, Sifuentes pointed out. However, a federal employment complaint filed by Bender alleging discrimination and retaliation remains active.

The complaint states that Zuniga removed Bender as a training supervisor in May 2025, after she accused him of harassing female CSIs.

Bender was then transferred out of CSI altogether last August, according to the complaint.

“All of the above actions by the SAPD have created an intolerable hostile work environment. Instead of transferring Lt. Zuniga out of the CSI unit, I was victimized by being transferred and I was not protected against retaliation,” the complaint states.

The city continues to defend its decision.

“The City does not discriminate or retaliate. This matter is now with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for review. We believe the EEOC will find that the discipline was supported by the misconduct, which included falsifying documents,” city spokesman Brian Chasnoff said via email.

“The City stands by the chief’s discipline. The investigation found that Sergeant Bender falsified documents by intentionally approving inaccurate time forms and entering inaccurate records for employees who attended outside training on city time without the required approval. This was not an inadvertent clerical error. It was intentional,” Chasnoff said in a second statement sent to KSAT via email.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

Festival organizers announced Tuesday that “Being Heumann,” starring Ruth Madeley as Heumann, will make its world premiere on the opening night of the Canadian festival Sept. 10. The festival runs through Sept. 20.

Heumann, who died in 2023, has been called the “mother of the disability rights movement” for her longtime advocacy and for lobbying for what eventually led to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Heumann, who lost the ability to walk at age 2, was also a central figure in the Oscar-nominated 2020 film “Crip Camp.”

“Being Heumann” is Heder's follow-up to the 2021 film “CODA,” which won best picture at the Academy Awards. The win marked a milestone for the deaf community and signaled the first time a streamer, Apple, won Hollywood's top award. Apple is also releasing “Being Heumann.”

“We’re thrilled to open this year’s Festival with Siân Heder’s inspiring follow-up to her Oscar winning ‘CODA,’” Cameron Bailey, chief executive of TIFF, said in a statement. “'Being Heumann' features an electric performance from Ruth Madeley in the story of Judy Heumann, a world-changing advocate for accessibility.”

The festival, one of the premiere launching pads of fall movies, also announced gala world premieres of Susanna White's legal thriller “Prima Facie,” starring Cynthia Erivo, and of Hur Jin-ho's Korean thriller “The Assassin(s).”

___

The story has been updated to correct that the film “Crip Camp” was from 2020, not 2000.

From extensions to curls to highlights, Cloud 9 can do it all. If you want a new look for summer this local salon has the skills to keep you looking your best & in-style.

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Chef Leo Davila is known for his fusion cuisine, now he’s showing off his flavor skills in the Food Network show “Flavortown Food Fight.” Hear about his once-in-a-lifetime experience and how you can check out his skills at Esencia & Anachacho inside the St. Anthony Hotel.

Building a new home? Walk Your Plans takes your blueprints and lays them out in full scale, so you can better plan & imagine your future. We check out this one-of-kind display.

Voting is now open for this year’s SA Picks finalists! Be sure to cast your vote and support your favorite local businesses and services.

The foundation has given away $2.3 million to more than 300 businesses. Four of those businesses that received those grants have closed. The recovery costs are estimated at $38 million.

Steve Edelstein is the owner of the Ingram Dam Shopping Center. All of the businesses there were washed away by the flood.

Edelstein allowed KSAT to follow along his journey to rebuild. In November, the journey looked bleak. Now, he’s closer to returning than ever before.

“I didn’t have a half a million dollars that I could just hire construction crews to come in and rebuild the center,” Edelstein said. “We’ve to do things with donated material, with donated funds. We’ve had to do a lot of the work ourselves, to reduce costs. And so, we’re building as fast as we can with the assets that we have.”

His goal is to have the hair and nail salons completed soon. Edelstein has seven units that he expects to rent out, and he already has tenants waiting for them.

“We’ll never get back to square one, but if we can get this building done, the parking lot and fencing done, then the rest will fall into place with time,” Edelstein said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”

He said he is grateful for the organizations and churches that have helped him along the way. Among those he named were the West Kerr Chamber of Commerce, Kerrville Chamber of Commerce, Lyft Fund, Global Empowerment Mission, Southern Oaks Baptist Church, Kerrville Church of Christ, Kerrville Baptist Church, Cross Kingdom Church and Kerrville Bible Church, among others.

Watch the entire One Year after Hill Country Flood special in the media player below:

Read more of KSAT’s Hill Country Floods coverage:

• Song written after 1932 floods found after being swept away in Hill Country floods
• Photo album lost in Hill Country floods reunited with owner after it appeared on national television
• River Inn rebuild continues one year after deadly Hill Country floods

Platner denied the allegation on Monday, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.

“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in a video released on social media.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response, but she said in a CNN interview on Monday evening that she opted not to fight back for fear of Platner, a former Marine, becoming more violent.

“He violated multiple layers of consent that night,” Racicot said.

Platner's campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.

Uproar in the Democratic Party

Platner won the Democratic nomination last month, setting himself up to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has beaten back previous attempts to dislodge her from the seat that she's held for nearly three decades.

Although Platner has long been controversial, the sexual allegation sparked a flight away from the candidate, who canceled a handful of town hall events. The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out and said it would spend no money on the race, which is considered critical to control of the chamber, if he is the nominee.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

The Democratic National Committee sent out an email soliciting money for Senate races hours after the Politico report posted, but Maine was not one of them. Ken Martin, the party chair, said, “Maine Democrats should select a new nominee.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who stood by Platner even as the candidate faced previous controversies, said Monday's allegation was enough. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced they were pulling their endorsements and called on Platner to drop out. The Democratic leaders of Maine's legislature and top officials at the state Democratic Party did the same.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle,” party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement.

Collins issued only a brief statement.

“These allegations are appalling,” she said. “Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”

State law allows Platner to be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interview with Politico.

A succession of campaign controversies

Platner had never before held elected office, and Democratic leaders in Washington preferred Gov. Janet Mills in the primary. However, Mills, 78, dropped out as Platner, 41, consolidated support with help from progressive leaders at a time when Democratic voters have grown disenchanted with the party establishment.

While some Democrats came around to support him after his commanding primary win, Platner's controversial history had already left others openly despairing of their chances of winning the race. A veteran who also worked for a private security contractor, Platner has a chest tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, reportedly sexted with other women shortly after getting married and had a history of inflammatory comments on social media.

In 2013, Platner posted on Reddit that people shouldn’t get so drunk “they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to” and that sexual assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves.” He's since apologized for the post and says he no longer holds those beliefs.

The New York Times also reported that Platner had volatile relationships with previous girlfriends, one of whom said an argument became physical. Platner denied the allegation.

Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator and streamer who backed Platner, seemed to reverse himself Monday following the Politico report.

“If new evidence presents itself, I’m going to change my perspective — it’s that simple,” Piker said during a livestream on Twitch, adding: “This is a clear-cut instance of verifiable sexual assault allegations. It’s completely irredeemable.”

Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said Platner should withdraw because the allegations “are too serious to treat as a distraction from the campaign or the issues.”

It also hinted at the potential battle over who would replace Platner.

“Whoever leads this movement forward must be someone who has actually lived the fight Graham Platner ran on: a record with working people, with unions, against corporate money, already tested and trusted by the same base that delivered this result,” said a statement from Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution.

Platner had pitched himself as a blue-collar oysterman and veteran who could reach disaffected voters. But as controversies mounted, some state Democrats had heartburn, embodied by Mills’ refusal to endorse Platner after she dropped out of the primary. Chatter circulated about possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

“I’ve known this has been coming,” said Marie Follayttar, a Democrat and community organizer in Maine, talking about the growing whispers inside the state's small population that had been bracing for yet another revelation surrounding Platner. “I’ve been scared and I’ve been sick waiting.”

Mike Connelly, a business owner and Democrat in Brunswick, Maine, said in an interview that he wants Platner to drop out after the latest allegations. But Connelly said he'd vote for him if he stays in.

“I would vote for a comatose Democrat before I would vote for Susan Collins,” Connelly said.

____

Jesse Bedayn contributed from Austin, Texas, Meg Kinnard contributed from Columbia, S.C., and Ali Swenson contributed from New York.

Two Gilbert police officers saw possible signs of life multiple times, but the child was still taken to the hospital's “cold room” after being treated by staff, according to the documents.

“Please do your thing and let me do my thing,” Dr. Aryan Toosi told an officer at one point, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”

First responders were dispatched to the home at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in response to a reported drowning. They performed life-saving measures on the child before taking him to a hospital where the boy was pronounced dead about an hour later.

About five hours later, police were notified that the child was indeed breathing, and he was flown to another hospital. The boy ultimately survived and has been released.

Boy survived but his parents are under scrutiny

Gilbert police are recommending negligence charges against the parents. Investigators said there was a strong odor of marijuana at the home and open doors that could have allowed unsupervised access to the pool. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the case and declined further comment Monday.

In 911 calls, two relatives frantically reported that the child had been pulled from the pool as people at the scene could be heard shrieking. One caller reported the toddler was unconscious.

No one answered at the home where the near-drowning occurred when an Associated Press photographer knocked there Monday.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where the 18-month-old was taken, said in a statement that the hospital conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.”

The hospital called it “a heartbreaking situation” and declined to release further details.

When a team from the local medical examiner's office arrived in the so-called cold room, they found the boy breathing and rushed him to another hospital, police said.

Doctor's lawyer says there's more to know

Scott Holden, an attorney for Toosi, told the AP that he wouldn't make a full statement on behalf of the doctor “other than to assure you that there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.”

A GoFundMe page, which was created in February to help the boy's family with medical bills, said the toddler would need extensive therapy.

“Thank you for your prayers, your kindness, and your support for baby Vincent — our miracle fighter,” the page says.

An ABC affiliate in Phoenix, KNXV-TV, was the first to report the story.

There have been other cases of people discovered alive after being declared dead. In Southfield, Michigan, Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, was declared dead by a doctor over the phone in 2020. City paramedics had responded to a 911 call at her family’s home.

Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was swiftly taken to a hospital but never recovered and died two months later. Southfield settled a negligence lawsuit filed by the family for $3.25 million.

Mistaken death declarations are rare but do happen

Cases in which someone is mistakenly declared dead and later found to be alive are rare, but they do happen, said Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist in San Francisco who is not associated with the case. “It tends to be much more common in elderly people than in children or toddlers,” she said.

“The criteria of death require no heartbeat, no breathing, and no brain activity or neurologic activity,” Melinek said. There were times when people were breathing very shallowly or intermittently, so medical practitioners had to wait a few minutes before the declaration, she added.

According to Melinek, determining death depends on a doctor’s skill and training, and policies may differ from hospital to hospital. “It’s either someone inexperienced got involved or a policy failure,” she said. “Because people, once they’re dead, they don’t come back to life — that doesn’t happen.”

___

Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Wufei Yu in Phoenix contributed to this story.

“It cannot stand or survive as it has been,” Emanuel will say at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “To maintain the strength of our ties, we need significant changes and a new direction.”

In an interview ahead of his speech, Emanuel said Israel’s continued military response to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has been “reckless and careless in the treatment of Palestinian life — not only the military campaign but using food and medicine as an instrument of your military goals.”

Asked whether Israel had committed genocide, an accusation leveled by some human rights organizations and rejected by the Israeli and U.S. governments, Emanuel said the question should not be considered in isolation without also examining conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.

“I’m ready to have that discussion,” he said, “but I don’t think it should be politicized, and then dilute the power of what genocide means.”

Taken together, the interview and upcoming speech from a stalwart of Democrats’ centrist wing are another demonstration of how far the party has shifted away from its historic support of Israel almost three years after the war in Gaza began.

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

Emanuel's proposals will include sanctions on Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property along with companies and banks that support settlements considered illegal by most of the international community. He also wants to end U.S. subsidies to Israel's defense budget, arguing the country “should be able to buy American arms under the same financial terms, the same restrictions, and the same requirements as every other trusted ally that abides by our laws.”

In addition, Emanuel will blame Netanyahu for driving Israel to a “dead end,” emboldened by poor decisions from American leaders.

“For too long, American policy toward Israel operated under the assumption that the best thing Washington could do for Jerusalem was to blindly and silently stand behind your government, without conditions, without demands, and without consequences when we disagreed,” he will say. “That has been our mistake. Unconditional support has produced a prime minister who has presumed that his strategic interests would incur no cost if he ignored America’s concerns.”

There's little precedent for an American with presidential ambitions to travel to another country, much less one as fraught as Israel, to deliver such a stinging rebuke of its political leadership. Centrist figures like Emanuel have been more reluctant than Democrats' progressive base to question longtime U.S. support for Israel in recent years.

How will Netanyahu react?

His remarks could prompt a similarly fiery response from Netanyahu, who famously once called Emanuel, who had ambitions of being the first Jewish speaker of the U.S. House, a “self-hating Jew.” Netanyahu faces his own battle for reelection in October, and the veteran leader may try to use a confrontation with Emanuel for political gain by appearing to stand strong in the face of international criticism.

Emanuel, who arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday ahead of the Wednesday speech, told the AP that he's intentionally avoiding interactions with Israeli elected officials during his visit to not interfere with the country's upcoming elections. Instead, his agenda includes visiting a hospital that serves Israelis and Palestinians and meeting with the family of an Oct. 7 hostage.

For possible Democratic presidential contenders gauging how to address the fallout from Israel's war in Gaza and Netanyahu's perceived tilt toward the Republican Party, led by President Donald Trump, the speech represents an especially frontal strategy. The war has disrupted political coalitions in both major political parties in the U.S., with younger voters recoiling at Israel's approach to the conflict pressing American leaders to take a tougher stand. The issue has roiled some Democratic congressional primaries this year and could continue to be a dividing line in the contest for the party's presidential nomination in 2028.

Castigating Netanyahu for doing little to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war, Emanuel will note that “support for Israel is plummeting around the world.”

“You’ve lost Europe,” he will say. “Your scientists face exclusion from international research networks. Your artists and academics are shut out of exhibits and conferences.”

Support for Israel has waned

While Netanyahu has forged generally strong ties with Trump and the Republican Party, Israel's support among Democrats has slipped in recent years. But in portraying Israel as increasingly isolated, Emanuel's comments have echoes of recent remarks from Vice President JD Vance, a sign of how criticism of the country is taking hold in both parties. Speaking recently from the White House briefing room as the U.S. worked to close a deal to end the war with Iran, Vance said Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”

For all his tough words, Emanuel, who is Jewish and whose father was born in Jerusalem, will offer notes of sympathy and understanding. He acknowledged the toll of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in which Hamas-led militants launched air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. He noted disappointments from previous rounds of peace talks with Palestinian leaders.

“But even while acknowledging that history, the path forward cannot be held hostage to a past defined exclusively by recriminations,” he will say.

He will call the two-state solution “discredited” and instead push for a “23-state solution” that includes Israel, the Palestinians and the 21 other members of the Arab League in a peace deal.

“The 21 Arab nations that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades now need to roll up their sleeves and stand up a governing authority capable of accepting the historic Jewish connection to this land,” he will say.

While no prominent Democrat has formally entered the 2028 contest, that could change soon after the November midterms with a field that could ultimately swell into the dozens. Few have been as open about their intentions as Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff, congressman, Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador who has spent much of the past three decades holding one public office or another. Absent such a post now, he’s gained attention by releasing a string of policy proposals, biking through the early voting state of New Hampshire, appearing on podcasts and stepping up his social media presence.

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Peoples reported from New York.

The Missions hosted a baseball clinic for more than 100 kids from Comfort, Ingram and Kerrville at the Ingram Little League Ballpark.

The field was rebuilt with help from Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball teams, along with approximately $3 million in funding.

The event was about giving back to a Hill Country community that continues to rebuild and letting families know they have not been forgotten.

“Baseball is something to get your mind off of reality for some of these kids,” said Ethan Salas, a catcher for the Missions. “Spend time with them; have fun with them in the cages. See them throw, see them run.”

The Missions also had success on the field last week, taking three of five games from Amarillo and winning three straight. San Antonio scored eight runs in the first three innings on Saturday on the way to an 8-1 victory.

More sports coverage on KSAT:

• UIW artistic swimmers shine on international stage
• Former Harlan High School track star Tate Taylor wins 200-meter dash at Prefontaine Classic

Fad diets come and go, but the underlying message almost always follows a simple equation. If you consume fewer calories than you burn, the weight will melt away.

In principle, it’s true. And counting calories can be a useful tool for managing weight. But it only works if you know what numbers you’re counting. And what’s been billed as basic math can sometimes look more like Einstein’s theory of relativity.

That’s because a complex web of factors influences how or even if our bodies process calories. And it turns out diet quality is just as important as quantity, and possibly more.

“Different foods have very different effects on the brain, liver, fat cells, muscle function, pancreas and all organs related to metabolism and body weight,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University.

Counting calories could burn you

A calorie is the unit of energy used to count what the body can get from carbohydrates, proteins and fats. That sounds simple, but the complexity of counting calories went mainstream recently, when a lawsuit accused the maker of David protein bars of affixing labels that misrepresent how many calories and how much fat the products contain. The lawsuit has since been dropped.

The allegations were based on an analysis of the bars using bomb calorimetry, which measures calories by burning food and calculating the amount of heat released, a method that counts every potential calorie. But our bodies aren’t combustion chambers and don’t treat all calories the same. The company’s numbers, like many food labels, are based only on the calories our bodies can actually use. Technically, both are correct, but only the latter matters for diet.

“You could put sawdust into a bomb calorimeter and you would get basically 4 calories per gram,” said Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital. “If you’re a termite, yes, you’ll get calories from it. But humans won’t.”

The calorie counts on most nutrition labels reflect the total our bodies are likely to metabolize, not their burn rate. But they still can be misleading. Because of permitted rounding, the tallies can be off by as much as 20%. Additionally, the digestibility of an ingredient, whether and how it is cooked, to what extent it was processed, variations in processing, even quirks in our own DNA — all of these things influence whether and how our bodies use the calories we eat. Even that is just the start of the complications.

Calories are simple. How your body uses them is not

Our bodies determine how to process calories — either burning them or storing them — depending in part on our energy needs. But the quality of the calories matters, too. High-glycemic foods, such as white breads, pastas and sugars, are easily converted to usable energy and trigger our bodies to store calories, Ludwig said.

Foods containing resistant starches, including some beans, whole grains and seeds, resist easy conversion into usable energy and don’t trigger that same storage response. They also are more difficult to process, so we absorb fewer of the total calories contained in them.

“Having a snack of 8 ounces of sugary beverage, 100 calories, should be better for your weight than 1 ounce of nuts at 200 calories, right?” Ludwig said. “That’s the opposite of what actually happens because those 100 calories, even if they’re fewer at that moment, they shift your body toward storing fat and leave you hungrier sooner.”

Which of course triggers you to eat more, well, calories.

Even cooking and ripeness influence the equation. The calories in cooked foods are more easily absorbed than from raw ingredients, while the calories in unripe produce, such as bananas, are less easily absorbed. This means the number of calories you get from eating a medium banana, which is listed at 105 calories, can depend on how ripe it is.

As for processing, including something as simple as grinding a food, can change caloric impact.

“One classic example is that the calories in whole almonds are absorbed substantially less well than the calories in almond butter,” Ludwig said. “Just processing the almonds into almond butter causes a change in how much they will be absorbed.”

Ultra-processed foods introduce another challenge. Diets high in such foods have been found to decrease the number of calories we burn at rest, Mozaffarian said. That means a higher proportion of those calories will stick to your ribs.

Then there’s just plain old variation between people. Genetics lead our bodies to treat calories differently, said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, a Harvard Medical School obesity specialist. Even something as simple as a bad night’s sleep can change how the body processes calories. So you might absorb more or fewer calories from the same food on different days.

Should you even bother to count calories?

So what’s a weight watcher to do? Calorie counts can be a rough guideline; many people otherwise struggle to make healthy choices or determine appropriate portions, Ludwig said.

But the evidence indicates people should focus on diet quality, not just calorie quantity. Avoid ultra-processed foods, particularly refined starches, and build your diet around whole, minimally processed foods with an emphasis on plant-based ingredients rich in fiber.

“We need to think about calories in a much more sophisticated fashion than the number on the package,” Ludwig said. “The number on the package can do more harm than good by misleading people into thinking that it’s simply an accounting problem.”

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J.M. Hirsch is a food and travel journalist and the former food editor for The Associated Press.

The Arsenal forward made all that fretting moot.

Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Merino had just been knocked down, and a foul was called. While Portugal's Bernardo Silva argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and easily beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa after a series of passes capped by Ferran Torres' nifty ball through the middle.

“He's one of the best in his position worldwide, and he has given us a fantastic result and a fantastic goal,” de la Fuente said through a translator. “I want to express the importance of substitutes that came in later in the game. Not just today, but the contribution in other games has been enormous.”

Spain, which has a 35-game unbeaten streak, advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010. La Roja will play Belgium, a 4-1 winner over the United States, on Friday in Inglewood, California.

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer's biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).

Merino didn't enter until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years this spring.

The World Cup was in doubt for Merino, who turned 30 during the tournament, after right foot surgery cut short his Arsenal season.

In the biggest moment of the year for Spain, there he was with fresh legs, finishing with his left foot into the left corner of the net. After emerging from a group hug with his teammates, Merino made a circle around the flag in a corner before letting out a guttural scream while clenching both fists.

That's how his father, Miguel Merino, celebrated more than three decades ago during his club career in Spain. And his son first emulated it after a late goal to beat host Germany to send Spain to the semifinals of the European championship two years ago.

This was Mikel Merino's first World Cup goal, and 11th for the national team.

“What better way to celebrate,” Merino said. “You remember all the good and the bad, and there have been difficult moments for me this year.”

The latest meeting of Iberian Peninsula rivals that first played in a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that is considered one of the tournament's best games.

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but didn't have many chances against Spain's Unai Simón, who extended his World Cup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal. Spain became the first team to record six straight shutouts at the World Cup.

The best chance was Ronaldo's nifty backward kick in the 37th minute when Joao Felix’s header deflected off Simón’s left shoulder and popped in the air to Ronaldo. He flicked the ball with his right foot, but it was soft enough to give Simón time to recover and make a leaping grab.

“I’ll wake up tomorrow like I woke up today, with a clear conscience,” said Ronaldo, who a day earlier had repeated his previous declaration that his sixth World Cup would be his last. “I gave my best. I won three titles with Portugal. Before Cristiano, Portugal hadn’t won any title. So, I’m happy. The biggest title that I won with the national team was in 2016 (European Championship), which for me had the same dimension as a World Cup, honestly.”

Portugal desperately pushed for an equalizer in the final eight minutes of stoppage time. Silva had a header that went just over the top of the net.

The defensive struggle came just two days shy of a year since Portugal beat Spain in a riveting UEFA Nations League final that went to penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw.

The other World Cup meeting was Spain's 1-0 victory — also in the round of 16 — when La Roja won the title in South Africa.

“It was a great match. Two superb teams,” de la Fuente said. “As we had said it, it was like an anticipated final. As it was expected, we had to suffer until the very end.”

Until Spain didn't have to suffer anymore — thanks to its super sub.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Christian Pulisic sprawled on the field in agony after hurting an ankle.

Matt Freese holding his hands on his head after his gaffe gifted a goal.

Chris Richards crumpling to the ground, his face pressed on the grass.

Mauricio Pochettino kicking a rack in front of the American bench, sending four water bottles flying.

American hopes for a deep World Cup run at home ended when Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and assisted on another goal, helping Belgium expose the U.S. defensive liabilities in a 4-1 win Monday night that earned a quarterfinal berth.

“It stinks,” Tyler Adams said. “This was a moment to have an opportunity to advance and really try and do something special. We fell short.”

While the U.S. was boosted by the presence of star forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in a pair of first-half goals and Freese’s howler gave the Red Devils a third early in the second half.

Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku added Belgium’s final goal in the third minute of stoppage time after Richards’ giveaway. The U.S. hadn’t allowed that many goals in a World Cup game since a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in the Americans’ 1990 opener, when they returned to soccer’s biggest stage after a 40-year absence.

“A very bad day,” said Pochettino, the U.S. coach. “It’s not like you are in a rocket and you improve and you grow. ... It’s not linear.”

This loss was a painful reckoning for a team that hoped to boost the sport but instead failed to shake a quarter-century of stagnation since 20-year-old Landon Donovan led the Americans to the 2002 quarterfinals. Since then, the U.S. has lost four times in the round of 16.

“Everyone had nerves, right, because we knew how much this meant for the whole country, not just our team,” said 21-year-old defender Alex Freeman, the youngest U.S. player.

Belgium knocked out the U.S. in the round of 16 for the second time in 12 years and extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Red Devils play 2010 champion Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco.

“We showed that we’re ready and we want to perform,” captain Youri Tielemans said.

All six CONCACAF nations have been eliminated, with the three co-hosts falling in the round of 16.

Malik Tillman tied the score 1-1 midway through the first half when he became the first player since France's Bernard Genghini in 1982 to have two free kick goals in a World Cup, but the Americans conceded less than a minute after the ensuing kickoff.

American star Christian Pulisic could only watch the end from the bench after injuring his right ankle when he hit Tielemans' boot on a 52nd-minute shot attempt. Pulisic was replaced seven minutes later, finishing the tournament with no goals.

“I didn’t quite have the moments I was hoping to and to try to help us to really push and get over this next step of beating a really good team,” he said. “I’m disappointed with myself, of course, but I’m going to try and stay positive. I did a lot of good things and the team did, as well.”

After winning three World Cup games for the first time in this expanded 48-nation tournament, the U.S. lost its seventh straight match to Belgium. The Americans have dropped 11 of their last 12 games against European opponents, winning only their round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A heralded generation led by Pulisic, Adams and Weston McKennie only partially accomplished their mission of lifting soccer’s stature closer to that of the NFL, MLB and the NBA.

“A goal was obviously to inspire people that the sport was growing in the U.S., which I think we saw. The support was unbelievable,” Adams said. “In this moment we let them down.”

De Ketelaere put Belgium ahead in the eighth minute and Tillman’s goal in the 31st energized a largely red-white-and-blue crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field. De Ketelaere damped that and assisted on Hans Vanaken’s 57th-minute goal after Freese lost control of the ball in front of his net.

“Obviously disappointed for my involvement and error in judgment on the third goal,” Freese said.

Belgium, which didn't start stars Jérémy Doku as and Kevin De Bruyne, pressed from the start and exposed a defense regarded as the Americans’ weak spot.

Dodi Lukébakio made a long diagonal pass to the opposite corner, leading to the opening goal. Leandro Troussard controlled the ball and his cross was blocked by Freeman and popped into the air. Freeman headed the ball into the penalty area and Timothy Castagne charged after it and hooked a centering pass around Richards. De Ketelaere split Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream, at 38 the oldest American ever in a World Cup, then with his right foot redirected the ball into an open net.

Pochettino held out his arms, as if to ask: What was going on?

Tillman scored after Brandon Mechele knocked down Balogun about 25 yards from goal. Tillman’s kick deflected off Vanaken’s head and deflected to the left of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had dived right.

Troussard got around Sergiño Dest for a cross and De Ketelaere outjumped Ream and headed the ball past Freese in the 33rd minute for his eighth international goal.

Belgium built a two-goal lead when Mechele lofted a long ball that Freese chested after two hops. Freese hesitated with a touch, then scrambled and kicked the ball off De Ketelaere. Vanaken one-timed a shot from 35 yards that deflected in off Ream.

Lukaku entered in the 67th minute and scored his 93rd international goal.

Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter after first-round elimination at the 2024 Copa America. His contract expires this summer and he hasn't decided whether to stay through the 2030 World Cup.

Instead of focusing on Spain, Pochettino has a different near-term agenda.

“To rest a little bit, to think, to have conversation,” he said, “and then see what the decision is from the federation and from us.”

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AP Sports Writer Andrew Destin and Associated Press writer Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The Texas Senate health committee will hear testimony on Wednesday about potentially banning foreign nationals from contracting with Texas surrogates to have children, after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made examining the issue an interim charge for the chamber ahead of the legislative session that starts in January. Last month, the Texas GOP also approved in its latest platform a ban on commercial surrogacy for foreign nationals, arguing that the practice lets children born under such circumstances obtain U.S. citizenship.

Surrogacy is a medical procedure where a woman carries and delivers a child for another party. This is typically accomplished by transferring an embryo to the surrogate via in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the surrogate and the child are not biologically related. Among the most common users of surrogates are families who are suffering from fertility issues, as well as LGBTQ+ families.

Surrogacy experts and advocacy groups in Texas say arrangements with foreign nationals account for a small percentage of the thousands of surrogacy births that are estimated to occur in the U.S. every year. The exact number is unknown because surrogacy contracts are private and the government does not collect data.

They worry that targeting that slice of the industry could be the first step toward restricting, if not banning, surrogacy for all Texans. Surrogacy agencies are navigating existential threats on multiple fronts as the state Republican Party also supported banning public funding for IVF, which party officials consider a “destructive practice” for embryos. Without IVF, surrogacy is severely limited.

“It’s important to ensure the public conversation around surrogacy reflects the lived experiences of the one in six people who face infertility,” said Katy Encalade, president & CEO of Frisco-based Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions. “Surrogacy is about creating families, not designer babies.”

Conservative groups believe they will have success regulating surrogacy this legislative session by tackling it as a birthright citizenship issue and one that threatens national security. Florida recently passed a law banning surrogacy and adoption contracts for any cases involving citizens or residents of a designated “foreign country of concern” including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria. Congress is also considering similar legislation — Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy Act (SAFE Kids Act).

The move to cast surrogacy as a foreign threat comes amid multiple reports of Chinese nationals using American surrogates, including a 2025 Wall Street Journal report of a Chinese billionaire who had dozens of children via this procedure. Also last year, Kayla Elliott from Corpus Christi told The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, a California-based organization that supports a global ban on surrogacy, that she was a surrogate to one of many children for a Chinese couple in California that was later arrested on child endangerment charges. The surrogacy agency Elliott worked with was also based in California.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, drawing sharp criticism from conservatives. State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, wants the Legislature to pass laws criminalizing participation in birth tourism, stop issuing birth certificates to children of non-citizens and expand the attorney general’s office powers to investigate birth tourism businesses. In April, Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a Houston birthing center, claiming it was “facilitating the invasion of Chinese nationals into Texas for the sole purpose of birthing children.”

“My read on it is there does seems to be an appetite to pass some legislation, at the very least dealing with commercial surrogacy, or with contracts with individuals who are not citizens of the United States, that’s like the baseline to me,” said John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life.

Seago said banning foreign surrogacy is the first step to ultimately regulating the surrogacy industry. His group does not support commercial surrogacy, which involves paying a surrogate to carry the fetus, and wants the Legislature to consider ethical limits on surrogacy broadly, mirroring larger conversations happening among conservative policy think tanks. Texas Public Policy Foundation, which declined to comment on the story, published a Dallas Morning News op-ed in April about the use of surrogacy in the “commodification of babies” and its alleged use in child trafficking.

The GOP platform also supports banning “third-party egg and sperm donations and the commercialization of human reproduction in Texas,” which could particularly harm access for Texans who want to have biological children but cannot with their partners or do not have partners.

“For us it’s really a question of how much higher we go to really put in a more robust ethical framework around the practice of surrogacy in Texas,” said Seago.

Texas first set up a legal framework for surrogacy in 2003 by allowing the biological parents, also called the intended parents, to be recognized as the child’s legal parents before birth. The law made Texas one of the country’s more surrogacy-friendly states, surrogacy agencies say. Since then, the Legislature has largely left surrogacy laws untouched.

Surrogacy is no longer just a family law issue but part of a larger political fight over who can use fertility services in the U.S., surrogacy agencies said. Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions estimates that 5% of its cases involve foreign nationals while Dallas-based Simple Surrogacy estimates that less than 20% of all cases involve foreign nationals.

“Families that need surrogates, they’re cancer survivors, they’re women without a uterus, they’re same-sex couples, they’re people with unexplained infertility that just don’t know, or they’re more at advanced maternal age,” said Encalade.

The U.S. is globally considered the gold standard for surrogacy which is why surrogacy agencies say parents come here for treatment. They are not looking for American surrogates for the purpose of birthright citizenship, but rather to have a safe surrogacy process, said Stephanie Scott, executive program director of Simple Surrogacy. Many parents that contract with her agency have tried to use surrogates in other countries and it has either been unsuccessful or they lost a lot of money, she said.

“They want checks and balances,” Scott said.

If surrogacy is limited or banned statewide, like with other medical treatments, Texans will leave the state to seek the service, Encalade said. For those who do not have the resources to take that extra step, the state will be depriving good families of having the children they deserve, Scott said.

“Texas surrogacy law changes of any kind would likely have a chilling effect on Texans struggling with infertility being able to complete their families through surrogacy here,” said Christine Henry Andresen, an attorney with Austin-based CHA Law Group specializing in surrogacy law.

Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation 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 Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

More students are graduating from Texas high schools, yet the state’s junior college enrollment hasn’t kept pace with that growth. Along with those choosing the workforce, students are increasingly going to colleges out of state, researchers with the Federal Reserve of Dallas found.

Texas community colleges have made small but steady gains in enrollment since the pandemic, signaling some success with recovery, their report found. Now the state has about 700,000 students enrolled in those schools, which is still down from about 750,000 students 15 years ago, according to state data.

In recent years, administrators have dramatically expanded dual credit offerings that allow teens to take courses at the community college that also count toward their high school diploma. They’ve also increasingly offered short-term credentials that can appeal to young people who want some training but are not in a position to get an associate’s degree.

“Amid the declining two-year enrollment, student outcomes have improved substantially,” the researchers wrote. “This suggests that the higher education landscape is evolving rather than deteriorating, despite national surveys suggesting growing skepticism about the value of higher education among younger Americans.”

The researchers looked at data from the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the National Student Clearinghouse, and the Texas Workforce Commission to examine the choices students made about postsecondary education. The report was released last month.

Community college enrollment started to stagnate in 2010 and then saw a dramatic drop off in 2019 when the state experienced a job boom, the researchers noted. The construction industry, for example, created about 50,000 new jobs that year to respond to the demand for housing, offices and warehouses.

“If the opportunity cost of attending college increases, meaning alternatives to higher education such as working are relatively more attractive, more students will opt out,” the researchers wrote.

Then the colleges again took a hit during the pandemic, when they lost 1 in 10 students.

The schools are especially affected by a decades-long pattern where college enrollment drops when unemployment is low.

For example, researchers found that fewer Texans enrolled in college in 2008 in counties that are dominated by the oil and gas industry and benefited from a shale boom. Job prospects in oil and gas appeared strong at the time, the researchers wrote.

Texas overhauled its funding for community colleges in 2023 to reward institutions on student outcomes, rather than enrollment. Administrators said that was a lifeline for some small and rural colleges that have a smaller tax base than their urban peers. The new funding model also provides dollars for their non-degree offerings such as workforce training.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Journalists and civil liberties groups say the vaguely worded law fails to clearly define what information it prohibits and lacks adequate safeguards for the media, warning it could potentially discourage critical reporting about government officials, politicians and large businesses.

The law allows courts to award damages of up to five times the proven losses against news organizations and large social media channels, including YouTube creators, that circulate illegal, false or manipulated information to cause harm or generate profit.

In addition, those who distribute information more than twice after a court has confirmed it to be false or manipulated could be fined up to 1 billion won ($656,000) by the country’s media regulator. Internet companies operating large social media platforms with more than 1 million daily users are required to take measures such as removing content or suspending user accounts when they receive reports of false or fabricated information.

The law was backed by President Lee Jae Myung’s liberal Democratic Party and passed by the National Assembly in December over a boycott by the conservative opposition. The liberals, who unsuccessfully sought to pass similar legislation under previous governments, say the law is necessary to combat fake news and disinformation, which they argue is posing a growing threat to democracy by fueling division and hate speech.

The Journalists Association of Korea said the mere prospect of news organizations repeatedly facing massive damage claims or legal disputes could have an “unavoidable chilling effect.”

“Even if a law’s objective is legitimate, it could erode the foundations of democracy if it’s enforced in a way that discourages the media and ordinary citizens from freely criticizing and scrutinizing those in power,” the group said in a statement.

The Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club also expressed concern about the potential impact on the work of the media and the free flow of information.

Concerns about murky online discourse

The push for the law came as Lee expressed concern about South Korea’s online discourse and information environment after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law in 2024. He was later impeached and removed from office. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for rebellion, a ruling that he appealed in February.

Yoon, who faces other criminal cases as well, has promoted unsubstantiated election fraud claims circulated on YouTube to defend his botched power grab and rally conservative supporters against the Democrats. Critics say Yoon’s campaign further polarized the country by injecting falsehoods into already bitter political disputes and making compromise increasingly difficult.

The Korea Media and Communications Commission has downplayed concerns that the law could be used as a tool for state censorship. It would be private operators of online platforms, not the government, deciding whether reported content qualifies as false or manipulated information, and the law exempts reporting conducted in the public interest from damages claims, the commission said last week.

But Kim Hong-yeol, a professor at Seoul’s Duksung Women’s University, said the law could encourage widespread self-censorship and discourage reporting or discussions on sensitive issues. Internet companies could end up acting as online censors, adopting overly aggressive moderation policies to avoid liability and removing legitimate content in the process, Kim wrote in an article for the news website Medius.

While major South Korean internet companies like Naver and Kakao have reportedly been updating their systems for reporting and handling false information in line with guidelines from the Korea Internet Self-Governance Organization, it’s unclear how major foreign platforms, like Google’s YouTube, would comply.

In a statement to The Associated Press, YouTube said it strives to balance its commitment to openness with its responsibility to protect users and will “continue to engage with relevant parties and share our longstanding investments we have in this critical work.” The company did not specify how the South Korean law would affect its policies, but encouraged users to report “potentially violative content” directly on YouTube or through its legal web form.

After the law was passed in December, U.S. Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers criticized it in a post on X, writing that the revised law endangers tech cooperation and that “it’s better to give victims civil remedies than give regulators invasive license for viewpoint-based censorship.”

Now 74, Helou has a wide following in the region and elsewhere and has released nearly a dozen books since the 1990s about food in the Middle East and beyond. Last month she received Britain’s prestigious Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award.

The daughter of a Lebanese mother and a Syrian father, Helou was born into a Christian family and grew up watching her mother, grandmother and paternal aunt cooking. It opened her eyes to the food traditions of the two countries, both widely known in the region for their varied and flavorful cuisine.

“I was always fascinated by the kitchen, by their movements (and) by how they put things together, by the chopping,” Helou said about her mentors. “I love being in the kitchen with them and of course I loved eating.”

Helou’s latest book, “Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland,” was officially released in late June in Beirut in a ceremony at Lebanon's Tourism Ministry attended by scores of people including food critics and restaurant owners.

An homage to the cuisine of Lebanon's war-battered south

The book, which comes as the country has been battered by two wars in the past three years between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, includes a section about food in some of the southern Lebanese villages that have suffered the worst destruction.

During her repeated visits there, most recently in October 2023, she found residents had their own regional variations of traditional cuisine. They include mujadara, a dish mainly consisting of lentils that is often cooked with rice, but in southern Lebanon is more likely to be made with bulgur.

“I discovered more, like, variations and added dishes, rather than something that was a complete revelation,” Helou said.

She has picked walnuts from a tree growing along the giant wall separating southern Lebanon from northern Israel and met residents who have lost their homes and businesses in the Hezbollah-Israel conflict.

Helou recalled Moussa Ibrahim from the southern village of Dibbine, which has been the site of intense clashes between Israel troops and Hezbollah fighters. Fighting there in 2024 caused Ibrahim to lose his business producing mouneh: vegetables, fruits, grains and dairy preserved with traditional Lebanese techniques including sun-drying, salting, pickling or submerging in olive oil.

Representing the Middle East and Muslims through recipes

Helou, who has traveled the world to sample food, said she loves Korean and Japanese in addition to Middle Eastern cuisine.

“Lebanese, Iranian and Moroccan are among the greatest cuisines,” Helou said earlier this month in her late mother's apartment in the Mount Lebanon town of Ballouneh.

“Lebanese cuisine is kind of a little bit more sophisticated, a lot fresher, more vibrant” compared with some other Middle East food, Helou said as she prepared a traditional Lebanese lamb confit called awarma.

Asked for the home of the region’s best food, Helou did not hesitate to move outside Lebanon and name Syria’s largest city, Aleppo.

Famed for its centuries-old covered market, which was badly damaged during Syria’s civil war beginning in March 2011, Aleppo is known for varied and elaborate cuisine with influences from Persia, North Africa and Armenia.

“I think that Aleppo is undoubtedly the gastronomic capital of the Middle East, regardless of me being Syrian,” she said.

Global anti-Islamic sentiments rose dramatically after the Islamic State group took large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate in 2014, launching deadly attacks in the region and the world.

Helou responded with a book of about 300 recipes of dishes from Muslim countries.

“I was thinking, one way of presenting Islam and Muslim people positively could be through their foods,” she said.

Starting late in the world of cooking

Helou, who left Lebanon at the age of 21, holds citizenship in Lebanon, Syria and the United Kingdom and has spent much of her time in Britain and Italy. She still regularly visits Lebanon, cooking and asking people how they make specific dishes.

Helou refused to cook for years while she was a young woman and told her partner at the time not to expect her to make meals.

“I didn’t want to be domesticated. I was like a feminist and so I didn’t cook for a very long time,” she said.

One day a friend prepared a meal at their home and Helou saw the happiness it gave her partner, prompting her to think she should start cooking.

Her decision to become a food writer came in 1992 when a discussion with a group of Lebanese living abroad gave Helou the idea of filling a gap in Lebanese cookbooks with a collection of her mother's recipes. As it happened, there was a publisher looking for someone to write such a book.

“That’s how I started, by sheer coincidence,” Helou said.

The 25-year-old striker, who had three goals in this World Cup, was shown a red card during the U.S. victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, but FIFA lifted his suspension for Monday's match after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on Balogun's behalf.

FIFA's decision prompted soccer leaders to question the integrity of the World Cup, with European soccer body UEFA saying FIFA “crossed a red line” and Belgium's soccer federation contesting Balogun's eligibility.

“I accepted the decision when I was given the red card, and I accepted the decision when I was told I was allowed to play,” Balogun said. “I didn't have any involvement in the process, and that's not something that has anything to do with me personally.”

Balogun did not score on Monday. He helped set up Malik Tillman's goal in the 31st minute when he was fouled by Belgium defender Brandon Mechele roughly 25 yards outside the Red Devils’ goal.

Tillman scored on the ensuing free kick. Just before the goal, Balogun waved his arms and pumped up the American fans.

The U.S. tried to set up Balogun multiple times. He made use of his speed on several runs but could not get past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. His best chance came in the 82nd minute, when Courtois got in front of a left-footed attempt. Balogun was replaced by Haji Wright in the 92nd minute.

To a suggestion that Balogun wasn’t a major presence on the field, U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams responded: “Was anyone a major presence on the field today?”

“We were happy that we had the opportunity for him to play,” Adams said. “He tried today to be a presence and a nuisance, and at times he was — getting the ball in behind and doing what he does. Just didn’t have too many opportunities.”

Balogun said it was difficult to understand why the U.S. didn't play with the intensity the team brought to its earlier games.

“Today we didn't give the crowd a lot to cheer for,” he said. “That's the most disappointing thing, and that's the part that hurts the most for me personally.”

Last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Balogun was shown a red card by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent’s ankle, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

After Trump spoke by phone to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year on Sunday.

Infantino said he did not play a role in the decision by the disciplinary committee, which also fined Balogun $40,000, a penalty that can be paid by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

The FIFA president was in attendance for the match, watching from a suite with Pascale Van Damme, chair of the Belgian Football Association, and Cindy Parlow Cone, president of the USSF. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was seated nearby.

Belgium fans chanted “FIFA Mafia!” during their pregame march to Lumen Field.

Balogun's three goals matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second most by an American in a World Cup. Bert Patenaude holds the U.S. record with four in the initial tournament in 1930.

Balogun, who was playing in his first World Cup for the Americans, became the first U.S. player to score two goals in a match in the tournament since 1930. But he failed to lead the U.S. to what would have been its first consecutive knockout-stage wins. The best performance by the Americans since 1930 remains their run to the quarterfinals in 2002.

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Associated Press writer Gene Johnson contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The yacht owners and public transit riders who shared this road epitomized the social integration that the government set out to accomplish. Many of them enjoying a holiday or resting at home on June 24 met the same fate when the ground shook so violently that their homes flattened in seconds.

Now, about 17,000 who survived also share the uncommon status of being homeless in Venezuela. As the official death toll climbs above 3,500, many must rely on a government that has been excoriated for its response to the tragedy and that has politicized housing in the past to figure out where they will live — if they will have a new home at all.

Housing is still a constant even in times of crisis

Housing has generally been the first aspiration for Venezuelan adults since the second half of the 20th century, when an oil bonanza allowed the government to fund housing complexes, the poor to build brick and cement shacks locally known as “ranchos,” and the rich to buy second and third homes.

Even when the country’s economy came undone in 2013, most Venezuelans still had a roof over their heads, be it by getting one handed out by the country’s self-described socialist government, buying one at a deep discount from people desperate for cash to migrate, building ranchos on top of each other, and even invading abandoned homes.

Those in housing built by the ruling party of 27 years — currently helmed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez — do not hold the deeds to the property, but the homes allowed them to save and keep entire families off the streets.

“It was their home, their house. It was an immense joy when they were assigned these houses here,” Carlos Ortega said of the 12 apartments in Caraballeda that his relatives were assigned to more than a decade ago following years of financial struggles after a mudslide.

“Imagine, they were given a home after losing everything, but now they’ve lost everything, even their lives.”

Only one of Ortega’s siblings survived the collapse of the public housing towers, while his son, who lived in a ninth-floor apartment but was working at a convenience store when the earthquakes struck, is still missing more than a week after the disaster. Ortega hoped he might find him at a hospital, a shelter or one of the tent camps that have taken over public spaces and private parking lots.

Not far from where he took a break from removing the rubble that buried his family, people were assessing flattened homes adjacent to a yacht club and some towed Jet Skis. There, rescuers were being handed cookies and other food on a plastic tray while standing on the rubble where the wife of a military general hoped he and their children would be found.

Government efforts to integrate different socioeconomic classes

Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at Colombia's Universidad del Rosario, explained that Venezuelan governments, even before the arrival of the fiery Hugo Chávez to the presidency in 1999, had tried to prevent socioeconomic segregation by building housing projects in or near areas that were considered exclusive. The strategy, he said, also gave them a political edge by diversifying the voter base in wealthier neighborhoods that tend to vote for the opposition.

But the homes built under Chávez’s “Grand Housing Mission,” which his successor, Nicolás Maduro, continued until the U.S. military deposed him in January, came with a caveat: People never received a deed.

“What Chavismo tries to do is maintain political dependence,” Rodríguez said of Chávez’s political movement. “That is, if at any point you turn against me and stop supporting me, then I’ll take away the roof I’ve given you.”

This makes these residents vulnerable to the whims of the government once again, particularly when survivors have been vocal about the lack of government support in search and rescue efforts.

The government of Rodríguez, whose dismal response to the catastrophe has been decried by residents across the board, has not yet given any timelines for long-term housing recovery efforts.

The extent of damage is still unclear, but at least 10,000 structures, or about one-third, were damaged in Catia La Mar, a city west of Caraballeda also in La Guaira state, based on satellite imagery analyzed by Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab. Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in Venezuela vulnerable to strong earthquakes.

Picking up the pieces

Benito Mantilla, 68, now lives in a tent set up in a pharmacy parking lot in Catia La Mar after his privately owned home was damaged. His wife left for the Dominican Republic last week, but he decided to stay and try to find a job about 40 minutes away in the capital, Caracas, as the earthquakes also damaged his and his brother's car repair shop.

Another woman also living in the parking lot was still hoping that the government would give her a home soon. Her daughter, she said, is part of the local organizers for the ruling party.

Meanwhile, Caryudedi González, who bought her own home when she was 21, was hoping that her working-class home, half of which went down a ravine, could somehow be repaired.

“In many countries, it’s very difficult to own a home, and here, we work so hard to have what’s ours,” González, 44, said.

The unrest at the prison in Negombo, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, started among inmates on Sunday, and when guards attempted to intervene on Monday, “they (inmates) started attacking the prison officials,” prison spokesman A.C. Gajanayake said.

He told reporters that some inmates attempted to escape but were stopped.

An official at the main state-run hospital in the area said seven prison officials and 18 inmates had died while another 43 were being treated for injuries. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Three other hospitals were also treating dozens of injured, he said.

Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the first clash erupted between two rival gangs connected to the illegal drug trade. After the authorities restored order on Monday evening, Nanayakkara said the inmates who led the violence were transferred to two other prisons.

Army troops were also deployed around the prison.

Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 39,000 inmates crowded into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000.

Hamas did not say whether it planned to take the crucial step of disarming or handing over security to an international force, but described its decision as evidence of its commitment to Gaza’s reconstruction after years of war.

It was unclear if the move, announced by a lower-level official, would lead to any meaningful change on the ground.

The Board of Peace, the new entity led by President Donald Trump with the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it was aware of the Hamas announcement but would assess the impact based on “actions, not promises.” The board stressed in a statement on X that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

At a news conference Monday, Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, said “only technical and professional staff” would remain in their positions to run the Palestinian enclave’s day-to-day affairs.

“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” al-Thawabta said during a news conference in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called it “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the move, saying it was designed to avoid disarmament. “As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates,” he wrote on X.

The committee of technocrats, which is based in Cairo, is chaired by Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born engineer and former official with the Palestinian Authority. It has a mandate to restore essential services and oversee civilian affairs under the supervision of the U.N. and the Board of Peace.

In a statement on X, Shaath acknowledged the Hamas announcement Monday and said that in order for the committee to function effectively, there must be “a single governing authority operating under one legal framework” and “a unified security apparatus accountable to that authority.”

Nine months after the ceasefire was signed, negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Hamas has insisted on implementing the first phase before moving to discuss its weapons.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 73,098 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, but they continue almost daily. Israel’s military says it targets Hamas and other militants, often asserting they were planning attacks. The strikes have also killed many civilians.

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza, including three in Khan Younis in the south and two in an apartment in Gaza City, health officials said.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas operative in the Gaza City strike and a militant from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in the attacks in Khan Younis.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks against Israeli troops in Gaza, and five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire. ___

Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

While the U.S. was boosted by the presence of star forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in a pair of first-half goals and goalkeeper Matt Freese’s gaffe gave the Red Devils a third early in the second half.

Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku added Belgium’s final goal in the third minute of stoppage time after Chris Richards’ giveaway.

“Everyone saw from the beginning we didn’t connect with the game,” said U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, who showed his frustration after Belgium’s second goal by kicking a rack in front of the bench, sending four water bottles flying. “It’s a process to learn. We need to assess that game and we need to see why we didn’t approach the game in the same way that (we approached) the rest of the World Cup.”

Seeking its first World Cup title, Belgium knocked the U.S. out in the round of 16 for the second time in 12 years and extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Red Devils play 2010 champion Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco.

Malik Tillman tied the score 1-1 midway through the first half with his second free kick goal of the tournament, but the Americans conceded just 61 seconds after the ensuing kickoff.

American star Christian Pulisic could only watch from the bench after injuring his right foot when he hit a boot of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans on a 52nd-minute shot attempt. Pulisic favored his foot after that and was replaced seven minutes later.

After winning three games in a World Cup for the first time in this expanded 48-nation tournament, the U.S. failed in its quest to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 and lost to Belgium for the seventh straight time since a victory at the initial tournament in 1930. The Americans have dropped 11 of their last 12 games against European opponents, winning only their round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A heralded generation led by Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams only partially accomplished their goal of lifting soccer’s stature closer to that of the NFL, MLB and the NBA.

De Ketelaere put Belgium ahead in the eighth minute, the first time in this year’s World Cup the U.S. conceded first.

Tillman’s goal in the 31st minute energized a largely red-white-and-blue crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field, but De Ketelaere damped that and assisted on Hans Vanaken’s 57th-minute goal after Freese lost control of the ball in front of his net.

All six CONCACAF nations have been eliminated, with the co-hosts U.S., Mexico and Canada falling in the round of 16. All quarterfinalists will come from Europe, Africa or South America, reinforcing the weakness of CONCACAF and Asia.

Belgium, which left stars Jérémy Doku and Kevin DeBruyne on the bench, pressed from the start and exposed a defense that was regarded as the Americans’ weak spot.

Dodi Lukébakio made a long diagonal pass to the opposite corner, leading to the opening goal. Leandro Troussard controlled the ball and his cross was blocked by Alex Freeman and popped into the air.

Freeman headed the ball into the penalty area and Timothy Castagne charged after it and hooked a centering pass around Richards. De Ketelaere split Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson and with his right foot redirected the ball into an open net.

Pochettino held out his arms, as if to ask: What was going on?

Tillman scored after Brandon Mechele knocked down Balogun about 25 yards from goal. Tillman’s kick deflected off Vanaken’s head and deflected to the left of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had dived right.

Troussard got around Sergiño Dest for a cross and De Ketelaere outjumped Ream and headed the ball past Freese in the 33rd minute for his eighth international goal.

Belgium built a two-goal lead when Mechele lofted a long ball that Freese chested after two hops. Freese hesitated with a touch, then scrambled and kicked the ball off De Ketelaere. Vanaken one-timed a shot from 35 yards that deflected in off Ream, who tried for an off-balance clearance.

Lukaku entered in the 67th minute and scored his 93rd international goal.

Vanaken replaced midfielder Amadou Onana midway through the first half after Onana suffered what coach Rudi Garcia feared might be a serious knee injury.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

His wife, Marisol Pantoj, said Ibarra Castro was arrested while driving in China Grove.

“ICE records indicate he entered the United States illegally at an unknown date and time,” an ICE spokesperson told KSAT.

However, Pantoj said Ibarra Castro entered the U.S. legally with a B-2 visa, but his visa expired in 2020.

“He came with a B-2 visa when he was 4 years old,” Pantoj said. “He was fleeing violence from (Monterrey) Mexico.”

In a statement to KSAT, Ibarra Castro’s mom wrote, “When I think about my son being in that ICE facility, it brings back painful memories from 16 years ago when we were forced to flee our home in Monterrey through a window because of a very dangerous cartel.”

State Rep. Barbara Gervin Hawkins, whose district Ibarra Castro lives in, said she plans to work with other lawmakers to see how she can assist.

“These folks are just trying to live their lives,” Gervin-Hawkins said. “We’ve got kids not going to school, we are really traumatizing our community.”

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, also shared his push to bring Ibarra Castro home via social media.

Pantoj told KSAT that she and Ibarra Castro were working to get him a green card, but the process takes time.

“Very overwhelming,” Pantoj said. “The packet itself was 178 pages. Sponsorship, birth certificates, IDs, passports, pay stubs, we had to develop a marriage evidence folder.”

Pantoj told KSAT that Ibarra Castro was asked to sing the national anthem in the South Texas detention facility he’s being held in. He performed the anthem in front of the warden, according to Pantoj.

“He had said, ‘I don’t understand why they asked me to sing a song of the land of the free when they chained me up like an animal,’” Pantoj said.

Ibarra Castro has a hearing the week of July 6 amid his hopes to return home to his wife soon.

KSAT crew witnesses separate ICE traffic stop

While working on the immigration story with Pantoj on Monday, KSAT obtained video of a separate traffic stop in China Grove. Multiple China Grove police officers arrived in marked units. One silver vehicle that appeared unmarked pulled up with police lights on and put a handcuffed man into the back of the silver vehicle.

KSAT reached out to ICE requesting information on the arrest. An ICE spokesperson said, “Due to our current operational tempo and increased demand for information, we are unable to provide immediate responses to every enforcement action inquiry. To assist in confirming whether this was an ICE operation, we would need visuals.”

After providing ICE with a photo of the stop, the spokesperson told KSAT, “This was not ICE.”

The China Grove Police Department replied to the inquiry later in the evening and said, “During the stop, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was contacted and assumed the encounter. Any further enforcement action was handled by ICE.”

KSAT followed up with ICE shortly after 10 p.m. for an update on the situation and why the spokesperson initially said the arrest was not ICE. The agency did not respond to the follow-up prior to this story’s publication.

Read also:

• Park visitors say it’s ‘scary’ seeing ICE officers at Phil Hardberger Park

Former Utah Valley University Officer Christopher Bagley said he witnessed Kirk's shooting while the conservative activist was speaking on Sept. 10 to a crowd of thousands. Soon after, Bagley searched a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk's location, he said.

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley said, adding, "you’ve got markings of elbows, knees and feet.”

The testimony came as Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and his widow, Erika, were in the courtroom for the first time since the case began, along with the president's son Donald Trump Jr.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, who is charged with aggravated murder. Robinson’s parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks.

The five-day preliminary hearing that began Monday is expected to mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case. There were no major revelations on the first day, although prosecutors aired new video that investigators believe showed Robinson getting in and out of his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Robinson turned himself in the day after the shooting. He has not yet entered a plea, and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

A low threshold for prosecutors

Prosecutors showed several videos of Kirk's shooting as they made their case to state District Judge Tony Graf. Attorneys from both sides tried to shield their monitors from courtroom spectators, after Graf said the assassination videos couldn't be publicized because of their graphic nature.

The sound was still audible in court — Kirk's response to a question about mass shootings in the U.S. is interrupted by a loud pop, followed by screams.

Kirk’s family briefly stepped out of the courtroom twice — when investigators began testifying about the day of the shooting and again when prosecutors introduced the graphic videos.

David Hull, who was an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation at the time of Kirk’s killing, said investigators reviewed hundreds of hours of video to track the suspect's movements before and after the shooting. He pointed out Robinson in court after prosecutors asked him if the suspect he identified during his investigation was in the room.

The proceeding this week resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors, as a result, should have little trouble advancing their case, said Mark Kouris, a former prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City.

“This standard is extremely low and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing," said Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors. She was mostly overruled by the judge.

However, Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in or had circles drawn around individuals. Prosecutors said they would try again Tuesday to introduce that video with the alterations removed.

Nester asked Bagley, the prosecution’s first witness, about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled. Bagley acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn’t know whether it had been fingerprinted.

Utah is an open carry state, meaning people can carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit.

Roommate's recorded testimony could be focal point

Prosecutors have said they also plan to present DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, autopsy findings and witness statements. They are expected to argue the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Robinson's roommate is not expected to testify in person during the hearing. Still, the roommate's recorded testimony could be a focal point for prosecutors. Besides the alleged confession note, Robinson reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

Erika Kirk says court proceedings are a 'painful reminder'

Before his death, Kirk and the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help President Donald Trump win a second term.

The Republican president has said he hopes Robinson receives the death penalty.

Erika Kirk said during her husband's memorial service that she forgives Robinson.

Ahead of Monday's hearing, she thanked supporters in a statement for their kindness and prayers.

“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” she wrote, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”

___

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

The furor centered on a phone call that President Donald Trump made last week to FIFA head Gianni Infantino to make the case that U.S. striker Folarin Balogun should not have been suspended for Monday’s matchup with Belgium because of a red card in a game last week. FIFA lifted the suspension and cleared Balogun to play.

The decision ultimately didn't help the U.S. team, which was eliminated from the World Cup with a 4-1 loss to Belgium late Monday with Balogun in the lineup.

The decision appeared to be the first time since 1962 that punishment for a World Cup offense was suspended in the tournament, increasing scrutiny on Infantino’s control of FIFA and his close association with Trump.

European soccer body UEFA said FIFA “crossed a red line” and called Sunday’s decision by FIFA’s disciplinary committee “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” Infantino denied having a role in the decision. Trump called it a “horrible” call and took credit for getting FIFA to review the foul, but said he did not demand an outcome.

The Belgian Football Association said it informed the U.S. Soccer Federation it was contesting Balogun’s eligibility.

But FIFA’s appeals committee dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge less than eight hours before scheduled kickoff of the round of 16 match in Seattle. The appellate panel said Belgium had no standing to challenge the decision.

It was unclear whether Belgium could pursue an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Balogun’s red card was assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Claus did not initially issue a red card but showed it after a video review.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee on Sunday provisionally lifted the suspension for one year and fined Balogun $40,000, which the USSF can pay.

UEFA vs. FIFA reignites

European soccer officials reacted with outrage.

“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” UEFA said in a statement.

“Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not,” it said. “When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”

UEFA has often clashed with Infantino during his decade in FIFA power.

Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter, forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media:

“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” said Blatter. “They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”

The Swiss Football Association declared that the “credibility of the competition depends on clear rules that are applied consistently.”

Coaches speculated about the implications of the decision going forward.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said. “Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away? It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel wondered whether yellow cards to English defender Declan Rice and French midfielder Michael Olise could be reversed.

FIFA's disciplinary committee defended its decision in a statement Monday.

“Reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game,” it said. “In the majority of top-tier leagues belonging to UEFA-affiliated member associations the overturning of red cards is a common disciplinary measure, yet this has never raised concerns about crossing any `red line.'”

Trump’s comments

Trump on Monday called the referee’s decision a “horrible” call while admitting he was confused about the rules and punishment surrounding red cards.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

He also acknowledged calling Infantino.

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said. “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’”

Infantino issued a statement saying: “FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously.”

“I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” he said of his conversation with Trump.

Infantino’s relationship with Trump previously sparked concern among soccer officials. European soccer leaders walked out of a FIFA Congress in Paraguay last year due to a three-hour delay caused by Infantino arriving late because he was with Trump in the Middle East.

After Infantino awarded Trump the first FIFA peace prize in December, Norway’s governing body filed a letter supporting an ethics complaint against Infantino that accused him of violating provisions in FIFA’s code of ethics requiring political neutrality.

Belgium’s legal options

Belgian officials prepared in Seattle through the night into Monday to get a hearing with a FIFA-appointed appeals judge, and their eventual defeat might not be the end.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of the match,” the Belgian federation said, ”(we are) deeply concerned by the way these events have unfolded and will continue, in the hours, days and months ahead, to pursue every available avenue to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, sporting fairness and the interests of football as a whole.”

Balogun’s tackle

Balogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on an ankle of defender Tarik Muharemović.

That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.

Still, similar challenges by star players have gone unpunished at this World Cup — by Argentina’s Lionel Messi against Algeria and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi vs. Brazil. Bernardo Silva of Portugal got just a yellow card against Congo.

“I think a yellow card would have been fair,” Balogun later suggested.

FIFA’s interventions

This World Cup has been remarkable for FIFA under Infantino seeming to rewrite the norms of disciplinary action even before the tournament began.

A pattern of pardons opened FIFA to suggestions of executive intervention in the statutory independence of its judicial bodies, including the disciplinary committee that formally reprieved Balogun.

Cristiano Ronaldo was cleared to play in Portugal’s opening World Cup game despite getting a red card for serious foul play in a qualifying game against Ireland last November. He struck an opponent with an elbow.

Ronaldo served his mandatory ban in Portugal’s final qualifying game but he was reprieved from an expected two-game ban because FIFA introduced the idea of probation. An imposed three-game ban was less meaningful as two games were deferred during a one-year probationary period.

At the opening game on June 11, South Africa’s Themba Zwane got a red card against Mexico for a similar offense to Ronaldo’s and FIFA imposed a three-game ban with no probation. Zwane did not play again at the World Cup.

Three players sent off in their teams’ qualifying games last year were surprisingly told by FIFA in May they could serve their bans in a future competition instead of at the World Cup, which was the long-standing norm.

Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo, Argentina defender Nicolás Otamendi and Qatar defender Tarek Salman all had their bans waived for the World Cup.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The missile carried a dummy warhead, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. China last conducted a missile test in the Pacific two years ago, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead, the first since 1980.

The 2024 launch mirrored the testing the United States conducts for its own ballistic missile fleet, which experts viewed as an assertion of China’s growing superpower status.

Monday's launch, at 12:01 p.m. local time, was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and practice and was not directed against any country or target, according to a short statement from Xinhua, which was reposted by the Ministry of Defense.

Australia, Japan and New Zealand express criticism

Beijing's militarization has drawn concerns, and Australia, Japan and New Zealand criticized the launch.

The New Zealand government said it was informed hours beforehand and noted that the missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.

The zone was established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which prohibits nuclear weapons throughout the region. China ratified the protocols in 1987, pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone or threaten to use them against signatories with territory in the region.

“It appears that despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press in a statement.

The launch took place the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense treaty meant to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.

“Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region,” Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Fiji in response to the test.

Japan's Defense Ministry in a statement expressed concern about China’s increasing military activity and urged Beijing to “rethink” its missile testing so that the projectiles would not fly over Japan or pose other security risks.

“China’s military activities, combined with its lack of transparency, have become a grave concern for Japan and the international society,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said in Japan, citing Beijing's military activities around Japan and its increased military spending.

Beijing brushed off the criticism.

“We hope that the relevant countries will avoid overinterpretation,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said while the U.S. was “working harder than ever” to prevent nuclear proliferation, China was doing the opposite.

“Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world,” he said.

He added the U.S. will continue to urge Beijing to engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularized notification arrangement for intercontinental ballistic missile and space launches.

Expert says it's a signal to the United States

The concern is a result of a lack of clear information, said Drew Thompson, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore: “China’s military modernization and buildup have occurred without concurrent increases in openness and transparency, resulting in uncertainty about China’s intentions."

Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the launch was the first publicly acknowledged test with a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese navy to travel this far into the Pacific.

Morris said it is noteworthy that the information available shows Japan, New Zealand and Australia received notifications in advance, but not the U.S.

The test was a signal to the U.S., he said: “The announcement demonstrates that China’s nuclear deterrent is no longer centered solely on land-based missiles."

China maintains a “no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, but is also actively pursuing nuclear technology and weaponry as part of its long-term strategy to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.

China has a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines and 59 nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank.

In its latest report to Congress on China’s military capabilities, released in late 2025, the Pentagon said China had an estimated stockpile of around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024, adding that the PLA remains on track to field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.

___

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Japan, E. Eduardo Castillo in Bangkok and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Hours before kickoff Monday, FIFA dismissed Belgium's challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. U.S. forward Folarin Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from the match after receiving a red card last week, but FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

Despite Balogun's start in Seattle, the U.S. lost 4-1 to Belgium.

Here’s a deeper look at the controversy.

Why Balogun and the red card mattered

Born in New York to Nigerian parents, raised in London, and playing in the French league, Balogun's birthright citizenship made him eligible for the U.S.

Securing his commitment to play on the American team was a coup and it had paid off; the 25-year-old led the team's World Cup scoring with three goals.

All was well until Wednesday when he stepped on opponent Tarik Muharemović's ankle in a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32.

The decision to send off Balogun was disputed — his movement seemed clumsy but not malicious. But once a referee decides to issue a red card, the punishment is usually straightforward: The player is excluded from the rest of the game and — until now, at least — a suspension for the next game is automatic.

If the ban had stayed in place, replacing Balogun in the lineup posed a big challenge for coach Mauricio Pochettino.

The U.S. had plenty of attacking players in wider or deeper roles, but few with the combination of physical power and goal-scoring ability for the center-forward role that the rest of the offense focuses around. Likely replacement Ricardo Pepi hadn't scored in four World Cup games.

FIFA's explanation and what it didn't say

There is typically no appeals process against the automatic one-game ban, only for longer sanctions usually applied to the most serious fouls like violent conduct or racism.

In its decision to let Balogun play against Belgium, FIFA cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says a “judicial body” can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” Balogun could yet get that one-game suspension on top of any future punishment if he commits a similar offense again in the next year.

In a statement Monday, FIFA's disciplinary committee gave more details on its decision. It said it found Balogun guilty of two breaches of its disciplinary code: one related to the red card and another for celebrating with his teammates on the field after the Bosnia match despite having been ejected. It imposed a fine of $40,000 but suspended the automatic one-match ban for a probationary period of one year.

“The sanction remains dormant during the probationary period and will only be activated if he commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during that one-year period,” the committee said.

Infantino insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.” Article 27 doesn't lay out any requirements for which cases are eligible under the rarely used rule.

Last year, FIFA suspended two games of a three-game ban for one of soccer's biggest-ever stars, Cristiano Ronaldo. That left him free to play in the opening games of the World Cup for Portugal. He did serve the remaining one game ban in a qualifier.

Balogun's case seems to be the first since 1962 in which a sending-off during a World Cup match didn’t result in a suspension. On that occasion, the president of host nation Chile argued for Brazilian midfielder Garrincha to be allowed to play the final after he had kicked a Chilean opponent.

How Trump got involved in ‘great injustice’

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said Sunday on social media after Balogun's suspension was lifted. On Monday, Trump defended his outreach to Infantino, saying he merely pointed out that the referee's call against Balogun seemed like a bad one and warranted a closer look.

Infantino and Trump have developed a well-known relationship. The Swiss soccer official became a regular visitor to the Oval Office as the U.S. prepared to host the World Cup. He gave Trump a FIFA peace prize at the World Cup draw in December, an award the organization hasn't presented to anyone else before or since.

FIFA’s statutes prohibit governments from intervening in the independence of soccer bodies managing their own affairs. FIFA regularly suspends member federations where governments have interfered in decision-making.

Pochettino, the U.S. coach, applauded FIFA’s move Sunday and said the initial on-field ruling against Balogun was “completely unfair.”

Backlash from Belgium over FIFA decision

The Belgian soccer federation said it was “astonished” when the news of FIFA's intervention broke. Coach Rudi Garcia likened the decision to April Fools' Day.

On Monday afternoon, a FIFA appeals judge dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge fewer than eight hours before kickoff. The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA’s disciplinary code says suspensions of two games or less typically can’t be appealed — though that would generally apply to teams wanting a suspension lifted, not reimposed.

As Europe woke to the news Monday, the Instagram account of Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever's cat, Maximus — a social media celebrity in his own right — weighed in with a picture captioned: “Red card? I'm still going to play!”

Other prominent soccer voices weigh in

European soccer body UEFA criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” and warned “the integrity of the game is at stake.”

In an apparent response to UEFA’s criticism, FIFA’s disciplinary committee said “reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game.”

Norway coach Ståle Solbakken weighed in after his team stunned Brazil on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” he said. “Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away?”

Former England great Wayne Rooney said on the BBC: “Infantino, he should be ashamed of this because I think the sportsmanship of this game is in question here.”

Ex-Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimović was a prominent voice welcoming the decision.

“First of all, he should not get a red card and then they should have come quicker, this call,” Ibrahimovic said on Fox Sports. “I’m happy for the U.S. team because the U.S. team has been amazing but Balo has been super-amazing.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel predicted this could set off a flood of complaints and appeals over other on-field decisions affecting key players at the World Cup.

“Where to draw the line is the question that I ask,” he said after England beat Mexico 3-2 for a quarterfinal spot.

“Our yellow card from the first minute against Declan Rice, we can now debate endlessly. I think it's not a yellow card. Do we get this back?”

___

AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

• HOT, BUT AVERAGE: Daytime temps slowly climb, upper-90s by Wednesday
• WEEKEND RAIN CHANCE: Deeper moisture ups rain chances by Saturday

FORECAST

While it’s mostly been quiet around San Antonio, there was a decent amount of rain west and in the Hill Country. Check out rainfall estimates:

TOMORROW

Sunny & toasty! Highs will be in the mid- to upper-90s. Just a degree or so above average.

THIS WEEK

Daytime temperatures will slowly climb, peaking Wednesday and Thursday, with highs in the upper-90s.

MORE RAIN CHANCES?

A surge of moisture arriving from the Gulf on Friday should at the very least give us more cloud cover. But, downpours, some heavy, should also arrive with this airmass. As of now, our best chance for downpours will be on Saturday (30%).

QUICK WEATHER LINKS

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

All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv’s need for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.

Fifteen people were killed in the capital of Kyiv, which was Russia's main target, and 56 were injured, according to administrative head Tymur Tkachenko. Another seven people were killed in the wider Kyiv region and 29 were injured, according to Ukraine's emergency service.

Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of residential high-rises in two locations that suffered direct hits.

Moscow has stepped up attacks on Kyiv in retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Those Ukrainian attacks have caused severe fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 people in Kyiv, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.

Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say, striking supply routes behind the front line, stripping the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and slowing its advance.

But Russia now is exploiting vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the Patriot missile systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of Patriot interceptors — a shortage now felt keenly in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy notes gaps in stopping ballistic missiles

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.

“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”

Ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise missiles but not against ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on insufficient supplies of interceptors. He urged U.S. and European partners at the summit to bolster Ukraine’s air defense and protect civilians.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he said on X following the attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry said any increase in the supply of drones, missiles and ammunition produced in the West "will not go unnoticed and will be countered by a corresponding increase in the number and power of retaliatory strikes by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory.”

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia is deliberately ramping up ballistic missile attacks on a scale unseen before, exploiting the acute shortage of Patriot interceptors. “Fewer such missiles are produced worldwide each month than the enemy fires at Ukraine in that same period,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities repairing air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the capital and surrounding region. The claims could not be independently verified.

Russia’s attacks have repeatedly hit civilian areas. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.

“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives,” Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.

A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he said. In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be buried in the rubble.

In Kyiv's suburb of Vyshneve, about 600 residents were evacuated due to the risk of unexploded munitions, Ukraine's Emergency Service said.

Witnesses recount their harrowing escapes

Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, said she began screaming after the first strike, which was followed by a second blast that blew out the windows in her apartment building.

The lights went out, a burning smell filled the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she said.

“When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there,” Piatetska said. “When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire.”

Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she was awakened by the first strike about 2 a.m. Moments later, her apartment building began collapsing around her.

“Everything was falling down,” she said. Water poured through the building as smoke filled the air while emergency crews rushed to evacuate residents.

About five minutes after the initial impact, a second strike hit, she said.

Ukrainian strikes reach from Russian-held Crimea to Siberia

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 613 of 625 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine’s military said its Special Operations Forces struck the Omsk oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from Ukraine’s border. That appeared to be the farthest oil refinery in Russia's east that Ukraine has ever struck, and added to a long list of key refineries hit in recent months.

Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed a Ukrainian attack on the refinery in a Telegram post but provided no details, saying only that “most of the drones” targeting the facility were destroyed and that there were no casualties.

The Omsk refinery is Russia’s largest, boasting a capacity of around 460,000 barrels a day, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence. As of the end of June, it was producing close to capacity, accounting for 12% of all Russian refining output, Peach said.

“Depending on the extent of the damage, a sustained outage of even part of Omsk’s capacity will exacerbate Russia’s woes on the domestic fuel market and make the need to find import replacements even more urgent,” he said.

Russia has been grappling with a widespread fuel crisis from Ukraine’s repeated strikes on refineries and other infrastructure inside the country. Gasoline shortages and fuel rationing have been reported in multiple regions, with drivers waiting for hours to fill their tanks.

In Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, an energy provider reported a blackout across the peninsula following Ukrainian attacks early Monday. The Moscow-appointed head of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the attacks cut power that was restored with backup equipment.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it struck several Russian energy and military facilities used to supply Russia’s armed forces with fuel and support its war efforts.

In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, two people were wounded in an attack in which over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed, according to regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev. He didn’t say if any facilities were damaged, but the Astra online news outlet said they caused a fire at an oil refinery.

Ukrainian drone attack on the Leningrad region north of Moscow damaged unspecified infrastructure at the Luga training ground, as well as in the areas of Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.

___ Associated Press writers Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Susie Blann in London contributed.

___

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

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said when asked about it during an unrelated Oval Office event. “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’”

Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for a second look at the punishment against Balogun in the United States’ 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. But he said FIFA made the final call to lift Balogun’s mandatory one-game ban for a foul tackle, allowing him to play in Monday’s round of 16 match with Belgium in Seattle.

FIFA’s decision to suspend the one-game ban was celebrated by many in the United States but brought condemnation in the international sports world, where some called it an outrageous intrusion. The Belgian soccer federation challenged Balogun's eligibility for Monday's match, and the UEFA soccer body in Europe called FIFA's move “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Belgium ended up winning 4-1, eliminating the U.S. team from the tournament.

Trump criticizes the referee's red card call

In remarks Monday, Trump called the referee's decision a “horrible” call. He said it would have been a stain on the tournament if Balogun, the U.S.' leading scorer at this year's World Cup with three goals, was held out against Belgium and the U.S. lost. He praised FIFA for suspending the punishment.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

The Republican president, who said he understands sports “really well,” acknowledged that he did not initially know what a red card is or the consequences it brings. When he learned it would lead to a one-game suspension for Balogun, he said, he decided to step in. He also took issue with the use of video review to issue the red card, arguing that slowed-down reviews can make plays look more aggressive.

“Belgium has got a great team,” Trump said. “We have to have our best players, and they have to have their best. And if we win or we lose, it’s fair.”

FIFA president defends the decision process

Soon after Trump addressed the controversy, Infantino issued a statement detailing his call with Trump and defending the independence of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” Infantino said in a statement on X. “That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold."

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who joined Trump at the White House event, credited the president for taking action. "On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” Cruz said during his remarks. “It was spectacular.”

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was the right decision to lift the punishment for Balogun.

In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile’s foreign minister, Rubio questioned why Belgium would want to win a match “if everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best, or their leading, scorer was not on the pitch.”

He joked that it was becoming an “international incident” ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey this week.

Trump also blamed the referee. Brazil's soccer federation defended him

Trump took a swipe at the official who made the call, describing Brazilian referee Raphael Claus as “a little bit suspect if you check his past.” He did not elaborate.

Claus has been considered one of Brazil’s best referees in the last few years, often picked to officiate the nation’s most important matches, including the final of the 2024 Copa America.

During a match-fixing investigation by Brazil’s Senate in 2024, lawmakers scrutinized referee assignment practices but did not accuse Claus of wrongdoing.

On Monday, the Brazilian soccer federation defended Claus as one of the world’s leading active referees, praising his technical expertise and ethics. “There is nothing in his record that calls his integrity into question or supports any suspicion of wrongdoing,” the federation said in a statement.

The Sao Paulo Football Federation in a statement expressed “its unwavering support” for Claus in the face of “regrettable insinuations that attempt, without any basis, to cast doubt on his integrity and professional career.”

How did Balogun get the red card?

The foul against Balogun was called after he planted his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during their round of 32 match. The referee didn’t initially signal a card, but a slow-motion review resulted in the red card.

Balogun later said he thought a yellow card, a formal warning, would have been fair.

FIFA's decision drew quick rebuke Sunday from Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, who said it sounded like an April Fools' Day joke. Meanwhile U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino applauded FIFA’s move, saying his team was punished enough by losing Balogun for the remainder of last week's game.

As the drama played out on the pitch last week, it was immediately clear from the perspective of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House FIFA Task Force leader Andrew Giuliani and Trump administration officials that the process used to issue the red card to Balogun was improper.

Discussions over the red card and what to do about it dominated the flight from Santa Clara back to Washington. The consensus of the group, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the talks, was simply: that the slow-motion replay was improper, so shouldn’t the red card be nullified?

The next day, Trump officials continued to dig into the rules, consult lawyers and speak with U.S. Soccer about the matter, according to the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Trump was also briefed on updates as he prepared to speak with Infantino, whom the U.S. president has talked with multiple times a week since the World Cup, which is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, began June 11.

___

Kim reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press photographer Manny Ceneta contributed from Washington. Associated Press writer Eléonore Hughes contributed from Rio de Janeiro and writer Tales Azzoni contributed from Madrid.

On Monday, on the first day, he tried to give it something else to look at.

Three days after Swift married NFL star Travis Kelce at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with both dressed by Dior, Anderson returned to the runway with a sculptural, heavily pleated haute couture collection inspired by American artist Lynda Benglis.

The commission was a coup for the LVMH-owned house and for Anderson, the 41-year-old Northern Irish designer appointed a year ago to overhaul all of Dior’s fashion lines.

For months, industry watchers had bet on American names, such as Ralph Lauren, or on Vivienne Westwood, whom Swift wears often.

The one dress the world wanted to see was the one Anderson would not show.

So on Monday he changed the subject — to art.

Poured, not sewn

The collection tried to move the conversation from Swift’s hidden gown to the work of Benglis, known since the late 1960s for pouring latex onto gallery floors and letting metal fold and sag into shape.

Dior workrooms were treated as a version of her studio — a place where flat fabric is pressed, knotted and bent into three dimensions.

Benglis bends flat material into shape; so, in the end, does couture.

The clothes followed that idea. A skirt of silver-foiled petals moved with each step.

A strapless silver lamé gown was cinched with an oversized bow. Trousers and blouses were finished in tight hand-pressed pleats.

Dior’s signature Bar jacket, the nipped-waist shape the house has built on since 1947, was remade several ways: in fern-green tweed with a frayed fringe, in gray houndstooth folded into a giant bow, and once with loose chiffon threads left hanging at the hem.

Other looks were built entirely from embroidered silk flowers.

A wide fan of blue tulle was splayed across the front of one dress.

Handbags came in metallic pleats — four of them designed with Benglis herself.

Fans out, stars in

France was in another heat wave, with temperatures above 30 Celsius (86 F).

Dior had sent fans with its invitations, and guests used them through the show in the gardens of the Rodin Museum.

The front row mixed pop stars with artists.

Singer Sabrina Carpenter and actor Josh O’Connor sat among guests including Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas, Naomi Watts, Rebecca Ferguson and Alexa Chung.

Despite the razzmatazz, Anderson's wager is plain: that the world’s most storied fashion house can afford to be strange.

He is often compared to Matthieu Blazy, the new designer at rival Chanel, who made the wedding dress for singer Dua Lipa this month.

The season now carries a peculiar distinction: Its two biggest stories are dresses no one is allowed to see.

The bride you can’t see

As couture tradition dictates, the show closed with a bride.

Anderson sent out a pale, strapless column gown under a long veil of hand-pleated chiffon, trimmed with feathered dandelions and embroidered cactus flowers.

It was the second wedding dress Anderson showcased this week — and the only one anyone could photograph.

King Charles III’s estranged son arrived Monday in the land of his birth for a series of charity engagements. But for most royal watchers that’s just background noise.

For the past 10 days, British tabloids and news broadcasts have been filled with speculation about whether Harry’s wife, Meghan, will accompany him and, more importantly, whether they will bring their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, so they can finally get to know Grandpa Charles. But everything is up in the air as Harry seeks to arrange protection for his family after a government committee refused to authorize taxpayer-funded security.

“With just days to go until Harry’s first public engagement in the UK on Tuesday … very little is guaranteed at all,” the Times of London reported on Saturday. “For Archie and Lilibet to meet the king, it’s now or never,’’ wrote the Telegraph.

The kids' trip hinges on adequate security measures

Harry, a British army veteran who served in Afghanistan, is visiting to attend events ahead of the next Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style competition he founded to motivate and inspire military veterans around the world as they work to overcome battlefield injuries. The games will be held in Birmingham next year.

Not on the official schedule but very much in the media spotlight is a decision Tuesday at the High Court in London, where the judge will reveal his verdict in Harry’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

The decision about whether to bring the children, according to reports based on off-the-record briefings and unidentified people close to the royals, hinges on whether the U.K. government agrees to provide security for Harry and his family. It is an issue that has hung over every trip the prince has made to Britain since he and Meghan decamped to North America six years ago.

British authorities say Harry isn’t entitled to blanket protection because he is no longer a working member of the royal family and they will assess his security on a case-by-case basis, just like any other celebrity. Harry says it is unsafe for his children to travel to Britain without protection because his family remains a target simply by virtue of their royal status.

The decision rests with a government committee known as Ravec that rules on who should get state-funded protection.

The outcome could be problematic for the royal family, which is trying to show that it provides value for money after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“In the paranoid atmosphere of waiting for more Andrew shoes to drop, Ravec and the royals themselves are terrified of public blowback if taxpayers are asked to fund protection for the House of Sussex,’’ royal commentator Tina Brown wrote on X. “The issue is not a hill that either the king or the government wants to die on, and who can blame them?’’

Harry wants his children to get to know their grandfather

After initial reports that Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, would visit the U.K., plans began to wobble after the Daily Telegraph reported that Ravec had again rejected Harry’s request for protection.

The Times of London reported that Harry was “distraught” after the decision and told friends he wouldn’t let his children be “chased by paparazzi” through the streets of London.

By Sunday, it was clear the family wouldn’t accompany Harry when he arrived in the capital, though there was still a chance they would join him later in the trip.

Then on Monday, plans for the prince's accommodation fell into disarray. First, there were reports that Harry would stay at Buckingham Palace while he was in London, but within an hour, it became clear that the palace was not an option. At least for now.

Nonetheless, Harry has said that he wants to reconcile with his 77-year-old father, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. And he really wants his children, who first met the monarch during celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, to spend time with their grandfather now that they are old enough to remember the experience.

Harry's relations with the palace have been tense

Tensions within the House of Windsor have heightened ever since Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California to pursue lucrative media deals, free from the pressures of royal life in London.

They reached a new low after Harry published an explosive memoir that included unflattering depictions of the royal family and damning allegations of a toxic relationship between the monarchy and the press.

Harry’s description of royals leaking information about other family members in exchange for positive coverage of themselves is just one of the tawdry allegations in his book, “Spare.” The prince was especially scathing about Queen Camilla, accusing her of feeding private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after her longtime affair with Charles when he was heir to the throne.

After losing a court battle over the security issue last year, Harry said he hoped to rebuild relations with his family, even as he suggested that the royals had sought to prevent him from receiving police protection to punish him for walking away from royal duties.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

The parasite is Cyclospora cayetanensis, which is microscopic, but the infection’s symptoms can be more obvious.

The infection spreads when people ingest contaminated food or water.

Produce has been linked to many of the reported cases, the CDC said.

The CDC said Cyclospora can contaminate fruits, vegetables and water through human fecal matter.

Infection begins when contaminated produce or water is swallowed.

The CDC is reporting at least 145 cases in 17 states, including Texas. No deaths have been reported, but 20 people have been hospitalized.

San Antonio Metro Health said it is aware of the outbreak, but no cases have been reported in San Antonio at this time. There is no evidence yet of a common link connecting the confirmed cases, according to health officials.

Health officials said the outbreak is a reminder to take the following precautions:

• Wash produce before eating, cutting or cooking
• Wash hands with soap and water before and after handling raw fruits and vegetables. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer does not work.
• Avoid swallowing water during recreation, including at splash pads.

Metro Health also said people with diarrhea should avoid public pools.

The most common symptom is severe diarrhea, described as profuse or explosive. Other symptoms can include stomach cramps, bloating, increased gas and nausea.

Many people with healthy immune systems recover without treatment, but the infection can last from a few days to a month or longer, according to the CDC.

If you are concerned, talk with your doctor about possible treatment options.

Read also:

• What we know about the flu outbreak at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland

Justice Samuel Alito, in a pair of one-sentence orders, denied petitions by plaintiffs who claim that the Texas App Store Accountability Act violates users’ constitutional rights to free speech.

Last month, a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law can take effect. The panel suspended a district court’s ruling last December that the law is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs suing to block the law include the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is a defendant in both cases.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that the law impermissibly seeks to limit access to content protected by the First Amendment, including news and educational material.

“Equity and the public interest support relief because protecting First Amendment rights — and parents’ rights to supervise their children as they see fit, not as the government tells them they should — is always in the public interest,” wrote attorneys for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas.

Attorneys from Paxton’s office argued that the law protects children from “dangerous modern products.”

“A child with access to an app store and a mobile device (such as a tablet or smartphone) can potentially download any number of software applications, potentially agreeing to invasions of the child’s privacy and sale of the child’s data and be exposed to any conceivable content without parental consent or even parental knowledge,” they wrote.

The latest victim of that violence is Ana Rennie, 55, who her family said was an adored mother.

Her family told KSAT she was a skilled surgical technician at North Central Baptist, and loved her four children and eight grandchildren.

Rennie’s life ended tragically Friday, July 3, when the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said she was killed in a murder-suicide.

Her husband of three years, Robert James Rennie, shot and killed her, then turned the gun on himself.

Her family said there were red flags of abuse in the relationship.

“Domestic violence abusers are masters at getting in the head of a victim and manipulating them and making them believe that, ‘Look, you can never leave me. You can never lead this life. If you leave ... Your life’s gonna be a failure,’” Salazar said.

Salazar confirmed online records that show Robert Rennie was charged in 2025 with assaulting and injuring a family member.

Bexar County further confirmed that on Sept. 19, 2025, at approximately 9:47 p.m., deputies arrived at the house and concluded that Robert Rennie assaulted Ana Rennie by twisting her arm during a verbal argument, and he was taken into custody for assault. At the time, Ana Rennie did not want to pursue criminal charges against him.

Salazar confirmed that the case was dismissed due to a missing witness.

That situation is something experts said is extremely common in dangerous, abusive relationships, where threats keep a survivor from cooperating with law enforcement, even if they want to.

It was the same story with the Stone Oak shooter from the murder-suicide on June 19.

The San Antonio Police Department said Albert Richter killed his wife Brianna Richter and shot an officer before turning the gun on himself.

Albert Richter had family violence charges dropped before the shooting also because of a missing witness.

“This is an escalating crime that will continue to escalate until such time as somebody loses their life, as we’ve seen in so many cases,” Salazar said.

Salazar and other advocates want survivors to know there are resources to help them get out safely, no matter how dangerous the situation is.

KSAT created a list of resources on its Domestic Violence webpage, which also explains how to identify different types of abuse.

If it’s an emergency, text or call 911. For wrap-around services, including the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter, call Family Violence Prevention Services at (210) 733-8810.

You can also contact the Bexar County Family Justice Center, which also provides wrap-around services at (210) 631-0100.

Read also:

• Bexar County to consider first crisis nursery program in Texas

Evaniel Johnson said he is waiting to see if video footage supports the police narrative that his 20-year-old grandson, Tyrin Johnson, turned toward U.S. guard members with a gun while running from them early Sunday. Memphis police say the guard members were responding to a report of gunfire.

The National Guard members had been assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis created last year by President Donald Trump, who has sent troops and federal agents to Democratic-run cities he described as crime-ridden.

“Show me the video,” Evaniel Johnson told The Associated Press. “Please show me that — and then I’m OK. Until you show me that, I’m gonna fight and advocate for my grandson until there’s no breath in me.”

Johnson, a former correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office in Nashville, disputes that his grandson would have tried to fire a gun at U.S. guard members and that deadly force would be needed if he was running away. His grandson, he said, was “no hoodlum.”

According to his grandfather, Tyrin Johnson carried a gun for protection after being “jumped” recently in Nashville and was likely wary about being attacked again over a murky social media feud.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it is reviewing the shooting and that two guard members fired their weapons. Johnson’s family says they were told by the TBI that he was shot twice in the chest. The Memphis Police Department declined to comment on what footage existed and when it would be released.

The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the two members involved in the shooting had been placed on leave.

Democrats call for a transparent investigation

Tennessee Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari and Chairwoman London Lamar, both of Memphis, issued joint statement expressing their sympathy and emphasizing the need for transparency during the investigation. They asked the TBI to release any available video as soon as it is possible to do so without jeopardizing the investigation.

“Transparency serves everyone — the Johnson family, the members of the National Guard involved, and a community that deserves confidence in the outcome, whatever the facts ultimately show,” they wrote.

State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat running for the U.S. House, echoed the call for a transparent investigation and demanded the disbanding of the federal task force.

“Memphis does not need armed soldiers in our streets terrifying our people,” he said in a statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee also called for the task force to be shut down. “We demand a transparent investigation, not a closed-door ruse that leaves our community in the dark,” the ACLU said in a statement.

Trump's decision to send Tennessee National Guard troops to Memphis to combat crime was met with a mixed response from residents and was the subject of a lawsuit. However, it was never the subject of widespread protests.

TBI data shows that at least three people have died in four shootings by officers tied to the federal task force.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee embraced federal intervention, while Democratic Memphis Mayor Paul Young took a pragmatic approach. Young said he never asked for National Guard troops but recognized they were coming regardless of his opinion.

Evaniel Johnson wishes his grandson stayed home that weekend

Tyrin Johnson did not appear to have a criminal history besides a handful of traffic violations, according to a review of online federal and state court records and Memphis and Nashville courts. In May, he was arrested for failing to appear at a 2025 hearing for driving without a license in Wilson County, just outside Nashville. He bonded out, records show.

He was enrolled in Tennessee State University from August 2023 to May 2024, according to university spokesperson Angel Higgins.

Evaniel Johnson said he had hoped his grandson would return to university and he was training him to take on a bigger role in the family's real estate development business, including lining up a project for him in Nashville to oversee in the coming weeks.

On the Fourth of July, Evaniel Johnson said his family had gathered on his back porch in Nashville to play cards. He wished his grandson had stayed with them. Instead, Tyrin Johnson ended up in Memphis.

“He was down there like all the rest of the people trying to enjoy the Fourth of July,” Johnson said. “His future was buying homes, living life, taking care of his little baby. He had a future. It’s gone now.”

___

Brook reported from New Orleans.

___

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

On Monday afternoon, a FIFA appeals judge dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge fewer than eight hours before kickoff. The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

Trump rang a ceremonial bell Monday as the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq opened, reflecting how much he's counting on the stock market as he promoted the launch of Trump Accounts for children, which Republicans created in their 2025 tax and spending cuts bill.

And Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey, as Kyiv tries to refocus his attention on the conflict with Moscow and as Trump publicly mused about Syria’s role in the Middle East.

The Latest:

Collins calls allegations against her opponent ‘appalling’

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent in the Maine Senate race, reacted to the latest allegations against her Democratic opponent.

“These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate,” Collins said.

A woman who previously dated her opponent, Graham Platner, said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-win race for the party into turmoil.

Collins has served in the Senate since 1997. The seat has been a key one for Democrats, who hope to unseat her in their quest to gain the majority in the Senate.

Senate Democrats' campaign arm says it won’t spend money in Maine if Platner is the nominee

The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out of the Maine Senate race and said it would spend no money in the state if he is the nominee.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

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Balogun is in starting lineup for World Cup match vs Belgium

Folarin Balogun is in the United States’ starting lineup for Monday’s World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium after his red-card suspension was lifted by FIFA in a decision that sparked an uproar across the sport.

Balogun’s red card was assessed for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

Following a phone call from Trump to FIFA’s president, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year, prompting the European governing body UEFA to call the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Belgium’s attempt to have FIFA reinstate the suspension was denied by FIFA’s appeals committee, which said the Belgian federation lacked standing.

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Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters don’t apply to DC pipe bomb suspect, judge rules

Trump’s mass pardons for supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol don’t apply to a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump’s blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the attack on the Capitol.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump’s pardons. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The devices didn’t detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest, telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped.”

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Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements after Maine candidate faces sexual assault allegation

Democrats began pulling their endorsements for Graham Platner after an allegation surfaced that he had forced an on-again-off-again girlfriend to have sex.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who had stood by Platner even as the Senate candidate was hit with prior allegations, said: “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Also dropping their endorsements were Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and the Democratic-leaning political group End Citizens United.

Top leaders inside the Maine Democratic Party also called on Platner to drop out of the race, a seat considered key to Democrats’ efforts to try to secure a majority in the Senate.

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Red card furor puts Trump and Infantino’s relationship under the spotlight again

The relationship between Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, long in the making, is now at the center of one of the great World Cup controversies, sparking anger, disbelief and questions about the integrity of global sport’s biggest tournament.

Trump’s intervention in the lifting of U.S. forward Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension has shone the spotlight on his close ties with Infantino. It has led to furor from Belgium — the U.S. team’s opponent in the round of 16 match on Monday — as European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, accused FIFA of crossing a “red line.”

The highly contentious call comes on the back of Infantino’s campaign to strengthen relations with Trump, the leader of the co-host of the biggest World Cup ever.

FIFA lifts suspension of US star Balogun

FIFA’s stunning decision to lift the suspension of a star U.S. player has riled the host country’s next World Cup opponent, Belgium, and sent soccer fans -- and political leaders -- into a frenzy over the influence President Donald Trump may have had over the extremely rare ruling.

Hours before kickoff, FIFA dismissed Belgium’s challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. That means forward Folarin Balogun is eligible to play on Monday night in Seattle. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, which would be the best U.S. result at a men’s World Cup since 2002.

Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from Monday’s match after receiving a red card last week. But FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

FIFA president says disciplinary committee acted with independence

In its decision to let Balogun play against Belgium, FIFA cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says a “judicial body” can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” Balogun could yet get that one-game suspension on top of any future punishment if he commits a similar offense again in the next year.

While FIFA didn’t elaborate on how it reached its decision, the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.” Article 27 doesn’t lay out any requirements for which cases are eligible under the rarely used rule.

Trump says he’s building a White House helipad for a new, more powerful Marine One

President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers.

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”

The president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image.

Trump tells lunch guests they won’t have to talk to each other while music plays

Trump offered his playlist as he wrapped more than 40 minutes of remarks in Washington, D.C.’s heat that was held shortly after an earlier, lengthy press event in the Oval Office.

“Should we put on a little music, yes?,” he asked. “This way you don’t have to talk to each other. You just have to listen to music.”

“So we’re going to put on a little music, the Trump playlist, OK, and we’ll have a little fun,” Trump said.

“YMCA” began to play as the White House press pool was escorted back indoors.

Rapper Nicki Minaj returns to White House for launch of Trump accounts

Minaj got a shoutout from Trump as he spoke at a Rose Garden luncheon after an earlier event to highlight the accounts.

The musical artist had joined Trump in January for an earlier announcement about the “Trump Accounts” for children born during his second term.

Trump said Monday that Minaj is “great” and “so respected.”

Minaj has described herself as Trump’s “number one fan.”

Rubio also wades into the red card controversy

In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile’s foreign minister, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump by saying “it was the right decision to reverse” Balogun’s penalty.

Rubio acknowledged that “there’s a lot of drama around” the decision. But he mused about why Belgium would want to possibly win a match “if everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best, or their leading scorer was not on the pitch.”

Rubio joked that maybe it was “turning into an international incident” ahead of the NATO leaders summit in Turkey this week.

“Maybe we’ll bring it up at NATO tomorrow or with the Belgians and everybody else,” Rubio told reporters Monday, laughing. “I just hope the match will go on, everyone will be at full strength and the winner will be the winner.”

Trump says Cruz only SCOTUS appointee who would get 100 Senate votes

Calling Sen. Ted Cruz “a friend of mine,” in the Oval Office earlier on Monday, Trump said the Texas Republican was the only potential Supreme Court nominee who could get unanimous approval for the post from the Senate.

Trump talked at length about how the two were “great friends” before they duked it out for the GOP nomination during the 2016 presidential campaign, “but then it came together better than ever before.”

Cruz has been laying the groundwork for a possible run at the presidency again, stumping for Republican candidates in early-voting states including South Carolina. Frequently floated by Trump for a post on the high court, Cruz has said he would decline it, preferring to stay in politics and policy.

Trump says he’s putting ‘a lot of love’ back into the White House

Trump reviewed several of his White House renovation projects at a lunch on the Rose Garden patio for his investment accounts that bear his name for children born during his second term.

He referenced work being done to the columns on the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to the mansion and said he was having layers and layers of paint removed.

Trump also talked about the ballroom he’s building and his decision to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with patio stone.

“We’re putting a lot of love back into the White House,” he said.

Nonprofits and brands navigate this partisan 250th in search of a unifying tone

The United States’ 250th birthday carries ambitions to galvanize Americans behind nationwide community-service drives and patriotic brand launches. Well-known U.S. nonprofits hope to inspire a record-setting level of volunteerism, while major companies such as Walmart and Coca-Cola are sponsoring tributes and selling limited-edition merchandise.

But the private sector’s unifying ambitions have been met with a mixed response, complicated by an uneasy national mood. Fewer Americans see their country as exceptional compared to 10 years ago, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, part of a broad decline in patriotic sentiment. Views of the American flag — a prominent feature of semiquincentennial celebrations — are divided by politics, age and race.

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Hamas dissolves Gaza government, plans power transfer to UN-backed committee

The Hamas militant group said Monday it had dissolved its government in Gaza and is preparing to transfer power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.

Hamas did not say whether it planned to take the crucial step of disarming or handing over security to an international force, but described its decision as evidence of its commitment to Gaza’s reconstruction after years of war.

It was unclear if the move, announced by a lower-level official, would lead to any meaningful change on the ground.

The Board of Peace, led by Trump with the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it would assess the impact of the Hamas announcement based on “actions, not promises” and stressed in a statement on X that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu urges US not to sell F-35s to Turkey

Speaking Monday on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “calls openly for the annihilation of Israel.”

Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. However, Trump, who has warm relations with Erdogan, has hinted ahead of his planned visit to Ankara for the NATO summit that the sales could soon resume.

Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would “upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East.”

Israel’s Air Force depends on hundreds of U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

Trump points to George Washington to justify enriching his family

The president has drawn sharp criticism after financial disclosures showed his family made more than $1 billion in crypto last year.

He says his sons are running the family business, the Trump Organization, while he’s president.

“I don’t talk to them,” Trump said, adding, “I’m allowed to, I think.”

But he also said he doesn’t bother because being president is more important: “This office is a much higher calling.”

Trump also offered a dubious history lesson, suggesting that, as president, George Washington had two desks — one for business matters and another for the presidency.

“He had two desks in the same room,” Trump said. “And so, you’re allowed to. But I choose not to. I don’t talk to my kids about, you know, this stuff.”

“The hardest thing to get is a helipad,” Trump said. “There’s no harder zoning thing to get.”

He added “we’re building a helipad” that will feature the presidential seal and be made of granite.

The plan marks yet another building project for Trump, who has shaped the White House and its grounds in his own image in myriad ways.

Trump questions dangers of TikTok because he’s No. 1 on it

Asked whether SpaceX shares would be donated for use in Trump Accounts, the president instead talked about how TikTok helped him become president again.

Citing a news segment about the social media app’s purported dangers, Trump said he had seen that he is “No. 1 on it,” then questioned how dangerous it could actually be.

“I think it helped me win the election in a landslide, if you want to know the truth,” he said.

As for SpaceX, Trump said he’s “a cheerleader for geniuses” and speaks to many of them, including Elon Musk, who founded the rocketmaking company.

Trump says he called FIFA president to review red card, called it a ‘horrible’ call

Asked about his role in getting Balogun’s red-card penalty suspended, Trump acknowledged calling Infantino and asking that FIFA take a second look.

The president said he didn’t initially know what a red card was or what its consequences were. When he found out that it could keep Balogun out of Monday’s match against Belgium, Trump said he felt compelled to intervene.

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said to press at the White House. “I didn’t think it was a foul,” he added. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed each other and got entangled.”

He said the red card was a “horrible” call, arguing that the slowed-down video review made it look worse than it was.

“That’s very unfair,” he said. “How do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played?

Barbara Schaffer, director of strategic planning, is expected to ask Bexar County Commissioners Court on Tuesday to move forward with developing a crisis nursery program. The proposal would direct county staff to explore procurement options and identify qualified organizations that could operate the program.

The proposal comes after several high-profile cases involving children in Bexar County.

Last year, 13 children in the county died as a result of abuse or neglect. Earlier this year, authorities alleged that Marlene Vidal killed her children while experiencing a mental health crisis. More recently, a murder-suicide linked to domestic violence in Stone Oak left two children without their parents.

Schaffer said those tragedies highlight the need for additional resources to support families before a crisis escalates.

“We are looking at creating a safe haven, 24-hour operation, emergency services for children that need to have a safe place and be in a protected space,” Schaffer said.

A crisis nursery is designed to provide voluntary, short-term care for children while parents or caregivers work through emergencies such as a medical crisis, domestic violence, homelessness, a house fire or other unforeseen circumstances. Unlike foster care, parents would voluntarily place their children in the program while they stabilize their situation and connect with support services.

Schaffer said the proposed program would primarily serve children from birth through age 10, noting that younger children are the most vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

“We see a lot of little ones that get injured, and zero to three is the population that’s most vulnerable,” Schaffer said. “We lost 13 kids to child abuse and neglect last year, and so we’re hoping that if we can create that safe space, that can prevent a lot of injury or trauma or just safety for children in our community.”

If approved, the county would begin identifying organizations qualified to operate the program and determine the best procurement process before bringing recommendations back to Commissioners Court.

Schaffer said similar crisis nursery programs operate in other states, but Texas does not currently have one. If established, the Bexar County program would be the first of its kind in the state.

“I hope to move as fast as possible,” Schaffer said. “This has been talked about in our community for several years. It’s been on my plate for almost a decade, and I think it’s paramount in safety of children.”

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic violence, there is 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 theBexar County Family Justice Center, which also provides wrap-around services at (210) 631-0100.

Read also:

• Stone Oak murder-suicide highlights dangers of leaving abusive relationships, advocates say
• Survey reveals shortfalls in protective order systems across Texas counties

Prosecutors are seeking to convince a state judge this week that they have enough evidence against 23-year-old Tyler Robinson to proceed to a trial.

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus last September. Kirk’s parents and widow, Erika Kirk, were in the courtroom for the first time, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son.

The hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence in the case so far. After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed.

The preliminary hearing is set to continue Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Here's the latest:

Prosecutors will try again to introduce surveillance video in Kirk assassination

Prosecutors say they will try again on Tuesday to reintroduce surveillance video compiled from Utah Valley University on the day of Charlie Kirk’s shooting. A state judge initially blocked the footage.

An investigator from the state said the video showed defendant Tyler Robinson on the campus both before and after the shooting. But because the video had been altered with markings and by zooming in, Judge Tony Graf sided with defense attorneys who said it should not be allowed.

Prosecutors say they will remove the alterations before the five-day preliminary hearing resumes Tuesday.

Graf is considering whether Robinson’s case should proceed to trial. The 23-year-old Utah man is charged with aggravated murder, and prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

No major reveals in first day of Kirk murder case hearing

There were no major revelations on Monday in what’s scheduled to be a weeklong hearing to determine if defendant Tyler Robinson should stand trial in last year’s assassination of activist Charlie Kirk.

Prosecutors presented testimony from a former officer who said he found a “sniper pad” on the roof of a nearby building. They also submitted several videos of Kirk being shot, but those were not shown publicly because of their graphic nature.

Erika Kirk leaves Utah courthouse

Charlie Kirk’s widow has left the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo.

Erika Kirk, along with Charlie Kirk’s parents, attended the preliminary hearing of the man accused of shooting her husband.

She walked straight to her car flanked by security and did not stop to speak to media.

Court ends for the day

Shortly after the break, prosecutors requested that court end for the day. They said they wanted to spend the evening preparing a copy of a video that they want to introduce into evidence.

They plan to try to introduce a copy of a video that doesn’t have added markings, including a blur and a circle. Earlier during the hearing, State District Judge Tony Graf declined to admit a video into evidence, in part because it had been altered.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team says they don’t mind ending 15 minutes earlier than planned.

The preliminary hearing will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Judge orders 10-minute break

The judge announced the unscheduled break shortly after attorneys on both sides approached the judge’s bench so they could discuss something in private.

Doorbell video shows shooting suspect’s car, investigator says

Prosecutors have played a series of video clips taken from a Utah resident’s doorbell camera.

The clips showed a vehicle parking across the street from the home with the camera, a person leaving the vehicle, and then a person returning to the vehicle before it drives away.

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull says investigators believe the camera captured Tyler Robinson and his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Judge rejects a video exhibit for now

State District Judge Tony Graf says he won’t admit a video exhibit after the defense team raised concerns that it had been altered and there was no one to talk about exactly what was changed.

The video in question appears to consist of a variety of clips taken from different sources.

It’s possible the video could still be admitted later, but the prosecution team would likely have to have a witness explain exactly how it was created and where the clips originated.

Attorneys debate over whether the shooting suspect can be pointed out in court

When Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill asked Hull to look around the courtroom and point out the suspect he identified during his investigation, the defense team objected.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester told the judge that would amount to “unduly suggestive in-court identification,” violating Tyler Robinson’s constitutional rights.

Nester said there is a lot of case law that says asking a witness to identify a defendant in a courtroom — particularly when that defendant is the only person sitting at the table with defense attorneys — is unduly suggestive, essentially tainting the identification.

The judge called attorneys on both sides up to the bench to privately discuss the matter. When the discussion was over, the judge said the court record will show that Robinson was identified.

Investigator describes the search for a suspect

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull says his primary focus on Sept. 10 was to identify the person who had been seen on the roof at Utah Valley University.

Investigators reviewed hundreds of hours of video, including university surveillance footage, to try to track the suspect’s movements both before and after the shooting, he said.

Investigators also interviewed people in hopes of identifying the person who jumped off the roof, Hull said.

Washington County officials later contacted investigators to report that an individual had come forward with Tyler Robinson’s name, Hull said.

Court is back in session

Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing is underway again after a 15-minute afternoon break.

Much of the past hour has been spent with prosecutors introducing evidence collected by state investigators in the first hours and days after Charlie Kirk was shot, including videos and written statements.

Before the break, former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull described how Kirk’s team loaded him into a vehicle and rushed him to a hospital immediately after the shooting.

Kirk was declared dead at the hospital, and a medical examiner was called in to conduct an autopsy, Hull said.

Court takes an afternoon break

State District Judge Tony Graf has placed the hearing on a 15-minute afternoon break.

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull will return to the witness stand after the break.

Judge weighs whether to ‘publish’ evidence

State District Judge Tony Graf is considering several things when deciding whether graphic videos of the shooting and other evidence should be “published,” a legal term that means shown in court.

In some cases, he has found that videos can be shown in court and on the livestream of the hearing. In other cases, he is allowing video to be introduced as evidence but says it can’t be shown in the courtroom or on the livestream.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team has argued that some of the videos may have been altered, with clips taken from longer videos. They’ve also said some evidence may violate Robinson’s due process rights in part because the people who made or edited the videos aren’t in court to testify.

But the prosecution team has generally taken the stance that the records are public and should be published in court. In some cases, they have asked that redacted versions be published.

An attorney for the press has argued that the public has the right to see the exhibits, since they will be used by the court to decide whether the case proceeds.

The judge is also considering whether some of the video or written evidence is so prejudicial that it would make it hard to find impartial jurors if the case goes to trial.

Judge allows statement verifying video of event from woman who isn’t in court

David Sturgill with the Utah County Attorney’s Office is asking former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull to describe the evidence he collected during the shooting investigation.

Hull says phone tips from members of the public poured in, along with many cellphone videos of the shooting taken by people who attended the event. Prosecutors want to present some of those videos, including one from a woman who also wrote a statement confirming she took it.

But defense attorney Kathryn Nester has objected to the video and the written statement, saying they shouldn’t be admitted in part because the woman isn’t present in court to testify about them. It’s difficult for the court to assess a witness’s reliability when the witness isn’t there to be cross-examined, Nester says.

State District Judge Tony Graf says the evidence is allowable under a rule governing “reliable hearsay.”

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The spelling of David Hull's last name has been corrected

Officer’s body camera battery apparently died shortly after the shooting

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley about security plans, body camera footage and any evidence found on the day Charlie Kirk was shot.

Bagley said he wasn’t given any tactical or operational plans before the event.

After the shooting, Bagley looked on the roof of the Losee building, but says he didn’t find any spent casings at that point. His body camera stopped recording while he was on the roof.

“I think my battery died. I don’t know,” Bagley says. He didn’t go back to the roof once his body camera was charged because it was too chaotic, he said.

He has about 27 minutes of body camera footage from that day, Bagley said.

State investigator describes leading the investigation into Kirk’s shooting

Hull, who now works for the Utah Department of Public Safety, says he investigated major crimes when he worked for the State Bureau of Investigation.

He explained how SBI helps other law enforcement agencies process crime scenes and investigate after serious incidents.

Hull says he wasn’t familiar with Charlie Kirk or Utah Valley University before he was asked to help with the shooting investigation. He was eventually tasked with leading the investigation.

Utah state investigator takes the stand

Former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley is done testifying.

David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent, is called to the stand.

Preliminary hearing resumes after lunch break

Court is back in session for Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing after an hourlong lunch break.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is expected to continue her cross-examination of former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley.

Members of the press are camped outside the courthouse

Television crews, photographers and writers are camped outside the Fourth Judicial District Courthouse in Provo, Utah.

Seats inside the courtroom are limited, so many members of the press are covering Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing from the sidewalks outside. They’re watching the building entrances to see who is coming and going, hoping for any opportunity to interview those involved with the case.

Security is tight, and surveillance teams can be seen on rooftops. A drone buzzes overhead occasionally.

Charlie Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, are at the hearing today. So is Donald Trump Jr. and far-right influencer Jack Posobiec.

Robinson’s parents have also been attending the hearing.

The court breaks for lunch

The judge has called a break for lunch. Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing will resume after the hourlong break.

Utah is an ‘open carry’ gun law state

Utah is an open carry state, former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley told defense attorney Kathryn Nester.

Utah state laws allow adults to carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit, though there are restrictions for people ages 18 to 20.

There are some exceptions at public colleges, however. Utah Valley University says it follows state law and allows gun owners to carry a concealed firearm if they have a permit.

Nester is questioning Bagley about the report he wrote after the shooting, including his observation about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled.

Bagley acknowledged that he never took custody of the holster and doesn’t know if it was ever fingerprinted.

Defense begins cross-examination of former university officer

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is cross-examining former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley.

She asked Bagley if he ever attended a meeting to discuss how officers would keep people safe on the day of the shooting. Bagley said he did not.

Bagley said there were six officers working that day. Thousands of people attended the event.

There were no metal detectors being used to screen the crowd, and no drones being used for security, Bagley said.

He also said there were no law enforcement officers on the roof, stairway or walkway when he arrived to work that day.

Officer describes seeing a ‘sniper pad’ disturbance in gravel rooftop

Former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley says he saw a disturbance in the gravel rooftop of the Losee building that looked like a “sniper pad,” where someone might have been lying in a position that would allow them to shoot a weapon.

The disturbance included spots that looked like they were made by two elbows and two knees, as well as a spot where someone might have laid a gun down. Bagley says he put police tape around the scene to keep people from going near it.

He then realized that they probably did not have a shooter in custody, Bagley said, and so called to have the building searched and secured.

Bagley also went to watch some surveillance video, which showed an individual run to the edge of the roof and drop down. He found a shoe print in the grass on the north-east side of the building, he said.

Preliminary hearing resumes after break

Court is back in session after a 15-minute break. Judge Tony Graf is talking to attorneys about how exhibits are being handled in court.

Charlie Kirk’s parents and widow left the courtroom before the shooting was described

The three of them walked out of the courtroom about a minute after former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus the day he was shot.

Kirk’s mother, Kathryn Kirk, clutched a pocket-sized packet of tissues. She had been listening to the proceedings with her head bowed and eyes closed. Widow Erika Kirk had been leaning her head on the shoulder of a blonde woman sitting to her right.

Defendant Tyler Robinson has meanwhile been sitting quietly between his attorneys at the defense table, looking at the exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. He’s wearing a gray suit, a pale pink shirt, and a tie, with his wrists shackled to a chain around his waist.

Bagley says he spotted something ‘out of place’ on a rooftop

Before a 15-minute recess Monday, former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley said that shortly after the shooting last September, he ran up a public staircase to reach the roof of the Losee Center building, which he knew had a clear line of sight to the location where Charlie Kirk was sitting when he was shot.

On the roof, he spotted something “that looked out of place to me,” Bagley said. It was a red-and-black screwdriver.

Officer describes hearing a shot and chaos erupting

Bagley says he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk as the conservative activist spoke on campus.

Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot, he said, and chaos erupted.

People got up and started running.

Within a few moments, Bagley says he heard officers over the radio say that someone was in custody, so he began assessing the crowd for injuries.

Then he began working to “preserve the crime scene,” Bagley said.

He spotted a pistol holster that had been left on the ground, but knew that he had heard a rifle shot rather than a pistol shot, Bagley added.

Officer details the start of his workday on the day Kirk was shot

Bagley says that on the day of the shooting, he got to work around 11 a.m., and his job was to secure an area near a campus building called the Hall of Flags.

Bagley is using aerial drone photos to describe the layout, including whether there is a clear line of sight or view between different places on campus and the courtyard where Charlie Kirk was shot.

Officer describes the university setting where Kirk was shot

Former Utah Valley police officer Chris Bagley is describing the university campus where Charlie Kirk was shot.

He is using a drone image of Utah Valley University taken in December to set the scene, including a parking garage and campus buildings.

But Robinson’s defense team says he hasn’t adequately shown that he took the photo or that it accurately depicts the campus.

State District Judge Tony Graf says Bagley has first-hand knowledge of the area, so he is allowing it to be used as evidence.

Robinson’s parents are sitting in the courtroom gallery

They are a few rows behind Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, who is watching the proceedings with a furrowed brow.

The first witness has been called

Prosecutors have called Spanish Fork Police Officer Chris Bagley to the stand. Bagley was an officer at Utah Valley University when Charlie Kirk was shot there last year.

Donald Trump Jr. is attending the preliminary hearing

Trump Jr. was among the conservative political figures who spoke at Kirk’s memorial service last year.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s assassination. Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence, and the preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to allow the criminal case to proceed.

As many as 50 exhibits are expected during the hearing

Chief Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander told state District Judge Tony Graf that the exhibits will include several videos of the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting, which occurred as Kirk was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University.

The videos will be shown on a courtroom monitor that is being set up so that it won’t be captured by the press videographer in the courtroom, Graf said.

Courtroom spectators told to treat the hearing with respect

The judge says people in the courtroom need to show proper decorum during the preliminary hearing.

Spectators aren’t allowed to display pins, clothing, photos or other visible demonstrations of support for anyone involved in the hearing. That includes things like shaking heads, Graf said.

Decorum rules like these are common during court proceedings.

Most witnesses will also be kept out of the hearing until it is time for them to testify, Graf said.

The hearing will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT each day, with two 15-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch break at noon. It is expected to last a week.

Preliminary hearing begins for man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

State District Judge Tony Graf is going over his rules for the hearing, including some limitations on the use of technology such as cellphones and laptops.

Graf says the court has the duty to protect and uphold the rights of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing the Turning Point USA founder, and those of Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.

Kirk’s widow arrives at the courthouse

Erika Kirk has arrived at the Utah courthouse for the preliminary hearing of the man accused of killing her husband, Charlie Kirk.

Three men escorted her into the building several minutes before the hearing was expected to begin.

Charlie Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, arrived separately.

Court hearing in Kirk’s death draws the curious, heavy security

Armed officers with binoculars are on the roof of the courthouse where Tyler Robinson faces a key hearing in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

More officers are on the ground outside the courthouse. A drone was also flying overhead. Robinson’s defense team arrived at Utah County court with a dolly to move boxes of documents.

The focus of the hearing is whether there’s enough evidence to send Robinson to trial and whether the death penalty will be an option if there’s a conviction.

Shelly Juber, who lives nearby in Orem, got one of the 14 courtroom seats set aside for the public.

“I’m a trial watcher, true-crime enthusiast. … My grandson’s girlfriend was there the day it happened,” she said, referring to Utah Valley University.

A former Utah judge says prosecutors will likely clear the legal bar to pursue a murder case

For Tyler Robinson to be found guilty at trial, prosecutors will have to prove without any reasonable doubt that he killed Kirk. But the criteria for this week’s preliminary hearing are less strict.

Mark Kouris, who was a prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City, says there’s a low threshold for prosecutors to show the case against Robinson should proceed to trial.

“Effectively, it’s 51% — there’s a 51% chance they did it,” Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, said in an interview. “This standard is extremely low, and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing.”

Kirk’s family says his death ‘irrevocably impacted our lives’

Charlie Kirk’s family thanked supporters for their kindness and prayers ahead of Monday’s preliminary hearing.

“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” Erika Kirk, his widow, said in a statement posted on X, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”

She added that the public outpouring “has sustained us during the darkest days of our lives.”

The statement was posted on behalf of Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, his widow and his sister Mary.

“Out of respect for the judicial process, we will not be commenting further at this time,” the brief statement said.

Kirk’s widow has said she forgives the man accused of killing him

Erika Kirk forgave defendant Tyler Robinson during her husband’s memorial service in September.

“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said as she struggled to hold back tears.

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did. It is what Charlie would do,” she added.

Her declaration was an outlier among prominent conservatives, including President Donald Trump, who said in September on Fox News that he hopes Robinson gets the death penalty.

Erika Kirk took the helm of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth movement that her husband co-founded, shortly after her husband’s death.

She is expected in court throughout the week with her husband’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk.

Robinson’s attorneys tried to block the death penalty

State District Judge Tony Graf said recently that prosecutors violated his restrictions on talking outside the courtroom when Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard told a media outlet his office had ample evidence to convict Tyler Robinson of killing Charlie Kirk.

Robinson’s lawyers argued the comments were intended to influence potential jurors. As a punishment, they wanted the judge to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.

But Graf said that was too severe, and that Ballard's comments weren’t malicious.

The judge said any potential bias issues could be addressed by expanding the jury pool or more closely questioning potential jurors when the case goes to trial.

Will Robinson face the death penalty?

Starting with today’s hearing, the focus of the case shifts to whether there is enough evidence for a trial and whether the death penalty is warranted, said Paul Cassell, a University of Utah law professor and former federal judge.

Cassell said evidence made public to date in court filings suggests prosecutors have “an overwhelming case.”

“This seems like the proverbial slam dunk at this stage of the case, where the only issue is whether there is a sound basis for moving forward with a trial on the merits,” he said.

A death sentence is an option in Utah only when a crime has aggravating circumstances. Prosecutors will argue in Robinson’s case that Kirk’s shooting endangered others in attendance.

What information is publicly known about the case?

Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle used to kill Kirk, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.

Robinson’s parents had confronted him after authorities released a surveillance photo of the suspect and details about the rifle, authorities have said. His parents convinced him to meet with a family friend, a retired sheriff’s deputy who reportedly helped arrange for Robinson to turn himself in.

Prosecutors have said Robinson left a note for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” They also said he wrote to his roommate in a text message about Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block prosecutors from using recorded statements from Robinson’s roommate during the hearing. The defense wanted the roommate to testify in person so Robinson could exercise his right to challenge the credibility of witnesses against him. Graf said the time for challenging witnesses would come later.

What to expect during today’s hearing

The proceeding will resemble a mini-trial, with prosecutors planning to offer DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, testimony from investigators, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are not required to present all their evidence and can use secondhand information or hearsay.

After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed.

Prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors have to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors will lay out their case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk’s widow and parents are expected this week in a Utah court where prosecutors seeking the death penalty will argue that the man charged with killing the conservative activist should stand trial for murder.

The five-day preliminary hearing that starts today will be the first time members of Kirk’s family are in the Utah courtroom with defendant Tyler Robinson. The hearing will be livestreamed.

Robinson turned himself in after the shooting. Prosecutors allege that he also sent a text message confession to his partner and left a note saying he had an opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, “and I’m going to take it.”

He has not entered a plea in the case, however.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, who was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University. His attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence.

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In a DPS preliminary report, troopers identified the motorcyclist as Wilfredo Mattei, 29.

Troopers attempted a traffic stop on a black sport motorcycle at approximately 9:50 a.m. Monday near the intersection of the Loop 410 access road and Marbach Road.

Mattei, however, refused to stop. He led troopers on a brief chase, the report said.

Troopers said Mattei later abandoned the motorcycle near the intersection of Vance Jackson Road and Wall Street when he attempted to make a run for it.

Mattei was taken into custody following a foot pursuit, DPS said. He was taken to a local hospital for further treatment.

After his release from the hospital, the report said Mattei will be charged with evading arrest on foot, evading arrest with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.

DPS said its investigation remains ongoing. Further information was not readily available.

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The crash Sunday morning happened on U.S. Highway 90 near Tondre Parkway and killed a woman who was a passenger in one of the vehicles involved.

In a news release, Castroville police said they are conducting tests to determine if the driver who rear-ended the woman’s car may have been intoxicated.

A spokesman told KSAT 12 News on Monday morning that it could take a few days to get those results. In the meantime, he said the crash did not appear to be related to a road construction project in that area.

Still, people commenting on the Castroville Police Department’s Facebook page pointed to the roadwork as a possible source of trouble.

Others in the area, including Ceci Gaitan, told KSAT 12 News they are concerned the changes brought about by the project are creating a hazard for drivers.

“The area where the accident happened, it’s a little confusing even to us that live here,” Gaitan said.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the road project, which is on a state highway, is being overseen by a developer.

The work is to accommodate an increase in traffic expected from a new housing development in the area, a TXDOT spokesperson said.

The project includes new traffic patterns that involve a new series of traffic lights and turnarounds.

In one stretch directly outside Gaitan’s subdivision, drivers now are forced to make a right turn where they once had the choice of turning left.

“The lights also, people aren’t honoring the red lights,” she said.

The changes, Gaitan said, are adding up to a scary situation that has her more aware and careful when she is behind the wheel.

“I have girls that are learning how to drive, so I’m scared for them to get on this road,” she said.

Darrel Papoff, though, sees people, not the project, as the source of the trouble there.

He said some drivers are simply too impatient.

“People don’t want to sit there and wait (at the light),” he said. “That’s what wrong with people. They think the laws are not made for everybody, and they have their own versions of them.”

Papoff said as far as he is concerned, there is no confusion.

All the traffic changes on the road are clearly marked, he said.

Others spoke off camera, saying it may be just a matter of drivers getting used to the changes, and embracing progress instead of seeing it as a problem.

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The data, posted in late June by the Trump administration and first reported on by The Associated Press, reveals how changes in each state’s insured population led to around 2.6 million fewer Americans having Obamacare plans in February compared with the same time last year.

It captures not only how many people signed up for or were automatically reenrolled in plans in 2026, but how many paid their first monthly premiums to keep coverage, according to Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, who reviewed the dataset. She said it accounts for people who were retroactively removed from coverage after a nonpayment grace period ended.

“This is the first time we’ve seen state-level data that shows how much ACA marketplace enrollment truly fell,” Cox said. “It’s in line with our expectations, but it does show a very steep drop in the number of people with ACA coverage.”

Healthcare affordability is a central issue to voters

Health analysts have kept a close eye on changes in ACA enrollment since the expiration of so-called enhanced premium tax credits caused many Americans’ monthly health insurance fees to double or triple, forcing some to forgo coverage entirely. The subsidies had been at the center of a bitter fight in Congress last fall, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for their renewal.

Health insurance costs have been rising across ACA and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns.

In a report released last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggested the significant drop in enrollment this year could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment. But analysts have said it was more likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies, and other changes, including tightened requirements on which immigrants could access subsidized plans.

Mike Rhoads, deputy commissioner of life and health at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, cited a crackdown on fraudulent enrollments as one reason ACA enrollments dropped. But he said in his state, the biggest factor was money.

“It's all about affordability at this point in time,” he said in an interview, adding that he expects the problem to continue with insurers forecast to raise rates again next year.

Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona saw the most significant drop-offs

An AP analysis of the data finds that Ohio and Oklahoma each saw a more than 32% decline in ACA enrollment over the past year. They lost larger shares of their covered populations than any other state.

Following closely behind, and losing more than a fourth of their enrollees, were Arizona, South Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri.

Florida, a state that relies highly on ACA insurance in part because it did not expand Medicaid and is home to many gig workers and entrepreneurs, still has more residents in the marketplace than any other state, at nearly 4 million. But it also saw the highest number of enrollees drop coverage this year — around 443,000.

The data doesn’t show whether people who dropped ACA health insurance this year found coverage elsewhere, and chances are some of them became insured through employer plans or other options. But Cox said most people who left the marketplace are likely going without insurance, because it is typically a “place of last resort” to get health coverage for people who aren’t eligible elsewhere.

Some of the states that saw the largest enrollment declines were the same ones that saw the biggest enrollment gains after the federal government introduced enhanced subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cox said that isn’t surprising, because those states likely had large numbers of people who enrolled only because the enhanced subsidies made coverage much more affordable.

Only one state saw an increase in its covered population. New Mexico gained some 14% more enrollees in the government health insurance program compared with the same time last year. It was the only state in the nation that fully replaced the lost federal subsidies using its own funds.

Federal marketplace states saw biggest enrollment losses

About three in five states use the federal marketplace Healthcare.gov, while the rest operate their own state-based marketplaces for ACA insurance.

The new data shows that federal marketplace states overall lost larger shares of enrollees than states with state-based exchanges.

One reason for that could be that many states with their own marketplaces took steps to offset costs for their residents when the enhanced subsidies expired in January.

New Mexico, which saw double-digit enrollment gains, is the most extreme example of that. In a special legislative session last fall, lawmakers in the state approved a plan to use state funds to make up for the missing subsidies through mid-2026. In March, the state’s governor signed a bill to continue making up the difference through mid-2027.

Tim Fowler, public relations coordinator for the New Mexico Health Care Authority, said the state's rise in enrollment was due to its healthcare affordability fund that replaced the subsidies.

“In New Mexico, we believe health insurance should protect people against medical debt, not cause it,” he said.

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It’s really a beautiful thing.”

The Republican president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image.

The helipad will be able to handle new choppers, Trump says

Some of Trump's major White House construction projects have relied on public money, even when the president initially suggested otherwise. Still, Trump said Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, would be paying for the helipad.

Asked about the cost of the project and a timeline for its completion, Lockheed Martin responded with a statement reading in part: “This specific contribution was made to the National Park Service” and “conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

In 2024, Sikorsky completed a new fleet of helicopters for use as Marine One, and President Joe Biden took the first flight aboard a modern VH-92A Patriot helicopter on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — the same day the military announced Sikorsky delivered the last of the 23 new aircraft.

A Sikorsky spokesperson said Monday that the new helicopters deliver “increased performance and reduced maintenance costs and time.”

But Trump said the newer aircraft were more powerful than Vietnam War-era choppers that long had been used as Marine One, and the modern ones were too potent to land on the White House lawn without damaging the grass.

"It’s not that the grass gets discolored — it gets ripped out,” the president said.

Indeed, the new helicopters have seen limited service because their exhaust vents aim heat downward, scorching the White House South Lawn.

The Marines and Sikorsky have spent years trying to find a solution to the problem, which has meant that the new helicopters haven't been used at the White House. Trump recalled telling a group of gathered military generals that a White House helipad would solve those problems.

The president said Sikorsky was building the helipad and paying the "full cost” because they “felt a little bit guilty” that the new fleet of helicopters was too powerful to land at the White House.

Trump also said he told builders to “do a beauty” and suggested using granite rather than simply laying concrete and painting it white.

“You’re landing on granite, which is the strongest stone,” the president said, noting that the completed landing pad could also be used for other events, like outdoor White House news conferences. He added that the helipad will allow officials to “finally retire 45-year-old helicopters” that had been used as Marine One.

Trump's other projects to remake the White House include tearing up part of the Rose Garden for a patio space reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and affixing partisan plaques to the wall of the colonnade for a Presidential Walk of Fame.

Trump also had crews redo the bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom and renovate the Palm Room, place new flagpoles on the north and south lawns and demolish the entire East Wing for a sprawling ballroom.

Efforts to improve presidential helicopters go back decades

While the term “Marine One” is applied to a variety of helicopter models that transport presidents, the most iconic and longest serving helicopter to take on the mission is the specially modified VH-3D Sea King helicopter that first entered service in 1978.

In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush, a Republican, began an effort to modernize the helicopter fleet, but the program ran into cost overruns, leading it to be scrapped by President Barack Obama's administration.

Obama, a Democrat, restarted the program, but new technical issues emerged, and it wasn’t until May 2014 that the military finally awarded Sikorsky a contract to build the next presidential helicopter -- the VH-92A Patriot, which were the aircraft delivered in 2024.

A Marine Corps spokesman, Capt. Jacob M. Sugg, declined to comment on matters pertaining to the White House property. But he said the Marine One squadron currently consists of nine Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings that were first deployed in the 1970s, as well as six Sikorsky VH-60Ns deployed in the late 1980s and 10 of the newer VH-92A Patriots.

Trump says ‘a lot of love is being put into the White House’

Later Monday, Trump addressed a lunch in the Rose Garden patio space and detailed yet another White House construction project, this one to revamp the columns on the building's north side.

Crews have erected scaffolding and Trump said, “We’ve taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns," noting, “If you don’t strip the paint off, it gets worse and worse and worse.”

“A lot of love is being put into the White House,” Trump said.

He didn't say who would be covering the cost of the column work.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump's blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. Cole hadn't been charged, let alone convicted, when Trump issued the pardons, Ali noted in his three-page order.

On the first day of his second term in the White House, Trump erased the largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history when he pardoned, commuted the prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the Jan. 6 attack.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump's sweeping act of clemency. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the night before the riot. The devices didn’t detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest, telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped." Investigators also used phone records and other evidence to identify him as a suspect.

Cole's attorneys argued that he qualifies for a pardon because his alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events near the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“By the government’s own telling, this is exactly the kind of case that President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Presidential Pardon was invoked to reach,” defense lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors countered that Trump's pardons have no bearing on Cole's case since the president's proclamation applies only to people who been convicted of or had a pending indictment for Capitol riot-related crimes.

“And even if the proclamation somehow could apply to this case, the Department of Justice’s contrary position is entitled to deference as a reasonable interpretation taken by the Executive Branch agency expressly charged with administering the proclamation,” they wrote.

Ali was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Trump, a Republican, spread baseless conspiracy theories that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him. Supporters who attended Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 joined a mob's attack on the Capitol, disrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying Biden's electoral victory.

Cole is due back in court on Wednesday for a status hearing in his case. A trial date for his case hasn't been scheduled yet.

Two people were briefly trapped in debris at the BJ’s Wholesale Club in Ocean Township but managed to escape, and no injuries were reported, according to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.

Flooding rains were reported in parts of New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey as rounds of storms moved through the area Monday, breaking a heat wave that gripped much of the area last week.

On Sunday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned about heatstroke and shared locations of pools and cooling centers. By Monday, he was urging people to leave basement apartments immediately if they saw water rising in their homes.

Heavy rain stranded cars on flooded highways across northern New Jersey and sloshed water into businesses and at least one hospital.

“Nothing too serious. They have us running from call to call,” said Lakewood Police Capt. Leroy Marshall.

The rain and storms broke the heat dome that settled over much of the Northeast last week.

LaGuardia Airport in New York set a record high Thursday of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Low temperatures in many places barely made it below 80 degrees F (26.7 C), preventing people from cooling off even at night.

The temperature at LaGuardia hovered just below 70 degrees F (21.1 C) Monday with the rain.

Officials in New Jersey were investigating at least 29 deaths last week that were possibly heat-related. The people were found dead on the street or in homes without air conditioning. They ranged in ages from their 30s to their 80s, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Raynard Washington said.

Autopsies and other investigations will be needed before the deaths are officially blamed on the heat, Washington said.

Other states have not announced possible deaths from the heat.

Severe storms moved from Michigan to the East Coast as the heat wave broke over the weekend.

In Michigan, two children, ages 8 and 12, were found dead Saturday in a garage after they were apparently overcome by exhaust from a generator during a storm-related power outage, Sumpter Township police said.

About 370,000 people remained without power across the country, most from the storm damage, according to poweroutage.com.

Efforts to defend the nation’s airspace can be traced back to San Antonio and Fort Sam Houston, which is considered the birthplace of America’s military aviation.

Lieutenant Benjamin Foulois laid the foundation, according to historic accounts, which state he brought the first military plane to Fort Sam Houston in 1910.

Foulois was given one order: learn how to fly, and had to learn to do so, largely through the mail.

“He didn’t have aviation experience as a pilot. He had gotten an earlier ride with Orville Wright at Fort Myers,” said Col. Tom Shaw, a former Marine pilot. “He would correspond with the Wright brothers just in bits and pieces. (With) a lot of pluck and a lot of luck, he managed to teach himself how to fly.”

Shaw is a volunteer guide for the Texas Air Museum at Stinson Field, and helps show decades of military and civilian aviation history on exhibit at the South Side museum.

After Foulois learned to fly, Shaw said he trained a group of soldiers assigned to learn how to fly as well.

“It’s very similar to the Navy’s TOPGUN school,” Shaw said. “He was going to be the duty expert, as we say in the military, and then he was able to train the follow-on folks.”

These service members would become the first Aero Squadron, the first official airplane unit of the United States Army.

Aero Squadron’s success led to the expansion of military flight training, with several training camps established across America, including Camp Kelly, later known as Kelly Air Force Base.

Randolph, Brooks and Lackland Air Force bases would later be established in San Antonio, leading to the city becoming known as “Military City USA.”

Today, Randolph Air Force Base continues the military’s aviation legacy.

“It’s often called the showplace of the Air Force. Randolph is a place to be, you know,” said Lane Bourgeois, historian for the 12th Flying Training Wing. “We’re kind of a hub of the Air Force.”

“Everyone who gets training in an aircraft has been through Randolph for pilot training, because that’s what we do,” Bourgeois said, “we do pilot instructor training.”

Taxing down flight lines at Randolph, Bourgeois said there are two planes training the next generation of pilots: a T-38 Talon from the 1960s and the new T-7A Red Hawk trainer.

“We’re now going to an advanced flying training, a T-7, that will fulfill the needs of Generation 5, Generation 6 type pilots,” Bourgeois said.

The first Red Hawk trainer arrived at the base in last December with hundreds more on the way.

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The 166,000-squre-foot project was registered Thursday and will be located at 3007 West Loop 1604 South, which is located near Kriewald Road.

The estimated cost to build the membership warehouse club is $24 million, according to the filing.

San Antonio currently has six Sam’s Club locations. Here is where to find them:

• 5565 De Zavala Road
• 12349 N. Interstate 35
• 2530 Marshall Road
• 5055 Northwest Loop 410
• 3239 Goliad Road
• 3150 SW Military Drive

Construction for the new Sam’s Club is expected to begin on Nov. 30, 2026, with completion slated for Nov. 8, 2027.

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Márquez and his father, who also survived, spoke through layers of concrete, hearing Leonel suffer, shout for help and inhale suffocating smoke as he waited for a crane to remove the columns crushing him. But it never came. After several hours, Leonel's cries gave way to silence, Márquez said.

But even that, terrible as it was, was not what disturbed him the most. The worst, Márquez said, was trying to recover his families' tangled remains with little more than his bare hands and a saw. He sliced off limbs to free the corpses of Leonel and his mother but was forced to abandon his sister, who was eight-months' pregnant, grandmother and other relatives beneath the ruins — and with their bodies, the hope that if he couldn't save them, he could at least give them proper burials.

“It’s unfair. It’s inhumane, everything that is happening,” 26-year-old Márquez said from the overflowing makeshift morgue at La Guaira port. "We couldn’t get my brother out because we didn’t get a response from the state ... and after 11 days, we are still requesting a crane.”

Márquez is one of countless Venezuelans who, after days of torment, has been left alone to search, if not for signs of life, then for loved ones’ remains — and for some semblance of closure.

International rescue teams, quietly acknowledging the possibility that no more victims would be found alive after 12 days under the rubble, are preparing to depart. Local authorities are turning their focus to finding shelter for thousands of displaced people. But the recovery of the dead has become a pressing, and horrifying, duty for Venezuelans still missing their loved ones.

“I found her hand, but her torso is crushed," said Norely Rodríguez, trying to get her 5-year-old daughter out of the ruins in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira. “I want to see if I can get her out whole."

Residents say they are alone in the search for their dead

Many say that just as they were left without government help to rescue survivors in the immediate aftermath of the quakes, so too are they now under-equipped to unearth their dead nearly two weeks later.

The more time passes, the more gruesome the recovery process becomes, said William Gomez, a firefighter in La Guaira. “It has been difficult because the bodies are already in an advanced state of decomposition, decomposed to such an extent that many times when we try to remove them, they fall apart.”

Authorities announced that the death toll rose on Monday to 3,535, with another 16,740 people injured. Beyond that is an untold toll: those whose bodies have yet to be found. There are no official statistics on how many people are buried under the rubble, but more than 30,000 reports of missing people have been sent to a website set up by the Venezuelan opposition.

Over the weekend in La Guaira, no government civil defense crews or security forces could be seen helping families dig. The vast majority of those working their way through the wreckage were civilians using their bare hands or rudimentary tools like pickaxes and shovels, occasionally accompanied by firefighters and Mexican rescuers who remain in the country.

There are 1.2 million tons of debris in the most affected parts of La Guaira, according to the United Nations Development Program.

“We are the ones helping ourselves: our family. Nobody else helps us except for a few volunteers,” said Yeikhary Urbina, who found the bodies of her mother and brother on Saturday suspended under piles of concrete, seemingly locked in an embrace.

In several WhatsApp chats on Monday, neighbors who could no longer wait for authorities to help them recover their dead discussed pooling their own money to rent a crane — for the price of $11,500, in one case.

Search teams from Italy, Argentina, Spain and other countries have already returned home. The Venezuelan government has not yet called off the search for survivors. But officials have pivoted from promoting heroic rescue stories on social media to announcing reconstruction plans under a program called Venezuela Reborn.

“Venezuela is entering a process of infrastructure recovery, of housing recovery,” acting President Delcy Rodríguez told state TV on Saturday. She has fiercely rejected widespread criticism that her government reacted too slowly to the disaster and accused media outlets of spreading misinformation.

Anger over recovery effort mounts

Families with missing loved ones face fresh horrors as they scour the rubble. Some have searched for days to find corpses of loved ones so decomposed, they cannot tell them apart.

Others have dug and dug only to find nothing at all. “She kept asking, ‘Why did God play this trick on me?’" Geraldine Perdomo said of her sister, who was feverishly clawing at the ruins of her home for anything that would confirm the death of her two daughters.

And some, like Márquez, have agonized for days to extract their loved ones' bodies only to lose them again in the chaos of the impromptu morgue beneath grain silos at the La Guaira port, where a near-constant stream of bodies has been arriving since the June 24 quakes.

Márquez said that on Sunday, a week after delivering their corpses, he heard authorities had located his mother and grandfather. But Leonel, he said, "is still missing because of the negligence here.”

He and many other residents of the country’s public housing blocks — built years ago for low-income families by former socialist leader Hugo Chávez — say their complaints of negligence long predate this disaster. High-rise buildings housing hundreds of apartments pancaked in the earthquakes, reviving questions about substandard construction.

Alexander, a 42-year-old police officer who lived in one of the towers, was trembling with fury at the government on Sunday — for not addressing what he said were long-running resident concerns that his concrete housing complex was shoddily constructed, for not sending rescue teams in time to save his wife and three daughters, and now, for not delivering heavy machinery to help him recover their bodies.

"Not a single person from the government was here," he said, requesting to be identified only by his first name because, as a government employee, he feared retaliation for criticizing authorities.

After 11 days of searching, he reached the last missing member of his family — his 12-year-old daughter, her corpse decomposed but intact.

“She was waiting for me to pull her out,” he said, cradling the black plastic body bag in his arms.

___

DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Senate Bill 2420, which was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, establishes age verification requirements and mandates parental consent before a person under age 18 is allowed to download apps or make in-app purchases. The law also requires app developers to say whether their apps are appropriate for people in four categories: children under 13, teens age 13-15, older teens age 16-17, or adults 18 and older. 

The law was initially blocked in December when a federal judge in Austin determined  restrictions in SB 2420 likely violated the First Amendment. 

Texas appealed the temporary injunction, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in late May allowed Texas to enforce the law until its judges issue a ruling on the law’s constitutionality. 

A trade association asked the Supreme Court to block the Texas law while the 5th Circuit weighed the state’s appeal. The high court declined Monday without comment.

Computer & Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers on Monday said the tech trade group looks forward to making its case at an expedited hearing before the 5th Circuit in early August.

“People should not have to turn over personal data to access the internet any more than they should show government identification to enter a bookstore,” Schruers said in a statement.

The law’s supporters say it is needed to protect children as they navigate social media and online spaces, while critics say it would violate free speech rights. Louisiana and Utah have passed similar laws that have not yet gone into effect. 

The Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, an advocacy group, filed separate lawsuits in October challenging the law, both arguing it violates the First Amendment. 

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman sided with the plaintiffs in December, finding the law likely violates the First Amendment and issuing the temporary injunction blocking the law while the full case plays out in the district court.

“The Act is akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen could enter and again when they try to purchase a book,” Pitman wrote in a 20-page ruling at the time. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office appealed the temporary injunction in late December.

Paxton urged the appeals court to allow enforcement of the law, arguing the state has the right to regulate transactions between minors and app marketplaces that take place in the state, according to court filings. 

In a June statement, Paxton wrote that the age verification law was necessary to protect children online.

“Texas has not only the right, but the duty, to protect children from the harms of our modern digital space,” Paxton wrote. “Parents deserve to know what their children are downloading and to have the ability to stop them from accessing harmful or inappropriate content.”

The trade and advocacy groups urged the court to uphold Pitman’s injunction, arguing SB 2420 “restricts an enormous amount of online speech” in violation of the First Amendment. 

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas in a statement at the time noted its members use marketplaces to access apps used to communicate and learn, and the organization itself uses apps to engage with its members and the public.

“Students have just as much a right to access information as adults, and this law denies them that access,” Cameron Samuels, co-founder and executive director of SEAT, wrote in a statement.

Disclosure: Apple and Google have been financial supporters 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 Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled back within 1% of its all-time high, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The strength for companies in the artificial-intelligence technology industry sent the Nasdaq composite 1.1% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3%, to a record.

AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high. Doubts are rising about whether all the dollars flowing into AI chips and data centers can possibly create enough gains in productivity and profits to make back all the investments.

Broadcom was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 and rose 3.7% after announcing long-term agreements to provide silicon products to Apple. It was coming off two straight losses of more than 2% on Wednesday and Thursday at the end of last week, before Friday’s holiday in advance of the Fourth of July.

The global appetite for AI from investors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, the South Korean maker of computer memory, plans to raise $28 billion by selling shares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq. That would make it one of the biggest U.S. offerings ever, behind SpaceX’s IPO from last month, which raised $75 billion.

SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul has already more than tripled so far this year because of the AI boom, but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6% on Thursday alone, for example.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, has seen its stock likewise swing following its ballyhooed initial public offering.

It erased an early gain to fall 1% in the last day of trading before it’s scheduled to join the Nasdaq 100 index of the largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq. That inclusion will force funds like the QQQ exchange-traded fund, which mimic the index, to buy SpaceX themselves.

Elsewhere in AI, TeraWulf climbed 4.9% after it said Anthropic agreed to a 20-year deal to use its data center in Kentucky. TeraWulf expects the deal to bring in roughly $19 billion in revenue. TeraWulf is in the midst of transitioning its business away from mining bitcoin and into high-performance computing.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 54.19 points to 7,537.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 155.84 to 53,055.91, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 288.49 to 26,121.16.

In the oil market, prices drifted after OPEC+ announced Sunday that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It was the fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2% to $71.99. That’s close to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late Thursday.

A report showed that growth last month for U.S. recreation, finance and other services businesses was roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management said that some businesses said they were seeing lower prices for gasoline and diesel, easing inflationary pressures.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier and rose 1.1%.

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

It marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway ’s book “The Sun Also Rises” that launched the future Nobel Laureate to literary fame and put Pamplona on the map for millions of people around the world.

On Monday, the festival kicked off with a firework blast over a jam-packed plaza. The first of eight bull runs is on Tuesday.

Hemingway’s 1926 novel captivated generations of readers with its sexy Jazz Age tale of American and British bohemians trying to fill some inner void with the distractions of exotic travel, vast quantities of alcohol and the anguishing pursuit of impossible love.

Its success established “The Sun Also Rises” as a cornerstone of the American literary canon, right up there with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” It also popularized the term “lost generation” to describe the tight-knit group of early 20th-century writers expatriated in Paris. Hemingway's terse style forever changed American literature. In Spanish, its title is translated as “Fiesta.”

Hillmann, who hails from Chicago, was 19 when Hemingway’s vivid depiction of the bull running festival first enthralled him, especially descriptions of average Spaniards risking their lives sprinting through the streets to guide the bulls to the bull ring during the nine-day festival.

“I sat there for about six hours, well past midnight, reading the book," Hillmann told The Associated Press in Pamplona as he looked down on the pen where the bulls are held before being set free on the cobblestoned route. “And by the time I was done with that book, I was going to be a writer and I was going to be a bull runner."

Since that literary encounter, the 44-year-old Hillmann has run with the bulls in Spain hundreds of times, counting both his trips to Pamplona and his participation in dozens more bull runs in other Spanish towns. His infatuation with Hemingway and Pamplona has never waned, even though he nearly died one time that he was gored by a bull horn.

Hillmann’s appreciation led him to earn a doctorate in English, and now it is his turn to teach “The Sun Also Rises” at East-West University in Chicago, and write about bull running.

Americans are the biggest group of foreign bull runners

Hillmann is just one of many Americans inspired to travel to Spain to see the festival firsthand. While running with bulls is a cherished local custom for Spanish daredevils, Americans are still the leading group of foreigners who run at the San Fermin festival. In 2022, 16% of the bull runners were Americans, the largest percentage among foreigners and four times more than those from neighboring France, according to Pamplona’s City Hall.

Dallas-based tour operator Bruce Anderson, whose company “Running Of The Bulls” has helped thousands of Americans attend San Fermin over the years, says that Hemingway’s work made the festival a bucket-list destination. This year, his company is bringing 1,400 people to the festival, with over two-thirds from the United States.

“There’s a lot of energy, a lot of excitement around just remembering that book and the impact that it’s had,” said Anderson, himself a lifelong Hemingway fan. He spoke in Pamplona’s art deco Café Iruña, which features heavily as a drinking spot in “The Sun Also Rises” and today houses a life-size statue of Hemingway bellying up to the bar.

And Anderson, with his thick white beard, is something of a Hemingway look-alike. Local Spaniards often call out to him: “Papa!” – a nickname for their adopted hero.

It is impossible to avoid Hemingway in Pamplona

Hemingway is etched into the landscape of Pamplona. Hotels and bars have busts of him or signs up that he was once there. Outside the Pamplona bull ring, which also has a statue of the writer, a huge banner hangs in honor of the novel, including a quote that shows how the festival left the writer speechless: “At noon of Sunday, the 6th of July, the fiesta exploded. There is no other way to describe it.”

When Hemingway made his last visits to Pamplona, he would frequent the Perla Hotel; his suite still has furniture from the 1950s when he stayed there. The room, which overlooks the bull run route, also has two glass bookcases holding dozens of copies of “The Sun Also Rises.”

“Hemingway did a lot for Pamplona because he made it known around the world,” said Fernando Hualde, who worked for four decades as a receptionist in the hotel.

Hemingway’s legacy has become complicated over time

Hemingway’s local legacy, however, is mixed.

Beside a feminist critique of his hyper masculine public persona, Hemingway has drawn criticism from the animal rights movement for his praise of bullfighters. In “The Sun Also Rises,” he spills far more ink on descriptions of their bravery than on the bull runs.

Animal welfare activist Brook Spurling said during a protest against the San Fermin bullfights that “Hemingway wrote about many, many themes that today would not be accepted into society. He writes about hunting, about war, and we don’t want to be appreciating these themes today.”

Hualde says that some Pamplona residents rue his early promotion of the festival due to the ills of overtourism the sleepy provincial city is now experiencing.

Pamplona has 200,000 residents and receives over a million more people for the festival. While most are Spaniards, around 15% of the revelers are from abroad. And many, especially the younger visitors, follow Hemingway’s example of drinking to excess.

Some locals take pride in spots that weren’t touched by Hemingway. Local literature professor Gabriel Insausti of Pamplona’s University of Navarra recalls being in a bar with a sign that read “Hemingway was not here.”

“In general, Hemingway has become a product of a franchise associated with San Fermin festival that has obscured his novel,” Insausti said. “People know who Hemingway is, but they haven’t read his novel.”

But the power of Hemingway’s English prose lives on

Hillmann said that the high percentage of inexperienced foreigners today makes the Pamplona bull runs particularly dangerous. The last death was in 2009 but gorings and other injuries are common. Novice runners can easily panic and make a wrong move that can cause a pileup or send someone into the path of a bull.

He was badly gored in 2014 when he said a bad maneuver by a fellow runner left him exposed to a bull. He thought he was dying, such was the quantity of blood gushing from his leg.

After another goring in 2017, Hillmann told the AP from his hospital bed in Pamplona that he would not stop running. “People think this is just crazy people running. There is real art. If you pay attention, you can see it,” he said then.

Hemingway's granddaughter, the actress Mariel Hemingway, recalls being treated “like royalty” when she attended San Fermin years ago. Mariel, who has written and spoken about her grandfather's battles with mental illness that led to his suicide in 1961, is convinced his work will endure.

That fascination with death is likewise timeless.

“Identity, love, purpose, and how to rebuild after profound loss ... those themes haven’t ever changed. That’s what’s great about my grandfather,” Mariel Hemingway told the AP from her home in Idaho.

“I think he captured something that will never go away.”

On Monday, police identified the motorcyclist as Nicholas Moreno, 27, of San Antonio.

Officers responded just before 3 a.m. Saturday to the two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Schertz Parkway and Wiederstein Road.

Police said Moreno was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the motor vehicle sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Schertz police said its investigation is ongoing.

More news coverage on KSAT:

• ‘It doesn’t go away’: BCSO begins investigation into 5th domestic violence-related homicide of year
• SAPD: 3 teens accused of robbing Northside ISD student connected to similar crime 2 weeks earlier

David Streever, who is a U.S. citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration.

In the email, Streever called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace.” He said the agency violated his First Amendment rights in a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington D.C.

Streever is one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June in the wake of criticizing ICE online. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing Streever, and said it filed the lawsuit because Streever's right to free expression was violated.

“This is very clearly within the protection of the First Amendment,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the foundation. “It was in the context of political speech.”

Representatives for ICE previously declined to comment on the warning to Streever, citing an ongoing investigation, and the agency did not immediately comment Monday. The suit also names Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose office released a statement that said “Any allegation DHS and its components are attempting to ‘squash’ free speech is categorically FALSE.”

“Anyone who assaults or threatens our law enforcement officers will face the consequences," the statement said.

The entirety of the three-paragraph email, which carried the subject line “What's next,” and referenced a leader in Nazi Germany: “You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher.

“The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall. Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.

“You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, Steinbaugh said.

Federal officials went to Streever's house the same week that officials visited Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker, at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post.

Gonyea believes the warning stemmed from writing “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted,” in a post with a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. She posted it in January, after Ross had already been identified by the news media.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’ address. Part of that post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement in June that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.”

A representative for the New York Attorney General's Office has said the office is aware of the two residents' contact with federal agents. The representative has said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

Trump's intervention in the lifting of U.S. forward Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension has shone the spotlight on his close ties with Infantino. It has led to furor from Belgium — the U.S. team's opponent in the round of 16 match on Monday — as European soccer's governing body, UEFA, accused FIFA of crossing a “red line.”

The highly contentious call comes on the back of Infantino's campaign to strengthen relations with Trump, the leader of the co-host of the biggest World Cup ever.

Ties have grown during Trump’s second term

On Monday, in response to the fallout over the Balogun decision, Infantino said he had been in regular discussions with Trump about the World Cup.

Trump’s own interest in soccer grew after the U.S. won the right to co-host the tournament back in 2018, during the Republican's first term, and he hosted Infantino at the White House. The FIFA president, who took office in 2016, made an impression by handing Trump red and yellow cards, joking they could be used on the press.

Since then, the pair's relationship has only grown. In 2020, they had dinner together at the global economic summit in Davos, where Infantino called Trump “my great friend.” That same year, Trump invited Infantino to the White House for the signing event for the Abraham Accords, which sought to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries, as Infantino was shoring up FIFA's own ties with Saudi Arabia.

Infantino's ties to Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020, were far more low-key. Biden and Infantino met briefly at a Group of 20 summit in 2022 and the FIFA president visited the White House at least once, in 2024.

Infantino publicly congratulated Trump the day after he won the 2024 presidential election and visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s South Florida club, during the presidential transition. He then attended Trump’s inauguration, saying they “share a great friendship.”

Infantino attended Trump’s Board of Peace meeting in Washington earlier this year where nine governments pledged $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package. Infantino pledged a new stadium, FIFA academy and various soccer fields to the war-torn region.

In December, human rights advocacy group Fair Square filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee, accusing Infantino of repeated breaches of the governing body’s code regarding political neutrality, citing examples of his public support for the “actions and policies of the US President, Donald Trump.”

Trophies, trophies, trophies

The most tangible product of the close ties between Infantino and Trump came in the form of FIFA's inaugural peace prize, which was created in November — not long after Trump complained he had been snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize. The FIFA prize did indeed go to the U.S. president, whom Infantino praised for his “unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world.” During the 2026 World Cup draw in December, Infantino awarded Trump a golden trophy with his name on it, as well as a medal to hang around his neck.

“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said at the ceremony, adding that “most important, I just want to thank everybody. The world is a safer place now.”

Trump has also been given other trophies of a sporting kind.

Ahead of the newly expanded Club World Cup tournament being held in the U.S. last year, the giant Tiffany-crafted trophy, with a 24-karat gold-plated finish, had sat in the Oval Office. In an interview with broadcaster DAZN, Trump said he asked FIFA when it would pick up the trophy. He said he was told: “You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one.”

Trump was also gifted a gold replica World Cup trophy, with Infantino saying it was “for winners only.”

Trump and Infantino's mutual respect

Trump has described Infantino as “probably the most respected man in sports.” They were together in a luxury box at MetLife Stadium for the Club World Cup final in July last year. There, they began planning to stage the showpiece World Cup draw later that year in Washington, when it was widely thought it would have been hosted in Las Vegas.

Infantino has embraced close relationships with previous host countries, even collecting the Russian Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin after the 2018 World Cup and, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, relocating to Qatar. While Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were also in attendance at December's draw, it was Trump who was given special treatment, alone receiving the FIFA peace prize.

“You can always count on my support,” Infantino told Trump at the glitzy event, which was closed out by the Village People performing “Y.M.C.A.”

Trump confirmed Monday that he had called Infantino last week asking for a review of Balogun's suspension, which was subsequently lifted, clearing the striker to play against Belgium.

“I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do,” Trump said Monday.

Infantino said FIFA's judicial bodies are independent and autonomous and that was “essential to the credibility and integrity of football.”

Trump has yet to attend a World Cup match, though Infantino has taken in matches with members of the Trump administration, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and FBI Director Kash Patel. Trump is planning to join Infantino for the World Cup final and award the trophy to the winning team, Infantino said in a “Fox and Friends” interview last month.

___

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

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Of course, when it comes to Mick Jagger and company, time seems almost irrelevant.

“No matter who you are or where you’re from or how old you are, you know who the Rolling Stones are,” Zilisch said.

Zilisch joined fellow drivers Carson Hocevar and Jesse Love for a music video as part of a collaboration between NASCAR and the Stones ahead of the band's 25th studio album, “Foreign Tongues,” which comes out on Friday.

A custom NASCAR show car served as a listening lounge for the Stones' new music during events at Chicago's Navy Pier and Plaza of the Americas in the run-up to the stock car series returning to Chicagoland Speedway over the weekend.

The partnership also includes a merchandise collection featuring the band's tongue and lips logo, along with two NASCAR-themed vinyl editions of “Foreign Tongues.”

Megan Malayter, vice president of licensing and consumer products for NASCAR, said the organization was approached by representatives of the band about working together.

“The Rolling Stones, they’re iconic, they’ve been around since 1962, and so they appeal to that generation that was there, but they have just such history, folklore, and nostalgia around them that they appeal to the younger audiences of today," Malayter said. "So there really is amazing crossover."

NASCAR walks a tricky line when it comes to satisfying older racing fans while appealing to its younger supporters and expanding its audience. While its older fans are likely more familiar with the Stones, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Zilisch, Hocevar and Love are three of its younger drivers. Garrett Mitchell, a popular YouTube automotive influencer known as “Cleetus McFarland,” also was part of the video.

“I think when you look at all of those drivers, they have great personalities, very rebellious spirits and they kind of have a rock and roll nature about them, just kind of at heart,” Malayter said.

Set to “In The Stars,” the first single off “Foreign Tongues,” the music video envisions the drivers as a touring rock band.

Zilisch, 19, Love, 21, and Hocevar, 23, clown around during a photo shoot before jumping on a tour bus driven by Mitchell. The drivers play cards before stopping at a bar. Back on the bus, Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series, writes 77 on the face of a sleeping Zilisch in black marker.

The video ends with the drivers at the track in their fire suits, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans.

“It was cool. It was fun,” Hocevar said. “Yeah, just nice to kind of let loose, I guess, on a video.”

Hocevar said he likes to see NASCAR try new ways to interact with potential fans.

“Yeah, they have to,” he said. “I feel like they just got to keep throwing stuff at the dartboard and hopefully something sticks here.”

Zilisch described himself as a huge music fan. He grew up listening to Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with his father in the car. He said he has paid more attention to the Stones' music since he became part of NASCAR's partnership with the band.

Filming the video, Zilisch said, was a memorable experience.

“They made us dress up like we were in the 90s and wear leather and have all this jewelry on,” he said. “It definitely was a little bit unique and outside of what I would normally be wearing but regardless it was just a cool shoot. We got to go inside this old tour bus and, you know, just kind of feel like I was back in the day even though I’ve never lived in that era of time.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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