President Donald Trump said the Islamic Republic had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts and that they planned to convene Tuesday in Dohar, Qatar.

But one of Iran's senior negotiators denied talks had been scheduled. And the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said Tehran was sending its delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in the negotiations, to discuss terms of the interim deal without involving the U.S.

The U.S. president has tried to preserve a fragile interim deal, but hostilities mounted in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil had been shipped before war began. After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, opens the Strait of Hormuz and gives each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.

Confusion mounts over next round of Iran-US talks

After Trump said Monday morning on social media that the U.S. and Iran planned to meet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were flying to Qatar.

Pakistan, also a key mediator, had said talks between Iran and the U.S. would resume Tuesday.

But Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior negotiator for Iran, said in comments published by Iranian state media that no talks had been confirmed. And Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that its delegation was traveling to Qatar this week to discuss the planned release of frozen Iranian assets and other issues related to the deal.

“There are no negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level scheduled in the coming days,” Baghaei said. “The fact that U.S. representatives are traveling to Qatar has no connection with the visit of the Iranian delegation.”

Increased tension in waterway vital to world energy supplies

During the war that began Feb. 28, Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, creating a global energy crisis.

In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels in the strait — including a tanker filled with Qatari crude — following efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.

The attacks drew retaliatory American airstrikes and raised concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.

The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.

The Trump administration was operating Monday on the understanding that the U.S. and Iran are standing down after the recent back-and-forth strikes and that vessels can move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

Iran's president, U.S. official say $6 billion coming to Iran

The U.S. official also said that Qatar planned to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets that would be used to purchase U.S. food products for the Iranian people.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had announced the expected release of funds earlier Monday in comments published by the state-run IRNA news agency. He called it “a great victory for the Iranian people.”

Pezeshkian, a reformist within Iran's theocracy, is the highest-ranking official within Iran to reference the release of the funds held by Qatar, a key mediator along with Pakistan in the negotiations.

Oman, Iran discuss possible fees for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz

Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said Monday that Oman and Iran are considering charging service-related fees for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Albusaidi said services could include water safety measures, pollution prevention, navigational assistance and preparedness for incidents such as fires. He told Radio Monte Carlo while visiting France that there are “successful examples” of similar services being provided in compliance with maritime law.

Albusaidi said Oman does not support imposing transit fees on ships.

“This is internationally forbidden," he said, "and we are abiding by these rules."

Iran and France clash over clearing mines from strait

An Iranian official warned France against “provocations” Monday after French President Emanuel Macron posted on X that France and others were coordinating efforts to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, said on X that under the interim deal “demining is carried out solely by Iran and by no other country.”

Macron's post came after he greeted Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman ahead of high-level diplomatic talks in Paris.

Lebanon's president says it will deploy troops as part of deal with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Lebanon is determined to deploy troops along its entire southern border as part of a framework agreement with Israel signed Friday. He made the remark while meeting with Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East.

The deal was rejected by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which triggered the latest war with Israel on March 2 when it fired rockets across Lebanon's southern border and into northern Israel.

The Israel-Lebanon deal calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed before Israel will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Israel agreed to withdraw initially from a couple of “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army would then deploy, but no details have been shared about how that will work in practice.

Hezbollah officials have warned that attempts to implement the plan could lead to civil war.

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Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect as lawsuits play out, including Arizona's proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting.

The appeal was filed by the Republican National Committee after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws, and it was joined by GOP President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The RNC is proud to lead this effort, and we will keep fighting nationwide to defend election integrity and ensure only eligible citizens cast a ballot,” said Chairman Joe Gruters.

The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and likely hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.

The Republican-controlled legislature passed the laws in 2022, part of a wave of similar proposals around the country after Trump falsely claimed widespread voter fraud was responsible for his narrow defeat there to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump reclaimed the state in 2024, helping secure his return to the White House.

One measure requires people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote using a state form. Another calls for regular purges of the voter rolls to remove people if their citizenship could not be confirmed, including within 90 days of an election.

The case reached the Supreme Court's emergency docket in 2024. The justices gave the GOP a partial victory, allowing Arizona to require proof of citizenship for registration in state and local elections but not federal races.

Also that year, the high court allowed Virginia to continue a purge of voter rolls shortly before the election.

Citizenship is required to vote across the country, and people must attest they are citizens under penalty of perjury to register. Arizona is among only a handful of states that require additional proof, like a driver's license or passport. Data indicates that voting by noncitizens is rare.

Arizona tried to impose proof requirements for national elections in 2013, but the law was struck down by the Supreme Court. Now, people can register as “federal only” voters without providing proof of citizenship, but Arizona requires additional proof for state and local election participation.

Just over 19,000 people were registered as active federal-only voters in 2023.

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Relief organizations say the first 72 hours after a natural disaster is the most crucial time period for rescues, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water. Five days after the twin quakes struck northern Venezuela, attention turned to the humanitarian crisis that was taking shape in devastated regions.

The death toll stood at more than 1,700 people, according to the government.

Major questions loomed about whether the cash-strapped government under acting President Delcy Rodríguez — who came to power in January after the Trump administration seized former President Nicolás Maduro — will be able to coordinate the effort needed to care for thousands of people who have been left homeless.

Facing criticism that authorities have done too little, too slowly, the government has promoted its rescue efforts on social and state-run media. On Monday, it shared footage of Rodríguez inspecting a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in the hard-hit northern town of Catia La Mar and survivors being lifted out of the ruins to applause.

But such bright spots are rare at the quake's epicenter, where families keep vigil at search sites.

“We have to stay strong, even without food, without sleep,” said Ana Rada, watching as civil defense workers looked for her brother. “Until I see the body, I still have hope.”

Aftershock rattles rescuers

Following a weekend of smaller aftershocks, Monday's temblor struck near the epicenter of last week's quakes — 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast — and measured 4.6 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey. Colombia’s geological survey put the magnitude at 5.1.

Jorge Rodríguez, the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, said there were no immediate reports of additional damage, but the aftershock sent residents in the capital of Caracas screaming into the streets.

“Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” said Concepción Hernández, 51, who evacuated her apartment building in the Chacao municipality of Caracas.

The Caracas Metro said it would temporarily suspend service Monday to inspect infrastructure following the aftershock.

Questions over extent of US help

The disaster has raised expectations for the Trump administration, considering its takeover of Venezuela’s oil industry earlier this year.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior State Department official said 300 first responders sent from the U.S. are working on the ground — alongside dozens of other international rescue teams — and two dozen C-17 military transport planes arrive every day with supplies. Financial support from the U.S. now exceeds $300 million.

The American military is also assisting with some repairs, including damage to the port in La Guaira to enable the arrival of more relief supplies by sea. Another team is helping to manage air traffic after the quakes destroyed part of the control tower at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

It seemed unlikely, however, that the Trump administration would grant temporary legal protections to Venezuelans as previous administrations have done for people from disaster-stricken countries already in the U.S. Such action was taken after earthquakes in 2010 in Haiti and 2001 in El Salvador.

Venezuelans have been a major focus of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, with officials revoking temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and stepping up deportation flights.

Rescuers included a miner deported from the US

Among the rescuers digging through the rubble Monday in La Guaira was miner Jean Sosa, who said he was deported from the U.S. in January over a missed immigration court hearing and returned to Caracas last month, dazed by an odyssey that he said began in shackles at an Arizona immigration detention center. The journey involved traveling by bus through five countries after immigration agents left him in southern Mexico without his passport, phone or wallet.

Since arriving Wednesday in La Guaira to visit family and friends, Sosa has raced to pull people from the rubble in the absence of national rescue teams.

“I’m not involved in politics, but I believe many people could have been saved if there had been equipment and support from top authorities from the very beginning,” he told The Associated Press, wearing a helmet and a black T-shirt splotched with dust in the port city where he said he had already rescued 20 people alive.

Those rescues heartened him, he said, and gave him hope for more despite the lack of supplies. “We’re working without gloves, without equipment, borrowing supplies, improvising bandages and whatever else we can.”

Government and UN offer vastly different numbers of people affected

The full scale of the damage remained unclear. Jorge Rodríguez, who is the brother of the acting president, said that as of Monday, a total of 15,866 people had been affected, while the number of damaged or collapsed buildings had reached 855.

A preliminary assessment by NASA estimated that the earthquake damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings. The assessment relied on radar imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellites, which can detect changes to infrastructure.

The United Nations has said that up to 6.8 million of Venezuela’s nearly 30 million residents may be affected, which could mean being displaced or losing access to essential services such as electricity and water.

Because of the chaos and poor cellphone service, many Venezuelans have turned to non-governmental digital databases to report their loved ones as missing. More than 50,000 people were reported missing on one such database, though it is unclear how many have been found.

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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in Tijuana, Mexico, contributed to this report.

“Overall, we’re looking at just a really hot and humid pattern. It’s going to be with us through most of the week," Andrew Ansorge, a meteorologist in Des Moines, Iowa, said of the first prolonged period of heat this summer.

Much of Iowa and big chunks of the Midwest were under an extreme heat warning through at least Tuesday. Temperatures were forecast to reach the 90s, with heat index values, or “feels-like” temperatures, expected to top 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius) in the region, Ansorge said.

Visiting Des Moines with family, Rachel Washburn searched for things to do with kids during a heat wave. They landed at a water sprayground before lunch, where her children played tag in the cool water to escape a heat index forecast to reach 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

“My kids were quite shocked at the heat and humidity,” said Washburn of her seven children ages 18 months to 17 who are used to more temperate weather in Bemidji, Minnesota. “We were hoping for some good weather, but we'll make do.”

Some of the worst conditions are expected by Thursday and Friday as the heat moves through the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast, with the potential for some record-high temperatures, said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

On Monday morning, Tom and Cindy Youngblood walked around an outdoor sculpture park in Des Moines, enjoying brief moments of shade and a helpful breeze. The couple, both 67 and from Rogers, Arkansas, returned from a camping trip in Wisconsin and chose a hotel over their camper van Sunday.

“We did not want to camp last night because we knew it would be too hot,” Cindy Youngblood said.

Kleebauer said one of the center’s biggest recommendations is to stay hydrated and have access shady areas and air conditioning.

“It just so happens to be coinciding with a time frame where a lot of people are away and a lot of people are going away for vacation” during the Fourth of July holiday week, he said.

Extreme heat has also taken its toll in Europe, where temperature records were set and many heat-related deaths were reported in France.

People can be caught off guard by the first heat wave of the year, said Dr. Roy Elrod, chief of staff at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital.

“You’re happy winter’s gone, you’re ready to enjoy the summer, you’ve just been aching for it,” Elrod said. “And so, I think we slip into kind of a position where we think it’s got to be OK.”

But heat-related injuries can happen in a matter of minutes, especially to those who don’t prepare for the weather by hydrating, wearing light clothing, avoiding the hottest times of the day and minimizing exposure to the sun, he said.

“We’re just not always prepared for it and it just takes an incident that rattles you and shakes you up that you understand that it can get serious very quick,” he said.

In the Midwest, some camp programs on Monday rearranged their schedules. Other outdoor activities, like a farmers market in Michigan and a drive-in theater in Minnesota, were canceled on Monday because of the heat.

In Flint, Michigan, the city activated four cooling centers through Wednesday, with the potential to extend operations if the heat persists.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison said it was closing 23 buildings to the public starting Tuesday, allowing only limited access to 11 others. It was relocating some summer classes after a broken water line at its cooling plant earlier this month severely reduced the ability to provide air conditioning across campus.

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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Haya Panjwani in Washington, D.C., contributed.

The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

But other than at the nation’s central bank, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority.

With the six conservative justices in the majority, the nine-member court jettisoned its unanimous decision in Humphrey’s Executor that had limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members — in part to try to ensure decision-making free of political influence.

“We hold that such protection from removal is contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.

Support for Trump’s position

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump fired without cause despite a provision of federal law that requires a reason. The logic of the decision extends to other agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, where Trump also has fired board members.

Trump voiced his approval in a Truth Social post. “It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” he wrote.

The court already had signaled its support for the Trump administration’s position, over the liberals’ objection, by allowing Slaughter and the board members of other agencies to be removed from their jobs even as their legal challenges continued.

No president before Trump had sought to wrest control of the agencies that regulate wide swaths of American life, including nuclear energy, product safety and labor relations. But at arguments in Slaughter's case in December, the six conservatives, including three appointed by Trump, seemed more concerned about issuing a ruling that would endure than handing too much power to Trump.

Their rhetoric was reminiscent of the presidential immunity case in 2024 that allowed Trump to avoid prosecution for his efforts to undo his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The court is writing a decision “for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said then.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent she summarized aloud in the courtroom, said the ruling could lead to “submission, instability, and even oppression.”

“The president, to be sure, emerges with more power than ever before. That power was given to him by six justices on this court, not the people or the Constitution,” Sotomayor said.

Fed governor Cook's case

In Cook’s case, the court voted 5-4 to reject the Trump administration’s effort to get Cook out of her job now. Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the three liberal justices were in the majority.

Allowing Cook to be ousted now, Roberts wrote, “would allow the President to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before, and without any judicial check after. That would turn for-cause protection into little more than at-will employment.”

Roberts did include a footnote in his opinion noting that nothing forbids Trump from “trying again” to fire her, provided she is given proper notice and a chance to contest it.

Trump suggested he would take Roberts up on the offer, saying on Truth Social that “we will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!”

Cook, who was nominated to the Fed’s Board of Governors by Biden, can continue in her post at least as long as her lawsuit challenging her firing goes on, the court said. The Trump administration is appealing a lower-court ruling in her favor.

Besides trying to fire Cook, Trump had threatened to fire former Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell if he didn’t leave the board when his term as chairman ended in mid-May. Powell has remained as a governor, even as Kevin Warsh has replaced him as chairman.

Judges on lower courts have allowed Cook to remain in her post as one of seven central bank governors.

The true motivation for trying to fire Cook, Trump’s critics say, is the Republican president’s desire to exert control over U.S. interest rate policy. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook, the first Black woman to be a Federal Reserve governor, he could replace her with his own appointee and gain a majority on the Fed’s board. The case is being closely watched by Wall Street investors and could have broad impacts on the financial markets and the U.S. economy.

Cook said her case was “never about mortgage documents signed years before I became a Federal Reserve governor.”

"It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people. That is the most fundamental obligation of a Federal Reserve governor,” Cook said in a statement.

Trump's confrontation with the Fed

Trump has been dismissive of worries that cutting rates too quickly could trigger higher inflation. He wants dramatic reductions so the government can borrow more cheaply and Americans can pay lower borrowing costs for new homes, cars or other large purchases, as worries about high costs have soured some voters on his economic management.

The Fed has left its key rate unchanged this year, but a growing chorus of policymakers is expressing concern about persistently high inflation and suggesting the central bank could raise its benchmark rate by the end of this year or leave it unchanged.

While Cook’s case was under review at the high court, Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed. The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation of Powell and served the central bank with subpoenas.

The investigation ended in late April, the department said. The announcement cleared a major roadblock to the confirmation of Warsh as Powell’s successor.

The case against Cook stems from allegations she claimed two properties, in Michigan and Georgia, as “primary residences” in June and July 2021, before she joined the Fed board. Such claims can lead to a lower mortgage rate and smaller down payment than if one of them was declared as a rental property or second home.

Those applications, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said in January, are evidence of “gross negligence at best” and give Trump reason to fire her. In any event, he argued, courts shouldn’t be reviewing his decision and Cook has no right to a hearing.

Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

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Beasley has been out of the NBA since playing with the Detroit Pistons in 2024-25. Another former NBA player, Ed Davis, was also charged in the indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court against six people.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said they “turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation.”

The schemes, he added, “erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public.”

Nocella said hundreds of thousands of dollars were wagered through popular gambling sites. The indictment says Beasley had financial woes, including millions of dollars in gambling losses, and had relied on Davis, a former teammate, for financial help.

“Malik maintains his presumption of innocence throughout this two-year investigation,” Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, said. “We ask that people reserve judgment until all the facts are known.”

Feds say Beasley tipped others about his play

In return for fixing his performance, Beasley got paid by his money-winning co-conspirators and his debts to Davis were reduced or eliminated, the indictment alleges.

In one example, according to the court filing, Beasley informed Davis that he would try to outperform the 3.5 prop line bet for rebounds in Milwaukee's game against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, 2024.

With a second left, and the Bucks ahead by seven points, any shot by the Clippers would not have affected the outcome. But Beasley challenged the shot and then dashed past four players to grab the rebound as the horn sounded.

Beasley finished with four rebounds that night — an overperformance and a winning prop bet, the indictment states.

“What's funny is after he got it he had a big sigh of relief,” a co-conspirator said in a text message, according to the indictment.

In other games, Beasley told Davis that he would underperform certain statistics, the government alleges.

The NBA said it would continue to cooperate with authorities.

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” spokesperson Mike Bass said.

Investigation has kept Beasley on sidelines

Beasley last played in the NBA for the Pistons in 2025, averaging 16 points per game. He is one of five players in NBA history with more than 300 3-pointers in a season, but he did not play in the league last season because of the investigation.

Beasley's financial problems have been widely reported, including lawsuits by his Detroit landlord and payment disputes with a Milwaukee barber and Minnesota dentist.

Davis' attorney did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. He was an NBA journeyman who was primarily a backup in a 12-year career that got him roughly $48 million in gross salary. Davis and Beasley were teammates in Minnesota in 2020-21.

Paolo Zamorano, a sports agent who formerly represented Davis, was also charged with placing bets based on Beasley's information. Defense attorney Ken Breen said Zamorano denies wrongdoing and “looks forward to his day in court.”

Other NBA figures arrested in 2025

Authorities last fall announced a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and well-known basketball figures such as Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and coach of the Portland Trail Blazers at the time.

Billups is accused of participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to La Cosa Nostra organized crime families that cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of at least $7 million. He has pleaded not guilty.

In April, former NBA player Damon Jones, 49, became the first person to plead guilty. He was accused of defrauding major sportsbooks, including DraftKings and FanDuel, and filching millions of dollars from unwitting poker players.

Jones was charged with selling or attempting to sell insider information to bettors based on his relationships in the NBA.

Another key figure is Terry Rozier, who was on the Miami Heat when he was charged in 2025. Rozier is accused of conspiring with friends to help them win bets on his performance during a 2023 game when he played for the Charlotte Hornets. He, too, has pleaded not guilty.

In 2024, former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter pleaded guilty in a separate gambling case. Porter said he took himself out of games early so co-conspirators could win bets on his performance, saying he did it “to get out from under large gambling debts.”

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Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds in Miami and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

The once-prominent lawyer was known for his family lineage and million-dollar judgements in rural South Carolina. He worked for his family's century-old law firm and his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were elected county prosecutors. Murdaugh, the subject of numerous documentaries and true crime podcasts, will remain imprisoned on federal convictions for stealing millions from clients.

Here is a look at the events leading up Murdaugh's retrial:

June 7, 2021: Murdaugh calls police to report his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, have been fatally shot near dog kennels on their property.

Sept. 4, 2021: Alex Murdaugh attempts to arrange his own death in a plan to secure his surviving son a $10 million life insurance payment, officials say. The plot fails when the gunshot by a Murdaugh associate only grazes Murdaugh’s head.

Oct. 14, 2021: Police arrest Murdaugh at a drug rehab facility in Florida on charges he stole insurance settlements totaling more than $4 million intended for the sons of his late housekeeper.

Nov. 17, 2021: Prosecutors reveal 27 new charges against Murdaugh, saying he stole nearly $5 million in settlement money. Prosecutors allege Murdaugh was hiding money from lawyers who sued him over the death of a teenager killed when authorities say an intoxicated Paul Murdaugh wrecked the boat he was driving.

Jan. 18, 2022: Additional indictments mean Murdaugh now faces 71 charges that he stole nearly $8.5 million in wrongful death and wreck settlements from more than a dozen people.

May 4, 2022: Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank before his firing earlier that year, is indicted on charges that he conspired with Murdaugh to defraud victims of $1.8 million.

June 28, 2022: Prosecutors outline an eight-year money laundering and painkiller ring in new indictments.

July 14, 2022: Murdaugh is charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and son. The indictments issued by the grand jury contend Murdaugh killed his wife with a rifle and his son with a shotgun.

Jan. 23, 2023: Murdaugh goes on trial for double-murder in the killings of his wife and son.

Feb. 23, 2023: Murdaugh denies killing them after taking the witness stand at his murder trial. But he admits lying to investigators about when he last saw them alive.

March 2, 2023: A jury convicts Murdaugh on two counts of murder after a six-week trial. The jury deliberated for less than three hours.

March 3, 2023: A judge sentences Murdaugh to life in prison.

Jan. 29, 2024: A South Carolina judge denies Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial after his defense team accused a clerk of court of tampering with a jury.

April 2, 2024: Murdaugh is sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm.

Feb. 11, 2026: Murdaugh asks the South Carolina Supreme Court to throw out his murder convictions.

May 13, 2026: The South Carolina Supreme Court overturns Murdaugh's murder convictions and life sentence. In a unanimous ruling, the justices said the conduct by the court clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

June 29, 2026: Newly appointed Judge Debra McCaslin sets an April 5 date for the start of jury selection in Murdaugh's retrial on the two murder charges as well as an August 14 date to hear pretrial motions. The defense has requested Murdaugh be allowed to wear regular clothes in court, not an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles. They also want to move the trial out of Colleton County, where the killings and the first trial took place.

If their injuries aren't too severe, victims can survive for a week or more, assuming the weather isn't too hot or cold, experts say.

In Venezuela, rescue teams have been racing against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble after two powerful earthquakes shook the northern state of La Guaira last Wednesday. More than 770 buildings were totally or partially collapsed from the earthquakes, and aftershocks continued to shake the region.

Most rescues happen in the 24 hours after a disaster. The chances of survival drop with each day after that, experts say. Most victims are badly injured or buried by falling stones or other debris.

What factors affect earthquake survival?

Trapped victims are more likely to survive if they are in a debris-free pocket that prevents major injury while they await rescue, like under a sturdy desk, said geophysicist Victor Tsai from Brown University. Experts call this a survivable void space.

If fire, smoke or hazardous chemicals were released as a result of the building collapse, they may decrease a person's survival odds, said emergency response expert Dr. Joseph Barbera, an associate professor at George Washington University.

Beyond that, having air to breathe and water to drink are crucial as the days go on.

“You could survive a while without food,” Barbera said. “You could survive less without water.”

Temperatures where someone is trapped may affect survival, and temperatures outside the rubble can affect rescue missions.

More than 2,600 rescue workers from around the world arrived in Venezuela with trained search dogs and machinery, the government said. And rescue efforts in La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, appeared significantly more organized on Sunday, after residents expressed frustration and anger about the level of response in the days before.

It can be important for survivors to receive vital medical care before they are removed from the rubble, Barbera said. If not, the buildup of toxins from crushed muscles could make them go into shock after they are rescued.

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a teenager and his 80-year-old grandmother were found alive after nine days trapped in their flattened home. And the year before, a 16-year-old Haitian girl was rescued from earthquake rubble in Port-au-Prince after 15 days.

What to do during an earthquake

The best practices for survival during an earthquake depend on where you are in the world. Building codes in regions with active fault lines are often designed to withstand earthquakes, but that doesn't hold true everywhere.

In many countries, including the United States, the best practices are to drop, seek cover and hang on unless you are close to a building exit. Seek shelter under a heavy table or near sturdy furniture that may yield a survivable pocket if the roof collapses. Cover your face with cloth or a mask to protect from dust and debris.

If you are trapped in the rubble after and earthquake, save your energy and don't overexert. Ration food and water, listen for rescue calls and search for something near you to make noise. If you have a phone with you, conserve its battery and try for help in short spurts each day.

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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.

• SAHARAN DUST: It has arrived, hazy skies
• STEADY WEATHER: Very little will change through July 4th
• JULY 4TH: Partly cloudy, mid-90s

FORECAST

HAZY SKIES

Today’s big story will be the arrival of Saharan dust. It is flowing into the area as we speak. Skies will be hazy and we’ll see some colorful sunrises and sunsets. Otherwise, impacts will be minimal. Because we have gusty winds and the dust is suspended thousands of feet aloft, air quality shouldn’t be affected too much.

WE’RE STUCK ON REPEAT

The summer doldrums have kicked in and it’ll keep us steady through the holiday weekend. The only minor change would be a stray shower or two Thursday through the weekend with an afternoon sea breeze. This should not affect any Independence Day celebrations.

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The justices said Monday that Trump can fire leaders of independent agencies with one exception, ruling that central banker Lisa Cook can keep her job at the Federal Reserve for now.

The court said states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting a Trump-led challenge. It declined to consider Trump’s push to toss a $5 million jury verdict that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll. And it turned away Trump defender Alan Dershowitz ’s effort to rewrite the U.S. libel law standards.

Here's the Latest:

Secretaries of state in mail voting-reliant Washington and Oregon praise Supreme Court mail ballot ruling

The top election officials in Washington and Oregon — states that conduct elections mostly by mail — commended Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing states to continue counting late arriving mail ballots.

Oregon allows mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received in the seven days following to be counted. In Washington, mail ballots can be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received 21 days after a general election or 14 days after a primary.

“The decision is a win for voters, particularly for Oregon voters,” Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said in a phone interview.

“The ruling upholds our longstanding ballot return rules, which support accessible and fair elections,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a news release.

Schumer blasts Supreme Court decision on independent federal agencies

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says the Supreme Court’s decision giving presidents free rein to fire agency heads at will gives Trump a “permission slip to turn independent federal agencies into members-only clubs for his golf buddies and cronies.”

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump fired without cause despite a provision of federal law that requires a reason. The logic of the court’s decision extends to other agencies where Trump has fired board members.

Slaughter once served as Schumer’s chief counsel. Schumer says she was fired for no other reason than doing a good of a job protecting consumers.

“Instead of preserving independence intended to keep markets fair and protect consumers, Trump’s instead catering to fraudsters and monopolists. And the Supreme Court is giving him a green light to do it,” Schumer said.

Top California election official says mail-in ballot ruling is a win for democracy

California’s Secretary of State hailed Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court as a win for voters, the rule of law and democracy.

Shirley Weber, California’s first Black secretary of state, said in a statement the court “protected an important safeguard” that helps make sure voters are not disenfranchised by mail delays.

“This ruling makes one thing clear,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Our elections belong to the people, not to partisan agendas.”

Under California law, ballots received within seven days of an election are counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

FCC’s sole Democrat warns of Supreme Court ruling’s impact

Anna Gomez is one of the few Democrats who have held onto their seats at federal agencies after Trump fired most of them, partly because her presence allows for a quorum that allows Chairman Brendan Carr to enact his agenda.

She warned the Supreme Court’s ruling “puts at risk how Congress intended independent agencies to function in American democracy.”

“Those who argue these agencies are unaccountable misunderstand how they were designed, as the FCC answers to Congress, the democratically elected body that created it, through oversight, appropriations, and legislation,” she said in a statement following the Court’s ruling. “When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it.”

She said consumers “will pay the price” in higher costs, fewer choices and slower progress toward connectivity.

Republican chairman follows Trump’s lead on mail-in ballot ruling

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the court’s decision upholding state practices of accepting all ballots postmarked by Election Day is a reason to pass the president’s proposed elections bill that is stalled on Capitol Hill.

“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says, which is why this decision makes it even more imperative that Congress pass the SAVE America Act,” Gruters said.

RNC aides distributed the statement after Trump made the same argument Monday morning. Trump’s proposal would virtually eliminate absentee voting nationally, require voters to provide citizenship documentation to register and then present certain photo identification at polling places.

Gruters said Democrats “are inviting chaos at the ballot box by allowing elections to drag on.” He did not offer any examples of such chaos, and it was the original plaintiffs who wanted the court to overturn long-established rules months before November’s elections.

America 250 celebrations bring extraordinary security challenge to Washington

Federal law enforcement is preparing for one of the capital’s largest and most complex security operations as hundreds of thousands of people visit Washington for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s freedom.

The security challenge comes amid rising political violence, including recent incidents near the White House, and a president who enjoys being at the center of public pomp yet has repeatedly faced attempts on his life.

The nation’s capital “is a target-rich environment” on a normal day, said Darren B. Cox, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “We are prepared for any threats.”

The throngs will be joined by thousands of law enforcement officers and agents and 5,000 National Guard troops, along with military-style vehicles and other hardware not often seen on American streets.

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Trump says he will keep fighting Carroll case after court declines to take it up

The president said in a social media post that it was “a Fake Case” brought against him by a woman he claims he never met.

“I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength,” Trump wrote.

He also said the case, in which a jury found that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll in New York City in the 1990s and and later defamed her, is “really against the United States of America, and all it stands for.”

In a statement Monday, Carroll said the decision affirms the jury’s verdict will stand. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she said.

Trump says he'll seek to remove Cook despite court rejection of his initial attempt

Trump said he lost his effort to remove the Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook “on a strictly procedural basis” and would still seek to remove the central bank governor.

The court ruled 5-4 that the Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook can remain on the Fed board as she challenges the administration’s attempts to fire her over claims of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

Trump said in a social media post that “we will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!”

In light of Supreme Court rejection, Trump renews push for his voter ID bill

Trump called a Supreme Court ruling that ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted days after an election a “tremendous loss.”

Trump posted on social media that the decision makes it more important for his SAVE America Act to pass. The measure would require proof of citizenship and include a ban on mail-in ballots unless that person is sick, disabled, traveling or deployed by the military, Trump noted.

“There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!” Trump said.

The president then called out Republican senators who have objected to the measure: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Cook says her attempted firing was about ‘political pressure’ on the Fed

The firing attempt “was never about mortgage documents signed years ago” but rather “was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure” from Trump, who has long sought lower interest rates from the central bank, Cook said in a written statement reacting to the court’s ruling.

Trump fired Cook last August, citing allegations that she had committed fraud in mortgage documents she signed in June and July of 2021. The Biden appointee sued to keep her job, and lower courts ruled she could remain while the case is litigated. The Supreme Court Monday upheld those rulings.

“Today’s ruling affirms a principle that has underpinned sound economic stewardship for generations: that the Federal Reserve must make all its policy decisions guided by evidence and independent judgment, free from political interference,” Cook’s statement said.

Trump applauds ruling empowering him to fire independent agency leaders

A majority of the justices ruled presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a previous court ruling from 91 years ago.

“It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” Trump posted on social media.

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. The decision’s logic extends to National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Trump did not acknowledge that the court recognized some limits on his authorities by also ruling 5-4 that Lisa Cook can remain a central bank governor while challenging unproven mortgage fraud allegations, which she has denied.

Supreme Court says Fed’s Cook can keep her job for now

The Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential power, upholding Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception, the Federal Reserve.

The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

But other than at the nation’s central bank, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority. That decision, Humphrey’s Executor, was overturned.

Witkoff and Kushner going to Qatar for talks with Iran

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Steve Witkoff, who is the special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are flying to Qatar to meet with the Iranians.

Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that those talks would be “high level” and that technical negotiations would occur on the sidelines. Iran has denied that the talks are happening.

Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by attacking a ship last week in Strait of Hormuz, but so far the interim deal for negotiations to take place appears to have held.

Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots

The Court said states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, a persistent target of Trump.

The decision Monday rejects a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The outcome spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.

Trump has claimed most mail balloting breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience. He keeps repeating that fraud caused his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 even though more than 60 court decisions and his own attorney general said that argument had no merit.

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Supreme Court rebuffs Alan Dershowitz’s $300 million suit against CNN

The Supreme Court refused Monday to revive the prominent attorney’s defamation lawsuit against CNN over its coverage of remarks he made while defending Trump during his 2020 impeachment.

Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented from the majority decision, saying legal standards for public figures who claim defamation should be reconsidered.

Alan Dershowitz said the news network aired only part of a comment he made, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind,” according to court documents.

The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said.

Dershowitz had urged the justices to reconsider New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the landmark First Amendment case that made it harder for public figures to win libel lawsuits by requiring proof that an outlet either knowingly published something false, or showed a reckless disregard for the truth.

Supreme Court will weigh GOP push to revive Arizona voting laws

The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a Republican push to enforce strict Arizona voting laws passed in the swing state after the 2020 election.

The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect temporarily before, including Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration joined the appeal after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws.

The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.

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Supreme Court rejects Trump push to toss $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict

Trump wanted the justices to throw out a jury’s finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The high court, in a typically brief and unexplained order, declined to take up the case.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the verdict were propped up by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women’s allegations.

Trump’s attorneys also framed the case as a distraction from Trump’s unique duties as president, though the verdict came before his return to the White House. A jury also awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million after a second defamation trial. Trump also appealed that ruling, which is not yet before the Supreme Court.

Are oil traders too optimistic about a recovery in Gulf oil shipping?

Oil prices have inched up amid escalating tensions, with Tehran launching fresh drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait in response to new U.S. airstrikes over the weekend.

Brent crude, the international standard, was up 58 cents to $73.18 a barrel early Monday, up from about $72 before the war. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 73 cents to $69.96 a barrel.

But there’s still plenty of risk regarding ship safety in the Strait of Hormuz following the latest attacks on vessels. ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a commentary Monday that oil traders have been “too optimistic” about the timeline for a recovery in Persian Gulf supplies.

“This complacency is odd and clearly leaves significant upside risk if the supply recovery proves slow — or if we see significant re-escalation,” the commentary said.

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Race or ethnicity matters more to many Black Americans: AP-NORC poll

Most Black Americans — 73% — say their race or ethnicity is “extremely” or “very” important to how they see themselves, according to the new AP-NORC poll. Only about half of Black adults say that being an American is highly important to their personal identity.

About half of Hispanic Americans say their race or ethnicity is highly important to them, compared to 22% of white Americans.

Vincent Harris, a 60-year-old in California who participated in the poll, says his identity as a Black man rises above other attributes for him because of how Black men are treated in America.

“A lot of people are scared of Black men just because we are Black and we are male. And that’s crazy,” Harris said. “People don’t even take you for who you are as a person; they just look at your race.”

House Republicans look to get their agenda on track

With a social media assist from President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson is looking this week to ease the divisions in his Republican ranks and make progress on key legislative priorities before this fall’s elections.

Johnson sent lawmakers home early last week and went to the White House after GOP tumult prevented the House from voting on two spending bills and a measure dealing with veterans’ benefits. Meanwhile, the list of legislative priorities only grew with Trump requesting another $87.6 billion, mostly to cover the war with Iran.

Johnson emerged from his White House visit with a coveted Trump social media post telling Republicans to quit voting down procedural rules that allow for final votes on their legislative priorities. “No more grandstanding, please!” Trump wrote.

Before Trump’s message, Republican and Democratic lawmakers were openly doubting whether the House would even return this week.

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Nancy Pelosi democracy institute is established at UC Berkeley

The former House Speaker and the University of California, Berkeley, are partnering to form a new nonpartisan academic institute they say will be dedicated to strengthening democracy.

Pelosi says she wants to “strengthen our democratic institutions and forge a future that serves the public good.” The Democrat is leaving Congress after representing San Francisco for nearly 40 years and is planning a busy retirement. She’ll co-teach a course on Congress at the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy, which will launch in January and has already received more than $35 million in philanthropic commitments.

The university says the institute aims to strengthen America’s democratic institutions; overcome challenges to society, the economy and the planet; promote human and civil rights; and ensure political leadership that represents the full spectrum of perspectives and backgrounds.

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Kara Swisher brings her Silicon Valley influence into politics

Kara Swisher is expanding her influence from tech journalism to politics. She’s known for her fearless interviews with tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Now her podcasts including “On with Kara Swisher” and “Pivot” are gaining traction as political platforms, reflecting the growing importance of digital media.

Swisher is hardly the only podcaster talking politics. Conservatives like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson and some liberals like the former Barack Obama aides who host “Pod Save America” have larger audiences. They’re all dwarfed by Joe Rogan. But Swisher has few rivals who can match her technology expertise and connect those observations to the broader political debate.

Swisher told The Associated Press from her Washington home that she gets called by all the presidential candidates and she’s “going to get to all of them.”

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American identity matters more to Republicans: AP-NORC poll

The new AP-NORC poll also finds that Republicans are much likelier than Democrats or independents to say being an American is “extremely” or “very” important to their personal identity.

At the same time, young adults are less likely than older people to say this is important to their identity. Matt Stafford, a 39-year-old centrist in Massachusetts who participated in the poll, said he is proud to be American, even if U.S. politics frustrate him. He has a bald eagle tattooed on his back to represent the U.S. and “all the things we’re supposed to stand for.”

Despite that pride, he’s frustrated: “I love America, but our biggest problem is how we’re pushing both sides — like the left and the right — to the extremes.”

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 57, appeared before Judge Joel Perez in Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court.

During Alvarez last court appearance on May 13, both the prosecution and defense told Perez they were in the process of interviewing witnesses and building their respective cases.

On Monday, prosecutors said they were “conferring with the defense” for Alvarez’s attorneys to send them information on the case from Alvarez and Joss’ neighbors. The state also recognized the defense’s busy schedule with other cases.

“At some point, they’re going to be able to turn these affidavits over to us,” the state told Perez.

Alvarez’s attorneys agreed that they are currently “preparing affidavits” to present to the prosecution. As of Monday, the defense team said its investigators have “spoken to dozens of witnesses.”

According to court records, Alvarez is expected to make his next court appearance on Sept. 17.

Background

Joss, 59, was shot just after 7 p.m. on June 1, 2025, in the 200 block of Dorsey Drive near Pleasanton Road — the same site where Joss’ home caught fire back on Jan. 23, 2025.

According to a San Antonio Police Department report obtained by KSAT, Joss was at the property to check his mail. A witness told police they saw Alvarez park behind the vehicle Joss was in. Alvarez then began arguing with Joss outside the vehicle.

The witness also told officers that Alvarez threatened to shoot Joss before he shot him with a rifle.

Joss was pronounced dead at the scene.

After he was detained by an SAPD officer, Alvarez told the officer, “I shot him,” according to the police report.

Three days after the shooting, Alvarez was released from the Bexar County jail after a judge set his bond at $200,000.

In a June 24, 2025, interview, lead defense attorney Nico LaHood told KSAT that his client was defending himself.

“This was leading up, unfortunately,” LaHood said on June 24, 2025. “And, as you know, people in Texas have a right not to be a victim. You have a right to self-defense. You have a right to the defense of third persons legally and under the law, and we believe that applies here.”

Joss, who voiced John Redcorn on the animated series “King Of The Hill,” also had a recurring role in the live-action sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” among other noteworthy roles.

More recent coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Prosecution, defense agree to new hearing in case of man who admitted to killing actor Jonathan Joss
• Court hearing reset for man accused of killing ‘King of the Hill’ actor Jonathan Joss

Murdaugh’s murder convictions and sentence of life in prison were overturned last month by the South Carolina Supreme Court. On Monday, a new judge laid out a timeline for hearings set the retrial to begin April 5. She also nailed down deadlines for making sure the defense and prosecution have exchanged evidence, a process called discovery.

Dozens of media outlets, from international agencies and local TV stations to podcasters, were inside the 200-person Lexington County courthouse to again chronicle every forehead rub and quizzical look from the once-rich and imposing Southern lawyer.

“I see we have a full house,” Judge Debra McCaslin said as the hearing began.

For many, it was a rare glimpse of how life in state prison has changed the 58-year-old Murdaugh. After pleading guilty to stealing about $12 million from clients and his family’s law firm, he is serving a 40-year federal sentence at the same time as a 27-year state sentence.

Unlike just about everyone else in the courtroom, the judge said she was new to the story, which combines a grisly double murder with the fall of a powerful legal dynasty.

“I don’t know anything about the first trial, so when you tell me something please be complete,” McCaslin told the lawyers.

Prosecutors say Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie and younger son Paul, 22, because he believed sympathy over their deaths would buy him time to fix his problems. At that point in 2021, his financial crimes were close to being exposed by his law firm and the family of a teen who filed a wrongful death lawsuit after Paul crashed a boat while drinking.

A jury convicted Murdaugh of two counts of murder in 2023. While admitting he is a thief, insurance cheat, liar and bad lawyer, he has adamantly denied the killings.

Murdaugh wore an orange prison jumpsuit Monday, listening with his mouth set in a tight line.

At one point, as defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asked the judge to let Murdaugh wear civilian clothing in court, he told his client to stand.

“Chains around the hands, chain around the waist, chains on his feet,” Harpootlian noted, saying a jury would see Murdaugh shackled like a dangerous criminal when he’s only been convicted of financial crimes.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters said it's important for incarcerated defendants to wear restraints and jumpsuits. “Every time someone is transferred out of court, it is a security risk.”

Defense lawyers want Murdaugh, who was disbarred during his legal troubles, to have access in prison to a laptop without internet, so his team won't have to print and deliver evidence to him. Harpootlian said Monday there are more than 20,000 pages of documents.

“Well surely, Mr. Harpootlian, he reviewed those before his first trial, did he not?” the judge asked.

“Five years ago,” the lawyer replied.

Another pretrial motion asks prosecutors to turn over DNA found under Murdaugh’s wife’s fingernails for testing at a private lab. Investigators said it was from an unknown and unrelated man. The defense said they'd cover the cost of testing.

“I’m gonna let you pay for it,” the judge quipped, drawing a chuckle from the courtroom.

Murdaugh was grimacing and biting his lower lip during the exchange.

The defense also wants to hold the next trial outside Colleton County, where the killings happened and the first trial took place. That matter wasn't decided Monday.

Investigators and armchair detectives alike have spent hours poring over alibis, timelines and digital breadcrumbs, including a cellphone video that prosecutors say cracked the case. They allege Murdaugh’s voice can be heard on the video, which was taken by his son shortly before the shootings at dog kennels on the family’s sprawling property. Murdaugh says he was asleep at the time.

During the first trial, a few jurors said the Colleton County clerk of court, who is assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, told them to watch Murdaugh’s body language when he testified in his own defense and to not be fooled, confused or thrown off by what he might say.

The state Supreme Court ruled this was a suggestion Murdaugh was guilty, and overturned his convictions.

The justices were also concerned there had been too much testimony around how Murdaugh stole from clients, many of them in dire straits.

John Yoo confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that he would be assisting Joe diGenova, the former Justice Department prosecutor who was assigned in April to investigate whether officials, who over the last decade scrutinized Trump, participated in a criminal conspiracy against the Republican president.

“He’s a lawyer. He's going to be helping us,” diGenova said in a brief telephone interview about Yoo. He did not elaborate.

A law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Yoo was a senior Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration who served as a lead author of the so-called “torture memos” that government officials used to justify using “enhanced interrogation” techniques on potential terror suspects. The Justice Department later rescinded the memos.

In the years since, he's remained a prominent proponent of broad executive authority, telling the AP in a 2020 interview that he had told Trump administration officials multiple times that a Supreme Court ruling which rejected Trump’s effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.

The conspiracy investigation is being conducted in Florida, but the scope is unclear, as is whether any criminal charges will be brought.

Prosecutors have centered at least part of the probe on the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Investigators have issued a broad swath of subpoenas for records and conducted interviews related to the creation of an intelligence community assessment, released in January 2017, that found that Russia engaged in wide-ranging election interference to boost Trump over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

A 2019 report by special counsel Robert Mueller affirmed that Russia interfered on Trump's behalf and that the Trump campaign repeatedly welcomed the assistance, but it did not find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the campaign.

Several subsequent investigations into the Russia probe have identified multiple errors into how it was conducted, and a former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty in 2020 to doctoring an email during the course of the inquiry. But none of the reviews have identified criminal misconduct by any senior law enforcement or intelligence official involved in the investigation.

Trump has nonetheless continued to demand retribution and has sought to punish top officials from that time at the FBI and CIA.

Asked in a Fox News Channel interview in May what the Justice Department had done to address claims of a long-running conspiracy to bring down Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “That's exactly what we're investigating right now.”

Yoo's involvement in the investigation was earlier reported by Politico and CNN.

In a Monday announcement, Comcast said the breakup will put both of these operations in a better position to pursue their own priorities and growth. The move arrives as communications companies continue to wrestle with years of cord-cutting, and shifting habits in how consumers now buy subscriptions for anything from their phone plans to streaming budgets more broadly.

“The world is changing faster than ever,” Comcast Chairman and co-CEO Brian Roberts said on a Monday call — adding that it “has become clear” the company’s technology and media businesses each “have compelling opportunities in front of them that are distinct in nature and best pursued with dedicated focus.”

Upon the spinoff’s completion, both businesses would become their own publicly-traded companies. Comcast said it expects to complete the process in about a year, pending regulatory approvals and a final greenlight from its board.

That means consumers shouldn’t feel immediate impacts. But a host of major brands currently sit under Comcast’s umbrella — from internet and wireless provider Xfinity to streaming platform Peacock, NBC News and Universal Studios. And analysts are eyeing what those businesses could look like farther down the road.

What could be in store for NBCUniversal and Comcast

“In the short term, bundles, pricing, and distribution will likely hold,” said Mike Proulx, a vice president and research director at market research firm Forrester. For NBCUniversal — set to head the media-centered company Comcast is spinning off — the split in itself carries little effect on its current business, he noted, and is “more to do with what it becomes longer term.”

Proulx is bracing for future acquisitions in this space, adding that “Comcast is following a playbook we have already seen.” He pointed to Warner Bros. Discovery, which announced its own intention to split just last June — before becoming a takeover target that erupted into a messy tug-of-war between Netflix and Skydance-owned Paramount. Paramount eventually became victorious, and is now edging closer to closing its $81 billion buyout of Warner’s entire company.

Comcast executives have appeared to so far dismiss the possibility of heading toward a similar fate. When asked on Monday’s call whether investors should view the separation as a step toward “potential strategic transactions” for either business, Roberts said: “Absolutely not.”

His co-CEO Mike Cavanagh — who is set to become the chief executive of the NBCUniversal spinoff — echoed that sentiment. Cavanagh reiterated plans to “build and invest for growth” with more freedom as a standalone business.

Still, analysts like Proulx speculate that even if NBCUniversal doesn’t become a takeover target, “it’ll likely be the company doing the acquiring.”

“As it stands, traditional TV is dying, and Peacock alone isn’t enough to compete at scale against the biggest streaming services,” Proulx said via email. “One way or the other, NBCU’s entertainment business will look different within the next couple of years.”

This isn’t the first spinoff for Comcast

Like other companies, Comcast in recent years has shifted its business emphasis away from traditional cable toward streaming and other sources of revenue, such as its movie studio, theme parks and home wireless and internet services.

NBCUniversal includes that theme parks division, Universal film and television studios, NBC and Telemundo networks, Peacock, and Bravo — and with the spinoff, European media business Sky will also be part of that portfolio led by Cavanagh.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia-based Comcast will continue providing internet services to residential and business customers. Comcast’s former Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis will become the CEO of that company following its separation.

Comcast has split off assets before. Monday’s move arrives just months after the company officially completed its separation of Versant Media Group — which, as first announced in November 2024, is the new home of networks like USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as CNBC and MSNBC (now MS NOW). Movie ticketing platform Fandango and the Rotten Tomatoes movie rating site were also included.

Once the latest split is complete, Comcast shareholders will own shares in both Comcast and NBCUniversal. Comcast expects to keep a stake of up to 19.9% ownership position in NBCUniversal for up to one year after the spinoff is complete.

Comcast jumped more than 6% as of midday trading following Monday’s announcement. Shares still are down over 10% since the start of 2026.

The 5-4 decision rejected a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The outcome spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the court's majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices.

Federal laws setting a single Election Day “leave open when those votes must be received,” Barrett wrote.

Congress could change the law, she said. “If varied deadlines for ballot receipt similarly call for a national solution, the American people must choose it through their elected representatives,” Barrett wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent for four justices. “Not only is today’s decision inconsistent with statutory text, legal context, historical practice, and precedent; it also threatens to produce lamentable consequences," Alito wrote. “The majority’s holding spawns a slurry of troubling election-law questions and risks further undermining Americans’ confidence in election integrity.”

The legal challenge was part of Trump’s broader attack on most mail balloting, which he has said breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience in numerous states. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 resulted from fraud even though more than 60 court decisions and his own attorney general said that argument had no merit.

Trump called the court ruling a “tremendous loss” and renewed his call for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which has made it through the House of Representatives but not the Senate.

“There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Among other changes, the legislation would limit who is able to receive a mail ballot and impose a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement for registering to vote.

“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says, which is why this decision makes it even more imperative that Congress pass the SAVE America Act,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement.

The court heard arguments in March in a case from Mississippi pitting the state against Trump’s Republican administration and the Republican and Libertarian parties. At issue was whether federal law sets a single Election Day that requires ballots to be both cast by voters and received by state officials.

The federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down a Mississippi law allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day.

The outcome is a “sigh of relief” for a lot of election administrators, said Stephen Richer, a Republican and the former top election administrator in Arizona’s Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix.

A ruling in favor of the Republican National Committee "would have created a whole host of administrative challenges for the affected states,” said Richer, who is now a legal fellow at the Cato Institute.

RNC officials did not immediately respond Monday to email and telephone requests for comment.

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

The S&P 500 climbed 1% after erasing a midmorning stumble and was on track to break a five-day losing streak. It’s coming off just its second losing week in the last 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 296 points, or 0.6%, as of 1:38 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% higher.

Comcast helped lead the way and jumped 6.5% after saying it will split off its NBCUniversal media business and Sky from its broadband and wireless business. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 17.3% for the year so far.

Several stocks boosted by the artificial-intelligence boom also rose after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said they will invest roughly $518 billion in a new chipmaking hub in South Korea, as its president hopes to capitalize on surging AI demand.

Applied Materials, whose equipment helps make semiconductors, rallied 10.5% to bring its gain for the year so far to roughly 170%.

AI stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride recently after soaring to tremendous heights. They’re under pressure because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the huge gains for their stock prices. And the drops have an outsized effect on investors because AI stocks have become some of Wall Street’s largest and most influential, giving them more weight on indexes than others.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business along with rockets, has already become worth more than $2 trillion after its stock made its debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month, with sharp rises and falls along the way. It’s become big enough that Nasdaq said Elon Musk’s company will join the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on July 7, which will force funds tracking the index to buy the stock.

SpaceX rose 3.7%.

That helped offset a 5.6% drop for Verizon Communications, which said it's paying $625 million as part of a deal to combine its international wireline connectivity and managed network services business with some of London-based BT Group's subsidiaries in a joint venture.

The gains for the stock market came even though oil prices rose. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 2.1% to $74.09, pulling slightly above where it was before the war with Iran began. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.4% to $70.92.

Following attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend, President Donald Trump said Monday on social media that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts, though one of Iran’s top negotiators said no further talks had been scheduled.

The hope is that an end to the war with Iran will give oil tankers full access again to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing them to exit the Persian Gulf and deliver crude to customers worldwide. That would help lower the price of oil, whose jumps because of the war have sent a punishing wave of inflation around the world.

If oil prices do recede and stay low enough, it could keep enough pressure off inflation to allow the Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates steady or even cut them instead of hiking them. Higher interest rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments. High yields worldwide have been rattling investors since oil prices burst above $100 per barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.37% from 4.38% late Friday and from 4.56% early this month.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Stocks jumped 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1.2% in Shanghai for two of the world’s biggest gains, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2%.

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

The crash happened just after 10:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Southwest Military Drive, which is located near Mango Avenue.

The driver, identified in an SAPD preliminary report as Vynzell Edward McGarity, was traveling eastbound in a Dodge Charger at a high rate of speed.

McGarity switched lanes and struck a pedestrian attempting to cross the street, the report said.

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Records indicate McGarity was taken into custody and faces two charges: racing on highway causing serious bodily injury and reckless driving.

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

Read also:

• Child drowns at Boerne City Lake, fire department says
• 2 drivers killed in multi-vehicle crash on Southwest Side, SAPD says

Divers with the Boerne Fire Department found the body just after 9 a.m., around 12 to 15 feet deep in the water, fire officials said.

Emergency dispatchers received a 911 call just before 6:30 p.m. Sunday reporting a child who was in the water and had not resurfaced, according to My Boerne News.

Witnesses told officials that two children were in the water when both began to struggle. A bystander pulled one child from the lake, but when the bystander returned for the second child, they could not locate him in the water.

The lake remained closed for the rest of the day on Sunday, as officials searched for the boy. Search efforts were later suspended and resumed at 7 a.m. Monday.

Boerne Fire Department Chief Manuel Casarez told reporters to keep safety in mind with the Fourth of July approaching.

“Can’t really trust the waters of the lake as much as you’d like to,” Casarez said. “I know everybody’s trying to have a good time, but always keep safety in mind.”

Multiple other agencies assisted in the search, including the Boerne Police Department, the Sisterdale Volunteer Fire Department, the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, and others.

Sunday marks at least the second drowning reported this summer, after an 80-year-old man drowned over Memorial Day Weekend.

Read also:

• 80-year-old man drowns at Boerne City Lake on Memorial Day weekend, city says

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the 6-3 court that people don’t forfeit expectations of privacy even when they opt into Google’s location history.

“A cellphone user is not to be viewed as sharing private information with third parties—which then can be freely passed on to the government—just by doing the ordinary things cellphone users do,” Kagan wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent that Okello Chatrie had no expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turned over to Google.

The decision is the court’s latest effort to apply a constitutional provision ratified in 1791 to technology the nation’s founders could not have envisioned.

Police obtained a geofence warrant after a bank robbery in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia, and used it to locate cellphones that were near the bank around the time it was robbed in May 2019.

One of those phones belonged to Chatrie, who had eluded the police until they turned to the powerful technological tool.

The warrant kick-started the investigation. After determining that Chatrie was among those near the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian at the time, police obtained a search warrant for his home. They found nearly $100,000 in cash, including bills wrapped in bands signed by the bank teller.

Chatrie pleaded guilty to robbing the bank and was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison. His lawyers argued on appeal that none of the evidence should have been used against him.

They challenged the warrant as a violation of his privacy because it allowed authorities to gather the location history of people near the bank without having any evidence they had anything to do with the robbery. Prosecutors argued that Chatrie had no expectation of privacy because he voluntarily opted into Google’s location history.

The Supreme Court did not decide Monday whether the search complied with the Fourth Amendment, which bans unreasonable searches and seizures. It sent the case back to a lower court for more work.

A federal judge had ruled that the search violated Chatrie’s rights, but allowed the evidence to be used because the officer who applied for the warrant reasonably believed he was acting properly.

The federal appeals court in Richmond upheld the conviction in a fractured ruling. In a separate case, the federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that geofence warrants “are general warrants categorically prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.”

NBA free agency in 2026: Everyone is waiting again for James to make a decision.

James was the biggest domino to fall in the NBA's offseason player movement period 16 years ago when he decided to join Miami, and he may be the biggest domino to fall — at least in free agency — this summer as well. Free agency opens in the NBA on Tuesday evening, with James' future atop the list of most intriguing storylines that will be solved over the coming days and weeks.

It seems like retirement isn't happening yet, which would mean the NBA's all-time leader in points scored, minutes played and games played coming back for a record-extending 24th season and potentially — when including playoff contests — appearing in the 2,000th game of his career.

His options would figure to include staying with the Los Angeles Lakers, returning to Miami or Cleveland (both would have interest for obvious reasons) or even thinking about moving elsewhere like Golden State and teaming up with longtime friends Stephen Curry and Draymond Green to chase one more title.

Green — who is not expected to leave Golden State — on Monday declined his $27.6 million option for next season, doing so to give the Warriors more maneuverability to add players in the coming days, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because that detail was not revealed publicly by the team, and it raises the possibility that the Warriors might now have more of a selling point to pitch to James.

“When the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do,” James said when the Lakers were eliminated this spring by Oklahoma City in a 4-0 sweep.

The time is coming.

The window when teams can begin officially talking with free agents — other than the ones on their own team, those talks could begin when the NBA Finals ended — opens at 6 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, and deals could be flying not long afterward.

In most cases, any new deals cannot be executed until at least the end of the NBA's offseason moratorium on July 6.

“This period we’re in right now, kind of from mid-May to mid-July, it’s a two-month sprint through the draft, combine, free agency, Summer League, all that,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said earlier this month. “We’re super busy right now. But it’s a fun time of year. This is where we get to make decisions, shape the roster, do all that stuff.”

The NBA finalists — champion New York and runner-up San Antonio — both will have moves to make in the coming days, though they are expected to keep their cores largely intact.

Plenty of decisions and roster-shaping already has happened around the league, either by trades (such as the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster) or teams re-signing or extending their own players (such as Trae Young's $212 million deal with Washington and Austin Reaves' $185 million deal with the Lakers).

Miami will land Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis in a trade that sends Tyler Herro, other players and draft capital to Milwaukee, but that won't be finalized until that moratorium date passes. But in the interim, the Heat will be looking to add shooters — Tim Hardaway Jr., whose father's number is retired in Miami, and longtime Antetokounmpo favorite Khris Middleton make a lot of sense.

The Heat will be keeping Andrew Wiggins, who on Monday exercised his $30 million option for this coming season and, according to a person familiar with the talks between the sides, has agreed in principle on a $34 million deal for the following two seasons — with 2028-29 at his option.

More trades could be coming, with a person familiar with the negotiations confirming to the AP that Toronto has spoken with the Los Angeles Clippers on the possibility of Kawhi Leonard — who led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title — returning to Ontario next season. And Boston is still believed to be holding talks about the possibility of trading 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who was the centerpiece of the Celtics' ultimately futile offer to land Antetokounmpo in trade discussions with Milwaukee.

“Nobody has won more combined regular-season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” Brown posted on social media over the weekend. He's right: The Celtics have won 523 games with Brown in the lineup, including playoff contests, which is six more than Denver has won with Nikola Jokic over that span.

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

The three were killed and two others suffered burns when they were overcome Saturday by flames after deploying emergency shelters to shield themselves from fast-moving fires.

Wildfires have erupted over the past week across the West, fueled by months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter in some places. Wildfire experts have been warning for months that extreme fire dangers are likely this summer.

With more than two dozen large fires burning across the U.S., almost 8,000 wildland firefighters and dozens of firefighting helicopters have been deployed. About half of the largest blazes are in Alaska while the rest are mostly in Western states.

Officials on Monday increased the national “preparedness level” for wildfires to a 4, on a scale of 1 to 5. That’s a sign resources are beginning to be strained, and officials warned of a high potential for new, large fires in multiple parts of the country in coming days.

Among the concerns were high winds in the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, in the Black Hills of South Dakota and across portions of the High Plains.

Evacuations were in place for seven fires, including in Arizona, Washington state, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

So far this year, the fires have burned more than 4,800 square miles (12,400 square kilometers) — the most by this point in the year since 2022 and significantly above the 10-year average.

The U.S. Forest Service identified the firefighters killed as Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27 of Glendale, Arizona; and Sydney Watson, 26, of Warrior, Alabama.

They were assigned to a Helitack crew that can be dropped into remote areas by helicopters and whose mission is to prevent new fires from growing into out-of-control blazes. But it can be extremely dangerous, often taking place in areas where fires are rapidly expanding.

One of the crew members worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service while two were assigned to the U.S. Forest Service and all were part of an interagency response to fires just west of Grand Junction, Colorado.

The Snyder Fire in the area has burned about 44 square miles (114 square kilometers), authorities said.

The Wildland Fire Service, created earlier this year to streamline firefighting on public lands, said in a statement that it “stands united” with the Forest Service in grief and “in our unwavering support for the loved ones left behind.”

The weekend deaths came almost exactly 13 years after a crew of 19 wildland firefighters were killed when they were trapped in a brush-choked box canyon near Yarnell, Arizona.

Like Saturday’s victims, the men killed in Arizona in June 2013 were members of a specialized firefighting crew who had tried to deploy emergency shelters meant to shield them from flames and heat.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio.

Instead, Alexandra Lozano created fake stories of domestic abuse and human trafficking to apply for humanitarian visas without her clients' knowledge, according to several lawsuits and a legal ethics investigation. They say she preyed on immigrants’ desperation to drain their bank accounts while leaving them at risk of deportation.

She is accused of hiring workers who didn’t have proper legal credentials and building an assembly-line system to rush through applications, even copying clients’ signatures onto documents they never saw.

“I put the trust of my family with her,” 30-year-old Gabriel Martinez Garcia said. After they paid $30,000, he said Lozano duped his family and got his mother placed in removal proceedings despite her marriage to a naturalized U.S. citizen. “We believed in her and then she just let us down.”

Lozano's firm, Luz del Camino Legal, closed this month amid a barrage of allegations. She permanently surrendered her law license rather than face discipline from the bar association, and denies wrongdoing.

While federal data shows immigration service scams are rising sharply, Lozano’s alleged scheme stands out for its scale. The bar says her signature is on more than 53,000 pending cases.

It's unclear how many cases were fraudulent or to what extent her clients were complicit. The ones suing her say they had no idea.

The consequences of her downfall are hitting the immigration system “like a tidal wave,” said Erika Gonzalez, an attorney with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.

The Trump administration last year started overhauling the humanitarian programs Lozano allegedly exploited, claiming a surge in applications since 2020 was a sign of widespread fraud. The administration tightened the programs' restrictions and slowed processing rates, which advocacy groups say will hurt legitimate victims.

The visas are meant for people who were trafficked or abused

Lozano specialized in getting visas through the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which covers all genders.

These programs seek to protect victims from having their immigration status weaponized by abusers. Evidence standards are more flexible, making the system more accessible to victims. But it's also easier for an unscrupulous firm to exploit, immigration attorneys say.

Lozano's firm probed clients for issues at home or work, then spun them as abuse cases that didn't meet the threshold for these humanitarian programs, according to attorneys representing dozens of her old clients.

Although clients quickly secured work permits, they often faced trouble years later when seeking permanent residency and their claims faced greater scrutiny.

Lozano denies mass immigration fraud

Angelo Calfo, an attorney representing Lozano, said clients were expected to review their applications before signing and blamed them for any false statements.

“Alexandra’s practice has always been to fight for her clients, zealously pursue every lawful option available to them, and support their efforts to build lives in this country,” his statement said.

The bar accused Lozano of fraud in May and her firm shut down June 10. She’s being investigated by the fraud unit of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. The Department of Homeland Security, which runs the immigration agency, declined to comment.

At least 920 immigration service scams were reported in 2025, which is more than the first three years of the Biden administration combined, according to Federal Trade Commission data analyzed by the AP. Experts say that's probably an undercount, given immigrants’ reluctance to come forward.

Clients say foreign workers, not US-licensed lawyers, handled cases

Lozano is accused of enlisting hundreds of employees in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina to provide legal advice to clients and handle visa applications. That would mean clients never got consultations from a U.S.-licensed attorney.

“Alexandra was telling us to please invent more information about the abuse because it is not real abuse,” said Rafael Alvarez, who worked for Lozano from 2022 to 2024 in Colombia. “There were a lot of cases that were not true.”

Lozano's former chief operating officer, Amy Rios, testified in 2024 that the firm earned $1.7 million teaching other law firms its legal strategies for humanitarian visas and “changed the way many attorneys now approach immigration law.”

Recent lawsuits accuse at least two other firms in Texas and Ohio of replicating Lozano’s tactics, which they deny.

Immigrants say they didn't know about the lies

Erika Sanchez and her husband entered the U.S. unlawfully. Multiple lawyers told them there was no way to adjust their status from within the country.

But Lozano promised a successful outcome after just one consultation in 2020, according to a lawsuit the couple filed in May alongside seven other former clients.

The couple trusted the firm when it asked for their signatures on blank paper, Sanchez said, and lived on a tight budget to pay Lozano more than $32,000.

“We truly did believe that she was doing the right thing,” Sanchez said.

She added that they never saw the application submitted by the firm for her husband, which they later learned contained false claims that his teenage daughter abused him. He is now in removal proceedings.

Some former clients say they didn't discover the alleged fraud for years. Nora Murillo Moreno said the firm told her about the fake abuse claims on the day before her green card interview. She panicked.

“Should I say what really happened, or what is written?” Murillo Moreno said. “I knew things didn’t match.”

Trump administration says visa surge indicates ‘rampant fraud’

Attorneys suing Lozano say her rise parallels an exponential increase in visa applications for trafficking and domestic abuse cases.

Domestic abuse claims more than tripled between the 2020 and 2025 fiscal years, from nearly 15,000 applications to upward of 53,000 per year, according to immigration agency data. There were also nearly twelve times as many applications from parents alleging their child abused them.

During that same period, human trafficking claims jumped from around 1,000 applications to more than 37,000.

In December, the immigration agency said it would overhaul its domestic violence visa program due to “rampant fraud" based on the increase in filings, without offering other evidence. The changes include narrowing definitions of abuse and giving greater weight to evidence supplied by alleged abusers.

Cecelia Levin, an attorney with the nonprofit Alliance for Immigrant Survivors, said making these visas harder for actual abuse victims isn't the answer. Instead, the Trump administration should focus on enforcing the law against attorneys running scams, she said.

An earlier ethics complaint was dismissed

Immigration attorneys say Lozano’s social media was filled with red flags, like claiming the Virgin Mary blessed all her cases.

In 2023, the Washington bar said it had concerns about Lozano’s law practice but dismissed an ethics complaint against her, according to a document obtained by the AP. The complaint alleged deceptive advertising and other misconduct, but the bar said she was protected by disclaimers.

Sara Niegowski, a spokesperson for the bar, said it blocked Lozano from practicing law “as quickly as possible.”

Lozano’s ex-clients are in a legal mess

Former clients are now scrambling to get their case files from the defunct firm. Hundreds showed up for recent consultations with volunteer attorneys in Washington and Oregon.

Many applied to join a lawsuit seeking financial compensation for legal malpractice. Another class action lawsuit aims to recoup their attorney fees. On Friday, a statement from the federal immigration agency told ex-clients how to withdraw their cases or update their addresses so processing could continue.

Vicente Omar Barraza, an attorney behind the malpractice lawsuit, said hundreds of former clients told him they still don't know what Lozano's firm wrote in their applications. He’s worried many people lost viable pathways to legal status.

Garcia Martinez, who says his mother is in removal proceedings because Lozano mishandled her case, lives every day in fear that she will be deported.

“I’m just praying really, really, really hard for her,” Garcia Martinez said. “None of this should have happened.”

___

Associated Press writer Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, and data journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.

A month after his French Open meltdown, the top-ranked Sinner produced a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 win that lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes in the honorary opening match on Centre Court reserved for the past year’s men’s singles champion.

Sinner said he was “a little tight in the beginning,” noting that it was his first grass-court match of the season.

“I’m happy that I turned it around,” Sinner said.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, remains the only Wimbledon men’s singles winner in the professional era (since 1968) to have lost in the first round the following year. The Australian was defeated by Ivo Karlovic in his 2003 opener.

Sinner hadn’t played an official match since he struggled with dizziness during a heat wave at Roland Garros, where after being within one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets, he was beaten by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in five.

The match with Kecmanovic was played in ideal conditions, with sunny skies and the temperature 24 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit).

Sinner is a big favorite to repeat as Wimbledon champion since his main rival Carlos Alcaraz, who he beat in last year’s final, is missing the championships due to a right wrist injury.

Sinner felt the pressure from the honors reserved for the defending champion.

“It was a very, very different feeling," he said. "There’s a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the court. Also mentally knowing it’s such a prestige court and such a historical court.”

Early in the third set, Sinner drew a loud applause when he executed a sliced stop-volley drop shot that was so good Kecmanovic didn’t even run for it. But in the same game, Sinner then fell hard to the grass when he lost his footing trying to change directions. He went down on his knees and fell backwards grimacing in pain as he grasped what appeared to be his left hip area. But he quickly got up and resumed playing.

As the match wore on, Sinner appeared to be bleeding through his right shoe.

“I’m good,” Sinner said. “It just seems much worse than it is. … It’s just a nail.”

Kecmanovic saved a set point in the third-set tiebreaker with a wild point that ended with Sinner down on the ground again after he first retrieved a short ball and then retreated to run down a ball over his shoulder into the corner. It evened the tiebreaker at 6-6 and Sinner and Kecmanovic slapped hands on the ensuing change of ends as the players appeared to appreciate each other’s effort.

Two points later, a backhand from Sinner sailed long and Kecmanovic had a two-sets-to-one lead.

“The third set," Sinner said, "was a very tough one to swallow.”

But Sinner cleaned up his game in the final two sets.

When Sinner held for a 5-2 lead in the fifth, David Beckham in the Royal Box was among the spectators taking part in a Centre Court wave.

Sinner has now won all five of his career meetings with Kecmanovic but this one was nothing like a straight-sets victory in the third round at Wimbledon in 2024 and the players shared a friendly embrace at the net when it was over.

Sinner produced 72 winners to Kecmanovic's 20 but also had many more unforced errors: 52 to 33. The serve was a weapon for Sinner, cranking out 31 aces to Kecmanovic's one.

“We will try to aim for a couple of improvements for the next match,” Sinner said.

Kecmanovic had to regroup recently after Viktor Troicki left him to coach another Serbian — someone by the name of Novak Djokovic.

In other matches, 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev was beaten by Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-7 (6), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12); and rising Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, in his Wimbledon debut, beat Felix Gill 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.

In women's action, Naomi Osaka made another fashion statement by wearing a flowing kimono for her walk-on before a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Elsa Jacquemot; fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula beat Darja Vidmanova 7-5, 6-3; and French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska, who needed a wild-card entry, was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 by Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

Up next on Centre Court, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was playing Teodora Kostovic, followed by seven-time champion Djokovic against Wu Yibing.

Serena Williams will play her opening match on Tuesday against 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia — marking the first time she competes in singles in nearly four years. Then she’ll play doubles with older sister Venus Williams later in the week.

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

If passed, large corporate employers would be required to implement a $25 wage floor by 2032, while other businesses would have until 2039 to comply. The minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 per hour.

The bill would also mandate automatic, continued increases to the federal minimum wage — pegged to two-thirds of the national median wage — to ensure the floor keeps pace with economic conditions going forward.

“If you work full time in this country, you should be able to afford to live. But wages are so low that parents work 60 hours a week and still aren’t sure if they’ll have lunch money for their kids,” said Murphy. “Our economy is not working for people and we have to put forward solutions that are as big as the problems American families are facing.”

The Living Wage for All Act is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Reps. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Analilia Mejia, D-N.J., Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Ill., and Lateefah Simon, D-Calif.

Why lawmakers say the time is now

Congress has not raised the federal minimum wage since 2009 — the first term of the Obama administration. In the nearly two decades since, the cost of living has surged while wages have stagnated.

Proponents argue that had the minimum wage kept pace with inflation and productivity since 1968, it would have reached approximately $25 by 2023. Today, 45% of American workers earn less than $25 an hour.

Opponents of the bill say raising the minimum wage would result in job losses and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Do you agree with a $25 minimum wage? Let us know in the comments section below or take our poll here.

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• Is San Antonio affordable? Local economist explains how inflation is impacting residents

Osaka, who has made a habit of creating a buzz with her creative outfits at recent Grand Slam tournaments, wore a flowing kimono with swinging sleeves and elaborate embroidery as she walked onto No. 3 Court for her first-round match against Elsa Jacquemot.

After winning 6-1, 7-5, Osaka said she got the inspiration for the outfit from a Quentin Tarantino movie.

“For me, my Japanese heritage means a lot. They say all white at Wimbledon and I thought it would be really cool to come out in a kimono," Osaka said in an on-court interview. "I just get inspired by a lot of different things, and for me, one of my favorite movies is ‘Kill Bill.' So I really love Lucy Liu's character, O-Ren Ishii, and she comes out in this really iconic white kimono. I always tell people I like to be like a video game character sometimes, I don't want to be myself when I'm playing on the court. And I kind of try to embody her a little.”

The Japanese player's latest creation drew a rave reaction from the crowd, many of whom were eagerly waiting with their phones aloft to record her entrance. One female fan shouted “C'mon queen!” as Osaka walked out.

“It’s something that we’ve been waiting for all day, right, what Naomi Osaka is going to appear in at Wimbledon," said Alicia Molik, the former top-10 ranked player who is doing commentary for the BBC.

Osaka kept her robe on as she bounced on her toes at the net while listening to instructions from the chair umpire. She then removed it and placed it on her chair to begin warmups before the match started.

The four-time Grand Slam champion’s fashion creations and walk-ons are becoming an eagerly anticipated ritual at both Grand Slam tournaments and other events.

At the Australian Open this year, she walked onto court wearing a wide-brim hat, a veil and holding a white parasol. At the French Open, she came out for her opening match in a ceremonial black skirt and sleeveless beaded bodice, which she removed to reveal a sequined gold playing dress.

And at the Met Gala in New York, Osaka stunned in a edgy Robert Wun white sculptural fitted dress featuring exaggerated shoulders and adorned with red feathers and a matching headpiece. To complete her look, she wore two-toned red gloves.

So the big question ahead of Wimbledon was, how would she handle the all-white rule at the All England Club?

“Literally everyone keeps asking me that and I've never thought of the color white being a restriction,” Osaka said at her pre-tournament press conference on Sunday. “I feel like there’s so many different patterns, fabrics, textures that you can use.”

And use them, she did.

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AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.

___

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

The high court declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. There were no noted dissents. Trump also plans to appeal another $83.3 million verdict awarded to Carroll by a different jury after a second defamation trial, his lawyers have said.

The decision comes as the court hands down its biggest opinions, including a ruling that expands his firing power over the federal bureaucracy with the exception of the Federal Reserve.

Trump called the decision to pass on the Carroll case “surprising” in a social media post, and he said he would continue to fight the defamation claims. “This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for,” he wrote.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the verdict were propped up by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women’s allegations.

Trump's attorneys argued the judge broke federal evidence rules in the case. They framed it as a distraction from Trump’s unique duties as president, though the verdict came before his return to the White House.

“This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand,” Attorney Justin D. Smith wrote in court documents. Trump, a Republican, has since nominated Smith to be an appeals court judge. His lawyers called the case “Liberal Lawfare" in a statement on Monday.

Carroll's lawyers had urged the justices to pass on the case. They argued that the women's testimony was relevant because the allegations were similar and that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s decisions were in line with others around the country. “This question is not worthy of review,” wrote attorney Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.

Monday's decision affirms the jury's verdict will stand, she said in a statement Monday. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she said.

Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host, testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan. The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he denied her allegation in 2022.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

Trump has successfully fended off other hefty court judgments, including a New York civil fraud penalty of over $500 million thrown out by a New York appeals court. The Supreme Court also granted him broad immunity from criminal prosecution in 2024, though it later narrowly rejected his bid to halt sentencing in his New York hush money case.

___

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.

___

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

He beat Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers Championship, had both parents from Norway watch him win for the first time and even did the “row” with the Norwegian soccer fans who cheered him all the way to the surprising end.

Hovland capped off a gritty rally when he made a 7-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole and won the Travelers when Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt.

“Winning in the playoff against Scottie — best player in the world — that was pretty satisfying,” said Hovland, who won for the first time since the Valspar Championship in March 2025.

The surprise was Scheffler going from a big advantage — an 8-iron to 4 feet on the 18th on the first playoff hole — to missing a hard-sliding putt on the high side that made Hovland a winner.

“Maybe I hit it a little firmer than I intended to,” said Scheffler, whose putt caught the left edge and rolled out some 7 feet by the hole. “It looked like it got pretty far by the hole and I was playing it outside the hole, so I hit it down my line, just maybe the speed was a touch off.”

It was a big disappointment for Scheffler, who made Monday possible by making an 8-foot par putt on the 72nd hole in near darkness to force the playoff.

He was first to hit from the 18th fairway and some 3,000 fans on the hillside around the green erupted in cheers. Hovland responded, just like the 28-year-old Norwegian had done on the back nine Sunday when he rallied from a two-shot deficit.

Hovland's birdie putt was snapping off to the right when it curled in the right side and he let out a big fist pump.

“It’s one of those putts that if I make mine, his gets significantly tougher, and if I miss, he probably will make his,” Hovland said. “Yeah, it was definitely no gimmies there, so to put the pressure on him was awesome.”

It was the first Monday finish on the PGA Tour since The Players Championship in 2025, which involved a three-hole aggregate playoff won by Rory McIlroy. This turned out to be one hole and 15 minutes, but it did not lack for drama, or atmosphere.

There was lively banter for the playoff. A group of Norwegian fans, who had been in Boston for the World Cup, wore their soccer jerseys and chanted, “Hov-land!” as he approached his golf ball in the fairway. The Americans began the “Scot-tie Scheff-ler!” chants to drown them out.

The Norwegians also brought the “row,” which has gone viral in the stadium and subway stations and wherever they go. They sit shoulder to shoulder, arms out and then forcefully pull them in. Hovland had never seen it in person until Saturday.

When it was over, he sat with his people and they showed him how it's done.

“You definitely get adrenaline from it,” he said.

Hovland had plenty of that Sunday afternoon when he returned from a 90-minute rain delay and made three straight birdies to catch up to Scheffler and eventually get into the playoff. He closed with a 69, while Scheffler had a 68. They finished at 21-under 259.

Hovland is rarely satisfied with a swing that has given him a reputation for making solid contact. He felt it gaining momentum with a third-place finish in Canada, and even in the U.S. Open despite missing the cut. There was always one bad swing that allowed doubts to creep in.

Those were gone at the TPC River Highlands, particularly at the end. He was first to hit in the playoff and drilled it down the middle, just as he had done all week.

“I’ve been playing golf with Viktor for a long time. We’ve had some good battles in college and out here as a pro," Scheffler said. “He’s a guy that has a lot of talent and works really hard. So those are the types of guys you like to see have success.”

For Scheffler, it was his fourth runner-up finish this year after opening his season with a victory at The American Express in the California desert. But he felt a little momentum, even in a playoff loss, as he gets ready a three-week stretch that includes the British Open, the final major of the year.

“Ball striking is definitely in a good spot. That was some of the best I hit it all season,” Scheffler said. “Obviously I think just a little disappointed with the results of today. But, yeah, I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament last night, made the nice putt to close out last night, and so trying to remember that one.”

Hovland headed home for Norway with his parents. As for his throng of flag-waving, rowing supporters? Norway plays Ivory Coast on Tuesday in Dallas, the hometown of Scheffler.

“That was probably more coincidental,” Hovland said with a laugh. “That should be a good game.”

___

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

Keith’s family said Monday that she had been diagnosed with cancer and died at her home in Surrey, near London.

Keith began her acting career onstage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963. But she found her greatest fame on television.

She won a BAFTA award in 1977 for “The Good Life,” playing Margo Leadbetter, a snobbish suburbanite appalled by her back-to-the-land neighbors Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal.

Kendal called Keith a “comic genius.”

“She was a joy to know and work with, and she will be much missed,” Kendal said.

Keith displayed a similar mix of imperiousness and deadpan wit in “To the Manor Born,” broadcast between 1979 and 1981 and brought back for a 2007 Christmas special. Keith played cash-strapped aristocratic widow Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her country estate to a nouveau millionaire, played by Peter Bowles, with whom she has a love-hate relationship.

Keith's velvet tones featured on children’s show “Teletubbies” and in ads for everything from Pimm’s to Parker Pens. She also presented cozy documentary TV series, including “Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages.”

Keith continued to perform in stage roles into her 80s. Theaters in London’s West End will dim their lights on Wednesday evening in tribute to her.

In 2014 she was made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight, for services to the arts and to charity.

She is survived by her husband, Rodney Timson, and their two adopted sons.

That has blunted the nascent recovery of ship traffic that in normal times feeds the global economy with a fifth of its oil and gas shipments. Now, hopes for a continued rise are on hold as ship traffic cautiously continues at levels below those from before the war.

Oil producers and markets were hoping to continue the rise in passages that followed a U.S.-Iranian interim deal, from less than 10% of normal to roughly half of prewar averages on the eve of the June 25 drone incident.

A second strike on Saturday hit a tanker carrying crude for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the U.S. The U.S. responded with a second round of strikes on Iranian “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities.” Iran launched drone and missile strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain on Sunday.

After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.

Here’s where things stand and the reasons behind the current confusion.

Iran tries to assert its control over the strait

Iran demands that ships pass the strait using a route near its coastline. It has set up an agency to vet ships and collect information on crews, destination and cargo. It had also demanded payment in at least some cases. That meant a conundrum for ship owners and operators, because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is running the vetting process, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU. So paying the IGRC means exposure to risk of U.S. or EU sanctions.

Ships had increasingly used a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation that guided them using drones and aircraft. The ship that was hit was trying to use that route.

Control over the strait gives Iran leverage over the global economy, and over Trump. The effective closure of the strait sent U.S. gasoline prices higher, a politically sensitive issue ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections in November. Simple fear of Iranian drones or speedboats, it has turned out, is enough to deter ship traffic.

The US and Iran don’t agree on what they agreed on

U.S. officials say the interim agreement was that the strait would reopen, without Iran collecting money from passing vessels, for 60 days while a more permanent resolution to the war is negotiated.

Iran is citing language from the agreement which says that Iran “will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels” during the negotiating period.

Iran says that language means it’s up to Iran exactly how the strait reopens. The interim agreement says Iran will “conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the strait.”

Iran underlined that position by initially threatening vessels without taking action. At that point, enterprising ship operators started to test the Iranian position and took their chance to rescue vessels stuck for weeks in the Gulf. The day before the June 25 drone strike, 78 vessels passed the strait, including at least five large oil tankers with up to 2 million barrels of oil each, according to S&P Global. That was still below the 130 or more that was normal before the war. But oil prices fell to prewar levels, and a return to normalcy seemed to at least be on the horizon.

Ship traffic continues at somewhat lower pace

Ship traffic has continued, but at a somewhat lower pace than the day before the first Iranian strike, and an humanitarian evacuation by the UN's International Maritime Organization remains suspended.

On Sunday, there were 44 transits, 24 inbound and 20 outbound, with the “strait open with no disruption to freedom of navigation despite ongoing military operations,” according to marine data firm Windward. It said “most traffic has shifted north under Iranian coordination" and noted that “multiple” sanctioned tankers had crossed Sunday.

There was “elevated activity” by IGRC speedboats, with around 60 of the vessels patrolling in swarms around the U.S.-overseen southern corridor.

Of 108 crossings over the weekend, 39 used the U.S.-backed Omani route, 37 the Iranian route, while 23 were unknown due to their switching off their location systems and running dark, according to ship tracker MarineTraffic.com. Nine used a prewar route in the middle of the strait.

“The split suggests operators are still assessing risk cautiously, rather than returning to pre-crisis traffic patterns,” MarineTraffic.com said on X.

The oil market remains unruffled, US gasoline prices down

Oil prices fell after the U.S.-Iran memorandum raised hopes of an end to the conflict, and oil traders seem to have stayed with that approach.

International benchmark Brent crude rose 0.9% on Friday to $72.67 at 1430 GMT, close to its last close before the war of $72.48.

Other factors have combined to ease pressure on oil prices, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report Monday. Hit with higher fuel prices, consumers have scaled back energy use. IEA member governments released oil from emergency stocks. Exporters like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have ramped up alternative routes using pipelines that bypass the strait. Exports surged from other suppliers, most notably the US. Another major factor: the 40% drop in China’s oil imports between February and May, as China relied in part on drawing down its robust oil reserves.

U.S. gasoline pump prices have fallen back below $4 per gallon, averaging $3.86 as of Monday.

Experts say Iran’s position is contrary to international law

Multiple international law experts say Teheran’s demand to control the strait violates international law as set down in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994.

The treaty requires coastal states to permit peaceful passage through their waters. Iran’s stance raises concerns that other choke points, such as the Straits of Malacca in East Asia, could be subject to geopolitical power plays that disrupt global commerce, as Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz has done.

Trump says talks are coming, Iran hasn’t confirmed

The U.S. and Iran are supposed to negotiate a more lasting resolution, including the strait and the future of Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and ending the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.

Trump said Monday on social media that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts. However one of Iran’s top negotiators said no further talks had been scheduled.

Danh Thanh Dinh has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant. Both counts are considered first-degree felonies, court records show.

‘Stopping his deadly behavior’

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a call for a suspicious person just before 6 p.m. on June 23 in the 8400 block of Knapp Rise, which is located in far west Bexar County.

A BCSO deputy, who was the first to arrive on scene, noticed that the original home’s backyard gate was open. According to the affidavit, the deputy checked the home’s backyard and found blood on its back porch.

While exiting the backyard, the deputy saw Dinh armed with two knives attempting to enter the front of a home across the street, court documents state. The deputy also noticed one of Dinh’s hands was bloody.

The first deputy then called for backup. Two additional deputies, one of them identified in the affidavit as Deputy Calva, arrived at the scene at approximately 6:06 p.m.

The original deputy and Calva, who authorities said positioned themselves in the driveway of a home in the 8400 block of Spitfire Ranch, told Dinh to put down the knives and surrender. According to the affidavit, however, Dinh disregarded their commands.

Dinh then jumped off the porch of the Knapp Rise residence and waved the knives “in a threatening manner” toward the first deputy and Calva, documents show.

Once again, the deputies told Dinh to stop walking and drop the knives, but he refused. Calva then fired multiple gunshots at Dinh, “stopping his deadly behavior,” the affidavit states.

The third BCSO deputy on scene handcuffed Dinh. It is unclear how many times Dinh was struck by gunfire.

Court records show Dinh has a registered residence located next door to the original home law enforcement was dispatched to on June 23.

Dinh was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, according to the warrant. He underwent surgery for gunshot wounds to his abdomen and lower back area.

As of June 24, court documents show that Dinh was hospitalized “in critical but stable condition.”

Though Dinh has been in custody for the charges, the affidavit states, “he is not lucid enough to be magistrated.”

During a June 23 news conference, Sheriff Javier Salazar described the shooting as “an unfortunate incident” with Dinh “undergoing a mental health crisis.”

Salazar also said the three deputies on scene have since been placed on administrative leave. The deputy who shot Dinh is a 16-year veteran with the sheriff’s office.

KSAT reached out to BCSO Monday for additional information on the deputies placed on administrative leave.

According to Bexar County court records, when Dinh is booked into the Bexar County jail, he will face a $200,000 bond.

More recent crime coverage on KSAT:

• 3 women accused of murder in connection with deadly stabbing in Del Rio, police say
• Bodycam video shows San Antonio police officer shooting suspect who produced gun during pursuit

With rising political violence, including recent incidents near the White House, and a president who enjoys being at the center of public pomp yet has repeatedly faced attempts on his life, a major security challenge awaits.

“It comes as no surprise to you that D.C. on a normal day is a target-rich environment,” said Darren B. Cox assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office at a recent press conference detailing the security preparations. “We are prepared for any threats.”

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit Washington in the coming weeks for the festivities.

The throngs will be joined by thousands of law enforcement officers and agents and 5,000 National Guard troops, along with military-style vehicles and other hardware they don’t often see on the streets of America.

Authorities are preparing for a major security operation

The largest crowds are expected July 4, with multiple events happening simultaneously, including the Great American State Fair, a showcase for each state and a signature attraction of the celebrations that stretches across the National Mall.

The annual fireworks display that night is designated a National Security Special Event for the first time by the Department of Homeland Security, granting it the highest classification for federal security coordination.

For visitors, that means strict ID requirements, long lines and magnetometers, similar to air travel security. Snipers are also expected to be deployed at some events.

Flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is across the Potomac River from Washington, will be suspended longer than in other years because of the scope of the celebrations — from noon on July 4 until the next day. Other America 250 events that include flyovers or parachute jumps could prompt more flight disruptions.

The FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police and D.C. National Guard have all been involved in security coordination for the events. At the press conference earlier this month, equipment that could be deployed to guard the city was on display, including BearCat armored SWAT vehicles, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected, known as MRAPs, as well as communication vans and FBI diving boats.

“Our protective model is meant to adjust to any type of direct or indirect threats that we come across,” said Tara McLeese, special agent in charge of the Secret Service Washington Field Office. “I can assure you that we have no lack of imagination as to the potential threats out there."

Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, interim commander of the D.C. National Guard, said the planning had been underway for months and included rehearsals.

Blanchard said the guard members would continue the roles they have served the last 10 months as part of a deployment to the city President Donald Trump says is meant to fight crime. Blanchard highlighted that guard members, including military police officers, would be helping with duties like traffic and crowd control as well as responding to emergencies around the events.

President Trump, who has already attended several events leading up to July 4, including the kickoff rally last week launching the Great American State Fair, has said on Truth Social that he would hold a rally on the National Mall.

Speaking at a press conference Monday updating the upcoming security preparations, Cox reiterated that “at this time we are not tracking any credible threats related to the July 4th event, but we always remain vigilant.”

Recent violence has shaped the threat picture

The festivities come at a fraught moment, with recent political violence creating a complex threat environment for authorities. One man, Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president after he sprinted past security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April. Allen has pleaded not guilty.

In the following weeks, two men on two separate occasions opened fired at Secret Service officers, the service said. Each incident happened in the vicinity of the White House.

More recently, the FBI announced it had thwarted a planned attack targeting Trump’s UFC cage-fighting show at the White House. Several suspects have been arrested in that case.

Security was already enhanced on the National Mall ahead of the launch of festivities, as Trump claimed without providing evidence that vandals had damaged the Reflecting Pool that he had recently renovated.

Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University who studies extremism, said Trump posed a unique security challenge because he is “both an accelerant and a target of political violence.”

The nation’s bicentennial offers a historical parallel

Observers draw some parallels to the 1976 bicentennial. The nation was coming off Watergate and Vietnam and 10 months before the celebration there were two assassination attempts against then-President Gerald Ford.

“There was a lot of sourness in the country in ’76, a lot of cynicism about the direction of the country,” Dallek said. But both Ford and his democratic opponent Jimmy Carter understood the threat political divisions posed and “were looking to bring down the level of vitriol.”

Angelyn Spaulding Flowers, Professor of Homeland Security & Administration of Justice at the University of the District of Columbia, said the amount of security was unparalleled for the city, citing the ongoing and open-ended National Guard presence that has flooded Washington with additional security patrols for months.

A small fly has the potential to impart a big impact on Texas’ beef and agricultural industry.

On June 3, the New World screwworm was detected in a three-week-old calf in Zavala County by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since then, the agency reported more screwworm infestations in Texas.

The fly poses a multibillion-dollar crisis for the state’s cattle industry, which generates $41 billion a year. It could also increase already record-high beef prices nationwide.

It’s unclear how many cases could hit Texas. Nearly 28,000 cases have been detected in Mexico since November 2024, according to Mexican officials.

State and federal officials are working together to stop the northern migration, which they have tracked since 2023. In response to the cases, USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission have ramped up animal surveillance of animals near the confirmed detections by setting up zones around each infestation. Animals are not allowed to leave infested areas without being properly inspected.

Officials are also increasing fly traps, surveillance of wildlife and releasing sterile flies, which are used to break the reproduction cycle of the parasitic screwworm fly.

What is New World Screwworm?

New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that is attracted to living tissue, burrowing their larvae into open wounds. After they hatch, the maggots then feed off that living flesh, causing damage to the animal. If untreated, the damage can even cause the animal to die.

Screwworm can also burrow through openings in the skin, such as the corner of an eye or through the nose.

From a biological standpoint, all mammals are vulnerable to screwworm, including pets and humans. However, livestock and wildlife tend to be the most susceptible because they spend their entire lives outdoors.

Dogs and cats are vulnerable through small wounds or scratches that break the skin. Health officials recommend pets be medicated for fleas and ticks year-round, said Casey Locklear, veterinarian and parasiticides lead for Elanco Animal Health.

“As a pet owner, if you were to notice that your dog or cat had a wound, especially if it’s foul smelling, it’s enlarging, you may actually see the maggots,” Locklear said. “If you see a wound, get treatment early. Whether that’s for yourself or your pet, early treatment is key.”

Read more about the screwworm here.

POSITION OVERVIEW

As the Manager of Content and Coverage, you will work directly under the news director in a high-level news leadership role. This role is responsible for overseeing our multi-platform newsroom strategy though you midday and early evening. This role executes the daily newsroom strategic plan across broadcast, streaming and digital.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Supervises executive producer, executive reporter, planning editor and levels under those positions which include producers, reporters, content center/assignment desk, digital team members.
• Ensure newsroom strategic plan is carried out daily and is visible to our viewers and readers.
• Ensure the seamless flow of content across linear and digital platforms, with a high emphasis on creativity.
• Spearhead breaking news, pre-planned stories, and in-depth enterprise reporting.
• Works in conjunction with two other Managers of Content and Coverage, who oversee different departments or dayparts
• Maintain constant communication with news and creative services on content updates.
• Lead hiring processes and training initiatives for staff.
• Provide coaching, mentorship and development opportunities for team members.
• Ensure newsroom policies and guidelines are followed so the operation presents the strongest content possible on a faulty basis.
• Monitor and analyze KPIs to guide content and coverage strategies.
• Act as the news director in their absence.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.
• Drives content innovation, evolving with trends and technology.
• Helps identify and guide audience engagement

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• Proficiency across linear, digital, streaming, and social platforms.
• Exceptional news judgment and the capacity to think strategically on a large scale.
• A proven track record of 3 years of journalism leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to stay composed under pressure and make decisive judgments.
• An effective listener who pays attention to team input and industry trends.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior experience in significant newsroom leadership roles such as News Director, Assistant News Director, Managing Editor, Assignment Manager, or Executive Producer.
• A preferable academic background in broadcast journalism, broadcast news, or a related field.

Interested candidates, please submit your resume, cover letter and examples of creativity you lead to Jace Larson, News Director at jlarson@ksat.com

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KSAT 12 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, KSAT 12 will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination.

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Gotham announced signing Kerr on Monday to a deal that will keep her with the team through 2030. The move marks a return to the NWSL for Kerr, who previously played for Sky Blue — which later became Gotham — from 2015-17.

She also played for the Chicago Red Stars before moving to Chelsea in November 2019. Kerr remains the NWSL's top regular-season scorer with 77 career goals and led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from 2017-19. She won league MVP awards in 2017 and 2019.

Kerr, 32, also is the all-time leading scorer for the Australia, among men or women, with 75 international goals, surpassing men's leader Tim Cahill with 51. She led the Matildas to the semifinals of the 2023 Women's World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m incredibly excited to return to Gotham FC and to this city,” Kerr said in a statement released by the team. “This club was an important part of my journey, and to come back at this moment, with everything Gotham has built, is really special. The ambition here is clear, and I’m looking forward to helping this team compete for trophies and create more history.”

Known for her backflip goal celebrations, Kerr is widely considered one of the best strikers in the world. She's the only player to have won a Golden Boot in three different leagues.

“Sam is one of the defining players of her generation and a game-changing talent who has consistently delivered at the highest levels of world football,” said Yael Averbuch West, president of soccer operations for Gotham FC. “Her winning mentality, relentless competitiveness and ability to decide matches in an instant make her one of the most impactful players in the game. Bringing Sam back to Gotham is a landmark moment for our club, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Gotham won the league title last year and in 2023. The team’s loaded roster already includes such players as Esther González, who won the 2023 World Cup with Spain, German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, U.S. midfielder Rose Lavelle and England defender Jess Carter.

Kerr finished with 17 goals last season for Chelsea. She scored 65 goals in the Women’s Super League and won the league’s Golden Boot twice. She scored 116 goals in all competitions, tying Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer Fran Kirby. Chelsea won five WSL titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups during Kerr’s tenure with the club.

She also played professionally in the W League in Australia.

Kerr is married to American Kristie Mewis, who also played in the NWSL and the English WSL, as well as for the U.S. national team. The couple have a son, Jagger Mewis-Kerr, who was born in May 2025.

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

David Stearns went to the highest spot that he and his wife could reach. He used an American flag outside their home for cover.

Stearns told KSAT that he was in bed when the storm hit.

“I’m lying in bed, and I hear this terrible thunder one after another after another and all of a sudden it started to rain — just poured down,” he said.

Stearns soon found water rising quickly in the bedroom. His wife, Joan O’Connor, initially thought it was minor.

“First I thought, ‘Oh, man, now I’ve got to clean the floors again,’ because I just thought it was a little water on the floor,” O’Connor said.

As the water climbed, Stearns said his focus was getting his wife and dog out safely.

“My biggest concern, of course, is to make sure that Joan and the dog were safe,” he said.

The couple made it to a pergola outside their front patio — the highest structure they could float to.

“If it got any deeper, we’d have to go into the roof,” Stearns said.

O’Connor agreed that the water would have forced them up

“Well, the water would take you up there because we couldn’t climb up there,” O’Connor said.

When the water finally receded, their next-door neighbor, Rick, walked over to help. O’Connor recalled the moment that has become family lore.

“Rick comes over, and I said, ‘Rick, the water’s going down!’ I said David doesn’t have any clothes on,” she said. “And Rick went and wrapped that U.S. flag around him.”

Stearns provided KSAT with an explanation of what happened.

“OK, in my defense, the shorts that I had on irritated my stomach, so I took them off and threw them on the floor (the night before), and I couldn’t find them, because the water was already in the house,” he said.

Family, neighbors and nonprofits worked together to help the couple return home within six months. The flag that covered Stearns that morning is once again flying outside the house.

“Next March, I’ll be 100,” Stearns said. “Nobody lives till they’re 100.”

The couple told KSAT that they have also gained new friends — people who showed up to help and became part of their lives.

More Hill Country floods coverage on KSAT:

• Nonprofits team up to restore Guadalupe River after deadly Fourth of July floods
• Volunteer dive teams prepare Guadalupe River for summer visitors

Johnson, 40, spent 10 seasons in the league and last played in 2017 for the Arizona Cardinals. He said on ABC's “ Good Morning America ” that he was diagnosed with the fatal nervous system disease last year.

“Honestly, I don’t know if you really fully process it,” he said, using his eyes to communicate through a computerized speech-generating device during the interview with Michael Strahan. “At first you’re in shock. Then you realize you have two choices: You can give up or you can fight. I chose to fight.”

Johnson, a first-round draft pick out of East Carolina in 2008, rushed for 7,965 yards over six seasons with the Titans. The native of Orlando, Florida, had 2,006 yards in 2009 to earn the nickname “CJ2K” and ingratiate himself with the Tennessee fan base.

Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, in a statement released Monday, said the organization is holding Johnson, his wife and four children close.

“Some people leave a mark on an organization that you just can’t put into words. Chris Johnson is one of those people for us. His leadership on the field, in addition to his impact in the locker room and Nashville community have written him permanently into the story of this franchise," Adams Strunk said. “Learning this news is extremely difficult, and we will support Chris every step of the way throughout his journey."

ALS, which is an acronym for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative condition that affects nerve cell communication with muscles throughout the body. The disease leads to muscle weakness and can cause deterioration of the ability to move, speak and breathe.

Tim Shaw, who had a six-year career as a linebacker in the NFL and was a teammate of Johnson's with the Titans from 2010-12, was diagnosed in 2014 at age 30 with ALS and is still alive.

Johnson, who also played one season for the New York Jets, first noticed weakness in his right hand and trouble with his grip. He was still working out daily a year ago. Now he can't hold a cup or speak on his own.

“Your mind stays sharp. People sometimes look at a person with a physical disability and assume you’re not still the same person inside,” Johnson said. “I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family. My body just doesn’t cooperate.”

Johnson was joined for the interview by his wife, Brittany, who has become his primary caregiver.

“She hasn’t left my side through any of this. My kids are also a huge part of why I keep going,” Johnson said. “Every day I wake up wanting more time with them to make more memories and just be their dad. They give me a reason to keep fighting.”

Johnson has been participating in experimental treatments with the goal of extending his life and helping the medical field move closer to a cure for the disease.

“If it helps even one person get diagnosed sooner, inspires more research or gives another family hope,” he said, “then it's worth it.”

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

Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Ja Rule and Stevie Wonder were among the other musical stars at the service. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Adrien Brody, Hoda Kotb and Gayle King were among the other notables.

Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl said Davis would have been thrilled by the turnout. “Clive would have loved this,” she said. “He’d have been touched to have filled the house, thrilled by the superstars who have come to share tributes to him.”

The service was closed to the public but was livestreamed from Central Synagogue in Manhattan.

Davis, a record company lawyer who rose to become one of music’s most influential figures, launched the careers of numerous stars, including Whitney Houston, Springsteen, Keys and Kenny G, and influenced others such as Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.

Springsteen called him big, bombastic and brave. “He was born to run everything,” The Boss said. He remembered meeting him at age 22 in 1972, his anxiety rising. “I can’t wait to hear you,” Davis told him. After his audition, the executive simply said: “Welcome to Columbia Records."

"In those few words, he changed my life forever,” Springsteen said.

Davis died June 22 in his Manhattan apartment at the age of 94, a few weeks after he was hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue.

Buchdahl asked what song Davis most admired that was not something he had a hand in and was told “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” written by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg in 1938 for the film “The Wizard of Oz.” Buchdahl then sang a soaring version. “You have a home at Sony Music Classics,” joked Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music Entertainment.

Warwick told a story about how Davis urged her to work with Manilow in the late 1970s, which she initially resisted. But Davis’ suggestion was fruitful: Their partnership, the album “Dionne,” went platinum and earned two Grammy Awards. “So Barry and I became very, very good friends that day,” she said to laughter.

Manilow recalled Davis urging him to record the rock song “Brandy,” written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. Manilow turned it into a love song and played it for Davis. “Just do that,” Davis told him. They renamed it “Mandy.” It went to No. 1. “He believed in me from the very beginning,” Manilow said.

Hudson sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and then grew emotional as she transitioned to “I Will Always Love You,” a hit for Houston. ”We love you, Clive" she said before getting a standing ovation.

While many record execs saw their influence wane as they grew older, Davis' seemed to grow. He breathed new life into the careers of established artists such as Aretha Franklin and Santana, and helped launch Keys and several early “American Idol” winners' careers, including Kelly Clarkson's.

Springsteen said a world had died with Davis' passing — the record executive-led top-down changemakers that also included such visionaries as Berry Gordy, Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin and Jerry Wexler: “Men who defined, loved and sustained the record business.”

“There isn’t a day when I don’t sit on my big front porch in my big house, surrounded by my big cars with my big family, looking out over my big yard, and Clive doesn’t come somewhere whistling around the top of my brain,” Springsteen said.

Keys was in tears when she approached the podium and borrowed a handkerchief. “I'm actually not a crier. I'm in a strange place,” she told the crowd. She recalled being 15 when she first met Davis, running because she was late, and playing songs for him on a piano. “You saw something in me that I was just beginning to see in myself,” she read in a letter to Davis.

“In a world that so often reduces art to commerce, and genius to product, you held the line. You reminded me again and again that what we were doing was about truth and legacy, and about the human heart reaching out to another human heart and saying, ’You are not alone.”

Davis is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. An instrumental version of Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” played as Davis coffin was carried out of the synagogue.

Five people – four women and one man – died at the scene of the shooting in Stade, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital.

Police said several people were wounded, some of them seriously, German news agency dpa reported, but they did not give a specific figure or information on the victims’ identity.

Police said the shooting took place in the facility on Dankersstrasse, a street south of the town center. The facility includes temporary accommodation for pregnant women or young mothers with children.

There was no immediate word on a possible motive.

A main suspect was arrested, while another two people were subject to “police measures” on suspicion of involvement, police said in a statement. They didn't elaborate.

Video footage after the shooting showed a large police presence, along with other emergency service personnel and several ambulances on a residential street.

Germany’s gun laws are more restrictive than those in the United States, and mass shootings are rare but not unheard of.

Vitali Mertens, who lives across the street from the scene, said he heard gunshots and “the whole area was cordoned off right away.”

Stade has about 50,000 inhabitants and is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Hamburg.

Americans’ pride in the U.S. on several key attributes has dropped since 2017 — including the nation's military and its political influence around the globe — according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. This poll was conducted in April, as the United States and Iran fought over the Strait of Hormuz in a prolonged war that started with the U.S. and Israel launching strikes on Iran.

New Gallup polling also finds that only 53% of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American, the lowest reading in the trend dating back to 2001.

The findings point to a broad decline in patriotic sentiment over a tumultuous period that included most of President Donald Trump's first term, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation that contributed to a backlash against President Joe Biden. That timeframe also covers Trump's return to the White House, where he's taken more aggressive actions on immigration and issues abroad.

Much of the falling positivity comes from Democrats, who have become increasingly disenchanted with the country since Trump's first term.

At the same time, most U.S. adults say that being an American is “extremely” or “very” important to their identity, highlighting an enduring connection, even as some become increasingly critical of the country's past or the government’s current actions.

American pride declines on the armed forces and democracy

Americans' pride in the way democracy works in the U.S. has declined 14 percentage points, falling from 42% in February 2017 to 28% now.

In addition, Americans' pride in their armed forces has dropped 19 percentage points since 2017, and pride in the U.S.’s history has declined 14 percentage points. In each case, the drop is largely driven by Democrats, with some movement among independents as well.

Karla Galdamez — a 48-year-old Democrat who used to teach U.S. history — believes America has regressed under the Trump administration. While the Californian is not proud of Trump, she is pleased with how far the U.S. has come in 250 years.

“It’s a country that really wanted to be different and really wanted to be better," she said. "Despite some of the very ugly history that we have of segregation and slavery ... if you look at the trajectory of the last 250 years, we’ve done nothing but get better and move toward a more egalitarian nation.”

Only 14% of Democrats and 28% of independents say they are “extremely" proud to be an American, according to Gallup's new poll, compared with 70% of Republicans.

The AP-NORC poll found that Republicans are especially likely to be proud of the nation's armed forces. About 9 in 10 Republicans say the military makes them “extremely” or “very” proud, compared with about 6 in 10 U.S. adults.

Samantha Fulks, a 40-year-old in San Antonio, Texas, says she’s proud to be an American and doesn't hide it. The Texas Republican showcases that pride with an American flag in her front yard — as well as Trump flags in the back yard — and she plans to wear red, white and blue on the Fourth of July. Fulks comes from a military family, and while she believes the country's involvement in Iran is unnecessary, she remains a proud supporter of the military.

“I still support our troops no matter what they do,” Fulks said.

Being an American matters more for personal identity among Republicans and older adults

Matt Stafford, a 39-year-old in Massachusetts, is proud of being an American, even if the U.S. political system frustrates him.

He has a bald eagle tattooed on his back to represent the United States, its freedoms and “all the things we’re supposed to stand for as a country.” But despite that national pride, he often finds himself frustrated by politicians on both sides. Stafford — a centrist who identifies as “politically homeless” — wants Democrats and Republicans to come together to look out for their constituents in middle America.

“I love America, but our biggest problem is how we’re pushing both sides — like the left and the right — to the extremes," he said.

For many Americans, their partisanship is often intertwined with their national identity. The poll finds that Republicans are much likelier than Democrats or independents to say being an American is “extremely” or “very” important to their personal identity.

Younger people are also much less likely than older people to say being an American is highly important to their personal identity. About three-quarters of Americans ages 60 and older say being an American is highly important to them, compared with only about one-third of U.S. adults under 30.

Race or ethnicity matters more to many Black Americans

The AP-NORC survey found that the vast majority of Black Americans — 73% — say their race or ethnicity is “extremely” or “very” important to how they see themselves, higher than the share that say that about being an American.

Vincent Harris, a 60-year-old in California, says his identity as a Black man rises above other attributes for him because of how Black men are treated in America.

“A lot of people are scared of Black men just because we are Black and we are male. And that's crazy,” Harris said. “People don't even take you for who you are as a person; they just look at your race.”

About half of Hispanic Americans say their race or ethnicity is highly important to them, compared with 22% of white Americans.

Black and Hispanic adults are also more likely than white adults to say their family’s ancestry or country of origin is highly important to their personal identity.

Harris, who identifies as a gay man, says being an American is “a wonderful thing” because of the freedoms that Americans have, despite the obstacles he's had to overcome.

“It’s great to be an American — regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or whatever. As long as you have that freedom of choice as an American, that’s a great thing," Harris said. "Right now, I wouldn’t live in any other country in the world. I’m here. I love it.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

Just moments after Maher began to accept the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Matt Friend, a leading impersonator of the president, took to the stage and, in Trump's voice, joked that he would accept the award himself. Trump was a punchline for other comedians and entertainers, including Whitney Cummings, Jay Leno and Woody Harrelson.

For the most part, the barbs weren't particularly biting. Cummings, for instance, said that under Trump's influence, the Kennedy Center would host “white ‘Hamilton.’” And once Friend left the stage, Maher largely steered clear of hitting the president. The commentary was nonetheless notable for unfolding in an iconic performing arts venue that Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to bend to his favor, leaving its future in the coming years uncertain.

Accepting the award, Maher derided extremes in both political parties, rejecting what he called “groupthink.”

“If you hang around long enough and create something important enough, everyone hates you at some point,” Maher said.

The ceremony in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall wasn't purely political. There were plenty of jokes about Maher's fondness for marijuana, his rejection of organized religion and his penchant for controversy, including comments he made shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the cancellation of his television show, “Politically Incorrect.”

The Kennedy Center's uncertain future hangs over event

But the future of the Kennedy Center hung most prominently over the event.

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, the Republican president fired much of the center's leadership and installed a board largely composed of allies. It named Trump as chairman and his name was added to the building's iconic facade, prompting a legal battle that became a proxy fight over the extent of the president's power.

Trump later said the Kennedy Center would close in July for a two-year renovation. But U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper upended those plans in May by ruling that Trump's name was illegally added to the building, ordering it removed. The judge also has blocked the closure.

Trump's name has come down from the building, in compliance with the judge's order. But the part of the building once covered with letters spelling the president's name is now shrouded in a tarp. The full closure is on hold. Lawyers for the Kennedy Center have said they are not planning for now to build out programming.

Cooper has asked for an update next month on how long the tarp will remain on the building. For now, the final event scheduled for the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall is “The Freedom Gathering: A Musical Celebration” on July 3.

The legal fight has turned into a saga that at points became fodder for jokes at the Twain gala. At one point, Harrelson joked “we fixed that" in a nod to the court order calling for Trump's name to be removed from the building.

Ahead of the ceremony, Lutnick said Trump “wants to make this building sensational.”

But others were more skeptical. As he walked the red carpet ahead of the ceremony, Leno said Trump’s moves at the Kennedy Center were both “hilarious” and about “vanity.”

“It's not a war,” he said. “It's not people getting killed. It's not antisemitism. It's a silly thing covering a name. I mean what's funnier than that? I mean it's just like, you know it's high school with money.”

Friend said he felt there was a “hunger games vibe” as he entered the building.

“It's crazy,” he said of the changes Trump has pushed for.

Maher has a fraught relationship with Trump

Given Trump's sway over the Kennedy Center, Maher's selection for the award was notable because the two men have long had a fraught relationship.

Before he entered politics, Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher in 2013 for breach of contract. Appearing on Leno’s “The Tonight Show,” Maher said he would give $5 million to the charity of Trump’s choice if Trump could prove he was not “the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.”

Trump claimed that when he provided his birth certificate, Maher did not pay up, prompting the lawsuit. Trump ended up dropping it.

The Trump-Maher relationship exploded again earlier this year, when the president claimed on social media that he wasted time sitting down for a meal with the comedian last year. Lutnick noted that Trump had written out all the critical comments he'd made about Maher over the years and autographed the document.

“You've got to be able to laugh at it,” Lutnick said. “The president can laugh at it. Bill Maher can laugh at it. And that's what makes tonight great.”

Maher hosted Vice President JD Vance on his show heading into the weekend. Vance, who is promoting a book, said he watches the show and laughed at Maher's monologue “even though you were making fun of me.” During the interview, Maher pressed Vance on the Iran war, immigration enforcement and election conspiracy theories.

“You guys have two outcomes that an election can be,” Maher told Vance. “Either we win or they cheated. That s—- has to stop.”

The Twain prize ceremony will air on Netflix on July 21.

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Associated Press videojournalist John Carucci contributed to this report.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester also said he would move part of the prime minister’s office from London’s 10 Downing St. to northwest England as part of “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.”

“Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” Burnham said in a speech aimed at bringing voters, Labour Party colleagues and financial markets up to speed with his economic vision.

Burnham is the strong favorite to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last week.

“If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?” Burnham said. He set out a 10-year plan to get “good growth in every postcode,” in a country where wealth and power are concentrated in London and the south of England.

He said he would reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” — harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure. He also pledged to create new industrial jobs and better educational opportunities, and to reform the U.K.’s inefficient and expensive privatized water and energy utilities.

Moving the new ‘No. 10 North’ to Manchester

During the speech at the People’s History Museum in the city where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham said a new government office in Manchester – dubbed “No. 10 North” — would oversee regional development and become “the nerve center of a rewired Britain,” tasked with equalizing living standards across the country. Regional mayors would get more power over housing, welfare and education as part of his planned reforms.

Burnham’s rousing speech was short on specifics about where the government would find more money, and he didn’t take questions from journalists.

Burnham won praise for his role in revitalizing and regenerating Manchester, but he has not served in a U.K. government for almost two decades, and may struggle to replicate “Manchesterism” on a U.K.-wide scale.

The Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, said Burnham is right to focus on “rebalancing Britain."

“The U.K.’s concentration of power and opportunity in Westminster has held back growth, productivity and living standards for too long,” said IPPR Executive Director Harry Quilter-Pinner. “The real test now is delivery.”

Matthew Flinders, a politics professor at the University of Sheffield, said replicating Burnham’s Manchester approach on a national level would require “a fundamental shift" in the way politics is done in Britain.

“And at the heart of that would be moving from a very traditional, elitist, centralized model of politics toward something that is in many ways far more European, far more based on power-sharing in order to develop long-term policymaking capacity,” he said.

Burnham is likely to inherit Starmer's challenges

Burnham will be aware that Starmer also announced a 10-year mission — the equivalent of two full terms in government —- to transform Britain soon after he was elected in a landslide in July 2024. Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham won a special election for a seat in Parliament on June 18 and was sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22, the same day Starmer announced that he will resign as soon as a successor is chosen.

Burnham is so far the only contender in the Labour Party leadership contest. If no one challenges him, he will become prime minister by July 20.

While Burnham is considered more charismatic than the stolid Starmer, he will face many of the same political and economic challenges, including a sluggish economy, tattered public services and a cost-of-living squeeze. He will also be constrained by the platform the center-left Labour Party was elected on in 2024, with its pledges not to increase taxes on working people.

And like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to dramatically increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States.

The government’s long-awaited defense investment plan — which sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — is expected to be published before a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8. Starmer’s successor will be expected to stick to the commitments in the plan.

“Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians,” said opposition Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake. “Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.”

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Lawless reported from London. Associated Press Writer Brian Melley contributed to this story.

The majority declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented, calling on the court to reconsider the legal standards for public figures who claim defamation.

Alan Dershowitz said the news network aired only a portion of the comment made during his defense of the president, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind,” according to court documents.

The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said.

In his appeal, Dershowitz had urged the court to reconsider New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The landmark First Amendment case that made it harder for public figures to win libel lawsuits because it requires proof that an outlet knowingly published something false, or showed a reckless disregard for the truth.

Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor and legal commentator, was part of Trump's defense team during his impeachment trial over allegations that Trump wanted political favors from Ukraine in return for U.S. military aid. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

Dershowitz responded to a question at one point by saying, “the only thing that would make a quid pro quo unlawful is if the quo were somehow illegal." Providing arms to Ukraine, he said, isn't illegal.

He alleged that CNN only played what he said moments later: “Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest and, mostly, they are right, your election is in the public interest, and if the president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

Dershowitz said the edit made it seem like he was arguing a president could avoid impeachment for illegal acts as long as he was doing it to get reelected – a concept his original suit called “preposterous and foolish on its face.”

CNN countered by saying it did air his full remarks during its live coverage, and invited him on twice more to expand on his meaning.

Lower courts tossed out the suit, finding that Dershowitz hadn’t shown CNN acted with “actual malice” in its reporting, making it fall short of the standard set by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

Officers responded to the crash around 11:15 p.m. Sunday at the Northwest Loop 410 off-ramp to Interstate 10 westbound.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, the woman was traveling eastbound on Northwest Loop 410 when she lost control and crashed.

The woman was rushed to a hospital in critical condition, where she was later pronounced dead, police said.

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

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Health authorities in the coastal enclave said the drone strike hit a neighborhood in Deir al-Balah, one of the least damaged towns in central Gaza.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the fatalities were Hassan al-Hanagra and his 8-year-old grandchild, Malik Abu Shawish, along with another man. Abu Shawish, whose parents are divorced, was visiting his mother's tent at the time of the strike, and his mother was among seven people wounded in the strike, hospital officials said.

Israel's military said the strike was targeting a militant, but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed.

A strike in southern Gaza on Sunday killed Zaher Abu Salem, the Israeli military said, describing him as a member of Islamic Jihad who was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. A total of four people were killed Sunday in a flurry of strikes around Gaza, including a 13-year-old girl, Eileen al-Farra, who was hit by shrapnel from Israeli tank shelling and was buried Monday.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes, killing 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel says it is targeting militants, often saying they were planning attacks on Israeli troops who hold more than 60% of the Gaza Strip. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant attacks since the ceasefire.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Palestinian teen killed near Ramallah

Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided locations throughout the occupied West Bank, including near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reported a 15-year-old from Jerusalem was killed by a gunshot to the head.

Emergency crews transported Amir Jaber to the hospital from the al-Bireh area after attempting to resuscitate him at the scene, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. It also reported two injured by Israeli fire in a raid near Hebron, the West Bank's most populous city.

The Israeli military did not comment immediately.

The raid near Ramallah — the Palestinians' administrative capital in the West Bank — was among half a dozen throughout the territory reported by WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, on Monday.

At least 59 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported last week.

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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, its forces have conducted bombing in an effort to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure and sap morale. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the U.N.

A Russian missile targeting infrastructure struck the central city of Dnipro, killing five people and wounding 29, Zelenskyy said on social media. Russian drones also hit a passenger minibus in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three and wounding six, including a child, he said.

Russia drones also killed a 69-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man in the northeastern Sumy region, National Police said. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a daytime Russian strike killed one person and wounded five others in the northeastern city.

Other deadly attacks occurred in at least six other regions of Ukraine, authorities said. No further details were immediately available.

Strikes leave some Ukrainians without power

Some customers in eight Ukrainian regions were left without power Monday after Russian strikes, while hot weather drove up electricity use as people turned on air conditioners, grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Zelenskyy renewed his plea for Europe to step up its development of air defenses to block Russia’s ballistic missiles.

“People need greater protection from such horrific attacks,” Zelenskyy said. “Above all, we need anti-ballistic capabilities. It is essential that Europe is as active as possible in developing its own anti-ballistic defense – its own systems and missiles.”

Putin says expanding Ukrainian drone attacks won't stop the war

A marked shift has taken place in the war in recent months, Western officials say, as Ukraine’s expanding drone strikes have brought fuel shortages in Russia and Russia-occupied territory. The attacks have weakened the Russian military’s supply lines to the front in eastern and southern Ukraine, slowing their advance, according to analysts.

Ukraine’s innovative drone engineering has given it an edge and made it a world leader in the technology’s military use. It is now helping partner countries after previously pleading for foreign military support.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russia’s oil facilities have caused fuel shortages. The scarcity has triggered public anger and frustration as people wait in line for hours at gas stations.

But Putin ruled out making concessions to end the invasion and insisted that Russia will ultimately prevail in the war despite what he called “temporary” setbacks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s position on Ukraine remains unchanged, insisting that Russian troops are continuing their front-line offensive.

Their effort “makes us confident that our goals will be achieved,” Peskov told reporters.

Russia's battlefield progress is waning, analysts say

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Kremlin's stance is an attempt to push the West and Ukraine to giving in to Russia’s demands.

But, it added, “Russia’s battlefield performance continues to decline in 2026 and Russia’s ability to seize its objectives militarily is in question.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 209 Ukrainian drones from late Sunday through early Monday.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 82 of the 108 drones that Russia launched overnight.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon.

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

Pakistan said the operations were launched in response to militant attacks across Pakistan. Security forces carried out a ground operation along the border late Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

Afghanistan condemned the strikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces as a “cowardly act of aggression” and an “act of brutality.” Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the deputy minister for publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said Afghanistan would respond “in due time.”

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, said Pakistani forces targeted a home in Paktia's Chamkani district, killing an older man and a child, while other family members were wounded. When residents gathered to rescue people, the area was struck again, killing 28 villagers and wounding 158, he said.

Six people, mostly women and children, were killed in a village in Giyan district, Paktika province, when another home was struck, he said. A civilian home in Kunar province was also hit, causing no casualties but killing some 30 livestock.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan independently confirmed that at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 others were wounded in the strikes, including women and children. It added that the figures were preliminary and could increase.

Pakistani officials said an uneasy calm prevailed along the border Monday, with security forces remaining on high alert.

Envoys are summoned over the attacks

On Monday, Afghanistan and Pakistan summoned each other's top diplomats to protest the attacks.

Zia Ahmad Takal, the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesperson, accused Islamabad of repeatedly blaming Afghanistan for security incidents inside Pakistan without “credible evidence.”

Pakistan’s behavior “seriously harms the atmosphere of trust between the two countries, good neighborly relations and the security and stability of the region,” Takal said.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Afghanistan’s top diplomat in Islamabad to protest the involvement of Afghan nationals in recent attacks, including one in Karachi over the weekend.

Militant attacks targeting Pakistan’s police and security forces have surged in recent years. Authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and allied militant groups for most of the violence. The Pakistani Taliban are separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that returned to power in 2021.

Tarar, the Pakistani information minister, shared three videos on X that he said showed projectiles striking sprawling camps and safe havens of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khawarij in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces. Tarar said the overnight strikes killed “terrorists” and destroyed weapons and ammunition stockpiles.

Pakistan uses the phrase “Khawarij” to refer to Indian-backed Pakistani Taliban and other militants. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

Tarar said Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign “will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”

India, however, denied any involvement, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling the statements “baseless allegations.” Pakistan should “look inwards, take credible action against the terror infrastructure on its territory,” he said.

Pakistan launches operation after assault in Karachi

The Pakistani security operation followed a militant attack targeting the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi that killed three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another assailant, whom the military identified as a wounded Afghan national.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack.

Officials in Pakistan claimed one Afghan suspect was captured following the attack, saying that “Afghan soil and Afghan nationals continue to be used to orchestrate terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.” Police later released the statement of the wounded Afghan detainee, who said the Karachi attack was planned by Jamaat‑ul‑Ahrar, though it was unclear if the confession was made under duress.

Sunday’s cross-border strikes and ground operation came less than three weeks after Pakistan’s military launched airstrikes on what it said were militant hideouts in Afghanistan. They ended about a month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an “open war” between the neighboring countries, despite international efforts to broker a lasting peace.

The escalation follows months of military action. Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

Multiple rounds of talks have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire. China hosted the two sides in April and Beijing later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a solution.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed from Islamabad.

They walked the coed Paris runways at Amiri and Ami. At Vetements, women modeled many of the “menswear” looks, and Sharon Stone closed the show in thigh-high boots.

Inside fashion, none of this was eyebrow-raising.

The gender blur was not happening on the margins. It was built into Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which ended Sunday, where a multibillion-dollar luxury industry shows what it thinks men will want next.

It has reached menswear advertising, too.

A pregnant Rihanna became the face of Pharrell Williams’ first Louis Vuitton men’s campaign in 2023, appearing on a giant Paris billboard with her baby bump exposed and arms full of Vuitton bags.

“It’s not something completely new,” said Joseph McBrinn, art historian at Ulster University.

Women have paraded through menswear collections for so many seasons that it barely registers with fashion insiders anymore — even as a Gen Z mainstream, only now catching up to the gender-bending David Bowie flaunted in the ’70s, treats it as the cutting edge.

In recent decades, he said, fashion has moved “from very binary understandings of gender and fashion to something which is today very fluid” — reflective, he added, of how younger people now think.

The deeper confusion: They do not always travel together.

At Issey Miyake’s IM Men, by the brand’s account, the cast was entirely male — yet the show still read as androgynous.

The border between his and hers keeps eroding, on the body and on the calendar. It has not vanished, and its erosion owes as much to money as to gender.

“Androgyny only works because people understand what is being crossed,” said Andrew Groves, menswear systems professor at the University of Westminster.

The real story is not that menswear has escaped its rules, but that designers are finding new freedom inside one of fashion’s narrowest rule books, Groves added.

The runways look like they are erasing gender; the categories are exactly what make the gesture legible.

This season's men's clothes borrowed freely from womenswear

For Jonathan Anderson, Dior’s first ever designer to oversee both its men’s and women’s lines, models wore pearls, pink and sheer blouses with soft bows at the throat; the collection, he told reporters, was about how he "connects with the feminine.”

At Saint Laurent, men bared their chests in second-skin tops, wore briefs cut from leather and walked in transparent shoes lifted from the women’s runway.

The house opened Paris Men’s Week, and its menswear push is not only aesthetic: Saint Laurent has reportedly set a target of doubling men’s sales by 2030.

Many houses have folded men’s and women’s collections into one coed runway. Once provocations, such shows became a calendar strategy by the late 2010s — part creative, part convenient, mostly commercial.

When Anthony Vaccarello took over Saint Laurent in 2016, he scrapped its separate menswear show and sent men down the women’s runway, restoring a men’s show only in 2018; Vetements and Balenciaga merged theirs around then too.

“I don’t think having men and women on the same runway means a greater belief in nonbinary genders,” said Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “That’s really more of an economic thing.”

One show costs less than two

A mixed approach consolidates the media moment and lets a designer tell a single story. That matters in a luxury market under pressure – it’s been a weaker period for the sector in the last couple of years.

Women already buy menswear, which helps explain why Ami, founded in 2011 as a men’s brand, added womenswear.

The blurring of the clothes is the older story. Long before “nonbinary” was common usage, Yves Saint Laurent put women in men’s tailoring in 1966, Bowie smudged the line in the ’70s and Jean Paul Gaultier sent men out in skirts in the ‘80s. Fashion ran years ahead of the language.

Suzy Menkes, the veteran fashion critic, sees the history stretching even further back. Men once wore “the most dramatic, precious, glamorous and priceless jewels,” she noted, without doubting that they were suitable for men. The 20th century, she said, narrowed that idea of male dress before fashion began reopening it.

The exchange has never been equal: A woman in a man’s suit is, 60 years on, unremarkable; a man in a skirt or heels still reads as transgression.

“Women’s bodies are still consumed in ways that men’s bodies are not,” McBrinn said.

Men, he added, “can still be seen as deviant” when they cross the line.

Off the runway, the moment is volatile: combative online masculinity, “manosphere" influencers like the Tate brothers, a wave of anti-trans laws.

Last year, J.Crew set off a conservative uproar by marketing a pink sweater to men — even as Dior, Paul Smith and Willy Chavarria sent pink down their own runways. The fight was cultural, but not only: reports said pink apparel sellouts rose 17% year-on-year in spring-summer 2025.

Menkes said color is part of the same story. Postwar Europe helped harden the idea that some colors were “suitable” for men, she said, and it took “a surprisingly long time” for shades such as lilac or pale pink to be accepted as male choices.

Steele said openness to androgyny crested in the 1920s, the ’70s and the ’90s, then receded each time.

“Everything is moving to the right,” McBrinn said. “Fashion may go back to being much more entrenched within gender binary” — perhaps, he warned, within five to 10 years.

The stakes run past the runway

After years of expanding legal protections for LGBTQ+ people, progress is reversing in many countries, with transgender people at the center of the fight.

“We are seeing tremendous backlash internationally against trans people,” Steele said.

In the end, Steele said, the runway matters less than the office and the dinner table. People shift when they see androgynous clothes on friends, colleagues or men around them.

Increasingly, they are just clothes.

We take you inside Bunz, a mouth-watering burger spot in downtown San Antonio. You won’t believe their fries and shakes, too.

It’s a San Antonio staple on the River Walk--we go inside Boudro’s on the River Walk for history, food and culture.

Were you told you dental implants aren’t you for? That may not be the case anymore. Stone Ridge Dental is helping more people than ever - get the smile of there dreams.

It’s summer time & one of the best ways to cool off is a day at Schlitterbahn. We find out what’s new, what’s been upgraded, & we go ahead and try out some of the rides ourselves.

We visit the local & family-owned Flaming Wok Express to check out the tasty menu & see what customers are saying.

She's filling in for Joy Behar on ABC's “The View.” Appearing alongside Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Starring in a CNN documentary. Preparing a national tour. And churning out four podcasts most weeks featuring long-form interviews and commentary.

It's a ubiquity born of more than three decades chronicling the technology industry with a professed indifference to power that vaulted her into a rare echelon of journalism celebrity.

She harnessed that reputation to persuade rivals Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to appear onstage together and make Mark Zuckerberg so uncomfortable under questioning that he broke out into a sweat. She had Elon Musk's cellphone number — the two aren't currently speaking — and often texts tech and business leaders.

She's betting the influence that made her a Silicon Valley force will translate into politics as podcasts supplant traditional media as a destination for candidates seeking attention.

During Republican President Donald Trump's second term, potential Democratic presidential candidates ranging from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris to onetime Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel have appeared on Swisher's shows. She expects that roster to grow.

“We get called by all the presidential candidates,” the 63-year-old Swisher said in an interview at her home in a leafy corner of Washington, where her trademark high self-regard was on display. “We’re going to get to all of them.”

Swisher is hardly the only podcaster talking politics. Conservatives like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson and some liberals like the former Barack Obama aides who host “Pod Save America” have larger audiences. They're all dwarfed by Joe Rogan.

But Swisher, who has evolved from a traditional print journalist to business owner and podcast host, has few rivals who can match her technology expertise and connect those observations to the broader political debate.

“When I first went on her podcast when I just got into Congress in 2017, she was very well respected in tech circles,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat whose district includes Silicon Valley. “But now she's emerged as a larger cultural force, especially at a time where there's such anger at the tech billionaires and tech arrogance.”

Interviews that produce revealing moments

When she's not on the road, Swisher typically records from a basement studio in the Washington home she shares with her wife, children and a cat named Lovely. The conversations on her interview podcast “On with Kara Swisher” are often referenced later on “Pivot,” which she co-hosts with entrepreneur Scott Galloway.

They frequently produce revealing moments, as when Newsom filled in for Galloway on “Pivot.” Swisher derided him for being too easy on Steve Bannon when the longtime Trump aide appeared on Newsom's own podcast.

“You had an opportunity to engage,” Swisher pressed. “Why not engage?”

The typically self-possessed Newsom conceded, “I'm not the pro that some of these others are, but I appreciate the insight.”

Swisher pushed Buttigieg on why he took so long to say President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, shouldn't have sought reelection. Buttigieg said he wasn't consulted.

“Sure, but you have eyes,” Swisher responded.

Her interview with Harris captured the former vice president's tenacious side as she called policies from Trump's Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “f----- up.” Harris said gravely that she “can't laugh” about such matters, though Swisher noted on a later podcast that the two had just joked about Kennedy backstage.

“Be the person backstage because that's the person who gave a great answer,” Swisher said in the later podcast.

In an interview, Newsom said Swisher “calls out my bulls—-.”

“She'll send me missives unsolicited,” he said. “She's usually right, and it drives me crazy.”

Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who has long known Swisher, agreed that being interviewed by Swisher is “not a layup.”

Even Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a rare Republican to go on her show, said it was a worthwhile experience despite being pressed on whether his willingness to speak out against the Trump White House emerged only after he opted against reelection.

“If you’re a politician, you should be able to walk up anywhere and hold your own,” Tillis said. “Do the prep, get on the show. You may end up having an opportunity, like in my experience, to give a completely different perspective.”

‘Pivot’ was initially focused on tech and business

Shaping the political conversation wasn't the objective when “Pivot” launched in 2018.

Galloway, who hosts his own “Prof G” and “Raging Moderates” podcasts, recalled the idea for “Pivot” was to focus on the intersection of technology and business. That's still much of the show's focus, but the biggest stories in those spaces, such as the initial public offering for Musk's SpaceX or the rise of artificial intelligence, are now inevitably linked to politics.

“Show me a big business or tech story, and I'm going to show you a political overlay,” Galloway said.

The expansion converges with a sense of urgency among Democrats to be more aggressive on digital platforms, where audiences are increasingly concentrated.

“The single most important quality that every candidate needs to have is the ability to talk and the ability to talk anywhere,” said Teddy Goff, the co-founder of Precision Strategies and the digital director for Obama's 2012 presidential campaign. “That might mean a two-hour podcast interview. It might mean a 15-second digital video.”

Democrats are still stung by Rogan's nearly three-hour Trump interview in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign. Rogan, who doesn't consider himself a journalist, has said Harris' campaign didn't agree to his terms. Harris has described being spurned by Rogan.

Swisher agreed Democrats should embrace podcasts but insisted she's not a left-leaning counter to Rogan.

“You can’t manufacture this stuff,” she said. “It just doesn’t work, right? The kids like what the kids like.”

Still, the podcasts add up to influence and financial success.

Galloway said “Pivot,” which is effectively a joint venture between himself, Swisher and Vox Media, will be a $15 million to $20 million business this year. With a staff of just five, that's a robust moneymaker as media is disrupted by a wave of mergers and acquisitions.

Vox Media itself has been reborn after a recent acquisition by James Murdoch, who swept New York magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network and the Vox editorial brand into a single company where podcasts are the fastest-growing business.

“Podcasts are the NBA,” Galloway said. “There’s a small amount of people making a lot of money.”

A goal to be popular ‘among the entire populace’

While Swisher largely hosts Democrats, she's recently interviewed Tillis and Scott Jennings, a conservative CNN commentator. She hopes to soon bring on additional Republicans and said she texted Steve Hilton's wife, a former Google executive, in hopes of booking him shortly after he advanced in California's governor's race.

“What we’re going for is to be popular among the entire populace,” she said. “So that people who don’t feel they want to be in a constant state of anger, whether it’s on the left or the right, can have a place to go.”

But her barbed comments about Trump and other Republicans could complicate that goal.

Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, said shows like Swisher’s can sometimes “butt right up against the type of podcasts that I would not consider journalism.”

“The way you separate them out is that the intention and the system surrounding the podcast is engineered in a way to create fact-based information,” she said.

Swisher describes her work as “reported analysis,” citing tech writer Om Malik, who died last week, as an inspiration.

As for the tone of the podcasts, it's all part of the authenticity that is central to Swisher's brand. Beyond the takes on the day’s news, she and Galloway have developed a strong — if unlikely — chemistry in which his penchant for vulgarities can make her seem almost highbrow.

“We don’t shy away from our faults,” she said. “We don’t shy away from our biases. You know, we don’t shy away from things that most people try to.”

With all 32 places in his cold room taken, Zouhaeir Hertelli reluctantly has to gently say “Non,” over and over and over again.

“We're facing a really catastrophic situation," he said. “I'm getting hundreds of calls."

As the historic heat wave shifted its deadly temperatures eastward this weekend to other parts of Europe, France began counting the human cost it left in its wake.

Tallying heat-related deaths could take time

The statistical and public health work of tallying heat-related deaths could take weeks or months. But it's already apparent that the toll exacted by the intense, unrelenting extreme temperatures was terrible in France, the first country hit from mid-June, particularly among older people who died at home.

“We're dealing with an enormous spike of deaths because of the heat wave and we're really full, full, full,” Hertelli said.

In its first preliminary estimate, the national public health agency said deaths surged during the heat wave's peak in France last week, which roasted most of Europe's largest country with temperatures that soared in many places above 40C (104 F) and also broke records for nighttime highs — an exhausting one-two punch for fatigued bodies.

Public Health France said there were more than 1,200 deaths last Wednesday, when France registered its hottest-ever day, breaking a record that had been set just the previous day. By way of comparison, the pre-heat wave death rate in April and May was around 900 to 1,000 per day, it said.

There were more than 1,400 deaths on Thursday and another 1,400 on Friday, it said.

The agency cautioned that its estimate of at least 1,000 additional deaths during those three sizzling days is expected to increase as more death certificates come in for people who died at home and in care facilities for older people, where most deaths are still not registered electronically.

"Mortality will as a consequence be higher than these first figures,” the agency said.

Many who died were 65 and older

It said that 85% of the deaths registered so far during the three days it studied involved people aged 65 and above and that there was a sharp increase in deaths at home — up by about 40% — particularly in the Paris region.

Hertelli and others in the funeral industry said Paris mortuaries quickly ran out of storage space. City Hall said two temporary storage units, with 20 places each, were installed for municipal mortuaries and that city hospitals provided another 50 additional places.

Still, Hertelli said funeral directors he spoke to told him they were having to store bodies as far away as Chartres — 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Paris — and in other regions around the capital. To open more space, he said he has asked authorities for permission to temporarily install refrigerated containers outside his mortuary, which is next to Paris' Orly airport, but is still waiting for a green light.

“Families are suffering,” he said. “We have no solution to offer them, because the funeral homes are full. So we are deeply affected, we have empathy for them, but there’s nothing we can offer. We are really facing a problem, a big problem," he said.

Temperatures reached historic highs

Historic high temperatures in 2003, surpassed this time, were blamed for 15,000 deaths, provoking a national reckoning about care of older people, who were particularly hard-hit. More than 5,700 deaths were also attributed to heat during an exceptionally hot summer last year.

Véronique Bertrand, a Paris funeral director, said she fears that lessons have been forgotten.

“Most of the deaths that we are dealing with at the moment were people who were living alone at home, isolated. Given the circumstances in which they were found, there can be no other conclusion than that these were deaths caused by the heat," Bertrand said.

“I think people absolutely need to wake up, that solidarity needs to come back, that what happened in 2003 led to a movement in that direction, with people thinking about their neighbors, of those around them who live alone and perhaps checking from time to time that they're drinking water and are being looked after," she said.

"With the passing years, we’ve perhaps forgotten that it could happen again and that things would even perhaps be worse.”

Dong had been locked up in China several times, including for his activities commemorating the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and past efforts to flee.

“It’s like living in a cage. Very suffocating,” he said in an online video interview with The Associated Press from Toronto, referring to the lack of freedom of expression in China.

After his release from prison, the 68-year-old dissident said he was unable to receive retirement benefits or renew his passport and was under constant police monitoring.

China's Foreign Ministry said the government handles the entry and exit of its citizens in accordance with the law and that Chinese citizens must abide by the Constitution and the law.

Dong attempted to flee at least three previous times: in 2015 to Thailand, where authorities deported him back to China; in 2019 when he tried to swim to a Taiwanese island off China's east coast; and in 2020, when he reached Vietnam, only to be deported back again.

Last month, he tried again.

Dong says he shook off the fear of death

In the early hours of May 24, he set off in a gray rubber dinghy fitted with an engine from Weihai, a coastal city in eastern China’s Shandong province, under fine weather. He was eyeing Japan, confident that the government there would not send him back to China.

But the next day brought fog. When he noticed his phone, which he relied on for GPS navigation, was on its last bar, he became terrified. His power bank also died. He quickly switched to his contingency plan — South Korea.

Dong recalled that dread ran deep because his tiny boat might capsize if the winds and waves picked up. But he had no way to return and shook off the fear of death.

“Living conditions back in the country are so terrible that being alive is little different than being dead. So there is no point fearing death," he said. “If you move forward, there’s a chance at life.”

In the evening, he saw lights in the distance and moved toward them. The first vessel could not hear his cries for help and left. Later, he encountered a fishing boat that agreed to pull him on board. He asked the fishers to call the police to help him.

The South Korean coast guard detained him for allegedly violating the country’s immigration law. They sought a warrant to formally arrest him, but a court refused, saying it’s “difficult to recognize sufficient grounds and necessity” for his arrest.

From refugee center to Canada

Dong was later sent to a refugee center in Incheon, a port city near Seoul. Earlier this month, the U.N. refugee agency contacted him via video call, he said.

A refugee center manager later asked about his height, weight and his eye color. He was worried at first but it turned out to be a good sign. His lawyer told him it was at the request of the Canadian diplomatic mission, he said.

About a week later, Dong boarded a flight and he arrived in Toronto Friday. He was still unclear what legal procedures were involved in his move, but guessed it was based on cooperation between the South Korean and Canadian governments and the U.N. agency.

“I feel very surprised, extremely surprised. It's like still in a dream. It's very fast,” he said.

He believed the resettlement status in Canada that his family secured in 2015, before Thai authorities deported him back to China, was still valid.

The Canadian Embassy in South Korea declined to comment on Dong's case. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the country handled the case “in accordance with law and principle,” but did not specify Seoul’s role in arranging Dong’s transfer to Canada. The U.N. refugee agency declined to comment on individual cases for reasons of confidentiality and protection.

Dong vows to press on with his activism

Dong said he feels at home after arriving in Toronto, saying he finally tasted freedom for the first time in over a decade.

"There’s not even a hint of fear,” he said.

He hopes to make a living, possibly by being a truck driver or an Uber driver.

But the joy doesn't help Dong let go of the deportations by the Thai and Vietnamese authorities.

In 2015, Dong and his family went to Thailand to seek refugee status from the U.N. refugee agency, but Thai authorities later arrested him and returned him to China, according to Amnesty International. His ex-wife and daughter managed to settle in Canada.

The activist fled to Vietnam in 2020, but was sent back in 2022. He was jailed each time he was returned to China. He said he plans to consult a lawyer to see if he can sue both Thailand and Vietnam.

For Dong, the fight is far from over. He also plans to press on in his call for China's democratization.

In the late 1990s, the former police officer distributed leaflets with his articles on topics such as the Tiananmen crackdown. He was imprisoned for three years in 2001 for inciting subversion of state power.

He also spent more than eight months behind bars over his participation in a memorial for victims of the crackdown after being arrested in 2014, he said.

“My ultimate goal is for China to achieve constitutional democracy," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Emergency dispatchers received a 911 call just before 6:30 p.m. reporting a child who was in the water and had not resurfaced, according to the bulletin.

Witnesses told officials that two children were in the water when both began to struggle. A bystander was able to pull one child from the lake, but when the bystander returned for the second child, they could not locate them in the water.

A city spokesperson told KSAT the children were friends, but said it would not release any other information regarding the incident at this time.

The police department asked residents and guests to avoid the area in a Facebook post about 30 minutes after the call was received.

The lake remained closed for the rest of the day Sunday as officials continued to search for the child. Search efforts were later suspended and will return Monday morning.

Sunday marks at least the second drowning reported this summer, after an 80-year-old man drowned over Memorial Day Weekend.

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Sister Letty was released from ICE custody Sunday night after she was detained earlier that morning, according to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg.

After communicating with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Tom Homan, I’m pleased to share that Sister Letty is on her way home. The order has been given for her to be released today instead of tomorrow, and she’ll be home tonight. My office stayed engaged with the Department of… pic.twitter.com/na3RY7AeX9

— Rep. Henry Cuellar (@RepCuellar) June 28, 2026

Both Cuellar and De La Cruz said they communicated with the Department of Homeland Security and expressed gratitude for the swift resolution.

“As I have repeatedly said, our immigration enforcement should target violent criminals,” De La Cruz said in an earlier post. “A Catholic nun on her way to church is not a threat to our community.”

KSAT reached out to ICE for comment, and this story will be updated once a response is received.

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Introduced by Ice Cube, the eight-time Grammy winner was honored with performances at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater from SZA, Doechii, Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Common, her children Selah Marley and Zion Marley, who revisited songs from Hill’s stellar catalog while she stood smiling, singing along and applauding throughout the tribute.

After she accepted the honor, Hill encouraged artists to embrace their gifts and remain true to their purpose.

“I fight for y’all,” Hill said. “And fighting for y’all is me fighting for myself, it’s me fighting for my children, it’s me fighting for my community.”

The Living Legend Icon Award recognizes pioneers whose work has remained culturally essential across generations. Hill first emerged as a member of the Fugees before releasing her landmark solo debut, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” featuring classics including “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Ex-Factor” and “Everything Is Everything.”

Janet Jackson surprises Teyana Taylor with honor

Teyana Taylor fought back tears Sunday after an emotional surprise at the BET Awards:Janet Jackson walked onto the stage to present Taylor with the Icon of the Year Award.

Taylor, visibly stunned as Jackson received a standing ovation, embraced the music legend before thanking one of her biggest inspirations.

“They did not tell me Janet was coming,” Taylor said through tears. “There will be no me without you.”

Presenting the award, Jackson praised Taylor’s relentless work ethic and artistic range, highlighting her Golden Globe win for best supporting actress in “One Battle After Another” and calling her gifts “God-given.”

The Icon of the Year Award recognizes a creative force whose influence is shaping culture. Taylor has evolved from a multiplatinum recording artist into an award-winning actor, director, producer and choreographer.

Accepting the honor, Taylor reflected on her two-decade career.

“I worked my (expletives) off 20 years,” she said. “So I’m not accepting what I’ve earned with arrogance. I’m accepting what I’ve earned with gratitude.”

BET Awards remembers Clive Davis, Richard Smallwood and other trailblazers

The BET Awards paused to honor influential figures from music and entertainment who died over the past year during an emotional in memoriam tribute.

Erica Campbell of Mary Mary introduced the segment by reflecting on the enduring legacies left behind by those who died, paying special tribute to the late gospel composer Richard Smallwood, whose music she said strengthened her faith. She also remembered the late music executive Clive Davis, who died earlier this week at 94, before performing Whitney Houston’s “I Love the Lord” with Le’Andria Johnson.

The tribute remembered Smallwood, Davis, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and others whose contributions left a lasting mark on music, television and culture.

D’Angelo honored with all-star tribute

The show also celebrated the late D’Angelo’s legacy with a star-studded tribute that opened with appearances by his three children.

Ari Lennox, BJ the Chicago Kid, Durand Bernarr, George Clinton and RAYE were among the artists who honored the singer with performances of his music, celebrating the enduring influence of one of R&B’s most acclaimed voices.

Sylvia Rhone honored for shaping generations of artists

Music executive Sylvia Rhone received the BET Ultimate Icon Award in recognition of her groundbreaking leadership and lasting impact on the music industry.

Presented by Kelly Rowland, the honor celebrated Rhone’s trailblazing career as the first Black woman to lead a major record company owned by a Fortune 500 corporation. A video tribute featured messages from artists including Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes, highlighting her role in helping develop the careers of performers such as Tracy Chapman, Brandy, Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Future, Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator.

While accepting the award, Rhone dedicated the honor to the artists and creative teams she has worked alongside throughout her career.

“Tonight’s honor bears my name, but it really belongs to all of us who create culture,” she said.

Rhone also used the moment to urge the music industry to protect artists as artificial intelligence reshapes the business.

“We make the algorithm. The algorithm doesn’t make us,” she said. “We must honor the musician. We must compensate the creator.”

She concluded by calling on the industry to ensure the next generation of artists has the opportunity to create “the songs that will change the world.”

Druski opens BET Awards with dramatic entrance

Druski made a grand entrance to kick off the BET Awards on Sunday, descending from the rafters in a harness as a choir filled the theater with a rendition of Kirk Franklin’s “Revolution,” setting the tone for a night celebrating music, comedy and culture.

The comedian and digital creator made history by becoming the youngest host of the ceremony. The show's opening performances featured Kehlani, who sang “Folded” with Jamie Foxx and his daughter, Anelise Estelle Foxx, on guitar. Don Toliver also performed his hits “E85” and “Body.”

Accepting the award for best female R&B/pop artist, Kehlani admitted she hadn’t prepared a speech, instead marveling that “Janet Jackson is here,” before telling the icon she was “really honored to be here” among the night’s talent.

Druski, 31, surpassed Kevin Hart, who previously held the distinction as the BET Award’s youngest host when he emceed in 2011.

Throughout the night, Druski leaned into his comedic persona with appearances alongside Martin Lawrence and Latto. Lawrence jokingly shut down Druski’s pitch to appear in the next “Bad Boys” film before teasing his upcoming Paramount+ series, while Latto playfully poked fun at the host during one of the show’s transitions. Druski also spoofed Jay-Z's Roots Picnic freestyle.

Druski became one of entertainment’s fastest-rising stars through his viral sketches before expanding into sold-out comedy tours and collaborations with artists including Drake and Snoop Dogg, as well as appearances alongside figures like Tom Brady and Timothée Chalamet.

Hip-hop pioneer MC Lyte returned as the show’s announcer.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been increasingly tense since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year implied Japan could intervene if China used military force against Taiwan, an island democracy China claims as its own.

Meanwhile, Japan has accelerated its military expansion, especially by adding offensive capabilities, which Beijing has condemned.

China's Commerce Ministry on Monday placed 20 Japanese entities, including multiple divisions of Mitsubishi Corporation, on a control list, which prohibits Chinese and foreign exporters from selling to them dual-use items made in China. Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Additionally, 20 other entities have been added to a watch list for dual-use items, according to the ministry. It includes Mitsui E&S, which makes engines and other equipment for ships, as well as divisions of Fujitsu and Komatsu corporations.

Chinese companies exporting to these firms will be required to apply for special licenses, submit risk assessment reports on the Japanese companies and written pledges that the dual-use items will not be used for military purposes.

Beijing and Tokyo spar over export measures

The export controls are “entirely justified, reasonable and lawful," the Chinese Commerce Ministry said, adding they are aimed at "firmly deterring Japan’s reckless pursuit of ‘new militarism.’”

“We hope Japan will recognize its mistakes, reverse its wrongful course, genuinely reflect on its past and return to the right track,” it added.

Japan’s top government spokesperson called the curbs as “unacceptable and extremely regrettable,” while calling on Beijing to retract the measures.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Monday that Japan would take necessary countermeasures after thoroughly assessing the curbs and their impact.

Under Takaichi, Japan's military has been equipped with more offensive capabilities, including long-range missiles on remote islands. Exports of lethal weapons are now allowed under a new policy. Japan will revise its defense and security documents by December, which could further increase its defense budget.

On Monday, Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force announced the deployment of a Type-12 missile launcher on the southernmost remote island of Minamitorishima, an apparent response to China’s growing activity expanding into the Pacific.

The curbs serve as a diplomatic message, an expert says

In February, China put 20 Japanese companies on an export control list and 20 others on a watch list.

The Commerce Ministry said that since then, “instead of reflecting on its past and correcting its course, Japan has continued down the wrong path” by accelerating remilitarization, deploying offensive weapons and launching missiles.

The ministry emphasized the curbs affect only a small number of Japanese entities, and the measures only apply to dual-use items. “They do not affect normal Sino-Japanese economic and trade exchanges, and honest and law-abiding Japanese entities have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

The measures function more as a "diplomatic message” as Beijing steps up its pressure on Tokyo, said George Chen, partner for Greater China at the advisory firm The Asia Group.

“From Beijing’s perspective, Japan has not taken meaningful actions to stabilize bilateral ties,” Chen said. “And concerns are growing in China about deeper defense cooperation between Japan, the United States, and potentially other partners.”

In the short term, Japan–China relations will likely remain fragile “and at risk of slipping further if neither side moves to arrest the downward trend,” he added.

For Beijing, the issue of Taiwan is particularly sensitive. China considers the self-ruled island its own territory, to be retaken by force if necessary, and has increased military pressure on it.

Earlier this month, the Chinese coast guard conducted patrols east of Taiwan in what state media described a “pointed warning” to Japan and the Philippines following an announcement that the countries would discuss their maritime boundaries in waters that Beijing views as its own.

The United Kingdom, Germany and France in a rare joint statement last week condemned Chinese activities in the waters east of Taiwan, adding they opposed any change of the status quo between China and Taiwan.

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Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kanis Leung and Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the so-called Nakamal Agreement with his Vanuatu counterpart, Jotham Napat, in the Australian capital nine months after the Vanuatuan government rejected an earlier draft. Vanuatu had feared the deal would limit its ability to attract infrastructure investment.

“Our agreement reflects and confirms Australia’s role as Vanuatu’s largest and most comprehensive economic, security and development partner, a responsibility that we take seriously,” Albanese told reporters.

Natap said the pact “reaffirms our shared commitment to continuing and strengthening the comprehensive partnership between our two countries, founded on mutual respect, trust and our common vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific.”

Under the agreement, Vanuatu will not allow any foreign military base or infrastructure in its territory and will keep its critical infrastructure free from militarization, foreign interference or unauthorized access, a government statement said.

The agreement is one of several Australia has struck or is negotiating with regional neighbors to prevent China from gaining security influence in the region.

Vanuatu will consult with Australia when it considers third-party engagement in its critical infrastructure, but there is no power of veto as originally proposed.

China expressed concern that the agreement may be targeted at it.

“We hope that cooperation between relevant countries and Pacific Island countries will contribute to the development and stability of the island region, not target any third party or be used as a tool for geopolitical rivalry,” said Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vanuatu committed to prioritize policing cooperation with Pacific Islands Forum members, a collection of 18 countries and territories that includes Australia. But the agreement does not exclude Chinese police. China does not have a permanent police presence in Vanuatu, but Chinese police personnel often visit the nation of 350,000 people.

Vanuatu also agrees to come to Australia, New Zealand and France first in response to major natural disasters.

Australia had proposed to provide Vanuatu with 500 million Australian dollars ($344 million) over a decade under the terms of the agreement as originally drafted.

Albanese said the cost of the latest agreement would be made public by December.

Napat said a bilateral agreement Vanuatu is negotiating with China would be made public once the pact had “clearance from Beijing.”

Napat has previously described the so-called Namele Agreement with China as a “comprehensive development cooperation” deal. He said it was not a security pact.

Vanuatu has received large loans and aid from China for buildings, wharves and other infrastructure.

“Currently, it’s not yet signed. We will share the (Namele) agreement. There is nothing to hide. Our government is transparent and I am so grateful that the Prime Minister (Albanese) has also given me the clearance to share with them (China) the Nakamal Agreement,” Napat said. China did not say whether it would reveal the details of the agreement when asked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday in Beijing.

In September last year, Albanese was notified that a previous draft of the pact had been rejected hours before he was to fly to Vanuatu for the signing.

Pride events often mix celebration and calls to action, reflecting the political winds, cultural climate and news around LGBTQ+ rights.

This month's parades and festivals around the U.S. have unfolded as President Donald Trump works to roll back transgender rights and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Among other moves, the Republican's administration removed a rainbow Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument earlier this year, then ultimately relented amid a lawsuit.

“As LGBTQIA+ events and symbols are being erased, it’s vital that our community have safe spaces to show up and march to make clear: We are here,” Chris Piedmont, a spokesperson for New York parade organizers Heritage of Pride, said in a statement Friday. “We will not be erased.”

Carlos Duarte came in from Long Island to attend New York's parade.

“It’s very important for us to be here … to be all together for love, peace and to show the world who we are,” Duarte said.

Meanwhile, multiple Republican governors have promulgated conservative-friendly designations for June, such as “Nuclear Family Month,” sometimes openly describing them as a counter to Pride. Other prominent Republican politicians, including Vice President JD Vance, criticized Major League Baseball 's response to some San Francisco Giants players who added Bible verses to the rainbow-themed Pride Night caps they were issued.

Against that backdrop, the NYC Pride March and the San Francisco Pride Parade set out to further their legacies as some of the world's largest and oldest such celebrations.

Both trace their roots to events held in 1970 to commemorate the Stonewall rebellion on June 28, 1969, when patrons of a New York gay bar called the Stonewall Inn resisted a police raid and ended up kindling a wave of activism.

The Stonewall Inn still is a bar; the Stonewall monument centers on a small park across the street, about half a mile (about 0.8 km) from the Pride March route at its closest point.

The newer Queer Liberation March, founded by activists who saw the Pride March as too corporate and official, also was held in Manhattan on Sunday.

This year, some transgender rights activists pressured Pride organizers to bar some New York City hospitals' contingents from marching because the institutions announced in recent months that they would stop providing transgender youth treatments.

Christen Clifford, a mother of two trans children, said during a news conference before the parade that New York City needs to enforce state laws that protect gender-affirming care.

“How can you let institutions that are actively harming queer kids march in Pride?” Clifford said. “I hope that New York City Pride will ban these hospitals from any future Pride parades until they restart care and so that families like mine know that you are listening to our concerns.”

The cutoff came amid funding threats from the Trump administration, and at least some of the hospitals also got federal Justice Department subpoenas for transgender patients' medical records. A judge has temporarily blocked the document demand.

Heritage of Pride said it has been talking with the hospitals about the issue. The group also noted the parade contingents are organized by LGBTQ+ employee groups, not by the top administrators responsible for decisions about care.

A message was sent to San Francisco Pride organizers about whether they faced similar questions.

Other cities with Pride parades Sunday include Seattle, where a World Cup soccer match Friday took on a Pride dimension after the countries whose teams involved — Iran and Egypt — triedunsuccessfully to get the celebrations canceled.

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Fischer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Saudi Arabia is out at the earliest point. Again. Bottom of a group that included tiny Cape Verde, the third-smallest nation ever to compete on this stage and into the knockouts for the first time.

By signing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema as part of a spectacular recruitment drive in recent years, Saudi Arabia has been a major disruptor of club soccer. But on the international stage it still has a long way to go eight years out from hosting the World Cup in 2034.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabian Football Federation president Yasser Al-Misehal resigned. Taking full responsibility for the failed World Cup campaign, he said that stepping aside will allow for a “new phase” of leadership within Saudi football.

Qatar, the host four years ago, is also on its way home after just three games, so too are the other gulf nations Iran and Iraq. Compared to the success of African teams at this World Cup, with nine out of 10 advancing to the round of 32, gulf nations are struggling mightily to make their mark.

A goalless draw against Cape Verde ended Saudi Arabia's hopes of advancing from the group phase for the first time since 1994.

“It was not what we wanted because when playing in such a match against a team that is more or less the same level as us, our performance was not good. So this gives rise to concern,” Saudi coach Georgios Donis said.

Qatar made history with its first point at a World Cup, scoring a dramatic late equalizer against Switzerland. But it was another disappointingly early exit after it was eliminated just two games into its home tournament in 2022.

“I think that they show that at least we were able to compete in these kind of matches,” coach Julen Lopetegui said.

The appointment of Lopetegui — the former Spain and Real Madrid coach — is evidence of the type of investment Qatar has made to try to boost its performance on the global stage. Unlike Saudi Arabia, it has not embarked on such an audacious drive to attract aging stars from Europe to its domestic league.

Despite a population of 3 million people and only around 300,000 citizens, it has managed to develop enough homegrown players to win back-to-back Asian Cups in recent years and assert its dominance on a region that includes powers like Japan and South Korea.

But it has not been able to translate those performances to the World Cup, and such an early exit marks a disappointment less than four years after hosting the tournament and spending billions of dollars to create eight state-of-the-art stadiums.

“You compare with other countries ... for sure we know who we are,” said Lopetegui. "But at the same time I think that this is one little country but with a big passion, a big investment ... we have to improve every day and they did this.

“We look to the future being optimistic about this for sure.”

It's all about the future for Saudi Arabia, too, after winning the right to host the World Cup in 2034.

It has been on a mission to wield influence in sports around the world, from buying Premier League Newcastle to launching LIV Golf and hosting world title boxing matches and Formula 1.

The World Cup would be its standout achievement as it looks to move away from its heavy reliance on oil and explore other revenue-generating sectors.

It will want its national team to make a statement at its home tournament and while superstar signings like Ronaldo have raised the profile of its league, the hope is that they will also raise standards.

Yet after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history by beating eventual champion Argentina four years ago, there was no standout moment this time — failing to advance beyond the group phase for the sixth time in a row.

“When we have these stars in the Arabian League, I think that the more competitive the competition, the better our players will be,” said Donis. “But it’s different when we’re playing for the national team because in the national team, these experiences, there needs to be a certain mentality.”

Focus on development of homegrown talent is clear as 2034 approaches.

Star signings from overseas have slowed and some big names, including Neymar, have departed. U.S. Soccer’s sporting director Matt Crocker was lured away to head up talent development in Saudi Arabia and youth investment is said to have doubled over the past three years.

If Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been disruptors with their sudden mega spending, Iran has been competing in World Cups since 1978.

It had to contend with difficulties regarding preparation and travel in the wake of war with the United States and only narrowly missed out on advancing as a best third place team after three draws. In seven appearances at the World Cup it has never gone beyond the groups.

Likewise for Iraq in its two appearances 40 years apart.

At a time when a supersized 48-team World Cup has opportunities for the likes of Cape Verde and Congo to make history, gulf nations are still waiting for their moment.

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

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The step, which still needs approval in Parliament, reflects deteriorating ties between Israel and Turkey. Turkey has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries from officially recognizing the mass deaths of Armenians around 1915 as a genocide, even as Armenians have pushed for it.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

For years, Israel never officially broached the subject for fear of angering Turkey, but that relationship has soured over the past two decades, especially as the most recent wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have dragged on.

“Despite the extensive and unambiguous historical documentation, the Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization, including a manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who brought the decision to the government.

He noted that Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have previously described the violence against Armenians as a genocide. But it has never been formally recognized in a vote by Israel’s Knesset.

“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Saar said Sunday, calling it a “moral and historical duty.”

He noted that 32 countries, including the United States, Syria and Lebanon, have also classified the violence as a genocide. It was not immediately known when Sunday's decision, approved unanimously by Israel's Cabinet, would go to the parliament for approval.

Turkey called Israel’s move a “politically motivated” step meant to distract from the country’s own actions against Palestinians.

“The Israeli government, which systematically persecutes the Palestinian people in full view of the world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice for genocide against the people of Gaza, aims to cover up its own crimes,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“This malicious attempt, which disregards legal and historical facts, reveals the predicament of Netanyahu and his accomplices, who have arrest warrants against them in connection with the investigation into crimes committed against Palestinians at the International Criminal Court,” the statement added.

Israel and Turkey were once close allies, but relations soured during the rise of Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leading Israel to reconsider its position.

Israel has faced repeated accusations, including from the United Nations and Turkey, that its offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, denies the accusations.

Israel launched the war in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Gaza's Health Ministry, part of the Hamas government, says over 73,000 people have been killed, roughly half of them women and children. Israel says it does not target civilians and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

Last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations accused Israel of deliberately shooting children in Gaza and repeated accusations that Israel has carried out a genocide. Israel called the report a “libelous sham.”

As if taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning and reaching 2,000 career strikeouts weren't enough, his brilliant outing Sunday night for Boston came against the rival New York Yankees — a team Gray once pitched for and hasn't been shy about disliking.

So after winning in a wild ending, Gray and the Red Sox were reveling in a four-game sweep at Fenway Park that marked their longest winning streak this season.

“They’re at the top of our division right now. They are where we hope to be. So yeah, it was a good series and it was a pretty sick finish to the series for us,” Gray said after the Red Sox rallied for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings.

Actually, the Yankees fell a game behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East, thanks in large part to Boston's first four-game sweep in the rivalry since 2018.

Finishing it off proved difficult when New York scored two runs in the ninth to tie it and then two more in the 10th to take a 4-2 lead. But the Red Sox responded with three in the bottom half and walked off with a rousing win on Jarren Duran's game-ending single.

The chaotic conclusion nearly overshadowed what Gray had done earlier, striking out nine and shutting down the Yankees emphatically for 7 1/3 innings as Boston clung to a 2-0 advantage.

“I was just trying to do my part to win the game. That’s all I was thinking about other than executing a pitch," Gray said. “I just felt very focused. I wanted to come out and win the game and we did that.”

Gray didn't dwell much on the opponent despite his history with New York.

He pitched for the Yankees after a trade-deadline deal with the Athletics in 2017, but the following season ended up losing his spot in the rotation and being left off the postseason roster. His time in New York ended with an offseason trade to Cincinnati.

Stops in Minnesota and St. Louis followed before the three-time All-Star arrived in Boston this season, and he said he never really wanted to play for the Yankees in the first place.

While the last-place Red Sox (36-46) are still 10 games below .500, Gray said it felt pretty special getting to that point after what it took to win Sunday night. The veteran right-hander tipped his cap to Boston fans as he left to a standing ovation in the eighth after Amed Rosario ended the no-hit bid with a one-out single up the middle on Gray’s 97th pitch.

“I think in the sixth inning or something they started really like getting into it and it was cool. I appreciated that,” Gray said. “I appreciate them and it seemed like they appreciated the outing tonight. We need them. If we’re going to get back into this thing, we need them. And they were here for us this weekend, so I appreciated that.”

It was the first time since 1963 the Yankees were held hitless through the first four innings of three straight games.

Gray got some defensive help in the third when Wilyer Abreu robbed Austin Wells of a hit with a sliding grab in shallow right field after a full sprint to reach the sinking ball in time. Abreu also committed a pair of costly throwing errors late that helped the Yankees tie it and later take the lead.

Interim manager Chad Tracy said he still has plenty of confidence in his two-time Gold Glove outfielder, as did his teammates.

“We’ve had a good weekend. Even though we gave up a couple of runs, the energy in the dugout coming in was like, let’s go win the game,” Tracy said. “There’s been times here in the past couple of months where that would have kind of crushed us, but that was not the case. They were fired up to try and get that done.”

Yankees starter Carlos Rodón allowed only one hit in five innings, Caleb Durbin's two-run single with one out in the fourth.

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

The dead included five parachuting instructors, five novice jumpers and the pilot, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said it was France's biggest aviation accident involving skydiving in about 30 years.

“Some of the victims’ families witnessed the aircraft falling with their own eyes. So there is tremendous emotion and an even greater psychological trauma," Nunez said.

He refused to speculate on what caused the crash but said the plane dropped out of the sky suddenly. He said it had just taken off from the Nancy-Essey airfield on the outskirts of the city of Nancy when it came down about 300 meters (yards) from the runway.

Yves Séguy, prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, said the plane suffered a malfunction and “fell almost vertically," narrowly missing a built-up area.

“Had it occurred just a few dozen meters away, the accident could have caused collateral casualties,” he said.

The plane banked to the left after takeoff and crashed less than a minute later near houses, according to the flight tracking service Flightradar24.

Police cordoned off the crumpled wreckage.

Flight tracking sites identified the plane as a single-engine Pilatus PC-6, a small transporter of freight, passengers and skydivers.

The parachutists were to have jumped as tandems, Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein told public broadcaster France Info. Tandem jumps are skydiving experiences where two people, often an instructor and a novice jumper, are attached together for the descent.

Emergency services responded immediately and were providing psychological support to victims' relatives, officials said. The Paris prosecutor's office is leading the crash probe, Nunez said.

A resident, identified as John Curaku by BFM-TV, told the broadcaster that he was in his yard when he heard what sounded like a plane's engine stopping, immediately followed by a bang.

He said he went to the crash site and “there were no signs of life,” with two of the bodies thrown a few meters (yards) from the plane.

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Leicester reported from Paris and Hatton from Lisbon, Portugal.

Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Iran's oversight has sparked days of crossfire. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it would expand a route near Oman for inbound and outbound traffic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday reiterated the claim that Tehran must govern the strait to the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.

“Any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension,” Araghchi said.

The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side.

Pakistan, a key mediator, has said talks would resume Tuesday between the U.S. and Iran on the terms of their interim deal. The Trump administration on Sunday said nothing has been canceled and technical talks are on track for the coming days.

Talks include arrangements around the strait, the removal of a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran, and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The two sides have 60 days from their signing of the memorandum of understanding earlier this month to work out details.

Continued conflict in Lebanon threatens the agreement, which says fighting must end on all fronts before certain issues can be discussed.

Strikes target Gulf states hosting US military

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Kuwait, which hosts a major U.S. military base, said air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and two missiles just after the U.S. strikes in Iran. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Bahrain said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport and no one was killed. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near its headquarters.

Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression."

Later on Sunday, Qatar said a civilian had been killed, and another person was hurt, by shrapnel related to “military operations in the area" after a vessel didn't return at its scheduled time on Saturday. It did not give details.

Trump accuses Iran of violating ceasefire

The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship on Saturday. The Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, another key mediator.

U.S. President Donald Trump on social media accused Iran of violating the deal and warned of a point where the U.S. may "be forced to militarily complete the job.”

“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.

The exchanges of fire began when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated.

Ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, “despite the elevated threat environment,” the multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that “U.S.-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted."

It said 89 such transits had been made, below the historical average of 138 vessels a day.

Iran calls for new ‘conflict control unit’ in Lebanon

Last week, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement to end the latest fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, which began two days after the Iran war started when Hezbollah fired at Israel. Israel has responded with an invasion of southern Lebanon and it has said it will not withdraw until Hezbollah is disarmed.

The agreement did not include Iran or Hezbollah, which has criticized it and rejected calls to disarm.

On Sunday, Iran's foreign minister again said the U.S. must force Israel to halt attacks and withdraw. Israel occupies around 600 square kilometers (231 square miles) in southern Lebanon, which it says it needs as a security buffer.

Sporadic clashes have continued, and Hezbollah's leader said Saturday that the group would continue fighting until Israel withdraws from Lebanon.

Key Iranian negotiator and parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Sunday that a meeting of a new “conflict control unit” formed among Iran, the United States and Lebanon should meet as soon as possible, Iran's state broadcaster reported.

Two strikes hit southern Lebanon on Sunday morning — one in Taybeh town and the other in the Nabatiyeh area, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Overnight, Hezbollah militants killed an Israeli soldier in Deir Siryan village in southern Lebanon, according to Israel's military. Hezbollah did not comment.

Israel targets a village in Syria

Israel's military targeted Abdin village in southern Syria’s Daraa province with artillery shelling Sunday evening, Syrian state media reported. There was no immediate report of casualties.

The provincial government of Daraa said in a statement that residents of the village had thrown rocks at an Israeli convoy when it advanced on the village, and that the troops withdrew after U.N. peacekeepers intervened. It said the Israeli artillery shelling drove Abdin's residents to flee the village.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel's military said it had killed several armed men in southern Syria but gave no details. There was no statement from Syrian officials.

Israel seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria in December 2024 following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in an insurgent offensive. Israeli officials initially called the move temporary, but more recently they have said they plan to occupy the zone indefinitely.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AlJoud and Abby Sewell in Beirut and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

The government reported 1,450 dead from the quakes Sunday afternoon as it faced growing criticism from Venezuelans that its response was inadequate and overshadowed by civilian-led efforts to rescue people buried under collapsed buildings. Thousands more have been reported missing.

Even as the likelihood of finding people alive diminished with each passing hour, rescuers continued to free some survivors from mountains of debris, offering anguished families a sliver of hope. The first 48 to 72 hours after a natural disaster are crucial to rescue efforts, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water.

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Sunday night that even as the threshold passed, the search for survivors would continue. More than 2,600 rescue workers from around the world had arrived with trained search dogs and machinery, the government said.

“It’s been incredibly hard work, but we’re going strong,” said Jason Mercano, a civilian who was able to communicate with family buried under the rubble and was working with rescue teams to pull them out.

“We've never given up hope,” he added.

More than 770 buildings partially or totally collapsed

Still, many Venezuelans are struggling to hold onto hope in an increasingly desperate situation. The one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that hit last Wednesday have left a trail of devastation. The U.N. said up to 6.8 million of Venezuela's nearly 30 million residents may be affected by the earthquakes.

A layer of dust coated coastal communities, and as the stench of decomposing bodies spread, more people began to wear masks.

Authorities said Sunday that more than 770 buildings had totally or partially collapsed from the earthquakes, twice as many as were reported destroyed or damaged on Friday. The risk of further damage remains as aftershocks continued to shake Venezuela; quakes measuring 4.2 and 4.5 hit Sunday morning.

But rescue efforts in La Guaira — the hardest-hit area — appeared significantly more organized on Sunday as international rescue missions arrived en masse. In previous days, residents there had expressed frustration and anger about the level of response.

The government reported on state television that more than 14,000 members of the military and police are now patrolling La Guaira state, where access is blocked and special permits are required to enter.

Because of the chaos and shoddy cellphone service since the earthquakes, many Venezuelans have turned to non-governmental digital databases to report their loved ones as missing. More than 50,000 people were reported missing on one such database, though it is unclear how many have been found.

Optimism and grief mark La Guaira

Moments of optimism contrasted sharply with grief on Sunday.

Masses of people gathered around a mountain of debris watching as rescue crews from the U.S., France and Venezuela pulled a man and his son from a crack in the concrete, covered in dust and almost unresponsive. Helmet-clad teams pulled them on a black tarp and passed the two carefully through the crowd to an ambulance to hydrate them through an IV.

Rescue teams and onlookers burst into applause in a moment of relief, then continued working.

In another part of La Guaira, Helen Guedez and her mother were reeling. They had spent days trying to save her father Jesús from their apartment.

She felt a swell of hope when rescue teams from the U.S. had come to inspect the building and confirmed to them that her dad was still alive under the rubble. But they told the family that the building was too unstable to enter and rescue him, she said.

They left the scene, but Guedez said would continue to try and rescue their father without their assistance. She said they were now working with civilian volunteers and local miners to get him out.

“We're not going to give up," said Guedez. “The rest of the team is willing to continue. They know there's another way to get him out and they said they're going to keep working until the very end.”

Despite the overwhelming demand for medical services and the shortage of supplies in Venezuela’s public health system, Domingo Luciani Hospital in the capital of Caracas coped with an influx of patients thanks to a flood of donations.

“We have tons of patients, but thank god, people have responded by bringing us a great deal of supplies,” said Leomery Pérez, an anesthesiologist at the hospital.

Authorities said they had treated more than 3,100 wounded people, including many with crush injuries.

A big challenge for Venezuela's acting president

The disaster poses a significant challenge for acting President Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the U.S. capture and removal of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Since then, the U.S. government has played in increasingly powerful role in dictating the future of the South American nation. Venezuela has faced economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.

The country now faces an even more difficult circumstances, said Ronal Rodríguez, researcher for the Bogotá-based Venezuelan Observatory at the University of Rosario.

“There is political interference by the United States, the operational incompetence of a government that has driven the country into a complex humanitarian crisis and, all of the sudden, an earthquake in a place that lacks human capital and short-term resources to address the situation,” he said.

Amy Pope, director general from International Organization for Migration, warned that displacement from Venezuela – where crisis has forced 8 million people to migrate over the past decade – was likely to increase as people seek safety.

Rodríguez on Sunday said she was setting up a special commission to assess the damage to homes to confirm whether it's safe for people sleeping on the streets to return, adding that her government would also examine infrastructure damage. The search for life in the destruction, she said, would also continue.

“Today we recovered people who are still alive,” she said. “We always maintain hope.”

___

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Juan Pablo Arraez, Matías Delacroix in La Guaira, Venezuela; Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; Clara Preve and Mayra Pertossi in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Elliot Spagat in San Diego, contributed to this report.

• SAHARAN DUST: Thick plume of Saharan Dust arrives, thickest on Monday
• JULY 4TH: Hot, mostly sunny, and low rain chances
• EXTENDED OUTLOOK: Staying steady in the 90s

FORECAST

MONDAY

South-Central Texas continues a hot, dry pattern into July. Expect highs in the mid-to-upper 90s, with some areas hitting 100 degrees. South winds will gust near 20–30 mph, while humidity will push heat index values near and above 100 degrees again.

EXTENDED OUTLOOK

Little change is expected as South-Central Texas heads into the first week of July. High pressure will remain the dominant weather feature, keeping conditions hot, mostly sunny, and dry across the region.

Although weather patterns may become slightly more favorable for isolated showers later in the week, most forecast guidance continues to keep rain chances below 10 percent. Our weather focus will remain on the prolonged stretch of heat, with daily heat index values approaching or exceeding 100 degrees nearly every afternoon.

JULY 4TH SNEAK PEAK

If you’re making plans for Independence Day, the forecast is shaping up well for outdoor celebrations. Hot, mostly sunny, and dry weather is expected across South-Central Texas, with afternoon highs in the mid 90s and heat index values climbing into the upper 90s and lower 100s. With minimal rain chances in the forecast, conditions will be favorable for parades, barbecues, and evening fireworks displays.

QUICK WEATHER LINKS

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

Trump's efforts to restrict birthright citizenship, fire the heads of most independent agencies at will and remove a sitting Federal Reserve governor are among the remaining eight cases the justices are expected to decide this week, beginning Monday.

The court also is weighing, in cases from West Virginia and Idaho, whether to uphold laws in roughly half the states that prohibit transgender girls and women from playing on their public school and college sports.

Two election-related cases remain, over state laws that allow a grace period for the receipt of mailed ballots, provided they are sent by Election Day, and limits on political party spending in support of candidates for Congress and president.

Also outstanding is a dispute over geofence warrants that collect the location history of cellphone users to find people near crime scenes. Critics say the practice is a fishing expedition that violates civil liberties.

The court’s conservative majority has so far been mostly receptive to Trump's immigration crackdown, including a decision last week allowing the administration to end temporary legal protections for people who came to the U.S. because of war or natural disaster in their homeland. Another decision could make it harder for people fleeing persecution to seek asylum in the United States.

During arguments in April, the justices signaled a more skeptical look at Trump's executive order that would overturn long-settled understanding and deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.

The court also has rejected Trump's assertion of the power to unilaterally impose wide-ranging tariffs under an emergency powers law.

The decision in February drew Trump's ire, including an unusually harsh and personal denunciation of two of his court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, who voted against him.

The extent of Trump's power to fire independent agency members is the oldest undecided case, argued in December. The justices seem likely to overturn, or drastically narrow, a 91-year-old decision. It required a cause, like neglect of duty, before a president could remove the Senate-confirmed officials from their jobs.

The outcome appears to be in little doubt because the conservatives have allowed the firings to take effect while the case plays out, even after lower-court judges found the firings illegal.

The court seemed less willing to endorse Trump's bid to immediately fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she denies. No president has ever fired a Fed governor in the agency's 112-year history.

By custom, the court finishes its work before July 4. After this week, its next public meeting is the first Monday in October.

Boston starter Sonny Gray took a no-hitter into the eighth against his former team before Amed Rosario singled with one out. That ended a brilliant outing for Gray, who had nine strikeouts to reach 2,000 for his career.

But the Yankees scored twice in the ninth off All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman to tie it 2-all, aided enormously by a brutal throwing error from two-time Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu.

New York scratched across two more runs in the 10th, taking advantage of another throwing error by Abreu after Rosario's sinking liner squirted out of his glove for an RBI single. But right-hander Fernando Cruz (4-3) was unable to hold the lead after closer David Bednar had pitched the previous two innings.

Boston's first four-game sweep of the Yankees since 2018 marked the first four-game winning streak this season for the last-place Red Sox.

New York arrived at Fenway Park with the best record in the American League but left a game behind Tampa Bay atop the AL East.

Justin Slaten (1-4) worked one inning for the win.

Anthony Seigler led off the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single that scored the automatic runner from second base and trimmed Boston's deficit to 4-3. Pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida followed with a double before a sacrifice fly by Tsung-Che Cheng tied it at 4 and advanced Yoshida to third.

New York brought in Rosario from left field to form a five-man infield, and Duran hit a line drive to right where nobody was standing.

Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. was ejected for arguing after he was called out on a check-swing for strike three to end the sixth.

Up next

Yankees LHP Ryan Weathers (3-5, 3.95 ERA) faces Detroit RHP Casey Mize on Monday as New York returns home and opens a three-game series against the Tigers.

Boston is scheduled to start LHP Ranger Suarez (3-3, 2.83 ERA) against Washington LHP Andrew Alvarez on Monday to open a three-game set at Fenway Park.

___

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

The Archdiocese of San Antonio shared news of the fire on Facebook, leading to thousands of people engaging with the post.

Rev. Jimmy Drennan of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church said he is “more than taken care of,” however.

“I’m very thankful for their prayers and their concern. I am fine,” Drennan said. “The prayers of the community is very, very appreciated.”

The rectory, where the fire took place, is a home about five minutes away from the church that is used to house church leaders.

Neighbors told KSAT 12 that someone who does not live on the street alerted them to the fire. The person was reportedly passing by and noticed smoke coming from the attic.

“I’m thankful that there were police officers, firefighters and EMTs that responded,” Drennan said. “I am so thankful for the great work they did.”

Drennan said the home had significant damage, and he is staying with a friend in the meantime.

Read more:

• Southeast Side pastor’s home damaged in fire, archdiocese says
• McAllen nun to be released after being detained on her way to Mass, legislators say

That was the case though Sunday night due to a rain delay at the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship, and with Scottie Scheffler in contention.

An NBC Sports spokesman said the decision was made in consultation with the PGA Tour and Major League Baseball to stick with coverage of the golf tournament once it resumed at 7:20 p.m. EDT until it finished or was suspended due to darkness.

Scheffler — the world's No.. 1 player — made an 8-foot par putt on the 18th hole to force a sudden-death playoff against Viktor Hovland on Monday morning. Tournament officials determined officials deemed there was not enough daylight to start the playoff.

The final round was stopped for 90 minutes as storms moved over the TPC River Highlands course in Cromwell, Connecticut. NBC aired the conclusion of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The start of the final round of third women's major of the year in Chaska, Minnesota, was delayed 3 1/2 hours due to rain. Haeran Ryu won by two strokes for her first major title.

The Yankees-Red Sox game was also streamed on Peacock. NBC picked up coverage at 8:28 p.m. during the bottom of the fourth inning with the Red Sox leading 2-0.

NBC viewers still got to see the more interesting parts of the game. Boston's Sonny Gray had a no-hitter through seven innings before the Yankees' Amed Rosario ended it with a single with one out in the eighth inning. New York rallied for two runs in the ninth to send it into extra innings and then scored two in the 10th to take a 4-2 lead.

The Red Sox though scored three in the 10th, including Jarren Duran's game-winning RBI single, to beat the Yankees 5-4 and complete a four-game sweep of their longtime rival.

This is NBC's first season carrying “Sunday Night Baseball.” It was the first Yankees-Red Sox game on NBC since Sept. 8, 1995.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The rectory, where Rev. Jimmy Drennan resides, was in flames when he returned from Saturday Mass, the archdiocese said in a Facebook post.

The San Antonio Fire Department said four units responded to the fire, and it was under control in roughly 20 minutes.

No injuries were reported, a department spokesperson said, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Drennan expressed gratitude to San Antonio first responders and said no neighboring homes were damaged.

The pastor said he will celebrate the 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and noon Masses at St. Margaret Mary on Sunday.

Read also:

• Bible stories are approved as required reading in Texas public schools

In a post on X, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the operation was launched in response to multiple militant attacks across the country.

In Afghanistan, government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan's attacks resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of civilians, including women and children.

“We strongly condemn this cowardly act of aggression and consider it a crime and an act of brutality,” he said.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks targeting police and security forces in recent years. Authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and allied militant groups for most of the violence.

The security operation took place a day after militants armed with guns and explosives targeted the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in the southern port city of Karachi, killing three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another assailant, whom the military identified as an Afghan national in wounded condition.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement Saturday night.

Tarar said Pakistan’s latest operation along the Afghan border targeted hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistani Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban are a separate militant group from the Afghan Taliban, although the two are allies. The Afghan Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.

The latest operations are likely to further strain already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

Strikes are the latest in cross-border violence between neighbors

Sunday’s cross-border strikes and ground operation came less than three weeks after Pakistan's military launched airstrikes on what it said were militant hideouts in Afghanistan. They ended about a month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an “open war” between the neighboring countries, despite international efforts to broker a lasting peace.

The escalation follows months of tit-for-tat military action between the two countries. Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

Multiple rounds of talks have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire. China also hosted the two sides in April and Beijing later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a solution.

Pakistan since last year has carried out multiple strikes along the border and inside Afghanistan, targeting alleged hideouts of TTP and other militants. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Afghan Taliban government of harboring militants who carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the TTP. Kabul denies the charge.

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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Abdul Qahar Afghan in Kabul; Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

The 88 Project, which focuses on rights issues in Vietnam, documented 56 such arrests in 2025, the third consecutive year of increases and double the number in 2022. The report includes only arrests where the defendant could be identified by name and the case tracked, and the actual numbers are believed to be much higher, said Ben Swanton, co-director of the group.

The report says the country under leader To Lam “routinely weaponizes criminal law” to quash dissent. To Lam, the country’s former top security official who has served as general secretary of the Communist Party since 2024, was also elected president earlier this year.

The arrests are largely driven by fears of an uprising against the leadership in a so-called “color revolution,” like the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or the 1986 Yellow Revolution in the Philippines, according to the report.

It is a fear shared by the Communist Party in neighboring China, which has been accused of using similar tactics to stifle critics. Though competing maritime claims have led to confrontations between the two countries and a tense diplomatic relationship at times, China and Vietnam were able to agree earlier this year to together “prioritize political security and enhance efforts to prevent and resist color revolutions,” the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

“With the ascendancy of To Lam, the country has become a literal police state that tolerates no dissent,” Swanton said.

“This represents a serious regression from the period of relative openness in the 2010s when some dissent was tolerated and civil society groups were able to engage in policy activism.”

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the findings of the report.

The report found that authorities are relying increasingly on Article 331 of Vietnam's penal code, which makes it a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison to “abuse democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state.”

Previously little used, “authorities have enlarged the scope and application of Article 331 so that it reaches further into society, beyond human rights and democracy dissidents ... to all those who voice any grievance with state or local Communist Party and government officials,” New York-based Human Rights Watch wrote in a report last year.

“The Vietnamese authorities’ increased use of Article 331 is a little known facet of the government’s expanding crackdown on ordinary people who are seeking to use social media and other peaceful means to publicly raise important social issues, including religious freedom, land rights, rights of Indigenous people, and government and Communist Party corruption,” Human Rights Watch wrote.

Among those arrested under Article 331 last year were three men behind the YouTube channel “Nguoi Da Tin' — The Messenger — on allegations that videos they uploaded were ”distorted content" that violated the statute, The 88 Project reported.

The report provides details of every arrest identified as politically related in 2025.

Those also included an activist for the minority Montagnard group who was arrested in Thailand and extradited to Vietnam, a dissident writer accused of spreading “propaganda against the state,” and a man who helped residents of Ha Tinh province file complaints demanding fair compensation for land expropriated for a new highway.

“The Vietnamese government has dealt alarmingly severe punishments to longstanding targets like journalists and human rights activists, while displaying an increasing willingness to attack groups previously thought safe, such as political exiles and legal petitioners,” the report said.

“Mother Khadijah” worked alongside her provocative and charismatic husband for decades, helping lead their religious and sociopolitical movement, which espouses Black self-reliance. Its home base was Mosque Maryam on the south side of Chicago, where the pair lived.

“The Honorable Minister @LouisFarrakhan with deep sadness yet with profound gratitude to Allah informs you that his beloved wife of 72 years, the first lady of the Nation of Islam, Mother Khadijah has returned to Allah (may Allah be pleased),” a statement by the Shura Executive Council said.

Her death came only seven months after devotees had marked Khadijah's 90th birthday. The statement said funeral services are to be announced.

Mosque Maryam remembered Farrakhan as “a devoted follower” with “a precious soul, a sweet heart.”

In a post on Facebook, R&B artist ZaRio Son Rise recalled her as “a true queen, a righteous woman, and one of the greatest examples of dignity, faith, loyalty, and grace our generation has ever witnessed.”

Born Betsy Ross, Khadijah Farrakhan married her husband, then named Louis Walcott, in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953. The two had nine children. Their eldest son, Louis Farrakhan Jr., died in 2018, and son Joshua Farrakhan died in 2023.

Khadijah Farrakhan converted to Islam in 1955, the same year that her husband joined the Chicago-based movement after being heavily influenced by Malcolm X, his friend from Boston. The pair changed their names around that time.

Louis Farrakhan stepped into the organization's leadership vacuum shortly after Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Among his most significant accomplishments was the Million Man March on Washington in 1995.

Two years later, Khadijah Farrakhan spoke before a gathering of America's Black women in Philadelphia dubbed the Million Woman March.

“A nation can rise no higher than its women,” she told the crowd. “We focus on women but cannot lose sight that we must rise as a family -- men, women and children.”

Temperature records were toppled in several countries on the weekend, wildfires were sparked in Germany and Berlin police used water cannons to cool down the crowds.

Meanwhile, the heat wave slowly moved toward eastern parts of the continent.

Germany marked a new record for the third day in a row with 41.7 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) in Neißemünde, near the border with Poland, which baked under its new all-time high of 40.5 C (104.9 F). The Czech Republic also experienced its hottest day ever with 41.9 C (107.4 F), up from the previous record of 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 F) on Saturday.

A new study from the World Weather Attribution, a Europe-based collaboration of scientists, reported Friday that the record-breaking heat and humidity in Europe this past week would not have been possible without climate change.

The rapid study found that the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago, and is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.

France records surge in deaths during heat wave

France reported a surge in deaths last week, including a sharp increase at private homes, especially in the Paris region, the national public health agency said Sunday.

There were more than 1,200 deaths on Wednesday, when France was sweltering under its hottest temperatures, increasing to more than 1,400 deaths on each of the two following days, Public Health France said. In April and May, before the heat wave, France’s rate of deaths was about 900 to 1,000 per day.

The agency concluded that France experienced a total of at least 1,000 additional deaths during those three days alone, an estimate it cautioned is likely to increase as more data is collected, including for deaths at home.

The increase was sharpest in areas under red warnings of extreme heat, it said. Those warnings blanketed about three-quarters of the country at the peak of the heat wave. The agency said that 85% of the deaths involved people aged 65 and above.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, WHO warns

“Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday on X. “Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling.”

Driven by climate change and global warming, the “once-in-a-generation” heat wave is now occurring nearly every year, Tedros said, adding that more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since June 21 linked to high temperatures in Europe.

“Heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ — and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures,” Tedros warned as he called on European countries to implement action plans. He said they should focus on preparedness, prevention and stronger health system responses.

Lightning strikes Swedish theme park

In Sweden, several people were injured when they were hit by lightning at an amusement park, the country's TT news agency reported.

Three adults were taken to the hospital, among them a woman with serious injuries, after the lightning struck the Tosselilla Sommarland park in Tomelilla in the south of the country.

Across Europe, the extreme heat has been followed by severe thunderstorms.

Denmark, which marked new temperature records on Saturday, recorded 1,156 lighting strikes by Sunday morning, according to public broadcaster DR.

Heat sparks wildfires in forests contaminated with WWII ammunition

In Gohrischheide, in eastern Germany, a fire broke out in a large forest that's still contaminated with ammunition from World War II, complicating efforts by firefighters.

Similarly, a major firefighting operation was underway in southwest Germany near the village of Traisen, where the heat sparked a forest fire in an area that also contained unexploded ordnance. Firefighters had to stop work temporarily after explosions took place and an ordnance disposal unit was brought in to continuously assess the situation, German news agency dpa reported. Some 650 people in Traisen had to leave their homes Sunday afternoon because the fire continued to spread.

Fire departments in the big cities were busy sending out ambulances to people suffering from heat-related illnesses. In Berlin, an additional 500 ambulance dispatches were reported on Saturday, most of them heat-related.

Berlin police use water cannons to cool down locals and tourists

The German capital's police found a way to help suffering Berliners and tourists alike. They put up two huge water cannons — usually used to disperse unruly protesters — in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate and sprayed the cool water across the cheering crowd.

The heat also worsened damage to infrastructure, with the concrete surface on countless highways breaking up, and a weekend warning by national rail operator Deutsche Bahn to avoid all unnecessary train travel.

More than 600 passengers had to be evacuated from an overheated train in Brandenburg after a tree fell onto an overhead power line during a storm on Saturday evening. The train, which was on its way from Hamburg to Prague, lost power. The air conditioners stopped working and the doors were locked until emergency responders forced them open. Two people were hospitalized with heat-related problems, dpa reported.

In the eastern city of Leipzig, no trams will be running until early Monday morning due to heat damage to tracks and switches. The Leipzig Public Transportation Authority said that the high temperatures had caused the joint sealant for asphalt and concrete in switches and tracks to run and clump together in many places throughout the city's network.

——

Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press writer Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.

Ukraine has markedly stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for its invasion — now in its fifth year — and make Russians feel the consequences.

“Our ‘long-range sanctions’ reached two oil refineries in Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. “Each (strike) means a reduction in the resources that fuel the Russian war machine, and another step toward peace.”

The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies, causing widespread shortages and long lines at gas stations across the country and prompting authorities in many regions to introduce fuel rationing. According to Western analysts, it has also slowed Moscow’s efforts on the battlefield, heaping pressure on the Kremlin to come to the negotiating table.

Putin says Ukrainian attacks aim to split Russian society

Speaking to a Russian state TV reporter, Putin described the Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries as an attempt to “cause a split in Russian society and force Russia to halt, even if only briefly, the advance of our troops along the line of contact, and create conditions for launching a negotiation process on terms advantageous to our adversary."

“We will not give them that chance,” Putin said, adding that “strikes on our infrastructure, wherever they are directed, have absolutely no effect on the situation at the front, on the line of contact.”

He said for the first time that Ukraine has proposed a halt on deep strikes, arguing that Kyiv made the offer because Russian strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are more powerful and devastating.

The Russian leader added that Kyiv also offered to limit the fighting to the four regions that Russia annexed but never fully captured — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. He rejected the proposal, arguing it would allow Ukraine to relocate its forces that are fighting Russian troops in other areas to let them focus on fending off the Russian attacks in the four southeastern regions.

Ukrainian drones set major Russian refinery on fire

Meanwhile, debris from downed Ukrainian drones sparked a blaze at the refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, a town in Russia's Krasnodar region, east of occupied Crimea, according to regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev. The falling debris killed one person in Slavyansk and wounded another in a nearby village, local authorities said.

The facility is one of southern Russia’s major refineries, processing close to 4 million tons of crude per year, according to its operator’s website. It is also a key source of petroleum products intended for export through Russia’s Black Sea ports, including fuel oil, naphtha and marine fuel.

Zelenskyy also claimed that another Russian refinery, in the Yaroslavl region around 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border, was hit during the nighttime strikes.

There were no immediate reports from Russian authorities about the strike on the Yaroslavl refinery. Local Gov. Mikhail Evraev reported on Sunday morning that some roads between Moscow and the region's capital, Yaroslavl, were temporarily closed due to “an enemy attack by Ukrainian drones.”

Fuel shortages in Russia as Putin says plans will be ‘adjusted’

For months, Ukraine has been stepping up attacks on energy facilities deep inside Russia. Despite a raft of Western sanctions, Moscow remains among the world's top exporters of oil and natural gas.

More recently, Ukraine has attempted to choke off fuel deliveries to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in early 2014. Last weekend, Kremlin-installed officials in Crimea suspended gasoline sales to civilians, after Kyiv's targeting of supply routes triggered the worst energy crisis there since the annexation.

Speaking at a meeting with officials that focused on the fuel situation, Putin admitted that the country was “going through a difficult period,” but insisted that Moscow would “honor all its social obligations.”

Shortly after, he told state TV that the country's arms industries will quickly ramp up production of air defense systems to fend off Ukrainian attacks.

Putin also said that Russia will import more fuel and speed up repair works at oil facilities to end the “temporary deficit.”

“All damaged facilities are being restored quite quickly, and the issues that arise are not critical,” he said.

Putin specifically pledged to quickly deal with fuel shortages in Crimea, saying that fuel deliveries to the Black Sea peninsula by land and sea will rise and voicing confidence that “this task will be accomplished.”

As fuel shortages spread across Russia, the governor of the Irkutsk region in Siberia, thousands of kilometers (miles) from the Ukrainian border, Igor Kobzev announced that drivers will only be allowed to buy no more than 50 liters (13 gallons) of fuel per vehicle per day at state-run Rosneft gas stations in the province. Other gas stations may set lower limits.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Moscow was actively reviewing fuel export agreements to avoid compromising domestic needs.

Drones, bombs and missiles target more regions

Also on Sunday, a Russian aerial bomb killed two people in Zaporizhzhia — a city in southern Ukraine — and injured 16 others, including two children, said regional administration head Ivan Fedorov.

In Russia's border region of Belgorod, Ukrainian drone strikes killed one person and injured another earlier on Sunday, according to acting local Gov. Alexander Shuvayev.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 213 Ukrainian drones during the night, including over Russia, occupied Crimea and the Black and Azov seas.

Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 142 long-range strike drones and eight missiles overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force. Of those, 125 drones and seven missiles were struck down, the air force said.

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

The final round was stopped for 90 minutes as storms moved over the TPC River Highlands, and officials deemed there was not enough daylight for them to start the playoff.

The playoff was to start at 9 a.m. Monday, the first time a PGA Tour went an extra day since The Players Championship last year.

“It’s more fun when you’re making the ones to win,” Scheffler said. “But to keep yourself in it is also nice. Like I said, I live another day until tomorrow, and will be coming out in the morning and see what I can do.”

Scheffler and Hovland each had birdie chances at the end. Scheffler rammed his 30-foot putt 8 feet by the hole. Hovland's 25-foot attempt missed by inches and he tapped in for a 69. Scheffler made his third big par putt for a 68 to match Hovland at 21-under 259.

That was one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa, who closed with a 61 and was briefly tied for the lead, though it never looked as though it would be enough.

Hovland, who went into the final round with a one-shot lead over Scheffler, found himself two back when play was halted by a pounding rain and lightning in the area, both of them in the fairway on the 14th hole.

Hovland poured in a 15-foot birdie putt from just off the green, to get within one shot and Scheffler had to make a 6-foot par putt to stay in the lead.

On the reachable par-4 15th, Scheffler's pitch from the collar of rough — wet grass might have saved his tee shot from going in the water — raced toward the pin on the top shelf and kept right on going, over the back and down a slope. He chipped that just onto the green and made another big par putt with Hovland in tight for a third straight birdie.

That left them tied. Scheffler missed a big opportunity on a 10-foot birdie chance on the 17th that spun off of the left edge of the cup, and the world's No. 1 player did well to hammer a shot from the wet rough right of the 18th fairway to just inside 30 feet.

PGA Tour official decided before they finished the 18th there would not be enough light to play even one extra hole.

They arrived at the playoff in different manners — Scheffler with three birdies against one bogey, Hovland going through a 10-hole stretch in the middle of his round with just two pars.

Hovland fell behind by two early, only for a two-shot swing on No. 7. There was a two-shot swing in Scheffler's favorite to start the back nine, and then Hovland made up ground with three straight birdies, the final two after rain changed the condition of the course.

The break was good for Hovland just to settle him down.

“I hit some good shots and then some bad shots and I just couldn’t quite get a flow in,” Hovland said. “So it was nice to just get completely off the golf course and reset and I felt a lot better coming back. So sometimes that’s all you need.”

Morikawa finished in style, a shot out of the wet sand in the bunker on the 18th to just inside 10 feet for ninth birdie of the round to post at 20-under 260. Morikawa, who started the day nine shots out of the lead, had to wait some three hours — including the delay — before leaving.

“The thought of actually having a chance, waiting it out, didn’t really cross my mind,” Morikawa said. “But I told my wife earlier this morning, ‘Let’s shoot 61 and end the three-week stretch on a good note.’ And sometimes the way you manifest things works out.”

Matt Fitzpatrick shot 64 to finish alone in fourth followed by U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who played remarkably well after such a draining week at Shinnecock Hills. He was in it until a shot into the water for bogey on the 17th. Clark had a 65 and was three shots back.

___

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

The accident occurred around 6 a.m. in Ras Tanura, and everyone killed was a Saudi national, the statement said. An investigation was opened into the cause of the crash.

The helicopter belonged to Aramco, which is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia.

Aramco recently has had to scramble as the Iran war disrupted oil supplies and raised prices. The company has said it successfully shifted some oil exports to a pipeline to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, which has been disrupted as Iran asserted control over the waterway.

In the days since Wednesday's 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, search teams and locals had believed that there were no signs of life under the concrete mass in La Guaira state, one of the hardest-hit areas.

Then on Sunday came a burst of movement. A pair of dust-coated legs was pulled out of a hole by rescue teams from Virginia, France and Venezuela.

Teams gently carried the man from the structure where he had been trapped for four days, his body slack but still gripping his phone, onto a black tarp and administered an IV.

Then came his young son, pulled shirtless and almost unresponsive over a pack of hard-hat clad rescue workers with the words “Fairfax County Urban Search & Rescue” emblazoned on the backs.

“Slow, slow, gentle, gentle,” chanted rescue teams in a mix of Spanish and English, as they passed the father and son through a crowd of onlookers into a nearby ambulance.

The teams burst out into applause days into search and rescue efforts, at a time that hope of finding survivors was dimming.

Associated Press journalists Juan Pablo Arraez and Matías Delacroix were among the throng of people who witnessed the rescue.

On Sunday, Arraez said they were scouring the La Guaira region “trying to see if we can see any miracles” when they found the U.S. rescue teams and local civilians calmly working to pull the father and son out of the building.

“At this stage many begin to lose hope. You see that in their faces,” Arraez said, as helicopters flew overhead. “When somebody makes it out alive, this father and son. It’s more than a glimpse, it’s real hope for people.”

The one-two punch of the earthquakes has been the greatest natural disaster the South American nation has faced in decades.

Authorities reported 1,450 people were dead on Sunday, with thousands more injured and many more missing.

The first 48 to 72 hours after a natural disaster are crucial to rescue efforts, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water.

But small moments of optimism, solidarity and humanity like this have cut through almost overwhelming grief.

Venezuelan firefighters poured water into the mouth of a dust-covered dog peeking its head through cracks in the concrete.

After being trapped for 70 hours, one woman sat up on a stretcher, grinning and waving at cheering crowds as she was loaded on a gurney into an ambulance.

——

Associated Press photojournalist Matías Delacroix contributed to this report.

The National Weather Service said wildfire conditions “remain critical” across the Southwest, with risk high in the Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah intersect. The agency warned of “extreme fire behavior” along the Utah-Colorado border, where “rapid fire growth is likely.”

The firefighters were killed and two sustained burn injuries when they were overcome Saturday by flames from fast-moving fires. They deployed emergency protective shelters during the so-called burnover — which occurs when a fire spreads and closes off all escape routes — in Mesa County, the U.S. Interior Department said.

They worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. Forest Service and were part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires, which merged with other fires to form the Snyder Fire. So far, about 44 square miles (114 square kilometers) have burned.

The Wildland Fire Service, created earlier this year to streamline firefighting on public lands, said in a statement that it “stands united” with the Forest Service in grief and “in our unwavering support for the loved ones left behind.”

The names of the firefighters were withheld pending notification to their loved ones, the Interior Department said.

Temperatures in Grand Junction — east of the fire — hit a high of 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius) Saturday, with winds gusting to 44 mph (71 kph), according to the National Weather Service.

The Mesa County Sheriff's Office asked people to evacuate the potential path of the fire and to turn on irrigation water to saturate the land. The federal Bureau of Land Management on Saturday closed public access to lands it manages nearby.

On Sunday, strong winds pushed waves of thick, gray smoke from the fire as it burned through a desolate stretch of scrub and red mesa.

Hot, dry and windy conditions

Consecutive days of hot, dry and windy weather fueled fires in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and elsewhere. New fires popped up across the region.

The largest blaze, the Cottonwood Fire, burned out of control in rugged terrain in southwest Utah. It ballooned Sunday to more than 146 square miles (378 square kilometers) after marching through canyons and mountainsides, destroying part of a ski resort. The cause is under investigation.

Firefighters worked on multiple fronts, using bulldozers to scrape away brush and trees to starve the fire of fuel.

No estimates of damage were immediately available. Gov. Spencer Cox in a post on social media thanked crews for what he called “several miraculous stops and saves.”

The danger is even higher this year because of Utah's record-low snowpack and its warmest winter on record. Much of the West is grappling with similar conditions, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some 12 fires were burning in Utah. None were contained by late afternoon Sunday.

Fires across the U.S. burn thousands of square miles this year

Nationally, nearly 4,688 square miles (12,142 square kilometers) have burned since Jan. 1. That is more than the 10-year average.

Fully or largely uncontained wildfires burned across the desert Southwest on Sunday, according to Forest Service data, including in Nevada and Arizona. Their area totaled nearly 469 square miles (1,214 square kilometers).

Emergencies declared in Utah and Colorado

Citing fire conditions, Cox declared an emergency last week and banned fireworks ahead of the July Fourth holiday. State officials said Utah has seen an increase in wildfire starts, with each fire showing unprecedented behavior and stretching wildland firefighting capabilities.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also declared an emergency on Saturday, authorizing the use of the National Guard to tackle the fires.

South of Grand Canyon National Park, authorities said a new wildfire was moving away from Grand Canyon Village on Saturday. But about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, another fire prompted Coconino County officials to issue evacuation orders for those near Kendrick Mountain.

Parts of northern Arizona were without power Saturday as the utility serving the area initiated a safety shut-off in hopes of lessening the wildfire risk. On Sunday, officials said power had been restored to much of Grand Canyon National Park.

Power shutoffs have become more common in the West as wildfire risk has expanded. It is usually a last resort after utility forecasters weigh factors like sustained wind and gust speeds, available fuels and topography.

___

Smyth contributed from Columbus, Ohio. Sisak reported from New York. Associated Press writer Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed.

Officers were dispatched just before 3:30 a.m. Sunday for a wrong-way driver call at Southwest Loop 410 and Medina Base Road.

While en route, officers were notified of a crash. Upon arrival, an SAPD preliminary report states officers located a three-vehicle crash.

Two of the three drivers were found dead at the scene, the report states. EMS cleared the third driver on scene.

The investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• Man killed in crash after losing control of motorcycle on West Side, police say
• Four killed in Karnes County crash, DPS says

Ryu shot a 2-under 70 to finish at 13-under 275 and become the sixth South Korean to win the event over the last 12 editions, flashing a big smile after sinking her last putt as friends ran out to douse her in celebration.

The 2023 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year was also the first major champion in at least the last 60 years to rally from a 10-plus-shot deficit after the first round. Ryu opened Thursday with a 73 in a tie for 70th place, as Yoon shot a tournament-record 63.

Playing her first event in six weeks, Ryu shook off whatever rust she showed and heeded some keen advice from her coach about moving forward.

“You don’t have another problem so just trust your shot and trust your caddie and trust yourself on the golf course,” Ryu said during the trophy ceremony on the 18th green.

Brooke Henderson and Dewi Weber tied for third at 10 under. Three Americans — Allisen Corpuz, Auston Kim and Alison Lee — tied for fifth place, six strokes behind Ryu.

“Haeran played unbelievable today,” Yoon said. “Brooke, I like to play her, play with her all the time. She’s such a nice girl. I learned a lot today, this week.”

LPGA Tour leader Nelly Korda wrapped up a frustrating weekend on the greens with a 73 to finish in a four-way tie for eighth, failing to become the third player to win the first three majors of the season.

The course was closed for most of the morning while a thunderstorm moved through the Twin Cities metro area, dropping more than an inch of rain and pushing all of the tee times back by 3 1/2 hours while players tried to stay focused and loose. That left the greens extra soft and the air especially gusty, making many of Hazeltine’s notoriously long fairways even trickier.

Ryu was five strokes behind Yoon in a four-way tie for second after two rounds and surged to the top on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Henderson, the third time she’s been ahead or tied for the lead entering the final round of a major.

The 25-year-old Ryu bogeyed three of her first five holes before settling in and flexing her ball-striking muscle on a particularly tough afternoon for putting.

Ranking in the top three on the tour in approach, tee to green, and greens in regulation, Ryu went 4 under over the final 12 holes to separate from the pack in a far more relaxing finish than she was on track for. Four different players held a solo lead over the front nine.

Weber became only the fourth women’s player from the Netherlands to finish in the top 20 at a major tournament, with Anne van Dam the most recent at the 2024 British Women’s Open. Only one player on the men’s side has ever done so.

The 23-year-old Yoon had her best finish on the LPGA Tour, deftly rebounding from a 75 on Saturday and a double bogey on the third hole on Sunday.

“Little disappointed yesterday and today, but I think I did pretty good job being under pressure and it’s just part of golf,” Yoon said. “I think it’s going to be a really big lesson in the big picture.”

Korda turns her focus to the next two majors

Korda made the turn only three shots back and birdied the 10th hole, but her short game fell short down the stretch in similar fashion to the third round. She three-putted five different times at Hazeltine, after posting no more than three in any other tournament this year.

Hazeltine's signature lakeside hole dragged her down, too, with a double bogey in the first and fourth rounds on the 16th. Her second shot from the right edge of the fairway splashed in the water for a costly penalty stroke, and she two-putted the par-4 hole.

With the Evian Championship and Women's British Open next month, Korda can still add a grand slam to what has been a superb season despite some setbacks this week in Minnesota.

“I was just thinking about the way that I played," Korda said, "not like the realistic big picture that everyone is talking about.”

___

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

“You guys are Canadian heroes today!" Marsch declared. "Canadian heroes for the future children of this country who play this sport. The sport has a big future because of you guys. You should be so proud of who you are. You should be so proud of this game. You never lost belief. You went after it, point after point, moment after moment. You are Canadian heroes!”

Stephen Eustáquio's dramatic late goal had inspired Marsch to Ted Lasso levels of earnestness, and he didn't care who knew it.

Soccer has never been the main event on Canada's busy sports calendar, and Les Rouges are playing in only their third World Cup this summer. But Marsch realized this landmark 1-0 win over South Africa on Sunday is the type of achievement that can seize an entire nation's attention for a generation.

“We could have made life a little easier on ourselves if we would have made a play earlier when we had some big chances,” Marsch said. “But obviously the timing of the goal means that the win is incredibly dramatic, and I think the effect that it will have in Canada, and the inspiring of people, will be immense.”

After 90-plus minutes of frustration and failure to break down cagey South Africa at SoFi Stadium, Canada made history in an instant when Alistair Johnston’s long pass into the box was cleared directly into the path of Eustáquio.

The midfielder who plays professionally at nearby Los Angeles FC coolly chested it down and blasted it off the bounce into the bottom corner of Ronwen Williams' net before sprinting away to celebrate with Canada's bench in the second minute of second-half stoppage time.

“We worked for it," Eustáquio said. “We have a special group. We feel like we are brothers. When we fight for each other, when we play for each other, special things like this can happen. I am over the moon, but at the same time I don’t want to say that the job is finished.”

Canada, which sits 30th in the most recent FIFA world rankings, advanced to face the Netherlands or Morocco in Houston on Saturday.

After playing its first three group matches in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada missed the chance to also make this bit of history at home when it lost 2-1 to Switzerland last Wednesday and got sent on the road for the knockout rounds. But Marsch's plucky team responded by winning this tournament's first round of 32 match and reaching the round of 16 for the first time in its three trips to the World Cup.

The Canadians were still the clear crowd favorite in the Los Angeles area between their traveling fans and thousands of supportive locals, including several in Eustáquio’s LAFC shirt who couldn't have imagined the day they were about to enjoy.

“We never stopped believing," Eustáquio said. "And I think the goal is really something that we deserved.”

After finishing second in their respective groups, both South Africa and Canada were playing for their nations’ first knockout victories at a World Cup when they opened knockout play with the only match of the day.

Canada got a boost in the 75th minute when star defender Alphonso Davies came on for his first World Cup action. The playmaking Bayern Munich defender missed group play after injuring his hamstring last month for the third time this year, but finally returned in the same stadium where he tore a knee ligament in March 2025 in CONCACAF Nations League play.

Davies immediately made the best pass of the day to set up Promise David for a golden chance, but the forward hit it wide. The game then bogged down again — but Eustáquio made sure Canada avoided extra time.

“Steph is one of the people in the team that I think is the most reliable and understands what we’re trying to achieve as a group, and understands how to manage moments in games, and to be a leader, a true leader,” Marsch said. “It was good to see him, in that moment, just being in the moment and thinking about the best way to strike the ball in the way to give it the best chance to go in. Really composed and really well-executed.”

Williams made five saves for South Africa, which played with remarkable heart while hanging in until the final moments in search of another historic win for the team known as Bafana Bafana. South Africa stayed firm defensively and created a handful of tantalizing chances despite getting only one shot on goal to close a tournament in which it scored two goals in four matches.

“We lost the game because there was a lack of power and speed in our team when I compare that with our opponent,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said. “We had a difficult game, certainly. But when we look back, we can be fairly satisfied with what we did.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Skier Lindsey Vonn has a special understanding of what Williams is going through as she prepares to play both singles and doubles at Wimbledon at age 44.

After making her own comeback, Vonn was the top World Cup downhiller last season at age 41 until her horrific crash at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February left her with a severely fractured left leg.

“There is an increasing shift in what women can accomplish at later stages in their careers or life,” Vonn told The Associated Press. “I feel like we are in the same boat, where we don’t need to prove anything to anyone but we still have the ability to compete at an elite level. She (Willliams) also told me that I played a role in inspiring her to come back so that of course was meaningful to me.”

Vonn talked with Williams after the tennis standout’s doubles victory with partner Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club in London, having watched the match from one of the VIP balconies.

“She was in great spirits. She’s having fun which I loved seeing, even more than her tennis,” Vonn said in a written response. “If it’s bringing her joy to play, I say play as long as you want!”

Vonn has undergone eight surgeries following her Olympic crash — which nearly led to a leg amputation — and needs at least one more to repair a torn ACL in that same knee. But she’s back in the gym and has resumed physical training, while still assessing whether she’ll compete again.

After nearly six years away from skiing, Vonn returned in December 2024 with a partial titanium replacement in her right knee. She had two victories and seven podium results last season.

On Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday, Williams will play her first singles match since 2022 against 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia. Then she’ll play doubles with older sister Venus Williams later in the week.

So what does Vonn expect from Williams at Wimbledon?

“It’s her first major singles tournament since retiring so I would expect for her to play well but not show all her cards yet,” Vonn said. “I’m sure she can still win, but I wouldn’t put any expectations on her. She’s the GOAT (greatest of all time) no matter what happens.”

Indeed, Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion in singles and has won 14 more Grand Slams in doubles — all with Venus as her partner. Vonn’s 45 World Cup downhill wins are the most by a male or female skier.

“It was kind of like riding a bike,” Williams said Sunday of her first practice sessions back at the All England Club. “Obviously when I play, I might have a lot of things come up.”

No matter the outcome, Williams shares Vonn’s credo of setting the bar high to create new standards.

“You have to believe in yourself and go for any dream,” Williams said, “no matter how wild it may be.”

___

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

“When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events,” Trump posted on social media.

Trump toured the course with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, various aides and the golf course architect Tom Fazio and his son, Gavin Fazio. The president's redevelopment of the course is subject to a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

It's unclear when the course could host any major tournaments, as locations are chosen several years ahead of the events. Locations for the U.S. Open are scheduled through 2051, though there are available spots in 2043, 2046 and 2048. The PGA Championship is set through 2035.

Trump complained in his post about the condition of the grass and the sprinkler system for the public golf course, but debris from the demolition of the White House East Wing has also been dumped on the grounds. The National Park Service said last month that the debris tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals.

Trump said in his post that work on the golf course would begin on Sept. 1. The president also toured updates to Lafayette Park on the north side of the White House and had his motorcade drive around where he plans to build a triumphal arch.

The president also said in a separate post that he would meet with Janeese Lewis George, who won the Democratic primary for Washington's mayor. Trump in his post called Lewis George a “Communist."

At a news conference Thursday, Lewis George said that as the next likely mayor that she would “work with anyone including the president for the best interest of D.C. residents” but stressed that she would not comply “in advance” to requests from the administration that could compromise the locally elected government.

The images illustrate how the Republican president has dominated daily life since returning to power and, to some, evoke more the style of a monarch than the leader of the world's oldest democracy. But it's also how he has wielded that power that has led to comparisons of an imperial reign.

Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has nominated one of his personal lawyers to serve as attorney general, ordered the Department of Justice to pursue his political enemies, deployed the U.S. Marines to the nation's second largest city and leveraged the presidency to enrich himself and his family.

He has demanded that comedians who mock him be fired, has slapped his name on the Kennedy Center, has pushed to seize control of elections, has filed lawsuits against news organizations whose coverage he disliked and has sued his own government seeking $10 billion in taxpayer money.

With the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding fast approaching, Trump’s own celebrations have overshadowed the bipartisan, congressionally authorized commission that was supposed to coordinate events commemorating the moment. He plans to return to the National Mall on July Fourth for what he calls a “Trump rally.”

The president's actions have led to comparisons with King George III, the British monarch whose rule inspired the American Revolution. It is a parallel Trump himself rejects.

“I’m not a king,” he told CBS' “60 Minutes” earlier this year. “If I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you.”

Past presidents have been branded as imperial, but Trump stands out

There is a long American political tradition of opponents reviling presidents as kings. But Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian, said the label fits differently on Trump.

“It’s more about how he imagines who is he and what the presidency is,” Zelizer said. “We're celebrating founding principles, and that was a driving issue — fears of how a centralized power can be corrupted. And here we are again.”

When King Charles III visited Trump this year, the official White House X account posted an image of the two men with the caption “TWO KINGS.” At the start of his second term, Trump declared he had ended a New York City transportation program and posted: “LONG LIVE THE KING.” The posts also seemed to indicate a willingness to leverage the label and the reaction it provokes in his critics.

It is no coincidence that the main resistance movement in Trump's second term adopted the slogan “No Kings.” Ezra Levin of Indivisible said activists were thinking ahead to 2026 and the America 250 celebration when they chose the label.

“It looks like the same kind of tyranny we were rebelling against 250 years ago, the type of domination of Americans by a secret police force that's murdering people in the streets like in Minneapolis this year and in Boston in 1770,” Levin said, referring to demonstrations against the administration's immigration crackdown that led to the fatal shootings of two protesters this year by federal officers.

When asked for comment, the White House referred to Trump's own statements about his use of executive power. The president has weighed in multiple times about his maximalist approach.

During his first term, he referred to Article II of the Constitution when he told participants in a youth summit, “I have the right to do whatever I want as president," while declaring that it "gives me all of these rights at a level nobody has ever seen before.” He told The New York Times in an interview this year that the only check on his global power was “my own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Yet he also has said that portrayals of his approach as authoritarian were wrong: “I'm not a dictator,” he told reporters last year. In response to a question about whether he was concentrating power in the presidency, Trump told Time in an interview last year, “I don’t think so. I think I’m using it properly, and I’m also using it as per my election.”

Supreme Court's conservative majority has enabled Trump's approach

With a deferential Republican-controlled Congress, courts have become the last check on Trump. The president has harshly criticized judges who have ruled against him, and his administration has sometimes defied their orders.

Yet his quest to expand presidential power has been aided by the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, which has sided with Trump numerous times after lower court rulings hampered him.

In the middle of his 2024 campaign, the high court ruled that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. The decision derailed multiple investigations stemming from Trump's first term, including one focused on his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump has argued the courts cannot constrain the president on key issues, including his claims that he has the ability to fire members of independent agencies. The most notorious example was in 2024, when a judge asked during the immunity case whether a president could be prosecuted for ordering the assassination of a political rival. Trump's lawyer, D. John Sauer, answered with a “qualified yes.”

Sauer is now solicitor general, the administration official who oversees arguments before the high court. He has continued to insist that courts cannot review presidential acts.

“Once the President has made a determination … at that point, there’s no work for the reviewing court to do,” Sauer said during Supreme Court arguments in a case over whether Trump could fire Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor.

But the Supreme Court has allowed Cook to remain on the board while it considers the case. The majority also slapped down his global tariffs, finding that only Congress had that authority.

Such rulings demonstrate that presidential power does have its limits, said John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

“The presidency today, even when colored by President Trump's worst excesses, is not a monarchy,” he said.

Trump uses the presidency to enrich himself and his family

Trump was the richest man to ever become president. During his first term, he was criticized for owning properties where foreign dignitaries and others hoping to curry his favor spent lavishly. The conflicts of interest have escalated in his second term.

Trump launched cryptocurrencies before and after returning to office. By conservative estimates, one has pulled in $320 million this year alone, while another sold $550 million worth of tokens. A third received a $2 billion investment from a foreign wealth fund.

Trump took a new step earlier this year, filing a private $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for the leak of his tax returns during his first term. His Department of Justice directed the IRS to settle the litigation to create a $1.776 billion fund to pay damages to people who claimed the federal government unfairly prosecuted them.

The administration pulled back the settlement amid an outcry from congressional Democrats and Republicans. But Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump who is now acting attorney general, said at least one provision remains — a ban on the IRS auditing Trump.

Zelizer said Trump’s financial entanglements might be the most monarchical part of his administration.

“We have not seen a person who has a business operation of this scale and scope benefiting directly from the decisions he makes,” Zelizer said.

Trump has used the government to pursue his enemies

The Justice Department's role in the IRS lawsuit is one example of how Trump has decreed that executive branch employees should act as agents of his will.

In breaching what is supposed to be a firewall between the White House and Justice Department, Trump has demanded that federal prosecutors target his foes. In one social media post last year, he called out by name Pam Bondi, who was attorney general at the time, in pushing her to prosecute several of his political opponents: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote.

Indictments followed shortly after, including against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. The charges against both eventually were dismissed, but the department under Blanche filed new charges against Comey.

The pursuit is not limited to Trump enemies of the past.

For his 80th birthday this month, the president hosted a fight held by UFC — a company he invested in — on the White House lawn. The event was broadcast on a network owned by the son of one of the president’s major donors. The spectacle drew a rebuke from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a persistent critic and potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender.

“The White House was built to serve the American people. Tonight it was used to promote a company the President owns stock in, sell subscriptions, promote corporate sponsors, push Trump crypto, and enrich the President and his family,” Newsom wrote on X. “The founders warned us about kings enriching themselves from public office.”

Days later, Newsom disclosed that Trump’s Department of Justice was investigating him and his wife.

___

Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

Walsh clocked 23.55 seconds at the Sette Colli meet in Rome to shave 0.04 seconds off the record Douglass set in Indianapolis on June 19.

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, who held the world record before Douglass, finished second on Sunday in 23.86.

Walsh and Douglass are former teammates at the University of Virginia and still train together. After seeing her mark bested so quickly, Douglass posted a photo of Walsh on Instagram with the text “was fun while it lasted” and a handshake emoji.

Walsh, who won two relay gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, also holds the short-course world record over 50 meters and the long-course mark in the 100 butterfly.

___

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

South Korea won its opening match against Czech Republic, then lost its next two Group A matches to South Africa and Mexico.

South Korea hoped it would qualify for the next round as one of the third-place teams to advance in this year's expanded tournament. That ended when Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 on Saturday.

The quick exit for a team that expected to advance left the national team program in turmoil and drew a sharp rebuke from President Lee Jae Myung. He leveled pointed criticism at the coach..

“As a former honorary professional football club chairman and, at heart, a member of the Red Devils, I feel not just surprise but deep bewilderment at this unexpected result,” the president said.

The president criticized the national team structure and oversight, and the coach's appointment in the first place.

“Once again, it has been proven that personnel decisions determine everything. If loyalty and factionalism are valued over competence and an incapable person is appointed as a leader, the outcome is as predictable as fire,” the president said.

Hong, 57, announced his resignation with an apology to Korean fans before the team left its base camp in Mexico, where South Korea had played all three of its group matches.

Hong was in his second stint with the national team. He was the coach at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when South Korea also failed to advance past the group stage.

“To all of the Korean people who love and support our national team, I would like to genuinely apologize. Today, I’d like to announce that I will step down as the national team head coach,” Hong said.

“As the head coach, no explanation can supersede the ultimate result. I could not bring the result that our people had expected. All responsibilities are with me," Hong said. "Today, I step down as the national team head coach. However, my heart for Korean football will remain the same. I will now support Korea national team to regain the trust and love of our people.”

South Korea is a regular at the World Cup with 11 consecutive appearances, and was a semifinalist when it was co-host of the tournament in 2002.

Lee called for the national Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to review the national team and its failures.

"I sincerely apologize to the public for the deep disappointment caused by this absurd situation. We will move swiftly to reform sports administration to ensure this does not happen again,” Lee said.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Lionel Messi and Argentina, on the other hand, probably wouldn't complain much about their potential path to the World Cup final four.

The bracket is set for the knockout stage of the World Cup. There was no selection committee; slots were predetermined — Group A winner on this line, Group D runner-up on this line, etc. — so it wasn't exactly like how the NCAA tournaments go. And FIFA doesn't reseed like some sports, so a couple lower seeds are certain to get into at least the Round of 16.

So, when taking the 32 qualifiers for the knockout stage and ranking them like it's an NCAA tournament — essentially seeding the field 1 to 32 based on the FIFA live rankings entering Sunday — it's easy to see why some “regions” might be tougher to navigate than others.

A breakdown of the World Cup bracket:

Foxborough Region

— Quarterfinal: July 9 at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

— Round of 32 matchups: No. 12 Germany vs. No. 27 Paraguay, No. 2 France vs. No. 26 Sweden, No. 29 South Africa vs. No. 25 Canada (won 1-0 by Canada on Sunday), No. 7 Netherlands vs. No. 6 Morocco.

— Outlook: Netherlands vs. Morocco in the Round of 32 means that at least one of the seven highest-ranked teams left in the tournament won't even get to the Round of 16. France and Germany — perennial European powers — could meet in the Round of 16. And Canada (the first team through to the Round of 16 after winning the knockout stage opener over South Africa on Sunday) might have to change time zones twice on its way to the quarterfinals, while Germany, Paraguay, France and Sweden will all be in either Massachusetts, New Jersey or Pennsylvania in the Rounds of 32 and 16.

— If the seeds hold: France would play Morocco in the quarterfinal.

Inglewood Region

— Quarterfinal: July 10 at Inglewood, California.

— Round of 32 matchups: No. 8 Portugal vs. No. 13 Croatia, No. 3 Spain vs. No. 18 Austria, No. 14 United States vs. No. 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 10 Belgium vs. No. 17 Senegal.

— Outlook: The U.S. gets one of the lowest-ranked teams left in the tournament to open the Round of 32 and would remain in the Pacific time zone until the semifinals. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal did not get an easy draw at all, with Croatia right off the bat and then potentially Spain in the Round of 16. (Can't imagine Spain is too thrilled with this, either.) Belgium vs. Senegal is in Seattle, and the winner will stay there to play the U.S. match winner; that's a big break for weary legs.

— If the seeds hold: Spain would play Belgium in the quarterfinal.

Miami Gardens Region

— Quarterfinal: July 11 at Miami Gardens, Florida.

— Round of 32 matchups: No. 5 Brazil vs. No. 16 Japan, No. 24 Ivory Coast vs. No. 19 Norway, No. 9 Mexico vs. No. 20 Ecuador, No. 4 England vs. No. 28 Congo.

— Outlook: Mexico and England will be heavily favored in their Round of 32 matches, then would be in line to go head-to-head in the Round of 16 — in what would be a road game at Mexico City for England. And Mexico is one of only two teams not to surrender a goal in the group stage, with Spain being the other. Brazil gets a bit of an easier path to the quarterfinals, opening with Japan and then — if it wins — drawing the Ivory Coast-Norway winner.

— If the seeds hold: Brazil would play England in the quarterfinal.

Kansas City Region

— Quarterfinal: July 11 at Kansas City, Missouri.

— Round of 32 matchups: No. 1 Argentina vs. No. 31 Cape Verde, No. 22 Australia vs. No. 21 Egypt, No. 15 Switzerland vs. No. 23 Algeria, No. 11 Colombia vs. No. 32 Ghana.

— Outlook: Again, there is no “selection committee,” but if there was it would have gotten this one right by putting the best goalscorer in Argentina's Lionel Messi against the tournament's best story in Cape Verde in the Round of 32. And Messi gets to be at home in Miami Gardens, a few miles from Inter Miami's stadium for that matchup. Australia or Egypt awaits the Argentina match winner, Switzerland-Algeria has potential for a lot of goals, and Colombia faces a Ghana team with nothing to lose.

— If the seeds hold: Argentina would play Colombia in the quarterfinal.

Inside the bracket

News and notes about the Round of 32 matchups:

— France, Mexico and Argentina were the only teams to escape group play with 3-0-0 records.

— There are four Round of 32 matchups between unbeaten teams: Netherlands (2-0-1) vs. Morocco (2-0-1), Belgium (1-0-2) vs. Senegal (1-0-2), Brazil (2-0-1) vs. Japan (1-0-2) and Argentina (3-0-0) vs. Cape Verde (0-0-3).

— Expect some goals in France vs. Sweden (combined 17 goals in the group stage), Netherlands-Morocco (16), Belgium-Senegal (14), Brazil-Japan (14) and U.S.-Bosnia and Herzegovina (13).

— On the flip side, the first goal of Mexico-Ecuador might be that match's decider. Mexico wasn't scored on in group play and Ecuador surrendered only two goals in those three matches.

— The semifinal matchups are the winner of the Foxborough quarterfinal against the winner of the Inglewood quarterfinal (at Arlington, Texas on July 14) and the winner of the Miami Gardens quarterfinal against the winner of the Kansas City quarterfinal (at Atlanta on July 15). The final is at East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 19.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.

Already, parts of the U.S., especially Phoenix and central Texas, and much of the Southwest were experiencing temperatures around 100 F (38 C) on Sunday, while the weather service warned of severe wildfire conditions developing across much of the West as new fires popped up across the region.

On Sunday, well over 130 million Americans across southern and Great Plains states were under moderate to severe heat risk conditions, according to weather service maps, with that area forecast to expand and temperatures to intensify as the week drags on.

Forecasters say several days of high temperatures — some above 100 degrees F — will settle in across the lower Great Lakes, the mid-Atlantic and the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Some record highs could be set in areas from the lower Great Lakes to the mid-Atlantic and New England later in the week, said weather service meteorologist Bryan Putnam.

A number of big cities could see their highest temperatures of the year so far as they host World Cup matches and celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary.

Feeling the heat will be the East Coast cities of New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore, and Midwestern and Great Lakes cities including Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Detroit. Southern cities including Dallas, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, will also see high temperatures.

High heat will last into next weekend across the Great Plains, the Southeast and the mid-Atlantic, the weather service said.

Temperatures will reach well into the 90s and low 100 degrees Fahrenheit (mid to high 30s Celsius), the weather service said. High humidity will lead to heat indexes of 100 to 110 degrees F (40 C to 43 C), and as high as 115 F (46 C).

“That’s heat that’s impactful to anyone,” Putnam said. “It’s not just older adults or younger children or people who are spending a ton of time outdoors, maybe straining themselves a little more than normal. This is heat that really could impact everyone, especially with people outdoors going into the holiday weekend.”

The heat index, which factors in humidity and is included on many weather forecasts, provides a sense of how hot it really feels — and what’s dangerous for prolonged exposure or strenuous activity.

AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys said temperatures will be significantly above normal. For instance, in Washington, highs around July Fourth average around 89 degrees F (32 C), while Indianapolis averages around 85 degrees F (29 C). But this week, both cities will be hotter by 10 or 11 degrees F, Roys said.

The high pressure system — an area of dry, sinking air — creating the heat will act like a “rock” that will force storms to go around it and limit rainfall across the East, Roys said. That's sometimes called a “heat dome.”

Nightly lows in the 70s F (21 to 26 C) or even high 80s won’t provide much relief, meteorologists said.

For those who don't have air conditioning, especially in Eastern Seaboard cities like New York where lows may not dip below 80 F (27 C), it’s going be miserable to sleep, Roys said.

Roys also said this is a primetime for heat-related illnesses because people's bodies aren’t able to recover and cool off.

During extreme temperatures, limit outdoor activity, stay hydrated and ensure access to air-conditioning and other cooling areas, the weather service said.

The weather service said it expected extremely dry and windy conditions that could promote rapid wildfire spread across the Great Basin and the Southwest on Sunday.

In hot, windy conditions near the Colorado-Utah border, three firefighters working for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. Forest Service were killed, and two others sustained burn injuries, when they were overcome by flames from fast-moving wildfires.

Wildfire activity has intensified across the Western U.S. as hot, dry and windy weather fueled flames in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and elsewhere.

___

Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter

It said the arrests were based on a statement made by former Deputy Minister of Oil Adnan al-Jumaili, who was arrested last month, and “included members of Parliament whose immunity had been lifted.”

Iraqi security forces sealed off all entrances to the capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone early Sunday and carried out raids inside the compound that houses key government institutions and foreign embassies.

The state news agency later reported that 47 people had been arrested in the corruption probe, but it was not clear if all of them were detained Sunday or if some of them had been arrested earlier.

It released the names of 15 arrestees, including 12 current lawmakers, one former legislator, a former adviser to former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and another high-ranking oil ministry official. Some of the arrested lawmakers came from al-Sudani's Shiite political bloc and others from the Azm Alliance, an influential Sunni party.

The specific accusations against them were not immediately clear.

Al-Sudani’s bloc won the largest share of seats in November’s parliamentary elections, but he ultimately stepped aside amid a deadlock in the Coordination Framework — a coalition of Shiite parties allied with Iran that brought him to power — over their preferred candidate for premier.

Al-Sudani was replaced by Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman and political newcomer, who emerged as a consensus candidate and received the blessing of the United States.

The arrests are likely to have ripple effects across Iraq’s fractured political landscape, where accusations of corruption frequently intersect with rivalries over power and influence.

Diaa Jaafar, the investigative judge of Iraq’s central anti-corruption court, said in a statement that the investigation into al-Jumaili began in October “following the court’s receipt of a number of reports alleging that several candidates had spent exorbitant sums of money to support their election campaigns, exploiting state resources and with the support of influential figures in the previous government.”

He said the investigation uncovered the involvement of a group of legislators in “exploiting state resources for electioneering and benefiting from government contracts, directly or indirectly, to obtain commissions and personal advantages for themselves and others.”

Jaafar said Parliament Speaker Haibet Al-Halbousi lifted the immunity of the members of parliament implemented in the case and the arrest warrants against them were then executed.

The first strike targeted a group of people in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing two and wounding another, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Another Israeli strike in southern Gaza killed a man, according to health officials at Nasser hospital.

And the 13-year-old girl, Eileen al-Farra, was killed by shrapnel from Israeli tank shelling in southern Gaza, according to Nasser hospital.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes but said one of them targeted a “Hamas terrorist," without elaborating.

Palestinians on Sunday reported heavy tank shelling across Gaza and quadcopters — a type of unmanned aerial vehicle — buzzing overhead.

The heaviest fighting in Gaza has eased after a fragile ceasefire deal was reached in October between Israel and the Hamas militant group, but Palestinians continue to report new casualties almost daily. Israel says it targets Hamas and other militants who pose a threat and in response to ceasefire violations.

Israel has killed more than 1,040 people in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all deaths.

Israel has said five soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,050 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that it also discovered 21 canine skulls, hundreds of bones and other remains during searches at Miranda’s Rescue Animal Sanctuary, a 50-acre (20-hectare) facility in Fortuna, California.

Investigators combing the site on Thursday located an area in a barn where they believe dogs were likely killed, the sheriff’s office said. More than 600 dog collars were found nearby, the office said.

Sheriff William Honsal called it a “horrific scene.” No charges have been filed.

A message seeking comment was left for the shelter’s founder, Shannon Miranda.

In a statement posted to the shelter’s website on June 18, Miranda said that recent media coverage and online commentary “have presented an incomplete and, in some cases, inaccurate picture of our work.”

“At Miranda’s Rescue, our mission is to save as many animals as we safely can—always balancing compassion for animals with our responsibility to protect families, children, other pets, and the public,” Miranda wrote.

The sheriff’s office said it started investigating the shelter after receiving “credible information” in April “regarding allegations of felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud, and conspiracy.”

Miranda’s Rescue collects fees from shelter transfers, as well as donations that it says helps cover the costs of food, housing, veterinary care, medications, facility expenses and staffing.

An affidavit from an earlier search of the property said that the sheriff’s office was tipped off by a pair of animal advocates, one of whom owns property adjoining the shelter and used trail cameras to monitor activity near an alleged burial site.

The advocates later went onto shelter property and dug up dog remains, the affidavit said.

“This investigation is just getting started,” Honsal said in a statement. “There is a tremendous amount of data to process, witnesses to interview, and evidence to examine.”

Investigators using ground-penetrating radar found 117 intact remains in various stages of decomposition buried in an open field, the sheriff’s office said.

They X-rayed 70 of the remains on site and found evidence of bullet fragments in many of them. The cause of death for many of those animals appeared to be gunshot wounds, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators also found additional remains in advanced stages of decomposition, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said hundreds of dogs were transferred or turned over to Miranda’s Rescue by private citizens and animal shelters.

In his statement, Miranda said, “Miranda’s Rescue is a no-kill rescue. We do not euthanize animals simply to make space.”

However, Miranda wrote, ”there are rare circumstances in which euthanasia may be necessary — when an animal is suffering from a terminal condition or when it poses a serious, ongoing danger to people or other animals.”

“In those situations, we make the most humane and responsible decision we can, always with public safety and animal welfare in mind.”

Racing in a heatwave with a broken drinks system, Russell held off Max Verstappen and his own teammate Kimi Antonelli to turn his controversial pole position into a dominant win.

It's the first win for Russell, excluding sprint races, since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Russell said it was “incredible" to win again after struggling to compete with Antonelli when his teammate racked up five straight victories earlier in the season.

“It’s been a tough couple of months with some really tricky races, with races that felt like everything was going against me, then some races with some tough performances,” he said.

Verstappen took the fight to Mercedes with his upgraded Red Bull car at the team's home race, but couldn't get close enough for a shot at Russell and finished on the defensive against Antonelli. The top three were separated by just two seconds at the finish.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari failed to build on his breakthrough win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last time out, fading badly in the race despite qualifying well, with the seven-time champion fifth and teammate Charles Leclerc eighth.

Russell takes back second in the standings from Hamilton with his seventh career win and cuts Antonelli’s lead to 40 points.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself, knowing I can do it. I have less confidence in being able to get everything aligned with the car, the set-up and the tires, because it’s just been so up and down for me,” Russell said.

Antonelli was left to rue mistakes he said cost him valuable seconds early in the race.

“It was a shame that I joined the party a bit too late,” the 19-year-old driver said.

Russell's smart win

Russell took pole Saturday with a lap time set as a yellow flag was displayed for a crash by Verstappen. Russell argued he’d lifted off enough to be safe and the stewards agreed.

Sunday’s win showed off Russell’s smart approach to racing in a different way as he managed his pace and stayed out of trouble, even as those behind him lost time battling each other for position.

Leclerc had started second, with Hamilton third, but they gradually dropped back through the field on a track where they lacked power compared to Mercedes and also had difficulties with tire wear.

Hamilton didn’t give up without a fight, bringing back memories of his fierce battles with Verstappen in 2021. Hamilton and the Dutch driver fought side by side in the early part of the race and Verstappen complained Hamilton had forced him wide into a gravel trap.

Fourth place for Oscar Piastri was a positive sign for McLaren, with defending champion Lando Norris seventh, but it came with a warning from team principal Andrea Stella.

It was an example of “excellent strategy” but “we are not in a position to fight for victories and podiums on pure pace at the moment,” Stella said.

Cadillac feels the heat

The heatwave sweeping Europe made this the first race of the year to be run under F1’s “heat hazard” rules, with drivers required to use cooling vests or carry an equivalent weight in ballast. They lined up for the pre-race Austrian anthem in cooling gear and carrying umbrellas.

Overheating brakes were a hot topic, with Antonelli among those struggling to stop the car. Both Cadillac drivers retired early, with the team’s crew rushing to put out a small fire on Valtteri Bottas’ car before Sergio Perez reported smoke.

F1's newest team is launching an investigation into the issues.

“We have made progress in terms of pace and the gap from the rear of the field is growing, but we need to ensure we have the reliability to demonstrate it,” team principal Graeme Lowdon said.

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

The All England club was holding one last wild card entry and the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion — who had already announced she'd play doubles with her sister Venus — had a decision to make.

“I thought I should really take this opportunity. Who knows if I’ll ever make it here again. This could be it,” the 44-year-old Williams said Sunday at a press conference.

“I was like, ‘What’s wrong with me, Serena? What are you thinking? Are you nuts? Like you really should do this,’” she added. “People live to be an athlete. I have this great opportunity to showcase what I do, what I do best, I suppose. Yeah, I think ultimately I was like that is pretty cool, so I should do it.”

Williams’ first match at the grass-court Grand Slam since 2022 will take place on Centre Court on Tuesday evening when she faces 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia as part of her evolving tennis comeback.

Williams had been away from the sport since her farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Her most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round to Harmony Tan, who was then-ranked 115th. The American great walked away from tennis — she described it as “evolving” away — after losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows.

After earlier accepting a wild card in doubles, Williams described the process of making her decision for singles.

“So I think it was on, I had until Monday to decide. I think it was like Sunday. I just wasn’t sure up until then,” she said. “Honestly, I’m still not even sure, but we’ll see.”

Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion but said Sunday that “in general my expectations are definitely different for the first time in my career.”

Defending champion Iga Swiatek opens play on Centre Court on Tuesday (1:30 p.m. local time), in keeping with tradition, against Taylor Townsend. That's to be followed by Taylor Fritz vs. home favorite Jack Draper — in what is one of the most intriguing men's first-round matchups.

And then Williams-Joint.

“Yeah, actually I know her. I’ve watched some of her videos,” said Williams, who paused for a moment before adding, “I’m sure she knows my game.”

Michigan-born Joint slipped from No. 53 to No. 87 in the WTA rankings updated on Sunday.

Serena gets nervous?

Even GOATs get butterflies, apparently.

“I expect to be nervous. I was also nervous every single match I ever played in my life,” Williams said. “I think that showed the passion and the love and the care, that I cared about my job, whether it was the first round or the second round or the finals. I’ve always had some nerves. But then I just dust ’em off, then I move on.”

Williams has a Wimbledon singles first-round record of 19-2 — the losses coming in her last two appearances: 2021 and 2022.

The most-recent of her seven singles titles at the All England Club was 2016. She reached the 2018 final — 10 months after giving birth — and lost to Angelique Kerber. A year later, she lost in the final to Simona Halep.

Williams officially returned to tennis earlier this month in a doubles match with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament. She then played doubles in Berlin with Karolina Muchova — losing in the first round.

What can we expect from Serena?

Newly crowned French Open champion Mirra Andreeva probably spoke for lots of top players when she mentioned on Saturday that she was relieved to see the draw didn't match her up with Williams in the first round.

“Respectfully,” Williams said, “it’s not surprising simply because I think anyone that’s done — it’s like the big four coming back, I mean, Novak (Djokovic) is still here, but no one would want to play them in their first round. I can’t think of anyone that would want to do that.”

She added: “No one knows how my game may or may not have evolved, what to expect, don’t know much. Those type of opponents are always very difficult to play.”

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

After a near-record debut for an animated movie, “Toy Story 5” remained No. 1 at the box office with $70 million in domestic ticket sales and another $89.1 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release has in two weeks quickly amassed $585 million globally, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.

“Supergirl,” however, failed to lift off. It opened with $38 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. It added $30 million in overseas markets.

Craig Gillespie’s superhero spinoff is the second big-screen release from James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were tapped to lead DC Studios in late 2022. Their first release, 2025’s “Superman,” grossed $618 million worldwide, a strong-enough start for Gunn and Safran.

But “Supergirl” flopped with both critics and moviegoers. Reportedly trimmed significantly after test screenings, Gillespie’s film landed poor reviews (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a “B-” CinemaScore from audiences.

The poor opening weekend for “Supergirl” puts it behind the disappointing debuts of DC busts like “The Flash” ($55 million in 2023) and “The Green Lantern” ($53 million in 2011), and only barely ahead of “Joker: Folie à Deux” ($37.7 million in 2024).

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe, noted superhero movies no longer drive the box office like they did pre-pandemic. There are fewer yearly releases, and the box office in the genre is down approximately $3.5 billion annually from its highs in 2017-2019.

After huge successes like “Wonder Woman” ($822 million in 2017) and “Captain Marvel” ($1.13 billion in 2019), female-fronted superhero movies have also taken a downturn.

“You’ll hear general explanations like ‘the audience lost interest.’ Yes, they did,” said Gross. “But no one has been able to explain why it happened so suddenly and so completely. Why female superheroes in particular, after their sensational starts? We don’t understand it either.”

The stumble for “Supergirl,” which cost $170 million to make, comes as Warner Bros. Discovery, the film studio’s parent company, is preparing to be acquired by Paramount Skydance. David Ellison, Paramount chief executive, recently met with Gunn and Safran.

The next DC release is “Clayface,” a body horror take on the DC character, to be released in October. Gunn’s “Superman” follow-up, “Man of Tomorrow,” is currently in production. It’s dated for July 2027.

Gunn, who serves as a producer on “Supergirl,” handed directing duties to Gillespie, the filmmaker of “I, Tonya” and “Cruella.” Milly Alcock, who briefly appeared in “Superman,” stars as Supergirl, or Lara Zor-El, a younger cousin to Superman who’s more of a party girl than a world saver.

Paramount Pictures’ “Jackass: Best and Last” was the weekend’s other new wide release. The latest stunt compilation from Johnny Knoxville and company opened with a modest $8.4 million from 2,855 North American theaters. While that’s a good result for a movie that cost just $10 million to make, the 2022 installment, “Jackass Forever,” debuted with $23 million before ultimately grossing $80 million worldwide.

Olivia Wilde’s dinner party comedy “The Invite” notched one of the best per-screen averages of the year. Opening on seven screens in New York and Los Angeles, it debuted with $379,104, good for a per-screen average of $54,158.

Wilde’s third film as director stars herself, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton as a pair of San Francisco couples who meet for an impromptu night together. A24 acquired the film after its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere. The indie distributor is hoping “The Invite,” which will expand next week and go nationwide on July 10, can revive the largely dormant summer comedy.

The micro-budget horror phenomenon “Obsession” continued to hold unusually strong. It took third place on the weekend with $9.8 million in its seventh weekend of release. Curry Barker’s film, made for less than $1 million, has now collected $233.9 million domestically for Focus Features, plus $108.9 million internationally.

Such legs, however, haven’t materialized for Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day.” In the Universal Pictures’ third weekend of release, it slipped to fifth place with $8.1 million in domestic theaters. Spielberg's UFO tale has grossed $193.7 million globally in three weeks.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

1. “Toy Story 5,” $70 million.

2. “Supergirl,” $38 million.

3. “Obsession,” $9.8 million.

4. “Jackass: Best and Last,” $8.4 million.

5. “Disclosure Day,” $8.1 million.

6. “Backrooms,” $4.3 million.

7. “Scary Movie,” $3 million.

8. “Masters of the Universe,” $2.2 million.

9. “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity," $2 million.

10. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $1.6 million.

With supporters' red-and-white St. George's Cross signs circling the field on an afternoon of sporadic rain, Bellingham and Kane scored early in the second half for a 2-0 win over Panama on Saturday. England earned first place in its group and a more favorable knockout phase bracket.

The Three Lions even wore the red jerseys made famous when England beat Germany for its only title in 1966, a sartorial similarity connecting North Jersey and that famous day in north London.

“Amazing support. Crazy white wall behind the goal. Perfect weather to play football for us — warm rain," England coach Thomas Tuchel said.

England finished Group L with two wins and a draw for seven points and plays its round of 32 match Wednesday at Atlanta against Congo. The team that advances faces Mexico or Ecuador in Mexico City.

If the Three Lions had dropped to second, they would have encountered Portugal, with the winner meeting Spain or Austria.

“I know some people have already made plans,” Bellingham said, “so it was nice they don’t have to cancel anything.”

Fans filled the field walls with flags displaying club names that included Tottenham, Watford and Wolves plus less-celebrated clubs such as Crawley Town, Bristol Rovers and Faversham Town.

Panama held the England scoreless through a first half in which Kane had 10 touches, the fewest of any player. Croatia added pressure by taking the lead in the 31st minute against Ghana in simultaneous match in Philadelphia.

“All the lads were ready to go after halftime,” Bellingham said. "We realized we had a couple of more gears to go.”

Bellingham put the Three Lions ahead in the 62nd minute from Bukayo Saka's corner kick. Held in bear hug by Jorge Gutiérrez at the top of the 6-yard box, Bellingham stuck out his left leg and stabbed the ball past goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera for his third World Cup goal, his second this year.

Five minutes later, Bellingham crossed from the left flank and Kane outjumped Andrés Andrade to head in the ball for his 82nd international goal. Kane became England's record World Cup scorer with his 11th goal, one more than Gary Lineker.

Bellingham injured his left hamstring playing for Real Madrid on Feb. 1, didn't return until March 22 and scored just two more goals during the rest of the La Liga season.

“Jude looks fit, looks sharp," Kane said. "It looks like he's got the bit between his teeth to really go out there and prove to the world what type of player he is.”

England reached the knockout rounds for the seventh time in eight World Cups.

“They have great players. They are worth millions and millions," Panama defender José Córdoba said. "We’re talking about English football, which is much more developed than in our country and there’s a huge distance.”

Panama went 0-3 for the second time and was outscored 4-0. It joined Iraq, Haiti, El Salvador, Canada and Mexico — all but one from the CONCACAF region — as teams that lost their first six World Cup matches. José Fajardo put the ball in the net for the Los Canaleros in second-half stoppage time, but was called for offside.

“We can be proud — not of the results, as no one can be proud of a defeat, but all in all I think they gave their everything." Panama coach Thomas Christiansen said. “For the outside world, the image of Panama has been really good.”

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford played his 15th World Cup match, second among English players to Peter Shilton’s 17.

England's Jarell Quansah, usually a central defender, replaced right back Reece James, sidelined by a hamstring. Quansah twisted his right ankle during a 59th-minute challenge by José Luis Rodríguez and was replaced in the 63rd. England is short on right backs after Trent Alexander-Arnold was not picked for the roster.

“It will be now a very tight race for Quansah, so I’m worried about these two," Tuchel said.

In the glow of victory, supporters celebrated Bellingham by singing the Beatles' “Hey Jude” when he stood on the field for postgame interviews.

“This evening is for sure to take in the energy and take in the atmosphere,” Tuchel said. “From tomorrow we will think about round of 32.”

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.

The crash happened just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday at North Cherry and Nolan streets.

Police said a 58-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man were traveling south on North Cherry Street when another vehicle attempted to make a left turn onto Nolan Street, striking their vehicle.

The driver of that vehicle continued driving without stopping to render aid, SAPD said.

Both victims sustained serious injuries and were taken to a local hospital, according to police.

No information on the driver has been released, and no arrests have been made.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Read also:

• 2 drivers killed in multi-vehicle crash on Southwest Side, SAPD says
• Teen hospitalized after being struck by hit-and-run driver on West Side, police say

The crash happened just before 11 p.m. Saturday in the 6600 block of Commerce Street.

Police said the pedestrian, identified as an 18-year-old man, was walking across the street when he was struck by a white truck.

The driver continued to drive without stopping to render aid to the man, SAPD said.

The man was taken to a local hospital after sustaining serious injuries from the crash, police said.

No arrests have been made.

SAPD’s investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• 2 drivers killed in multi-vehicle crash on Southwest Side, SAPD says

Just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to the crash in the 400 block of Callaghan Road.

An SAPD preliminary report states that witnesses told officers the man was traveling at a normal rate of speed when he suddenly lost control of the motorcycle.

The man fell over the handlebars and onto the ground, police said. He sustained serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

SAPD said the man did not appear to be traveling at a fast or slow speed but may have lost control while changing lanes.

Read also:

• Four killed in Karnes County crash, DPS says

The $30 million salvage operation gets underway as soon as this week with the planned launch of a robotic lifesaver.

NASA hired startup Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the Swift Observatory to a higher orbit where it can continue hunting for some of the universe’s biggest explosions. A three-armed spacecraft built by Katalyst will chase after Swift once it takes off from an atoll in the Pacific's Marshall Islands aboard an airplane-launched Pegasus rocket. Liftoff could occur as early as Tuesday.

Scanning the cosmos since its launch in 2004, Swift has been sinking faster and faster because of recent intense solar activity. It needs to get to a higher, more stable orbit as soon as possible to survive.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope — also at risk — could be next.

Like Swift, Hubble is losing altitude as the sun erupts with one flare after another. Katalyst Space CEO Ghonhee Lee said his company's next-generation robot, still in development, could save the day for the much bigger Hubble in a couple years.

Only China has attempted a mission like the upcoming one, successfully boosting a satellite into a higher graveyard orbit four years ago.

“This is the first American space robot to go up and do anything like this,” Lee told The Associated Press. “NASA has all these big senior observatories … all of them can benefit from a service like this. So what we're proving with this mission is this is a new play in the playbook that's available.”

It will take Katalyst's autonomous spacecraft, named Link, about a month to rendezvous with Swift and catch it, and another couple months to raise its orbit from the current 224 miles (360 kilometers) to the desired 373 miles (600 kilometers).

The 1.6-ton (1.4-metric ton) gamma ray observatory must be above 185 miles (300 kilometers) for the rescue to work. It's expected to reach that point of no return in October, according to the latest estimates.

Roughly the size of a small kitchen refrigerator with a 40-foot (12-meter) solar wingspan, Link sports three arms with a reach of just over 3 feet (1 meter). Each arm has two finger-like pinching grippers that resemble the hands of a Lego mini figure.

If all goes well, Swift could be back in business by September, according to Lee.

Worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Swift was never designed to be repaired, let alone retrieved by hands — human or otherwise. That's what makes this so challenging, according to company officials, who stress there is no guarantee it will work.

NASA signed a contract with Katalyst last September with only two requests: It has to be a rush job, but please don't make things worse. Nine months later, the company is ready to rumble.

“I have to be honest. No one thought it was going to be possible. No one thought we would get as far as we’ve already gotten today,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA's astrophysics director.

NASA has bought a little more time for Swift, turning off all scientific instruments to slow its descent. Observations ceased in February.

NASA's science mission chief Nicky Fox said it's worth the effort.

“If we let Swift reenter, we would lose that telescope. We would lose a lot of capability,” she said. “We don’t currently have the budget to build another one to replace that.”

While everything cannot be saved in space, Swift is special, said Domagal-Goldman.

True to its name, Swift is designed to pivot quickly to capture late-breaking astronomical events such as gamma ray bursts and exploding stars. With more discoveries expected by the Webb Space Telescope and soon-to-launch Roman Space Telescope, Swift, if saved, would be busier than ever as “NASA's first responder.”

Katalyst sees Swift as the jumping-off point for a new repair business in space. The company's next-generation robotic rescuer, scheduled to fly next year, will tackle satellites as high as 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) up. Lee envisions hundreds of robots in orbit one day, not only fixing and hoisting satellites but also refueling them and building solar farms, data centers and other platforms.

Thirty-six-year-old Hubble, which received repeat servicing by spacewalking astronauts during the shuttle era, could follow in 2028 with a life-extending Katalyst boost.

“It's a national treasure,” Fox said. “People love Hubble.”

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This story corrects spacecraft name to Link.

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

“You're next!” they chanted when an image of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York flashed on the television screens at Valdez's victory party in a renovated Brooklyn warehouse.

The message alarmed Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, whose district borders the one that Valdez is poised to represent. Jeffries would likely be the first Black speaker of the House if Democrats regain the majority, Meeks said, and “people died to see something like that opportunity.”

The episode reflects the party's dilemma in a populist age.

As left-wing insurgents make inroads in New York and elsewhere, their campaigns are confronting legacy institutions led by people of color. For a party that prides itself on diversity, the clashes have exacerbated fierce debates over identity politics and long-standing rifts between progressives and moderates.

The outcome will determine who holds power within the Democratic coalition as it battles for control of Congress and prepares for what is expected to be a sprawling and searing presidential primary in 2028.

Although minority-led organizations have historically been viewed as more radical and antiestablishment, some Democratic leaders now view the left-wing surge as driven by white college graduates. Progressives argue that their agenda remains popular within communities of color.

“It’s complicated," said Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “But these changes are a real opportunity for our communities, and maybe a passing of the baton to a younger generation of leaders.”

Jeffries brushed off a question about whether he could face his own primary challenge.

“When you ask me a serious question, I’ll give you a serious answer," he told a reporter from Fox Business.

A past generation of minority political leaders went from outsiders to insiders

Once the distant dreams of Black and Latino activists, the political machines in many communities of color have become a central part of the Democratic establishment. They were a key driver of the party’s embrace of civil rights and diversity as core values.

Some of the party’s most tenured members and influential dynasties now come from communities of color, and politicians such as Jeffries rose through the ranks of such systems to serve as party leaders.

But such organizations were built in a different era.

“A lot of our communities are anchored in older, more traditional voters, and those older, more traditional voters carry older, more traditional values,” said Dallas Jones, the former Texas political director for Democrat Joe Biden's presidential campaign in 2020. In Democrats' current debates of “people versus elites," Jones said, “you cannot help but find that the Black community is caught up in the middle of it.”

Jones said that yearning for generational change helped topple Texas Rep. Al Green, a progressive seeking his 12th term in Congress, in May. A longtime civil rights activist, Green, 78, was defeated by Christian Menefee, a 38-year-old first-term congressman who is also Black, to represent a majority-Black district anchored by Houston.

The Democratic electorate grew slightly whiter in 2024 as Donald Trump made some gains among Black and Hispanic voters. In addition, white Democrats have become more likely to describe themselves as liberal than are Black and Hispanic Democrats, according to Gallup research from 2022.

Progressives argue that they are challenging longtime lawmakers based on their establishment ties rather than any shift in the party's demographics. They point to progressives recently winning House Democratic primaries for majority-minority districts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as signs of deeper appeal.

“The point of being a senior Democrat is you’re supposed to be able to deliver more and impact the agenda,” said Regina Monge, a strategist who led a political action committee that backed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in last year's race for New York mayor. “People are supposed to feel the benefits of their leadership in the district.”

Senior lawmakers are skeptical that much can be extrapolated nationally from last week's results, where Mamdani successfully pushed a slate of three insurgent candidates.

“Our path to 218” — the number of seats necessary for a House majority — “wasn’t affected by those races that are getting a lot of news,” said Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the highest-ranking Latino in Congress. “The mayor made some endorsements, and those individuals won, and I presume that they’re going to come and vote with the Democratic caucus when they get here.”

Generational change clashes with legacy in closely watched primaries

The new style of challenger often rises from outside the traditional civil rights and organizing structures that characterized some communities for decades.

Valdez, who is Latina and Native American, won the primary to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a former chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who was born in Puerto Rico.

The current caucus leader, Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, lost his primary to Darializa Avila Chevalier, another democratic socialist, in a district that includes parts of Manhattan and the Bronx. Espaillat was born in the Dominican Republic; Chevalier’s parents are Dominican immigrants.

“We’re really looking at a moment in time where people are anxious about the future of our country," said Katharine Pichardo, who leads Latino Victory.

Pichardo was a senior adviser to Espaillat's first successful run for Congress, in 2016. She said Espaillat's message “needed to focus more on kitchen table issues” and be “forward looking” if he were to ward off Chevalier.

For incumbents to defeat populist and more ideological challengers, she said, they must “give people a sense of security against the very real anxiety over what’s going on in Washington, D.C.”

Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party who now teaches at Columbia University, said insurgent candidates and their voters see institutions as “inherently flawed.” He said party leaders "would do well to turn with the momentum and not against it.”

“This is an opportunity for Hakeem to turn around and say, ‘Look, I’m with you, I’m not going to stand in your way, let's iron out our differences and make me speaker, get us back to power,'" Smikle said. "That would be the best way to bridge this divide.”

On Saturday, Jeffries took a step in that direction by congratulating New York City's Democratic nominees, including Valdez and Chevalier. He did not mention his ideological disagreements with them or his support for their opponents, instead stressing that they would help "crush far-right extremism."

“The path is different but the work is the same," Jeffries said.

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Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.