Abrego Garcia's deportation to El Salvador last year became an embarrassment for Trump officials when they were ordered to return him to the U.S. Abrego Garcia claimed that both the timing of the criminal charges and inflammatory statements about him by top Trump officials demonstrated that the prosecution was vindictive.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, ruling from Nashville, granted Abrego Garcia’s motion to dismiss for “selective or vindictive prosecution.”

The ruling amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a Justice Department that under President Donald Trump has repeatedly been accused of targeting defendants for political purposes. The Trump administration touted the charges against Abrego Garcia last year at a press conference in which then-Attorney General Pam Bondi declared, “This is what American justice looks like.”

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a victim of a politicized, vindictive White House and its lawyers at what used to be an independent Justice Department," his criminal defense attorneys said in a statement after Friday's ruling. "We are so pleased that he is a free man."

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Without Abrego Garcia’s “successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution,” said Crenshaw, dismissing claims of “new evidence” against him.

Crenshaw stopped short of finding the government acted with “actual vindictiveness,” a rarely-met standard that usually requires evidence like a prosecutor admitting that charges were filed in retaliation against someone. But the judge did find there was enough evidence of “presumptive vindictiveness” — including the timing of the indictment, statements made by then-U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the sustained oversight of the case by other top Justice Department officials — that the case against Abrego Garcia was thoroughly tainted.

The government’s own explanations weren’t convincing, Crenshaw wrote.

Abrego Garcia was charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling, with prosecutors claiming that he accepted money to transport within the United States people who were in the country illegally.

The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.

In the Friday ruling, Crenshaw wrote that the timing of the charges was central to the presumption of vindictiveness. Homeland Security had been aware of the traffic stop for two years and had closed the case against Abrego Garcia when it deported him. Once the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he should be brought back to the U.S., they reopened the case. While the government bore the responsibility to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness, prosecutors did not call as a witness the person who reopened the case, to explain why. Instead they offered only “secondhand testimony.”

Abrego Garcia's deportation violated a 2019 immigration court order granting him protection from deportation to his home country, after the judge found he faced danger there from a gang that targeted his family. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years although he immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. The 2019 order allowed him to live and work in the U.S. under Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision, but he was not given residency status.

Meanwhile, Trump administration officials have said Abrego Garcia cannot remain in the U.S. They have vowed to deport him to a third country, most recently Liberia.

The World Health Organization said that the outbreak now poses a “very high" risk for Congo — up from a previous categorization of “high” — but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 82 cases and seven deaths have been confirmed in Congo, but that the outbreak is believed to be “much larger."

There is no available vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus, which spread undetected for weeks in Congo's Ituri Province following the first known death while authorities tested for another, more common, Ebola virus and came up negative. There are now 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, though more are expected as surveillance expands.

“We are trying to catch up,” Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner told the AP. “It is a race against the clock."

Efforts ramping up in Ituri Province

Supplies were being rushed to Ituri in the northeastern corner of the country, where nearly a million people have been displaced by armed conflicts over mineral resources. Ramping up contact tracing is a priority, Kayikwamba Wagner said.

In the provincial capital of Bunia, AP reporters saw empty emergency treatment centers, and doctors in the nearby town of Bambu using expired medical masks while tending to suspected Ebola patients.

The provincial government said Friday it was temporarily banning wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people. It said funerals must be conducted in strict compliance with health protocols. The authorities also required journalists to obtain a permit to report on the outbreak, impeding their work.

Illness spreads in rebel-held areas

The illness also has been reported in two Congolese provinces to the south of Ituri — North Kivu and South Kivu, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many key cities, including Goma and Bukavu, where the rebels reported two cases.

The group said Friday it was creating a crisis team to fight the outbreak.

Kayikwamba Wagner said having the illness in rebel-held areas was alarming because “M23 is, despite whatever ambitions they may have, thoroughly ill equipped" to fight the disease.

She said the Congo government and rebels were not communicating on the outbreak.

Response clashes with local customs

The efforts of health officials and aid groups have met with pushback from communities due to misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites.

On Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police.

The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities, because the bodies can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when they are prepared for burial or when people gather for funerals.

Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation. “We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.

She said some churches have told their congregations the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary.

Grief and the lack of a proper goodbye

In the Ituri province mining town of Mongbwalu where the outbreak is believed to have originated, Lokana Moro Faustin lost his 16-year-old daughter to the disease and bemoaned the fact that he was not able to give her a proper goodbye because of Ebola restrictions.

“At first, we thought it was malaria. But then came vomiting, a high fever, nosebleeds, and bloody diarrhea,” he said, grief-stricken.

The teenager died on May 15 and her body was taken from the hospital by specialized teams and taken directly to the cemetery for a secure burial. Faustin was not able to say goodbye because he was in self-isolation, and it pained him to have his daughter buried by people who were not family.

In Bunia, coffin workshop manager Christian Djakisa said demand has soared since the outbreak began. “We're here every hour making coffins,” he said.

Aid is being flown in, but front line staff lacks resources

The United Nations said Friday it released $60 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response in Congo and in the region.

The U.S. has pledged $23 million in funding to bolster the response in Congo and Uganda, and said it would also fund the establishment of up to 50 Ebola treatment clinics in the affected regions.

Lusenge said her group’s small hospital near in Bunia lacks basic protective equipment, exposing nurses and doctors to possible infection, she said. “We only have hand sanitizer and a few masks for the nurses, but we need much more than that," Lusenge said.

The outbreak is bigger than official figures show, WHO says

Both the WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the outbreak is larger than the cases reported so far.

The region’s already-weak health infrastructure and surveillance capacity has been further weakened by international aid cuts, experts say. The International Rescue Committee said it had to stop its surveillance activities in three out of five areas in Ituri over the last year because of funding cuts.

Armed conflict in the region further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. To get from Bunia to Mongbwalu, aid groups have to brace for potential attacks from armed groups.

“The outbreak can still be contained but the window for action is narrow,” Gabriela Arenas from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Friday.

——

Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Constant Same Bagalwa in Bunia, Congo; Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo; Mark Banchereau and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

——

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

CURRY BOYS BBQ

536 E Courtland Pl, San Antonio, TX 78212

Curry Boys BBQ is one of San Antonio’s most creative culinary concepts, combining Central Texas barbecue with rich Southeast Asian curries in a way that has earned national attention. Opened in 2020 by Andrew Ho, Sean Wen, and Andrew Samia, the restaurant started as a pop-up operating out of a bright pink shipping container on the St. Mary’s Strip before quickly becoming one of the city’s hottest dining destinations. The concept blends slow-smoked meats with bold Thai-inspired flavors, pairing brisket, pulled pork, and smoked chicken with creamy curries served over jasmine rice.

One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is the Brisket Smoke Show, featuring oak-smoked prime brisket topped with fragrant green curry that balances smoky, savory, and spicy flavors in every bite. Other fan favorites include the Tony Porker with yellow curry and smoked pulled pork, along with inventive sides like curry cream corn, green curry potato salad, and cold noodles tossed in chili oil. The James Beard-nominated concept continues to push San Antonio’s food scene forward by blending barbecue tradition with vibrant Southeast Asian flavors.

PEARL FEST

303 Pearl Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78215

Pearl Fest 2026 is set to transform San Antonio’s Historic Pearl district into a full-day celebration of music, food, and local culture. Taking place Saturday, May 23, the festival will feature free daytime performances throughout the district before transitioning into a ticketed evening concert experience headlined by Grammy-winning trio Los Lonely Boys. Festival organizers are utilizing multiple stages across the Pearl campus, bringing together local musicians, regional artists, and nationally recognized performers for a citywide celebration of Texas music and community.

Beyond the music lineup, Pearl Fest highlights the district’s acclaimed culinary scene with participating restaurants and vendors serving food throughout the day and evening. Guests can grab bites from favorites like Ladino, Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery, Casanova Barbecue, and Pullman Market concepts while exploring the festival grounds. Free performances begin during the Pearl Farmers Market at 11 a.m., while evening main-stage performances run through the night beneath Highway 281, creating one of San Antonio’s largest entertainment events of the year.

FIFE & FARRO

221 Newell Ave, San Antonio, TX 78215

Located inside Pullman Market in the Pearl District, Fife & Farro is a casual yet polished restaurant specializing in handmade pasta and wood-fired sourdough pizza. The concept focuses on heritage grains, house-made dough, and seasonal ingredients sourced directly from Pullman Market’s in-house bakery and pasta program. The warm, welcoming restaurant has become a popular stop for everything from family lunches to date nights thanks to its elevated comfort food and inviting atmosphere.

The menu features handcrafted pasta dishes like fettuccine carbonara with house-made guanciale and spicy pasta alla vodka finished with Calabrian chile. Wood-fired pizzas are baked on naturally fermented sourdough crusts and topped with high-quality ingredients ranging from classic pepperoni to seasonal vegetables and Texas chèvre. Guests also flock to the restaurant for shared plates like hot focaccia with garlic butter and a popular Caesar salad known for its rich, balanced dressing. With its open kitchen, cozy dining room, and focus on scratch-made food, Fife & Farro continues to stand out as one of the Pearl’s most popular dining destinations.

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Busch died Thursday at age 41. No cause of death has been given, though his family said earlier he had been hospitalized with a “severe illness” three days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told the AP.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because details have not been disclosed by Busch’s team or family.

During the emergency call placed late that afternoon from the General Motors training facility, an unidentified caller calmly told the dispatch: “I’ve got an individual that’s (got) shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out, and is producing a little bit of blood, coughing up some blood.”

Busch was lying on the bathroom floor inside the complex and the caller told dispatch “He is awake," according to audio provided by the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office.

The man then gave directions on where emergency responders should go and asked that they turn off any sirens upon arrival.

NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell is scheduled to speak at a news conference later Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The news of Busch's death sent shockwaves across the motorsports world on one of racing's biggest weekends, which also features the Indianapolis 500.

The NHL's Carolina Hurricanes honored Busch with a moment of silence on Thursday night prior to their conference final game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Even Vice President JD Vance took to social media, saying “I had the opportunity to meet Kyle, one of NASCAR’s greatest racers, on the campaign trail in 2024. Usha and I are praying for him and his family. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.”

Richard Childress Racing, who Busch has raced for the last four seasons, announced it plans to suspend use of Busch's No. 8 Cup Series car and will run the No. 33 instead beginning on Sunday at the Coca-Cola 600 and moving forward.

RCR said the No. 8 will now be reserved for Busch's son, Brexton, to use when is he ready begin NASCAR racing.

Brexton Busch is 11 years old, but is already known for his racing exploits.

“Kyle Busch was instrumental in the design of RCR's stylized No. 8 and it has become synonymous with Kyle and an important symbol for fans and the NASCAR community,” RCR said on X. “No one can carry it forward to the level that he did.”

Meanwhile, gloomy, gray skies hung over the track on an unseasonably cool day in Concord, which seemed a fitting background for the in memoriam photo of Busch on the videoboard.

Christopher Bell is among the drivers planning to run in the NASCAR Trucks Series race on Friday night, one that Busch had been scheduled to compete in.

Busch won last week's Trucks race at Dover — the final win of his career — giving him 234 victories across NASCAR's three national series, the most of any driver.

He finished 17th in the All-Star race on Sunday.

“It's going to be very strange to be out there without Kyle in the field,” Bell said. “It's going to take a long time before things feel back to normal.”

Bell called Busch's death a “gutwrenching feeling."

He said he spoke to Busch prior to the last Trucks Series race and said he seemed “normal, like completely normal.”

On Monday, Busch posted a happy birthday message to his son Brexton on Instagram saying “Your mom & I are so proud who you’re turning out to be!”

The father and son spent Tuesday night in Durham, North Carolina, with the Andretti family at the opening of a go-kart facility.

“I guess it is a very stark reminder of how fragile life can be,” Bell said.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The guidelines, posted days before former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned, will allow companies to launch certain nicotine-based products before they've been fully vetted by regulators.

Some FDA officials tasked with enforcing vaping regulations were not consulted on the changes and only learned of them the night before the document was published earlier this month, according to two staffers who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters. The document's sudden appearance sparked internal confusion about how the policy came about and who authorized it, the staffers said.

In recent days, agency officials have convened hourslong meetings grappling with how to implement the six-page memo, which breaks with longstanding FDA policy requiring scientific verification of health benefits for smokers before any new products are introduced.

It’s highly unusual for the FDA to draft new policies without input from the staffers who oversee them.

“It begs the question of whether the true subject matter experts may have actually opposed this policy and were ordered to do it anyway,” said Mitch Zeller, who retired as the FDA’s tobacco director in 2022. “And that goes to the ability of the public to have trust and faith in institutions like FDA.”

The vaping guidelines bypassed a federally required period that allows for public comment and revisions. Instead, the FDA published them as a finalized policy hours after media reports surfaced that President Donald Trump had approved a plan to fire Makary. He resigned from the FDA last week following months of complaints from industry lobbyists close to the White House.

A Health and Human Services spokesperson did not address the origins of the guidance in a written statement.

“This approach strengthens protections against youth nicotine addiction while supporting evidence-based alternatives for adult smokers seeking to move away from combustible tobacco products,” Andrew Nixon said in a statement.

Messages seeking comment from Makary were not immediately returned Friday.

FDA eyes new approach to vaping flavors

Most health researchers agree that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than traditional cigarettes, and the products have been promoted in the U.K. and other European countries as an alternative for smokers.

In the U.S., the FDA has struggled to police the market for over a decade. The agency has authorized vaping products from five companies while rejecting millions of other applications, mainly due to the presence of fruit, candy and other sweet flavors that were deemed appealing to kids. And yet, unauthorized vapes are widely available.

But recent changes in Washington and across the U.S. reflect a shifting landscape.

Underage vaping among U.S. teenagers has fallen to its lowest level in more than 10 years, following the disruptions of the pandemic and new state and federal restrictions.

Trump came to power last year after vowing to “save” the vaping industry. Major tobacco companies, such as Reynolds American and Altria, have contributed millions to political action committees supporting Trump and other administration priorities, including Trump's inauguration and his proposed White House ballroom. Both companies have invested heavily in e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, in addition to cigarettes.

Despite the influence campaign, vaping issues took a backseat at FDA under Makary. On rare occasions when Makary addressed e-cigarettes, he voiced skepticism about the data showing declining underage use.

Even as FDA staffers were poised to shift course on flavors, Makary and other agency leaders intervened.

In February, one of Makary’s deputies blocked an FDA decision that would have authorized the first fruit-flavored vapes, according to internal memos later released by the agency. FDA reviewers had determined the products were unlikely to be used by children when combined with digital age-verification technology.

The mango- and blueberry-flavored products were finally OK’d during Makary’s last full week heading the FDA, just days before the agency posted the new guidelines allowing unauthorized nicotine products.

Under the guidance, the FDA is supposed to publish a list of e-cigarettes and pouches that are not yet authorized but will be subject to “enforcement discretion,” meaning they can be sold without regulators targeting them for removal. While there is no public list of products that might qualify, the policy is expected to allow for new flavors that had previously been blocked by regulators.

“What we’re seeing is a broader opening up and responsiveness to flavored products by the agency both in terms of a stronger appetite for authorization but also less appetite to take enforcement action against flavored products,” said Brian King, former FDA tobacco director now with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

US stores are already packed with illegal flavored vapes

While FDA’s new approach breaks with precedent, it may have little impact on the flavors already available at gas stations, vape shops and convenience stores.

The U.S. market has been flooded for years by unauthorized vapes containing mango, gummy bear, strawberry and dozens of other flavors.

These disposable e-cigarettes filled the vacuum left by Juul when it pulled its high-nicotine flavored products from the market, after they became ubiquitous in U.S. schools beginning around 2017. Currently, the company only sells FDA-authorized e-cigarettes in tobacco and menthol flavors.

Juul and other companies now see the chance to directly compete with disposable Chinese vapes, which by some estimates account for 80% of U.S. sales.

“The choice we face is not whether flavored vaping products should be sold in the U.S. They already are,” said Robyn Gougelet, a Juul vice president. “The choice is whether those products should be regulated and responsibly marketed — or illegal, untested, and smuggled into the country.”

Rather than targeting flavors, the FDA said its new enforcement approach will focus on vapes with specific youth-appealing features, such as designs that resemble children’s toys.

“The reality is they’re just deluged by illegal products coming across the border,” said Jonathan Foulds, a tobacco-addiction specialist at Penn State University. “So they’re making it clear what should be common sense: ‘We’re going to focus on the worst actors.’”

New policy may create winners and losers among vaping firms

It’s far from clear whether FDA’s new approach will be embraced by the vaping industry at large, which includes multinational tobacco companies alongside hundreds of smaller companies selling imported devices from China.

As written, the guidance suggests only e-cigarettes that are under “scientific review” will qualify to launch without FDA authorization. Only a small number of applications typically reach that stage, which requires detailed health data on smokers who switch to the new product, King noted.

“This is certainly going to benefit the larger tobacco companies, which have the resources to get far enough into the application review process and thus won’t be prioritized for enforcement,” King said.

Lobbyists for smaller companies say it’s too early to tell whether the policy will be help or hinder their clients, but they fear being left behind.

“The big companies would love nothing more than to see their largest swath of competitors out of the marketplace,” said Tony Abboud of the Vapor Technology Association.

___

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

The lawsuit adds fuel to a mounting backlash against the Trump administration's creation of an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to resolve the Republican president's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.

Plaintiffs' attorneys from the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward are seeking a court order halting the fund's implementation and preventing the Trump administration from disbursing any payouts from it. The federal suit, filed in Alexandria, Virginia, claims there is no legal basis or accountability behind the fund.

“The unlawfulness that has imbued the Anti-Weaponization Fund from its inception requires that it be wholly dismantled,” the suit says.

Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob's attack on Jan. 6, 2021, also sued this week to prevent anyone, including Capitol rioters, from receiving payments from the settlement fund.

During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wouldn’t rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police on Jan. 6 could be eligible for fund payouts.

The plaintiffs for Friday’s lawsuit include former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Floyd, an Alexandria resident who prosecuted Capitol riot cases in Washington, D.C., before he was fired last year by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Floyd was a deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Capitol Siege Section. He believes his firing was retaliation for his Jan. 6 work.

Another plaintiff is California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, who was acquitted of an assault charge. He was accused of throwing a tear gas canister at federal agents during a 2025 protest against an immigration raid at a Camarillo, California, cannabis farm.

Also named as plaintiffs are the government watchdog Common Cause; the city of New Haven, Connecticut; and the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers. New Haven claims the Trump administration officials have targeted it and other municipalities that they perceive to be “sanctuary” cities. The federation fears that the fund will issue payments to people who have attacked abortion clinics, providing an incentive for more violence against its members.

The suit's defendants include the Justice and Treasury departments, Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Spokespeople for the departments didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The Capitol riot investigation was the largest in Justice Department history. Trump ended it with the stroke of his pardon pen, erasing hundreds of Jan. convictions.

Nearly 1,600 people were charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 1,200 were convicted and sentenced before Trump handed out mass pardons, commuted prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of every pending Jan. 6 criminal case.

Beneficiaries of Trump’s sweeping act of clemency included supporters who assaulted officers at the Capitol. He also freed far-right extremist group members who were imprisoned for plotting to attack the Capitol to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.

After Trump returned to the White House last year, he appointed conservative activist Ed Martin as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin, a leading advocate for Jan. 6 defendants, fired or demoted some prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases.

KSAT will livestream the press conference at 2:30 p.m. in this article. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar will speak about a recent online solicitation of a minor arrest and provide more details about yesterday’s gabling operation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Read also:

• 2 women arrested, 5 cited in connection with West Side gambling bust, BCSO says

The woman was found without clothes and multiple facial injuries Tuesday morning at the Tobin Park Trailhead after a trip to a nearby gas station, according to San Antonio police.

Officers said the woman used the trail as a shortcut home on Monday night and later woke up with no recollection of what had happened.

Although the woman reported that no sexual assault had occurred, SAPD said its investigating the incident as a sexual assault until evidence proves otherwise.

SAPPOA President Henry Bassuk said the incident highlights the reason why Park Police officers are crucial to keeping people safe on trails.

“This is exactly why dedicated Park Police matter,” Bassuk said in a statement. “Our trails, greenways, and park systems are not immune from violent crime, and pretending otherwise puts people and families at risk.”

Bassuk also pointed to what he sees as a flawed assumption at City Hall — that SAPD can absorb the growing demands of park and trailhead patrol.

Last year, the City of San Antonio announced plans to merge the park and airport police under the police department, a move the union believes was in the works at City Hall for nearly two decades.

“This should be a wake-up call for City Hall,” Bassuk said. “Shifting more park and trailhead duties onto SAPD ignores the reality that SAPD is already stretched thin citywide. The belief that a reactive patrol model can replace the proactive Park Police presence is a dangerous gamble with Public Safety.”

Bassuk is also calling on city leaders to expand ATV and bike patrols, improve lighting and increase public safety visibility throughout San Antonio’s parks.

More recent news coverage on KSAT:

• ‘Burned in my memory’: Mother, daughter T-boned by hit-and-run driver near downtown
• Madison HS student injured in drive-by shooting near campus after road rage incident, officials say

The official Spurs watch party, which begins at 6:30 p.m., at The Rock at La Cantera is already fully reserved, but fans who didn’t snag a reservation still have plenty of options.

Several other San Antonio hotspots are hosting free watch parties open to the public, including:

• The Friendly Spot: 943 S. Alamo St.
• The Social Spot on Broadway: 930 Broadway
• City Base Cinema: Fans can catch the game on the big screen
• All La Gloria locations

The City of San Antonio also announced its free watch party for Game 3 in La Zona at 333 W. Commerce St.

Food and drinks will begin flowing at 6:30 p.m. ahead of tipoff at 7:30 p.m., according to a news release.

Attendees “are encouraged to bring chairs.” However, officials said coolers and ice chests are not allowed. Event parking rates could be in effect, which can be up to $15 at city parking facilities.

Before the game, fans can tune in to KSAT’s “Race for Seis” pre-game special, airing live at 6:30 p.m. on KSAT 12 and streaming for free on KSAT Plus.

KSAT will also have live coverage from inside Frost Bank Center and from the official Spurs watch party at The Rock at La Cantera.

Fans are encouraged to share their Spurs pride by submitting photos through KSAT Connect throughout the night.

Looking ahead

The City of San Antonio also announced its Game 4 and 5 watch parties for this weekend.

Sunday night’s watch party will be at Legacy Park, 103 W. Houston St. Food and drinks are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Guests can bring chairs or bring their own food and drinks, according to the city, but no glass or confetti will be allowed at the party. Updates ahead of Sunday’s watch party can be found here.

Tuesday night’s watch party heads east of downtown to The Espee (1174 E. Commerce St.). Attendees can bring their own chairs, but cannot bring any coolers or ice chests, the release said.

The first 50 attendees “will receive an exclusive Spurs giveaway,” the city said. More information on the Game 5 watch party can be found here.

As with the city’s game three watch party, officials said event parking rates, up to $15 at city parking facilities, could be in effect Sunday and Tuesday night.

Read also:

• Spurs host pep rally ahead of Western Conference Finals home opener
• H-E-B gives out groceries, Spurs tickets to surprised shoppers on Southeast Side
• San Antonio shops, pop-ups see boost from Spurs playoff excitement
• ‘It wasn’t a celebration’: Spurs fan left with $10K in vandalism to her SUV after playoff win

In her resignation letter, which she posted on social media, Gabbard said she told Trump she would leave her job overseeing the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies on June 30. She said her husband had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and “faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”

“At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she wrote in the letter, which was reported earlier by Fox News.

Trump, in his own social media post, said “Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.” He said her principal deputy, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director of national intelligence.

While Gabbard says her departure is for personal reasons, the juxtaposition between her long-held, anti-interventionism stance and Trump’s series of overseas military operations had seemed to put them on a collision course.

Iran put Gabbard and Trump at odds

There had been rumblings that Gabbard would split with Trump after the president's decision to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation in March and said he “cannot in good conscience” back the war.

Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, built her political name on her opposition to foreign wars. This put her in an awkward position when the U.S. joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

During a congressional hearing in March, her measured comments were notable for their careful non-endorsement of the Iran war. She repeatedly dodged questions about whether the White House had been warned of potential fallout from the conflict, including Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial for global oil shipments.

Gabbard said in written remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee that there had been no effort by Iran to rebuild its nuclear capability after U.S. attacks last year “obliterated” its nuclear program. That statement contradicted Trump, who has repeatedly asserted that the war was necessary to head off an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic.

This created several awkward exchanges with lawmakers who asked Gabbard for her opinion on the threat posed by Iran as the nation’s top intelligence official. She repeatedly said it was Trump’s decision to strike, not hers.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” she said.

Gabbard’s departure follows Trump having ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in late March, in the midst of mounting criticism over her leadership of the department — including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

The second Cabinet member to leave was Attorney General Pam Bondi, in response to growing frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. And Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April, after being the target of various misconduct investigations.

Lukas, who will be taking over for Gabbard, was as an intelligence aide to the acting director of national intelligence, Ric Grenell, in 2020 during Trump's first term. A former policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, he also served as deputy senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council in the final year of Trump’s previous administration.

A surprising choice for the job

A military veteran but without any intelligence experience, Gabbard was a surprising choice for director of national intelligence. She ran for president in 2020 on a progressive platform and her opposition to U.S. involvement in foreign military conflicts.

Citing her military experience, she argued that U.S. wars in the Middle East had destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives. Gabbard later dropped out of the race and endorsed the ultimate winner, President Joe Biden.

Two years later, she left the Democratic Party to become an independent, saying her old party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. She subsequently campaigned for several high-profile Republicans and became a contributor to Fox News.

She later endorsed Trump, who also was a strong critic of past U.S. wars in the Middle East and campaigned on a pledge to avoid unnecessary wars and nation-building overseas.

Iran caused early tensions

But friction with the president started soon after he began his second term and tapped Gabbard to lead ODNI, which was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to improve coordination between the nation’s intelligence agencies.

Shortly after taking on the job and before this year's war, Gabbard testified before lawmakers that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. After Trump launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites last June, he said Gabbard was wrong and that he didn’t care what she said.

She appeared to be back in Trump’s good graces when she took a lead role in Trump’s effort to relitigate his 2020 election loss to Biden. She appeared at an FBI search of election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, even though her office was created to focus on foreign espionage, not state elections.

Gabbard made big changes in her time in office

Gabbard vowed to eliminate what she said was the politicization of intelligence by government insiders. But she quickly used her office to support some of Trump’s most partisan arguments — that he won the 2020 election.

She also worked to undermine the results of earlier investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia.

In her year on the job, Gabbard oversaw a sharp reduction in the intelligence workforce, as well as the creation of a new task force that she charged with considering big changes to the intelligence service.

Earlier this year, an intelligence sector whistleblower filed a complaint that Gabbard was withholding intelligence for political reasons, a complaint that prompted calls from Democrats for Gabbard’s resignation.

Gabbard, 44, was born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa, raised in Hawaii and spent a year of her childhood in the Philippines. She was first elected as a 21-year-old to Hawaii’s House of Representatives but had to leave after one term when her National Guard unit deployed to Iraq.

As the first Hindu member of the House, Gabbard was sworn into office with her hand on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu devotional work. She was also the first American Samoan elected to Congress.

During her four House terms, she became known for speaking out against her party’s leadership. Her early support for Sen. Bernie Sanders ’ 2016 Democratic presidential primary run made her a popular figure in progressive politics nationally.

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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.

Trump is heading to a toss-up congressional district in New York to test his midterm message on the economy, even as voters largely disapprove of his stewardship of it. The focus of the event is to promote the tax law Trump signed last year, particularly the quadrupling of the deduction for state and local taxes, which is critical in a high-tax state like New York.

Trump on Thursday said the U.S. will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the American military footprint in Europe. And in Sweden, Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced NATO allies confused by contradictory administration statements.

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An all-women Senate delegation is heading to the Arctic to reassure US allies

A bipartisan group of senators is departing for a tour of Arctic nations to reassure U.S allies. And this time they’re leaving the men behind.

From the eight senators to their staff and military liaison officers, the group will be entirely women. They are paying diplomatic visits to government officials in four Arctic nations, witnessing the challenges for militaries operating in the region and visiting a Norwegian archipelago so remote they will need escorts to avoid run-ins with polar bears.

The trip comes at a time when Trump has taken an aggressive, go-it-alone stance in the region.

“We will reassure our allies that we recognize and appreciate the importance of our allies and partners in the Arctic as in so many other areas,” Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Associated Press. She leads this trip alongside Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

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Trump says he’s skipping his son’s weekend wedding

The president wrote on social media that he “very much wanted to be” at the wedding of his son Don Jr., but “circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so.”

“I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time,” Trump wrote.

The president had originally been scheduled to spend the weekend at his estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, and was not scheduled to head to the Bahamas, where the wedding is reportedly taking place.

His post came a day after Trump told reporters that his son would “like me to go” and “I’m going to try and make it.”

But he also added, “This is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things.”

Senate Democrat says Gabbard replacement needs to restore trust in top intelligence post

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate’s Intelligence committee, said that with Gabbard’s departure, her successor should help restore the reputation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Warner said that “at a time when the boundaries between verified intelligence and politically convenient claims have too often been blurred...the next DNI must be committed to restoring trust in the office, protecting the integrity of our intelligence, and ensuring our nation’s intelligence professionals can speak truth to power, without fear or interference” in a statement released shortly after Gabbard’s resignation became public.

Last summer, Gabbard revoked the security clearances of dozens of U.S. officials who she said had engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance personal or partisan goals, failing to safeguard classified information, failing to “adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards” and other unspecified “detrimental” conduct in a memo released at the time.

Trump says Gabbard did ‘a great job’ in the post she’s leaving

In a social media post, the president wrote that Gabbard was “unfortunately” leaving his administration at the end of June.

“Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him,” Trump wrote.

He added, “Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her,” and that Gabbard’s “highly respected Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.”

Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence, citing her husband’s health

Gabbard has resigned as Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer.

She is the fourth Cabinet official to depart during Trump’s second term. In her resignation letter, which she posted on the social platform X, she wrote: “Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”

There had been rumblings that Gabbard would split with Trump after he decided to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration. Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation in March, saying he “cannot in good conscience” support the war.

Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii known for opposing foreign wars, faced an awkward moment when the U.S. joined Israel’s attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

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Senate Republican chairman urges Trump to resume Iran war

Sen. Roger Wicker, the GOP chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is telling Trump not to settle for a peace deal with Iran.

In a statement, Wicker says the president “is being ill advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on.”

“Our commander-in-chief needs to allow America’s skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran’s conventional military capabilities and reopen the strait,” he added.

Wicker’s statement stands in contrast to the position of a small but crucial number of Republicans who are calling on Trump to end a war that he started without congressional approval.

GOP leaders in both chambers have struggled this week to find the votes necessary to defeat war powers resolutions brought by Democrats that would compel Trump to end the war. A handful of Republicans have switched their votes to try to end the war.

Warsh bri

efly nods to the issue of independence

Warsh, in his remarks, said he saw former Fed chair Alan Greenspan as a model for the role, explaining that the Fed can help with the nation’s prosperity.

“Our mandate at the Fed is to promote price stability and maximum employment. When we pursue those aims with wisdom and clarity, independence and resolve — inflation can be lower; growth, stronger; real take-home pay, higher,” Warsh said.

America’s central bank has a new chairman

Kevin Warsh has been sworn in as Fed chair by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Warsh said it was an honor to be sworn in by his “esteemed friend,” Thomas. He explained Kavanaugh’s presence by telling the audience the two of them had worked at the White House earlier in their careers.

He’s also talking about former Fed chair Alan Greenspan, calling him an idol.

Greenspan was sworn in at the White House by President Ronald Reagan.

Warsh said that, like Greenspan, he intends to fill the role of Fed chair “with energy and purpose.”

Trump says he wants new Fed chair to be ‘totally independent’

“I really mean this. This is not said in any other way,” Trump said. “I want Kevin to be totally independent. I want him to be independent and just do a great job.”

“Don’t look at me, don’t look at anybody. Just do your own thing and do a great job, okay?” he added.

The pressure Trump placed on outgoing Fed chair Jay Powell to lower interest rates raised questions about the independence of the Federal Reserve.

Trump hosts swearing-in ceremony for Kevin Warsh as new Fed chair

The East Room was packed for the ceremony, which usually is held at the Federal Reserve Building.

Among those attending are Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council and at one point a top contender to succeed Jay Powell as Fed chair, until Trump decided he wanted to keep Hassett at the White House.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence will deliver the oath. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was also present, as were members of Trump’s Cabinet, other top Trump administration officials, and current and former members of Congress.

Trump opened with praise for Warsh, predicting that he “will go down as one of the truly great chairmen of the Federal Reserve.”

“I think he’s got abilities that very few people have,” Trump said.

Blanche thrust into Republican firestorm over $1.8B fund

When Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed off on a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate Trump’s allies for alleged political prosecution, he may have pleased his boss. But the eyebrow-raising move — has agitated the same Republican lawmakers he would need to secure the permanent job.

Blanche insists he’s not auditioning for the job of attorney general. But a succession of splashy steps taken under his watch at the Justice Department, including an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, have left no doubt that he’s trying to prove his loyalty to the president.

The fund in particular has put Blanche at the center of a Republican firestorm just when he aims to establish himself as the perfect person for the job for the remainder of Trump’s term. Read more

Buoyed by Trump, Paxton makes final pitch in Texas against Sen. Cornyn

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is riding high ahead of his Republican primary runoff against Sen. John Cornyn, now that he has the president’s backing.

“I don’t know if y’all noticed this, but Donald Trump endorsed me,” Paxton told a small rally in a town outside Austin, inciting whoops and applause.

The senate race in Texas has drawn gobs of money and attention, including from Trump, who continues encouraging voters to boot any politician who displeases him.

Paxton has been turning his focus to state Rep. James Talarico, opening his latest event with attacks on the Democratic nominee, a sign of his confidence heading into Tuesday.

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Judges in Maine and Wisconsin reject DOJ efforts to obtain voter rolls

Democrats are cheering rulings by federal judges in Maine and Wisconsin that dismissed Justice Department demands for detailed voter registration information.

The DOJ has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking to force the release of voter information including dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Thursday’s defeats follow similar rulings in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and Rhode Island, In Georgia, a judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit filed in the wrong city, prompting the Trump administration to refile elsewhere.

Bianca Shaw, state director of Common Cause Wisconsin, said the decision protects voters “from an unauthorized national database that would have been a goldmine for hackers and a tool for intimidation.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat and Trump opponent who is running for governor, said the ruling affirms that states run elections.

Trump IRS immunity shocks experts, who warn of undermining trust in tax system

Trump has a reputation for slashing his taxes using techniques that some experts find aggressive. Now the Justice Department has told the president he doesn’t have to worry about being called out on it.

In an extraordinary decision this week, the IRS is suspending probes into his past returns to settle a lawsuit that Trump brought against the agency he ultimately runs. Trump says tax authorities targeted him politically — a claim for which he has given no proof — and that he was right to seek a remedy.

Law experts say the move is unprecedented and unfair.

“This is giving the president and his affiliates completely different set of rules than everyday taxpayers,” said Brandon DeBot, policy director at New York University’s Tax Law Center.

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Rubio says an Iranian tolling system can’t happen. Iran says it already has

“Iran is trying to create a tolling system,” Rubio said. “That’s just not acceptable. It can’t happen. If that were to happen in the Straits of Hormuz, it will happen in five other places around the world.”

Iran’s official Mizan news agency reported that 35 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy in the previous 24 hours.

Without specifying the nationalities of the vessels, Mizan quoted the Revolutionary Guard navy as saying that the oil tankers, container ships and other commercial ships transited the strait after obtaining permission and in coordination with, and under the protection of, the Revolutionary Guard navy.

Iran has demanded the right to collect the tolls as a precondition for reopening the waterway vital to world oil supplies.

Rubio says US remains ready to resume Russia-Ukraine peace efforts

The Trump administration remains ready to resume mediation efforts that have been stalled for some time, Rubio said.

With concerns high in Europe, particularly in the Baltic states, that the administration’s interest in ending the conflict is waning, Rubio told reporters that the U.S. still believes the “the war can only end with a negotiated settlement. It will not end with a military victory by one side or the other.”

Previous rounds of talks were unfortunately “not fruitful,” Rubio said, but “if we see an opportunity to pull together talks that are productive, not counterproductive, and that have the chance to be fruitful, we’re prepared to play that role.”

Rubio: ‘Someone’s going to have to do something about’ Hormuz

The secretary of state said he and other foreign ministers discussed the issue of reopening the critical waterway, and that he reiterated the need for a “Plan B” if a deal isn’t reached between Washington and Tehran.

“Someone’s going to have to do something about it, okay?” Rubio said. “They’re not just going to voluntarily reopen the straits in that scenario.”

Rubio said he received lots of “nods” from European allies when he brought it up Friday. In the same breath, Rubio confirmed what Iranian officials had been saying, that progress is being made in the negotiations.

“I wouldn’t exaggerate it and I wouldn’t diminish it,” he said. “But there’s more work to be done.”

Rubio says US force posture in Europe will eventually be reduced

Rubio says America’s NATO allies understand that eventually there will be a reduction in the U.S. troop presence in Europe as the Trump administration evaluates its force posture globally.

“I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” Rubio told reporters.

NATO allies have been confused by contradictory statements coming from Trump and his top aides, including an announcement last week that troop levels would be reduced in Poland that Trump appeared to reverse on Thursday. A previously announced troop reduction in Germany appears to be going ahead but Rubio noted that the Germans “didn’t freak out about it” because it brought the numbers back to where they were three years ago.

Marco Rubio meets NATO allies with demands to increase defense capabilities

The U.S. secretary of state has met with his NATO foreign minister counterparts in Sweden and reiterated U.S. demands for Europe and Canada to increase their defense spending and military industrial capabilities.

In meetings with his colleagues in Helsingborg on Friday, Rubio said the U.S. remains committed to NATO but said the force posture of American troops in Europe is contingent on what allies contribute. The alliance has been jolted by Trump’s abrupt decisions on troop deployments.

Trump has expressed strong dissatisfaction with some allies and their reluctance or refusal to assist in the war with Iran. Rubio said the president’s views and “frankly, disappointment at some of our NATO Allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East, they are well documented” and need to be addressed by NATO leaders at their summit in Turkey in July.

Trump and the Republican party are now exposed in new ways

While the president’s handpicked candidates are winning GOP primaries, many are untested heading into general elections this fall. Trump’s own approval rating sits at a low point, and he’s spending his political capital, alienating would-be allies and threatening to detail GOP priorities.

Trump’s announcement of nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for people he believes were wrongly prosecuted blindsided senators already fuming over his push for $1 billion to provide security for his new White House ballroom. The audacity of the arrangement proved too toxic for the Senate to bear.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called it “stupid on stilts” and a “payout for punks.”

“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former majority leader.

The GOP’s top priority is now in shambles

Voting on a roughly $70 billion budget package that would fuel Trump’s immigration and deportation operations for the remainder of his presidential term, into 2029, was postponed until Congress resumes next month. That blows Trump’s June 1 deadline to have it on his desk.

Trump shrugged when asked during an Oval Office event if he was losing control of the Senate.

“I really don’t know,” the president said.

And it wasn’t just the Senate. For the first time this year, enough Republican House members broke ranks to signal support for a war powers resolution from Democrats that’s designed to halt Trump’s military action in Iran. House Speaker Mike Johnson postponed the voting to avoid confronting the president.

The day has arrived. The Senate said No

Trump’s political revenge tour met its potential match this week as angry Republican senators, pushed to a breaking point by his seemingly insatiable and outlandish demands — particularly a $1.776 billion fund for Jan. 6 rioters and others he believes were wrongly prosecuted — did the unthinkable.

They simply refused, closed up shop, and went home.

The moment was as rare as it was daring, a sudden flex from the Congress that has become a shell of its former self as a coequal branch, the Republican majority almost always more willing to accommodate the Republican president than to confront him.

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Rubio says US force posture in Europe will eventually be reduced

Rubio says America’s NATO allies understand that eventually there will be a reduction in the U.S. troop presence in Europe as the Trump administration evaluates its force posture globally.

“I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” Rubio told reporters.

NATO allies have been confused by contradictory statements coming from Trump and his top aides, including an announcement last week that troop levels would be reduced in Poland that Trump appeared to reverse on Thursday. A previously announced troop reduction in Germany appears to be going ahead but Rubio noted that the Germans “didn’t freak out about it” because it brought the numbers back to where they were three years ago.

Marco Rubio meets NATO allies with demands to increase defense capabilities

The U.S. secretary of state has met with his NATO foreign minister counterparts in Sweden and reiterated U.S. demands for Europe and Canada to increase their defense spending and military industrial capabilities.

In meetings with his colleagues in Helsingborg on Friday, Rubio said the U.S. remains committed to NATO but said the force posture of American troops in Europe is contingent on what allies contribute. The alliance has been jolted by Trump’s abrupt decisions on troop deployments.

Trump has expressed strong dissatisfaction with some allies and their reluctance or refusal to assist in the war with Iran. Rubio said the president’s views and “frankly, disappointment at some of our NATO Allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East, they are well documented” and need to be addressed by NATO leaders at their summit in Turkey in July.

A festive crowd taunts Trump in Havana

“Who do they think they are to judge Raúl?” Gerardo Hernández asked as the crowd cheered. He’s one of five Cubans accused of being a spy who was imprisoned and later released by the U.S. in 2014.

“For the United States, the law is a tailor-made suit,” he said before punching the air with this fist, to a shout of “Viva Raúl!”

The crowd responded to his call: “Homeland or death, we will vanquish!”

Thousands of people have crowded along Havana’s famed seawall to decry the U.S. indictment. Attendees include daughter, Mariela Castro, and his grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro. Salsa songs with biting anti-Trump lyrics are booming across the old city.

Trump traveled to the Hudson Valley area to appear with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is up for reelection in what will be one of the most closely watched House races this November. The focus of the event is to promote the tax law Trump signed last year, particularly the quadrupling of the deduction for state and local taxes, which is critical in a high-tax state like New York.

The White House has been looking for more opportunities to highlight Trump’s economic accomplishments as his approval rating on the economy has slumped. About one-third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the economy, according to a new AP-NORC poll, down slightly from 40% at the start of Trump's second term. Trump had promised to bring prices down, but gasoline prices have surged this year due to the war in Iran.

Lawler is just one of three House Republicans who represent a district won by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024. Unlike the other two — retiring Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who’s been a critic of Trump policies — Lawler has chosen to embrace the polarizing president in hopes of not alienating Republican voters who support the party’s leader.

“Look, the people who hate the president -- and that’s their sole basis for their vote -- are likely never voting for me, and you know, obviously, you need to turn out your base, and you need people energized,” Lawler told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the White House congressional picnic earlier this week. “Moreover, I have a record in my district that is one I’m very proud of, and a record that appeals to a broad middle.”

Lawler, wearing a red ball cap emblazoned with “Mr. SALT,” the acronym for the state and local tax deduction he fought to include in the bill, added: “I am confident that I will be reelected on my own merits and my own record.”

The president’s remarks at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, will “highlight his strong record of making life more affordable for working families,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said. She added that Trump plans to draw a sharp contrast with Democrats in Congress, who voted against the tax law.

Trump established a SALT cap in 2017 through his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Last year’s law expanded the SALT deduction to $40,000 from $10,000 after arduous negotiations with Republicans, including Lawler, whose district has high local taxes. The law also raised the average tax refund for New Yorkers to more than $3,800, according to data provided by the White House.

“My constituents were seeing anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 refund checks, which is pretty massive,” said Lawler, who said he wanted to give Trump one of his “Mr. SALT” ball caps.

Trump formally endorsed Lawler for reelection last year, although it came at a time when the congressman was publicly mulling a run for governor of New York. The endorsement was viewed as a way to keep Lawler in a reelection bid rather than opening up a competitive House seat.

Five Democrats are vying for the party's nomination to compete against Lawler in the general election. The Democratic primary is June 23.

“Nothing says ‘I don’t understand my district’ quite like Mike Lawler bringing Donald Trump to NY-17 to tout a disastrous economy that’s crushing working families at every turn,” said Riya Vashi, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson disputed that, arguing that Trump's Friday appearance will “absolutely” help.

“His poll numbers are pretty good in Lawler’s district,” said Hudson, a North Carolina congressman. The NRCC has been polling in competitive districts and Hudson said the “president’s numbers are good. Democratic numbers are tanking.”

The remarks are an official White House event and not a campaign one, said Lawler, who noted that more than 5,000 people registered to attend in the first 12 hours that a sign-up was available.

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Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

Rubio spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was holding off on a military strike against the Islamic Republic because “serious negotiations” were underway. Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire reached in mid-April could end if Iran does not make a deal, with shifting parameters for striking such an agreement.

The secretary of state made the comment ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, where the military alliance discussed what role it could play in helping police the Strait of Hormuz once the war is over.

Rubio said he did not want to exaggerate the progress, saying there had been “a little bit of movement and that's good.” He said the conversations were ongoing. In recent weeks, repeated claims of progress have emerged, but a deal has stayed out of reach.

Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off. But he’s also previously indicated he would hold off on military action to allow talks to continue, only to turn around and launch strikes. That happened at the war’s outset, when he ordered strikes in late February shortly after indicating he would let talks play out.

The president said he called off attacks on Iran this week at the request of allies in the Middle East.

Pakistan's army chief arrives in Iran for third round of talks

In a renewed push for a peace agreement, Pakistan's top army officer arrived Friday in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders, Pakistani officials and the military confirmed. It's the third round of meetings between Pakistani and Iranian officials in recent days.

Field Marshal Asim Munir will be joined by Pakistan’s interior minister, who has already met with Iranian leaders in Tehran twice this week. Pakistan has sought a deal between Iran and the U.S. since Munir facilitated face-to-face talks between the two countries in Islamabad last month.

Qatar also sent a delegation to Tehran, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks. The delegation is working in coordination with other countries, including Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the official said.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products. The U.S. is blockading Iranian ports and has redirected 94 commercial vessels and disabled four others since mid-April, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

At the NATO meeting in Sweden, Rubio said he discussed reopening the strait with other foreign ministers. He said there needs to be a “plan B” if Washington and Tehran fail to reach a deal.

“Someone’s going to have to do something about it, OK?” Rubio said, insisting that Iran was not going to “voluntarily reopen” the strait.

The U.S. and Israel have said Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. While regional officials have said Iran offered some nuclear concessions, Trump has said he wants to remove highly enriched uranium from the country. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Trump's war pause sparks tension with Netanyahu

Trump's decision to give more peace talks a chance sparked tension with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said Thursday that Trump and Netanyahu had a “dramatic” phone conversation Tuesday about the status of the Iranian negotiations and that Israel is angry with Trump’s efforts to strike a deal with Iran.

The White House declined to comment on the substance or tenor of the call. Trump told reporters after the conversation that Netanyahu “will do whatever I want him to do.”

The comments are some of the first public signs of daylight between the leaders since they launched the war.

Officials say Saudi Arabia and the UAE separately struck Iran

Two regional officials and a Western diplomat told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia and the UAE separately launched multiple attacks on Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq during the war. An Israeli military officer with knowledge of the situation also confirmed that the UAE proactively struck Iran at least once.

All of them spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

The regional officials said the strikes on Iran targeted military facilities.

One of the regional officials said strikes by Saudi Arabia targeted hideouts of Iraqi militias, mainly Kataib Hezbollah, after Riyadh assessed that most of the drone attacks on Saudi Arabia came from neighboring Iraq. He said Saudi Arabia has repeatedly briefed Baghdad before deciding to strike.

The Western diplomat and one of the regional officials said the UAE had pushed for a collective military response from the Gulf Arab countries since the onset of the war.

Asked for comment, the UAE referred to a May 16 statement that "all measures undertaken by the UAE have been within the framework of defensive actions aimed at protecting its sovereignty, civilians, and vital infrastructure.” Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran has not publicly addressed being targeted by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

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Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt, and Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Geir Moulson in Berlin; Aamer Madhani in Washington; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Rubio will attend a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden on Friday — the same day senior Pentagon officials are expected to brief the 32-nation alliance on plans for the U.S. military’s commitment to European defense at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.

The meeting of diplomats, which precedes a NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey in July, comes amid great uncertainty over how the war in Iran will play out and whether stalled U.S. efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict will resume. Resentment also still simmers on the continent over President Donald Trump’s criticism of allies and his interest in taking over Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark.

Rubio has often been called on to offer a calmer, less antagonistic presence from the Trump administration at meetings like these. He has been dispatched on several such missions this year, including the Munich Security Conference in February and, more recently, to Italy, where he met with Italian officials and Pope Leo XIV after Trump criticized the American pontiff for his stances on crime and the Iran war.

Lack of clarity about US troop drawdowns in Europe

On his departure to the meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Rubio declined to discuss any further changes to the American military presence in Europe, including a possible reduction in the number of troops that the U.S. will commit under the NATO Force Model, which is a contingency plan for European defense in the event of serious security concerns.

The Trump administration had decided to cancel the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops to Poland and Germany, but then the president posted on social media Thursday that “the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland.”

It was not clear whether that meant the brigade that had been stopped from going to Poland would be back on its way, whether additional troops beyond that rotational deployment could be added, or whether there would still be a drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe, but from a different country. The Pentagon referred requests for comment to the White House, which did not immediately respond to messages seeking clarity.

Earlier, Rubio did repeat that Trump and others in the administration, including him, are “very disappointed” in NATO, especially in its response to the Iran war.

“I don’t think anyone is shocked to know that the United States, and the president in particular, is very disappointed at NATO right now,” he told reporters in Miami before boarding his plane.

Rubio reiterates criticism of NATO over the Iran war

Rubio said he was a “strong supporter” of the transatlantic military alliance and called it important. But he reiterated complaints that some NATO allies, notably Spain, had refused to allow access to U.S. bases for the Iran conflict and others had been reluctant, if not resistant, to join a coalition to reopen and protect the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route that Iran largely has closed.

“I know why NATO is good for Europe, but why is NATO good for America?” Rubio asked rhetorically, answering his own question by referring to bases that allow the U.S. and others to project power globally. “So, when that is the key rationale for why you’re in NATO, and then you have countries like Spain denying us the use of these bases, well, then, why are you in NATO?”

Rubio noted that nearly all NATO allies agree that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, but few, if any, stepped up when Trump said he would take action to prevent it.

“He’s not asking them to commit troops. He’s not asking them to send their fighter jets in. But they refuse to do anything, and so I think the president looks at that and says, ‘Hold on a second,’” Rubio said. “I think we were very upset about that. The president has made that very clear.”

NATO officials have downplayed the changes to U.S. troop levels in Europe, saying they have been long planned and do not come as a surprise.

Yet the announcements have blindsided some allies and came despite U.S. promises to coordinate military moves to avoid creating security gaps. Similarly, Trump's apparent change on Poland came as another surprise.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday that U.S. allies have known for a year that the Trump administration would be withdrawing some troops from Europe, and it expects “rightly, for Europe and Canada to take a bigger responsibility for the conventional defense of NATO and particularly, of course, the European part of NATO.”

Rutte said the U.S. “will stay involved” but over time could pivot resources elsewhere in the world. U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of both American and NATO forces in Europe, said this week that security in Europe would not be compromised but warned that allies should expect more drawdowns in the coming years.

The Trump administration has warned that Europe would have to look after its own security, including Ukraine’s, in the future.

___

Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

But similar pressure campaigns do not equal similar results, experts say, even if President Donald Trump has often warned that "Cuba is next.”

“President Trump viewed the Venezuelan intervention as a fantastic success,” said Brian Finucane, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group and a former State Department lawyer. “And he’s sought to replicate the Venezuela model elsewhere, including in Iran. But obviously, Cuba, like Iran, is a very different country than Venezuela."

If the U.S. were to depose Cuba's leadership, there is no obvious successor who would work with the Trump administration, Finucane said. That is unlike Venezuela, where the U.S. captured leader Nicolás Maduro in January and his second in command, Delcy Rodríguez, stepped in with U.S. approval and remains in power.

Cuban officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, say “there is no Delcy in Cuba.”

The number of American forces in the Caribbean Sea now is also smaller and far less foreboding than the massive military buildup off Venezuela's coast in the months ahead of Maduro's ouster, Finucane said. Plus, an indictment against a 94-year-old former Cuban leader — Raúl Castro — is less impactful than charging Venezuela's sitting president with drug trafficking and using that to justify his capture.

Here are some of the similarities and differences between the U.S. pressure campaigns against Venezuela and Cuba:

Trump has threatened military action

Like other conflicts, Trump began to lay the groundwork for U.S. intervention in Venezuela — and the possibility for Cuba — with escalating threats months before military action took place.

He has warned the leaders of the Caribbean countries to either get in line or face American might. Weeks before the audacious military operation that plucked Maduro from power, Trump stood with his top national security advisers in Florida and made what would be one of his last public threats to the autocratic leader.

“If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’ll ever be able to play tough,” Trump said in December. Just after Maduro was whisked to the U.S. to face trial, Trump shifted his focus to other countries in the region, namely Cuba, as being next on his list.

“Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall. I don’t know if they’re going to hold out,” he told reporters on Jan. 5.

He went on to threaten tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba and said the U.S. might have “the honor of taking Cuba” following military operations in Venezuela and Iran.

On Thursday, he repeated his threats, calling Cuba “a failed country.”

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump said. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it."

US squeezes countries with oil embargoes

U.S. oil embargoes on Cuba and Venezuela have been designed to have the same impact: Putting intense pressure on ruling elites — but push diametrically opposite means to achieve those goals.

With Venezuela, the Trump administration was targeting the country's oil exports, aiming to starve the Maduro government of revenue. After Maduro’s ouster, the focus shifted to denying Venezuela the ability to export oil to certain countries — primarily Cuba, from which it did not receive cash payments — and forcing it to agree to U.S. conditions for such shipments.

Much of Venezuela’s crude is now or will soon be sent through U.S. refineries.

With Cuba, the embargo is aimed at starving the energy-strapped country of oil imports, although the U.S. has allowed some limited shipments to arrive on the island, which recently declared it had run out of reserves. The oil embargo, an extension of the broader U.S. blockade on Cuba in place for decades, has made it far more difficult for the government to provide electricity and gasoline to its citizens.

The measures could go too far, Finucane said, and prompt many Cubans to head 90 miles north for Florida in makeshift boats as many did in the 1990s.

“President Trump especially cares about immigration. And if they push too hard on Cuba and destabilize the island, there’s the possibility of some kind of a refugee crisis,” he said.

US brings charges against figures in power

The Justice Department had charged Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy and other counts during Trump's first term in 2020.

The case was used to justify capturing Maduro, who is now in New York awaiting trial and has pleaded not guilty. The move changed Venezuela's relationship with the United States, which has allowed the sale of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies and on global markets, a massive shift after largely blocking dealings with Venezuela’s government and its oil sector for years.

The immediate aim of the indictment against Castro over the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles is to take another step up the ladder of escalation in the Trump administration's pressure campaign, said William LeoGrande, a professor specializing in Latin American politics at American University in Washington.

But he said that capturing Castro following charges that include murder and destruction of an airplane would not change the operations of the Cuban government.

Castro “still has influence and the leadership seeks his opinion on major decisions, but he is not running the government on a day-to-day basis,” LeoGrande said.

Building up a US military footprint in the region

In the months before Maduro was captured, the U.S. dispatched a fleet of warships to the waters near Venezuela in what became its largest military buildup in Latin America in generations.

The nation's most advanced warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, was notably rerouted from Europe to join in the operation. Three amphibious assault ships carried an expeditionary unit of Marines as well as helicopters and Osprey aircraft.

U.S. forces spent months attacking small boats accused of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean — and still are carrying out those strikes — while fighter jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela.

The actual mission to capture Maduro involved more than 150 aircraft launched across the Western Hemisphere.

The U.S. military now has a smaller force in the Caribbean Sea, which still includes two amphibious assault ships with Marines onboard. It touted the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and accompanying warships on the same day the charges against Castro were announced this week.

But the Nimitz is on its last ever tour, taking part in maritime exercises in the region, before being decommissioned.

“They're very different situations, and it's very difficult to see similar outcomes," Finucane said. “A snatch-and-grab raid against Raúl Castro or someone who's actually in a leadership position doesn't seem like it's going to have the same outcome in Cuba as in Venezuela.”

___

Associated Press writer Andrea Rodríguez in Havana contributed to this report.

A male went to the woman’s apartment and found her dead around 9:50 a.m. Friday at an apartment located in the 5100 block of Eisenhauer Road.

Officers later arrived at the scene and found the woman with wounds “consistent with a sharp cutting object,” according to an SAPD preliminary report.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the woman’s identity, as well as her cause and manner of death.

At this time, it’s unclear whether the male who found the woman was the one whom officers detained.

SAPD said its investigation is ongoing. Further information was not readily available.

Read also:

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The State Auditor’s Office report cleared UT System schools and the community colleges on one narrow question: whether they spent state money in violation of Senate Bill 17, the 2023 Texas law that forced public colleges to close DEI offices, end required DEI trainings and stop using diversity statements in hiring.

The report does not detail about what auditors found at each campus, what issues they raised privately with university leaders or how schools draw the line between banned DEI work and classroom teaching the law still protects.

The audit, first reported by KXAN on Thursday, covered all 14 UT System institutions and the following 15 community colleges:

• Alvin College
• Amarillo College
• Austin Community College District
• Brazosport College
• Clarendon College
• College of the Mainland
• Frank Phillips College
• Galveston College
• Houston City College
• Lee College
• Lone Star College System
• San Jacinto College District
• South Plains College
• Victoria College
• Wharton County Junior College

Auditors interviewed college employees and reviewed state-funded spending from Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2025. They looked at hiring records, job postings and descriptions, promotion and merit-pay records, training, programs, websites and documents related to former DEI offices.

They reviewed samples of such records. The report cautions that the audit’s results should not be used to draw conclusions about every record at each school.

At UT-Austin, for example, auditors reviewed 25 employees, 25 new hires and 25 promotions or merit increases out of thousands of records in those categories.

The State Auditor’s Office has found problems before. Its first audit of the ban, released in February 2025, flagged Texas A&M University-Central Texas for contracting with a vendor to perform DEI office duties and McLennan Community College for requiring a new employee to take DEI training.

Republican leaders spent much of last year accusing universities of failing to fully comply with the DEI ban. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick threatened budget cuts to state campuses if universities did not “kick DEI out of their schools.” GOP senators later warned they could block funding increases after claiming they had found “numerous” violations, though they did not publicly identify them.

In the end, lawmakers created a faster way to investigate complaints by creating a new ombudsman office to act on written complaints from students, faculty and staff who allege their school violated the DEI ban. The office must notify a school’s governing board within five days of a qualifying complaint and can recommend lawmakers block the school from spending state money until the auditor confirms a violation is addressed.

As of mid-March, none of Texas’ eight public university systems had records showing they had received formal complaint notices from the ombudsman’s office, according to public records responses obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Outside groups are keeping up the pressure too.

Accuracy in Media, a conservative group that uses undercover videos, recently published recordings of UT-Austin and UT-Arlington employees.

In the UT-Austin video, an employee in the department of women’s gender and sexuality studies said the DEI ban created more work for staff but did not change academic work. In the UT-Arlington video, an academic recruiter in the School of Social work said faculty still cover topics related to race and gender but avoid certain language.

The Tribune reached out to Accuracy in Media for comment on the audit.

The organization’s president, Adam Guillette, issued a statement saying that “multiple administrators at more than a half-dozen Texas universities have bragged about continuing their DEI programs, often in defiance of state law.”

“The auditor’s office needs to immediately address our findings and issue an explanation,” Guillette said.

UT-Austin officials did not immediately respond to questions Friday while those at UT-Arlington said leaders investigated after the video circulated online.

“The statements reflected in the video do not represent university policy or practice. As a result, the employee referenced in the video is no longer employed by the university,” said Jeff Kaplan, UT-Arlington’s director of media relations. He declined to comment further.

Academic course instruction and scholarly research are exempt from the DEI ban.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: Amarillo College, Austin Community College District, Brazosport College and University of Texas System 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 added 0.6% and pulled closer to its all-time high set in the middle of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 434 points, or 0.9%, as of 2:40 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

Ross Stores helped drive the market and rose 7% after the off-price retailer reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that easily cleared analysts’ expectations. CEO Jim Conroy said it saw strong customer traffic through the three months, and the company may have benefited from households spending their tax refunds.

Estee Lauder jumped 11.2% after saying it was no longer considering a possible merger with Puig, the Spanish fragrance and beauty products company.

Workday rose 5.6%, and Zoom Communications jumped 10.8% after both delivered better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They’re the latest companies to top analysts’ expectations for profits for the start of 2026, and the cavalcade of such reports has helped U.S. stocks remain near their records. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

The strength is coming even after a survey of U.S. consumers by the University of Michigan found sentiment fell to a record low, piercing below a bottom in 2022 when inflation peaked above 9%. Households are feeling worried about how bad inflation is now because of expensive oil created by the war with Iran.

U.S. consumers are forecasting inflation will worsen to 4.8% in the coming 12 months, up from a forecast of 4.7% last month, according to the survey. In the longer run, their forecasts for inflation jumped to 3.9% from 3.5% last month. Such rising expectations are a concern for economists because they can drive behavior that creates a vicious cycle that makes inflation worse.

Sentiment dropped in particular for lower-income consumers who are least able to absorb more expensive essentials, and it fell for Republicans as well, according to the survey.

Helping to keep uncertainty high have been continued swings for oil prices. They yo-yoed again on Friday, like they did through the week on uncertainty about when the United States and Iran may find a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf and delivering crude to customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was last up 0.7% to $100.23. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, rose 0.3% to settle at $96.60 per barrel.

Worries about inflation staying high have pushed bond yields higher worldwide, threatening to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks, bitcoin and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

Yields had been down Friday morning, offering some relief, then briefly climbed after oil prices erased their losses and the survey on consumer sentiment showed worsening inflation expectations.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.56%, down from 4.57% late Thursday, and remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

Worries about inflation have climbed so high that traders on Wall Street have eliminated bets that the Federal Reserve will resume its cuts to interest rates this year. Lower rates would give the economy a boost, but they could also worsen inflation.

An important member of the Fed, Gov. Christopher Waller, said in a speech Friday, “If I believe inflation expectations start to become unanchored, I would not hesitate to support an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate.”

But he also said that is not the case now, and it “is time to simply sit and watch how the conflict and the data evolve” in his speech titled “Policy Risks Have Changed.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.7% to another record after a report showed inflation hitting a four-year low in April, at 1.4%, despite higher prices for oil and gas due to the war.

___

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Friction has grown between Congress and the Trump administration in recent weeks as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle push for updates on what has happened with $400 million in Ukraine aid and $200 million more for defense programs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The money was allocated by Congress last year. Even Republican lawmakers have aired their frustration as President Donald Trump's administration disengages with Ukraine and other European allies.

“Ukraine has persistently and bravely repelled a four-year Russian onslaught, but its military needs and deserves continued American support,” said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in the joint letter.

Republican Sens. Kevin Cramer and Thom Tillis and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and Catherine Cortez Masto also signed onto the letter.

During a congressional hearing over three weeks ago, Hegseth had told lawmakers that the Ukraine funding had been “released” and a spending plan would soon be sent to lawmakers. But the senators say the Pentagon failed to meet the promised May 15 deadline for that plan.

“Any further delays — particularly as the Department reportedly plans troubling U.S. troops withdrawals from the region — risks our ability to adequately deter Russia,” the senators said.

The letter was the latest sign of Senate Republican frustration with the Trump administration after a week in which the president endorsed the primary challenger to Texas Sen. John Cornyn, angering many.

In a back-and-forth with the president on social media Friday, Tillis blamed Trump's advisors for a list of policies he says are hurting the GOP politically, including, “Firing our very best generals and not holding Putin accountable for his systematic kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of Ukrainian civilians.”

Several Republicans have also taken issue with Hegseth's firing of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George last month. George had pushed to reconfigure the Army's battlefield strategy to incorporate drone warfare and had worked with Ukraine's military to learn from its experience.

In the House, a Democratic-backed proposal to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia and send $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine has gained momentum as well. While that aid package is unlikely to become law, it’s helping fuel a renewed push among lawmakers for supporting Ukraine’s war effort.

The $400 million in security aid for Ukraine is relatively small compared to the multi-billion dollar aid packages that Congress initially approved in the months and years immediately following Russia's invasion, but for lawmakers, the provision has also taken on significance as a sign of their continued support.

Paxton filed the lawsuit Friday in a Collin County state district court, the latest in a recent flurry of lawsuits by Paxton’s office against tech companies and other businesses ahead of his U.S. Senate GOP runoff against incumbent John Cornyn on Tuesday.

Texas joins Nevada, Indiana and New Jersey as states that have recently sued Discord. Florida announced its investigation of the company in March. Many private lawsuits have been filed in recent months, as well, largely from families accusing the messaging service of allowing children to be sexually abused or exploited while using Discord.

Paxton first opened an investigation into the messaging platform in 2024, along with several other tech companies, all broadly focused on user data privacy. Paxton announced last October, following the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, that he would expand the investigation of Discord to include a focus on the sexual exploitation of minors and extremist content on the platform.

Discord is an online messaging service generally used by people to communicate while playing video games. It also includes chat functions and the ability for users to create topic-based servers. Paxton has sued other video game and social media platforms, like Snapchat, Tiktok and Roblox, in recent months over similar concerns that they are violating users’ data privacy and allowing their platforms to be used to exploit children.

“Discord has allowed and invited all kinds of nihilistic violence and evil,” Paxton said. “We live in a time where the dangers children face online have never been greater, and every parent in Texas deserves to know their child is protected.”

Discord did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2023, Texas lawmakers strengthened laws requiring social media platforms to protect minors from inappropriate content online. That legislation, called Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, is still fighting its way through the courts and parts have been blocked for being unconstitutionally vague.

Paxton has used the remaining provisions of the SCOPE Act to bring lawsuits against Discord and the other tech companies.

The lawsuit asks the courts to require Discord to implement age verification for all users under that law, the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act. The lawsuit also seeks for Discord to pay fines under the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act, arguing the company has misled users about the safety of the platform.

Paxton cited a 2025 lawsuit filed by the family of a 13-year-old girl who says she was groomed on Roblox, then later Discord, before being sexually assaulted in her home. The family’s lawsuit argues the companies failed to protect the girl.

This week, Paxton also sued WhatsApp and its parent company Meta, alleging the platform can access users’ private messages.

But the eyebrow-raising move — the latest in his push to prove his loyalty to Trump — has agitated the same Republican lawmakers if he is nominated for the permanent job.

Blanche insists he’s not auditioning for the job of attorney general. But a succession of splashy steps the Justice Department has taken under his watch since he took the position on an acting basis last month, including an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, has left no doubt about the impression he’s hoping to make on the president who appointed him.

The fund in particular has put Blanche at the center of a Republican firestorm at a time when he aims to establish himself as the perfect person for the job for the remainder of Trump’s term. And it sharpened concerns from Democrats and other Blanche critics that he has not shed his mantle as the president’s personal attorney.

“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former majority leader, said in a statement.

From Trump's former lawyer to the Justice Department's top job

A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche came to public prominence for his lead role on Trump's defense team, including during the Republican's hush money trial in New York. That perch afforded him, he has said, a firsthand look at what he contends was the weaponization of the criminal justice system against Trump.

He was brought into the Justice Department as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 job, then was elevated last month after Trump ousted Pam Bondi.

Now he finds himself the latest Trump-appointed attorney general to simultaneously confront expectations from subordinates to uphold institutional norms and demands from the president to do his bidding.

Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was forced out after the 2018 midterms after infuriating the president over his recusal from an investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 presidential campaign. Another, William Barr, resigned after their relationship fizzled over Barr's refusal to back Trump's baseless claims of massive election fraud. Bondi was removed after struggling to bring successful prosecutions against Trump's political opponents.

Blanche has moved to advance Trump's interests

Two weeks after becoming acting attorney general, Blanche announced the appointment of Joseph diGenova, an 81-year-old former Justice Department prosecutor from the Reagan administration, to a special position inside the department. He'll oversee a Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired over the last decade to undermine Trump.

“At some point, at the right time, that will be made public and the American people will see exactly what happened to this administration and President Trump over the past decade," Blanche told Fox News.

Prior government reviews of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation, a centerpiece of the current conspiracy investigation, have failed to produce criminal charges against senior officials or evidence of criminal conduct by them. It's not clear what, if any, new information the continuing investigation has developed.

The Justice Department also last month obtained an indictment charging Comey, a Trump foe whose prosecution the president has long called for, with threatening Trump through a social media photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47" — a case legal experts say will be challenging for prosecutors. Comey has said he wouldn't be surprised if the Justice Department pursues additional indictments.

In other moves, Blanche announced an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that has been the target of conservative outrage, with misleading donors about its activities, and has publicly defended a Justice Department crackdown on leaks to the news media, including subpoenas to reporters.

The $1.8 billion fund sparks Republican resistance

Arguably the most audacious demonstration of loyalty to Trump came this week when the Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate people who feel they've been unjustly investigated and prosecuted, coupled with a guarantee of immunity from tax audits for Trump and his eldest sons.

As Republican concerns grew, Blanche held a tense meeting with GOP lawmakers Thursday. Shortly afterward, Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies.

Blanche, who defended the fund at a congressional hearing this week, has said anyone who believes they've been persecuted can apply for compensation regardless of political affiliation. But the fund has been widely understood as a boon to Trump allies investigated during the Biden administration.

“It’s pretty clear that he’s not the attorney general for the United States as much as he's the attorney general for President Trump,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and senior Justice Department official in the 1980s. He said Blanche would get an A+ if report cards were issued for fealty to Trump.

David Laufman, a former chief of staff to the deputy attorney general in President George W. Bush's administration, said that rather than protecting the Justice Department's independence, Blanche has been a “willing and ardent accomplice for carrying out any partisan or corrupt scheme the White House may devise.”

Blanche says he feels no pressure to please Trump

Blanche’s supporters dismiss the suggestion he is trying to curry favor with Trump to secure the permanent job.

“What he is doing is he is seeking justice based on facts and the law,” said Jay Town, who served as a U.S. attorney in Alabama during the first Trump administration. “And I don’t think that will ever change about him, whether he is the attorney general going forward or doesn’t spend another day in the administration. He is an honorable man and anybody that knows him knows that to be true.”

Blanche also says he is not angling to keep his job or feeling pressure to placate Trump.

He has told reporters he would be honored to be nominated but, "if he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you, sir.’ I don’t have any goals or aspirations beyond that.”

In recent days, he's functioned as the fund's public face and most visible defender, a role consistent with his comfort in the spotlight. He sometimes holds multiple press conferences a week and grants interviews to a variety of news outlets, a contrast to Bondi, who largely stuck to Fox News appearances.

His defenders say his experience as a federal prosecutor has made him a more sophisticated communicator for the department than Bondi, but his statements have at times invited backlash, including his refusal to rule out that violent Jan. 6 rioters could be eligible for payouts.

Though Blanche will appoint the five commissioners tasked with processing claims, his precise role in the fund’s implementation is unclear. He told CNN it was developed through negotiations with Trump’s private lawyers, not him.

For some Democrats, that's a difference without a distinction.

“Mr. Attorney General, you are acting today like the president's personal attorney," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told Blanche during a combative exchange in the Senate hearing, "and that's the whole problem."

• FAIRLY QUIET TODAY: Partly cloudy, only isolated activity today
• WATCHING TONIGHT: Small chance for overnight storms
• RAIN SATURDAY/FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT: Locally heavy rainfall possible
• QUIETER SUNDAY & MONDAY: More sun, less storm activity

FORECAST

TODAY

Another round of storms late last night boosted our monthly totals above 4″ at San Antonio International Airport. The radar is quiet this morning and Friday presents a brief break in the action. While isolated storms are possible this afternoon (30%), the overall coverage of rainfall will be lower than the last few days.

• SPURS WATCH PARTIES: That said, those headed to outdoor watch parties tonight should keep an eye on the radar. We’ll keep you updated should any isolated storms pop up.

TONIGHT

As it has been, we’ll need to keep watch on what happens to our west today. Some of this activity could make a run for the area overnight. The odds of this happening are lower than the last few days, but still possible.

⚠ HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE SATURDAY ⚠

An upper low will swing through the area on Saturday, enhancing rain chances. In this type of messy pattern, storms could pop up just about anywhere, so pinpointing where the heaviest rain may fall is a difficult task.

A Flood Watch has been issued for most of the area. It’s in effect tonight through Monday, however, our main concern for flooding will show up Saturday afternoon. Do note that it will not be raining all day long, as this is a more scattered, pop-up type scenario.

SUNDAY & MONDAY

For those with outdoor plans this Memorial Day weekend, we do expect quieter conditions on Sunday and Monday. Isolated activity will remain possible, but will be driven by afternoon heating. Rain chances Sunday sit at 30%, while lower odds are expected on Memorial Day.

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The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.

But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.

“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”

U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.

US withdrawal followed German criticism

The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.

Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.

Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.

Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”

The US has a commitment to keep at least 76,000 troops in Europe

About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.

The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.

But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.

Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.

Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”

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Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.

Thankfully, Rachel Crum, 19, and her mother, Shannan Hern, are doing OK. They are both sore but grateful they were not seriously injured.

“My head snaps back. I see her (head) snap back. And then just takes off,” Hern said emotionally as she recalled what happened.

Hern said just hours prior, they surprised their daughter with a car for her birthday. A silver and black Mini Cooper, which she named after Spurs great Manu Ginobili.

“Unfortunately, we did lose our last game, but I was looking forward to in the future going honking and celebrating with my family,” said Crum.

After the Spurs lost, the mother and daughter duo decided to take Ginobili for a spin.

Not even a block from their home, at the intersection of N. St. Mary’s Street and E. Parks Avenue, the mother and daughter say a dark colored Toyota Tacoma T-boned them at the stop sign.

“It’s going to be burned in my memory forever watching that come at my daughter,” Hern said.

They found pieces of the other vehicle left behind and are hoping someone recognizes the truck or saw the crash.

“You can kind of see where the car accelerated to turn onto the street,” Crum said. “And it actually cut through the metal in my car.”

Instead of being left with anger, the family hopes the incident is a wake-up call for the hit-and-run driver.

“I really pray that they woke up this morning and said, ‘That’s enough. It’s enough,” Hern stated.

San Antonio police have not found the driver. They also have not said whether impairment was a factor. The family says, based on the parts left behind, they believe investigators are looking for a dark colored Toyota Tacoma, possibly a 2016 to 2020 model.

Contact SAPD’s non-emergency line at (210) 207-7273 with any relevant information about the incident.

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Trump spent months criticizing Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, for being reluctant to cut interests rates, with the Republican president arguing that lower borrowing costs would provide an economic boost. By taking the unusual step of holding the ceremony in the East Room and not the Fed, Trump made clear his pleasure that Warsh is now in charge.

The war with Iran has caused gas prices to spike, unsettled financial markets and driven inflation concerns across the economy. Those developments have led to recent doubts about whether Warsh might heed Trump's calls and push the Fed to lower rates.

Still, Trump said he had faith that Warsh would prioritize a strong economy.

“Thankfully, unlike some of his predecessors, Kevin understands that when the economy is booming, it is, that’s a good thing,” the president said. Trump said it was not necessary "to go crazy. Just let it go. We want it to boom.”

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office. Also on hand were House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Justice Brett Kavanaugh, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Cabinet members.

“I expect he will go down as one of the truly great chairmen of the Federal Reserve that we’ve ever had,” Trump said of Warsh.

Republican President Ronald Reagan swore in Alan Greenspan as Fed chair at the White House in 1987. Republican President George W. Bush attended the 2006 ceremony at central bank headquarters when Ben Bernanke became chair.

But having the event at the White House raises more questions about the Fed's independence at a time when Trump has constantly sought to bend the independent central bank to his will.

Trump's Department of Justice began an investigation into Powell and the Fed’s extensive building renovations. That drew backlash from lawmakers and the department scrapped the investigation. The Fed’s internal watchdog is now handling the matter. Powell’s term as chair ended last week, though he has opted to remain on the Fed board for now.

Trump made a point of saying during his remarks, “Honestly, I really mean this. This is not said in any other way: I want Kevin to be totally independent.”

“I want him to be independent and just do a great job,” Trump said. “Don’t look at me, don’t look at anybody. Just do your own thing.”

In the next breath, however, Trump said that “in the eyes of many, the Fed has lost its way in recent years” under his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump also suggested that Warsh is looking to lead policies that promote “positive economic growth” and that doing so did not have to mean higher inflation.

Trump also noted that the stock market had risen Friday. "That means they like you,” he said of Warsh.

Warsh once harshly criticized Fed’s policies, including its low interest rate policies coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, which he says contributed to the largest U.S. inflation spike in four decades in 2021-2022. More recently, he has sometimes echoed Trump’s demands for lower rates.

Warsh says productivity gains from artificial intelligence will help the economy grow more quickly without spurring inflation, enabling the Fed to reduce borrowing costs. Many Fed officials, however, disagree that AI’s development will support rate cuts, especially because the technology has also been blamed for large-scale layoffs in the computer sector and other parts of the economy.

On Friday, Warsh promised “to lead a reform oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes, both escaping static frameworks and models and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance."

He told Trump that he believes “these years can bring unmatched prosperity that will raise living standards for Americans from all walks of life. And the Fed has something to do with it.”

Warsh further noted that the Fed's mandate “is to promote price stability and maximum employment. When we pursue those aims with wisdom and clarity, independence and resolve, inflation can be lower; growth, stronger; real take home pay, higher and America can more prosperous."

As he left the ceremony, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced Trump's message, predicting to reporters that Warsh will "do the right thing for inflation and growth.”

The red carpet at Cannes is one of the most famous fashion showcases in the world. Unlike events such as the Oscars ceremony or Met Gala, the display goes on for more than a week.

That gives both celebrities and their stylists lots of opportunities to pull luxe looks together, on top of plenty of daytime casual couture for Cannes photocalls.

Here's a look at the couture highlights — and lessons on what not to wear — from the festival this year:

Gowns bring drama and volume

While voluminous gowns were frowned on by festival organizers — see also barely-there dresses — that didn’t stop structural elegance from making an appearance.

Eschewing slinky silhouettes were Cate Blanchett who popped up her frilly collar on a Louis Vuitton gown, and Sharon Stone who swept along the red carpet in an oversized creation by Sophie Couture.

Joan Collins also brought drama with a gown by Stéphane Rolland that orbited her like a delicate origami flower.

Stunning outside the Palais, but not great for anyone sitting behind them in the cinema, who wants to see the screen.

NSFW: Not suitable for walking

For those not careful, the outfits may impress when standing still in the mirror — but fail once the wearer starts moving.

Seen this year: Guests tripping over, being reduced to a crawl or going up the Palais' 24 steps sideways, making the wrong impression on the Croisette crowd.

Some victims of their fashion were caught out by a dress train that's too tight around the knees, heels that were too high, and flying fabric strands tying one up at the first hint of a breeze.

Demi Moore's seemingly bottomless wardrobe

The biggest selection of styles come from the never-ending wardrobes of the jury members, who attend daily premieres to watch the movies.

This year the panel, lead by Park Chan-wook, included Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, Isaach De Bankolé and Paul Laverty.

Moore, in particular, switched up styles with off-the-shoulder lavender Gucci, a body-hugging gown by Jacquemus, a dramatic shaggy fur from Gucci’s Resort 2027 collection, and a huge hot-pink gown by avant-garde fashion label Matières Fécales.

Honorable mentions

Chefs' kisses go to Colman Domingo, who wore a caped, twinkly purple Valentino shirt; Blanchett in backless floral Givenchy, complete with tassels; Isabelle Huppert in a delicate fanned out, bright red Gucci gown; Ruth Negga in black and white tuxedo tailoring; and vintage lover Dita von Teese channeling Old Hollywood in Tamara Ralph Couture.

The protesters gathered to oppose legislation passed in February on the legal status of missing persons that critics say allows courts to declare missing Ukrainian military personnel legally dead before their fate has been fully confirmed.

“Today all the families came out so that the missing are not equated with the dead,” said Mariana Yatselenko, 27, who took part in the Kyiv march.

More than 90,000 people are listed as missing in Ukraine’s unified registry of persons who disappeared under special circumstances, according to Artur Dobrosierdov, the country’s commissioner for missing persons.

The missing date back to 2014

Neither Russia nor Ukraine publish regular casualty numbers in the war, although analysts estimate hundreds of thousands of casualties in the fighting.

The Ukrainian register covers people who went missing during combat, as a result of armed aggression or in occupied territories, mostly after Russia’s all-out invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022. But some cases date back to 2014, when Russian soldiers invaded the Crimean Peninsula and pro-Russia forces started fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The registry began operating in May 2023, and at that point, information about both military personnel and civilians from previous years was entered into it.

Similar demonstrations have been held previously over the issue.

Russia says Ukraine struck a dorm, killing 4

Ukrainian drones hit a college dormitory building in Starobilsk, a city in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Luhansk region, killing six people and wounding 39 others, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. He added that another 15 remain missing as emergency workers are clearing the debris.

Speaking at a meeting with war veterans in Moscow, Putin denounced the attack on the dormitory as a “crime” and ordered the military to submit its proposals for retaliation. He noted that there were no military or law enforcement facilities near the college.

Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the attack.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said that it intercepted 217 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, including the Moscow region and St. Petersburg, the country’s second-largest city.

For the fourth time this month Ukraine struck Russia’s Yaroslavl oil refinery, around 700 kilometers (440 miles) from the border, in an overnight operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.

Ukraine has been pounding Russian oil facilities in an effort to deny Moscow funding for its invasion.

U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting have brought no significant results and recently appeared to peter out.

“They were not fruitful, unfortunately,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of negotiations over the past year with Russia and Ukraine.

No talks are happening now, he said during a trip to Sweden, although they could resume if Washington sees an opportunity for progress.

Russian barrages as Ukraine makes battlefield gains

Ukraine’s air force said that it shot down or jammed 115 of 124 Russian drones that were launched overnight, in regular bombardments of civilian areas that in recent months have escalated.

Russian attacks across the northern Sumy region wounded 11 people, including a child, the National Police said. Also, a Russian drone killed a man in the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, according to the region’s military administration chief.

The number of Ukrainian civilian casualties verified by the United Nations increased by 21% in the first four months of this year, compared with the same period last year, with 815 civilians killed and 4,174 wounded.

In Washington, the Trump administration approved a modest $108 million arms sale to Ukraine that will help the country sustain its midrange air defense missile system.

The U.S. State Department announced the sale of ground-to-air Hawk missile components, spare parts and logistic support late Thursday. Under U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington has slashed military support for Ukraine.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian counterattacks have driven the Russian army out of more than 400 square kilometers (150 square miles) of southern Ukraine since the end of last year, Western analysts say.

Those successes are attributed to Ukraine’s increasingly homegrown drone and missile technology, as well as Russian forces being denied access to Starlink satellite services used to steer drones toward targets.

Ukraine keeps a wary eye on Belarus

Zelenskyy said that Russia could be planning new attacks on northern Ukraine, launched from Belarus.

Moscow “is eager to draw (Belarus) deeper into this war,” Zelenskyy said on social media, warning that “there will be consequences” for the Belarusian government, if it provides a platform for strikes on Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha alerted allies at a NATO meeting in Sweden about what Ukrainian intelligence services say are growing threats from Belarus. Sybiha urged partners to take unspecified deterrence measures against Minsk.

Russia and Belarus held joint nuclear exercises earlier this week.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, underscored “Russia’s ability to leverage Belarus for future Russian military operations and Russia’s deepening de facto control over Belarus.”

___

Matthew Lee in Washington, and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

___

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

In a news release, the park will offer one complimentary six-ounce draft beer to its pass members aged 21 and older with a valid ID beginning on June 1. The promotion will last throughout June.

Patrons can pick up their free beverage at SeaWorld’s Lone Star Lakeside Bar between 11 a.m. until closing time to help guests “cool down and beat the heat,” the park said in the release.

The park opens at 10:30 a.m. in June, but closing times will vary anywhere between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

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From the eight senators to their staff and military liaison officers, the group will be entirely women as they pay diplomatic visits to government officials in four Arctic nations, witness the challenges for militaries in the region and visit a Norwegian archipelago so remote they will need escorts to avoid run-ins with polar bears.

“I want them to experience, first of all, the awesomeness of the Arctic," said Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who is leading the trip alongside Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The trip was born out of both senator's work to stabilize relations with U.S. allies in North America and northern Europe at a time when President Donald Trump has taken an aggressive, go-it-alone stance in the region. Just this week, the Pentagon announced that the U.S. would pause participation on a joint board with Canada for continental defense that dates back to World War II.

Murkowski and Shaheen said that is the wrong approach in an Arctic region that has increasing strategic value and unique challenges.

“We will reassure our allies that we recognize and appreciate the importance of our allies and partners in the Arctic as in so many other areas,” Shaheen told The Associated Press, adding that she expected the group to discuss “what more we can do as members of Congress to support those relationships.”

The group is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, with Sens. Cindy Hyde Smith, Katie Britt and Cynthia Lummis making up the Republican side, and Sens. Maggie Hassan, Kirsten Gillibrand and Catherine Cortez Masto from the Democrats. Departing Friday, they will visit Arctic or sub-Arctic regions in Canada, Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago that is one of the northernmost inhabited areas on earth, and Iceland.

Understanding the Arctic

Murkowski and Shaheen said they want the group to come away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for Arctic communities that are experiencing the effects of climate change, as well as the unique challenges of conducting military operations in the region.

“It’s to understand what it means to go into a remote, isolated community that has no access by road,” Murkowski said, adding that the group would see how military sites need airplane hangars because aircraft cannot be kept outside overnight in the Arctic cold.

NATO has recently tried to foster cooperation in the High North through a series of joint military exercises, especially as nations like China and Russia increase their activities there.

As climate change thins the Arctic ice, it could potentially create a northwest passage for international trade as well as reignite competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources. The region is also host to a number of undersea cable projects that hold strategic value.

The group will also visit Indigenous communities that have lived in the region for generations and understand the environment. Murkowski said she hopes the senators come away from the trip “excited and intrigued and hopefully inspired.”

As Trump threatened to take Greenland earlier this year, Shaheen and Murkowski also teamed up to push for legislation that would prevent the U.S. from attacking any fellow NATO member. They are among the lawmakers pushing to include language in this year's defense legislation that would prevent the Trump administration from withdrawing military commitments to NATO allies.

Shaheen said, “I also want to know if there are policy directives that we should be thinking about. And it will be great to have a strong bipartisan group there to discuss what we might want to do when we get back.”

How an all-women trip will be different

For some of the nations the group will be visiting, a high representation of women is nothing new. Iceland's parliamentary body is comprised of roughly 46% women, one of the top ranking countries globally for female political representation.

Shaheen said that research suggests that “when women are the negotiating table, that agreements that are made have a much better chance of lasting for a longer period of time.”

She added that data shows that representation of women in government leads to more stable societies, as well as investments back into their communities.

“There are very real reasons why we need to make sure that women are at the table,” she added.

There was nothing to laugh about Thursday night early in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, when Hart missed three 3-pointers to continue a postseason shooting slump. His frustration was evident as he slammed the ball down a few times, and he wondered why what he was doing in practice wasn't showing up in the games.

“I’m just like, bro, it’s not translating right now,” Hart said, once he finished chewing a slice from the box of pizza he carried to his postgame news conference.

His teammates — particularly the ones who were also his teammates at Villanova — knew eventually it would.

“I know we joke around a lot about his practice habits, but he does work hard,” Jalen Brunson said.

Hart broke out with five 3-pointers and scored a playoff career-high 26 points as the Knicks pulled away for a 109-93 victory over Cleveland to move two wins from their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. He exited to a standing ovation, two nights after he was on the bench for nearly all of New York's comeback from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Even with everything he does for the Knicks, it was hard to keep Hart on the court at that time. The Cavaliers, like a number of NBA teams, view the forward's outside shooting as one of the weaknesses in a potent lineup headlined by All-Stars Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, and assign their center to cover him. He realizes he will have room to shoot from outside, because opponents want him to.

Knowing that, Hart worked extra hard on his shot fundamentals leading into Game 2.

“When you have guys that are gamers, they do stuff that people don’t think that they can do at any time,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “And he knows the work that he puts in, we know the work that he puts in, and his confidence is not going to waver. He's going to put pressure on himself to take that next one and make that next one.”

Hart was shooting only 26.7% behind the arc in the playoffs going into the game, so sagging off him is statistically a sound strategy — except Hart is not a player to be judged solely by the numbers.

“I’m never a huge analytics guy," Hart said. “At a certain point they’re a lamppost to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home.”

As Towns, seated next to him at the podium, removed his sunglasses to stare at Hart in bemusement, Hart explained that the quote belonged to Jay Wright, his coach at Villanova.

Hart, a couple years older than Brunson and Mikal Bridges, was the scorer late in his career with the Wildcats. After they won the 2016 NCAA championship, he averaged a career-high 18.7 points and shot 40.4% behind the arc and was the Big East player of the year as a senior.

Brunson is the dominant scorer now, while Hart's value to the Knicks is for the many other things he does. He's taken a large role in the defending of Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell, and his defensive rebounding, while standing only 6-foot-4, allows the Knicks to push the ball up the court quickly in transition.

“He’s the perfect example for any basketball player who wants to learn how to truly impact the winning of a team and he does that at the highest level,” Towns said. “What he does not only talentwise but mentally for our team, when he goes out there, he’s hustling, he’s playing that hard, you feel like you’ve got to match his intensity.”

And on nights like Thursday, Hart can punish teams that dare him to shoot. Just like he did two years ago in the first round, when he made the series-clinching 3-pointer against Philadelphia in Game 6.

So Brunson, who had a playoff career-high 14 assists in Game 2, will keep looking for him.

“I mean, I’m really not trying to look for him. He just happens to be open, so I give him the ball,” Brunson said, with a smirk that resembled his sidekick. “I have the utmost confidence in him, watching the things he does and after practice with his routine and everything. He works hard.”

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Days after U.S. President Donald Trump raised doubts about continuing arms sales to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao said Thursday that the sales would resume when the administration considers it appropriate.

“Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for ‘Epic Fury,’” Cao told the U.S. Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, referring to the Trump administration's name for the Iran operation. “Then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.”

Taiwan's authorities have seen the reports, “but currently there is no information regarding any adjustments the U.S. will make to this arms sale,” Taiwanese presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo said Friday when asked about Cao’s comments.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Like other countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Beijing, the U.S. doesn't recognize Taiwan as a country, but Washington remains the island’s strongest backer and arms supplier.

Trump’s Republican administration authorized an $11 billion weapons package for Taipei in December, but it has yet to move forward. American lawmakers also approved a separate $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan in January, though the deal can't proceed until Trump formally submits it to U.S. Congress.

In an interview with Fox News on his way back to the United States from last week’s trip to Beijing, Trump said that arms sales to Taiwan are “a very good negotiating chip” in Washington’s dealings with China.

On Wednesday, marking his two years in office, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that if given the chance, he would tell Trump to continue U.S. arms purchases, which Lai called essential for peace.

China warns US over Taiwan

When asked about Cao's comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that “China’s opposition to the U.S. arms sale to China’s Taiwan region is consistent, clear-cut and resolute.”

Last week, during Trump's visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a strong warning, telling him that the “Taiwan question” is the most important issue in U.S.-China relations and that the two nations could “have clashes and even conflicts,” if the issue isn't handled properly.

Trump later told reporters that he needed to talk to the person who is running Taiwan, without naming Lai, who Beijing deems a separatist.

Trump and Lai holding talks likely would anger China, which typically responds strongly to visits to Taiwan by U.S. politicians.

Kuo, the Taiwan presidential spokesperson, said Friday there was no more information about a potential conversation between Lai and Trump.

Another five rockets followed in rapid succession, before a second HIMARS truck drove out of its concealed position in a copse of evergreens, fired its salvo of six rockets, then retreated back to cover.

The live-fire exercise this week at the U.S. military’s Camp Fuji east maneuver area lasted only a few minutes, but was a significant demonstration to Pacific allies of American capabilities as Washington seeks to deter possible Chinese aggression against Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own and hasn't ruled out taking by force.

Deterrence through strength, not confrontation

It was also a demonstration of how the U.S. has been shifting tactics in the Pacific, made necessary by the rapid modernization and improvement of China’s military in recent years.

“The U.S. does not want China to invade Taiwan, but it would not be relying on the traditional aircraft carrier-based attack wings of the past,” said Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“In Iran, with the U.S. conflict there, there were over 40 U.S. aircraft, manned and unmanned, either destroyed or damaged against a much less capable adversary, so in the case of conflict with China that vulnerability would be much greater," he said. "That’s why we’re seeing the U.S. emphasizing ... these smaller units.”

According to the Pentagon's latest annual report to Congress, the goal is to “deny the ability of any country in the Indo-Pacific to dominate us or our allies." It said the priority was on bolstering deterrence “through strength, not confrontation.”

Recent wars and proliferation of drones underscore need for mobility

The function of the HIMARS is implicit in its full name, “High Mobility Artillery Rocket System." It's a truck-mounted pod of rockets that can be hidden from drone or satellite surveillance, driven out to fire its GPS-guided missiles, then quickly back to a new hidden position using what the military commonly calls “shoot-and-scoot” tactics.

“It depends on the crew, but it can get as fast as four minutes, (even) two minutes sometimes,” said Sgt. Kevin Alvarez, section chief of one of the two Fox Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division HIMARS involved in the Camp Fuji exercise.

Introduced about 20 years ago, the HIMARS has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was largely unknown to the general public until Ukraine was able to use it with great success in its fight against Russia.

Those conflicts, especially with the proliferation of drones on the battlefield that can quickly identify static artillery positions, have underscored the value of mobility, said Lt. Col. Ryan Anness, commander of the 3rd Battalion.

“They’re much quicker, much faster, and much easier to hide than, say, traditional cannon artillery, and obviously having the precision fire weapons and having the ability to hide easier is why so many countries, and why it’s important for us, to have the HIMARS,” he said.

HIMARS can now hit targets at more than 300 miles

The HIMARS can fire a variety of missiles, and initially only shorter-range munitions were provided to Ukraine until the U.S. decided to allow Kyiv to have the ATACMS, or Army Tactical Missile System, that can hit targets at about 300 kilometers (180 miles) away.

In the first days of the war against Iran after the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, the HIMARS was used to fire both ATACMS and, for the first time in combat, the even longer-range Precision Strike Missiles, sinking “multiple” Iranian surface ships and a submarine in port, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said.

The so-called PrSM can reach targets at ranges greater than 500 kilometers (310 miles,) according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Together with the Army’s Typhon — another truck-based launching system that shoots longer-range Tomahawk missiles and others, but is less maneuverable than the HIMARS — the two systems could easily cover the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China, and the strategically important Luzon Strait, between the Philippines and Taiwan, if deployed on Taiwan and the Philippine and Japanese islands nearby, Graham said.

Both waterways would be critical to any sort of Chinese invasion or blockade plan.

“In advance of a conflict around Taiwan, there would likely be a large-scale outflux of U.S. assets within the envelope of China’s missile capabilities,” Graham said. "All that would be left is submarines, which are more survivable, and small units based on rugged survivability — mobile systems like the HIMARS.”

Exercises demonstrate capabilities, and partnership

The maneuvers carried out at Camp Fuji on Wednesday used dummy rockets — concrete-filled tubes with no explosives — and were carried out under strict safety guidelines and observed by Japanese military officials, who shut down a local road during the exercise just in case one of the projectiles fell short.

Even though the precautions meant carrying out the live-fire exercise somewhat slower than the HIMARS would be used in combat, Lt. Col. Anness stressed the value of it both for his Marines and for ties with U.S. allies.

“Being able to have long-range precision-fire weapons provides deterrence here in the Pacific, and we train with our Japanese partners as much as we can to make sure we’re ready,” he said.

San Antonio police officers responded to a shooting call at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Stahl Road and O’Connor Road, which is located near the Madison High School campus.

The teen told officers there was an altercation at a different location that led to the road rage incident, according to an SAPD preliminary report. A North East Independent School District spokesperson said the road rage incident happened near Loop 1604.

In the initial road rage incident, officers said the teenager fired multiple gunshots at another vehicle.

Later in the day, according to an SAPD report, the teen was walking near the Madison High School campus when someone inside a vehicle drove by and shot him.

Madison High School entered a secure status as a result of the shooting, the NEISD spokesperson said. The 16-year-old student was later taken to a hospital for treatment, SAPD said.

At this time, no arrests have been made. It is unclear whether anyone else was injured in addition to the teen.

SAPD said its investigation is ongoing.

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Warner is not surprised what would seem to be an overdue honor came more than 30 years since his last game for the Panthers.

“My career has never been conventional, so why should my HOF induction?” Warner wrote in a lengthy text to The Associated Press. “Most UNI HOFers will be recognized for their accomplishments at the university. I will be recognized for what I was able to do because of my time there.”

Warner, whose selection was announced Thursday, won one Super Bowl and played in two others during an improbable 12-year NFL career that ended after the 2009 season.

The Burlington, Iowa, native was a member of four straight conference championship teams at UNI but didn't become the starting quarterback until he was a senior in 1993, when he was conference offensive player of the year. Warner said he had a hard time believing his college accomplishments merited selection to the school hall of fame. He said Megan Franklin, UNI's second-year athletic director, and new football coach Todd Stepsis convinced him otherwise.

“It totally makes sense to me now, that when looking at a college HOF it does not have to be limited to what you did in your time there but can be fully representative of what you went on to do beyond your days at the university,” Warner said.

Warner went to training camp with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1993 and was cut, going on to stock shelves at a grocery store and star in the Arena Football League.

In 1998, after leading NFL Europe in touchdowns and passing yards, he joined the St. Louis Rams and became the team’s starting quarterback in 1999. He led the Rams' “Greatest Show on Turf” offense to a Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans in 2000 and was the game's MVP. Warner made it back to the Super Bowl with the Rams in 2002 and with the Arizona Cardinals in 2009.

Warner had a lukewarm relationship with UNI in the years after he left, according to a 2009 story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. But in 2021, UNI and its trademark licensing agency partnered with Warner and his agency, Priority Sports, to develop and launch a merchandise line celebrating Warner’s legacy. That was the year “American Underdog,” a movie about Warner's life, was released.

“We are excited to celebrate Kurt and the other members of our 2026 UNI Athletics Hall of Fame Class,” the athletic department said. “Regardless of the paths they took to receive this recognition, we are thrilled to celebrate their induction!”

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Candidates Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia have traded accusations in press releases and on social media in the final stretch before voting starts.

“I stand with Jews, and the Jews are saying that Zionists are not real Jews,” Galindo said.

Galindo repeatedly says her opponent, Garcia, is controlled by money from Jewish people.

“He’s funded by the Zionists who control San Antonio,” Galindo said. “I know that that sounds like a conspiracy theory, but we have the Epstein files now. We have all of the evidence.”

Garcia shoots down Galindo’s claims, calling them conspiracies. He has called Galindo’s comments antisemitic as well.

“It just goes to show her growing conspiracy theories and her antisemitic theories as well,” Garcia said. “We cannot allow this in our party. We need to stand up and condemn this type of rhetoric as we see antisemitic attacks on the rise throughout the nation, and more so than anything it’s undemocratic.”

The political clash is unfolding as voters adjust to a newly redrawn District 35, which includes San Antonio, Cibolo, Converse, Schertz, Seguin, New Braunfels, Floresville and more.

“Just a couple of days ago, I encountered somebody that didn’t know they were redrawn into this district,” Garcia said.

The two are working to find a balance to educate voters on the new district lines, each respective candidates’ platforms and the infighting between the candidates.

The Jewish Federation of San Antonio also weighed in on “the spread of antisemitic tropes” in a statement on Instagram.

“Divisive and hateful rhetoric targeting the Jewish community has no place in our civic life,” the statement read, in part.

Early voting begins May 18. Election Day is May 26.

Read also:

• New Braunfels City Council terminates city attorney following mayoral election confusion
• Voter says cease-and-desist letter won’t silence her criticism of Kendall County Judge candidate’s past
• Texas’ 35th Congressional District primary runoffs: Who is running and what to know

Guardiola had a year left on his City contract but will take charge of his final game on Sunday against Aston Villa in the Premier League.

“Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside I know it’s my time,” he said.

City said Guardiola will become a global ambassador and it was naming its newly developed stand at Etihad Stadium after him.

Enzo Maresca — the former Chelsea manager who was previously assistant to Guardiola at City — is the favorite to take on the daunting task of filling the Catalan's shoes after a decade of unprecedented dominance.

Since joining City in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has led the Abu Dhabi-owned team to six Premier League titles and a first Champions League crown in 2023.

He won 17 major trophies including a domestic double this season of the English League Cup and the FA Cup. He has won 35 major titles across his coaching career including at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

City was by far his longest job in management, having never previously stayed more than four years in a role.

“I will not train for a while,” the 55-year-old Guardiola said. “I feel I would not have the energy that is required to daily … with the expectations to fight for the titles.”

Guardiola set new benchmarks; City became the first team to win four straight English leagues and the first to amass 100 points in a single season in 2018. The following year City was the first team to win the domestic treble of the league, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season.

His biggest achievement was leading City to the ultimate treble in 2023, winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup — matching Manchester United’s feat from more than 20 years earlier in 1999.

He also brought to England a style of soccer — a possession-based approach that started with playing the ball out from the goalkeeper or defense — that ended up being mimicked across the country, from kids’ teams at grassroots level to rivals in the Premier League.

“The unique approach that he brings to his coaching has allowed him to constantly challenge the accepted truths of our game. It is the reason that in the last 10 years he has not only made Manchester City better — he has also made football better,” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said. He added it was the “right answer” for Guardiola to walk away now.

While he goes out on another trophy-winning campaign, this was the first time in his career that he has gone two seasons without being crowned league champion. City was also eliminated from the Champions League before the quarterfinals in the last two years.

City said Guardiola's new role would see him give technical advice to clubs in its ownership group.

“Pep’s legacy is extraordinary and its true impact will be better assessed by Manchester City historians of the future,” chief executive Ferran Sorriano said. “If there is something more difficult than winning, it is winning again. It requires incredible persistence, resilience and the humility to start again every year, with the same energy, again and again. This is what Pep did.”

While Guardiola will go down as one of the greatest managers in Premier League history — rivaling Alex Ferguson — he repeatedly had to defend City against allegations of financial breaches, with more than 100 charges still hanging over the club.

City was accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 — a span in which it won three titles and signed some of the world’s best players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne. One of those titles was won under Guardiola.

City has always denied wrongdoing. Guardiola said he was “fully convinced” the club was innocent.

“We worked. We suffered. We fought. And we did things our own way. Our way,” Guardiola said in his farewell message to fans.

___

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

A letter to Everlane employees from CEO Alfred Chang confirming the deal was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

Everlane, based in San Francisco, didn't disclose a purchase price. Shein declined to comment. Everlane's majority owner L Catterton couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Everlane was founded in 2011 by Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer with a mission to produce eco friendly and affordable clothing. The company publicized regular audits of its pay and working conditions, as well as the brand's environmental impact. The online retailer opened its first physical store in 2017.

But the company in recent years has been embroiled in controversies surrounding treatment of its workers, according to media reports.

Everlane, which was joined by other eco-friendly brands like Allbirds, also found that offering a more transparent look at its factories wasn't enough for consumers, according to independent retail analyst Bruce Winder. Winder said shoppers were also seeking more affordable prices, and “the novelty wore off.” He cited Allbirds. After sales of the once highly popular shoe tumbled, it rebranded itself “NewBird AI,” and is now focused on artificial intelligence and cloud-computing services.

L Catterton began acquiring significant stakes in Everlane in September 2020. becoming its majority owner. It also owns a significant stake in brands Boll & Branch, Etro and Birkenstock.

Preysman officially stepped down in 2022.

The online retailer Shein was founded in China in 2012 and become extremely popular with teens and young shoppers with $15 trendy dresses and sandals, A majority of items are mass produced and stitched together by workers in a web of factories in China. It has moved its headquarters in Singapore.

“Like many brands, we’ve faced increasing pressure in a rapidly changing retail landscape,” Chang wrote in the letter. “This partnership allows us to remain independent, and gives us the stability and resources to make a larger impact, without compromising on the quality and standards that make Everlane, Everlane.”

Chang, who became CEO in 2024, wrote that the deal will enable the business to invest more in its product, innovation and staff. He emphasized that Everlane will remain an independent brand, staying true to its “sustainability” commitments.

Chang said he will continue as CEO and its leadership will remain in place.

The takeover bid arrives at a time when Everlane is struggling. Sales are down and debt has mounted, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. The company needs new ownership to survive, and Shein can provide that financial stability, he said.

Shein can establish a presence outside of fast fashion through Everlane, Saunders said, as growth within the industry becomes more difficult. Tariffs and other trade restrictions under the Trump administration have upended imports of the inexpensive clothing that dominates fast fashion.

Winder noted that Shein also has an opportunity to redefine its brand by creating a portfolio of eco-friendly brands like Everlane.

But Everlane and Shein are an odd couple, analysts noted.

Shein is unlikely to completely retool Everlane's supply network, Saunders said, but even being associated with the Shein group may be “somewhat jarring for core Everlane customers. ”

“Ultimately, the deal likely saves Everlane,” he said. “But that salvation comes at a price.”

Chang seemed to allude in his memo to some of the negative responses on social media when rumors of the deal were swirling, stating that the “past week has been a hard one. Seeing our company in the media, and in that light, was painful.”

Harvell was driving a family vehicle, just as he had countless times before.

This set of wheels, though, topped out at around 25 mph (40 kph).

Harvell and dozens of his fellow seniors eschewed their cars and trucks and arrived in tractors, ATVs, golf carts and more.

It was all part of Tractor Day, a celebration that dates back to the 1980s at the school in Carleton, Michigan, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Detroit. Most students arrived by 7:30 a.m., but the fun was to continue throughout the day with games, music and lunch catered by a local restaurant.

The annual event is not only a fun going-away celebration for seniors but also serves to honor the area’s agricultural heritage.

“We’re just a farm school,” Harvell said. “It’s a tradition. Everyone’s done it before us. We just carry it on.”

The fourth-generation farmer on Friday was behind the wheel of a Case 305 Magnum, the same tractor used to till the soil where he and his family grow soybeans and corn. And the one his older brother drove to Tractor Day three years ago.

Myah Hoppert arrived bright and early in a John Deere 8300 that could practically drive itself to school at this point. The same tractor carried Hoppert’s two sisters and eight of their cousins to Airport High during past Tractor Days.

“Last day with all my friends,” said Hoppert, who plans to study nursing at Monroe County Community College next year.

Friday was “one final hurrah,” said Austin Neddo, who may hold the distinction of having the most vintage ride. He arrived in a restored 1940 Farmall A, a tractor once owned by Neddo's great-great-grandfather.

As class treasurer, Jocelyn Kleman helped organize Friday’s festivities, which she described as “our last recess.” She expected that 150 of the roughly 180 seniors were taking part in Tractor Day.

Kleman and two friends rode in on an off-road vehicle known as a “side-by-side.” She had looked forward to this day for four years, after, like other Airport students, only being able to watch the end-of-year revelry through classroom windows.

“You could just see how much fun the seniors are having,” said Kleman, who plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall. “What a nostalgic event this really is.

“And how much the seniors look forward to it each year.”

Hannah joins KSAT from Fresno, California, but she’s no stranger to San Antonio.

She is excited to be back in the Alamo City, where she was born and raised. Here’s what to know about Hannah:

How do you feel about coming back to the Alamo City and covering news in your hometown?

It is truly an honor to be back not only reporting in my hometown, but especially at KSAT. After visiting the station during school field trips, I was sold.

I knew one day I wanted to work alongside the talented journalists at KSAT and help give my community a platform to make change, highlight the good and show how we come together when tragedy hits.

You were born and raised in San Antonio. What are your favorite local traditions?

Fiesta and the rodeo are two events that I always look forward to! I grew up going to both, and was even in the Flambeau Parade with my dance studio, Sarita’s.

Even though I lived away from home for nearly eight years, I’ve always tried to come back to enjoy the food, fun and family.

What made you want to pursue journalism as a profession?

I was introduced to TV production during my time at Providence Catholic School. I joined the broadcast class, Provet TV, where I learned every aspect of producing a newscast, both in front of and behind the camera.

We gained hands-on experience editing, writing and interviewing classmates and teachers around campus.

That experience laid a strong foundation that helped me excel at the University of North Texas.

When you’re not working, how do you enjoy spending your time?

I love going to Pilates, reading and spending time with my chihuahua Frankie. Even if it slows us down, we take Frankie everywhere and anywhere!

So far, his favorite trips have been Carmel-by-the-Sea, San Francisco and Yosemite National Park.

What’s a story that you’ve covered in the past that still sticks with you?

My first news station after college was in Sherman, Texas, covering North Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. The area was no stranger to severe weather. In April of 2024, an EF-4 tornado hit Marietta, Oklahoma. A semi-driver was killed in the storm, and nearly 20 businesses and homes were destroyed, including the local hospital.

Over 600 people lost their place of work overnight, and patients were transferred to other facilities while the town worked to build. Covering this kind of destruction never got easier, but it always amazed me how the communities would grow stronger every time.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

My favorite place to visit is Hawaii. I’ve been to Oahu twice and hope to go to Maui soon! I’m obsessed with sushi, so I could get poke bowls from Foodland every day if you let me.

But if I had to go somewhere new, I would love to travel across Europe.

Read also:

• Meet Alexis Scott, one of KSAT’s newest reporters
• KSAT meteorologist Shelby Ebertowski is engaged

Spurs Sports & Entertainment hosted a citywide pep rally at Tower Park at Hemisfair.

Fans who arrived early received free tacos and coffee from Taco Palenque, as well as free playoff T-shirts.

The morning also featured live entertainment, including Mariachi Los Galleros, the Spurs Hype Squad, and music from DJ Quake.

The rally was hosted by Zay Zay, with appearances from Sean Elliott, Jacob Tobey and other special guests.

Read also:

• H-E-B gives out groceries, Spurs tickets to surprised shoppers on Southeast Side
• San Antonio shops, pop-ups see boost from Spurs playoff excitement
• ‘It wasn’t a celebration’: Spurs fan left with $10K in vandalism to her SUV after playoff win

In a preliminary report, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said its Organized Crime Division executed a search warrant at approximately 3 p.m. in the 7400 block of U.S. Highway 90, which is located near Military Drive.

During their search, deputies found 44 gambling machines and more than $19,000 ($19,137) in cash, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies initially detained seven people.

After further investigation, BCSO took two women into custody and cited five others for gambling participation, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said.

Olga Sifuentes Rodriguez, 66, and Ecstasy Leyva, 21, were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, which is considered a state jail felony, and transported to the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.

According to jail records, Rodriguez and Leyva have since been released on bond.

More local news coverage on KSAT:

• New Braunfels man faces 74 charges after illegally killing white-tailed bucks, TPWD says
• ‘It wasn’t a celebration’: Spurs fan left with $10K in vandalism to her SUV after playoff win

Before you leave, AAA urges drivers to check tire pressure and plan routes ahead of time.

More than 3.7 million Texans are expected to travel by car this weekend — more than last year, according to a news release from AAA.

AAA says the majority of Texans traveling for Memorial Day will be driving at least 50 miles.

When will roads be busiest?

AAA says the busiest travel times are:

• Friday, May 22
• Memorial Day, Monday, May 25
• 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. both days

AAA expects Sunday to be the lightest day on the roads.

Busy route to watch

AAA says one of the busiest routes will be Houston to Austin, traveling Interstate 10 West and State Highway 71 West.

Enforcement expected

In a news release, Texas Department of Public Safety says troopers are expected to focus on the following through May 25.

• Seat belt use
• Speeding
• Intoxicated driving

“Seat belts save lives— it’s that simple,” Texas Highway Patrol Chief Bryan Rippee said in a news release. “Buckling up is one of the easiest decisions you can make to protect yourself and your loved ones every time you get on the road.”

Helpful number to save

TxDOT runs a free Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) patrol that helps clear minor crashes and provides assistance to drivers who need help on area highways.

HERO crews work to restore traffic flow and improve safety by:

• Moving disabled vehicles to a safer location
• Clearing minor crashes from travel lanes
• Providing traffic and lane control at crash scenes
• Removing debris from the road
• Assisting first responders

HERO crews also help stranded motorists by:

• Changing flat tires and adding air to low tires
• Providing small amounts of gas or water
• Performing minor repairs
• Jump-starting batteries
• Offering drinking water and limited cell phone assistance

TxDOT’s HERO roadside assistance number is 210-732-HERO.

Average gas prices in major Texas cities

According to AAA, these are the average prices for a gallon of regular gasoline:

• San Antonio: $4.112
• Houston: $4
• Austin-San Marcos: $4.123
• Dallas: $4.157
• Corpus Christi: $4.139

AAA says the highest average prices are in El Paso, San Angelo and Abilene, while Houston, Lubbock and Beaumont–Port Arthur have some of the lowest.

5 things to do before you leave your driveway

AAA recommends checking:

1. Tire pressure
2. Oil and coolant
3. Brakes
4. Battery

Stay weather-aware

An upper low will swing through the area on Saturday, enhancing rain chances. In this type of messy pattern, storms could pop up just about anywhere, so pinpointing where the heaviest rain may fall is a difficult task.

Stay weather-aware with Your KSAT Weather Authority.

Read also:

• Another round of heavy rainfall possible Saturday
• Volunteer dive teams prepare Guadalupe River for summer visitors

Severe thunderstorms with large hail and gusty winds were possible Friday in Texas and other parts of the Southern and Central Plains, the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters warned of possible flash flooding along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana on Saturday, when rain and thunderstorms were expected across much of the central and eastern U.S.

The Waymo vehicle got stuck during a downpour in Atlanta on Wednesday that flooded streets and even part of a downtown highway. The vehicle was not occupied and was later recovered, the company said in a statement. At least one other Waymo vehicle was waylaid during the storm.

Waymo serves only the city of Atlanta in Georgia, and services several cities in Texas.

The company paused service in Texas “out of an abundance of caution for the forecasted severe weather,” the statement said.

So, in the back kitchen of Lo Duca Pizza, the 39-year-old began tweaking the original recipe handed down by his parents — with unexpected results.

“When we started playing around with a different flour, I actually took a liking to it,” said Lo Duco, who runs the shop with his five brothers. “It’s a little more expensive, but the quality is there.”

A looming ban on the additive, potassium bromate, may soon force thousands of pizzerias and bagel shops across New York into a similar transition.

The bill, passed by state lawmakers and awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature, has divided dough makers, triggering fears that even a minor change to long-established baking practices could have dramatic implications for the city’s most iconic foods.

“This is an earth-shaking event for New York pizza,” said Scott Wiener, a pizza historian who leads tours of notable slice shops. “That ingredient is part of the identity of the slice.”

Employees at several stores that use bromated flour declined to comment for this story. But Wiener estimated that around 80% of pizza and bagel shops rely on a flour that contains the oxidizing agent, which reduces rest time for dough and helps ensure a stronger, chewier product.

To some, the quintessential qualities of the New York bagel — its height and structure, external crispiness and springy bite — would not be possible, or at least as ubiquitous, without the chemical shortcut.

“You could achieve that same bagel texture, but it’s a lot more work and it’s going to be a lot more expensive,” lamented Jesse Spellman, the second-generation owner of Utopia Bagels.

Ahead of the possible ban, he too has been adjusting his family recipe, experimenting with yeast concentrations and rise time.

“It’s going to take some time to get a product that we’re happy with,” Spellman said.

Others, meanwhile, see the proposed ban on potassium bromate as long overdue. The additive is already outlawed across the European Union, China, India, Canada and — as of next year — California. Some experts have theorized that its absence outside the United States could be one reason that many Americans find baked goods in Europe and elsewhere more tolerable.

“From a consumer’s point of view, there’s nothing good about potassium bromate,” said Erik Millstone, a professor of science policy at the University of Sussex focused on the health impact of chemicals in food.

Going back to the 1980s, he noted, studies have shown it can cause cancer in laboratory animals, even in “perfectly reasonable” doses.

“Most well-informed people would prioritize a long healthy life over a slightly softer and more soluble bun,” he said.

Already, many of New York’s most celebrated pizzerias, particularly newer and more artisanal-leaning shops, tout their use of “unbromated” flour.

But neighborhood slice shops still overwhelmingly rely on a General Mills flour called All Trumps, a standard ingredient since the city’s first grab-and-go pizza parlors opened nearly a century ago, according to Wiener. General Mills now sells an unbromated flour for roughly the same price, though other alternatives are costlier.

In Wiener’s view, the move away from bromated flour could ultimately improve the quality of slices across the city.

“Without such a fast turnaround for dough production, you’re going to get more well-fermented doughs, which is going to lead to lighter pizzas that are easier to eat and leave you with less of a stomachache,” he said. “It will require more of a process. But everything will be built back better.”

If the legislation passes, businesses will have a one-year grace period to continue using the additive, plus additional time to go through unexpired bags. A spokesperson for Hochul said she will review the bill.

In the meantime, the possibility of the ban has rippled beyond New York’s borders.

“Pizza in Florida is officially better than pizza in New York,” crowed Mario Mangilia, the owner of DoughBoyz in Florida in a recent Instagram post. He added that “my grandfather would haunt me” if the shop’s dough recipe were ever changed.

But after he was confronted by several prominent pizza accounts over the additive's health concerns, Mangilia appeared to walk back his pro-bromate stance.

“I’ll tell you what,” he replied to a Long Island-based pizza owner. “I’ll test some different flour out to check it out.”

Crews responded to the fire just before 10:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of West Sunshine Drive, which is located near Bandera Road.

Every resident was safely evacuated from the complex, officials said. No injuries were reported.

SAFD said between eight to 12 apartment units were impacted by the flames.

Multiple residents were displaced and are being put in contact with American Red Cross for temporary housing.

The flames caused severe roof and water damage due to rain when crews responded to the fire, fire officials said.

Read also:

• New Braunfels man faces 74 charges after illegally killing white-tailed bucks, TPWD says
• Tobin Park visitors call for better lighting after woman reports possible sexual assault

Carrick replaced the fired Ruben Amorim on a temporary basis in January and transformed United’s fortunes. He secured qualification for the Champions League and earned standout wins against Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

He has steered United to third in the Premier League after it finished 15th last term, a record low in the modern era. His record in his short spell stands at 11 wins in 16 games, with only two losses.

While there was uncertainty as to whether he was the long-term solution for United after more than a decade of decline since the retirement of club icon Alex Ferguson, Carrick's impact made it nearly impossible for the club’s hierarchy to overlook him.

“Michael has thoroughly earned the opportunity to continue leading our men’s team," said United director of football Jason Wilcox, who led the search for the club’s next coach. “In the time he has been doing the role, we have seen positive results on the pitch, but more than that, an approach which aligns with the club’s values, traditions and history.”

Carrick is the seventh permanent manager since the retirement of Alex Ferguson in 2013.

“Throughout the past five months we’ve shown what our club represents — resilience, togetherness and a determination to succeed," Carrick said. "Now it’s about moving forward again with ambition and purpose. This club and our supporters deserve to be challenging for the biggest honors and we’re never going to stop.”

As a multiple title winner with United as a player, Carrick had the support of fans and club icons, who have been calling for him to be given the job on a permanent basis for weeks. He also inspired an upturn of form in key players like Kobbie Mainoo, Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko.

Yet he is a novice coach at the top level. His only previous full-time managerial experience was at second-tier Middlesbrough from 2022-25.

United gave itself time to assess other candidates since January. Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner were among potential contenders to take up a role that proved too much for a succession of managers.

“Michael’s achievements in leading the club back to the Champions League should not be understated,” Wilcox said. “He has forged a strong bond with the players and can be proud of the winning culture at Carrington and in the dressing room, which we are continuing to build.”

After Ferguson

Wilcox has put his faith in Carrick after Amorim lasted just 14 months, despite a reputation as one of the top emerging coaches in Europe.

Carrick was part of one of Ferguson’s greatest teams, which won a Premier League and Champions League double in 2008. In all he won 12 major trophies in 12 years at United including five league titles. He was in United’s last title-winning team in Ferguson’s final season.

The list of predecessors to Carrick is evidence of the varying attempts United has made to try to return to the summit of English soccer.

It went for top tier coaches, serial winners such as Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho, but neither could deliver the Premier League title. David Moyes was a well-established top-flight manager, while Erik ten Hag and Amorim came in as title winners from overseas.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was an iconic player — part of the club’s DNA — and had the affection of the fans but also ultimately came up short.

“From the moment that I arrived here 20 years ago, I felt the magic of Manchester United," Carrick said. “Carrying the responsibility of leading our special football club fills me with immense pride.”

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

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

The driver nicknamed Wild Thing, Outlaw, Rowdy and KFB over his 26-year NASCAR career was more comfortable than anyone might imagine with a checkered flag in one hand and fans jeering all around. He leaned into the villain role as the wins mounted — and boy did they — and even started encouraging his haters, trying to get the howling to a fever pitch before delivering his signature bow.

It was Busch at his best.

And it’s the way he should be remembered.

The two-time Cup Series champion, who won more races than anyone across NASCAR’s three national series, died Thursday at age 41. Tributes poured in, with many echoing the sentiment that racing had lost one of its fiercest competitors.

Busch was that — and so much more.

He was arguably the greatest driver of his generation, displaying unrivaled success. He notched a combined 234 wins — 63 in the top-tier Cup Series and another 171 in NASCAR’s two feeder series, O’Reilly (102) and Trucks (69).

He was a devoted husband, a side that became public when he and wife Samantha chronicled their struggle to become parents and later founded the Bundle of Joy Fund, which is dedicated to advancing access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) care and providing support so others don’t have to navigate infertility alone. The fund has raised more than $2 million and has celebrated the birth of 111 babies.

He was a loving father, who tirelessly tried to teach his 11-year-old son, Brexton, everything he could about racing and even sold his successful Truck Series team to help raise money to support his son's budding career.

He was even one of NASCAR’s most popular — some would say polarizing — drivers thanks to his longtime M&M's sponsorship. Kids flocked to Busch and his colorful No. 18 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Older fans might not have been as supportive, and it was evident every time Busch took the checkered flag and responded to booing with a mocking bow.

“This is a devastating loss and one that is hard for the NASCAR community to process. Kyle was a fierce competitor who demanded the very best from himself each time he put on the helmet,” four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon said. “As teammates, I saw firsthand the passion and intensity he brought to the sport every single day.

“He was a champion and a prolific racer who made a tremendous impact on NASCAR and was a lifelong advocate for all forms of motor sports. But beyond the track, he loved his family deeply and was incredibly proud of Samantha, Brexton and Lennix.”

Busch had become sort of a sympathetic figure in recent years, a series champion in the worst slump of his career and a surefire Hall of Famer who never got to celebrate a Daytona 500 victory. Both skids bothered him, no doubt, the first more than the second.

Busch’s last Cup Series victory came at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois in 2023. Busch won three of the first 15 races that season, his first with Richard Childress Racing. RCR had built the Next Gen prototype, so the team had an early advantage with the new car.

But once everyone else caught up, Busch and RCR lagged behind. He was winless in his final 105 starts and changed crew chiefs twice this season while searching for a winning combination. The most trying part: Feeling like he was letting Brexton down week after week.

“It’s no secret, right? And seeing my son and his passion that he has; he really is probably my biggest cheerleader,” Busch said at Daytona International Speedway in February. “And he wants to see me run well. He wants to see me win races. He wants to celebrate in victory lane like he sees other drivers’ kids being able to do.

“So there’s nothing more that drives me every single weekend than seeing him see me and be proud of me.”

Busch died after being hospitalized with a severe illness. It came three days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord, North Carolina, on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details have not been disclosed by Busch’s team or family.

Busch’s death came 11 days after he radioed his crew near the end of a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen and asked a doctor to give him a “shot” when he finished the race. Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course, broadcasters said.

Busch finished that race eighth. He competed at Dover last weekend and — maybe fittingly — won his last Trucks Series start for Spire. He then finished 17th in the NASCAR All-Star race, his final event.

Busch stormed into the Cup Series in 2005 and won Rookie of the Year honors. He was at Hendrick Motorsports at the time, a job he was fired from to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

His career, though, was as much defined by post-race fights, feuds with other drivers and outlandish behavior as all the trips to victory lane.

Nonetheless, Busch won championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing. His first title came after he missed part of the season while recovering from two broken legs. He was let go from JGR in 2022 after losing his M&M’s sponsor and with the team looking to make room for Ty Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs.

Busch landed at RCR, where he ranked a disappointing 24th in Cup Series points after 12 races. But an indelible image was his final victory. And he celebrated that Truck Series win with two bows amid a scattering of boos.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

“I don’t know if y'all noticed this, but Donald Trump endorsed me,” Paxton told a small rally in a town outside Austin, inciting whoops and applause from the crowd.

Tuesday's election has drawn national attention and gobs of money. It also has become the latest campaign in which Trump is encouraging voters to oust a politician who has displeased him and elect a challenger more aligned with the president. That effort has been largely successful for Trump. Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost in the GOP primary to Ed Gallrein, Trump's handpicked candidate. Trump also has succeeded in defeating incumbents in Louisiana and Indiana.

Paxton has been turning his focus to the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico. Paxton opened his event Thursday with attacks on Talarico, a sign of his confidence heading into the runoff.

Paxton then gave a biography of his political life and tried hammering home the reason he says he should be the nominee: his history of lawsuits defending conservative values. It is the type of resume that endears Paxton to the “Make America Great Again” faithful, some of his supporters said.

“He’s a fighter, he’s a person of action, he’s proven that as attorney general,” said Jeffrey Sonnier, 72, who attended the rally and echoed the sentiment of many supporters at the event.

As for Cornyn, said Sonnier, “he’s inactive for five years and digs out to become a supposed active Republican MAGA person every six years.”

Who is closer to Trump?

Paxton’s campaign said Thursday that it's pulling negative ads against Cornyn. Instead, starting after Trump's Tuesday endorsement, the campaign and a super political action committee that supports his candidacy began airing separate ads promoting Trump's favor.

Cornyn’s campaign and groups supporting him, however, were outspending the pro-Paxton groups 3-to-1 and had reprised an ad they began airing last year noting Cornyn’s support for Trump’s agenda and featuring video clips of Trump praising Cornyn.

“He's called me a friend, and that's no surprise because I've supported him and his policies, you may have seen a commercial or two to that effect, 99.3% of the time,” said Cornyn in a video posted to X from a recent event.

Cornyn has also long worked to shift the race to focus not on fidelity to the president but on character.

The campaign has leaned heavily into messaging about Paxton's past, which includes an alleged affair and an impeachment for corruption in which Paxton was acquitted.

If Paxton is the nominee, that will be litigated in a general election against Talarico, where voters will be less “willing to overlook all the corruption, the self-dealing and the scandals,” Cornyn argued at a recent campaign event. “Ken Paxton would hand it to (Democrats) on a silver platter.”

Paxton supporters at his Thursday rally shrugged off the accusations.

“He’s had his flaws, but so have we; we all make mistakes,” said Daniel Vega, 18, adding, “He’s repented, let’s move on.”

A contest where spending reached beyond $100 million

Through this week, Cornyn’s campaign and groups supporting it will have spent roughly $90 million in advertising, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. That includes more than $20 million since the March 3 primary election.

Paxton’s campaign and the single super PAC have combined to spend roughly $10.5 million on advertising, with roughly $6.1 million since that contest.

The ads have flooded voters.

“The commercials are leading me against Paxton, that he might be a little crooked,” said Gail Licea, 74, a retired registered nurse, who attended a Cornyn event before Trump’s endorsement. Then again, she said, “I’ve been led to believe that sometimes John Cornyn doesn’t back President Donald Trump, and that concerns me.”

The advertising has been so concentrated, it was unclear how much the late pivot by the groups would affect Tuesday’s outcome, said Wayne Hamilton, former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

“There is so much noise out there right now,” said Hamilton, who is an adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott and is unaffiliated with either of the Senate candidates. “I don’t know how any one message is going to break through.”

The hirings were announced Friday and complete the league’s round of GM additions for each of its four new franchises, which will begin play next season.

The 38-year-old Duggan spent the past five years in a player development role in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. She brings high-profile name recognition and experience to the PWHL’s fifth Canadian-based franchise.

She had already been working with the PWHL as a special consultant for the hockey operations department. Before her retirement in 2020, Duggan was a founding member of the PWHPA, which was made up of a group of players who helped establish the PWHL three years ago.

“Meghan has been an effective leader at every stage of her career, and she is a rising star in the front office ranks,” said PWHL executive VP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford, who oversaw the hiring process.

Ryan first in PWHL to have both roles

Ryan, meantime, leaves Toronto after coaching the team in its first three seasons to become the PWHL’s first to handle both coaching and GM duties. The move continues an offseason of transition for Ryan. He previously said he’s stepping down after a six-year stint as head coach the Canadian national women’s team.

The 54-year-old Ryan coached Canada to a gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and won silver at the Milan Cortina Games in February.

“Expansion creates a rare opportunity to shape everything with intention, from the standards and culture, to the people and connection to the community,” Ryan said. “We want to build a team that plays with purpose, represents the Bay Area with pride, and helps continue to grow women’s hockey on the West Coast.”

The four new franchises grow the PWHL to 12 teams for next season, doubling the league’s size since it began play in 2024. The league also added teams in Detroit and Las Vegas.

Among Duggan and Ryan’s immediate responsibilities are hiring their staff, including a coach in Hamilton, while also filling out their rosters. The league’s expansion signing process is set to begin in two weeks, followed by the draft on June 17.

Duggan's international success

Duggan is from Danvers, Massachusetts, and won Olympic silver medals in 2010 and 2014 before winning gold in at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, with her serving as team captain. She also won seven gold medals and one silver in eight world championship appearances.

Despite her U.S. roots, Duggan has Canadian connections. She’s married to former Team Canada rival Gillian Apps, who is from the Toronto area, about an hour’s drive east of Hamilton.

“This league represents the future of women’s professional sports. And the opportunity to help build a team, culture, and identity from the ground up is a privilege,” Duggan said. “Hamilton is a passionate sports city with a rich hockey tradition, and my goal is to create an environment where players can thrive and compete for a championship.”

Duggan played at Wisconsin, where she won the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as women’s college hockey’s MVP following her senior season with the Badgers.

Ryan brings a wealth of hockey front office and coaching experience to the PWHL’s first team in California. He was the PWHL’s first coach of the year in 2024, and has a career record of 52-32-10.

Under Ryan, the Sceptres lost in the semifinal round of the playoffs in their first two seasons, and finished fifth this year after being eliminated on the final day of the regular season. In Toronto, he worked with GM Gina Kingsbury, who held the same role with Team Canada.

Ryan is credited for helping turn around a Canadian national team program that hit its low in winning bronze at the 2019 world championships. In the five following world tournament appearances under Ryan, Canada won three gold medals and two silvers.

Ryan is from Nova Scotia, and worked in several GM and coaching jobs in the men’s Junior A Maritime Hockey League. He then made the switch in becoming head coach of the Dalhousie University women’s team from 2020-23.

___

AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

Here is what to know:

How did Kyle Busch die?

At this point, the cause of death has not been released and details remain limited.

What is known is that Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details have not been disclosed by Busch’s team or family.

Had Kyle Busch been ill?

Busch was thought to have had a sinus cold While racing May 10 at Watkins Glen, Busch radioed his team requesting a “shot” from a doctor after he finished. Per the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.

It's unclear if that issue had something to do with his death.

Busch did race last weekend and won the Trucks Series race at Dover and finished 17th in the NASCAR All-Star race. That would be his final race.

How good was Kyle Busch?

Busch won 234 races across NASCAR's three national series — more than any driver in history. He won Cup season championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

His first championship was particularly impressive. Busch missed the first 11 Cup races of the 2015 season after injuring his foot following a crash in the O'Reilly Auto Parts series opener in Daytona, but came back to win five races to qualify for the playoffs before capturing the title at Homestead.

Will the Coca-Cola 600 be postponed or canceled?

No. NASCAR officials confirmed that the 400-lap race will continue on as planned Sunday night at the 1 1/2-mile track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Earlier in the day, RCR had announced that Austin Hill would replace Busch in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Does CMS plan to honor Kyle Busch?

Yes, CMS officials said they plan to honor Busch “in some way” this weekend at the Coca-Cola 600, but details were still being ironed out.

___

AP freelance writer and former AP auto racing writer Jenna Fryer in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

President Donald Trump’s political revenge tour met its potential match this week as angry, upset Republican senators, pushed to a breaking point by his seemingly insatiable and outlandish demands — particularly a $1.776 billion fund for Jan. 6 rioters and others he believes were wrongly prosecuted — did the unthinkable.

They simply refused, closed up shop, and went home.

The moment was as rare as it was daring, a sudden flex from the Congress that has become a shell of its former self as a coequal branch, the Republican majority almost always more willing to accommodate the Republican president than to confront him.

The result left in shambles, for now, the GOP's top priority of passing a roughly $70 billion budget package that would fuel Trump’s immigration and deportation operations for the remainder of his presidential term, into 2029. The voting was postponed until Congress resumes next month, blowing Trump's June 1 deadline to have it on his desk.

Trump, asked during an event at the Oval Office if he was losing control of the Senate, shrugged.

“I really don't know,” the president said.

It all caps a bruising week after the president swept midterm primary elections, taking down one Republican after another — Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky, and endorsing the challenger to Sen. John Cornyn in Texas — turning the might of his Make America Great Again movement against those who have stuck to their own views, rather than yield to his.

And it wasn’t just the Senate. In the Republican-led House, for the first time this year, enough GOP lawmakers broke ranks to signal support for a war powers resolution from Democrats designed to halt Trump’s military action in Iran. House Speaker Mike Johnson postponed voting until he could ensure an outcome that avoids confronting the president.

The endgame leaves Trump and the party exposed in new ways.

While the president is winning with his handpicked candidates, many are untested heading into general elections this fall. Trump's own approval rating sits at a low point, and he is spending his political capital, alienating his would-be allies and threatening to derail GOP priorities as they try to persuade voters to keep them in office.

Anger in the Senate over Trump's ‘payout for punks’

Trump's announcement of nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for those the president believes were wrongly prosecuted came with little warning, and less support, blindsiding senators already fuming over his push for $1 billion to provide security for his new White House ballroom.

The audacity of the arrangement — Trump negotiating a settlement to his own lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that would set up the compensation fund for those perceived to be wrongly prosecuted — proved too toxic for the Senate to bear.

“Under what circumstances would it ever make sense to provide restitution for people who were either pled guilty or were found guilty in a court of law?” steamed Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

Tillis derided the White House move as “stupid on stilts” and a “payout for punks.” Trump fired back Friday morning, accusing Tillis of “screwing the Republican Party” in a lengthy social media post.

GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former majority leader, who tends to keep his own counsel, issued his own a statement in the aftermath.

“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” McConnell said.

The political calculations were becoming apparent: The more Trump bullies and badgers the Congress, the more they are left questioning what they have to gain, or lose, from trying to appease him, especially for those already heading for the exits.

“I think it’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met for hours behind closed doors with senators over the compensation fund, but left without a resolution.

Afterward, Thune said the discussion likely left the administration’s team with “an appreciation for the depth of feeling on the issue.”

Trump's victories come at a cost

While Trump-backed candidates defeated Republican incumbents in the House and Senate this week, showing his command of the party faithful, some in Congress saw the defeats of their colleagues differently.

“You don’t want to have a totally loyal party that’s in the minority. And that's maybe where we’re headed,” said Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring at the end of his term.

It began Saturday, when Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his Senate impeachment trial after Jan. 6, lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger in Louisiana. He returned to Washington days later noticeably more eager to criticize Trump — and more willing to vote against him.

“Congress should hold the executive branch accountable,” Cassidy said Monday. A day later, he joined Democrats in voting to rein in the war in Iran.

Then came Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton over Cornyn in Texas, a move many Republicans viewed as both personal and politically reckless. Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

“There’s a lot of folks in our conference that are disappointed because we appreciate working with John Cornyn,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

Others worried the divisive Texas primary could jeopardize a seat Republicans cannot afford to lose.

“He made the wrong pick,” Tillis said. “It’s going to be a lot more expensive to hold that seat.”

Frustration extends beyond the Senate

In the House there were also signs of Republican discontent.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., joined Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in introducing legislation that would block taxpayer dollars from being used for Trump’s proposed “anti-weaponization” compensation fund.

Fitzpatrick also drew Trump’s ire after the president complained publicly that the congressman “likes voting against Trump” and warned, “You know what happens with that?”

But Fitzpatrick insisted the backlash inside the party was driven by policy concerns, not political fear.

“People have the right to free speech in this country,” Fitzpatrick said. “But what we do here is all about policy.”

At the same time, Fitzpatrick and Republican Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett were expected to side with Democrats in voting for the war powers resolution to rein in Trump’s military campaign in Iran.

GOP leaders pulled the measure at the last minute when it became clear Republicans lacked the votes to defeat it.

Bacon, who spent some 30 years on active duty in the Air Force, said he believed much of the Republican pushback to the war could be resolved if Trump consulted Congress more.

“You sit down with somebody, and work with them instead of threatening, bully and yelling,” said Bacon. “It don’t work.”

Employees reported the incident, according to an affidavit, after a “repeat theft offender” walked out of the store with “high valued store merchandise.”

SAPD arrested 37-year-old Maria Elena Guevara in the Home Depot parking lot.

Guevara told police she came to the store with other men and had a receipt for the items in the cart. She led authorities to a truck where Rogelio Saldana, 55, and Roland Saldana, 52, were taken into custody, according to the affidavit.

Inside the truck, SAPD said it found a printer plugged into an outlet. Police said the receipt had visible typos and a stamp that read “completed APR 27 2026.”

The receipt was shown to Home Depot’s loss prevention team and confirmed to police that it was fake, citing typos and an incorrect barcode, the affidavit states.

Guevara’s purse was later searched by police where officers found more receipts with typos and barcode errors, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, the value of the stolen goods was $1,051.80.

Court documents obtained by KSAT show all three individuals are facing multiple state jail felony charges.

Guevara and Roland Saldana were booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on April 28, jail records show.

Roland Saldana received an organized retail theft ($750-$2,500) charge and was later released on bond the following day.

After exiting jail, a forgery and evading arrest charge was added to Roland Saldana’s list of charges. Records indicate he was booked into jail on May 14 and bonded out the next day.

Guevara faces forgery and engaging in organized criminal activity charges. She bonded out of jail on May 9.

Rogelio Saldana was booked into the Bexar County jail more than three weeks later on May 19, facing organized retail theft ($750-$2,500) and forgery charges, records show.

As of Thursday afternoon, Rogelio Saldana remains behind bars.

Read also:

• Mayor Jones targets District 7 chief of staff in memo on home security leak
• SAPD officer suspended after testing positive for marijuana

Friday, May 22

A crash on Interstate 35 northbound at Randolph Boulevard has caused some traffic delays on Friday morning.

Drivers are asked to use alternate routes.

Additional information was not immediately available.

For more information on traffic, you can click here to view our traffic page on KSAT.com. To view more on the current weather conditions, click here.

Click the links below for current road closures.

• San Antonio road closures
• Bexar County road closures
• TxDOT highway conditions

Plus, empowering young girls--Girl with Grit is encouraging young women to lead, innovate, and excel in the skilled trades. It’s our KSAT Community spotlight for May.

Plan your commute with more convenience as VIA shares their new routes and plans for a smoother trip.

If this rain is helping add some green to your yard, consider a full glow-up with help from Zion Outdoors. Today, they share their tips and tricks to spruce up your happy space.

It’s a packed show full of Spurs spirit, community, and helpful information you won’t want to miss.

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 Friday, May 22, a hospital spokesperson said Tim Nowell is in good condition, while Kimberly Nowell is in serious condition.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reeves was previously in critical condition, but 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 94-year-old stood tall and unwavering under a warming sun, even as some people nearby fainted before the May 1 event began. Standing behind him was his security detail, led by grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro.

It was a rare public appearance for the last Castro from the revolutionary era. While he is believed to wield significant influence over the government, he maintains a low profile even as a general of Cuba’s army.

He was in the spotlight Wednesday when U.S. prosecutors unveiled an indictment that accuses Castro of ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. The charges include murder and destruction of an airplane. Castro was minister of defense at the time.

The indictment and remarks Thursday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed fears of a possible U.S. military intervention in Cuba, much like what happened in Venezuela in early January.

“We expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way,” acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in announcing the charges against the former Cuban president during a press conference in Miami.

Cuba’s socialist government condemned the charges and held a rally Friday to honor Castro.

Thousands of people crowded into Havana’s famed seawall to demonstrate their support for him and decry the indictment against him. Raúl Castro did not attend, but present were his grandson and his daughter, Mariela Castro.

“Who do they think they are to judge Raúl?” Gerardo Hernández asked as the crowd that had gathered in front of the U.S. embassy cheered. Hernández is one of five Cubans accused of being a spy who was imprisoned and later released by the U.S. in 2014.

“For the United States, the law is a tailor-made suit,” he said before punching the air with this fist to a shout of “Viva Raúl!”

The crowd responded to his call: “Homeland or death, we will vanquish!”

Castro is rarely seen in public

In July 1953, Castro was arrested in Cuba after being accused of armed rebellion following a failed assault against military barracks. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison but was released two years later following a political amnesty. He then left for Mexico and helped organize the revolution.

He married a guerrilla fighter, Vilma Espín, in the 1960s and the couple had four children. Little else is know about Castro's private life: He is considered a family man and officially resides west of Havana.

Even during his years as defense minister under his late brother, Fidel Castro, and later as president, his routine stood out for its discretion: no agendas, official ceremonies, or public or family gatherings.

Since stepping down and handing over to President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro has rarely been seen in public. He wears his signature olive-green military uniform when greeting visiting dignitaries.

“He still has influence, and the leadership seeks his opinion on major decisions, but he is not running the government on a day-to-day basis,” said William LeoGrande, a political scientist at American University in Washington.

“If the U.S. were to abduct him, it would not change the operations of government, unlike what happened in Venezuela,” LeoGrande said.

Tensions between the U.S. and Cuba worsen

The indictment against Raúl Castro has deepened tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, which recently announced that its oil reserves had run dry because of an ongoing U.S. energy blockade.

The island’s crises have worsened since the Jan. 3 U.S. invasion of Venezuela, which halted critical oil shipments from the South American country. Then in late January, Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.

Top Trump aides — including Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe and other senior national security officials — have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore improving relations. But the U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government in the past week.

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Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed.

At the top of his last show, which grew more surreal and absurd as it went on, Colbert highlighted the “joy” that he and his team felt creating more than 1,800 episodes of “The Late Show.”

“The energy that you’ve given us, we sincerely need that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years,” Colbert said. “You’ve given it to us. We’ve given it all right back to you.”

Colbert pretended that Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, was his final guest, but the pontiff refused to come out of his dressing room because he hadn’t been supplied the correct kind of snacks, especially hot dogs.

McCartney then offered himself as a replacement, striding across the stage as the audience screamed. “I think you’d be a perfect last guest,” Colbert said.

McCartney said he happened to be in the area, doing errands. He offered a framed photo of the Beatles at the Ed Sullivan Theater, the final home for “The Late Show.” The two chatted about when the Beatles first came to America in 1964, creativity, his new album and McCartney’s childhood.

Final broadcast is filled with surprises

Colbert’s monologue was interrupted by Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd and Tim Meadows, who all pretended to be irked that they weren't the host’s final guest. “You know what? You got what you deserved,” Meadows fumed. Other celebrities in the audience who had funny turns during Colbert's last “Meanwhile” segment were Tig Notaro and Ryan Reynolds.

Later, Colbert joined Elvis Costello, former bandleader Jon Batiste and current bandleader Louis Cato for a relaxed performance of Costello’s “Jump Up.” They all joined the house band and McCartney for the final song of the night, a performance of “Hello, Goodbye.”

Staffers and audience members — including Colbert's wife, Evie McGee Colbert — then swarmed the stage as Colbert gave the honor to McCartney to turn off the building's power. The theater then gets sucked into a vortex and turns into a snow globe.

Guests in the final week included Michael Keaton, Jon Stewart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne and Bruce Springsteen, while there's been a wacky version of “It’s Raining Men” remade into “It’s Raining Fish.”

On Wednesday night, Colbert was on the other end of his “The Colbert Questionnaire,” asked things like which sandwich is best and whether apples are better than oranges. Mark Hamill, Martha Stewart, Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro were some of the questioners.

David Letterman, the show’s host when it debuted in 1993, joined Colbert on the roof of the theater to hurl furniture from the set — a nod to one of Letterman’s classic stunts.

Colbert’s show ends after 11 seasons

CBS announced last summer that Colbert’s show would end, citing economic reasons after 11 seasons. But Colbert was the ratings leader in late-night TV. Many — including Colbert — expressed skepticism that President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the show wasn't a factor. Trump's name on Thursday never came up.

The decision to shutter the show came after parent company Paramount’s $16 million settlement of Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview as Paramount awaited his administration's approval of a pending sale to Skydance Media. Colbert had called it a “big fat bribe.” On Thursday, he showed a clip of a sympathetic dolphin clicking with the subtitle: “It was a financial decision.”

During the “Meanwhile” segment, Colbert mentioned that the owner of some music used in the “Peanuts” animated specials had grown litigious. Just then, the band started playing “Peanuts” music. “Oh, no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money,” the host said.

The final show seemed to be marred by technical snafus, with stray sounds and glitches. Later Colbert encountered the reason in a pretaped bit — an interdimensional wormhole that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson helpfully explained was opened because a top rated show could also been canceled.

Jon Stewart also made an appearance, explaining the wormhole was a metaphor, and Colbert reunited with his fellow late night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and Seth Meyers. Elijah Woods was present for a “The Lord of the Rings” joke.

Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon ran reruns on Thursday

Colbert’s chief rivals, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” both ran reruns on Thursday. Kimmel urged viewers to tune into Colbert’s goodbye and then stop watching CBS.

CBS will fill “The Late Show” slot with “Comics Unleashed,” in which comedians share stories. Host Byron Allen has vowed to avoid politics.

Colbert's goodbye — running some 17 minutes over — was ambitious in a way that other TV late night finales were not. Johnny Carson wrapped up his stint on “The Tonight Show” in 1992 without any celebrity guests, just offering classic clips. Jay Leno had Billy Crystal and Garth Brooks aboard his final goodbye in 2014. Celebrities like Steve Martin, Chris Rock and Tina Fey participated in David Letterman’s last Top 10 list for a 2015 finale that also included Foo Fighters playing “Everlong.”

Colbert’s 11 seasons bridged the rise of Trump and his return to the White House, the pandemic, the fall of Joe Biden, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States Capitol under attack in 2021 and the rise of Artificial Intelligence.

“At a time when algorithms are shaping so much of what people see, hear and even believe, Stephen has been a touchstone shared by millions,” former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a video tribute. “His satiric voice, backed by what is clearly a deep moral core and a love of this country, has had a way of cutting through the noise and helping show us who we are as a country.”

Clark missed Wednesday's 90-73 victory over Portland.

The Fever disclosed Clark’s injury less than two hours before tipoff. She had not been listed on Indiana’s injury report a day earlier when she didn’t practice. The WNBA requires teams to list players who are injured on a report by 5 p.m. the night before the game is played. If a player's status changes overnight or early in the day the team is supposed to update the injury report.

Neither of those happened for Wednesday's game.

Clark was listed as probable to play on Friday in the Fever’s home game against Golden State on Thursday's injury report.

The star guard had not missed a game this season after her 2025 campaign was cut short by a series of injuries. Clark is averaging 24.3 points, nine assists, five rebounds and one steal in four games.

Clark has spoken this season about lingering back issues. After the Fever’s season-opening loss, she said her back “gets out of line pretty quickly.”

She played 24 minutes Sunday in Indiana’s win over Seattle, finishing with 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

The Rams announced the deal Thursday without immediately revealing its value. ESPN reported the 2027 deal is worth $55 million with a potential to increase to $60 million, a raise from his salary for the upcoming season.

The deal indicates that the 38-year-old Stafford is at least strongly thinking about staying with the Rams past 2026. That's notable because Stafford has professed a year-to-year mentality about his future ever since he led the Rams to a Super Bowl championship in February 2022, and he only confirmed he would return for the upcoming season while accepting his MVP trophy in February.

The Rams then surprised the league by drafting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick last month, throwing Stafford's long-term future into momentary doubt — until head coach Sean McVay made it quite clear that Stafford is the Rams' starting quarterback for as long as he decides to play.

“Whenever that time comes for (Simpson) to get an opportunity to be Matthew’s successor will be on Matthew’s terms,” McVay said at the time. “I didn’t want that to ever be misunderstood. ... It is Matthew's football team.”

Stafford is coming off one of the best seasons of his career in which he won his first MVP award, edging New England's Drake Maye in the voting. Stafford passed for an NFL-best 4,707 yards and a career-high 46 touchdowns against just eight interceptions before he led the Rams to two road playoff victories and a spot in the NFC championship game.

The upcoming season will be Stafford's 18th in the NFL and his sixth with the Rams, who acquired him in a trade with Detroit in 2021. Stafford is the sixth-leading passer in NFL history with 64,516 yards, and he is seventh with 423 touchdown passes, two behind Philip Rivers.

Los Angeles is among the preseason Super Bowl favorites again this year despite using its first-round pick on a quarterback who now seems unlikely to play for at least two years. Simpson has said he is eager to learn behind Stafford, calling it “a perfect situation” for a quarterback who was a starter for only one season with the Crimson Tide.

The Rams' organized team activities begin next week.

The upcoming Super Bowl is at the Rams' home SoFi Stadium, one week after Stafford's 39th birthday. He also led the Rams to their championship in a Super Bowl played at SoFi.

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

Smith, who played at Georgia, was cited for speeding and reckless driving, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

He posted bond and was released shortly after his arrest on May 15.

Smith, from Savannah, Georgia, was selected by the Eagles with the 30th pick in the 2023 NFL draft. He has 25 quarterback hits, 10.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over three seasons.

He played a crucial role in the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX run, recording five quarterback hits, four sacks and four tackles for loss during the playoffs. He famously refused to exit the Eagles' 40-22 Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs despite sustaining a torn triceps that later required surgery.

Philadelphia begins organized team activities on Tuesday. Smith has a court date scheduled for July 15, but a sheriff’s office representative said he will not need to appear if he pays his fines.

A spokesperson for the Eagles didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Smith is the latest former or current Georgia player to be arrested for driving offenses. His Eagles teammate, Jalen Carter, was given 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine in 2023 after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing related to a crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy.

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

Darrell Maguire, 55, is accused of capturing and killing the deer from the fall of 2024 through late summer 2025, TPWD said in a news release.

Maguire would often shoot the animals with a crossbow from a vehicle before removing their heads and leaving the carcasses to waste, the release stated.

Texas Game Wardens said they recovered crossbow bolts from front yards and porches in residential neighborhoods, the release said.

Maguire was taken into custody in September on wildlife and drug possession charges. While executing the search warrant at his home, TPWD said wardens seized evidence that linked him to multiple “poaching” scenes.

Wardens determined that Maguire also exceeded the annual bag limit in the 2024 hunting season, where he allegedly took five white-tailed bucks over the legal limit in Bexar County.

From June through September 2025, TPWD said Maguire illegally killed at least eight white-tailed bucks in residential areas across Comal and Hays counties.

Texas Game Wardens said Maguire faces the following charges:

• Hunting without landowner consent, a state jail felony
• Hunting white-tailed deer at night, a Class A misdemeanor
• Hunting white-tailed deer from a vehicle from a public roadway, a Class A misdemeanor
• Failure to retrieve and keep white-tailed deer in edible condition, a Class A misdemeanor
• Possession of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony
• Possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor

Maguire also faces multiple Class C Parks and Wildlife code violations, according to the release.

Read also:

• Missing woman, 81, found dead at Enchanted Rock after storms impacted search

Beachgoers in Texas are advised to check Texas Beach Watch for up-to-date bacteria counts before heading to the coast.

The website, which is provided by the Texas General Land Office, flags beaches with green, yellow or red pins to indicate relative bacterial levels.

>> Why is there fecal bacteria off the Texas Coast? KSAT Explains

Green pins indicate low bacteria levels, yellow means medium levels and red signals high bacteria counts that swimmers should avoid.

Texas Beach Watch compiles water-quality results for beaches up and down the coastline.

Beachgoers should look for the most recent test date on the site and follow any local health advisories.

As of Friday, May 22, here are the advisories for elevated bacteria levels for beaches in the Corpus Christi, Port Aransas and Rockport areas.

High

• Bob Hall Pier/Seawall #1, Corpus Christi
• Bob Hall Pier/Seawall #3, Corpus Christi
• University Beach, Corpus Christi
• Poenisch Park, Corpus Christi
• Ropes Park #2, Corpus Christi
• Cole Park#2, Corpus Christi
• Cole Park#3, Corpus Christi
• Cole Park#4, Corpus Christi
• Cole Park#6, Corpus Christi
• Emerald Beach, Corpus Christi
• McGee Beach #1, Corpus Christi
• Corpus Christi Marina - South, Corpus Christi
• Corpus Christi Marina - Center, Corpus Christi
• Violet Andrews Park #1, Portland
• Indian Point Park, Portland
• Nueces Bay Causeway #3, Portland

Medium

• Park Road 22, Corpus Christi
• Mustang Island
• Mustang Island SP #1, Mustang Island
• Mustang Island SP #2, Mustang Island
• Mustang Island SP #4, Mustang Island
• Mustang Island SP #6, Mustang Island
• McGee Beach #2, Corpus Christi
• Port Aransas #1, Port Aransas
• Port Aransas #2, Port Aransas
• Port Aransas #5, Port Aransas
• Port Aransas #6, Port Aransas
• Little Bay Ski Basin, Rockport

Local officials sometimes close beaches or post warnings after heavy rain or sewage incidents.

Visitors with weakened immune systems, young children and older adults should exercise extra caution around yellow-flagged beaches and avoid red-flagged beaches until officials lift warnings.

Those planning trips this spring break or next weekend can reduce risk by checking the site on the morning of their visit and contacting local park or health officials with questions.

Read also:

• Rain gives Corpus Christi a small break, delaying projected water crisis by 3 months
• Mitchell Lake Audubon Center announces Anna Macnak as executive director

Both candidates agree that changes are needed inside the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, but they differ on what those changes should look like and how to address ongoing concerns over case backlogs and office leadership.

Chapa said one of her top priorities would be tackling the backlog of family violence cases and restructuring how cases are reviewed and accepted for prosecution.

“With respect to thousands and thousands of cases backlogged in family violence, too many victims have gone unheard and unseen,” Chapa said.

She added that the office needs to change its intake process and work more closely with law enforcement to strengthen prosecutions.

“We need to dismantle the intake process and how we are looking at cases when we are accepting them,” Chapa said. “That also entails collaboratively working with local law enforcement to make sure that we are bringing strong cases and we’re going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

Davis focused her campaign on experience inside the DA’s office and said she would take a firm stance on issues ranging from immigration enforcement to voting rights and victims’ advocacy.

“The DA has to be strong against ICE, and we have to be strong against MAGA overreaching,” Davis said. “We have to be strong for voter rights. We have to be strong for victims’ rights.”

Davis also pointed to her work leading the juvenile division, saying that she helped eliminate a backlog there and improve morale within the office.

“I think it’s important that I bring that expertise into every section of the office,” she said.

Both candidates have also faced criticism during the campaign cycle.

Chapa has been questioned by opponents about her lack of prosecutorial experience, while Davis has faced criticism from some voters who view her as too progressive or too closely aligned with current Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales.

Davis said leadership and understanding the community are critical qualifications for the position.

“I think it’s important that the person in this position understand people and understand the needs of the community and the values of the community,” Davis said.

Chapa argued the office needs an outsider to implement meaningful reform.

“I can absolutely do this job because I’m a strong leader and it’s going to take a very strong leader to make sure that we fix the problems in the district attorney’s office,” Chapa said.

The winner of the Democratic runoff will face Republican candidate Ashley Foster in November. Independent candidate Jason Wolff could also appear on the ballot if he gathers enough signatures to qualify.

Early voting for the primary runoff election in Bexar County ends Friday.

More Vote 2026 coverage on KSAT:

• What to know about voting early in the 2026 Texas primary runoff election in Bexar County

Alexandros Giotopoulos, the 82-year-old convicted leader of the armed group November 17, was released Thursday from a prison in Athens.

A judicial panel approved his conditional release on grounds of advanced age, deteriorating health and good behavior during his incarceration.

But the decision has triggered renewed scrutiny. A prosecutor at Greece’s Supreme Court is reviewing the ruling and could seek to challenge it.

The group killed a CIA station chief

November 17 evaded authorities for more than 25 years while carrying out bombings, assassinations and bank robberies. The group’s first recorded attack was the 1975 fatal shooting in Athens of Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Greece.

The organization’s strict secrecy unraveled after a botched bombing in 2002 left one member seriously injured, leading investigators to uncover the group’s operations and membership.

Giotopoulos, who was born in Paris and lived for years under an assumed identity, was serving 17 life sentences plus 25 years. He was convicted in 2003, with the verdict upheld on appeal in 2007, for orchestrating multiple murders, bombings and robberies, as well as participation in a criminal organization.

He has denied all charges, insisting that co-defendants were pressured by authorities into making false accusations against him in exchange for reduced sentences.

Leader took university courses in prison

Authorities considering his release noted that Giotopoulos completed university correspondence courses while in prison and complied with the terms of furloughs granted to him in recent years.

November 17 was named after the day in 1973 when a student uprising against the military dictatorship that ruled Greece at the time was crushed in a bloody crackdown by the police and army that caused multiple deaths.

The group has claimed responsibility for attacks targeting industrialists, diplomats and senior judges, including the killings of two Turkish Embassy staff members and Stephen Saunders, the British defense attache in Athens, in 2000.

Three of the 15 original November 17 members convicted in the case remain in prison.

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Kantouris reported from Thessaloniki, Greece

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday says the rule finalized by the VA on Dec. 31 takes away limited abortion access that was “crucial for the health, autonomy, and equality of veterans and their family members.”

Attorneys for the group Minority Veterans of America want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to throw out the rule. They say the VA adopted the change without citing medical evidence or other justifications, violating the Administrative Procedures Act that governs federal rulemaking.

The VA did not include abortion in its coverage until 2022. President Joe Biden’s administration added it months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and states' abortion bans began taking effect.

Abortion access the VA provided under Biden was limited, applying only in cases when a pregnant woman’s life or health was at risk, or in cases of rape or incest.

The Biden change allowed the VA to provide abortion even in states where it was banned. And it brought the VA’s coverage into line with other federal healthcare plans — including Medicaid and TriCare coverage for active military members and their families — that allowed limited abortion access.

The VA announced its proposal to undo those changes last August, a few months after President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

The VA had said it will still provide abortions in cases where a pregnant woman's life is threatened. That's something state laws allow, even in places where bans are in place.

However, the VA no longer allows exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest or to protect a pregnant woman's health. Abortion counseling is also no longer allowed.

A VA spokesperson declined to comment, noting the agency typically doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Minority Veterans of America says it represents more than 3,600 members across the U.S.

“Our community includes veterans with complex medical histories, those who have experienced pregnancy complications, and survivors of sexual violence and trauma, all of whom need access to abortion care and counseling to protect their health," Lindsay Church, the group's executive director, said in a statement.

In publishing its final rule in December, the VA said it was restoring the agency's longstanding position that abortions were not “needed” under federal law and that “this determination did not prohibit providing life-saving care to pregnant veterans.”

The lawsuit says one of Minority Veteran of America's members is a military veteran who just learned she was pregnant in early May. She suffers from chronic pain that has been exacerbated by the pregnancy, placing her health “at substantial risk,” says the lawsuit, which withheld the woman's name to protect her privacy.

The lawsuit says the VA won't allow the unnamed veteran to receive an abortion “even if her health is at risk, unless a provider determines an abortion is necessary to save her life.”

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

For the past 10 months, there’s been a partnership between community members, nonprofits and volunteers to help clean up the Guadalupe River after the deadly floods on July 4, 2025.

Eric Herr with Search and Summer San Antonio was one of the only divers in the group.

“We started with our water searches after the floods. I don’t know if I was the first, but I was already a diver, so I was diving after the flood, looking for whatever I could find,” Herr said.

There are now nine dive volunteers as part of the group searching on their off time.

“It’s so murky. You’re literally feeling around with your hands,” Herr said. “There’s no visibility. I’m used to diving in the Caribbean, so this was a big change, diving in a river.”

Kerrville Parks and Recreation Director Jay Brimhall says there’s a significant focus on making sure that high-traffic swimming areas, especially around the Louise Hayes Park, are cleaned for the summer crowds of fishermen and swimmers.

“There’s not a lot of public land in Texas. And that makes these public spaces all the more important,” Brimhall said.

While the city’s park and recreation department has attempted to clear the popular swimming holes, Brimhall says it’s important for families to use their best judgment and wear water shoes when they swim.

“Rebar, concrete, those sorts of things. And again, I think a lot of those things were deposited by the flood, but we don’t know exactly how they got there, when they got there, but those are the sorts of impediments that we’re trying to remove from the water so that people feel safe in returning to the river,” he said.

Herr says reaching and clearing all 20 high-traffic areas of swimming might take two years, as there are challenges with manpower.

Until recently, the teams were paying everything out of their own pockets. Grants and other funds have helped Kerr Together pay dive teams for some equipment upkeep and gas.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering with the dive team can fill out their application. For those who come across any hazards on the Guadalupe River, contact 830-257-7300.

Fans will mark Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's birthday in tribute to the author and his most famous character whose adventures continue to shape popular culture around the world.

The celebrations began earlier this month when — sporting Victorian capes, deerstalker hats and period gowns — enthusiasts from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London traveled to Switzerland 's Reichenbach Falls to reenact one of literature's most famous fictional death scenes.

The fateful confrontation between Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor James Moriarty shocked readers of “The Final Problem” and appeared to bring one of literature’s most beloved detectives to an end.

In the original 1893 story, Holmes disappears over the edge of the falls with Moriarty, leaving his sidekick, Dr. John Watson, to discover a farewell letter near the water. Conan Doyle — who was born on May 22, 1859 — intended the scene to permanently kill off Holmes because he feared the detective stories were overshadowing what he considered his more serious historical writing.

At the time, readers canceled magazine subscriptions, wore black armbands in mourning and protested against Holmes’ death. A decade later, Conan Doyle reversed the decision and brought Holmes back in “The Adventure of the Empty House,” revealing that the detective had staged his death and survived the falls.

The Sherlock Holmes stories helped establish many of the conventions of modern detective fiction. Between 1887 and 1927, Conan Doyle wrote four Holmes novels and 56 short stories, introducing techniques such as forensic deduction, close observation and logical analysis that later became standard elements of crime fiction.

The stories have since been adapted for the stage, screen and in comic books around the world, with Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, Christopher Lee, Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch starring in portrayals.

British actor Hero Fiennes Tiffin stars in the latest iteration in Amazon Prime’s new prequel series “Young Sherlock,” created by Guy Ritchie and released earlier this year. A second season is in the works.

At 221B Baker Street, the Sherlock Holmes Museum has drawn visitors since it opened in 1990 with curiosities including Holmes' violin and chemistry set, as well as a revolver resting inside a hollowed-out book.

Holmes, according to the stories, lived at the Georgian townhouse between 1881 and 1904 and shared the residence with Watson. But 221B didn’t actually exist when Conan Doyle was writing: Baker Street numbers didn’t reach that high at the time.

The museum, physically located between 237 and 241, had to be granted special permission by Westminster City Council to bear the renowned number.

“It has to be the most famous address in the world, I would say,” tour guide Paul Leharne said. “No matter what reincarnation Sherlock Holmes is going to take, he’s always going to be living at 221B Baker Street.”

With theatrical poses, exaggerated acting and black cloaks billowing in the mountain spray, members of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London on May 3 reenacted the struggle between Holmes and Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls.

Founded in 1951, the society brings together readers, collectors, academics and enthusiasts of Conan Doyle’s work. The trip to the Reichenbach Falls followed part of the route described in “The Final Problem.” Members traveled through Switzerland in vintage buses before boarding a cog railway that climbs steeply toward the waterfall.

The Reichenbach Falls became one of the most famous locations in detective fiction after Conan Doyle visited the area during an 1893 trip.

Philip Porter, an author and publisher who starred as Sherlock Holmes in the society's reproduction, said the setting itself remains central to the stories’ appeal.

“It’s a pilgrimage,” he said. “It’s a very dramatic setting: The sound, the backdrop, the music behind us of the cascading water.”

Peter Horrocks, who played Moriarty, said the return to normal life after spending several days in a villain's costume can be tough. “It’s a strange feeling, getting out of these clothes,” he said. “You do start to inhabit the character that you’re playing after a while.”

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Fielder reported from London.

Iwamasa injected Perry with the doses of ketamine that would prove fatal on Oct. 28, 2023, and then left the actor to run errands. He returned to find Perry dead in the Jacuzzi.

The ex-assistant became the first to reach a plea deal of five people indicted in connection with Perry's death. On Wednesday, he'll become the last to be sentenced. Prosecutors are asking for a prison term of three years and five months. That's more than the 2 1/2-year sentence of the doctor who sold Iwamasa ketamine and taught him to inject it into Perry, but far less than the 15-year sentence of the admitted drug dealer who sold Iwamasa the final doses.

Iwamasa, 60, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death and became the case’s most important witness in the indictments of his four co-defendants. That is virtually certain to lead to a lighter sentence.

Family members blame the assistant above all others

“I have no sympathy for Kenny Iwamasa,” Perry's younger sister Caitlin Morrison wrote in a letter to the judge. “I wasn’t there the night my brother died. I cannot read Kenny’s thoughts. I will never know if the lethal dose of ketamine was only lethal by accident. But I know that when Kenny left the house, he was doing one of two things. He was either escaping from something he knew he had done or he was willfully abandoning a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation.”

Perry's mother Suzanne Morrison wrote that her son and the family had known Iwamasa for decades, and that relatives were relieved when Perry, who'd had recurring struggles with addiction throughout his life, hired the assistant in 2022.

“Mathew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job — by far — was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction,” she wrote. “We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”

Iwamasa's lawyers argued that he was an employee doing the bidding of his boss.

In a presentencing filing, they said Iwamasa had “a particular vulnerability to the relationship dynamic which he fell into with the victim. In short, he could not 'simply say no.' That inability had tragic consequences.”

Suzanne Morrison said Iwamasa knew he could call any family member should Perry start making drug demands, and his job would be safe.

Family disgusted by Iwamasa's behavior following Perry's death

Perry's mother wrote, “When he had killed my son, he kept a sharp eye on me. He sent me songs, he drew a little map to help me find my way around the cemetery. If he saw a rainbow — one of Matthew’s favorite things — he would call me. He insisted on speaking at Matthew’s funeral. He clung to me and the family as if he was somehow the good guy who tried to save Matthew.”

She said Iwamasa expected a financial payout, and when it was clear he wouldn't get one, he threatened legal action.

Iwamasa did speak at the funeral, which would later leave the family disgusted.

“The person responsible for my brother’s death stood up and addressed the people who loved him most,” another sister, Madeline Morrison, wrote. “That is like a cruel joke I still struggle with. He didn’t just take my brother’s life — he tainted our final memories of saying goodbye.”

Truth about the ketamine was slow to come out

The LA County Medical Examiner found that ketamine, a surgical anesthetic that has become widely used for other purposes both legal and illegal, was the primary cause of Perry's death. Drowning was a secondary cause.

On the day of Perry's death, Iwamasa gave police a list of all the medications Perry was taking, but he left off ketamine and said nothing about the injections, prosecutors said.

After investigators served a search warrant on the house in January 2024, that began to change, and he would slowly admit his role in Perry's death. Iwamasa said he had been giving Perry six to eight injections of ketamine per day in the last days of his life, and that Perry had told him, “Shoot me up with a big one” on the day he died.

Iwamasa said he had worked with middleman Erik Fleming, who was sentenced to two years in prison May 13, to get drugs from dealer Jasveen Sangha.

In his first text to Fleming, Iwamasa said, “Alfred here batmans butler. He said I can text you directly.”

Madeline Morrison wrote that when the truth emerged, “It felt like my brother died all over again. Everything I believed about the day he died—everything Kenny told us—was a lie. I had to relive Matthew’s death from an entirely new and devastating perspective.”

Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024 before the case became public. Wednesday will be his first court appearance since.

Perry, who died at 54, became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” NBC’s culture-changing sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.

“He was my Matso, my Manew,” his mother wrote. “He was, in spite of all we went through, my heart and my soul.”

From Monday, May 18, to Friday, May 22, voters can cast their ballots at 50 polling places during early voting.

See the list and map of polling places, plus early voting hours, below.

>>Texas primary runoff: Key races on the May 26 ballot

The deadline to apply for a mail ballot has passed, but if you requested one, it must be received by the elections office or postmarked by 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26.

Completed mail-in ballots can be returned to the election’s office in person or mailed using the United States Postal Service.

Here’s what you need to know about early voting in Bexar County.

When can I vote early in Bexar County?

• Monday, May 18-Friday, May 22: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Where can I vote early in Bexar County?

• Bexar County Elections Office: 1103 S Frio St.
• Bexar County Justice Center: 300 Dolorosa (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
• Brookhollow Branch Library: 530 Heimer Road
• Castle Hills City Hall: 209 Lemonwood
• Christian Family Baptist Church: 1589 Grosenbacher
• Claude Black Community Center: 2805 E. Commerce
• Cody Branch Library: 11441 Vance Jackson Road
• Collins Garden Branch Library: 200 N. Park Blvd.
• Converse Community Event Center: 407 S. Seguin Road
• Copernicus Community Center: 5003 Lord Road
• Cortez Branch Library: 2803 Hunter Blvd.
• Encino Branch Library: 2515 E. Evans Road
• Fair Oaks Ranch Police Department - Training Room: 7286 Dietz Elkhorn Drive
• Frank Garrett Multi Service Center: 1226 N.W. 18th St.
• Great Northwest Branch Library: 9050 Wellwood
• Guerra Branch Library: 7978 Military Drive W.
• Igo Branch Library: 13330 Kyle Seale Parkway
• Johnston Branch Library: 6307 Sun Valley Drive
• Kirby City Hall: 112 Bauman Kirby
• Las Palmas Branch Library: 515 Castroville Road
• Leon Valley Conference Center: 6421 Evers Road
• Lions Field Adult and Senior Center: 2809 Broadway St.
• Macedonia Baptist Church: 963 SW 40th St.
• Maverick Branch Library: 8700 Mystic Park
• McCreless Branch Library: 1023 Ada St.
• Memorial Branch Library: 3222 Culebra Road
• Mission Branch Library: 3134 Roosevelt Ave.
• Northeast Lakeview College: – Medina CTE Rm. 104 Bldg. 800: 1201 Kitty Hawk Road
• Northside Activity Center: 7001 Culebra Road
• Northwest Vista College – Mountain Laurel Hall Rm. 100 A&B: 3535 N. Ellison Drive
• Our Lady of the Lake University: 411 S.W. 24th St.
• Palo Alto College - Palomino Center Rm. 110: 1400 W. Villaret Blvd.
• Parman Branch Library at Stone Oak: 20735 Wilderness Oak
• Precinct 1 Satellite Office: 3505 Pleasanton Road
• Precinct 3 Satellite Office: 320 Interpark Blvd.
• San Antonio College - Victory Center Rm 117: 1819 N. Main Ave.
• Schaefer Branch Library: 6322 U.S. Highway 87 East
• Semmes Branch Library: 15060 Judson Road
• Shavano Park City Hall: 900 Saddletree Ct.
• Somerset City Hall: 7360 E. 6th St.
• Southside ISD Administration Building: 1460 Martinez Losoya Road
• St. Hedwig City Hall: 13065 FM - 1346 St.
• St Philips College - Hudgins Fitness Ctr. Rm 100: 1801 Martin Luther King Drive
• Texas A&M University - Mays Ctr Ste. 111: 6421 Evers Road
• Thousand Oaks Branch Library: 4618 Thousand Oaks
• Tobin Library at Oakwell: 4134 Harry Wurzbach
• University of Texas at San Antonio - Bexar Room: 1 UTSA Circle
• Windcrest Civic Center: 9310 Jim Seal
• Wonderland of Americas: 4522 Fredericksburg Road
• Woodlawn Pointe Center: 702 Donaldson Ave.

May 26, 2026 Primary Runoff Map-Of-Election-Day-Sites_202605141206210142 by akmoreno

How do I know if I’m eligible to vote?

To check if you are eligible to vote, click here. The last day to register to vote in the May 26 primary runoff was April 27.

What’s on the ballot?

The marquee matchup on that ballot is the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate between incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

On May 19, one week before Election Day, President Donald Trump officially endorsed Paxton.

The winner between Cornyn and Paxton will face Democratic nominee James Talarico.

In Texas’ 35th Congressional District, both parties have runoff contests to settle — Carlos De La Cruz and John Lujan on the Republican side, and Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia on the Democratic side.

In Bexar County, the Democratic race for district attorney is down to two candidates, former appellate judge Luz Elena Chapa and Jane Davis, chief of the juvenile section of the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.

The winner of that race will face Republican Ashley Foster in November to succeed outgoing District Attorney Joe Gonzales, who is not seeking re-election.

Voters, depending on their party and address, will also be deciding the lieutenant governor, attorney general, state representative, state senator, county clerk and district clerk races.

The Bexar County Democratic sample ballot can be seen below:

The Bexar County Republican sample ballot can be seen below:

What do I need to bring to the polling place?

Acceptable forms of ID include the following:

• Texas driver’s license
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety
• Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
• Texas handgun license issued by DPS
• U.S. military ID card with a photo
• U.S. citizenship certificate containing a photo
• U.S. passport

For more information on voter ID requirements, click here.

Read also:

• Texas primary runoff: Key races on the May 26 ballot
• These Bexar County and Texas races are headed to primary runoff elections
• What happened in the March 2026 Texas primary election

“That makes me smart,” Trump said.

By that logic, Trump is looking smarter than ever now.

On Tuesday, the Internal Revenue Service agreed to drop all pending probes of Trump over whether he's paid his fair share of taxes, to settle a lawsuit brought by the president over a leak of his tax returns. That could include, assuming it was ongoing, a long-standing audit into a technique Trump reportedly used to avoid paying taxes years ago that could have hit him with an estimated $100 million bill if the IRS found wrongdoing.

Trump has repeatedly denied he did anything wrong and has blasted the IRS investigation as politically motivated, without providing proof.

Details of IRS audits are not public and the merits of each side's arguments are impossible to tell. But the way the president's case against his own government's IRS was resolved is highly unusual, experts say.

Trump sued the IRS, a federal agency within his administration, putting him in the unusual position of challenging an agency overseen by the executive branch he leads — a rare move, experts say, and possibly unprecedented. Then that agency decided, in another unusual move, to grant him immunity.

The immunity deal

Under the settlement to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over the 2018 leak of his tax returns to The New York Times, the U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization's current tax filings, according to a one-page document released Tuesday. That was quietly added to an original settlement establishing a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people whom Trump thinks were improperly investigated by the government.

Tax experts say this grant of immunity is shocking in the breadth of protection it offers the president and could undermine confidence in the fairness of the tax system.

“This is an unprecedented remedy,” said former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, noting that Trump should be treated like every other American. “People expect the same tax rules and enforcement framework to apply to everybody.”

That $100 million bill

The IRS probe revolved around whether Trump doubled-dipped in cutting his taxes, according to a 2024 report by The New York Times and ProPublica — specifically whether he used the same losses from his Chicago skyscraper to cut them twice in future filings, a big no-no.

The report said Trump could owe more than $100 million, including penalties, if he were to lose the audit battle.

Now the Justice Department has moved to “wipe his slate clean,” said tax expert Brandon DeBot, calling that an “extraordinary action” in the message it sends to the country.

“The president and his affiliates might not pay the taxes they should,” said DeBot, policy director at New York University’s Tax Law Center. “This is giving the president and his affiliates completely different set of rules than everyday taxpayers.”

Cutting taxes to zero

The immunity is especially useful to Trump. His company includes hundreds of separate businesses, making his tax returns complicated. He also has a reputation for aggressively cutting his taxes, which some experts find suspicious — and at least in one case deemed now illegal.

After his Atlantic City casinos collapsed under heavy debt in the mid-1990s, for instance, Trump claimed about $1 billion in losses to cut his tax bill, even though lenders had forgiven hundreds of millions of dollars he owed. Trump argued the debt was never technically forgiven because he had exchanged equity in the bankrupt casino business for it — a tax maneuver Congress later barred as an abusive tax loophole.

Through that technique and other tax shelters and deductions, Trump was able pay just $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017, and zero in 2020, according to a congressional investigation after his first term.

How the IRS has treated other presidents

Despite hinting that he may now release his tax returns, Trump has previously refused to do so, saying he can't while undergoing an IRS audit — but there is no law barring him from doing that. In fact, presidents for decades have done so voluntarily and all have had their returns audited as a matter of IRS policy.

That policy began in the late 1970s in a post-Watergate crackdown on presidential abuses after Richard Nixon was found to have claimed dubious deductions — including a donation of his personal papers — that led to big underpayments. One year while president, he paid only hundreds of dollars.

When asked about his tax maneuvers, Nixon famously retorted, “I am not a crook.” He later agreed to the IRS findings, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

Court challenges

Trump's settlement with the IRS refers only to existing audits, not future examinations, so the president and his family are not off the hook for any alleged abuses in future tax returns.

Parts of the settlement are being challenged in court.

The compensation fund is being attacked by police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. They have sued to block anyone — including the rioters — from receiving payouts.

Some law experts expect the tax immunity will be challenged in court, too.

“This is the president trying to play every role in the system, acting as plaintiff, defendant, and his own judge and jury to extract extraordinary windfalls,” said New York University's DeBot, adding that giving broad immunity “stretches beyond what DOJ actually has authority to do.”

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Hussein reported from Washington.

Most of all, though, his money has fueled his own political rise, from a little-known oil and gas heir to a state legislator and, now, front-runner in the race to replace Paxton. After coming first in the March primary, Middleton, a senator from Galveston, will face U.S. Rep. Chip Roy in the May 26 runoff.

Middleton has spent more than $16 million of his own money on the race so far, dwarfing any of his previous political spending many times over. Roy and his backers argue Middleton is trying to buy the race, through his deluge of television ads and endorsements from candidates and groups he’s supported, despite his thin legal resume and qualifications for the job.

“I look at the amount of money being thrown around by my opponent, into groups that then endorse him, somebody tell me how that’s not a conflict of interest,” Roy said at a recent campaign stop in Dripping Springs. “It just don’t smell right to me.”

Middleton didn’t respond to a request for comment. His supporters, many of whom have benefited from his political generosity, say they’re backing him for the same reason he backed them — shared political beliefs and a strong sense that he’d be the best fit for the job.

Tarrant County Commissioner Matt Krause, who served in the Legislature with Middleton and has received more than $300,000 from him over the years, rejected the idea that Middleton was expecting a quid pro quo in exchange for his donations.

“I look at it much more positively, like, this guy’s been willing to write a check to all these people to support them, because it was the right thing to do at the time,” Krause said. “He approached it much more like, ‘Hey, Matt, we’ve been in the battle together, we’ve walked arm in arm, you know my beliefs. You know my values, you can trust me, and I would appreciate that support.’ And people like me are wholeheartedly willing to do that.”

Funding the freedom fighters

Middleton’s father, John Gregg Middleton was deeply involved in Chambers County civic life, serving on city council and the board of the local bank and country club. Gov. Bill Clements, the first Republican elected to statewide office in Texas since Reconstruction, appointed him to the Trinity River Authority, according to his obituary.

When he died in 2013, Mayes, an only child, inherited the oil company, and the wealth that came with it. He took up the mantle of civic engagement, as well, but he did it on a Texas-sized scale.

Middleton entered the political fray at a pivotal moment, just as fractures in the Texas Republican Party were beginning to deepen. A new, more hardline arm of the party was on the rise, vying to unseat the moderate, business-centric establishment that helped take the state back from Democrats.

Middleton charged into that fight, donating more than $300,000 over three years to Empower Texans PAC, a growing force at the Capitol that was marshaling major oil and gas money to pull the GOP sharply to the right. Led by its rabble-rousing leader, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Empower Texans threw hundreds of thousands of dollars at primaries to unseat Republican legislators they saw as insufficiently ideological and, over time, ushered in a new generation of uncompromisingly conservative warriors.

Individual candidates from the arch-conservative camp also benefited from Middleton’s money. When the Texas House Freedom Caucus launched in 2017, three-quarters of its initial members had received donations from Middleton; he would eventually support all but one. An outgrowth of the tea party movement, the House Freedom Caucus was created in direct opposition to then-Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican who represented the more moderate, establishment arm of the party.

“If you weren’t part of that, there wasn’t a lot of institutional money available to you,” Krause, one of the caucus’ founding members, said. “Mayes gained a lot of respect, for me and a lot of others, because he was willing to donate to the candidates that weren’t as popular down in Austin, but were fighting for the things that he believed in.”

In 2014, Middleton gave two donations totaling $3,500 to Wayne Faircloth, who represented his home district in Galveston. Just four years later, he decided to primary Faircloth, entering the political arena as a candidate, rather than a donor, for the first time.

That cycle, the average winning Texas House campaign cost $354,000, TransparencyUSA reported. Middleton spent $2.3 million, almost all out of his own pocket, outpacing the second most prolific candidate by more than $700,000.

He won, and joined the Freedom Caucus he initially helped bankroll. His support didn’t stop once he was in the chamber, as he continued to dole out major donations to a wide range of conservative lawmakers. He also gave to conservative causes, backing groups like Texas Values, Texas Right to Life and the Texas GOP itself.

“That says a lot to us, when someone wants to invest in the work that we do and not just support us with words,” said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values Action, the group’s political arm which is supporting Middleton’s attorney general bid. “Some people, they won’t even attend our events, even Republicans, but with [Middleton], people can see the sincerity of his support for our work and our values.”

In 2021, Middleton began eyeing the Senate seat in his backyard. Incumbent Larry Taylor planned to run again, but dropped out once Middleton made it clear he intended to challenge him.

“I tried to tell him, I’m just going to go one more time, why don’t you wait, but he’s ready to go and wanting to spend a lot of money,” Taylor told the Galveston County Daily News.

And spend a lot, he did. Middleton gave himself $2.5 million that cycle, despite having little in the way of primary opposition and no Democratic challenger.

Funding Paxton opponents

While running for state Senate, Middleton also got involved in the race for the office he now seeks. In 2022, Paxton was up for reelection, but the cloud of legal troubles he’d long operated under was growing ever more concerning for party leaders. Paxton was facing an FBI investigation, after eight of his top aides reported him to the FBI for alleged abuse of office, and he remained under felony indictment for securities fraud.

Krause, long a Paxton ally, joined the growing list of primary challengers seeking to oust the incumbent. His main campaign funder? Middleton.

“We were side-by-side, arm-in-arm, on a lot of those votes in the House, and so I think it was a recognition that he knew what my principles were, he knew how I would attack the office if I were to get into it,” Krause said.

Krause dropped out a few weeks later, after U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert entered the race. Middleton gave Gohmert $300,000, and asked Krause to pass on the remains of his donation, $250,000, to the Gohmert camp.

Paxton was forced into a runoff with Land Commissioner George P. Bush, but ultimately won a third term. The next year, he was impeached by the Texas House. Middleton was reportedly one of several senators considering voting to convict Paxton, although he ultimately joined the majority in acquitting him.

If there was any bad blood between Paxton and Middleton over these clashes, it seems to have dissipated in the years since. According to leaked audio obtained by Texas Bullpen, Paxton said he plans to vote for Middleton.

“From what I understand, those two have talked not just once, but several times since then,” Krause said. “I’m sure those are hard conversations, especially with Attorney General Paxton at the beginning, but he’s willing to have those conversations.”

“Money where his mouth is”

Middleton entered the attorney general’s race last spring, when the field was still taking shape. Almost immediately, he garnered a slew of endorsements from his colleagues in the Legislature — many of whom had won their seats with financial support from Middleton.

Roy has hammered Middleton for “buying endorsements,” as he told voters at the Dripping Springs event, as well as for the sheer scale of money he has poured into this race. A handful of big-name donors have stepped up to support Roy in recent weeks, motivated by frustration that Middleton was using his personal wealth to purchase the seat, the congressman said.

“They felt compelled to back me, not just to level the playing field, but to win,” Roy told The Texas Tribune.

But Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project, said it’s difficult to make that line of attack resonate outside the donor class. Politicians give money to like-minded allies, who often return the favor. That money typically comes from candidates’ campaign coffers, Blank noted.

“I don’t think the voters care where that money originated, whether that was through a federally regulated PAC in which the donors are clearly listed, or whether that money came from a Republican kingmaker of sorts,” Blank said, mentioning the example of Gov. Greg Abbott unleashing his war chest to unseat lawmakers opposed to school vouchers.

Roy has also criticized Middleton as unqualified for the role. While Roy worked as a federal prosecutor, and as Paxton’s first assistant at the attorney general’s office, Middleton has a law degree but has worked exclusively for his family company. Middleton’s many endorsers reject that argument, saying he has the temperament and executive leadership know-how needed to run the agency.

“People know him and have faith in his ability to lead, and he’s shown a commitment to working on things at the state level and connecting with people and the party around the state,” Saenz said. “His track record is what’s getting voters to go to the polls. It takes more than just the ability to fund a campaign.”

Typically, self-funded campaigns underperform compared to more traditional campaigns, in part because donors are engaged voters and raising money activates their networks as well, Blank said. But Middleton has bucked that trend, which is a sign that his message is resonating, no matter who is paying to get it out there.

“It would be silly to say that his profile as a donor hasn’t helped his rise in the party,” Blank said. “But it’s also the case that his willingness to put his money where his mouth is and support the MAGA message is of value to Republicans who believe it’s a value.”

Green has criticized the more than $4 million that a cryptocurrency super PAC spent on behalf of Menefee, a whopping total that has given Menefee the money edge and made the 18th Congressional District home to the most expensive House runoff in Texas. In the meantime, Menefee has called out Green for accepting contributions from corporate PACs, or groups that raise money from a company’s employees and donate it to political candidates.

The clash is emblematic of a broader wedge between Democrats, many of whom rely on large fundraising hauls to remain competitive, even as they denounce the outsized influence big money plays in the political arena.

“We’ve built incredible momentum without taking any corporate PAC dollars,” Menefee said in an interview. “At the same time, I believe Citizens United was a mistake and should be overturned, and not a single super PAC should exist.“

Menefee won his current seat in a special election that stretched into a late January runoff, through which he reported raising over $2 million. Since then, he’s raised over $850,000. Green, meanwhile, has hauled in $1.4 million since the start of the cycle in January 2025. Individual donors can give up to $3,500 per election to a candidate’s account, but most of Menefee’s contributions come from those giving four figures. His donors include Houston billionaire philanthropist John Arnold and trial lawyer and megadonor Amber Mostyn.

Green is running in the 18th District after his current seat, District 9, was redrawn to favor Republicans. His donations stem from a mix of small individual donors giving less than $200 and larger four-figure sums. Big-name donors include former Houston Metro chair Carrin Patman, HillCo lobbying firm cofounder Bill Miller and healthcare executive Tahir Javed. He’s also been boosted by donations from PACs for United Airlines and beer wholesaler, credit union and realtor groups, along with various unions.

But all that has been dwarfed by the support Menefee has gotten from the crypto super PAC, Protect Progress. The group dropped $1.5 million on ads boosting Menefee ahead of the March primary election, and it has spent more than double that amount leading up to the runoff, according to Federal Election Commission filings that show Protect Progress has poured in more than $4 million on Menefee’s behalf.

On the House floor on Friday, Green introduced himself as an “unbought, liberated, unafraid Democrat, unbought by crypto cash.” He’s also criticized Menefee for aligning himself with “Trump crypto cronies” and making a “deal with the devil” in a now-deleted video on YouTube.

Protect Progress is affiliated with Fairshake, a deep-pocketed super PAC that reported $193 million cash on hand at the beginning of the year. Protect Progress boosts left-leaning candidates who support cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, while its Republican counterpart, Defend American Jobs, spends on behalf of Republican candidates.

The super PAC recently spent $500,000 on a TV ad that featured Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who advocated for Menefee by saying “we need a new generation of fighters.”

The crypto super PAC spending is done independently of the campaign, but experts say these kinds of super PACs spend on candidates who signal they would be more open to working with the industry with subtle nods, often through wording on their campaign websites or in social media posts.

Menefee wrote on his campaign site that blockchain technology, the decentralized system used to record and verify crypto transactions, offers the potential to “increase trust, transparency and efficiency” with rules to protect consumers. Industry group Stand with Crypto gave an “A” rating to Menefee and an “F” to Green because he voted against several crypto bills, including the GENIUS Act, the first federal framework for regulating the crypto industry that passed in July 2025.

“All I can control is how I run my campaign, which I’m very proud of, because we have taken $0 from some corporate PACs, unlike my opponent,” Menefee said. “We’re going to keep fundraising from real human beings at a grassroots level, less than $100 per donation, and we have outraised, at this point, 20 different candidates in this campaign.”

Menefee has said he supports regulating the crypto industry, and that the differing perspective between himself and Green is due to a generational difference. Green is 40 years older than Menefee, a divide that’s also become a key issue in their race.

Green did not respond to a request for comment.

Both candidates support abolishing Citizens United, the landmark Supreme Court decision that enabled corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited amounts independently on elections. They also both support multiple bills introduced this year that aim to increase transparency in campaign finance.

One such bill, the Abolish Super PACs Act, would effectively end super PACs by capping contributions to the organizations at $5,000 a year. Another, coined the Disclose Act, was reintroduced in March and would combat dark money in politics by unmasking anonymous donors.

Green is a co-sponsor of both acts. Menefee said he supports the Abolish Super PACs Act, and his campaign said he would sign on as a co-sponsor to the Disclose Act in the coming days.

Michael Beckel, money in politics reform director at the nonpartisan group Issue One, said there has been an explosion of big money in politics in the 16 years since Citizens United passed, putting the issue at the forefront of many Democratic campaigns.

“In more and more Democratic primary environments, candidates are looking to differentiate themselves, looking to signal to voters that they want to be part of the solution, not just part of the broken status quo,” he said.

He added that some Democrats have sworn off corporate PAC donations, while others are “happy to fight fire with fire.”

“The logic that we’ve seen, very broadly speaking, is presented as an argument to say, ‘we don’t want to fight with one hand tied behind our backs,’” he said.

The candidate who wins the May 26 runoff will likely win the November general election because of the district’s makeup. Had the district lines existed in 2024, Kamala Harris would have won it by almost 55 points.

The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from South Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later said the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower’s arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made Friday, he noted.

Thursday’s launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public.

Starship holds 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released before the spacecraft’s controlled entry into the Indian Ocean at the end of the hourlong flight. It will be the 12th test flight for a Starship and the first since last fall.

NASA is relying on this latest version of Starship to land astronauts on the moon in a few years.

___

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

H-E-B, in partnership with the San Antonio Spurs, surprised customers with free groceries and playoff tickets at three locations Thursday.

At the McCreless H-E-B near South New Braunfels Avenue and I-37, some shoppers even had Spurs legend Sean Elliott scanning their groceries.

Tiara Harris said she had coincidentally been shopping for a Spurs watch party when she got $170 worth of groceries free.

“We was having a little cookout, and a Spurs player ended up paying for our groceries for the party,” she said.

Elliott told reporters it wasn’t him personally that did it, but rather the Spurs organization. Still, he said it was “amazing” to be able to hand people their groceries for free.

“I had a couple people tell me that it’s been hard for them lately, and it was a nice surprise, and you know it’s just a great feeling to make somebody’s day like that,” he said.

Other shoppers got a pair of the hottest tickets in town. Now tied 1-1 with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs are returning home Friday for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.

It’s the first time since 2017 the Spurs have gotten this far in the playoffs, and tickets are priced at a premium. The cheapest Game 3 tickets on Ticketmaster Thursday afternoon were $337, while Game 4 tickets were running a minimum of $359.

But a mix of H-E-Band Spurs personnel sought out lucky shoppers in Spurs gear at the McCreless H-E-B to give them tickets to one of the games for free.

“There’s no way,” Christian Flores said, grabbing his head, as his wife, Cheyeane Zurita, covered her mouth at the news they’d be getting tickets to Sunday’s game. “I’m going to cry right now.”

The couple said they have been to a Spurs game before, but never to the playoffs. They had talked about going to at least one this year, though, and Zurita said she had been looking at ticket prices every day.

“And I’m like, regular price is this? Oh my gosh, resale is this? What are we talking about? We gotta take out a loan,” she laughed.

Not anymore, they don’t.

An H-E-B spokeswoman said they’ve done similar promotions before, but this is the first time this season for the playoffs.

Read also:

• San Antonio shops, pop-ups see boost from Spurs playoff excitement
• ‘It wasn’t a celebration’: Spurs fan left with $10K in vandalism to her SUV after playoff win

Thames Valley Police issued the statement as it updated reporters on its investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office by the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The force covers the area west of London where Mountbatten-Windsor lived for many years.

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Feb. 19 and held for hours as police questioned him about the allegations, linked to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The arrest was an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield the royal family from embarrassment.

Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Police previously said they were “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent trade reports to Epstein in 2010 when the then-prince was Britain’s special envoy for international trade. Those reports were based on correspondence between the two men that became public when the U.S. Justice Department released millions of pages of documents from its investigation into Epstein.

But detectives renewed their appeal for witnesses amid concern that the public believes they are only investigating allegations linked to the trade reports, when in fact misconduct in public office can apply to a much broader list of offenses, Britain’s Press Association reported.

“Misconduct in public office is a crime that can take different forms, making this a complex investigation,’’ Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said. “Our team of very experienced detectives are working meticulously through a significant amount of information that has come in from the public and other sources.”

Misconduct in public office can include sharing confidential financial information, financial misconduct, willful neglect of duty, and sexual misconduct. It also covers corruption and improper interference, conflict of interest, perverting the course of justice, dishonesty or fraudulent conduct or misconduct leading to personal gain.

Police said they are looking into “a number of aspects of alleged misconduct” following the release of the U.S. documents, and they are working with the Justice Department to get additional information related to the investigation.

Thames Valley Police also issued an update on its inquiry into allegations that a woman was taken to a location in Windsor for sexual purposes in 2010.

“Should she wish to report this to police it will be taken seriously and handled with care, sensitivity and respect for her privacy,’’ police said in a statement.

Florida attorney Brad Edwards told the BBC in January that he represented a woman who said that Epstein sent her to England in 2010 to have a sexual encounter with Mountbatten-Windsor at his home in Windsor.

King Charles III stripped his younger brother of his royal titles late last year as he sought to distance the royal family from the fallout from the Epstein scandal. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.

The fallout from the document release has been strongly felt in the U.K., where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the upper echelon of society such as the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential business owners.

Nine police forces in the U.K. have said they are investigating potential wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Britain’s former ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson was fired last year after documents revealed that he had a longer and deeper relationship with Epstein than he previously acknowledged.

The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying Busch died after being hospitalized. No cause of death was given.

Busch’s family said earlier Thursday that he was hospitalized with a “severe illness,” three days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details have not been disclosed by Busch’s team or family.

Busch was the younger brother of Kurt Busch, a NASCAR Hall of Famer. He’s survived by wife Samantha and children Brexton and Lennix.

“Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the loss of Kyle Busch,” the statement said. “A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation. He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans.”

The statement went on to say that “throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal ‘Rowdy Nation.’”

The news comes 11 days after Busch radioed into his crew near the end of a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen asking a doctor to give him a “shot” when he finished the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.

Busch finished the race in eighth place.

Busch competed at Dover last weekend and won the Trucks Series race for Spire Motorsports. He then finished 17th at the NASCAR All-Star race, his final race.

“Absolutely cannot comprehend this news,” NASCAR driver and former teammate Denny Hamlin posted on social media. “We just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB.”

Added driver Brad Keselowski on social media: “Absolute shock. Very hard to process.”

A polarizing figure known as “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing” for his post-race fights, regular feuds with other drivers and sometimes outlandish behavior, the multi-talented Busch stormed on the Cup Series scene in 2005 by winning Rookie of the Year.

He went on to win championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

“His impact on our organization and on the sport of NASCAR will never be forgotten,” the team said in a statement.

From Las Vegas, Busch experienced unrivaled success across NASCAR’s three national series winning a combined 234 Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Trucks Series races. He had 63 Cup victories along with 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts wins and 69 Trucks victories — both records.

Busch was fired early in his career by Hendrick Motorsports to make room on the team for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years,” Earnhardt said in a statement. “But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences and that was something he instigated with a conversation in his bus around how we each managed our racing teams. I was super eager for us to get on better terms. But it was he who made the effort for that to be possible.”

Busch moved on to Joe Gibbs Racing where he experienced the vast majority of career success. But Busch was let go when there was no sponsor after the 2022 season and joined Richard Childress Racing, where had struggled to win races.

His lack of success led to a recent spat with former JGR teammate Hamlin, who appeared to criticize Busch on the “Actions Detrimental” podcast. Hamlin said, “If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to victory lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves.”

While Hamlin later said he meant no harm by the comments and was just making an observation, Busch took exception and said he could make Hamlin’s life “hell” on the racetrack.

While several laps down at last month’s race at Kansas, Busch raced Hamlin hard instead of allowing the race leader to pass. That decision held up Hamlin during a crucial stage of the race and Tyler Reddick won the race after Hamlin faded late.

After winning the Trucks race at Dover last week and showing an uptick in speed, Busch seemed to make a veiled jab at Hamlin, saying “I guess I just remembered how to drive.”

After earning his win at Dover, Busch was asked how many races he wanted to win in his career.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

Busch’s unexpected death is just the latest tragedy to hit NASCAR. Last December, former driver Greg Biffle, his wife and two children and three others died in a plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina.

The announcement of Busch’s death came after teams had already left Gasoline Alley on media day at the Indianapolis 500. As word spread on Main Street in Speedway, Indiana, just a short walk from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, race fans -- IndyCar and NASCAR -- were saddened.

NASCAR officials confirmed to The Associated Press the Coca-Cola 600 will go on as planned Sunday.

Drivers are expected to begin making their way to Charlotte Motorsports Speedway in Concord on Friday with practice and qualifying beginning on Saturday. Earlier in the day, RCR had announced that Austin Hill would replace Busch in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

___ AP freelance writer and former AP auto racing writer Jenna Fryer and AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report. ___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Thousands of people are expected to gather on Saturday from all over Serbia in the capital, Belgrade.

Serbia's youth movement was behind a wave of mass anti-corruption street protests that shook Vucic last year. Now, students say their sights are set on approaching elections later this year or next that they hope will oust Vucic's right-wing populist government.

“We hope a lot of people will come and spend the day with us, and then continue to support the students because we are preparing for the elections,” youth representative Isidora Jovanovic told The Associated Press. “Serbia needs a change, and students will bring that change.”

The venue on Saturday will be Belgrade’s Slavija Square, the scene of a huge anti-government protest last March. That rally ended in a sudden disruption that experts later said — and the government denied — involved the use of a sonic weapon against peaceful demonstrators.

Police at the square on Tuesday separated Vucic's loyalists from the students who were printing their “Students win” slogans. Days earlier, an elderly man was injured when a driver broke up a traffic blockade in central Belgrade.

A number of other incidents have taken place in previous months, including violence that marred a local election in March.

Jovanovic said organizers will do all they can to make sure there are no incidents, especially because a lot of people will come from across Serbia. The students ”don’t want any of them (citizens) to leave with a bad feeling or injuries.”

From anti-corruption protests to a political force

Launched in response to a train station tragedy that killed 16 people in northern Serbia in November 2024, the student movement blocked faculties for months in 2025, forcing the resignation of then-Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and his government.

The protesters said that wasn’t enough, and demanded early parliamentary elections, which Vucic has not called yet. He told the state RTS television on Thursday evening that the vote will be held between September and November this year.

The quest for accountability over the concrete canopy crash at the Novi Sad station resonated widely among the public because many believed the tragedy was the result of deeply rooted corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects.

Dusan Vucicevic, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, said the youth movement has since grown into a political player backed by a large number of people. Students, he said, can count on an “excellent result” in a future ballot.

“We finally have a political group that can challenge the (ruling) Serbian Progressive Party and Aleksandar Vucic,” Vucicevic told the AP.

Vucic has pushed hard against the protesters. Pro-government media have branded his critics as terrorists and foreign agents who wish to destroy the country — a rhetoric that has ramped up political divisions.

The protests, he told the RTS, are “unregistered, criminal” gatherings. The protesters "take control of our roads and streets ... they have been involved in violence all this time.”

The president's loyalists will likely on Saturday fill a park camp outside the presidency building that he set up last March, apparently as a shield against protesters. Several attacks on protesters and journalists were reported around the camp in the past.

Reports of police use of excessive force and arbitrary detentions of protesters have sparked international scrutiny. Serbia’s democratic backsliding could cost the country around 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in European Union funding for membership candidate nations.

A new generation of students say they are joining

Branislav Vasic and Filip Novakovic, freshmen at Belgrade's Faculty of Political Sciences, told the AP they too will be at the rally on Saturday. The 19-year-olds said joining their older colleagues in protests is an imperative.

“Everyone should go to the rally out of principle because of the situation,” Vasic said. He is convinced that ”there is the strength for change as long as people want it.”

Novakovic believes that “we are together in this, one step away from a better future.” This generation, he said, has a historic chance to carry out the changes previous generations could not.

“I will keep trying as long as I live, he said. ”This struggle is a long one.”

The Trump administration has said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer deploying to Poland. Trump’s social media announcement raises more uncertainty for European allies that have been blindsided by the changes as the administration has complained about NATO members not shouldering enough of the burden of their own defense and failing to do more to support the Iran war.

“Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland," Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump and the Pentagon have said in recent weeks that they were drawing down at least 5,000 troops in Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in the war.

Trump then told reporters at the beginning of the month that the U.S. would be "cutting a lot further than 5,000.”

As of last week, some 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division were no longer en route to Poland. The Associated Press reported that the canceled deployment was part of an effort to comply with Trump's order to reduce the number of troops in Europe. A deployment to Germany of personnel trained to fire long-range missiles also was halted.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike criticized the reductions as sending the wrong signal both to allies and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 4-year-old war in Ukraine.

Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said during a congressional hearing that he spoke with Polish officials and they were “blindsided.” He called the decision “reprehensible” and said it was “an embarrassment to our country what we just did to Poland.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Tuesday that it was “a temporary delay” of the deployment of U.S. forces to Poland, which he called a “model U.S. ally.” He said it was a result of the U.S. reducing the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe from four to three and indicated the Pentagon still needed to decide which troops to station where.

It was not clear whether that meant the brigade would resume its deployment to Poland, if additional troops on top of that rotational deployment could be added, or whether there would still be a drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe but from a different country. The Pentagon referred requests for comment to the White House, which did not immediately respond to messages seeking clarity.

U.S. defense officials expressed confusion Friday about Trump's new announcement. ‘’We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement, We don’t know what this means either,'' said one official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Undersecretary Elbridge Colby both spoke with their Polish counterparts this week. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had said Wednesday that he was happy to hear “Washington’s declaration that Poland will be treated as it deserves.”

As of Tuesday, U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of both American and NATO forces in Europe, told reporters in Brussels that “it will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe.”

Trump’s announcement came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on his way to Sweden to meet with his NATO counterparts, who have been questioning the Trump administration’s policies on reduced U.S. troop levels in Europe.

“There seems to be no process to deliberating policies like troop withdrawals and deployments at the top,” said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia during the Obama and first Trump administrations and now teaches international relations at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Kelly said Rubio may have a tough time in explaining Trump’s wild swings to Europeans who are craving certainty and consistency even if they might disagree.

“These are not well thought out decisions,” Kelly said. “These are impulsive decisions based on Trump’s whims or what his advisors think are Trump’s whims.”

___ Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price and Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.

That figure is three times the 5% initial contribution requirement the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC, set out in 2024, which is being challenged in court by U.S.-based major streamers, including Apple, Amazon and Spotify.

The CRTC made the decision as part of its implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which the U.S. has identified as a trade irritant ahead of trade negotiations with Canada.

Contribution requirements for traditional broadcasters in Canada, which currently pay between 30% and 45%, will be lowered to 25%.

“The total contributions are expected to stabilize the funding at more than $2 billion in support of Canadian and Indigenous content, such as French-language content and news,” the regulator said in a press release.

The CRTC also set out rules on how the money must be spent for both streamers and broadcasters, including contributions toward production funds and direct spending on Canadian content.

Most of the streamers’ financial contribution can go toward content, though the CRTC is imposing rules on how that money must be spent for the largest streamers.

For instance, streamers with Canadian revenues of more than $100 million Canadian ($73 million) annually must direct 30% of spending toward partnerships with Canadian broadcasters and independent producers.

The new financial contribution rules apply to streamers and broadcasters with at least $25 million Canadian ($18 million) in annual Canadian broadcasting revenues.

The CRTC is also establishing a new fund to support specific TV channels, including CPAC, the Canadian service that provides direct coverage of political events.

• TONIGHT: Scattered showers and storms. Street flooding is the primary threat
• FRIDAY: 30% chance pop-up afternoon showers
• SATURDAY: Confidence is growing for locally heavy rainfall

FORECAST

TODAY’S RAIN

Quick showers & storms this morning produced healthy rainfall around the area, but we’re not done with rain yet. Plan for more rounds of storms through the next ten days.

REST OF TODAY/TONIGHT

Spotty showers and storms this evening are likely to becoming more numerous overnight, but it should all be done by the morning commute.

FRIDAY AND MEMORIAL DAY WEEKENED

• FRIDAY: After a chance for morning storms, most of Friday is likely to be relatively quiet. Expect partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures.

• SATURDAY: Energy from the west will enhance rain chances yet again on Saturday (60%). A messy upper level setup will make it tough to pinpoint timing and amounts. Clouds and rain will make for slightly cooler temperatures.
• SUNDAY: Quieter weather is forecast for Sunday, with the sun making a return. Highs will reach the mid-80s
• MONDAY: Only isolated storms are expected (20%). Temperatures will reach to near 90.

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Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds to help the Knicks win their ninth straight game. That's the NBA's longest postseason winning streak since the Boston Celtics won 10 straight on their way to the 2024 championship.

Hart went 5 from 11 from 3-point range, burning a defensive strategy that seemed built around leaving him open from long range, and also had seven assists.

“Just a whale of a game from Josh,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.

Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Knicks made sure they would be in control late with an 18-0 run in the third quarter that gave them a 71-53 lead. Fans chanted “Knicks in four! Knicks in four!” in the final minute, long after the starters had gone to the benches.

“In our mind it’s 0-0. We’ve got to win the next game. It’s the most important game of the year and that’s how we treat it,” Towns said.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday.

“Nothing to hang our head about," Mitchell said. "They protected home court, and we’ve seen this before so we’re going to go to Game 3.”

The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year but haven’t played for the championship since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.

Brunson scored 38 points and led the Game 1 comeback. He had only two points in the first half Thursday before making the first basket of the run that broke open the game and finished with the highest assist total of his playoff career.

Hart was benched for the rally in Game 1, playing just three minutes combined in the fourth quarter and overtime. The forward had been shooting just 26.7% from 3-point range and after a third straight miss from long range early Thursday, he put his jersey in his mouth and bit it, bouncing the ball down hard in frustration three times. But he kept firing.

“I knew I had to just keep shooting and if I did that I’d be good,” Hart said.

Mitchell got off to a slow start with just seven points in the first half, triggering more of the questions that followed Game 1 about whether he was injured. His 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left gave Cleveland a 27-24 lead after one.

The Knicks led 53-49 at halftime. The Cavs got the first two baskets of the third to tie it, but Brunson answered with a 3-pointer to start the 18-0 run. He had two more buckets in the burst and Hart hit a pair of 3-pointers, the latter capping it to make it 71-53 with 5:36 remaining in the third. After the Cavs scored five straight, Hart made another 3 and Towns scored to restore the 18-point advantage.

Cleveland cut it to single digits with just under eight minutes left but ruined any chance of getting closer with poor free-throw shooting, missing 10 in the game and finishing at 68.8%. The Knicks eventually pushed their lead to 19 points.

“It’s difficult when you’re not making shots,” Harden said. “It puts twice as much pressure on you defensively to get stops.”

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it.

Rubio says the US prefers a negotiated agreement with Cuba

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long taken a hard-line against Cuba’s socialist leadership, said the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully but is doubtful the U.S. can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island's current government.

Trump's “preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful. That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba,” Rubio said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India.

“I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high,” he said.

Top Trump aides — including Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe and other senior national security officials — have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government in the past week.

Over the years, Cuba has gotten used to “buying time and waiting us out,” Rubio said. “They’re not going to be able to wait us out or buy time. We’re very serious, we’re very focused.”

When asked whether the U.S. would use force in Cuba to change the island's political system, Rubio repeated that a diplomatic settlement was preferred but noted that “the president always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest.”

He pushed back on a reporter’s suggestion that it sounded like “nation-building,” insisting it was about addressing a national security risk.

New threats follow US announcement of charges against Castro

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled an indictment that accuses Castro of ordering the shootdown in 1996 of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. The charges, which were secretly filed by a grand jury in April, included murder and destruction of an airplane.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has condemned the indictment as a political stunt that sought only to “justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”

The Castro indictment has led many to believe that the Trump administration is following the same playbook it did when it captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation in early January. Maduro, who has been imprisoned in the U.S. since his seizure, faces federal drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The U.S. military touted the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and accompanying ships to the Caribbean Sea on the same day the charges against Castro were announced. U.S. Southern Command said the ships are taking part in maritime exercises with partners in Latin America that began in March.

Rubio would not discuss how the U.S. might move to implement the indictment against Castro, who turns 95 next month.

Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since ousting Maduro and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island.

The Trump administration this month also has slapped new sanctions on Cuba, the largest of which is against Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.

On Thursday, Rubio announced that the sister of the GAESA's executive president, who was living in the U.S., has had her green card revoked and been arrested, and is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“Past Administrations have permitted the families of Cuban military elites, Iranian terrorists and other reprehensible organizations to enjoy lavish lifestyles in our country funded by stolen blood-money, while the people they repress at home suffer in increasingly dire circumstances. No longer,” Rubio said in a statement.

Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging to conduct a “friendly takeover” of the country if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.

On Thursday, Rubio said Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and friendly relations with U.S. foes in Latin America.

China opposes U.S. sanctions and pressure on Cuba, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said Thursday.

“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference,” Guo added.

___

Associated Press writers Simina Mistreanu in Bangkok and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

During Trump’s visit, China sought to stabilize ties with the United States, while Putin’s trip served to deepen its strategic partnership with Russia.

Xi emphasized ceremonial hospitality during Trump’s visit, including a rare tour of Zhongnanhai, a former imperial garden that now serves as headquarters of China’s top leadership. Beijing understood Trump valued highly visible displays of respect, said George Chen, partner for Greater China practice for The Asia Group. “Xi knows this is what Trump values: being treated like a VIP, respected in front of the cameras.”

With Putin, Chen said, Xi switched to substance. “Reaffirming the friendship treaty, signing new energy deals, and re-emphasizing their ‘no limits’ partnership,” he added.

The similarities and contrasts began with the schedule

The differences between the two visits began with their length: The U.S. president stayed in China for three days, while Putin’s visit lasted two.

Both leaders were welcomed at Tiananmen Square with ceremonial guards, a military band and children waving flags.

Both also held closed-door meetings with Xi at the Great Hall of the People, next to the square.

Trump also received a private tour of the Temple of Heaven and walked through the imperial gardens of Zhongnanhai.

Putin, instead, spent much of his time with Xi inside the Great Hall of the People, where the two presidents toured a photo exhibition on China-Russia relations and later had tea.

Last week’s trip was Trump’s second visit to China as president. For Putin, it was his 25th visit to the country.

The clearest divide came in the messaging

The main contrast between the two summits was in their messaging.

With Trump, Xi focused on the need to maintain a relatively stable relationship after months of tensions and a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. He urged the U.S. president to see China as a partner rather than a rival, and both leaders agreed to work toward what they described as “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.”

With Putin, Xi sought to reinforce and deepen a longstanding partnership that is both strategic and economically important for the two countries.

While the U.S. and China are still trying to stabilize their trade ties, Moscow and Beijing reaffirmed their relationship as essential partners. Putin said the “driving force” of the relationship was the energy sector, particularly oil and gas.

Xi signed agreements with only one of the presidents

China and Russia reached more than 40 cooperation agreements covering areas including trade, technology and media exchanges. The two leaders also signed a joint declaration describing Russia and China as “important centers of power in a multipolar world.”

Trump and Xi, by contrast, did not sign a joint declaration or oversee the signing of any agreements publicly during the visit. It was only after the U.S. president left Beijing that the two countries announced the details of several accords, with Washington saying China had agreed to buy U.S. agricultural products at an annualized rate of $17 billion and purchase 200 Boeing jets.

“China and Russia reached more agreements, and with China and the U.S., what are the agreements? Even that is not very clear,” said Claus Soong, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

But Lyle Morris, senior fellow on Chinese national security and foreign policy at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the biggest surprise from the Xi-Putin meetings was that it appears no formal deal was signed for the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline plan, which could send gas from Russia to China through Mongolia.

“This is a huge setback for Russia and Putin,” he said.

Putin and Trump have different stances on Taiwan

Moscow is closely aligned with Beijing on the issue of Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its own. Meanwhile, the U.S. maintains an intentionally ambiguous stance on the island and serves as its main informal backer and arms provider.

Xi made it clear to Trump that Taiwan is the most important issue in the bilateral relationship and warned that mishandling U.S. ties with the self-governing island could lead to confrontation between the two countries.

Trump did not publicly address Taiwan during the visit. But on his way back to the United States, he described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China, comments that stirred anxieties on the island.

With Putin, there was no sign of disagreement over the issue.

In the joint declaration signed by Xi and Putin, Russia reiterated its opposition to Taiwanese independence “in any form” and voiced support for what it described as China’s efforts to defend its sovereignty and achieve “national unification.”

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, both sides also raised concerns over what they called “accelerated remilitarization” of Japan, against the backdrop of strained China-Japan ties over Taiwan.

____

Leung reported from Hong Kong, and Mistreanu from Bangkok.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day.

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of the environmental group Greenpeace.

The tribe said it will continue to fight in federal court to protect its water, sacred sites and homelands established in treaties with the federal government signed in 1851 and 1868.

“The Tribe will evaluate all legal and political options to defend our Treaty rights, protect Mni Wiconi - Water of Life, and hold the Federal government and private corporations accountable to the highest standards of environmental stewardship and Tribal consultation," Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Chairman Steve Sitting Bear said in a statement.

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered a more rigorous review of the pipeline's crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline's river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision “best balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project’s purpose and need.”

The tribe said the environmental impact report addresses neither perceived threats from the pipeline to the tribe’s homelands and drinking water nor concerns about alleged federal law violations by the pipeline or a sufficient spill response plan.

“Today’s decision merely restates past conclusions and represents a pattern of minimizing and rejecting Tribal expertise in sustaining our lands, resources, and cultural properties,” it said.

A Corps official said the decision was “informed by public input and government-to-government consultation with Tribes.”

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.

“We want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,” said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, both Republicans, welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.

The Corps' announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.

The Canadiens pounced for four first-period goals on slow-starting Carolina — coming off the longest postseason break in more than a century — and beat the Hurricanes 6-2 on Thursday night.

“We knew we could come in here and try to get off to a good start to the series,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said after a three-assist night. “We’re happy with the result, but they’re definitely going to be better than what they were tonight.”

Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault scored in the opening four minutes, Alexandre Texier followed four minutes later, and Ivan Demidov finished a breakaway for a shocking 4-1 lead midway through the opening period. That came against a team that hadn't allowed more than two goals in an 8-0 playoff start.

Juraj Slafkovksy scored twice in the third period for Montreal, the second on a late empty-netter, while Jakub Dobes had 24 saves.

Game 2 is Saturday night.

The Hurricanes were the first team to sweep their first two playoff rounds since the NHL went to best-of-seven series in all four rounds in 1987. But that led to a lengthy break of 11 days, the longest rest for any team before starting the next playoff run since at least 1920, while waiting on the Canadiens to battle their way past Tampa Bay and Buffalo.

That led to the rest-versus-rust discussion about the Hurricanes, along with how well the Canadiens would pivot from those to-the-limit wins.

And outside of Seth Jarvis beating Dobes just 33 seconds in, the Canadiens answered that question resoundingly in those opening minutes to extend Carolina's misery in this round.

“I didn’t think we were very sharp, to put it bluntly,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Our top guys had tough nights. That’s not going to work at this time of the year.”

Much of Carolina’s success comes from pressuring opponents in the offensive zone and minimizing chances going the other way. But Montreal effectively moved the puck out of danger against Carolina's aggressive pressure early, setting up clean breakouts, open-ice space and multiple breakaway chances at Frederik Andersen.

“The execution was there right off the bat,” Canadiens center Jake Evans said.

Danault's goal was a full-speed breakaway right up the middle off a feed from Alexandre Carrier, while Demidov went forehand-backhand-forehand to beat Andersen for the 4-1 lead with 8:28 left in the first.

Andersen was leading the postseason in goals-against average (1.12) and save percentage (.950), but finished with just 16 saves.

Eric Robinson also scored for Carolina, which is in the Eastern final for the third time in four years and fourth time in the current eight-season playoff run under Rod Brind'Amour. But the Hurricanes are now 1-13 in those games, including sweeps against Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023.

Carolina's loss meant the two Stanley Cup favorites both lost the opener of the conference finals. Colorado lost at home to Vegas on Wednesday night.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The House had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution, brought by Democrats, that would rein in Trump's military campaign. But as it became clear that Republicans would not have the numbers to defeat the bill, GOP leaders declined to hold a vote on it. It was the latest sign of the slipping support in Congress for a war that Trump launched more than two months ago without congressional approval.

“We had the votes without question and they knew it, and as a result they’re playing a political game,” said Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, who sponsored the bill.

Republicans in the Senate are also working to ensure they have the votes to dismiss another war powers resolution that advanced to a final vote earlier this week, when four GOP senators supported the resolution and three others were absent from the vote.

The actions by congressional leaders showed Republicans are struggling to maintain political backing for Trump's handling of the war. Rank-and-file Republicans are increasingly willing to defy the president over the conflict.

House Republican Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that the vote was delayed to give lawmakers who were absent a chance to vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson did not answer questions from reporters as he exited the House chamber.

Frustration with Iran war grows on Capitol Hill

On Capitol Hill, patience with the war has worn thin as the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz disrupts global shipping and elevates gas prices in the U.S. Another House war powers resolution nearly passed last week, falling on a tie vote as three Republicans voted in favor.

Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he had the votes “locked in” this time around.

“People are beginning to finally listen to the American people who don’t support the war in Iran, and I think there’s a growing number of Republicans who see how devastating the war has been for our country,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state.

The lone Democrat who voted against the war powers resolution last week, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, has said he will vote in favor of the legislation next time.

In a joint statement, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and other caucus leaders said Republicans were “cowardly” to pull the vote.

“Even as we prepare to recognize our nation’s fallen heroes on Memorial Day, House Republicans refuse to show up and be accountable to the brave service members that have been recklessly put in harm’s way,” they added.

Republicans have been broadly supportive of Trump's efforts to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, but some are now saying the president's legal timeline to wage a war without congressional approval has expired. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, presidents have 60 days to engage in a military conflict before Congress must either declare war or authorize the use of military force.

“We're past 60 days so it's got to be brought to us to vote on. We're following the law,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, adding that he plans to vote for the war powers resolution.

The dispute over war powers

The White House argues that the requirements of the War Powers Resolution no longer apply because of the ceasefire with Iran. At the same time, Trump has said he was just an hour away from ordering another strike on Iran earlier this week, but held off because Gulf allies said they were engaged in negotiations to end the war.

Still, Trump said on social media that military leaders should “be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.” Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has so far voted against the war powers resolutions, expressed frustration with the Trump administration's stance, especially from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The current status quo, Pete Hegseth demonstrates how incompetent he is,” Tillis told reporters, adding that he would be willing to vote for an authorization for use of military force.

Earlier this week, Democratic senators rallied outside the Capitol Wednesday alongside VoteVets, a left-leaning veterans’ advocacy group. They placed signs on the Capitol lawn noting that the nationwide average price of gasoline had risen to $4.53.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who served in the Iraq War with the Air National Guard, argued that the Iran war has amounted to a strategic blunder for Trump.

“Trump started a war, and he’s made things worse than before,” Duckworth said, pointing to Iran's new leadership and the country's willingness to put a chokehold on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Republican leaders praised Trump for taking what they said was bold action to directly confront Iran, a nation that has been a U.S. adversary for decades.

“I’m an American. I don’t believe in getting hit and walking away and pretending as though it didn’t happen,” said Rep. Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

For Congress, the growing momentum to pass a war powers resolution could eventually lead to a legal showdown over who has the final authority over military conflicts.

The legislation before the House is a concurrent resolution that lawmakers said would take effect without Trump's signature if it passed both chambers of Congress.

But Trump has also argued that the 1973 law — passed by Congress during the Vietnam War era in an attempt to take back its power over foreign conflicts — is unconstitutional.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

“They just didn’t steal a food truck,” owner Evan Dominguez said. “They stole a piece of me.”

Dominguez, who is an Army veteran, spent three years saving up to launch Evan’s Taste of Heaven. It’s a food truck that has traveled across South Central Texas.

“Whatever you like, I make,” Dominguez said with a laugh.

Dominguez said he had been storing the truck temporarily in a storage center near Palo Alto College while waiting out a stretch of rainy weather. He last checked on it in late March.

Then, he got a phone call that changed everything.

“The storage unit called me on May 9,” Dominguez said. “They said, ‘Are you working on your food truck?’ I said ‘No, ma’am, the food truck is in the storage.’ They’re like, ‘No, your food truck’s not here.’”

“My heart just dropped,” he said. “Everything (was) just gone.”

KSAT obtained the incident report from the San Antonio Police Department. The department has since put out an alert for the vehicle.

Despite the loss, Dominguez is pushing forward, raising money online and hosting an in-person fundraiser at Rooster’s Icehouse in Lytle this Saturday.

“It means a lot to me that they’re helping out,” he said.

San Antonio police are still searching for the stolen truck. Anyone with information is asked to submit a tip to the San Antonio Police Department.

Read also:

• 3 arrested for stealing more than $1,000 of Home Depot merchandise using fake receipt, SAPD says

The government released confidential papers related to the appointment in response to legislation passed by Parliament after lawmakers accused the king’s brother of putting his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein ahead of the nation. The former prince was stripped of his royal titles, including Duke of York, last year and is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests,” the head of Britain’s trade body wrote to two senior cabinet ministers on Feb. 25, 2000.

The queen worried about her son

The involvement of the late queen confirms previously held beliefs that the monarch had a soft spot for her second son, which may have influenced her lack of decisiveness in dealing with allegations about his links to Epstein. Royal commentators have for years suggested that the queen should have moved quicker to remove her son from royal duties, and her failure to do so tarnished the monarchy.

Mountbatten-Windsor served as Britain’s special envoy for international trade from 2001 to 2011, when he was forced to give up the role because of concerns about his links to questionable figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.

If nothing else, the documents suggest Elizabeth worried about him, said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.

“It's like, in a sense, if the queen makes it clear that that’s her wish, that’s the end of the argument,'' Prescott said. "Her Majesty’s civil service, as it was then, would have to deal with it on that basis.”

Lawmakers approved a motion in February demanding publication of the documents after the former prince was arrested and questioned for several hours on allegations he shared government reports with Epstein while he was trade envoy.

Documents suggest Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed with little due diligence

Trade Minister Chris Bryant wrote to lawmakers that “we have found no evidence that a formal due diligence or vetting process was undertaken” before Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to the role of special trade envoy.

“There is also no evidence that this was considered. This is understandable since this new appointment was a continuation of the royal family’s involvement in trade and investment promotion work following the Duke of Kent’s decision to relinquish his duties as Vice-Chairman of the Overseas Trade Board,” he said in the statement.

He said that the government was cooperating with Thames Valley Police on their investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor and possible misconduct in public office.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles late last year as the U.S. Justice Department prepared to release millions of pages of documents related to its investigation of Epstein. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.

Nowhere has the fallout from the document release been felt more strongly than in the U.K., where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential business owners, known collectively as “the Establishment.”

Mountbatten-Windsor has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Officials did suggest not offering the former prince golf trips

There were hints, however, that some had misgivings about giving Mountbatten-Windsor the high-profile trade role, where his effectiveness relied on his credibility. The back and forth suggested that while officials may not have questioned his appointment, they were involved in making suggestions about what he shouldn't be allowed to do in the role.

Kathryn Colvin, head of protocol at the Foreign Office, wrote in a January 2000 memo that Andrew’s private secretary “asked that the Duke of York should not be offered golfing functions abroad. This was a private activity and if he took his clubs with him he would not play in any public sense.”

Another document, a government memo sent to U.K. trade staff around the world, warned that Mountbatten-Windsor’s “high public profile” will require “careful and sometimes strict media management.”

The arson attack in Rwampara reflects the challenges of health workers trying to curb a rare Ebola virus by using stringent measures that might clash with local customs, such as burial rites. The disease has been spreading for weeks in a region lacking in adequate health facilities and where many people are on the move to escape armed conflicts.

The bodies of those who die from Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals. The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities, which can be met by protests from victims' families and friends.

Fear and anger grow

The center in Rwampara was burned by local youths who became angry while trying to retrieve the body of a friend who had apparently died of Ebola, according to a witness who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.

“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area. "The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”

An AP journalist saw people break into the center and set fire to objects inside and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the youths had not understood the protocols for burying a suspected Ebola victim.

“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear," Mukendi said. “All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”

Hama Amadou, field coordinator for the humanitarian organization ALIMA, which had teams working at the center, said later that calm had been restored and that aid teams were continuing their work at the center.

The flash of anger underlined the complications faced by both Congolese authorities and an array of aid agencies trying to stem an outbreak that the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

The outbreak is bigger than official figures show, WHO says

There were 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected cases in Congo's two provinces, Congolese authorities said on Thursday. Earlier in the week, the U.N. said there were two cases including one death in neighboring Uganda.

But the WHO has said the outbreak is almost certainly much larger and has also expressed concern over the speed of the spread.

“We are still in the phase where we are intensifying the investigation, searching for cases," said Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I expect the number of cases to increase as surveillance becomes more and more rigorous.”

The risk of the outbreak spreading globally is low, the WHO has said, but high regionally with the Ituri Province at the center of the outbreak bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

Early detection of the virus is key in saving lives, but the region’s already weak health infrastructure and surveillance capacity has been further weakened by international aid cuts, experts say. There are over 920,000 internally displaced people in Ituri Province, according to the U.N.

Armed conflict in the region further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. Local leaders said an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in Alima, a village in Ituri.

Health workers and aid groups have said they are in dire need of more supplies and staff to respond. Also, there is no available vaccine or medicine for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak.

An expert said this week it would be at least six to nine months before one would be available.

“The priority now is to act quickly and work closely with communities, as the coming days are critical,” said Ariel Kestens, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Congo.

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads in people through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, feces or semen. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

It has spread to a new province

On Thursday, the M23 rebel group that controls parts of eastern Congo reported that a person had died of the disease near the city of Bukavu, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the outbreak's epicenter in Ituri Province.

It was the first case confirmed in South Kivu Province, and another case was reported there later in the day. Previously, cases had been reported only in Ituri and North Kivu provinces and in neighboring Uganda.

The virus spread undetected for weeks following the first known death in late April as Congolese health authorities tested for a different Ebola virus more commonly responsible for outbreaks in the country. Health officials have not yet found “patient zero,” according to the WHO.

The scale of the outbreak so far suggests it "started probably a couple of months ago,” said Anaïs Legand, a viral hemorrhagic fevers expert at the WHO.

The outbreak has had international repercussions

India and ​the ⁠African Union said Thursday that the ⁠India-Africa ⁠Forum Summit, scheduled to be held next week in ‌New ​Delhi, had been postponed due to ⁠the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa.”

On Wednesday, Congo’s soccer team canceled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned farewell to fans in the capital Kinshasa because of the Ebola outbreak.

The U.S. government has placed restrictions on any travelers who have visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, barring foreign visitors among them from entering the U.S. and requiring U.S. citizens and permanent residents to be diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport for screening.

___

Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal and Imray from Cape Town, South Africa. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo; and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

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For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

___

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Behind the Kitchen Door is a series where KSAT investigates health inspections of restaurants in and around San Antonio.

Sushi Zushi

Metro Health inspectors visited the sushi restaurant, located at 999 East Basse, on April 14 and administered a grade of 82.

KSAT also visited the restaurant about its 12 violations, which include:

• Flies in the prep area
• Sushi rice left out of refrigeration from the day before
• Lack of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for sushi rice

The manager refused to answer KSAT’s questions about how the restaurant is ensuring its sushi rice is safe to eat.

Pho Garden

Health inspectors issued 10 demerits when they made an April 10 visit to the Vietnamese restaurant on 2535 SE Military Drive.

Metro Health ordered a reinspection at Pho Garden after inspectors found pests in the kitchen area, food more than 50 degrees below the acceptable serving temperature and expired food.

Kris Trevino, a customer who planned to have lunch at the restaurant, said he would hold off on eating there until its score improved.

“It’s a little concerning just because you would imagine that restaurants and people that own these places would take better care about the food that they’re providing to their customers,” Trevino said.

Metro Health spokesperson Joseph Garcia confirmed to KSAT that inspectors visited Pho Garden on April 20 for a reinspection.

Garcia said there were a few violations that needed to be corrected but not severe enough to order the restaurant close down.

Other scores from the week of April 12 through April 18:

Pepe’s Barbacoa - 100

1727 Bandera Road

----------------------------------------

Chicken Salad Chick - 100

9610 State Hwy 151, Suite 101

----------------------------------------

Crepelandia - 100

11825 West Avenue

----------------------------------------

P. Terry’s - 100

8443 Wurzbach Road

----------------------------------------

Panda Express - 100

11619 Bandera Road

----------------------------------------

Las Palmas Restaurant - 99

2911 Roosevelt Avenue

----------------------------------------

Nadler’s Bakery & Deli - 98

1621 Babcock Road

Score Guide

100-90 = A (Very Good to Acceptable)

89-80 = B (Acceptable to Marginal)

79 or lower = C (Marginal to Poor)

• RELATED: What do Metro Health inspectors look for when inspecting a restaurant?

You can catch Daniela’s BKD reports on Thursdays on the Nightbeat.

ALSO ON KSAT.COM

Watch other Behind the Kitchen Door stories here

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.

___

In rambling writings full of vitriol against a wide range of people, the teenagers who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego this week, killing three men and themselves, left little doubt about the models for their violence.

Chief among them: the shooter who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

Researchers who study extremism have long noted the resonance of the Christchurch attack among far-right assailants, attributing it to the extent of the violence, the document the killer posted concerning his views and actions, and — especially — his decision to livestream the massacre. Among those who apparently modeled attacks after Christchurch was a shooter who months later killed 22 people in a Texas Walmart.

“Part of what we’re seeing in violent extremist communities online is wanting to emulate the attacks that have had the most kills — which is a disgusting thing to say, but it's the reality,” said Katherine Keneally, director of threat analysis and prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an anti-extremism organization. “There is this obsession and it’s just sort of gamifying of attacks.”

Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, stormed the Islamic Center on Monday before being driven back outside by a security guard who exchanged gunfire with them as he initiated a lockdown, helping to protect 140 children, authorities have said.

The pair killed the guard, Amin Abdullah, and two other men before taking their own lives in a vehicle nearby.

Writings heavy on hate and grievance

They left behind a 74-page document — the same length as the one written by Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant. Like Tarrant's, it cited a range of far-right ideological inspirations, including the notion that white people are being replaced by other populations, and offered self-interviews detailing their motives and goals.

And they called themselves “Sons of Tarrant.”

The writings include hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and the political left and right. They indicated they were trying to accelerate the collapse of society. In his section, Vazquez wrote of having “some mental health issues” and being rejected by women.

In a statement released Thursday, the Vazquez family said Caleb Vazquez was on the autism spectrum and had grown to resent parts of his identity.

“We believe this, combined with exposure to hateful rhetoric, extremist content, and propaganda spread across parts of the internet, social media, and other online platforms, contributed to his descent into radicalized ideologies and violent beliefs,” the statement, released through their attorney Colin Rudolph, said.

Vazquez's family encouraged him to seek help and he spent time in rehabilitation centers, the statement said.

Brian Levin, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino, noted that while white supremacist writings dating to the 1970s offered a narrative blueprint for decentralized terror attacks, neo-Nazis decades ago favored an approach sometimes called the “propaganda of the deed” — the attack on its own was supposed to inspire copycats, even without written explanations.

The internet has made it easier to spread writings by attackers, and since a far-right attacker killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 and released a 1,500-page document, it has become more common for writings to accompany such atrocities, Levin said. Frequently the writings quote from past white-supremacist texts.

“This strategy of being another chapter in a continuing chain of extremism not only telegraphs that the movement is bigger than it is, but also its resilience — that it is reoccurring with a different set of violent actors, some of whom die in the process,” Levin said.

A contagion of mass violence

The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on houses of worship. Threats and hate crimes targeting the Muslim and Jewish communities have risen since war began in the Middle East, forcing increases in security.

Keneally said she had mixed feelings about the media attention on the attacks: The public needs to understand what happened, but it also risks amplifying the killers' message and spreading the contagion of mass violence. She said she has struggled with questions she has gotten about whether such attacks are motivated by nihilistic extremism, or accelerationist, neo-Nazi, or white supremacist ideologies.

“We’re trying to put people in buckets and we’re asking the why, but we’re not going back and looking at the how," Keneally said. "How did these kids end up going down this route? How is social media playing a role in that?”

At 17 and 18, she said, healthy teenagers should be excited about graduating high school or entering young adulthood, not engaging with extremist ideologies.

Another form of inspiration

While hateful extremism inspired the teens to attack the Islamic center, it inspired the security guard, Abdullah, in another way: to defend it.

In an interview, his friend Khalid Alexander said Abdullah was increasingly concerned about negative rhetoric toward Muslims, including from politicians.

“He recognized a direct kind of correlation between the threat of the community he was protecting and the types of, really, hate that was being spewed on television in an anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-immigrant feeling,” Alexander said. “And so he was keenly aware of the dangers of his job. And that’s exactly why he chose to do it.”

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Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Tasha Barreda applied for TEFA for her 13-year-old daughter, Emma, but was one of the applicants denied.

Emma has Down syndrome and goes to River City Christian School on the North Side.

“It’s expensive, but they were so good,” Barreda said. “She went from being non-verbal to now she speaks.”

The Barredas rely on family assistance and scholarships to afford the school.

“My son, he used to help me pay for the school because we couldn’t afford it,” Barreda said. “It was so expensive. This last year, I got a scholarship.”

For the upcoming school year, the Barredas were banking on Texas Education Freedom Accounts, considering they are in the Tier One priority group based on their income and Emma’s disability.

However, Emma’s application was denied because of a missing tax form that Tasha Barreda said she is not required to submit.

“I am 100% disabled veteran,” Barreda said, “and so we do not file income taxes.”

TEFA Spokesperson Travis Pillow said there is an appeals process for those who were denied.

“We have held back about 10% of our total funding so that we can accommodate any family who submits an appeal,” Pillow said. “So that’s another $90 million in accounts that we will be able to fund in the coming weeks.”

Barreda said her appeal was denied, however. She said someone at the comptroller’s office told her to submit the income tax form she typically is not supposed to file.

When Barreda resubmitted the form with the appeal, the comptroller’s office denied her appeal and told her she needed to submit the form during the regular application process and to try again next year.

“It would have been a huge difference, and it was going to be like finally a relief,” Barreda said about the possibility of receiving the funding.

Barreda also told KSAT she was an advocate for Texas Education Freedom Accounts from the beginning.

"I was one of the people who was calling the governor. I was calling all the legislators, and I was right there, right there with them," Barreda said, “and so yeah, it really hurt because this was so important to me. ... I can’t understand how such an important government program would not allow or give us options for veterans."

Pillow said anyone who wishes to appeal the comptroller’s decision for their child’s Texas Education Freedom Accounts application can email their appeal to help.tx@withodyssey.com .

“We certainly want to make sure that, particularly the military families who are in unique circumstances, that our application process acknowledges the unique challenges that they face in terms of providing certain documentation,” Pillow said.

Read more:

• ‘You can market yourself’: San Antonio teacher applies to join TEFA vendor database
• More than 30,000 San Antonio-area students applied for school vouchers in program’s first year

The House rejected the bill, 204-216, an outcome that leaves the next steps uncertain. The revised bill also would ban a “diversity” of views and give President Donald Trump the final say on where the museum would be located.

“It was a simple bill. You kind of ruined it with your trans obsession and your culture wars,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico and chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, said earlier in the week.

But Republicans argued it was Democrats who were overreacting to the changes and now threatening progress toward establishing the long-sought women's museum in the nation's capital.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, the bill's chief sponsor, said “it's a disgrace” that Democrats would be standing in the way of the bill's passage.

“Perhaps the party that is opposing a women’s history museum on the National Mall because they want to have transgender exhibits — maybe they are the ones who are trans obsessed,” Malliotakis said.

In the final tally, a handful of Republicans voted against the bill, joining Democrats who led the opposition. The chamber came to a standstill as GOP leaders scrounged for support from their ranks.

Among the Republican opponents, some conservatives simply disapproved of a museum focused on women at all.

"We say we need to unite this country, but then we isolate every group,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who was among several from the conservative Freedom Caucus who voted against it.

Future of museum is now uncertain

The turn of events puts at risk the long effort to open a museum in Washington dedicated to women. Legislation authorizing the museum was approved during Trump's first term, in 2020, and this latest bill would secure its location on the National Mall. Trump has taken interest in reshaping the capital's cultural institutions, from the Kennedy Center to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

At the start of the year, the bill had secured some 230 sponsors, a rare show of bipartisanship in the split House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. But because of the changes to the bill, the Democratic Women's Caucus opposed the final version, and Democratic leaders encouraged a no vote.

“A museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man,” the leaders of the women's caucus said in a statement. “Republicans traded the representation of women for Trump’s gain and ego. It’s as embarrassing as it is disappointing.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the changes shouldn't be controversial, but his effort to pass the bill with Republicans alone over the objections of Democrats failed.

“Why are they backing out? Simply because the bill reinforces an objective truth that a museum for women, get ready, should showcase only women,” said Johnson, R-La.

On Thursday, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said she brought her young daughter, Augusta, to the chamber to see history being made.

“Biological women deserve to have their stories told,” Cammack said, holding her child during her speech.

But Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, said the Republicans ditched the bipartisan bill for one favored by Trump's White House.

Changes to the bill angered Democrats

Initially presented as a step toward securing the museum's location, the legislation was revised during a committee vote last month in several ways.

One change added a mission scope that states, “The Museum shall be dedicated to preserving, researching, and presenting the history, achievements, and lived experiences of biological women in the United States.”

It also adds a prohibition which states, "The Museum may not identify, present, describe, or otherwise depict any biological male as a female.”

Another change added specific detail about where the museum would be located on the mall — near 14th Street Southwest and Jefferson Drive, "except that the President may designate an alternative site for the Museum within 180 days of the date of the enactment of this subsection.”

Democrats said that the provision change gives Trump the authority to decide where the museum would ultimately go. “And we do not agree with that,” said Leger Fernandez.

But Republicans argued that the provision is simply a fail-safe in the event there's any problem with the proposed site to ensure the museum can move ahead.

An additional revision this week removed the word “diversity," saying instead the museum's organizing council should ensure a “range” of political viewpoints and experiences.

“I just think it’s ridiculous that we are arguing over this,” said Malliotakis.

She said it's bothering Democrats that it will be Trump who breaks ground on the museum, “but that’s the reality.”

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Joey Cappelletti and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Authorities responded Wednesday afternoon to the 100 block of Montrose, near South Presa Street.

In a preliminary report released Thursday, the San Antonio Police Department said officers found the dog blocking the entrance to the property and “displaying aggressive behaviors.”

Police said firefighters and Emergency Medical Services were not able to get the dog away from the door.

“The officer observed the dog approaching him in an aggressive behavior,” police said. “The officer discharged his firearm and struck the dog, causing it to retreat.”

The report did not specify the dog’s condition.

After the dog retreated, EMS treated one person at the scene while another was taken to a hospital.

Additional information was not immediately available.

Read also:

• More security measures wanted along Southeast Military Drive

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued its seasonal outlook for the Atlantic, giving a 55% chance of a below-average season. The agency forecasts eight to 14 named storms, with three to six of them becoming strong enough to hit hurricane status and one to three of those intensifying to major hurricanes.

A normal hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven of them becoming hurricanes and three of them reaching major hurricane level, which is more than 110 mph (177 kph).

Eighteen other groups, private and academic, have also forecast what they think the season will be like and most of them also call for a below average summer and fall. Those other forecasts average a dozen named storms, only five becoming hurricanes and two of those being major ones. Those forecasts also call for the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index, which takes into account strength and duration of storms, to be 80% of normal.

Colorado State University, which pioneered the science of hurricane seasonal forecasting in 1984, is predicting the lowest overall activity since 2015, which was the strongest El Nino in the last 75 years. And that forecast is likely to be revised to even lower numbers in June, said Colorado State's hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach.

This is after nine of the last 10 Atlantic hurricane seasons have been above normal or even hyperactive, Klotzbach said. Last year started slow, but then had a burst, producing a near-record total of three Category 5 hurricanes, including Melissa which devastated Jamaica and Cuba, said Suzana Camargo, a climate scientist and tropical weather expert at Columbia University.

Inflation-adjusted damage across the globe from tropical cyclones has increased from an average of $11.4 billion a year in the 1980s to $109.7 billion a year over the past 10 years, with three-quarters of the damage done in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, according to insurance giant Munich Re.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same weather event, with the different names being used in different parts of the world.

“We should expect a less active year than certainly what we’ve seen recently, and perhaps significantly so below average,” said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero. “But again, it only takes one to cause real devastation and destruction in the mainland U.S. or even in Hawaii.”

El Nino decapitates Atlantic storms

It's mostly because of “the elephant in the room” which is an El Nino, Camargo said.

An El Nino is the natural and cyclic warming of parts of the central Pacific that warps weather patterns around the globe, especially during winter. Scientists for decades have found a correlation between an El Nino and below average Atlantic hurricane activity and stronger and more storms in the central and eastern Pacific. This year many forecasts are calling for a strong, superstrong or even record setting intense El Nino. During a La Nina, the cool flip side of El Nino, the Atlantic is generally busier with stronger storms.

There's a 98% chance that there will be an El Nino this summer and an 80% chance it will be moderate or strong, NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said Thursday.

Atlantic hurricane seasons when an El Nino reaches strong or very strong status have two-thirds the named storms and half the hurricanes of the 1991-2020 average, according to an Associated Press analysis of storm and El Nino statistics.

El Ninos fight Atlantic storm formation in several ways, especially with cross winds about 1 mile to 7 miles (1.5 to 11 kilometers) above the surface “which can basically blow apart the thunderstorms that make up” a hurricane, Corbosiero said.

“A stronger than normal wind shear tends to tilt storms as they try to develop,” said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Brian Tang. “It pushes dry air into storms. And prevents storms from developing in the first place. And if they do develop, it also prevents them from intensifying.”

El Nino reduces the number and intensity of weaker storms, but once a storm hits hurricane status with 74 mph winds, “they can be kind of like a self-feeding entity” and are less prone to being dampened by El Nino's wind shear, said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s National Weather Service.

Forecasts for peak hurricane season show strong wind shear from the west in the main development region for the largest and long-lasting hurricanes that come off of Africa and develop as they head west over the Atlantic, Klotzbach said. Fewer of these type storms happen during El Ninos.

In the 15 strongest El Nino years since 1950, 37 named storms, 11 hurricanes and three major hurricanes made landfall on the continental United States, but in the 15 coldest La Nina years 61 named storms, 31 hurricanes and 10 major hurricanes hit America's Gulf and Atlantic coasts, according to Klotzbach. He said El Nino shrinks the number of hits on the Atlantic coast, but has less of an influence on the number of Gulf coast landfalls.

In addition to El Nino, dry conditions in Africa and water in the Atlantic being only slightly warmer than normal contribute to the forecast of a weaker season, Rosencrans said.

Opposite effect in the Pacific

El Ninos and La Ninas have the opposite effect on storms in the central and eastern Pacific as they do in the Atlantic, so experts are expecting a busier season in those regions. Jacobs said there's a 70% chance that the eastern Pacific will have an above normal season.

NOAA forecasts 15 to 22 named storms in the Pacific with nine to 14 becoming hurricanes and five to nine of those being major hurricanes. Average is 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes. Rosencrans said the main area of central Pacific storm development shifts closer to Hawaii during El Ninos.

Eastern Pacific storms near Baja Mexico tend to “go west, affect the fishies and little else,” Corbosiero said. But at times they can turn east or north and cause massive damage as in Hurricane Otis in 2023 that smashed into Mexico, or 1992's Hurricane Lester, which caused heavy rains in the U.S. Southwest, she said.

Hawaii is a small island chain in a big ocean that can be threatened. In 1992, an El Nino year when there were few Atlantic storms (though Miami was devastated by Hurricane Andrew ), Hawaii was hit by Hurricane Iniki.

Further west toward Asia and India, “your odds of any storm forming becoming a super typhoon go up significantly in El Nino,” Klotzbach said.

The eastern Pacific hurricane season started May 15 and the Atlantic season begins June 1 and both end November 30.

El Ninos can also make hurricane season longer, said John Bravender, a weather service meteorologist in Honolulu. “With the warmer waters across the area, not only can hurricanes maintain their strength at higher latitudes, but also longer through the year,” he said.

The state is preparing for hurricanes just as parts of Hawaii are still reeling from recent back-to-back storms that caused catastrophic flooding, Gov. Josh Green said.

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Associated Press writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.

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Gabriela Gonzalez, a 24-year-old with a large social media following, was charged Tuesday with one count of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder in the alleged plot to kill Jack Avery, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Gonzalez's father, Francisco Gonzalez, 59, and her then-boyfriend Kai Cordrey, 26, face the same charges.

“This is a case where the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder," Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a news release.

He said the charges were the result of a lengthy investigation that was initiated by the FBI and eventually turned over to the district attorney's office.

Avery thanked prosecutors and law enforcement for their support in an Instagram post Thursday and said his focus is on “being the best father I can be.”

Prosecutors say Gonzalez is accused of seeking the help of Cordrey to hire someone to kill Avery between 2020 and 2021. Then, in April 2021, her father allegedly sent Cordrey $10,000 as front money in the plot, prosecutors said. Two months later, prosecutors said, Cordrey allegedly requested and got $4,000 more from Francisco Gonzalez when the alleged hit man asked for more money.

In September 2021, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hitman spoke with Cordrey about the murder-for-hire plot. Cordrey is accused of telling the undercover officer that Avery was the target and discussed payment and proof of death, prosecutors said.

Gabriela Gonzalez, who has over 450,000 followers on Instagram, was being held in a Los Angeles-area detention facility on $2 million bond on Thursday. Her attorney, Elliot Zarabi, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Francisco Gonzalez was arrested in Florida and is awaiting extradition. He was being held in a jail in Florida in Seminole County on Thursday. It was unclear if he had an attorney to speak on his behalf on the charges.

Los Angeles County jail records show that Cordrey was arrested Thursday. His bail was set at $2 million, according to a spokesperson for the district attorney's office. Jail records did not show an attorney for him.

If convicted, all three defendants face up to life in prison.

The boy band Why Don't We released their debut album in 2018, which included the song “8 Letters,” and a sophomore album three years later. They have since disbanded, and Avery released the single “XOXOX” on his own this year.

“This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC," the disclaimer said. "The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”

It's an inauspicious label on a document that has caused so much heartburn. Ken Martin, the DNC chair, originally promised to release the autopsy, then decided to keep it under wraps because he said he didn't want to cause a distraction ahead of the midterms.

After months of handwringing, Martin released the report on Thursday, saying it was only withheld because it was so shoddily done.

After all that, what's in the report? Here are some takeaways from the 192 pages.

The report has some big gaps

The report is far from comprehensive, and it avoids some of the most critical factors in the 2024 race.

For example, it doesn't address President Joe Biden's decision to run for a second term at 81, despite widespread concerns about his age. Biden dropped out after a faltering debate performance, and Harris was quickly anointed to replace him at the top of the ticket.

After serving as Biden's vice president, Harris was viewed in some corners as the natural choice for a new nominee. But the report does not address lingering concerns that the process was rushed or should have been handled in a more deliberative manner.

Perhaps most notably, the words “Gaza” and “Israel” do not appear anywhere in the text. Democrats suffered from internal disagreements over the conflict, which sapped enthusiasm for Harris among voters who were upset by the Biden administration's support for Israel.

Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, a state with a significant Arab American population, said it was wrong to leave out the topic at a time when Jewish and Muslim communities were both dealing with rising hatred.

“We can’t turn out heads,” she said. "We've got to deal with it.”

Harris was boxed in

The report found that the Biden White House did not “position or prepare the vice president” in a way that would allow her to lead a successful campaign.

It wasn’t until Biden announced his departure from the race in July that the campaign’s polling team scrambled to get fresh public opinion on three key areas — “one on the Vice President’s biography and record, one on her vision and plan, and another on attacks and responses.”

The team also determined Harris had no answer on a sensitive issue: The Trump campaign's anti-transgender attacks. Specifically, the report highlighted the pollsters’ belief that the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by Republicans' “very effective” advertisement highlighting Harris’ previous support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.

“Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you," the ad said.

The report said: “If the Vice President would not change her position — and she did not — then there was nothing which would have worked as a response.”

Trump wasn't attacked enough

There's been no shortage of criticism toward Harris' campaign after her defeat. Some Democrats think she spent too much time campaigning with Republicans like Liz Cheney, others think she lacked a strong economic message.

The autopsy report reaches a different conclusion, saying not enough was done to convince voters that Trump was an unacceptable candidate.

“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”

At another point, the report says, "Democrats made a mistake by assuming voters were already aware of Trump's various weaknesses.

“The idea Trump’s negatives were ‘baked in’ is a major failure of analysis and reality,” the report says.

DNC leadership did not appear to like these conclusions, adding annotations like “no evidence provided; contradicts claims elsewhere in report” and “no sourcing or evidence provided.”

To court rural voters: 'Show up, listen, and then do it again'

The report criticized Harris’ outreach to key segments of America while including a handful of derisive references to “identity politics.” The document raises serious concerns about Latinos in particular.

“Democrats can no longer assume Latino voters, especially younger Latino men, are a reliable part of their base," the report says. “The party needs a complete rethink of its Latino outreach strategy, moving beyond traditional approaches like Spanish-language ads and late-cycle surrogates.”

The report points to successful Democratic statewide candidates in Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, who showed that “economic messaging, and addressing cost-of-living concerns resonate more than identity politics.”

The autopsy also highlighted the Democrats' underperformance with men.

“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed," the report says. “Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color.”

Harris also didn't have any answers for the party's struggle with rural voters.

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”

_____ AP writer Joey Cappelletti contributed from Washington

SAISD closed Lamar Elementary in May 2024, citing low enrollment.

Now, more than a year later, the district says no final decision has been made about what will happen to the property.

According to SAISD, the campus is currently being considered for possible partnerships as part of the district’s facilities repurposing process.

District officials said community survey responses identified several priorities for the campus, including:

• Fine arts programs
• Early childhood services for children ages 0 to 3
• Green space

SAISD also said more public meetings are planned before any decision is made on the future of the campus.

But what do the people who live in the Mahncke Park neighborhood want to see happen to the property?

KSAT’s Sarah Acosta went to the neighborhood to ask neighbors what they think should come next for the former school campus.

Francille Radmann has lived in a few houses down from the now shuttered Lamar Elementary School for over 40 years.

“Of course I’d like it to be a school, but since San Antonio School District can’t afford the school, at least according to the information we’re given,” Radmann said, “it could be, I think, a residential situation for young adults with disabilities who need more of a dormitory or campus life, and that would allow them to be out of their parents’ homes.”

Radmann said she just hopes that it’s not housing or condos that would be there as a money grab.

“I don’t want to see it become someone’s condo project,” Radmann said. “I would really rather see it have a public use and not a money-making use."

John Gambuzza has lived across from the school since 1978. He said it should have never closed in the first place and hopes the district reopens it as an elementary school.

“I think they’ve already decided what they’re going to do, but one of the options was like a childcare center, but they already had that when they had an elementary school,” Gambuzza said. “So that didn’t make any sense. Green space, I had no idea what that means. And the other option, fine arts, we’ll see. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be condos with a really nice pool in the middle of them, but who knows.”

Joyce Felter has been in Mahnke Park since 1975. She is livid over the closure of Lamar Elementary School.

“I would like to see it reopened as an elementary school,” Felter said. “So if I say anything else, it’s not true. Things that I would accept without squawking about them, we’re really helpless so this district does not want to work with us at all."

When asked about the potential surveyed options from the district, Felter said childcare makes the most sense because that is what the building was used for.

“The arts thing would be just wonderful, but I don’t know how the economics work out,” Felter said. “And green space, I may start calling them and asking what on earth is a green space? Are they going to knock down our building? I mean, I don’t know if they can get permission to do that. It would be a hard pull with the conservation society."

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• What is the Teacher Incentive Allotment? Texas program gaining momentum across school districts

About 90% of the state party's roughly 700 Central Committee members voted Wednesday for censure. It means that Polis, who is term-limited and serving his final year in office, will be barred from being an honored guest, featured speaker, or officially recognized party representative at party-sponsored events.

Peters, 70, is a former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in 2024 for a scheme to make a copy of her county’s election computer system.

She is set for release June 1 after Polis commuted her sentence Friday.

Trump has championed Peters' cause. Reducing her sentence set a “dangerous and disappointing” precedent when democracy and voting rights are under attack nationwide, the Colorado Democratic Party said in a statement.

“It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president,” the statement said.

About 700 state party members, including current and former elected officials, petitioned for the party to condemn Polis. The subsequent censure vote was taken in a regularly scheduled party Central Committee virtual meeting.

In April, a Colorado appeals court upheld Peters' conviction but ordered her to be resentenced, saying the judge wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.

In commuting her sentence, Polis told Peters in a letter she deserved prison time but had been given an “extremely unusual and lengthy” sentence for a first-time, nonviolent offender.

He defended the commutation after the censure vote.

“The governor made this decision based on the facts of the case and what he believed was the right thing to do. Sometimes the right thing isn’t the popular thing with everybody. Democracy is strongest when disagreement is met with debate and dialogue, not censorship," Polis spokesperson Eric Maruyama said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Peters thanked Polis and apologized for her crime in a statement after her sentence commutation.

Peters sneaked an outside computer expert, an associate of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, to make a copy of her county’s Dominion Voting Systems election computer server during a system upgrade in 2021. She then joined Lindell onstage at a “cybersymposium” that promised to reveal proof of election rigging, and photos of the upgrade, including passwords, were posted online.

For now, the world's top-ranked player is chasing a leaderboard that includes Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion looking for his first victory since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf.

Koepka shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday and trailed first-round leader Taylor Moore by one at the revamped TPC Craig Ranch, with Scheffler at 66 while playing with Koepka and Si Woo Kim, one of seven players at 64.

“I felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit,” said Scheffler, who led from the start of last year's Nelson and won by eight shots at 31 under while tying the tour's 72-hole scoring record at 253. “So I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament.”

Moore, whose only win in his first 128 tour starts came at the 2023 Valspar Championship, made a 14-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-5 ninth to finish the best round of his tour career.

The Texas native and Oklahoma resident leads Koepka and Jesper Svensson, who had a chance to join Moore atop the leaderboard but missed a 9-footer on the ninth.

Kim — the highest-ranked player in the field behind Scheffler at No. 24 — had the only bogey in the threesome, on his 16th hole at the par-3 seventh.

One of several countrymen in the event sponsored by South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, Kim closed the gap on Koepka with a birdie at the ninth while Koepka settled for par.

Emiliano Grillo, Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaeger, Michael Thorbjornsen, Tyler Duncan and Kensei Hirata were tied with Kim. Doug Ghim was at 65 with Mackenzie Hughes, Hank Lebioda, Austin Eckroat and Lanto Griffin.

Koepka, who contended at last week's PGA Championship before fading Sunday, eagled the par-5 12th and was 4 under through five holes. He had four more birdies in a span of five holes in his back nine, capped by a 3-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 sixth.

Kim had four birdies on the front and four more on the back while Scheffler was lagging at 2 under before getting birdies on three of his final five holes.

“It was just a comfortable group,” Koepka said. “Everyone is just kind of feeding off each other, easy. Everyone’s having fun. Makes it enjoyable. I feel comfortable on the golf course as well.”

Even though he hardly recognizes parts of it.

Koepka last played at TPC Craig Ranch in 2021, the year before he bolted for LIV. The sixth Nelson at the par-71 layout about 30 miles north of Dallas was the debut of a Lanny Wadkins-led redesign that cost nearly $25 million and added bunkers everywhere and overhauled the greens with mounds and ridges.

“The greens are totally different than when we played,” Koepka said. “That’s obviously the biggest thing. Off the tee it looks pretty good. Place hasn’t changed too much. It’s familiar. I like it.”

Koepka was a regular at the Nelson a decade ago, including a runner-up finish in 2016 when he lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff. The 36-year-old also has a little CJ Cup history. He rose to No. 1 in the world with a victory when the event was in South Korea in 2018.

The title sponsorship moved to the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic and has been associated with the Nelson since 2024.

The move to LIV forced Koepka to put aside things such as the world ranking, and now he's dealing with stipulations he had to agree to in order to rejoin the PGA Tour. Among them is not being exempt for the $20 million signature events, even though he won a major — the 2023 PGA — while with LIV.

“I think there’s such a huge difference right now of trying to get into signature events, on my way back, coming back to the tour,” Koepka said. “(Winning) would be a big confidence boost for sure because I feel like I’ve been playing well. I feel like I’m knocking on the door, and I’m very, very close.”

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