The push by Senate Democrats on Wednesday was a maneuver to force vulnerable GOP senators to take politically difficult votes in an election year as Democrats try to hammer Republicans on the economy in their messaging going into the fall. The Senate took three rollcall votes, with each resolution defeated largely along party lines.

The votes were tied to rule or regulatory changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since the Trump administration took over the bureau in February 2025. The bureau has rescinded 67 policies under its acting director, Russell Vought, who is also President Donald Trump’s budget director. Vought has publicly said that his goal is to effectively dismantle the agency.

“The Trump Administration is hell-bent on destroying the agency,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and the top defender of the bureau in Congress.

Warren added that the changes at the bureau signal that “the Trump Administration has abandoned consumers and is making life more expensive for them.”

The resolutions were not expected to pass. However, in an election year, the votes could be used as ammunition against vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection, including Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and John Cornyn of Texas. Collins voted with Democrats in favor of rolling back the Trump administration's changes.

One vote Democrats sought was for the CFPB’s policy change on overdraft fees. The Biden Administration issued guidance in 2024 requiring banks to obtain their customers’ affirmative consent before charging an overdraft fee. That guidance was repealed under President Trump, which Democrats argue will lead to more Americans paying overdraft fees. The Senate voted down the resolution 47-53.

“When they got rid of this rule, it showed that (President Trump) didn’t care about Americans living paycheck to paycheck,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

Congress created the CFPB in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, designed to operate as an independent financial regulator with broad enforcement authority over consumer financial products and services. The bureau estimated in 2024 that it had returned $17.5 billion to American consumers and had imposed $4 billion in fines and penalties against financial companies.

Polling over the years has shown consistent bipartisan support from voters for the CFPB and its mission. A March survey conducted by the bipartisan polling firms Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting found that more than 8 in 10 Americans — including majorities of Republicans — said they supported the agency’s role in regulating banks and other financial services companies.

But since February 2025, the CFPB has largely been inoperable. The bulk of the bureau’s staff remains under orders not to work, and much of the CFPB’s business these days is to unwind previous work the bureau did under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and in Trump’s first term. The bureau’s operating budget is expected to shrink as well after Trump’s big tax and spending cuts law reduced the amount of money the bureau receives from the Federal Reserve.

“Russell Vought is unilaterally defacing this agency and taking it apart,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island.

Republicans have defended President Trump's changes at the bureau. Republicans largely see the CFPB as an agency with too much centralized power and unaccountable to Congress, and they have repeatedly attempted to diminish it since its creation.

“I can’t think of a worse way to govern than the Biden administration’s approach to the CFPB and the playbook that they used time and time again, putting onerous pressure on small businesses,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Democrats used the Congressional Review Act, a law allows Congress an opportunity to overturn rules issued by federal agencies once those rules are finalized. . The 1996 law was used sparingly in its first two decades, but its use increased during Trump’s first term, when a Republican-controlled Congress overturned more than a dozen rules finalized during President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration. Democrats, in turn, used the law in 2021 to overturn several Trump-era policies.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report from Washington.

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

OLD CITY HALL

200 N Seguin Ave, New Braunfels, TX 78130

Old City Hall in New Braunfels is a beautifully restored 1929 Art Deco landmark transformed into an upscale American restaurant by Wiggins Hospitality Group. Located in the heart of downtown on Seguin Avenue, the historic building once served as the city’s municipal headquarters and later housed everything from a police department to World War II Red Cross medic training operations. After years of vacancy, the property reopened in early 2026 as a sophisticated dining destination that blends historic preservation with modern hospitality.

The restaurant offers an elevated yet approachable menu featuring steaks, seafood, pastas, and craft cocktails in a warm, refined atmosphere. Guests can enjoy dishes like peppercorn filet mignon, miso honey-glazed salmon, and the popular Mayor’s Cheeseburger while surrounded by original Art Deco details, green leather seating, and rich wood accents. The cocktail program, especially its martinis and classic pours, has quickly become a standout feature for locals and visitors looking for a stylish night out in downtown New Braunfels.

KULTURE KAFE

1112 S St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Kulture Kafe is a Southtown San Antonio coffee shop known for artisanal coffee, creative specialty drinks, and a welcoming neighborhood atmosphere. The café has developed a strong local following thanks to its house-roasted coffee beans sourced from Colombia, Mexico, and Ethiopia, along with inventive menu items that stand apart from traditional coffee chains. Owner Cindy Barquero emphasizes craftsmanship, hospitality, and community, creating a laid-back environment that keeps customers coming back.

The menu features bold espresso drinks, homemade syrups, fresh pastries, breakfast plates, and unique creations like the cookie cup latte and Dubai Latte. Guests can also enjoy waffles, chilaquiles, bagels with schmear, and seasonal matcha beverages made with high-quality ingredients. Known for its friendly service and creative presentation, Kulture Kafe has become a favorite gathering place for coffee lovers in Southtown who are searching for both standout flavors and a strong neighborhood vibe.

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On Thursday, the board voted to censure Short, which is a public reprimand.

Board president Letticia Sever said during the meeting that Short sent two cease and desist letters to community members for personal reasons using the district’s address. Sever said that gave the appearance that the letters were a result of the board’s actions.

Sever said she believed the letters sent by short could be a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

“Dr. Short’s letter gives the appearance that the SCUCISD board is threatening members of the public who have spoken in criticism of a trustee,” said Sever during the May 7 meeting.

The motion to censure short passed 5-1. Short was the lone vote in opposition.

Back in February, SCUCISD voted to restrict Trustee Matthew Short from using district funds or facilities, with the exception of scheduled board meetings.

Short resigned from his teaching position with Judson ISD in April. He had been in an employment dispute with Judson ISD for months after its board of trustees voted to propose his termination.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

Warsh takes over a divided central bank wrestling with the economic fallout from the war started by the U.S. and Israel with Iran on Feb. 28. The conflict has driven up energy prices and made it even more difficult for the Fed to bring inflation down to its 2% target.

But Trump has demanded lower interest rates, not the higher ones that might be needed to keep inflation in check. Warsh, who had positioned himself as an inflation hawk earlier in his career, has more recently aligned himself with Trump's views, arguing that artificial intelligence and other technologies can boost productivity and economic growth without igniting inflation.

Trump had consistently attacked Powell for refusing the deep rate cuts the president believes will boost the economy. And his Justice Department had launched an investigation into the Fed that was widely seen as an attempt to oust Powell. The legal drama delayed Warsh's confirmation. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would oppose Warsh until the Justice Department dropped the investigation, which it finally did last month.

In an unusual move, Powell said he would remain on the Fed's governing board indefinitely after Warsh came on as chair, citing Trump's "unprecedented'' attacks on the central bank's independence. Although Powell's term as chair is ending, his term as a Fed governor doesn't expire until 2028.

Powell's continued presence could make things awkward for Warsh, especially if he tries to convince other Fed officials to go along with rate cuts.

Trump has said that Warsh comes from “central casting,” revealing a lot about the president's own views of the 56 year-old's looks and conventional pedigree. Warsh has many of the trappings of a traditional pick to lead the world's most important central bank, yet he's doing so at a decidedly unconventional moment for the Fed as Trump has said the new chair needs to cut its benchmark rates to the White House's liking.

Rate cuts of the degree sought by Trump could temporarily boost growth, but they also pose the risk of overheating the economy at a time when inflation is already elevated and affordability is a top concern for much of the American public.

Warsh was previously a runner-up for the Senate-confirmed post of Fed Chair in 2017, when Trump selected Powell to lead the central bank. Trump has since said that he was given bad advice regarding Powell.

Warsh is credentialed with degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University Law School. He is also married to Jane Lauder, the daughter of billionaire cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, a major Republican donor.

Senate Democrats have condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his own wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings. He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

At 35, Warsh became the youngest governor on the Fed's seven member board, serving in that post from 2006 to 2011. He was previously an economic aide in George W. Bush’s Republican administration and was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.

Warsh worked closely with then-Chair Ben Bernanke in 2008-09 during the central bank’s efforts to combat the financial crisis and the Great Recession. Bernanke later wrote in his memoirs that Warsh was “one of my closest advisers and confidants” and added that his “political and markets savvy and many contacts on Wall Street would prove invaluable.”

Still, Warsh appeared in key moments to be misguided about the depth of the challenges confronting the U.S. economy as mortgage defaults and layoffs mounted in the Great Recession. He wanted the Fed to keep its benchmark rates higher when the economy was at risk of deflation and possibly collapsing.

Warsh raised concerns in 2008 that further interest rate cuts by the Fed could spur inflation. Yet even after the Fed cut its rate to nearly zero, inflation stayed low.

And he objected in meetings in 2011 to the Fed’s decision to purchase $600 billion of Treasury bonds, an effort to lower long-term interest rates, though he ultimately voted in favor of the decision at Bernanke’s behest.

Warsh also behaved at times like a pre-Trump Republican, calling in a 2010 speech for ending “the creep of trade protectionism” that he declared to be the opposite of “pro-growth policies.” Trump has since largely overhauled GOP dogma by pushing for massive hikes in import taxes, having unilaterally imposed them last year by declaring an economic emergency.

Warsh has been working as a visiting economics fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank located at Stanford University. He is also a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a partner at the Duquesne Family Office, which manages the wealth of billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller.

In what appeared to be an active campaign for the Fed post, Warsh criticized the Fed in interviews, calling for “regime change” and assailing Powell for engaging on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion, which Warsh said are outside the Fed’s mandate.

In a interview last year on CNBC, Warsh said Fed policy “has been broken for quite a long time.”

“The central bank that sits there today is radically different than the central bank I joined in 2006,” he added. By allowing inflation to surge in 2021-22, the Fed “brought about the greatest mistake in macroeconomic policy in 45 years, that divided the country.”

Weinstein, 74, has myriad health problems, including cancer and a history of heart trouble, and he uses a wheelchair. He has been behind bars since 2020 and told a court in January that his “health is deteriorating” in New York's infamously troubled Rikers Island jail.

The ex-producer wasn’t in the courtroom, but rather was waiting elsewhere in the courthouse, when defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said around 3 p.m. that court officers had told him that Weinstein was having chest pains.

Jurors weren't in the room at the time. They were about four hours into their closed-door discussions, and they had just sent a note asking to rehear part of accuser Jessica Mann ’s testimony — a brief portion in which she said she was “spacing out” during cross-examination — and to review a lengthy prosecution timeline of emails and other evidence.

Judge Curtis Farber ultimately told jurors only that there were “unforeseen reasons” for sending them home a bit earlier than planned. Prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers had left the courtroom so jurors would be less likely to speculate about Weinstein’s absence.

“He wants to be here, but he’s having chest pains,” Agnifilo told the judge before ducking out of the courtroom.

Jurors are due to get the requested information and resume deliberations Thursday.

Weinstein has had health problems at court before. When he was sent to jail for the first time in 2020, he was taken from the courthouse in an ambulance to be checked out at a hospital for heart palpitations and high blood pressure. In 2024, he was rushed from Rikers to a hospital and had emergency surgery to remove fluid on his heart and lungs.

Mann, 40, has testified that she and Weinstein had a consensual relationship, but that he subjected her to unwanted sex in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013 after she repeatedly said no. Lawyers for Weinstein have maintained that the encounter was consensual, and they have emphasized that Mann continued seeing Weinstein afterward and expressing warmth toward him. Mann has said she was mired in complicated feelings about him, herself and what had happened, and was “normalizing everything.”

Her viewpoint changed in 2017, when a series of sexual misconduct allegations against the Oscar-winning Weinstein propelled the #MeToo campaign to hold people — especially powerful men — accountable for sexual misbehavior. Weinstein has said he “acted wrongly” but never assaulted anyone.

Some of those accusations later generated criminal convictions against Weinstein in New York and California.

An appeals court overturned his 2020 New York conviction on charges that involved Mann and another accuser. At a retrial last year, jurors failed to reach a verdict on Mann's portion of the case, leading to a second retrial this year. He is charged with one count of rape in the third degree.

The current jury heard nearly three weeks of testimony, five days of it from Mann. Weinstein decided not to testify.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted. Mann, however, has agreed to be named.

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An earlier version of this story erroneously suggested that Weinstein left the courtroom after experiencing chest pains. Weinstein was not in court at the time.

The visit occurs at a delicate moment for Trump’s presidency, as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American food and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”

Here's the latest:

Judge blocks US sanctions against independent UN investigator over criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered Wednesday a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, after her family had file a lawsuit earlier this year. Leon said the penalties the administration is pushing could be a violation of Albanese and her family members’ First Amendment amendment rights. In a lawsuit filed in February in the U.S. District Court in Washington, Albanese’s husband and minor child outlined the serious impact those sanctions have had on the family’s life and work, including the ability to access their home in the nation’s capital. The State Department had said that Albanese had engaged in a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel by urging other countries to sanction Israel over its alleged war crimes in Gaza and several U.S. companies for being “complicit” in those actions.

US military says some humanitarian aid gets to Iran

It has allowed 15 merchant vessels “supporting humanitarian aid” through a blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

They include both merchant ships allowed to dock in Iranian ports as well as ships that were allowed to sail out of Iranian ports and into open waters, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for the command.

The social media post noted that since the blockade began on April 13, U.S. forces have redirected 67 commercial vessels and disabled four more “to ensure compliance” with the restrictions.

Immigration authorities detain former Kansas mayor who fears deportation over voting controversy

The former mayor of a conservative Kansas town is in the custody of federal immigration authorities, a possible step toward deportation.

It comes months after Joe Ceballos acknowledged he voted in elections despite not being a U.S. citizen. Ceballos was 4 when his family brought him from Mexico. The 55-year-old is now a legal permanent resident.

His lawyer says that while seeking citizenship, Ceballos admitted that he had voted — apparently not knowing his status doesn’t allow it. Immigration officials didn’t return a message seeking comment. Ceballos’ supporters were outside the immigration building in Wichita, Kansas.

“I’m extraordinarily disappointed in my government,” Jess Hoeme, his attorney, told The Associated Press.

Ceballos was twice elected mayor of Coldwater, population 700, and also served on the city council. He won a new term in November but resigned after state Attorney General Kris Kobach charged him with voting without being qualified and election perjury.

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Vance says US has made headway in Iran talks

Vice President JD Vance says he thinks the U.S. is making progress in its talks with Iran over the war, but that it’s too soon to tell if it’s enough to ensure that Iran will never be able to have a nuclear weapon.

Vance was asked about the status of negotiations while taking reporters’ questions at a press conference Wednesday for his anti-fraud task force.

He said he spent “a good amount of time” on the phone with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Wednesday morning, as well as “a number of our friends in the Arab world.”

“I think that we are making progress,” Vance said. “The fundamental question is, do we make enough progress that we satisfy the president’s red line?”

Vance brushes off Trump’s 2028 successor comments as president joking around

The vice president says it’s “natural” for Trump to “joke around with us a little bit” over who should be his Republican successor in the 2028 election.

During a press conference for his anti-fraud task force on Wednesday, JD Vance was asked about Trump’s comments at a Monday night Rose Garden dinner where the president polled the crowd about his possible successor. Trump asked them whether Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio should be at the top of the GOP ticket.

The VP joked that it didn’t sound like Trump wanted “to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice,” a nod to the president’s reality TV background.

He says Trump has long been fascinated by politics and it’s typical for him to “play around with the idea.”

Vance pushes back on question about Trump’s comment playing down economy as a factor in Iran negotiations

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at an event on healthcare fraud, the vice president was asked whether he agrees with Trump’s comments from a day earlier that said Americans’ financial situations are not a factor in negotiations with Iran.

“Well, I don’t think the president said that,” Vance told a reporter who paraphrased Trump’s remark. “I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said. But look, I agree with the president that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump commented on Tuesday as he departed the White House for a summit in Beijing. He said economic issues were not a factor in negotiations, “not even a little bit.”

“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Trump said. “I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

Senate confirms Trump pick Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve, following Powell

The Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The vote to confirm Warsh on Wednesday brings new leadership to the world’s most powerful central bank at a fraught moment for the global economy.

Warsh’s nomination faced uncertainty after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina threatened to block it while the Justice Department investigated Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The Powell probe was dropped in April, allowing the Warsh confirmation to move forward.

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, will become chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency. The Fed confronts stubborn inflation, deep divisions over interest rates and renewed scrutiny from Trump over its independence.

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Louisiana advances plan to eliminate majority-Black US House district after court ruling

Republican senators in Louisiana have advanced a plan to eliminate one of two majority-Black, Democratic-held congressional seats. The Senate committee vote early Wednesday follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state’s House map as an illegal racial gerrymander.

Committee members heard hours of testimony from Black residents and Democrats opposed to the move. Republicans chose not to target both Democratic seats.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling weakening Voting Rights Act protections has prompted similar redistricting efforts in Southern states like Tennessee and Alabama. Those efforts are part of a broader national redistricting battle that has involved about one-third of the states. A similar attempt fizzled Tuesday in the South Carolina Senate.

Efforts to undo minority districts mark the latest phase in a 10-month national redistricting battle. It grew after Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to win more seats in the midterm elections.

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US and China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into a freefall

Trump’s trade war with Beijing has sent U.S.-China trade into a freefall and forced companies on both sides of the Pacific to regroup. U.S. firms are looking for suppliers outside of China. And Chinese firms have pursued business in Europe and Southeast Asia.

The sparring goes beyond tariffs.

China has cut off purchases of U.S. soybeans and deprived U.S. manufacturers of crucial minerals and metals. The U.S. has blocked China from getting advanced computer chips.

The world’s two biggest economies have shown they can hurt each other. Now, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are trying to stabilize the relationship during their meeting in Beijing.

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Republican resistance to Iran war is growing

Senate Republicans succeeded again in blocking Democratic legislation that would halt Trump’s war with Iran, but the number of GOP senators voting against the war grew.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the war for the first time since it began at the end of February. Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the war, as they had done previously.

The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reflected growing unease with Trump’s war.

Memphis residents claim harassment, arrest and abuse by Trump-ordered Memphis Safe Task Force

Four Memphis residents say they have been harassed, arrested and physically mistreated for engaging in First Amendment protected activities by observing and recording the actions of law enforcement in their city.

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Tennessee targets the Memphis Safe Task Force. The task force comprises agents from 13 federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered to the city to fight crime alongside Tennessee State Troopers and the Tennessee National Guard.

The suit asks the court to declare retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity unconstitutional and prohibit agents from further retaliation.

Since late September, hundreds of law enforcement personnel tied to the task force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the majority Black city of about 610,000 people. The lawsuit says the task force has conducted over 120,000 traffic stops.

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Foreigners with World Cup tickets won’t have to pay bonds to enter US, Trump administration tells AP

The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from certain countries pay as much as $15,000 in bonds if they are confirmed World Cup ticket holders, the State Department told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The department imposed the bond requirement for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.

The bond move is a rare easing of immigration requirements under the administration.

World Cup team players, coaches and some staff were already exempt from the bond requirement. But that didn’t apply to ordinary fans until Wednesday.

“We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets” and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said.

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A former private prison executive will become ICE’s acting leader

David Venturella will serve as the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration says, after the agency’s current leader steps down at the end of the month.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella would succeed Todd Lyons, who led the agency through much of the administration’s tumultuous crackdown on immigration. ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information Wednesday.

Venturella left the Geo Group in early 2023 and has been working at ICE leading the division that oversees detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.

At the Geo Group, Venturella served in a number of posts, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It said he also has worked for federal contractors, including one that specializes in security clearances and background checks.

Geo has benefited from Trump’s mass deportation push, garnering big contracts to open shuttered facilities.

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US House Speaker Mike Johnson says his prayers are with Trump on China visit

“The president has laid down a marker that was overdue and very important: The American people are not going to be taken advantage of any more by adversaries or allies,” Johnson, a Republican, said at a news conference in Washington.

The House speaker said his prayers are with Trump that he has a “good visit” with Xi. He said he hoped “they come forward with some favorable policies, things that will help us out, and I believe he will.”

House Democrats ask Trump to proceed with arms sales to Taiwan

Ranking members of four House committees urged President Trump in a letter Wednesday morning to proceed with the $14 billion arms sales to Taiwan and resist any effort by Beijing to “dictate” the U.S. policy toward the self-governed island.

The letter, signed by the top Democrats on House committees on foreign affairs, armed services, intelligence and the Chinese Communist Party, was released as Trump arrived in Beijing for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Beijing strongly opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, which it sees as part of Chinese territory, while the U.S. is obliged by a domestic law to supply the island with sufficient hardware for self defense.

On Monday, Trump said he and Xi would discuss Taiwan in Beijing, raising worries that any slip by the U.S. president could undermine the U.S. commitment to the island.

Trump administration freezes new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health agencies

The Trump administration said Wednesday it’s expanding its sweeping fraud-busting initiative in federal health programs with a nationwide six-month freeze on any new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies.

The moratorium will temporarily stop all new providers in these categories from signing up for reimbursement from Medicare, the federal insurance program for older adults across the country, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a news release.

“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Today we’re shutting the door on fraud-preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them.”

The move is related to efforts by Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force, set up by Republican President Donald Trump to crack down on potential misuse of public funds.

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Residents in Beijing held up their phones to wait for Trump’s motorcade

As President Trump’s motorcade moved toward the Four Seasons Hotel, located near the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, residents held up their smartphones trying to capture his arrival. Security was heightened around the hotel.

On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, some users posted about his arrival. A video post by the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump walking out of the plane had more than 66,600 likes and nearly 4,000 comments in less than two hours. Under the post, a comment that read “China and the U.S. join hands to advance together and create a bright future!” drew more than 2,300 likes.

Wall Street is mixed following another discouraging inflation report and a recovery for tech stocks

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% in early trading, still near its all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 235 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

Gains for tech stocks helped support the market, like Micron Technology’s 4.3%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, the chip company that became one of the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.4% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy.

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Trump had personally invited Nvidia’s Huang on the China trip

A surprise appearance on the Anchorage tarmac as Air Force One refueled en route to Beijing was Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who wasn’t initially included on the manifest of corporate executives accompanying Trump to China.

The president had realized through news reports that Huang, with whom he is close, wasn’t on the trip. So he personally called the CEO on Tuesday and invited him to join, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. The person was granted anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

“CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China,” Trump said on social media as the presidential plane traveled from Anchorage to Beijing. “In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!”

— Seung Min Kim

Trump is also expected to visit the Temple of Heaven on Thursday

That’s where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops.

And Trump will take part in a formal banquet Thursday.

Trump’s arrival is trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo

A video posted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump stepping out of the plane and walking down the stairs had more than 18,000 likes in less than 30 minutes.

More than 1,300 comments were made in response to the post. Some welcomed Trump to China and others wrote: “peaceful coexistence, win-win cooperation.”

The status of Taiwan will be a major topic

China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.

Trump told reporters Monday he’d be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan the U.S. administration authorized in December but hasn’t yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.

But the U.S. leader has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that’s raising questions about whether Trump could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.

At the same time, Taiwan — as the world’s leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of AI, with the U.S. importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.

Trump pauses to take in the elaborate welcome scene in Beijing

Three hundred youngsters waved miniature American and Chinese flags in front of themselves and then over their head in unison.

“Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.

Trump greeted dignitaries after deplaning, then stopped and grinned, taking in the scene.

He didn’t answer questions, instead climbing in a limo on the way to his hotel.

The president has nothing more on his public schedule until Thursday.

Following him off the plane were Trump’s son, Eric, and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as well as assorted travelers, including SpaceX chief Elon Musk.

The Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome

A red carpet was rolled out for him after Air Force One landed.

The president was to be greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; as well as the U.S. envoy to Beijing, David Perdue, according to the White House.

The welcoming ceremony includes some 300 Chinese youths, a military honor guard and a military band.

The meat of Trump’s summit in China won’t happen until Thursday

That’s when the leaders will hold bilateral talks and a formal banquet.

The Trump administration hopes to begin the process of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.

Trump arrives in Beijing ahead of meetings with Xi

Trump has touched down in Beijing for his summit with Xi Jinping.

Trump has no public events beyond his arrival on Wednesday’s schedule, but is set to meet with Xi a series of times on Thursday and Friday.

U.S. and China have “candid” exchanges in South Korea’s trade talks, CCTV says

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.

The officials led the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies in South Korea, hours before Trump’s arrival in Beijing.

CCTV said they were guided by the important consensus reached by the heads of state of both countries, and upheld the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.

Nvidia CEO is late-announced addition to Trump’s trip

The White House said Huang’s schedule hadn’t permitted his coming, but then changed, clearing the way for him to make the trip.

The last-minute addition inspired online commentary and memes on the Chinese internet.

Those including on Xiaohongshu and Weibo, where people shared manipulated images of Huang clinging to Air Force One with his bare hands.

Musk, Cook and other prominent US executives invited to join Trump on trip to China

These prominent U.S. executives from Big Tech to agriculture have been invited to join Trump on his trip to China, according to a White House official:

1. Elon Musk - CEO of Tesla and SpaceX

2. Tim Cook - CEO of Apple

3. Kelly Ortberg - Boeing CEO

4. Jensen Huang - Nvidia President and CEO

5. Larry Fink - BlackRock Chairman and CEO

6. Stephen Schwarzman - Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder

7. Brian Sikes - Cargill Chairman and CEO

8. Jane Fraser - Citi Chairman and CEO

9. Jim Anderson - Coherent CEO

10. H. Lawrence Culp - GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO

11. David Solomon - Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO

12. Jacob Thaysen - Illumina CEO

13. Michael Miebach - Mastercard CEO

14. Dina Powell McCormick - Meta President and Vice Chairman

15. Sanjay Mehrotra - Micron Chairman, President and CEO

16. Cristiano Amon - Qualcomm President and CEO

17. Ryan McInerney - Visa CEO

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Soaring inflation and plummeting economy test Iran’s ability to withstand war and US blockade

Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world’s energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic’s own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington’s demands.

Iranians have been hit by spiraling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government’s monthslong shutdown of the internet.

The economic cost of the war and the U.S. naval blockade “has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University.

But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said.

The International Monetary Fund has predicted the Iranian economy will shrink by about 6 percentage points in the next year.

▶ Read more

Uthmeier, who threatened possible enforcement actions against the league in March if it didn’t suspend the 23-year-old rule, sent the subpoena along with a letter to NFL executive vice president and attorney Ted Ullyot on Wednesday.

The subpoena commands the league to appear at the attorney general’s office in Tallahassee, Florida, on June 12. It asks the league to produce extensive documents, including “all diversity reports, coaching census data, or demographic surveys that reflect the race and sex of coaching staffs of the teams from 2017 to the present.”

"All in all, the Rooney Rule and the NFL’s related ‘inclusive hiring’ policies — and the NFL’s representations about these policies — continue to raise significant concerns under Florida law,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter.

The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking at the league meetings in Phoenix in March, acknowledged the changing political landscape for diversity initiatives in the U.S., but added that he didn’t believe there should be any legal issues with the league’s policy. “The Rooney Rule has been around a long time,” Goodell said then. “We’ve evolved it, changed it. We’ll continue to do that.”

The NFL didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Uthmeier commended the league for altering the Rooney Rule language on its website after receiving his initial warning letter in March but added the revisions raise more questions.

The updated terminology on the NFL site says: “The Rooney Rule establishes best practices designed to expand opportunity and strengthen the NFL’s talent pipeline across leadership roles. It is part of a broader effort to develop a deep and sustainable talent pipeline across all levels of the NFL. The policy is intended to ensure that qualified candidates from a wide range of backgrounds are identified and considered for leadership roles.”

The website previously stated the Rooney Rule aims to “increase the number of minorities hired” in leadership positions and said that diversity “enriches the game and creates a more effective, quality organization.”

“We appreciate how quickly the NFL changed its website in response to our letter and capitulated on some of their discriminatory hiring quotas,” Uthmeier said. “But their response raises more questions about the Rooney Rule, and we look forward to their cooperation with the investigative subpoena we issued them today.”

Uthmeier sent his first letter to Goodell in March, saying the rule amounts to “blatant race and sex discrimination.”

The subpoena expands the focus beyond the Rooney Rule and includes other NFL diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including a discontinued mandate that required teams to hire a minority offensive assistant; the diversity accelerator program; the Mackie development program for college officials; and the resolution that awards teams draft picks if one of its minority assistant coaches or executives is hired to be the coach or general manager of another team.

The NFL's front office and coach accelerator program will be held next week in Orlando after it was paused in 2025. The program was created as an extension of the Rooney Rule in 2022 to increase diversity among coaches and front office executives. It will now include nonminority participants.

___

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

Dr. Stephen Kornfeld of Bend, Oregon, says he volunteered to help care for fellow passengers who began getting sick aboard the MV Hondius in April. He was among more than 120 passengers and crew evacuated from the ship, and flown to different countries to enter quarantine.

While 15 other Americans are being monitored at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Kornfeld was the only one taken to a separate unit after a nasal swab he took on the ship tested positive for the virus.

“I feel wonderful, 100%,” Kornfeld told CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” on a video call from his hospital room Tuesday.

He said there was a period on the ship when he came down with flu-like symptoms including night sweats, chills and fatigue but he said he has no symptoms now.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a total of 11 hantavirus cases linked to the cruise have been reported worldwide, including three deaths. Eight cases have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

Kornfeld said a nasal swab he took on the ship was later tested twice in the Netherlands. One result came back negative, the other positive. He's now awaiting results from a new test taken when he returned to the U.S.

“The initial test that we received was from abroad and it was inconclusive in its results,” Dr. David Fitter of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters Wednesday. “So we’re in the process of testing currently and we hope to have those results back in a day or so.”

In addition to the passengers taken to Nebraska, two other Americans are being monitored at the serious communicable disease unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Health authorities say it is the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates.

Public health officials say the risk to the general public from the cruise ship outbreak is low. Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, though the Andes virus detected on the Hondius may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

The WHO is recommending that passengers and crew from the cruise ship stay in quarantine, either at home or other facilities, for 42 days.

Kornfeld described his quarters in Nebraska as a hospital room with a comfortable bed.

“It’s a little weird being in here by myself,” he said. “But the nurses come in, the doctors come in. I’m on WhatsApp all the time. It’s really amazing how quickly time flies.”

PSG needed only a draw to seal a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 crown and is now nine points ahead of Lens with one game left.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the 29th minute and Ibrahim Mbaye added the second goal in stoppage time after Lens missed several chances to score at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

“Without a doubt this was difficult, Lens did so well this season,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “I think they deserved more tonight but (goalkeeper Matvei) Safonov was incredible tonight.”

The match was rescheduled from April 11 by the French league to help titleholder PSG’s ambitions in the Champions League. PSG takes on Premier League leader Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30 in Budapest.

Although the postponement was strongly contested by Lens, coach Pierre Sage’s side had no say in the matter.

Lens also has a final to prepare for — against Nice in the French Cup on May 22 — and Sage left his two best forwards — wingers Florian Thauvin and Allan Saint-Maximin — on the bench against PSG until the hour mark.

Clinical versus wasteful

PSG punished a Lens error when Dembélé intercepted a sloppy pass from defender Malang Sarr and fed Kvaratskhelia, who scored with a clinical finish.

PSG scored in stoppage time through Mbaye, the 18-year-old forward who thumped a pass from Désiré Doué in off the crossbar moments after Lens had fluffed yet another chance.

Lens should already have been level — or even ahead — at the break but striker Wesley Saïd misjudged a close-range header and then shot straight at Safonov in first-half stoppage time.

Safonov kept out another effort from Abdallah Sima early in the second half when the striker went clean through. Sima then hit the post after collecting a superb pass from Thauvin in the 74th.

“I had some luck today," Safonov acknowledged. “If my opponents had put their shots a bit more either side of me it would have been different.”

Saint-Maximin was dangerous when he came on in the second half but wasted several good situations when excessively trying to put himself in the perfect shooting position.

“We created a lot of chances and stopped them playing. My players deserved at least a draw tonight,” Sage said. “Their goalkeeper had a great game but we missed a lot of chances. They had two chances and scored.”

The last team to stop PSG winning the title was Lille in 2021. This season was closer than the last, however, when PSG sealed the title without losing and with six games left.

Strasbourg wins

In the other match, Strasbourg won 2-1 at Brest in a game also rescheduled because of Strasbourg’s involvement in the UEFA Conference League, where it lost to Rayo Vallecano in the semifinals.

Defender Valentin Barco and midfielder Sebastian Nanasi scored for Strasbourg either side of a goal from Brest striker Ludovic Ajorque in a lively opening.

Strasbourg will finish the season in eighth and Brest was 12th heading into the final round of Ligue 1 games on Sunday. ___

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

The princess, commonly known as Kate, was received by huge cheering crowds as she arrived in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy to learn about its eponymous child-centered approach to early education. The trip is part of what her office called an international “fact-finding mission” to explore different approaches to supporting young children and their carers.

The princess, who spent a gap year in Florence when she was younger, spoke a few words of Italian to a group of preschool children, introducing herself as Caterina.

“Parlo un po’ d’italiano,” she said, explaining that she spoke a little Italian. She then asked their names in Italian and added: “Io sono Catarina” (I am Catherine.)

The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the idea that young children have many different ways of thinking, understanding and expressing themselves, and that teachers need to work with their students to help them learn.

“It is extraordinary and that is why I wanted to come and visit Reggio Emilia because your history is so rich and I have always been fascinated by the philosophy,” the princess said as she began her program.

The choice of destination for Kate’s first trip abroad since her 2024 cancer diagnosis is no coincidence as early years development is the signature cause of the mother of three who will one day be queen.

“She wants to make a point that she is going to keep making this her cause,” said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine.

Her visit will highlight the idea that the environment and human relationships that surround children are crucial to laying the foundations for a resilient and healthy future, Kensington Palace said in a statement.

“The Reggio Emilia approach clearly suits the narrative at the start of international operations,’’ Little said.

The visit is part of her work with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which she founded in 2021 to increase public understanding of the importance of supporting children in the first five years of life.

One of Britain’s most popular royals, the Princess of Wales has proved to be adept at focusing attention on matters she cares about.

When Kate announced that she had completed chemotherapy treatment in a soft-focus, Insta-ready video, she ventured into realms not previously inhabited by the royal family, whose members traditionally shied away from talking about their health.

And she did it in a new way, using social media to share the fact that for all her wealth and privilege, her life had been upended by cancer, like so many others.

Then, later, when she announced she was in remission, she spent the day supporting other cancer patients at the hospital where she received treatment.

In a statement on social media, she offered her thanks to everyone who helped her and her husband, Prince William, as they navigated the ups and downs of treatment and recovery. She hugged patients at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London and described her own treatment as “exceptional.”

“It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focused on recovery,” the princess, now 44, wrote in a note signed with her initial, C. “As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal.”

Her new normal involves becoming the go-to advocate for early years education, which refers to the learning and development of children from birth to five years of age.

There’s lots to do in Britain, where advocates say there aren’t enough spaces to go around and many teachers don’t have the training they need.

Edoardo Masset, associate research director at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said Kate’s focus on early childhood development is important because it brings attention to an issue that really matters to children.

“This relationship between early years education and success later in life is supported not only by strong theoretical arguments, but also by a large body of evidence on the effectiveness of programs for preschool children,’’ Masset said in a blog post.

Residents of Reggio Emilia said Wednesday they were honored the princess had chosen their city and its public preschools for her first visit since her remission. Francesca Valli, a teacher of the Reggio Emilia approach, was waiting for her.

“I also feel very honored to be here, almost as a representative of my school,” she said. “For her first visit — and, among other things, her first solo visit after a long illness — the princess has made a very judicious, appropriate and well-considered choice, and this certainly does her honor.”

—-

Kirka reported from London.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

North East ISD teacher, pastor among those injured

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

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

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

On Monday, May 11, a hospital spokesperson said Tim Nowell is in serious condition, while Kimberly Nowell remains in critical condition.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SAFD’s response

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

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

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

Some residents can return home

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

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

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

Affected residents being housed in temporary accommodations

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

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

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

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

Click here for the latest update on power outages.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lawsuits filed against CPS Energy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CPS Energy wishes to withhold information on explosions

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

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

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

NTSB takes role of lead investigator

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

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

The federal agency expects to release a preliminary report in approximately 30 days, which will “contain factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation.”

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

When the homes were built

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

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

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

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

Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who is representing the plaintiffs identified as John Doe’s #1, #2 and #3, hosted the first news conference late Wednesday morning. The cases were filed in state court in Hidalgo County.

The plaintiffs, who were former band or crew members of the Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte band, are accusing Ramón Ayala Jr. of repeated sexual assault.

In the news conference, Buzbee noted several instances of ”egregious horseplay” where Ramón Ayala Jr. allegedly ran around naked and sexually assaulted the band members while they slept.

“These men deserve to be treated with dignity,” Buzbee told reporters.

Buzbee alleges that Ramón Ayala Jr. was under the influence of drugs daily, which included cocaine use.

The blame, according to Buzbee, spreads to his father Ramón Ayala Sr.

“No one is suggesting that an 80-year-old man did any of those things, but it was reported to him multiple times,” Buzbee said. “He chose to turn a blind eye because it was his son.”

John Doe #1 was the only former band member to speak at the news conference about the trauma allegedly caused by Ramón Ayala Jr.

“I loved my job,” the former band member said. “I can no longer be a part of the band anymore, and I’m devastated.”

Buzbee announced that an additional fourth man had come forward and expects to file a fourth lawsuit against Ramón Ayala Jr., Ramón Ayala Sr. and the band soon.

“Get Junior (Ramón Ayala Jr.) away from these band members,” Buzbee said.

Buzbee encouraged all sexual assault victims to come forward, including those potentially involved in this case.

“Every 68 seconds, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted,” Buzbee said.

The Ayala family’s response

Ray Thomas, a McAllen-based attorney representing Ramón Ayala Jr., called the lawsuits a “shakedown” in a Wednesday afternoon news conference held after the Buzbee event.

Thomas also claimed the former bandmates are only interested in a financial settlement.

Earlier this week, Ramón Ayala Sr. addressed the allegations in a Facebook post. Ayala’s father said he has confidence “the truth will ultimately come to light through proper legal process.”

The allegations against Ramón Ayala Jr. were compared, by Ayala’s attorney, to the former MTV show “Jackass.”

He described the “horseplay” as “men who never grew up who all jack around with each other (and) do things you and I think are gross.”

Thomas presented witness interviews from multiple employees of Los Bravos del Norte.

Thomas read aloud a statement from Ruben Carbral, who is an animator for Los Bravos del Norte. In the statement, Carbral believes the “horseplay” wasn’t considered harsh because “we all know each person’s limits and tolerance.”

“Ultimately, there is no environment of harassment or people ganging up on someone — that just doesn’t exist,” Carbral’s statement read.

Thomas also read a statement from Jose Luis Covarrubias, a drummer for Los Bravos del Norte. Covarrubias wrote that the band is connected like a family.

It was “common for members of the group to play around, joke and interact informally,” Covarrubias wrote.

BACKGROUND

According to the lawsuit, John Doe #1 worked for Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte’s traveling support staff and alleges he was subjected to repeated, unwanted sexual contact by Ayala Jr.

The filing also alleges a hostile and sexually charged environment on the band’s tour bus. According to the lawsuit, Ramón Ayala Jr. frequently made sexually aggressive and suggestive comments and, at times, rode on the bus completely nude while allegedly under the influence of cocaine and alcohol.

Buzbee previously called the allegations some of the most disturbing he has seen in his career handling sexual assault cases.

“I’ve handled some of the largest and most high-profile sexual assault cases in the United States,” Buzbee said. “I’ve never seen the type of conduct alleged in this case.”

The lawsuit seeks more than $25 million in damages.

Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte, which was founded in the early 1970s, is widely regarded as one of the most influential groups in regional Mexican music.

The band has earned multiple Grammy Awards and a devoted fan base across the United States, Mexico and Latin America. Founder Ramón Ayala Sr. is often referred to as the “King of the Accordion.”

More coverage on this story on KSAT:

• Norteno star Ramón Ayala’s son faces $25M sexual assault lawsuit

The case, filed in state court in Hidalgo County, identifies the plaintiff only as “John Doe #1.” The lawsuit was filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee.

According to the lawsuit, John Doe #1 worked for Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte’s traveling support staff and alleges he was subjected to repeated, unwanted sexual contact by Ayala Jr., the son of the band’s founder, Ramón Ayala.

The filing also alleges a hostile and sexually charged environment on the band’s tour bus. According to the lawsuit, Ramón Ayala Jr. frequently made sexually aggressive and suggestive comments and at times rode on the bus completely nude while allegedly under the influence of cocaine and alcohol.

Buzbee called the allegations some of the most disturbing he has seen in his career handling sexual assault cases.

“I’ve handled some of the largest and most high-profile sexual assault cases in the United States,” Buzbee said. “I’ve never seen the type of conduct alleged in this case.”

The lawsuit seeks more than $25 million in damages.

Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte, founded in the early 1970s, is widely regarded as one of the most influential groups in regional Mexican music.

The band has earned multiple Grammy Awards and a devoted fan base across the United States, Mexico and Latin America. Founder Ramón Ayala is often referred to as the “King of the Accordion.”

Ramón Ayala responds

Following news coverage of the lawsuit, Ramón Ayala released a written statement addressed to the public, the media and his fans.

In Spanish, he thanked supporters for their messages and said he is limited in what he can say because of ongoing legal matters.

Ayala said reports about the case “deeply hurt” his group, his fans and his family, and argued that some people, “without foundation,” are trying to take advantage and tarnish his legacy.

He emphasized that he came from humble beginnings and has worked “without rest” for more than 60 years, adding that, even at 80 years old, he continues working “with honesty and clean work” thanks to his loyal audience.

Because of legal reasons, Ayala said he cannot and should not give interviews for now, and that his legal team is working to clarify the facts. He said he trusts that authorities will “clarify the facts with justice and truth.”

To his critics, Ayala wrote that he wishes them peace and said that anyone who “acts improperly for economic benefit at the cost of others’ pain” needs “a lot of God’s love.”

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

Read also:

• Lawsuit filed against H-E-B, others after 4 women killed in 18-wheeler crash in Texas Panhandle
• Lawsuit: Spurs icon David Robinson accuses business partner of diverting more than $34 million

Manchester City cut Arsenal's lead at the top of the standings back to two points after beating Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

With two rounds of the season to go it means Arsenal will have to wait another week at least to be confirmed champion.

Mikel Arteta's team plays relegated Burnley on Monday and a victory would leave City needing to beat Bournemouth 24 hours later to take the title race into the final day of the season.

“We’ve seen a lot of things can happen on the final day," City forward Phil Foden told Sky Sports. “I’ve experienced it many times when the game doesn’t go your way, so we just have to keep pushing and doing our part.”

City plays Chelsea in the FA Cup final before all that and Pep Guardiola appeared to have Saturday's Wembley showdown in mind by making six changes to his team. But even without Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku in his starting lineup, City won comfortably.

Foden — making a rare start in recent months — provided assists for both of City's first half goals.

His backheel created an opening for Antoine Semenyo to open the scoring after 32 minutes and he set up Omar Marmoush for City's second eight minutes later.

Savinho added a third in the 84th.

The size of City's win could yet be significant as it moved one ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.

Guardiola is targeting his seventh league title at City. He has never gone back-to-back seasons without winning a league title in his entire coaching career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.

“Unfortunately it’s not in our hands," Guardiola said. “It’s not easy, but it’s important that we are there. This group of players are all extraordinary.”

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

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

Covering eight stadiums, seven cities and four continents, this year will feature nine games outside of the U.S. for the most the league has ever staged. Sixteen teams, half of the NFL, will play internationally in 2026.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has declared the goal of 16 games annually outside of the U.S. After this season, the league will have played 71 games in 12 international cities. Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro are first-time hosts in 2026.

The league had months ago announced the Melbourne matchup as its first game in Australia in addition to several of the participating teams for the nine-game slate, which was fully unveiled Wednesday. The complete 17-game schedules for all 32 teams will be released Thursday.

Netflix also announced, as part of a new deal with the NFL, a Thanksgiving Eve broadcast as part of an expanding package of regular-season games. The Green Bay Packers will play at the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

The 49ers have long been one of the NFL's most prominent brands, and they'll be the road team for the Thursday night opener on Sept. 10 against the Rams on Netflix. That game will kick off on Friday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is 17 hours ahead of California time.

San Francisco will be the home team at Estadio Banorte in Mexico City, where they have marketing rights as part of the league's global markets program along with the Rams and eight other teams. The Rams also have rights in Australia.

The 49ers will then play the showcase Sunday night game on NBC on Nov. 22 against the Vikings, who last year played the NFL's first international multicity road trip with a game in Dublin in Week 4 followed by a game in London in Week 5. The Vikings were the road team in both of those games last year, too.

San Francisco last played in Mexico City in 2022. The league has also committed to playing there in 2027 and 2028.

Broadening the footprint in Brazil

The Dallas Cowboys will be the home team in Rio de Janeiro at Maracana Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27, a late afternoon Week 3 game that CBS will broadcast. Neither team has marketing rights in Brazil, where the league has staged games in Sao Paulo in each of the last two years. The NFL has committed at least three games in five years to Rio.

More football for the breakfast table

All six games in Europe will kick off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, an exclusive broadcast window before the traditional afternoon start times that cover the majority of the schedule each week.

There are three games in London, the league's most common international site with 45 regular-season games since 2007. The Jacksonville Jaguars for the first time are moving consecutive home games abroad as a renovation begins on their home stadium. They're one of 10 teams with rights in Britain.

The Jaguars will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 11 and then face the AFC South rival Houston Texans in Week 6 at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 18. The Washington Commanders will be the home team at Tottenham on Oct. 4 when they face the Indianapolis Colts.

The New Orleans Saints will be the home team for the first game in Paris in Week 7, facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 25 at Stade de France. The Saints are the only team with marketing rights in France. The Detroit Lions will be the home team for the league's third game in Munich, facing the New England Patriots on Nov. 15 in Week 10 at the home of German soccer club Bayern Munich. The Lions are one of 11 teams with rights in Germany.

As previously announced by the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons will be the home team in Madrid in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 8 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. This will be the second game in Madrid, where neither team has marketing rights.

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

The “Ocean Dream,” the standout offer at the auction house's Geneva sale of jewelry, was found in Central Africa in the 1990s. The price easily topped the presale estimate to fetch 7-10 million francs (around $9-13 million).

Rahul Kadakia, president of Christie's Asia Pacific, said that an unspecified private client was the buyer, and the stone took about 20 minutes to sell — an indication that interest was high.

The price was more than double that of the roughly $8.5 million that the gem, which was featured among rare colored diamonds at the Smithsonian Splendour of Diamonds Exhibition in 2003, sold for at Christie's in 2014.

“A stellar result worthy of the world’s rarest blue-green diamond,” Tobias Kormind, managing director of online jeweler 77 Diamonds, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a 6-carat fancy vivid blue diamond at a Geneva auction at Sotheby's didn't sell.

The auction house said that the rare stone unearthed from South Africa’s famed Cullinan mine had come in with a presale estimate of 7.2 million to 9.6 million francs ($9.2 million to $12.3 million).

“Although the diamond didn’t find a buyer during the auction, we are now in conversations with several interested parties and are confident that it will find a new home soon,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.

Both houses say collectors are increasingly drawn to rare, colored diamonds, which make up only a fraction of all the diamonds mined around the world.

At a federal court in Los Angeles, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence to 56-year-old Erik Fleming for his role in the death of the “Friends” star.

“It’s truly a nightmare I can’t wake up from,” Fleming said in a deep, somber voice from the podium before his sentencing. “I’m haunted by the mistakes I made.”

The judge ordered Fleming, who has been free on bond, to turn himself in to serve his term in 45 days. He was also sentenced to three years of probation.

Fleming was the fourth defendant sentenced of the five who have pleaded guilty in prosecutions over the actor’s 2023 death in the Jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. Fleming connected Perry to Jasveen Sangha, the convicted drug who prosecutors called “The Ketamine Queen.” He delivered drugs from her house to Perry's, and marked them up to make a profit.

Fleming gave up Sangha to investigators the same day they first found him at his sister's house, where he was sleeping on the couch several months after Perry's death. Sangha was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison.

Fleming's attorney Robert Dugdale told the judge he “handed over the Ketamine Queen on a silver platter.”

“They didn't have a clue who she was before that day,” Dugdale said.

He would likely have gotten about four years in prison if it weren’t for his cooperation.

The prosecution said he deserved credit for doing the right thing, but argued that he did so only when confronted and cornered by authorities.

“Mr. Fleming didn’t cooperate because he had a benevolent motive, or because he wanted justice for Mr. Perry,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello said. “He wanted to save himself.”

The judge also pointed out that Fleming didn't come forward in the months after Perry's death, that he didn't create new evidence by making phone calls to co-conspirators or anything similar, and that investigators might have gotten the same information he gave them simply through the seizure of his phone.

But all agreed that his cooperation sped up and smoothed the investigation.

Prosecutors also said Fleming's job as a drug counselor made him especially morally culpable for selling street drugs to a victim who had a public, well-documented battle with addiction, even if he wasn't acting as counselor to Perry.

Fleming became the first defendant to plead guilty in August 2024, admitting to distribution of ketamine resulting in death. That was before arrests in the case were even announced, and Wednesday was his first court appearance since his role became public knowledge.

Defense lawyers emphasized that he had no criminal record and said he spent only 11 days as a drug dealer, with a single customer. Fleming told the judge it was an act of desperation “in the midst of the worst time of my life.”

Fleming told the judge his great remorse “can’t compare to the agony I’ve caused.”

Outside the courthouse, he said “my chest and heart hurt every day for the pain I caused not only his family but the millions of people who adore him.”

He and his lawyers also highlighted what they called his extraordinary moves toward rehabilitation, spending 20 months sober and helping to establish a sober living home.

Perry had been receiving ketamine treatments for depression — an increasingly common off-label use.

Perry was seeking more of the drug than he could get through doctors and asked a friend to help him get more. She introduced him to Fleming, a former film and television producer whose career had been ravaged by addiction but had since become a drug counselor.

Fleming said he was in the midst of a major relapse brought on by life struggles. He got ketamine from Sangha and took it to Perry's house where he sold it to the actor's live-in personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa.

His deliveries included 25 vials for $6,000 four days before Perry’s death.

Iwamasa would inject Perry from that batch on Oct. 28, 2023, and hours later, he found the actor dead. A medical examiner’s report found that Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine, a surgical anesthetic, and drowning was a secondary cause.

The 2 1/2-year investigation and prosecution that resulted should come to a close in two weeks with the sentencing of Iwamasa.

Perry, who died at 54, became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” NBC’s culture-changing sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.

Eric Tellez Perez, 39, died of a blunt force injury to his head, the medical examiner said. His death was ruled a homicide.

San Antonio police previously reported that Perez suffered an apparent gunshot wound to his head on May 8 at a home in the 8900 block of Prairie Hill Street.

According to a police report obtained by KSAT, a prospective buyer was looking to purchase a home on Prairie Hill Street from the original homeowner on May 5 — three days before the shooting.

One day later, on May 6, the buyer told police that Perez approached them and asked for work. The buyer agreed to hire Perez to help “cleaning the property” in exchange for money and food, the report states.

Upon arrival to the property two days later, the prospective buyer told detectives that they found Perez “laying on the ground” with “blood on the floor.” The buyer then notified the original homeowner and later called SAPD.

An SAPD spokesperson told KSAT on Wednesday that no arrests have been made in connect with the deadly shooting. The department said its investigation is ongoing.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• South Side home buyer finds man killed by gunshot wound to head, SAPD says
• Man with apparent gunshot to head dies inside South Side home, authorities say

Investigators arrested Osvaldo Alvarez Benitez, 38, on Tuesday in connection with what appears to be a credit card skimming operation.

An arrest affidavit states one of the victims in the case was a DPS trooper, whose stolen credit card information was used to rack up nearly $12,000 in purchases.

Alvarez Benitez is believed to have been working with a group of people, not only involving stolen credit card information but also stolen diesel fuel, the affidavit says.

The document states investigators served a search warrant at Alvarez Benitez’s home on Comanche Cave in April and found credit card skimmers and parts of the devices inside the residence.

Investigators said they had been watching Alvarez Benitez for some time and had found that he visited gas stations across town daily.

Authorities said they found card skimmers at some of those gas pumps.

Alvarez Benitez, who reportedly owns a trucking company, was using the stolen credit card information to make clone cards, the affidavit states.

With the phony cards, investigators said he would then purchase diesel fuel for a whole fleet of big rigs.

Using surveillance video from a truck stop near Interstate 10 and Ackerman Road, investigators say they identified Alvarez Benitez as their suspect.

A DPS spokesman declined to release additional details Wednesday, including whether any other arrests have been made or where the gas stations with the skimmers installed are located.

The affidavit also states that Alvarez Benitez is a suspect in a similar case involving a U.S. Postal Service fleet card.

KSAT 12 News emailed USPS for additional details, but had not received a response as of Wednesday afternoon.

In a story earlier this year, KSAT 12 News reported that there had been a decrease in the number of credit card skimmers discovered locally last year.

San Antonio Police Department data showed that between January and December 2025, officers found 40 skimmers installed. That is down from the 51 they found in 2024, according to SAPD figures.

Read also:

• MAP: Where credit card skimmers were found by San Antonio police in 2025

The Texas Legislature last year passed a law requiring sheriffs who run a jail or contract out jail operations to take part in the federal 287(g) program, which gives local law enforcement certain immigration enforcement authority. Since the law took effect Jan. 1, Paxton said sheriffs in El Paso, Bexar and Harris counties have started negotiating or finalized an agreement with ICE — but that has not been the case for Dallas County. 

He also criticized a comment that Sheriff Marian Brown made in October about putting “no additional efforts” into entering the 287(g) program. 

“The decision of whether to seek such an agreement is not yours to make,” Paxton said in a Wednesday letter to the sheriff. 

Brown said Paxton jumped the gun, noting in a statement that the law gives her until Dec. 1 to comply.  

Responding to the criticism of her “no additional efforts” statement, the sheriff said her office already cooperates with federal immigration authorities similar to what would be required under the 287(g) agreement’s jail enforcement model.

“My comments reflected my position that Dallas County already engages in cooperation with federal authorities and does not view duplicative administrative measures as necessary to achieve the same public safety objectives,” Brown said in her statement.

The jail enforcement model — one of two types of jail-related partnerships under the 287(g) program — allows local law enforcement to identify people for immigration enforcement when they are already in custody with pending or active criminal charges. The warrant service model lets officers “serve and execute administrative warrants” on people in their jails and hold them for ICE.

But even without a partnership, the Dallas County Jail was among the nation’s top 10 jails for ICE detainers, which are requests from immigration agents to hold a person for deportation. The North Texas lockup accounted for more than 4,000 detainers between September 2023 and late July 2025 — surpassing Bexar County during the same period — according to figures from the Deportation Data Project. Meanwhile, Harris County Jail led the country with more than 9,500 detainers. 

A 2017 state law also requires sheriff’s offices, which operate county jails, to honor these detainer requests. 

The Bexar County sheriff entered into a 287(g) warrant service agreement in October, according to ICE data last updated on May 12.

Information for El Paso and Harris counties was not yet available, though the El Paso agency told the Tribune that it intends to also pursue the same model.

ICE data show Texas sheriffs have signed 270 agreements under the cooperative program as of May 12, including some counties registering for multiple models.

The 287(g) program also has the task force model that allows local law enforcement agencies to question individuals about their immigration status during routine policing work.

Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.

Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simply too dangerous to ever be free” when handing down the sentence on the day that her husband would have turned 44.

Her attorneys said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that the verdict was “an absolute lie.”

Richins stood at the podium in a lime green jail uniform as she asked her sons, who were not present in court, “Please just don’t give up on me.” She encouraged them to always “be like your dad.”

Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-year-old real estate agent with a house-flipping business, was millions in debt and planning a future with another man. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died.

Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, had urged Mrazik to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole to protect his grandsons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.

“This sentence is important so Eric’s three sons never have to live with the fear that the person responsible for taking their father could ever harm them again,” he said.

The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book about a boy coping with the death of his father.

Sons say they're afraid of their mother

Richins' sons “are not props for some twisted children’s book about grief and loss, and yet that is what they’ve been reduced to by Kouri,” said her sister-in-law Katie Richins-Benson, who now has the boys in her care.

Social workers read letters from the sons, who all said they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked food.

“You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, and you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends,” said the middle son, now 11. He described having to “be a parent” to his younger brother because his mother did not watch over them. Richins made the boy paranoid about sitting on his dad's side of the bed, saying he might die, too, he alleged.

The oldest son, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care of his siblings and noted that his mother often would lock him inside his room while she drank.

“I will and have always prioritized your safety,” Richins said in court after hearing her sons’ statements.

Greg Hall, a longtime friend and business associate of Richins, told reporters he was disappointed by the sentence and urged people to “have an open mind” about her.

Trial cut short by defense

The trial was scheduled for five weeks but ended early when her defense team rested its case without calling any witnesses. Her attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to convict her of murder.

The jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding her guilty of all counts.

During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and gaining millions in a divorce. Prosecutors also displayed the internet search history from Richins’ phone, which included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how poisoning is marked on a death certificate.

The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors countered by showing police body camera footage from the night of his death in which Kouri Richins tells an officer that her husband had no history of illicit drug use.

Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.

The shooting happened on March 21 at the Avistar at the Oaks apartment complex in the 3900 block of Thousand Oaks Drive, near Wetmore Road. San Antonio police found Elijah Bernal dead at the scene.

Police at the time said a witness saw a black vehicle “circling” the parking lot, and people exiting the vehicle before shooting at Bernal.

One person shot Bernal in the head at close range, police said.

On Wednesday, Crime Stoppers said the black vehicle was seen leaving the complex after the shooting.

The San Antonio Police Department and Crime Stoppers are seeking information that could lead to identifying or locating the shooter or shooters.

Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to felony arrests in the case.

Tips can be made by calling Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP, texting “Tip 127 plus your tip” to CRIMES (274637) or using the P3 Tips app. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Read also:

• Suspect flees in SUV after shooting man in robbery at Northeast Side hotel, SAPD says

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

CPS Energy has remained tight-lipped on what happened in the aftermath of the explosions, pointing to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s ongoing investigation.

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

Residents impacted by the explosions have already expressed their desires to take CPS Energy to court.

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

Two victims injured in the second explosion, Jose Ochoa and Mayte Terrie Reeves, also accused the utility company of negligence in a joint lawsuit filed last week.

As of Monday, May 11, a Brooke Army Medical Center spokesperson said that Kimberly Nowell remains in critical condition while Timothy Nowell and Reeves are in serious condition.

Ochoa has since been released from the hospital, the spokesperson said.

More Preston Hollow Drive explosions coverage on KSAT:

• North Side family seriously injured in house explosion files lawsuit against CPS Energy
• KSAT Q&A: Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones discusses North Side home explosions, staff departures
• North Side house explosion survivors pull original lawsuit, refile new suit against CPS Energy

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court targets the Memphis Safe Task Force, comprising agents from 13 federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered to the city to fight crime alongside Tennessee State Troopers and the Tennessee National Guard.

Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel tied to the task force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the majority Black city of about 610,000 people. The lawsuit says the task force has conducted over 120,000 traffic stops.

"In the professed name of crime control, Task Force agents have stopped, menaced, and arrested Memphians engaging in routine, day-to-day activities,” the lawsuit states. “In response, Memphians encountering Task Force agents in public, including Plaintiffs, have stopped to gather information about and record Task Force activities.”

The U.S. Department of Justice released a statement on Wednesday in response to the lawsuit.

“In eight months, the Memphis Safe Task Force has made over 9,000 arrests, including 951 known gang members, and located 150 missing children, drastically increasing public safety in the Memphis community. The Department will not tolerate any action that puts our law enforcement officers at risk. We strongly disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit and remain committed to fair, impartial, and professional law enforcement practices to keep Memphians and the American people safe.”

Hunter Demster, a Memphis resident and plaintiff, says he regularly sees the task force stopping cars in his neighborhood, which has a large Hispanic population. In one interaction, he was surrounded by task force agents after he filmed a traffic stop and told the people in the car that they had a right not to speak to police.

“It is a terrifying feeling," Demster said. “I did nothing illegal. I used my First Amendment protected rights to hold up a phone and say some ‘know your rights’ information.”

Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberty Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said the Tennessee law is written so broadly that officers have wide discretion to invoke it against observers even when the observers are not impeding their actions.

“When observers go to the scene of task force activity and they are observing, they’re gathering information," Kim said. “They are picking up their phones and cameras and documenting what’s happening. That’s all core protected First Amendment activity. And it’s not a basis for the government to essentially react in the way that they’re reacting.”

Federal officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have visited Memphis to praise the task force. Miller in October predicted the surge in law enforcement would make the city “safer than any of you could ever possibly imagine” and that “businesses and investment are going to pour in, and Memphis will be richer than ever before.”

The task force is part of a larger effort by Trump to use National Guard troops and surge federal law enforcement in cities, particularly ones controlled by Democrats. Following troop deployments in the District of Columbia and Los Angeles, he referred to Portland, Oregon, as “war-ravaged” and threatened apocalyptic force in Chicago. Speaking last year to U.S. military leaders in Virginia, Trump proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces.

The lawsuit accuses task force agents of systematically retaliating against the four plaintiffs and other members of the public engaged in similar observations. It claims the threats and harassment are the “direct result of federal policy” that views observing federal agents performing their duties in public as a threat of harm to those agents. The lawsuit also claims that federal and state officials have failed to train their agents not to retaliate against citizens engaged in activities protected by the First Amendment.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity is unconstitutional and to prohibit the agents from further retaliation. It also targets a Tennessee law that requires observers to stand at least 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from law enforcement officers, if they are warned to do so, or face arrest. The suit asks the court to declare unconstitutional the use of the “Halo Law” against defendants who are not interfering with agents or impeding their duties.

Wednesday, May 13

Three northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 281 at the Jones Maltsberger exit, near the Alamo Quarry Market, are closed due to a crash, according to officials.

The San Antonio Police Department said a semitruck and vehicle crashed Wednesday afternoon in the 7100 block of U.S. Highway 281 North. It is unclear if there are any injuries.

A Texas Department of Transportation sign on the highway states there is road debris. Drivers are asked to use alternate routes.

Additional information was not immediately available.

For more information on traffic, you can click here to view our traffic page on KSAT.com. To view more on the current weather conditions, click here.

Click the links below for current road closures.

• San Antonio road closures
• Bexar County road closures
• TxDOT highway conditions

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and topped its prior all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite set its own record after climbing 1.2%.

Gains for tech stocks led the way, like Micron Technology’s 4.8% and On Semiconductor’s 11.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, the chip company that was among the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its immense size. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Donald Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy.

Earlier in the day, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. said that its profit for the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly five-fold from the previous year as its AI investments paid off. China’s Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter, and its stock that trades in the United States rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts’ expectations.

But the majority of stocks outside of the technology industry fell, as pressure builds on Wall Street.

“Corporate earnings and AI momentum are acting as the market’s primary shock absorbers, but the road is getting significantly rougher,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

A report on Wednesday showed that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was considerably worse last month than economists expected. That followed a report on Tuesday showing accelerating inflation at the U.S. consumer level.

Prices are rising for fuel, transportation and all kinds of other things because of tariffs, bad weather affecting food prices and other reasons. But atop them all is the jump in oil prices created by the war with Iran, which has slowed the global flow of crude to customers worldwide.

On Wednesday, oil prices moved more modestly following big gains early in the week, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 2% to settle at $105.63.

But it remains well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war, and the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that oil inventories worldwide are depleting at a record pace. The resulting jump in oil prices has forced traders to give up most hopes for a cut to interest rates this year by the Federal Reserve. If anything, a hike to rates seems like the next-best bet after no move in rates this year.

Wall Street generally loves lower rates because they would give the economy a boost by making mortgages and other loans cheaper. They can also push upward on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments, but the downside is they can worsen inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.47% from 4.46% late Tuesday and is well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

The rise in yields helped send stocks of utilities and real-estate owners to some of the sharper losses in the S&P 500. Such companies tend to pay relatively big dividends, which become less attractive to investors looking for income when bonds are paying more in interest.

American Electric Power fell 3% after announcing a $2.6 billion offering of its stock.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Birkenstock Holding dropped 12.9% after the British company said its results for the latest quarter were hurt by U.S. tariffs and other factors.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 43.29 points to 7,444.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67.36 to 49,693.20, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 314.14 to 26,402.34.

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

South Korea’s Kospi led the way with a jump of 2.6%. It had sunk 2.3% the day before, after a senior figure in the administration suggested the government may redistribute windfall AI profits from companies to citizens. That sapped momentum from AI stocks worldwide on Tuesday.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots who safely landed that plane back in New Orleans told investigators that the situation they encountered was far more challenging than anything they had ever experienced in training.

“If such an event occurred at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, the consequences could be catastrophic,” the NTSB determined.

The Federal Aviation Administration receives reports of smoke in the cockpit almost daily, but the NTSB said the agency still doesn't require airlines to conduct realistic smoke-in-cockpit simulations. Instead the training usually just consists of a discussion of what to do in that situation. The FAA didn't immediately respond Wednesday to the new recommendation.

The Southwest pilots at the controls during this incident in December 2023 said they had trouble seeing their instruments and checklists. They quickly donned oxygen masks and followed emergency procedures to land. None of the 139 people aboard were hurt.

Southwest and the Airlines for America trade group didn't immediately respond to the new report.

Last year, the NTSB urged Boeing and engine maker CFM to quickly develop a software fix for the engines on the 737 Max to help prevent smoke from filling the cockpit or cabin after a safety feature is activated following a bird strike.

The plane and engine makers didn't immediately provide an update Wednesday on the fix.

“How long are people going to pay into programs if they know that that money doesn’t go to a low-income kid who needs healthcare, but that money goes into a fraudster getting rich?” Vance said during an event at the White House, adding that taxpayers and program beneficiaries are victimized by such fraud.

The Republican administration also is imposing a six-month freeze on some new Medicare enrollments and warning states to investigate Medicaid fraud or risk losing funding, officials said.

The moves are part of Vance’s anti-fraud task force, which has been taking more aggressive steps to investigate states before the November elections. The panel set up by President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on potential misuse of public money.

Vance, a potential 2028 White House hopeful, has used the high-profile assignment from Trump to remind Americans struggling with high costs that he is trying to claw back taxpayer dollars. Vance has promoted the task force’s work during campaign stops for Republican candidates and is expected to focus on the effort Thursday in Maine, which has closely watched primary races scheduled for June 9.

The steps come as people across the United States have raised concerns about rising health costs and barriers to access, sometimes from the federal government’s own actions. New work requirements in Medicaid, for example, are expected to strain hospitals around the country and result in millions of enrollees losing their health coverage.

The administration contends its vigorous fraud-busting efforts will help prevent wrongdoing in Medicaid and Medicare while preserving funding and resources for those most in need.

Deferring $1.3 billion in California payments

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the administration was making the “largest deferral we've ever made” in Medicaid funds and that it was justified.

He claimed the administration had identified questionable expenditures and anomalies, such as a higher rate of growth in California's home care program compared with other states. He did not provide concrete examples of documented fraud.

“We'd like the state to at least come to the table and explain to us how these outlier payments have been generated,” he said.

The press office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., disputed Oz's claims and said the state's home care program grew because the state is “keeping more people OUT of far more expensive nursing homes.”

“We hate fraud,” the office wrote on X. “But that's NOT what this is.”

The total cost of California’s Medicaid program, including state and federal funding, is expected to be about $222 billion for the budget year that starts July 1.

Nationwide freeze on some new Medicare provider enrollments

Oz's agency also announced a nationwide six-month moratorium on all new Medicare enrollments by providers of hospice and home care.

“Today we’re shutting the door on fraud — preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them,” he said in a statement.

Existing hospice and home healthcare providers will continue to operate as usual. But CMS said it will “intensify targeted investigations, deploy advanced data analytics, and accelerate the removal” of providers in the category that are suspected of fraudulent activity.

Such a freeze is not unprecedented, said Tricia Neumann, a senior vice president and executive director for the program on Medicare policy at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF. She said President Bill Clinton’s Democratic administration also imposed a temporary moratorium on home health agencies.

“A brief moratorium gives the administration time to crack down on true fraud and prevent new fraudulent entities from popping up,” she said.

Several alleged fraud schemes have been prosecuted in the hospice and home healthcare categories, and states have acknowledged that it is a legitimate concern. But some have pushed back on the administration’s aggressive tactics and raised concerns that the catchall efforts could needlessly punish law-abiding providers that are trying to serve patients.

The country's largest organization advocating for home healthcare providers, the National Alliance for Care at Home, said in a statement that it supports efforts to root out fraud. But it said it prefers targeted strategies to a sweeping moratorium, which it said raises concerns about access to care as well as reduces competition and slows innovation.

Also Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services' internal watchdog sent letters to state attorneys general warning them to vigorously investigate possible fraud or risk losing federal money.

Moves are part of monthslong federal push

In recent months, CMS has suspended payments to hundreds of hospice and home care agencies in Los Angeles over alleged fraud and issued another six-month moratorium on suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and certain other supplies in Medicare.

The administration also has approached at least five states with investigations into potential healthcare fraud and halted some $243 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Last month, Oz announced CMS would add to that oversight by requiring all 50 states to share how they planned to revalidate some of their Medicaid providers.

In at least one case, the administration has erred in its accusations against states. In April, CMS acknowledged to The Associated Press that it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe in New York. The acknowledgment deepened doubts about the administration’s methods and raised a common criticism of the second Trump administration — that it tends to attack first and confirm the facts later.

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Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press writers Tran Nguyen in Sacramento, Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

The developments showed the far-reaching ripples of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Louisiana's congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander, weakening the protections of the federal Voting Rights Act. The decision has prompted various Republican-led states to try to dismantle districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

Since the court's ruling, Tennessee and Alabama already have acted to implement different House maps that could help Republicans win an additional seat in the November elections, where control of the closely divided chamber is at stake. A similar effort fizzled Tuesday in the South Carolina Senate but may not be over.

The redistricting efforts to undo minority districts are the latest in a 10-month-long national redistricting battle that already has involved about one-third of the states. It gained steam when President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw House districts in an attempt to win more seats in the midterm elections. Democrats in California responded with their own new districts. Numerous Republican states have redistricted since then.

Republicans think they could gain as many as 15 seats so far from new House maps in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah. The Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down a redistricting effort that could have yielded four more winnable seats for Democrats.

Georgia is the first to target the 2028 elections

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called a special legislative session on redistricting to begin June 17, the day after runoffs will settle party nominees for the November elections. Kemp has said he doesn’t want to change Georgia’s voting districts for this year's elections, because some ballots already have been cast for Tuesday’s first round of primaries.

The governor’s proclamation is the first to focus on the 2028 elections since the Supreme Court's ruling in the Louisiana case. Other states could follow, including Democratic states such as New York that were already looking at ways to enact new legislative districts by the next presidential election.

By acting now, Georgia Republicans could guard against the possibility that a Democrat could win the governor's race in November and veto new voting districts if the legislature had waited to act until its regular session next year.

Five of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House members are Black Democrats. The easiest target for Republicans could be U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop’s district in southwest Georgia. Republicans could also try to pick off one or more of the four Democrats who represent parts of the Atlanta area, but spreading out too many Democrats could make more Republican districts competitive.

Kemp’s proclamation allows new boundaries not only for U.S. House districts but also for the state Senate and state House. A court previously ordered some state House and Senate districts be redrawn to help Black voters elect more candidates, voiding a map the GOP-controlled legislature drew after the 2020 Census. Republicans could choose to revert to that map or take a more aggressive path, especially in the 180-member House, where the GOP’s majority has shrunk over time to 99 seats.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said Wednesday he would “fight this with everything I have.”

“There is an extreme movement in this country that will stop at nothing to hold on to power, even if it means stripping representation away from millions,” Warnock wrote in an online post.

Louisiana map resembles 2022 districts

The Louisiana Senate could vote Thursday on the new House map advanced by a redistricting committee.

The plan keeps a New Orleans-based, majority-Black district represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter while also including a portion of Baton Rouge. It significantly reshapes the 6th District, represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, which currently snakes northwest from Baton Rouge to Shreveport to create a second majority-Black district. That district would instead be clustered around predominantly white communities in southern Louisiana around Baton Rouge.

Fields, a Baton Rouge resident, said he won't decide whether to seek reelection until the maps are finalized. But he said won't challenge Carter in a primary.

“I’ve said from day one, I have no interest in running against Troy Carter. Period,” Fields told The Associated Press. “The real issue is not whether I serve another second in Congress. The real issue is whether or not a person like me will have the opportunity to serve in Congress.”

State Sen. Jay Morris, a Republican who sponsored the revised map, said the new districts are very similar to those used in 2022 that resulted in five Republicans and one Democrat winning election.

A federal judge struck down the 2022 map for violating the Voting Rights Act. Then in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama had to create its own second largely Black congressional district.

In light of the Alabama ruling, the Louisiana Legislature passed a revised map, creating a second majority-Black district that was used in the 2024 elections. That map also was challenged, leading to last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana's districts relied too heavily on race. The Supreme Court followed with a decision also overturning a judicial order mandating that Alabama use a House map with two largely Black congressional districts.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry postponed Louisiana's U.S. House primaries, scheduled for Saturday, until either July 15 or a date to be determined by the Legislature to allow time for new districts to be put in place.

Mississippi calls off special session

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday called off next week’s special legislative session that had been planned to redraw Mississippi Supreme Court districts. But he said he expects lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional, legislative and Supreme Court districts before the 2027 elections.

In a social media post, Reeves said there is no longer an immediate need to redraw Supreme Court districts.

A federal judge had previously ordered the districts be redrawn, ruling that the current map violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling this week, following the Supreme Court decision on Louisiana’s districts. The case will now return to a lower court for further argument.

Mississippi already held primaries for its 2026 congressional elections. Any redistricting by Republicans ahead of the 2028 elections likely would target U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the only Democrat among four House members.

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Amy reported from Atlanta, Bates from Jackson, Mississippi, and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri.

The 3-2 vote by county commissioners in Hill County, roughly 55 miles south of Fort Worth, appears to be the first by a Texas county to issue a moratorium on the rapidly expanding industry.

Residents and local officials had aired concerns about how a proposed 300-acre development by the Dallas-based developer, Provident Data Centers in north Hillsboro could impact the quality of life in the rural county through noise pollution and consuming large amounts of water and electricity.

“The data center folks have found a sweet spot in the state that has limited regulations, limited enforcement, limited code, and they’re coming faster than we can keep up with,” said Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb. “I think it’s imperative … that we tap the brakes and we get our arms around what we’re faced with and do the research, do the studies.”

Holcomb, who voted for the pause, said the move was in “no way, shape or form a push to impair anyone’s right to do with their own property what they want to do with it.”

County Judge Shane Brassell said the temporary pause will allow officials time to study the effects of data centers before projects move forward.

Representatives of data center developers pleaded with the county to reject the moratorium and said they are bringing money to the county for schools and roads. Holcomb said that many developers called him the night before, as late as 10 p.m., asking him to vote down the moratorium. 

It’s not clear how many data centers have been proposed for Hill County. Brassell said he knows at least eight are in the works because he hears through word of mouth about farmers who have sold their land to data center developers, but he added that developers aren’t required to disclose their plans to the county.

Before commissioners voted, County Attorney David Holmes cautioned them that they risk being sued by passing a moratorium. “You’re damned if you and damned if you don’t,” Holmes said.

The decision comes amid a growing statewide battle over Texas’ data center boom, particularly in rural counties where projects are rapidly moving into unincorporated areas with no zoning. In neighboring counties, residents have increasingly voiced frustration that projects are advancing faster than public understanding or oversight.

Other Texas counties, including Hood and Hays counties, have explored similar moratoriums. In Hood County, where at least eight large data center projects are pending, efforts to slow development drew pushback from state leaders.

Houston-area state Sen. Paul Bettencourt sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on the day of the Hood County vote, claiming that counties have no constitutional or statutory authority to impose development moratoriums and asking Paxton to investigate counties that passed one. Hood County commissioners rejected the pause.

Robert Paterson, a University of Texas at Austin professor who specializes in land use and environmental planning, said it’s unclear whether counties have the authority to adopt such moratoriums because Texas doesn’t have “a good test case.” 

But Paterson said the county is on “good grounds” legally because its moratorium has an end date and county leaders expressed a need to study data centers’ potential risks to public health and safety. 

Hill County moved ahead despite the risks, said Brassell, the county judge. Brassell and at least two commissioners expect the county to face lawsuits from data center developers and perhaps the state as well.

Brassel said the court still felt a responsibility to put guardrails in place during what he called a “land rush” — even if it meant being the first county to test the limits of Texas law. He said he has talked to many county judges and they were waiting for someone to take this step first.

“Our hope and prayer was that [state leaders] take that vote as not a sign of defiance of the law, but as a plea for help to get some regulations in place to help protect our citizens,” said Holcomb, the county commissioner. 

U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra said Wednesday the request to temporarily stop the law from going into effect in two days raised complicated questions and he may not hand down any rulings before Friday, when the law will become effective.

The Legislature passed the law, often referred to as Senate Bill 4, to create a state crime for crossing the Texas-Mexico border without authorization. It also created a pathway for a state judge to find someone guilty and order their removal.

This month two people filed a lawsuit challenging the component of the law that involves the state’s judicial system, arguing it is unconstitutional because the enforcement of immigration law — like the expulsion of people — rests solely in the hands of the federal government.

The suit also challenged the section that creates a state crime for re-entering Texas illegally because, the lawyers argue, the law offers no defense for people who might have a pending immigration status, like a green card, or had federal permission to enter the United States.

Speaking in a downtown Austin courtroom, Ezra said he believed those parts of SB 4 were unconstitutional and called them the “shame” of the law and “superfluous.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense to me unless one ignores the Constitution,” he said, after questioning how a state trying to control an international border would be permissible. “The state of Texas is not its own country.”

It marks the second lawsuit against SB 4. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month dismissed the first because it found that the plaintiffs in that case — organizations that work with migrants and immigrants — lacked standing to sue. The appeals court did not weigh in on whether the law was constitutional.

Texas officials have long argued that the law is valid because it mirrors federal immigration law, and the state has a sovereign right to defend its borders against an invasion, which GOP leaders claim was afoot when the Biden administration did not stem illegal crossings.

While the number of crossings hit record highs as state lawmakers debated the bill three years ago, they have been hovering around record lows under the Trump administration and after a Biden administration executive order that largely restricted asylum.

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice challenged the constitutionality of the law but the federal government’s opposition ended under the Trump administration, which plans to file a brief in support of Texas in the latest lawsuit, Ezra said Wednesday from the bench.

Ezra, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, asked Texas if it still claimed that an invasion was underway, considering how much the circumstances have changed at the border.

David Bryant with the attorney general’s office represented Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin, the lawsuit’s only named defendant. Bryant acknowledged the quieter border but stopped short of saying the state was abandoning its invasion argument.

He urged the judge to deny the request to block the law and grant a motion to dismiss the case because the law had not yet gone into effect and Martin had not yet decided how state police would proceed in enforcing the law.

DPS is already helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement across the state with specific task forces that work with federal immigration agents and individual officers who have been deputized with immigration authorities under two agreements with ICE.

“At this point, there is no imminent enforcement of that law,” Bryant said.

Ezra said he intended to issue an order that addressed the request for a preliminary injunction, a temporary restraining order and the motion to toss the lawsuit.

The fourth-ranked Swiatek needed just 67 minutes to sweep aside No. 5 Pegula 6-1, 6-2.

Swiatek’s impressive form bodes well for the upcoming French Open, which she has won four times.

“I’m happy that I can spend some time on the court and play really solid matches against the best girls,” Swiatek said. "For sure it’s giving me confidence because you can practice as much as possible, but if you don’t test it out on the court, play matches and face pressure or something, you’re going to still feel the little bit rusty when it comes.

“Now I’m happy I played couple matches. I’ll play hopefully two more here.”

Swiatek will next face another former Rome champion in Elina Svitolina, who fought back to beat second-seeded Elena Rybakina 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In the men’s quarterfinals, two impressive sets from Casper Ruud saw the Norwegian overcome 13th-ranked Karen Khachanov 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

The match was suspended for more than two hours at the start of the second set because of rain and Khachanov seemed to have dealt better with the enforced break.

However, the 23rd-ranked Ruud broke Khachanov's serve twice at the start of the third set and then again to take the match on the second of three match points.

Ruud will face either 19-year-old Rafael Jodar of Spain or Italian player Luciano Darderi in the semifinals.

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

The U.S. deported 5,033 Salvadorans back to their country in the first three months of 2026 compared with 2,547 deportees in the same period in 2025, according to El Salvador migration authority figures obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

That marks nearly a 98% increase at the same time that the Trump administration has boosted deportation flights across the world. Globally, deportation flights from the U.S. jumped around 61% between 2024 and 2025, according to data compiled by the Asociación Agenda Migrante El Salvador, or AAMES, and other organizations.

The U.S. has stopped regularly releasing deportation data, so experts instead are relying on other information from countries like El Salvador, deportation flights and other numbers.

The sharp increase in deportations “confirms a real hardening of the U.S. immigration system toward the region,” said César Ríos of AAMES.

The jump comes as Bukele, a tough-on-crime politician, has sought to align himself with U.S. President Donald Trump, and the U.S. government has lined up allies across Latin America to help him carry out his agenda. While Mexico and other Central American nations have quietly accepted deportees from third countries, Bukele has boldly embraced Trump's efforts in Latin America.

In March 2025, Bukele most notably accepted 238 Venezuelan deportees accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and locked them up in a mega-prison built for accused gang members in Bukele's ongoing offensive on El Salvador's gangs. The incident fueled widespread accusations of human rights abuses.

The geopolitical firestorm came after Trump's government struck a deal with Bukele to accept what they described as transfer and imprisonment of foreign criminals to El Salvador. Under the agreement, El Salvador would receive $6 million from the U.S.

In April, the Trump administration mistakenly deported a Maryland resident and Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego García with protected status in the U.S., becoming yet another legal and political flashpoint. Bukele originally refused to return Abrego García and denied accusations of beating and torture — which have been widely documented by human rights groups in Salvadoran prisons.

He was later returned to the U.S. in June to face charges that he helped bring immigrants to the U.S. illegally, something his lawyers call “baseless.” Abrego García has pleaded not guilty and asked a judge to dismiss his case as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it hoped to deport Abrego García to Liberia.

Even more recently, Bukele joined a coalition of other right-leaning Trump allies in a group of countries that Trump dubbed the Shield of the Americas, purportedly aimed at cracking down on criminal groups in Latin America, even though the two most essential countries in that effort — Mexico and Colombia — refused to attend.

Meanwhile, many migrants in the U.S. are turning their eyes on U.S. Supreme Court arguments as Trump seeks to stop shielding hundreds of thousands of migrants from Haiti and Syria, a decision many of the more than 200,000 Salvadoran migrants with temporary protections worry might eventually affect them.

Bukele has helped the U.S. with its immigration agenda even before Trump entered office.

In 2023, El Salvador’s government began to slap a $1,130 fee on travelers from dozens of countries connecting through the nation’s main airport, amid pressure from the Biden administration to help control the number of migrants moving toward the United States' southern border. At the same time, migration from El Salvador, fueled by gang violence and poverty, dipped following Bukele's contentious war on the gangs.

Analysts said that Bukele's government used dips in migration as a bargaining chip to offset human rights criticisms by the U.S.

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Megan Janetsky reported from Mexico City.

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

The San Antonio Spurs are facing the Minnesota Timberwolves. San Antonio advanced after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 5 of the first round.

This marks the Spurs’ first trip to the Western Conference semifinals since 2017.

The San Antonio-Minnesota series schedule with tipoff times and TV designations is as follows:

*-if necessary

TBD-to be determined

Click here to preview how the Spurs match up against the Timberwolves.

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A new study reveals genetic clues about a human ancestor called Homo erectus. H. erectus arose in Africa about 2 million years ago and spread to other parts of the globe, including Asia and possibly Europe.

Scientists have found remains from this early human in countries including Indonesia, Spain, China and Georgia. But genes and proteins don't preserve well so information about the early humans' internal makeup has proved elusive.

In a new work, researchers siphoned ancient enamel proteins from H. erectus teeth belonging to five men and one woman that were recovered across several locations in China to learn how these early humans may have mingled.

The 400,000-year-old teeth all had two key mutations in a protein found in tooth enamel. One mutation hasn't been observed before and could be a unique calling card belonging to East Asian members of H. erectus.

The second, though, was more complex. Scientists identified a variant that's also present in a small fraction of modern humans — as well as one of our extinct cousins called Denisovans.

That told scientists that H. erectus could have mated with and passed their genes to Denisovans in the past. But how did it get to us? Scientists think that may have happened later when our ancestors intermingled with Denisovans.

“This traces who we are now back to our ancestors in a really cool and exciting way, using new methods,” said paleoanthropologist Ryan McRae with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who was not involved with the new research.

The exact relationships between all these early human relatives are still a bit murky. It could be that H. erectus is actually just an ancestor to the Denisovans, who inherited those genes over time, McRae said.

It's a tough puzzle to detangle with extremely limited data. Finding more fossils and testing the limited evidence for remnants of DNA can help firm up the human evolutionary story.

“We really need to get more DNA” and bits of H. erectus to figure out how this predecessor “is exactly related to other humans,” said study author Qiaomei Fu with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in China.

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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.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority congressional district in Louisiana as an illegal racial gerrymander has provided grounds for Republicans in several Southern states to try to eliminate House districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

Meanwhile, a Virginia Supreme Court ruling invalidated a voter-approved congressional map that Democrats had been counting on to deliver as many as four additional U.S. House seats. The court said Democratic lawmakers had violated the state constitution when placing the proposal on the ballot.

Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn based on census data after the start of each decade. But an unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting broke out after President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to reshape U.S. House districts to give the party an edge in the midterm elections. Democrats in California countered with their own political gerrymandering. More states followed.

So far, Republicans believe they could win up to 15 additional seats from new districts in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain up to six seats from new districts in California and Utah. But those tallies presume past voting patterns hold in November. Historically, the president's party tends to lose seats in the midterms.

Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, which would give them greater power to oppose Trump.

Where new House districts are proposed

Lawmakers in at least a couple states still are considering plans for new U.S. House maps ahead of the November elections.

Louisiana

Current map: two Democrats, four Republicans

New map: Republican lawmakers have proposed a new U.S. House map that could help them win an additional seat in response to an April 29 Supreme Court ruling striking down a majority-Black congressional district. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry postponed the May congressional primary to either July 15 or a date to be determined by lawmakers.

Challenges: Lawsuits assert Landry lacked authority to suspend the primary elections.

South Carolina

Current map: one Democrat, six Republicans

New map: Republican state House members have proposed a new U.S. House map that could give the GOP a better chance at winning an additional seat.

Challenges: The House voted to allow redistricting to be considered after their regular work session ends May 14, but the resolution failed to get the needed two-thirds majority in the Senate.

Where new House districts are in place

New U.S. House districts are in place in nine states. Seven took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.

Texas

Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It has since overturned a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map because it was “racially gerrymandered.”

California

Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans

New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It denied an appeal from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.

Missouri

Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat by reshaping a Democratic-held district based in Kansas City.

Challenges: The Missouri Supreme Court ruled May 12 that the new map is in effect as election officials work to determine whether a referendum petition seeking a statewide vote complies with constitutional criteria and contains enough valid petition signatures. The court has rejected claims that the new districts are not compact and that mid-decade redistricting is illegal.

North Carolina

Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A federal court panel in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.

Ohio

Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.

Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election, because Republicans had approved the prior map without sufficient Democratic support after the last census.

Utah

Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans

New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat. The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map.

Challenges: A federal court panel and the state Supreme Court, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.

Florida

Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on May 4 that he had signed revised U.S. House districts that improve the GOP’s chances of winning four additional seats.

Challenges: Court challenges contend the new map violates a state constitution provision prohibiting districts from being drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party.

Tennessee

Current map: one Democrat, eight Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed new U.S. House districts May 7 that improve the GOP's chances of winning an additional seat by carving up the lone Democratic-held seat, a Black-majority district that includes Memphis.

Challenges: Court challenges contend the new districts were drawn with a racially discriminatory purpose, disenfranchise voters this year and were not proper under Lee's special session proclamation.

Alabama

Current map: two Democrats, five Republicans

New map: The U.S. Supreme Court on May 11 cleared the state to switch to U.S. House districts passed in 2023 by Republican state lawmakers that could improve the GOP's chances of winning an additional seat.

Challenges: Attorneys who originally challenged the 2023 plan have asked a lower court to again block it from being used.

Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government figures released Tuesday. That was the highest year-over-year inflation rate for the category since August 2023.

Prices at restaurants, fast-food chains and other places to get prepared meals also increased, putting overall food prices up 3.2% in the last year, the Labor Department’s consumer price index showed.

Fuel prices have soared while the Iran war prevents cargo ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil supplies. Diesel fuel powers fishing boats, tractors and the trucks that ship 83% of U.S. agricultural products. As of Tuesday, the average price per gallon was up 61% from a year ago, according to AAA.

The meat, produce and dry goods vendors that supply Sparrow Market, a small independent grocer in Ann Arbor, Michigan, all added fuel surcharges to their deliveries in recent weeks, owner Raymond Campise said. Wholesale prices for meat, produce and some other products also have gone up, he said.

“For independent markets operating on narrow margins, even small increases can have a major impact,” Campise said.

The full impact of rising energy costs on food likely has not hit retail grocery prices yet in the U.S., according to Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer. Higher costs to produce, process, store and transport food can take three to six months to show up on supermarket shelves, where prices typically fall slowly once increased, they said.

“Most of what we’re seeing now in the food price chain probably predates the conflict," Foster, a professor of agricultural economics, said. "We’re cautiously waiting to see what the June numbers and the May numbers might show as they come out in terms of ... the extent to which energy shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and shipping blockades and so forth are going to impact food prices.”

The consumer price index measures changes in what people in U.S. cities paid at retail stores for meat, bread, milk, produce and other grocery staples. Over the last 20 years, grocery prices increased an average of 2.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Prices for perishable and refrigerated products tend to increase faster than prices for packaged goods when energy is an issue. Consumers paid 6.5% more for fresh fruit and vegetables in U.S. cities last month than they did in April 2025, and 8.8% more for meat, the Labor Department reported.

But U.S. trade policies and extreme weather also have weighed on U.S. food prices in the last year. In July 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 17% duty on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico; consumer prices rose 40% in the 12 months before April.

Dry weather in the Western U.S. has been one of many factors pushing up beef prices, which in April were 15% higher year-over-year. Coffee prices were up 18.5%, partly due to drought and other weather conditions that have hurt global coffee production in recent years.

“Today's CPI showed that food prices have been rising 3.2 percent in the past year, but the story behind that number is more complicated than just an energy shock,” said Dalheimer, an assistant professor of macroeconomics and trade in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

Prices for some foods remained more or less flat or declined over 12 months. Milk and chicken dipped slightly. Butter cost 5.8% less in April than it did a year earlier. Egg prices fell 39% as farmers rebuilt flocks that were decimated by an ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Food prices and broader inflation are likely to feature prominently in November's midterm elections. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump often cited the prices of bacon, cereal, crackers and other groceries as reasons why voters should return him to the White House.

Some food producers say they're struggling now because of higher fuel costs. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimpers in eight states, said some boats haven't left the dock this spring because they can't catch enough shrimp to compensate for the cost of diesel.

Fuel typically makes up 30% to 50% of the costs for U.S. shrimpers, but because they supply only 6% of the shrimp that Americans consume, they have limited ability to raise prices or add surcharges for fuel, the organization said.

Higher fuel prices may also be impacting food costs in other ways. Part of April's 5% annual increase in prices for nonalcoholic beverages may be due to the petroleum derivative that goes into making plastic bottles, Foster said.

“It’s possible some of that’s starting to seep down the supply chain and get into those prices,” he said.

Over the next year or more, Americans could also see higher food prices due to spiking fertilizer costs, since around 30% of the world's fertilizer travels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fertilizer costs are less of an issue for U.S. farmers this year, since many already had fertilizer supplies in place before the war began, according to Foster. But the effects could become more noticeable next year if the war drags on, he said.

“I expect the Iran conflict to impact the coming years’ food prices through a couple of channels. One, the energy costs and transportation handling. The other would be through packaging costs,” Foster said. “If the conflict were to last longer, then we might see more coming online as fertilizer prices start to impact longer-term planting decisions and cropping decisions.”

The streaming service will have five regular-season games as well as the NFL Honors through 2029. It had been carrying two games on Christmas Day since 2024. The announcement was made during its upfront presentation to advertisers.

Netflix will air a Week 1 game, one on Thanksgiving Eve, two on Christmas Day and a 1 p.m. ET contest on the Saturday of the final week of the regular season.

Two of the matchups — both featuring the Lost Angeles Rams — were made official on Wednesday. Netflix will carry the Week 1 game between the Rams and San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. The Rams will then host the Green Bay Packers in the first Thanksgiving Eve contest on Nov. 25.

Both games will be aired in primetime in the United States at 8:35 p.m. ET. The Week 1 game will be on Sept. 10 in the U.S. Melbourne is 14 hours ahead of New York and 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles and San Francisco, so it will kick off at 10:35 a.m. on Sept. 11 in Australia.

The Australia matchup between NFC West rivals is one of nine international games the NFL will play this upcoming season. The league released its complete international slate Wednesday morning.

“We’ve seen how many fans are already on Netflix, so we thought it was a tremendous opportunity to deepen the partnership, expand the reach of those games, and to do so around tentpole events at the beginning and end of the year with big holidays in the middle, then have them extend into honors and do what Netflix has shown they do so well, which is make big events even bigger,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL's executive vice president of media distribution.

Two games — Thanksgiving Eve and Week 18 — are from the four the league got back after ESPN bought NFL Network. The Week 1 game was on YouTube last season.

The NFL Honors started during the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis as a way for the league to announce all of its award winners in one show. It started airing the night before the Super Bowl but moved to the Thursday of Super Bowl week in 2022. It had been carried by the network airing the Super Bowl, but will now get a worldwide audience with the move.

The NFL Honors include the Associated Press awards for Most Valuable Player, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year.

The full schedule, including the Christmas Day matchups, will be released Thursday evening. The Week 18 Saturday games, which also include 4:30 and 8:15 p.m. ET matchups on ESPN/ABC, are not announced until six days out because the league prioritizes games with playoff implications in those spots.

The regular-season schedule was finalized Tuesday morning.

Netflix also announced the third season of the documentary series Quarterback will debut on July 14. It will feature Washington's Jayden Daniels, Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield, Tennessee's Cam Ward, the top pick in the 2025 draft, and Joe Flacco, who began the season with Cleveland before being traded to Cincinnati.

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

Netanyahu met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a gathering that “resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” according to the statement.

The announcement came just a day after the U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee revealed that Israel had sent Iron Dome air-defense weapons and personnel to operate them to the UAE. The publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel’s military to the Emirates underlined the growing relationship between the two countries.

The UAE, which has not commented on the reported visit by the Israeli leader, has faced Iranian missile and drone fire even after the ceasefire was reached last month. It has been trying to signal to nervous investors that it remains open for business and safe.

Last week, the United Arab Emirates state news agency WAM reported that Netanyahu was among the leaders who called the Emirati president to condemn Iranian attacks and express their solidarity with the Gulf federation.

It was rare public acknowledgment of direct talks between the two countries, which normalized relations in the 2020 Abraham Accords and have strengthened their ties during the Iran war. That agreement was criticized by Iran.

Iran in the past has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the Emirates.

Israeli leaders have made occasional visits to the UAE in recent years after normalizing relations.

Iran demands Kuwait release detainees

Iran’s foreign minister accused Kuwait of attempting to “sow discord” by detaining four Iranians that the Gulf Arab country accuses of being Revolutionary Guard operatives.

In a post Wednesday on X, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi demanded the Iranians’ immediate release and said Iran reserved the right to respond.

“This illegal act took place near an island used by the U.S. to attack Iran,” Araghchi wrote.

A day earlier, Kuwait said four men were detained and two escaped while trying to infiltrate Bubiyan Island in the northwest corner of the Persian Gulf on May 1.

Bubiyan Island is home to Mubarak Al Kabeer Port, which is under construction as part of a Chinese plan to build infrastructure across the world. It also came under Iranian attack during the war.

Iranian human rights lawyer released

Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been released from prison more than a month after being detained, a rights group and her daughter said Wednesday.

Sotoudeh, who is known for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves, was detained by Iranian intelligence agents at her house in Tehran in April.

Her release comes as U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in China for a long-anticipated visit that is expected to touch on the war in Iran.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which closely tracks developments in Iran, said that Sotoudeh was released on bail from Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, posted on social media that Sotoudeh was released on temporary custody. Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency also reported Sotoudeh release.

Sotoudeh has been imprisoned multiple times. Her activist husband, Reza Khandan, has been imprisoned in the same prison as his wife.

Nobel Peace laureate needs long-term care

Doctors who examined Nobel Peace laureate and activist Narges Mohammadi more than a week after she collapsed at a prison in Iran say she needs months of treatment, according to her foundation.

Mohammadi, 53, was urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran on May 1 after she fell unconscious. She was released on bail nearly 10 days later and transferred to a hospital in Tehran where her specialists examined her.

The doctors said her vascular disease has worsened since she was last checked in 2024 and recommended an eight-month treatment course .

She was awarded the Nobel in 2023 while in prison and has been jailed repeatedly throughout her career. Her latest imprisonment began in December when she was arrested in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.

___

Schreck reported from Dubai. Associated Press reporter John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, was confirmed Wednesday in a largely party-line 54-45 vote and will replace Jerome Powell as chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency.

Inflation has topped the Fed’s 2% target for five years and is now rising faster because of spiking gas prices. The Fed’s interest rate-setting committee is divided and saw the most dissenting votes in more than three decades last month. And Powell, after years of personal attacks from Trump and an unprecedented Justice Department investigation, plans to remain on the Fed’s board even after his term as chair ends, potentially creating a competing power center.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a floor speech that it's critical that a Fed chair “understand not only the macro” but also “appreciate the microeconomy: and that’s the hardworking Americans, their jobs and their livelihoods.”

“Kevin Warsh is just such a person,” Thune said.

Trump has demanded change at the Federal Reserve

The Fed has faced threats to its independence from Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates. Trump also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and launched an investigation into Powell’s Senate testimony about a building renovation.

The probe of Powell had threatened to derail Warsh’s nomination, as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina vowed to withhold support until the investigation was terminated. The probe was ultimately dropped in April. Every Republican voted for Warsh on Wednesday, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he believes the markets are relieved that Warsh “is going to help lower interest rates over time.”

“Obviously, data driven,” said Hassett. “I’m not putting any pressure on Kevin Warsh.”

In December, Trump said on his social media platform that he wanted a Fed chair who would cut interest rates when the stock market rose — the opposite of what traditional economics would prescribe — and added, “Anyone that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman!”

Trump’s comments have fueled concerns over whether Warsh will set rates based on economic conditions or instead seek to appease Trump, even if doing so could worsen inflation. At Warsh's confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, derided him as a “sock puppet” for Trump.

Still, Warsh denied at the hearing that Trump had pressured him to reduce the Fed’s key rate.

“I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” he said.

A critic of the Fed's leadership in the past

Warsh has been highly critical of the Fed’s recent track record, particularly the inflation spike in 2021-22, the worst in four decades.

He has called for limiting the Fed’s communications, which would be a sharp shift after decades of growing transparency. He has argued that some of its communications tools, such as quarterly forecasts of where its key rate may head, have made it harder for officials to switch gears.

Senate Democrats have also condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings. He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

“He will be the wealthiest Fed chair in history, but he refuses to provide transparency to the American people about who he is entangled with,” Warren said.

Warsh faces

difficult economic conditions

The Fed is still grappling with how to respond to the 50% spike in gas prices caused by the war in Iran. The increase has boosted inflation, which reached 3.8% in April.

The Fed is tasked by Congress with keeping prices stable, which it seeks to do by raising its short-term rate to make borrowing and spending more expensive, cooling growth and inflation.

The Fed typically looks past temporary price increases that stem from supply disruptions, such as the war’s cutoff of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, because those prices typically level off — or even fall — once supply is restored.

But the Fed also followed that approach after the coronavirus pandemic snarled global supply chains. Inflation turned out to last longer than expected, and Powell and other Fed officials have acknowledged that they waited too long to raise rates. Inflation surged to 9.1% by June 2022.

The Fed’s rate-setting committee has kept rates unchanged for three straight meetings as it evaluates the spike in gas prices. At its most recent meeting last month, three members of the committee objected to language that suggested its next move would be a rate cut. They preferred more neutral language that would allow for a hike. Many Fed watchers saw those dissents as a warning shot to Warsh that he won’t be able to easily engineer rate reductions.

A fourth member of the 12-member committee, Stephen Miran, dissented in favor of a rate cut, as he has at every meeting since Trump appointed him to the Fed’s board last September. Miran is serving until a replacement is named, and Warsh will take his spot.

Powell, meanwhile, said at a news conference on April 29 that he would remain as a Fed governor until the Justice Department closes its investigation into the Fed’s building project, the first time a chair may stay on the board for an extended period since 1948. His term as a governor lasts until January 2028.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has dropped the government’s probe, but she has said it could be reopened if the Fed’s inspector general, which has looked into the renovation project since last July, finds evidence of criminal activity. ___

Follow the AP's coverage of the Federal Reserve System at https://apnews.com/hub/federal-reserve-system.

In March, a judge approved DFPS’ request to take over foster care case management authority from EMPOWER, the private contractor after two children died under its care and the company failed to correct persistent deficiencies. That temporary state receivership was to expire June 16. It will now extend to mid-August. 

But late Wednesday, the state agency and EMPOWER asked for a 60-day extension to allow for a more comprehensive assessment to determine what next steps going forward are needed by the $188 million state nonprofit contractor before it can be released from state receivership.

“While progress has been made, the conditions that gave rise to the receivership have not been fully resolved,” the petition filed in Dallas County district court stated. 

Additional time is needed to determine if the state agency’s corrective measures can be sustained and further risk to children can be reduced, the petition explained.

Since March 1, 2024, EMPOWER and its parent, Texas Family Initiative, have been managing foster care children’s placements and care in nine counties: Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman and Navarro. There was no immediate comment from a spokesperson for EMPOWER. 

The state has made clear to the court that EMPOWER has “struggled to maintain proper caseloads for its case workers” due to worker turnover and failed to follow state procedures. There have been 17 improvement notices known as “continuous quality improvement plans” sent to EMPOWER since it took over all case management of foster care children in the Dallas region. Those notices detail persistent deficiencies in employee training and case management protocols.

A state audit of EMPOWER released in late March also detailed problems with adequately documenting each child’s case progress. “Recently, DFPS conducted a sample review of 178 Empower cases, including 83 cases where the children were placed back into the parents’ home with court oversight. Empower inadequately addressed or documented safety concerns for these children,” this new court petition stated. Because of that, it was difficult to assess what resources were needed for the child and the family. 

As a result of DFPS’ move to place EMPOWER under state management, District Judge Monica Purdy approved George Cannata, a Child Protective Services regional director in North Texas, to oversee case management and executive operations for EMPOWER, a nonprofit foster care service provider.

In court documents, the agency said Cannata’s appointment was necessary because EMPOWER’s “systemic failures” placed foster care children in imminent danger, including a newborn who died after the foster care agency did not create a plan for care despite allegations of abuse with the family’s previous child. According to court records, another baby died after being reunited with its parents without proper safeguards.

EMPOWER, which oversees the Dallas region community-based foster care system, was placed under receivership, in which a court-approved third party takes control of and manages a business or entity.

“The goal of the receivership is to stabilize operations and ensure that children and families receive safe and consistent services without interruption. DFPS remains committed to strong partnerships with the many organizations that support children and families across the state,” said Marissa Gonzales, a DFPS spokesperson.

A spokesperson for EMPOWER said that throughout the receivership process, the organization will retain its state contract and continue to work cooperatively and transparently with the state.

“We are committed to continuing to strengthen services for our local communities. As always, our number one priority is the safety and well-being of the children and families we serve,” said Taylor Forrest, a spokesperson for EMPOWER.

Three years ago, DFPS awarded EMPOWER a contract to oversee foster case management for children in the Metroplex East Community-Based Care region, which includes Dallas, Collin and seven surrounding counties, until 2028. Since being awarded that contract, the foster care organization has repeatedly failed to improve despite state interventions, with issues including untimely reporting, unsafe transport, unmet measures, contract breaches, caseload failures and undocumented visits, DFPS stated in a petition to the court.

State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said he approved of the change in case management

“I have personally worked with DFPS and local judges to ensure EMPOWER’s caseworkers were showing up for court prepared and ready to proceed, because local judges reached out to me and raised concerns about EMPOWER caseworkers showing up unprepared,” West told The Texas Tribune.

Texas lawmakers in 2017 passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state’s child welfare system, including a bill that shifted foster care to a “community-based care” model by allowing contracted organizations to monitor children in foster care and adoptive homes to provide relief for the low-resourced state system.

DFPS reports that about a quarter of the children in state custody are in community-based care, and the agency expects to expand this to the entire population by 2029.

EMPOWER, part of the collaborative under Texas Family Initiative, is a key component of this model, covering some of the state’s most populous regions, but the recent petition calls into question the organization’s ability to adhere to the proposed community care model.

“The Department of Family and Protective Services has worked closely with EMPOWER over the last two years to help them overcome a variety of challenges,” West said. “However, following recent developments, it became clear that EMPOWER is no longer in a place where it can safely manage its caseload on its own, and asking the Court to allow for a Receiver has become necessary.”

CNN reported Tuesday that the CIA facilitated a targeted assassination of a member of the Sinaloa cartel on a highway outside Mexico City, fueling a firestorm in Mexico. The New York Times later reported that Mexican forces carried out the attack and the CIA provided planning and support.

Sheinbaum called the CNN report a “lie.” Asked about the New York Times report during her morning press briefing, she called it “a fiction the size of the universe.”

Liz Lyons, a spokesperson for the CIA, also lambasted the CNN report, posting on X that “this is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk.”

A CNN spokesperson said the CIA had been presented with details of the report prior to publication and had declined to comment. While the network did not directly address Sheinbaum's statements, it said it stands by its reporting.

“After publication, CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons released a statement to CNN saying, ‘This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk,’ without specifying what aspect of the reporting is false,” the CNN spokesperson said.

The New York Times also stood by its reporting, with Charlie Stadtlander, executive director of media relations and communications, saying in an emailed statement that the publication "remains confident in the accuracy of what we reported.”

While Sheinbaum's mentor and predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, regularly attacked journalists in his morning news briefings, going as far as to dox critical reporters, Sheinbaum has taken a more measured tone in the face of criticism.

But the president has been plagued by scandals involving the United States in recent weeks as she comes under pressure to maintain a strong relationship with Washington in the face of renegotiating a free-trade agreement and threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to take action on cartels.

Sheinbaum has underscored Mexico's sovereignty, a narrative that increasingly has been questioned.

Last month, two CIA agents were killed in a car crash along with local Mexican investigators on their return from an anti-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua. Sheinbaum said she had no knowledge of the operation, and Mexican and U.S. authorities contradicted themselves for days.

A week later, a New York court charged Sinaloa's governor — a high-ranking member of Sheinbaum's party and ally of López Obrador — with drug trafficking and weapons offenses, accused of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the U.S.

___

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

——

Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report from New York.

But the disgraced lawyer won’t be leaving prison anytime soon.

Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh, which likely means there will be another lengthy trial for the case that because of the combination of money, power, Southern accents and treachery has become a true crime sensation with several streaming miniseries, best selling books and dozens of true crime podcasts.

Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.

Prosecutors promise a retrial that will look different

Prosecutors said they would aggressively seek to try Murdaugh again on the murder charges with state Attorney General Alan Wilson saying he respected the court's decision but no one is above the law.

Murdaugh's lawyers pointed out that trial will look a lot different, as the justices also ruled days of evidence at the murder trial about how Murdaugh stole from clients, many of them in dire straits, shouldn't be allowed next time.

Still, the ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat and bad lawyer, but has adamantly denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul since he found their bodies outside their home in 2021.

“Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son. We look forward to a new trial,” Murdaugh’s lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin said in a joint statement.

The defense has detailed the lack of physical evidence — no DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or any of his clothes, even though the killings were at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.

Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming.

Murdaugh told investigators for months he hadn’t seen his wife and son for about an hour before they were killed. But investigators eventually cracked the passcode on Paul Murdaugh’s phone and found a video with a barking dog and Alex Murdaugh’s voice admonishing it five minutes before the young man stopped using his phone.

Investigators said Murdaugh was addicted to opioids and his complex schemes to steal money from clients and his family’s law firm were starting to unravel so he killed his wife and son to divert attention and buy time to find a way out of his problems.

Court said clerk attacked Murdaugh's credibility with jurors

In their unanimous ruling Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court said the conduct by Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

A few jurors said Hill, 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.

“By urging the jurors not to be fooled or convinced by Murdaugh’s defense, Hill essentially implored the jurors to find him guilty, the ultimate issue in the case,” the justices wrote, adding that the comments insinuated there was something unusual and suspicious about his decision to testify.

Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the justices wrote. “Our justice system provides — indeed demands — that every person is entitled to a fair trial."

Justices say Hill was looking for celebrity

The court said Hill's motivation was the “siren call of celebrity” and her goal was to increase sales of her book on the trial called “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.” It was pulled from publication after plagiarism allegations were made.

“As her book’s title suggests, it turns out Hill was quite busy behind the doors of justice, thwarting the integrity of the justice system she was sworn to protect and uphold,” the justices wrote in an unsigned 27-page ruling.

Hill’s attorney in her criminal case didn’t return a phone call or email seeking comment.

Hill has pleaded guilty to lying about what she said and did during the Murdaugh trial, including showing graphic crime scene photos to several media members. The journalists were not named and the photos were not described at her December hearing.

“The court rightly described her conduct as "‘breathtaking,’ ‘disgraceful,’ and ‘unprecedented in South Carolina,'” Murdaugh's lawyers said.

Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming.

Justices say financial crime evidence also improperly used

The justices also had a warning for the next judge to try the murder case — be cautious on how much evidence of Murdaugh's thefts from his law firm and clients to allow those jurors to hear.

Some brief evidence of how Mudaugh stole is fine and how it might connect to him killing his wife and son. But the court said details like how some of the people Murdaugh stole from were disabled or vulnerable could unfairly turn against him jurors who should be focused just on whether he killed his family.

The department imposed the bond requirement last year for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the Republican administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.

Travelers to the United States from 50 countries are required to pay the new bond, and five of those countries have qualified for the World Cup — Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.

Citizens from those five countries who have purchased tickets from FIFA are now exempt from the visa bond requirement. World Cup team players, coaches and some staff already had been exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s orders to prioritize the processing of visas for the tournament.

“The United States is excited to organize the biggest and best FIFA World Cup in history," Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said. “We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets" and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15.

The waiver is a rare loosening of immigration requirements under the administration and will ease travel burdens for at least some visitors to the U.S. for the World Cup, which begins June 11 and is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The administration has taken dramatic steps to restrict immigration in ways that critics say are incongruous with the type of unifying message that a global sporting event such as the World Cup is supposed to project.

For instance, the administration has barred travelers from Iran and Haiti, though World Cup players, coaches and other support personnel are exempt. Travelers from Ivory Coast and Senegal, face partial restrictions under an expanded version of that travel ban, even without the visa bond exemption.

Foreign travelers also had faced potential new requirements to submit their social media histories, although that policy from U.S. Customs and Border Protection had not gone into effect. Also, the administration had deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at airports recently when Transportation Security Administration personnel were not being paid during a partial federal shutdown.

Those measures prompted Amnesty International and dozens of U.S. civil and human rights groups to issue a “World Cup travel advisory" that warns travelers about the climate in the U.S.

In a report this month, the main advocacy group for U.S. hotels blamed visa barriers and other geopolitical issues for “significantly suppressing international demand,” leading to hotel bookings for the soccer tournament that are far below what had initially been anticipated.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association said travelers are concerned about potentially lengthy visa wait times and increased fees, along with uncertainty about how they're being processed to enter the U.S.

The bond requirements are part of the administration’s larger effort to clamp down on migrants who travel to the U.S. on temporary visas but then overstay them. Visa applicants from the affected countries are required to pay $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 in bonds, which will be refunded if the traveler complies with the terms of the visa or if the visa application is denied.

As of early April, the number of World Cup fans affected by the bond requirement was believed to be relatively small, perhaps only about 250 people, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. But they said that number was changing rapidly as more people buy tickets and some with tickets opt against traveling.

FIFA had requested the waiver, which had to be approved by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, and was the topic of discussion at multiple meetings at the White House and elsewhere in Washington for several months, the officials said.

Then the audience gave it a 22-minute standing ovation, the longest in Cannes history.

“It’s a commute,” joked del Toro. “That’s about what it takes me to get from home to the office. Alfonso Cuaron, who made this movie with me as producer, turned to me at some point and said, ‘Let it in. Relax.’ I was very tense. I’m not very good with praise.”

Del Toro returned to Cannes on Tuesday to screen a restoration of one of his most beloved films. Shortly beforehand, he met a reporter for an interview at a hotel on the Croisette, a few steps away from where his filmmaking life changed two decades ago.

A lush fairy tale set against 1944 Francoist Spain, “Pan's Labyrinth” is about the young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) who has come with her mother to stay with her new fascist stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi López). Taking place largely in the northern Spain, it's Del Toro at his earthiest and most imaginative.

Books become alive when held. Doors manifest out of a chalk outline. And creatures — fairies, a faun, the unforgettable Pale Man, with eyes in the palms of his hands — reveal a world of deeper and darker enchantment.

A pivot point for del Toro

Del Toro, who has since made “The Shape of Water” and “Frankenstein,” grants that he wouldn’t have become the filmmaker he is today if he hadn’t made “Pan’s Labyrinth.” At the time, he was the well-regarded but not well-known filmmaker of “Hellboy” and “Blade 2.”

“I was getting all the Marvel offers from Avi Arad. It was a real choice to go make the movie no one wanted to finance,” del Toro says. “It was one of the few times in my life that I made a choice. And I made it over and over again because everything that could go wrong went wrong, every door that could have slammed in my face, slammed in my face.”

Del Toro made “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which Cineverse and Fathom Entertainment will rerelease in theaters Oct. 9, for $19.5 million — the same budget for his best picture-winning “The Shape of Water.” But just after del Toro moved his family to Spain for the shoot, a major financier pulled out.

“I said: I’m staying. We’re going to make this movie,” the filmmaker recalls.

Forest fires in Spain were another complication. Verdant and magical as the forest is in “Pan's Labyrinth,” it took months of irrigation to bring it to life. “Every lush tree you see, we made lush,” says del Toro. “Every fern we planted.”

The iconic tree of the film, though, was the work of Eugenio Caballero's art design. Del Toro has long been renown for his textured artistry, but “Pan's Labyrinth” includes some of his most memorable creations. At a time when artificial intelligence is making inroads into moviemaking, the movie's handcrafted beauty stands out all the more.

“I think people intrinsically know when you’ve made an effort,” says del Toro. “They sense that it’s important to you in the craftsmanship. We don’t only go to movies to see the world. We go to see a world we don’t recognize. The more the design is something you haven’t seen before, that was made by hand, you can sense it.”

“Virtual filmmaking to me is not as interesting,” he adds. “You’re not courting an accident. You’re not courting humanity.”

Growing up with ‘Pan’s Labyrinth'

Nothing is more human in “Pan's Labyrinth” than its young protagonist. Baquero was just 11 when she shot the film, but del Toro calls her “the most mature actor I've ever directed.” Baquero, now 31, also came to Cannes for the screening.

“During the audition process, he didn’t baby me,” says Baquero. “He treated me like an adult. He gave me a lot of homework. He gave me a lot of movie references, some of which were — like ‘Grave of Fireflies’ — very dark.”

“Pan's Labyrinth,” an R-rated fable with bloody spurts of violence, isn't quite for children. But Baquero was shielded from none of its cruelties. She grew up with “Pan's Labyrinth.”

“I can enjoy more and more as time goes by,” she says. “I can distance myself from being in the movie and watch it with different eyes. I almost don’t see myself as that girl anymore. I do, but it was 20 years ago.”

After its Cannes premiere, “Pan's Labyrinth” was hailed as a masterpiece and went on to land six Oscar nominations, winning three (for cinematography, art direction and makeup). But del Toro calls his experience screening the movie for Stephen King “my Oscar.” He traveled up to Maine, carrying his film reels, to show it to the author he grew up revering. “The Pale Man had him squirming big time,” del Toro says.

In “Pan's Labyrinth,” there are hidden, eternal forces underground that outlast the evil scourges that might trod above. There is magic in the world, but you have to know where to look. Two decades later, del Toro still believes that.

“I have experienced it in the real world. Not fauns and pale men and fairies,” he says, chuckling. “But I find that when your will lines up with the life stream of the cosmos, you see things that happen that are tremendous. When you swim against the life stream, things go wrong.”

The league surprised him with the award Wednesday.

Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the draft, was the Calder front-runner from just about the time he made his debut on opening night at Pittsburgh. He scored 23 goals to tie Brian Leetch’s record for the most by a rookie defenseman and finished with 59 points.

The 18-year-old became the face of the Islanders franchise and helped them make a playoff push before falling short in the final couple of weeks of the regular season. He received all 198 first-place Calder votes.

Montreal’s Ivan Demidov was second and Anaheim’s Bennett Sennecke third in voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Chicago Park District officials announced last week that bird-watchers observed nesting activity starting in February in Park 597 along the Calumet River on the city's Southeast Side. The first eaglet was spotted in the nest on April 28 and a second was confirmed May 7.

Irene Tostado, a park district spokesperson, said the eaglets appear to be two to three weeks old.

Pat Pearson and her husband, Steve, discovered the first eaglet.

“We started looking around, and lo and behold, this little fuzzy head sticks up with a big beak and we were just ecstatic. Patty actually broke into tears. I started crying," Steve Pearson said. "It was really very touching, because we had this kind of instinct, I think, just the wonder and the awe of seeing these eagles right here in Chicago with a baby. It was really overwhelming.”

Habitat degradation and insecticide contamination of food sources decimated the bald eagle population in the second half of the 20th century, but the bird has made a dramatic comeback over the last 40 years. The bald eagle — the official national bird of the United States — was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007.

They're not an uncommon sight in the Chicago area. The park district said it counted a dozen bald eagles in the restored wetlands of Big Marsh Park in one day in 2018. But Stephen Bell, who oversees Park 597, said his staff hasn't found any record of a successful eaglet hatching in Chicago for more than 100 years.

Park 597 was home to a city water treatment plant until the park district took over the property in 2019 and started restoring the natural habitat. Bell said soil improvements, upgraded vegetation and enhanced habitat for amphibians and reptiles have attracted muskrats, mice and deer, as well as eagles.

“Give Mother Nature a chance and you'd be surprised what she can do with just a little bit of help from like the park district and the city of Chicago," Pat Pearson said. “Neither one of the organizations could have done it themselves, but between the two of them, it's shocking what can happen to land in areas that you think are just absolutely unredeemable.”

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Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press photographer Erin Hooley contributed.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has issued a CLEAR Alert after a San Antonio man was reported missing over the weekend.

Officials said Pedro Sanchez-Moreno, 44, was last seen around 8:15 a.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of Kedros, which is located in a far west Bexar County neighborhood near State Highway 211 and Potranco Road.

Sanchez-Moreno is 5 feet, 9 inches tall, has brown eyes and gray hair. He may be traveling in a white 2003 Ford F-150 with the Texas license plate WKL4529, DPS said in a news release.

The agency said Sanchez-Moreno’s disappearance could pose “a credible threat to their own health and safety.”

Anyone with information on Sanchez-Moreno’s whereabouts is asked to call the San Antonio Police Department at 210-207-7660.

More news coverage on KSAT:

• New charges filed against former San Antonio fire union president stemming from 2024 arrest
• Voter says cease-and-desist letter won’t silence her criticism of Kendall County Judge candidate’s past
• Wembanyama won’t face ‘further discipline’ following ejection-worthy elbow in Game 4, ESPN reports

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% in April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years.

Energy prices climbed 7.8% from March to April and 22.7% from a year earlier. Gasoline soared 15.6% from March and diesel, the dominant fuel used in shipping, jumped 12.6%.

Gasoline prices, which have already become painful for many Americans, rose again overnight to a national average of $4.51 per gallon, according to motor club AAA.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core producer prices rose 1% from March and 5.2% from April 2025.

All of the numbers released Wednesday caught economists off guard and altered the dynamic at the U.S. Federal Reserve and its fight against inflation.

Prices are rising at a time when Americans are already frustrated by the high cost of living. Affordability is likely to be a key issue when voters go to the polls Nov. 3 to determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“This report will set off alarm bells at the Fed and add fuel to the political conversation about affordability,″ wrote Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “The results are so far above expectations that this update will set off alarm bells in the financial markets, too.″

After the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran closed off access to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes.

The oil shock shows no sign of letting up. The International Energy Agency warned Wednesday that the “mounting supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.’’ Since February, global oil supplies have been reduced by 12.8 million barrels a day in what the IEA called “an unprecedented supply shock.’’

Wednesday’s report on producer prices showed a big uptick in shipping costs. The wholesale cost of truck transportation of freight shot up more than 8% from March and air freight rose 3.6% for the month.

“Diesel fuel is also crucial for food prices, as it powers farm equipment along with commercial shipping and trucking,” wrote Grace Zwemmer, US Economist at Oxford Economics. “Food prices rose by a muted 0.2% in April, much stronger than the 0.6% decline seen in March, and it’s possible they will face upward pressure from higher fuel prices the longer the war persists.”

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where prices for consumers may be headed.

Already this week, the Labor Department said that its closely watched consumer price index jumped 3.8% last month from April 2025 — the biggest year-over-year increase in more than three years. That has begun to appear in everything from what Americans pay for air travel, both tickets and baggage fees, to soap and toothpaste.

Walmart, a company famous for its intense focus on low prices, already announced rare price hikes last year as Trump's tariffs were rolled out, and the rising costs may intensify pressure to do so again. It is not alone.

Whirlpool, which makes KitchenAid and Maytag appliances, reported this month that its revenue dropped nearly 10% in its most recent quarter and said that the war has caused a “recession-level industry decline″ that has undermined consumer confidence. It had announced a 10% price hike in April, its largest in a decade, and said another 4% price increase is coming in July.

The cost of credit, which had been in decline, has been frozen in place.

Before the Iran war, the Fed had been expected to cut its benchmark interest rate in 2026. But it has turned cautious as it waits to see how long the conflict lasts and whether higher energy prices spill over into other products and cause a broader inflationary outbreak.

Trump has attacked the Fed and its outgoing chair, Jerome Powell, for refusing to slash rates to boost the economy. Kevin Warsh, the president’s hand-picked choice to succeed Powell, was confirmed by the Senate Wednesday, but it’s unclear whether Warsh would pursue lower rates given the uncertainty caused by the war — or whether he could persuade his colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee to go along if he tried.

Officers responded to the crash just after 12:50 a.m. in the 8800 block of South Flores Street, located near Roosevelt Avenue.

Upon arrival, officers said they found that a man had been ejected following the crash. He was later taken to a local hospital with major injuries, according to police.

After further investigation, officers learned that the man was heading southbound on South Flores Street when he lost control of the vehicle.

The man then crashed into a concrete barrier before he was ejected, police said.

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

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella would succeed Todd Lyons, who led the agency through much of the administration's tumultuous crackdown on immigration. ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information Wednesday.

Venturella left the Geo Group in early 2023 and has been working at ICE leading the division that oversees detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.

At the Geo Group, which houses around one-third of ICE detainees, Venturella served in a number of posts, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. He also oversaw removal operations for ICE in 2011 and 2012 after working for federal contractors, including one that specializes in security clearances and background checks.

Geo has benefited from President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push, garnering big contracts to open three shuttered facilities. Among them was a $1 billion, 15-year deal for a detention center in New Jersey’s largest city.

“Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our company’s history,” Geo’s CEO George Zoley said during an earnings call last week.

Geo owns and operates 23 ICE detention facilities, with about 26,000 available beds. Zoley also said that ICE’s air transportation subcontract had continued to steadily increase and that it secured a new contract last year for electronic monitoring.

To Silky Shah, executive director of the Detention Watch Network, the hire is a “classic example of the revolving door phenomena.” In a statement, she expressed concern that “Venturella’s intimate knowledge of ICE will likely yield another spike of ICE detention facility openings.”

Venturella will lead ICE at a time when the public mood has soured on Trump’s immigration crackdown, which sent surges of federal immigration officers into American cities to round up immigrants. Those raids sent tensions soaring and prompted clashes between protesters and law enforcement, leading to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Trump returned to the White House on a promise of mass deportations, and ICE has been a central executor of that vision. Under Lyons’ leadership, the agency used a massive infusion of cash to expand hiring and detention capabilities, and it ramped up arrests to meet demand from the Republican administration.

Federal officials announced Lyons’ departure last month from ICE, which had gotten $75 billion from Congress to fulfill Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Venturella's appointment comes as DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin settles into his role atop the Cabinet agency overseeing ICE. Mullin has promised to keep his department out of the headlines and has indicated a softer tone on immigration, although he is expected to align with the president's priorities on mass deportations.

One contentious issue confronting DHS now is a plan for converting warehouses into immigrant detention. Conceived while Kristi Noem led the department, the effort has encountered multiple lawsuits and intense community blowback, including in Republican-led states.

The $38.3 billion plan would increase detention capacity to 92,000 beds and mean acquiring eight large-scale facilities, capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees each, and 16 smaller regional processing centers.

Those, and other sites, were supposed to be running by the end of November. But after Noem’s departure, DHS paused the purchase of new warehouses as it scrutinizes all contracts signed during her tenure.

Last month a judge extended a pause on transforming a massive Maryland warehouse into a processing facility for immigrants, and there are signs that federal officials are scaling back the plans.

This could be good news for Geo. The Florida-based company has about 6,000 idle beds at six company-owned facilities, Zoley said last week.

Zoley had offered a note of skepticism about the warehouse plan during an earlier earnings call in February, noting that renovating a warehouse is “more complicated than you may think.” At that point, he said the company was “cautiously” looking at whether to bid to help operate some of them.

The attack began in midmorning and lasted for hours in the capital of Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near Poland, and the port of Odesa on the Black Sea, among other population centers, Zelanskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Our soldiers are defending Ukraine, but Russia’s obvious goal is to overload air defenses,” Zelenskyy said, as the bombardment stretched into the late afternoon. He cautioned that a cruise and ballistic missile attack could follow the drone barrage.

It was “one of the longest, massive Russian attacks against Ukraine,” he said on social media.

It also rattled neighbors. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said his new government has summoned the Russian ambassador over a drone attack near Hungary’s border, in a significant shift from his predecessor Viktor Orbán's friendly relations with Moscow.

“The Hungarian government strongly condemns the Russian attack on Transcarpathia,” Magyar told journalists, adding that Foreign Minister Anita Orbán will speak with the ambassador Thursday morning.

The foreign minister will ask “when Russia and Vladimir Putin plan to finally end this bloody war,” Magyar added.

“Thank you for your compassion and strong position!” Zelenskyy said on X after Magyar’s comments.

Three people are killed in a region near Kyiv

Drone debris fell in an open area in Kyiv’s Obolonskyi district with no casualties, city officials said, as air defense systems engaged Russian drones over the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency services responded to the scene. Explosions were heard across the city earlier Wednesday.

Three people were killed in a drone attack in the Rivne region west of Kyiv, according to Oleksandr Koval, head of the regional military administration.

Moscow’s attacks are unrelenting, even as Ukraine is emboldened by its recent military accomplishments and as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin said — without providing evidence — that the war could be approaching an end.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said, 14 Ukrainian regions came under attack, followed by overnight strikes on Ukraine’s residential, energy and railway infrastructure.

“It is important to support Ukraine and not remain silent about Russia’s war. Every time the war disappears from the top of the news, it encourages Russia to become even more savage,” Zelenskyy said, apparently referring to the world's attention being focused on the Iran war.

Trump and Putin talk of a possible end to the war

Trump said Tuesday said he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting.

“The end of the war in Ukraine I really think is getting very close,” Trump said as he left the White House for a summit in Beijing. “Believe it or not, it’s getting closer.”

Putin said in a speech last weekend that his invasion of Ukraine is possibly “coming to an end.”

Neither leader elaborated on what persuaded them about the possibility of peace in Europe’s longest conflict since World War II. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts over the past year to end the war have fizzled after making no progress on key issues, such as whether Russia gets to keep Ukrainian land it has seized and what can be done to deter Moscow from invading again.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated Wednesday that Moscow’s fundamental terms are unchanged, with Putin insisting that Ukraine pull its troops from the four regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but hasn't fully captured.

“At that point, a ceasefire will be established, and the parties can calmly engage in negotiations, which, incidentally, will inevitably be very complex and involve a lot of important details,” Peskov said.

Zelenskyy vowed to keep pressure on Moscow to make concessions in talks.

“We’re not giving up on diplomatic efforts, and we hope that pressure on Russia, together with negotiations in different formats, will help bring peace,” he said in a speech Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania, to representatives of countries on NATO's eastern flank.

“Sanctions are working, our long-range (drone and missile) capabilities are working, and every form of pressure is working,” he said.

Meanwhile, European governments are assessing the merits of opening talks with Putin. Europe has for years tried to isolate the Russian leader and punished his country with international sanctions.

Fighting appears to shift in Ukraine's favor

The correlation of forces in the war has shifted in recent months. Ukraine has gone from pleading for international help with its defense to offering foreign countries its expertise on how to counter attacks, thanks to its domestically developed drone technology.

Ukraine’s long-range drone and missile attacks have disrupted energy facilities and manufacturing deep inside Russia, with three regions reporting strikes Wednesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces intercepted and destroyed 286 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea.

On the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line, the advance of Russia’s bigger and better-equipped army has been slowing every month since October, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Russia’s spring offensive has floundered, with Russian forces recording a net loss of territory last month for the first time since 2024, the Washington-based think tank said.

“Not only are Ukrainian defensive lines holding, but Ukrainian forces have managed to contest the tactical initiative in several areas of the front line even as Russia continues to lose disproportionate amounts of manpower to achieve minimal gains,” the ISW said Tuesday.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Sam McNeil in Brussels and Bela Szandelzsky in Budapest, Hungary, contributed,

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

Mladenov expressed frustration with the status quo that has emerged since the ceasefire was reached last October and said his office is addressing violations by both sides on a daily basis. But he repeatedly cited the disarmament issue as a central sticking point, saying Hamas' obligation to give up its arsenal is “not negotiable” and that progress on all other issues — including reconstruction, Israeli troop withdrawals and the establishment of a new Palestinian government — was being held up.

“You cannot build a future with armed groups running the streets, hiding in tunnels and stockpiling weapons. You cannot deliver reconstruction with militias on every corner,” Mladenov told foreign reporters in Jerusalem. He did not say what was planned if Hamas does not disarm, but warned that without it, Gaza faced a future of prolonged “misery.”

President Donald Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan calls on Hamas to surrender its weapons and destroy its tunnels. The truce also envisions Israeli forces withdrawing, the arrival of a new technocratic Palestinian government along, deployment of an international security force, and rebuilding destroyed swaths of the Palestinian territory after more than two years of war.

The Palestinian militant group has sought to link any demilitarization to Israeli troop pullbacks. Israel’s military remains in control of more than half of Gaza.

“The only way that we believe that we can ensure that Israeli withdrawal takes place to the perimeter is if we have the full elements of the plan unfolding in Gaza,” Mladenov said, speaking after a meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rights group says Israel has pushed deep into Gaza

Mladenov stated plainly that the plan envisioned in the ceasefire was off to a rocky start. He also said conditions remain dire and miserable, where nearly all of the territory's 2 million people have been displaced. Many remain in tent camps lacking basic services.

“Seven months since the ceasefire, the door to the future of Gaza is still closed," he said. "It is not what the Palestinians were promised, and it is not what they deserve. And it is not giving Israel the security to move forward, as the Israeli people also want.”

He accused both sides of violating the ceasefire but said it had mostly held and staved off the return of full-scale war.

The ceasefire gave Israeli military control of half of Gaza east of a “yellow line,” hemming Palestinians into squalid tent camps along the beach where rights groups say food, water, and healthcare are in short supply, and rodent infestations are spreading disease.

Israel’s military has pushed deeper into Gaza, now controlling more than they were granted under the agreement. About 53% of Gaza lies behind the yellow line established in the agreement, but the Israeli rights group Gisha said in a Wednesday report that the military has also claimed “coordination control,” or control of aid groups’ movements, over an additional 11% of the territory in March.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says that 10 facilities, including emergency shelters, are now off-limits.

Israel also has stepped up its attacks in Gaza since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire took effect last month, and many Palestinians fear a return of more airstrikes and full-scale war may be imminent.

U.S. officials, including Jared Kushner, have tied virtually every step forward in Gaza to Hamas disarming, unveiling glossy blueprints and mock-ups for the territory’s future. But they, too, have said much less about what happens if Hamas refuses or about the prospect of Gaza hardening into a landscape of indefinite ruin without reconstruction.

Mladenov said the Board of Peace has translated Trump’s original plan into a 15-point “detailed implementation roadmap” that has been discussed with Hamas representatives in Cairo many times. He said two versions of the proposal were presented to Hamas, the second “revised explicitly to address the questions and concerns that the Palestinian factions raised in our discussions.”

He did not say what the status of the proposal was.

Disarmament has remained a thorny element of the ceasefire.

Hamas has said repeatedly it is willing to hand over government power to the committee. Rather than immediately disarm, Hamas has said an interim administration, including a police force, is needed to restore order in parts of Gaza under its control until a technocratic committee takes over. Israel, meanwhile, has struck police stations and officers since the ceasefire, viewing them as instruments of Hamas rule.

Hamas has also been reluctant to give up its arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles, and explosives. The group has sought to differentiate between heavy weapons, such as rockets, and light weapons like rifles and pistols, Hamas officials and mediators say, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

Mladenov said that Hamas is “consolidating its grip” on parts of Gaza it controls, imposing taxes on residents and blocking relief efforts to build temporary housing for displaced people. “To what end?” he asked. “To squeeze better terms of a negotiation?”

He also said that he could envision a role for Hamas in postwar Gaza if it disarms.

“We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement,” Mladenov said. “A political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national Palestinian elections.”

Israeli leaders have said they want to destroy the militant group that has governed Gaza for two decades and orchestrated the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages.

Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed over 72,724 Palestinians, including at least 846 since the ceasefire took hold last October, according to local health officials.

Video from the scene shows fans honking and celebrating on the South Side while a truck appears to be on its side.

The crash happened around 12:10 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of SW Military Drive and Pleasanton Road, according to a San Antonio Police Department preliminary report.

Officers were directing traffic in the area to manage the significant amount of vehicles when the crash occurred, SAPD said.

The report said the truck driver did not see an officer directing them to stop and struck another vehicle traveling southbound.

Timothy Alvarez, who witnessed the crash, said he saw everyone exit the truck and believed they were not seriously injured.

“I could imagine what probably happened was, you know, this reckless driving, people acting reckless, you know, getting caught up in the moment, and then you got to take a turn,” Alvarez said.

Both vehicles sustained major damage and were towed from the location, according to SAPD.

Stay safe during Spurs celebrations

SAPD also confirmed that one person was arrested for driving while intoxicated during the celebrations on Tuesday night. It is unclear whether the arrest is connected with the crash.

Officers are reminding fans who join post-win celebrations to remain in their vehicles and follow all traffic and city ordinance laws.

According to an SAPD spokesperson, fans should not exit their vehicles on an active road, engage in celebratory gunfire, pop fireworks, light fires or sit on top of moving vehicles.

Read also:

• Should there be honking celebrations after every Spurs playoff win? San Antonio fans weigh in

In a news conference on Monday, Sheriff Javier Salazar said a man’s body found near railroad tracks in southwest Bexar County is believed to be connected with the six people found dead in Laredo.

At the time of the discovery, the sheriff said that the man only had a Mexican voter registration card.

Federal investigators were searching the area because the train’s alarm showed that the railroad cart door had opened in San Antonio.

An anonymous Texas woman contacted KSAT and asked for help to try to figure out if the man found in Bexar County was her missing loved one.

She said that her brother-in-law was traveling from Mexico, and the last message he sent on Saturday stated that he was on a train and would arrive on Sunday.

Her brother-in-law never arrived and did not contact the family, the woman said.

KSAT contacted multiple agencies, including the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, in an effort to help the woman find her missing loved one.

Hours later, the woman was informed that the body was that of her missing relative, Nereo Garcia Aguilar, 49.

Here are some numbers that can help if you are looking for a missing immigrant.

• Bexar County Sheriff’s Office: 210-335-6000
• Mexican Consulate San Antonio Office: 210-227-9147
• San Antonio, ICE office: (210) 564-3300
• Bexar Co. Medical Examiner’s Office: 210-335-4000
• Here’s how to search for someone in Customer and Border Protection custody.
• The South Texas Human Rights Center also encourages people to report missing migrants to them.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Man found dead near southwest Bexar County railroad identified by medical examiner’s office
• Body found near Bexar County railroad believed to be connected to Laredo boxcar deaths, sheriff says
• 6 found dead inside railroad boxcar, Laredo police say

The five-year agreement, ratified on Tuesday, covers nearly 30,000 flight attendants at United. It includes an average 31% pay increase this summer, boarding pay worth an additional 7% to 8% in compensation on average and $741 million in retroactive pay, according to the Association of Flight Attendants.

“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the union’s United chapter. “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”

The union said the deal also secures expanded job security, restrictions on red-eye flying, pay for lengthy delays over 2 1/2 hours, higher retirement contributions, 10 weeks paid parental leave and the elimination of 24-hour on-call reserve schedules.

Both United CEO Scott Kirby and union leaders say the agreement — reached through mediation at the National Mediation Board — sets a new benchmark in the industry.

“The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for Flight Attendants — and it should,” said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA, which represents more than 55,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines.

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Kirby said United is “lucky to have the best flight attendants in the world to represent our airline!”

“I am very happy that they now have the industry-leading contract that they deserve," he said.

For years, it had been standard across much of the airline industry for flight attendants to go unpaid during boarding, despite flight attendants already assisting passengers, resolving seating and carry-on issues, conducting safety checks and preparing the cabin for departure.

Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. airline to offer boarding pay in 2022, followed by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Last August, Air Canada’s flight attendants put a public spotlight on the issue when about 10,000 of them walked off the job, leading the Canadian airline to cancel more than 3,100 flights. The strike ended days later with a breakthrough deal that included pay for boarding passengers.

The Palestinian Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent identified the man as Zakaria Qatusa, 44, from the town of Deir Qadis, about 20 kilometers (13 miles) northwest of the site of the shooting Tuesday evening in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, which abuts the wall.

Israeli police didn't immediately respond to queries about the shooting. The funeral for the man was held on Wednesday.

Khalid Qatusa, his brother, said that he was a father of four who was crossing the wall in order to work in Israel.

“He was forced to resort to this method as there was no other opportunity to meet the needs of his household and live a dignified life. This was the only way,” he said. “He was neither an aggressor nor a threat.”

An increasing number of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have attempted to enter Israel illegally to work in recent years. Before the Israel-Hamas war, tens of thousands of Palestinians held permits to work in Israel, but access was sharply restricted after the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Since then, unemployment has surged amid a deep economic slowdown and a shortage of jobs in the occupied West Bank. Other shootings have taken place at the same location separating the West Bank town of Al-Ram from Beit Hanina, an east Jerusalem neighborhood.

Also on Wednesday, a Palestinian teenager was killed in a clash with Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank village of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiya. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victim as 16-year-old Youssef Kaabneh.

The Israeli military said soldiers and police officers entered the area in response to reports that livestock from an Israeli outpost was stolen. They said they worked to disperse a violent riot and were investigating the incident.

Family members said settlers and Israeli soldiers descended on the Bedouin community and that Kaabneh was shot during a confrontation involving a sheep herd. As Israeli settlers expand their presence and outposts, livestock theft has been a major source of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians this year.

“Our lives have become a living hell. Settlers can now enter any house or farm and confiscate whatever they want, as if we are spoils of war,” said Ismail Owais, a 60-year-old resident of the village.

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli forces or settlers killed at least 47 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this year as of May 11. Several, like Kaabneh, have been teenagers.

The struggling Los Angeles Dodgers star hit just his second home run in his last 24 games — an opposite field solo shot to left-center in a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. It ended an 11-game homerless streak, which tied his longest as a Dodger.

Ohtani looked skyward as he crossed the plate.

“Relief, he smiled, he laughed,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He's going to feel good about the offensive side tonight to then refocus for tomorrow to pitch and now he's got something to build on come Friday.”

Ohtani finished the game going 2 for 4 with two runs, an RBI and a walk. The rest of the team was 2 for 25 with four walks. He has seven home runs on the season and is batting .240.

“I thought tonight was a really good night,” Roberts said. “He can hopefully take that momentum from tonight and then be building on that through Anaheim and San Diego.”

Roberts said after the game that Ohtani won't be in the lineup as the designated hitter Wednesday when he also starts against the Giants. Earlier, Roberts said he was giving Ohtani a day from hitting Thursday, although he would be available late if the outcome hangs in the balance.

“It might just be a good thing to take a little bit of a load off of his plate offensively,” Roberts said before the game. “I just can’t take for granted what’s on his plate and so I’m trying to be sensitive.”

As Ohtani goes, so have the Dodgers (24-18). They remained a half-game behind NL West-leading San Diego despite their first four-game losing streak with all the defeats by at least four runs since July 1-4, 1936. Andy Pages (.318 average) and Max Muncy (.272) have been LA's best hitters so far, while the rest of the lineup is struggling, including Freddie Freeman (.276) and Kyle Tucker (.253).

“When your best player is doing what he's capable of doing, it just adds that energy into the dugout, frees guys up a little bit to do something too,” Roberts said. “When he's doing well, he's slugging, so those are runs.”

Ohtani is in his first full season as a two-way player for the Dodgers. Coming off two major right elbow surgeries, he was limited to the DH role in 2024, when he created the 50/50 club, with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, was named NL MVP and the Dodgers won the World Series.

Last year, Ohtani didn't return to the mound until midseason. He wasn't built up to pitching six innings until September and offensively, he hit 55 home runs and had 20 stolen bases. He repeated as NL MVP and the Dodgers won the World Series again.

This season, he has had no innings restrictions on the mound, where he's been dominant. The right-hander is 2-2 with a 0.97 ERA to go with 42 strikeouts and 37 innings pitched over six starts. He's allowed just four earned runs and 21 hits.

“He's still calibrating on this kind of newfound two-way player,” Roberts said.

Roberts has said Ohtani is willing to do whatever the team needs, but at the same time, the manager knows the team's most valuable asset needs to be protected from himself.

“He’s always going to want to do more,” Roberts said. “He has that sense of responsibility to his teammates that he wants to be out there on both ways. I've learned that I have to be proactive and take it out of his hands.”

Roberts has seen enough to decide that taking the bat out of Ohtani's hands might help him reset.

“When the quality of at-bats starts to go down consistently, I think that’s a sign that there needs to be a break because you’re just not able to stay within your game plan and then the chase starts to spike,” he said. “The fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics. Most players get that towards the end of the summer. Now I'm learning managing Shohei it’s probably showing itself a little earlier as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it to the hitting, too.”

Ohtani isn't used to not hitting; he's had just three games so far this season in which he wasn't the DH. Roberts suggested he show up late on Thursday.

The Dodgers knew in spring training that having Ohtani return to being a full-time two-way player for the first time since 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels would be challenging.

“It definitely feels sustainable,” Roberts said. “I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult. I think that we all came in knowing that we had to read and react, it was going to be fluid. It should be. It’s very unique.”

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

Pratt is casting himself as a hero in his latest venture, a bid to be mayor of Los Angeles, in which he's promising to rid the nation's second most populous city of disorder and dysfunction.

Originally greeted with bemusement, Pratt is now upending the race with early voting underway ahead of the June 2 election. The Republican is riding a wave of buzz fueled by viral videos taking aim at Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom and others.

Pratt's goal is to turn the chatter into a ticket to a November runoff against Bass, a Democrat who is struggling to recover from a widely panned response to devastating wildfires last year.

He would face long odds in a city that last elected a Republican mayor in 1997. But during last week's debate, Pratt was one of only three candidates onstage, alongside Bass and progressive City Council member Nithya Raman.

“As crazy as this will sound, I’m the adult in the room,” Pratt said.

A populist campaign against liberal governance

Pratt and his supporters are making a populist appeal to voters, emphasizing day-to-day concerns about life in Los Angeles and leaning on visceral imagery of drug use and homeless encampments from the grittier corners of the city of nearly 4 million residents.

He blames the city's Democratic leaders and pledges to “stop these corrupt politicians from destroying our city.” He advocates a hard line against homelessness, pledging to eliminate encampments and pursue criminal investigations of nonprofit organizations that serve people living on the streets.

“These people do not want a bed,” he said in last week's debate. “They want fentanyl or meth.”

Pratt announced his campaign in January at an event marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly Palisades Fire, which destroyed his home and thousands of others.

In an ad released late last month, Pratt stands in cozy neighborhoods where Bass and Raman live. He contrasts them with an Airstream trailer parked on a flattened lot, where he says he's living after his house was destroyed.

“They let my home burn down," Pratt says in the ad. “I know what the consequences of failed leadership are.”

Pratt is actually living at the swanky Hotel Bel-Air and has never lived in the Airstream trailer, TMZ reported Wednesday. Pratt told the celebrity gossip site that the arrangement is necessary because of unspecified security concerns.

Over the past week, viral videos created with artificial intelligence have portrayed Pratt as the city's savior from hapless Democrats and violent socialists. In one, Pratt is portrayed as Batman saving a dystopian Los Angeles from Bass, portrayed as a villainous Joker.

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate, called it “maybe the best political ad of the year” in a post on X.

That video and others were shared on social media by filmmaker Charles Curran, and Pratt has reposted them from his own accounts. Curran did not respond to an email and direct messages on X.

“He’s playing on the most powerful emotion, which is anger, and LA voters are angry right now,” said Matt Klink, a Republican strategist based in Los Angeles.

A background in reality TV

Pratt, 42, is well-versed in the art of generating buzz and entertainment.

He first rose to prominence in 2007 as Heidi Montag's boyfriend on “The Hills,” a hit reality series built around the lives of young women as they navigated young adulthood in Southern California. He was portrayed as driving a wedge between Montag and her roommate, Lauren Conrad, leading to the disintegration of their friendship.

He went on to marry Montag, and they have two children together. They have appeared on a variety of other scripted and reality television series since “The Hills” ended in 2010, and they each have more than 1 million followers in their social media accounts.

Pratt points to a 2013 political science degree from the University of Southern California as evidence of his readiness to lead a massive city.

His campaign did not respond to interview requests.

Bass seeks a second term

Bass, the first Black woman to lead Los Angeles, is a wounded incumbent continuing to deal with fallout from the wildfires and general frustration with City Hall.

She was in Ghana on a diplomatic mission when the fires began tearing through her city, prompting a fierce backlash, and her administration was accused of watering down an after-action report by the fire department, which she denies.

Still, Bass has much of the Democratic establishment firmly behind her, including most of the city's powerful labor movement. A group of unions is funding an advertising campaign attacking Pratt in terms that seem calibrated to increase his appeal to Republicans and help lift him ahead of Bass's progressive challengers, a potential bet that he might be easier to defeat in November.

The rising attention on Pratt shakes up a race that, until recently, was shaping up to pit Bass against a rival to her left rather than her right.

“I feel like he’s exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades, and I think that’s reprehensible. That’s the main thing. And I think he is about his own celebrity. He’s famous now again,” Bass told Fox News last week.

Pratt has run a fun and imaginative campaign that has effectively parlayed his celebrity into attention, the lifeblood of politics, just as Donald Trump and Arnold Schwarzenegger did before him, said Michael Trujillo, a Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist. He said that has put him in a strong position to get through the first round of voting and face Bass one-on-one in the runoff.

But, eventually, Pratt will have to face a stark reality as a Republican — Los Angeles is an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

“Not to diminish the creativity and imagination that they’re putting into their campaign," Trujillo said, “but they’re going to run into a big math problem.”

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This story has been corrected to show Pratt is 42, not 43.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the war for the first time since it began at the end of February. Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the war, as they had done previously.

The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reflected growing unease with Trump's war. Several other Republican senators have signaled they want Congress to weigh in on the direction of the conflict.

“There will be a day — and it might be soon, I believe — where this Senate will say to the president, ‘Stop this war,'" Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has spearheaded his party's tactic of forcing repeated votes on the war, said before the vote.

Even if it passes the Senate, a war powers resolution would have a slim chance of passing the House and would also certainly be vetoed by Trump. But Democrats say the votes are about building political pressure on the president either to withdraw from the conflict or seek congressional authorization to wage the war.

Trump officials downplay role for Congress

The White House, meanwhile, has asserted that it does not need congressional authorization for the war and has circumvented legal requirements to gain approval from Congress to continue the military campaign. It claims that it has “terminated” hostilities with Iran because the U.S. has entered a ceasefire.

That posture has created tension between the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House because presidents under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 are required to obtain authorization from Congress after 60 days of engaging in a conflict.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers this week that the U.S. could start attacking Iran again without the White House seeking congressional approval. He told Murkowski during a hearing on Tuesday that the Trump administration believes it has “all the authorities necessary.”

Murkowski voiced skepticism about that argument. She pointed to the troops and war ships deployed to the region, saying, “It doesn’t appear that hostilities have ended.”

GOP leaders back the war, but unease grows

Republican leadership has continued to back the war with Iran, arguing that the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz that has blocked most commercial shipping puts more economic pressure on Iran than it does on the U.S.

“Iran’s economy is on life support. Its leadership is eliminated,” said Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in leadership, during a floor speech Wednesday.

He also argued that the Democratic effort on the war is all about undermining Trump. Forcing the issue just as he arrived in China for a summit would “pull out the rug from under him,” Barrasso said.

Still, Republicans are also growing uneasy about the high gas prices, especially as the November elections draw near.

Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said Wednesday he’d prefer that the two branches of government work out the constitutional issues instead of a congressional war powers vote or a potential challenge in court.

The two sides should sit down together and say “we have shared constitutional responsibilities,” Rounds said.

Democrats plan to keep forcing weekly votes on war powers resolutions and are looking ahead to put limitations on Trump during the debate over annual legislation that authorizes and funds the military.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who sponsored Wednesday's resolution, told reporters that he believes there is an “erosion of support, erosion of enthusiasm, an increase in skepticism” about the war from Republicans.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to “immediately expand” the task force to the Austin, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth areas. The unit would coordinate with local and federal partners to identify and arrest violent repeat offenders, he said.

“Decades of criminal justice research and operational experience demonstrate that most violent crime is committed by repeat offenders,” Abbott said in a letter to DPS Director Freeman Martin.

The Houston operation has led to the arrest of 728 repeat offenders, with 455 considered to be a high threat, and more than 300 drug and weapon seizures, the governor said in the letter.

The Texas Tribune has reached out to police officials in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.

These cities, along with Houston, have reported a drop in violent crimes in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, according to a new survey by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. The survey looked at the combined totals of four categories: homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

When Abbott launched the task force in October, he said its efforts would expand to other parts of the state but did not specify where. He cited his “historic relationship” with Houston leaders as a reason for choosing the city as the unit’s launching pad.

“I thought this was a good place to start, and then we will learn and be able to modify our strategies based upon what we do here, and then be able to deploy our best strategies to other areas across the state,” he said in October.

In addition, the governor blamed the state’s bail system for allowing more crimes to be committed and touted a package creating stricter bail requirements that he signed into law last year.

Revenue from its Cloud Intelligence Group, which focuses on cloud computing and AI developments, jumped 38% in the January-March quarter from a year ago to 41.6 billion yuan ($6.1 billion). That was faster than the 36% and 34% growth in the previous two quarters, respectively.

However, Alibaba recorded an overall of 848 million yuan ($125 million) loss from operations for the quarter, a key measure of profitability of its core operating businesses, which was down sharply from a 28.5 billion yuan gain the same period last year.

Growing technological investment was one of the main reasons for rising expenses that weighed on profitability, as technology companies globally race to invest to boost infrastructure in supporting the ballooning AI demand.

The Hangzhou-based company, which has about 130,000 employees, last year pledged investments of at least 380 billion yuan over three years in cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

This week, Alibaba said it has fully connected its flagship Qwen AI app to its e-commerce platform Taobao, allowing users to “browse, compare, place orders, and manage deliveries through natural conversation” in hopes of driving up demand. It launched its “agentic” AI tool Wukong in March in expanding its products for commercial customers, and raised prices for some AI services.

“Alibaba’s AI has moved beyond the initial investment phase and progressed commercialization at scale,” said CEO Eddie Wu on Wednesday in prepared remarks during an earnings call.

Alibaba’s U.S.-traded shares jumped more than 7% after Wednesday's results announcement.

Many technology companies are now facing the challenge of boosting AI-related revenue and proving that the huge investment costs can pay off. For Alibaba, “we should expect AI-related growth to accelerate further,” said Jacob Cooke, CEO of Beijing-based consultancy WPIC Marketing + Technologies.

In March, Alibaba pledged a goal of surpassing $100 billion in annual AI and cloud revenue within the next five years.

Tencent, a key rival of Alibaba in AI, on Wednesday also reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the January-March quarter. Net profit was up 21%, which fell short of expectations, although some analysts believe its AI investments were also starting to deliver return.

Capital expenditure across Chinese AI companies is likely to remain elevated as the “investment phase is far from over,” wrote Chelsey Tam, an analyst at Morningstar, in a recent research note, while the AI firms are going to increasingly pivot from user acquisition to monetization.

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It was the third straight annual drop, making it the longest decline in decades, according to federal data released Wednesday. The 2025 total is about the same as the tally in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Declines were seen across a number of drug types, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. Overdose deaths fell in the vast majority of states, although seven saw at least slight increases, including jumps of 10% or more in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, the preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that this represents really a fundamental change in the arc of the overdose crisis,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends.

But the number of Americans dying from overdoses is still high, and deaths declined at a slower pace last year. A number of things could cause deaths to rise again — including government policy changes or a shift in the drug supply, Marshall and other researchers say.

“If deaths are going down rapidly, that means they can increase just as rapidly if we take our foot off the gas,” Marshall said.

Overdoses rose during the height of the pandemic

U.S. overdose deaths were generally rising for decades, but they shot up dramatically during the pandemic, peaking at nearly 110,000 in 2022. The pandemic spike was associated with social isolation and difficulties accessing addiction treatment.

Deaths declined as the pandemic waned. Researchers have pointed to numerous possible factors: an increase in the availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, expanded addiction treatment, shifts in how people use drugs, and the growing impact of billions of dollars in opioid lawsuit settlement money.

Some research also suggests the number of people likely to overdose has been shrinking, as fewer teens take up drugs and many illicit drug users have died. Another theory suggests regulatory changes in China a few years ago appear to have diminished the availability of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.

The nation's decades-long overdose epidemic has played out at different paces in different parts of the country, due at least in part to differences in the illicit drug supply and what people are using. The death increases last year in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico could stem from more combined use of fentanyl and methamphetamine recently in those places, Marshall guessed.

New substances are showing up in the US drug supply

Health and law enforcement officials in recent months have been sounding alarms about newer drugs that were increasingly detected in 2025.

Alex Krotulski is director of the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, a federally funded toxicology lab in Horsham, Pennsylvania, that is an important part of a national illicit drug early warning system.

In all of last year, the lab identified 27 new drugs. Less than five months into 2026, the lab already has identified 23, he said.

Among the drugs on the lab’s radar is cychlorphine, a potent synthetic opioid described as up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl. Experts say it is being used as a cutting agent, added to other illicit drugs, without the buyer’s knowledge.

“The drug supply continues to change and evolve,” Krotulski said.

Trump administration cuts some programs

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been cutting programs designed to reduce overdose deaths and infections tied to drug use. In a letter last month, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notified federal grant recipients that the government would no longer pay for test strips and kits that help drug users see if their drugs contain highly-lethal additives.

Officials say they are shifting away from services that facilitate illicit drug use, including clean syringes and hotlines that people can dial into while they use drugs.

Last week, a group of women who lost children to overdoses spoke with reporters to protest government policies that emphasize punishment and incarceration.

Kimberly Douglas founded one group, Black Moms Against Overdose, after her 17-year-old son died.

“We are starting to see overdoses go down in some places and that’s because of harm reduction” services like those being targeted by the Trump administration, she said.

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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.

This series, which started streaming Wednesday and is based on a collection of romance books written by Elle Kennedy, follows the steamy love lives of members of a college hockey team. Like a different romance series, Netflix's “Bridgerton,” each season will focus on a different couple’s story.

We begin “Off Campus” with the story of team captain Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells, played by Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright. After an embarrassing encounter — Wells, working as a janitor, stumbles upon Graham naked in the locker room — the two make an arrangement. They will pretend to date, to make the guy Wells is really interested in jealous, and in turn she will tutor Graham in a class he's having trouble with. Their deal soon leads to something more.

Room for more than one ‘hockey show’ on TV

“Off Campus” began production about a year ago, before “Heated Rivalry” — the phenomenon about gay pro hockey players, adapted from Rachel Reid's books — made its HBO debut. There will inevitably be comparisons between the two shows. But the actors in “Off Campus” say there is room for more than one hockey series.

“There’s new shows and movies about American football all the time. Nobody’s like, Oh great, here comes another ‘Remember the Titans,’” Cameli said. “‘Heated Rivalry’ had a ton of success and it deserved it and those guys are great. I’m thrilled for them.”

“Off Campus” creator and showrunner Louisa Levy is impressed that “Heated Rivalry” is breaking barriers with its storytelling.

“Not only is it another hockey show, it’s a queer hockey show, which is amazing. And it’s also very different from our show,” Levy said. “Our show is in college. Our show follows a group of friends. It’s a different kind of romance.”

The success of the Canadian-made “Heated Rivalry” is also a source of pride for another “Off Campus” actor, Stephen Kalyn.

“Seeing another Canadian creator make such a very popular and hit show, it’s really inspiring, honestly,” said Kalyn, who plays Dean Di Laurentis. “I’m just proud. I’m a proud Canadian.”

Honing their hockey skills

“Off Campus” mostly follows its hockey players' lives off the ice. Still, they wanted to make the action look realistic.

“We did ask all the guys to put themselves on tape skating to make sure that they could at least stand on ice before we shot, because it is important. We want it to feel organic,” Levy said. “There are certain things that you can cut around and certain things that are a little bit harder.”

Before filming, the actors were put through a two-week hockey boot camp to get comfortable on skates and the ice. A former hockey pro, Dave Tomlinson, was brought in to help them learn the basics.

“We did a lot of the close-ups as we’re skating,” said Jalen Thomas Brooks, who plays John Tucker. “There’s no like, pretending to skate. We’re all on skates moving, actually striding. But when it comes to the big, big sequences, those are sometimes stunt doubles.”

Kalyn has actual hockey experience and could perform more of his own moves on camera.

“I grew up playing hockey my whole life, so it’s such a treat to be able to play hockey and act — the two things that I love,” Kalyn said.

Next up on the ice

Season 2 of “Off Campus” begins filming very soon, and will star Cipriano. A video of him surprising India Fowler with the news that she got the part of his love interest, Grace Ivers, was recently released online.

While Cipriano is “excited for Logan to meet Grace at some point,” he's focused on celebrating the release of Season 1.

“We don’t need to think about the future right now,” he said.

Cameli is looking forward to his co-stars getting their own major storylines.

“They’re all really prepared for whenever their turn is up next,” Cameli said. “I love these guys. I mean, they’re are all like so talented and skilled and sweet, and they are just really great people. You know, do they ask me for advice all the time about everything? Yes. Am I giving them brilliant nuggets constantly? Absolutely.”

Unlike “Bridgerton,” where the couple du jour only pops up here and there on the show after their season has played out, Cameli and Bright say they're sticking around.

“We're not going anywhere,” promised Bright. “I’m just excited to see Hannah and Garrett in their relationship and what challenges that they might overcome being together.”

Lately, there’s been a lot to celebrate in elementary schools in Modesto, California. Both reading and math scores have increased consistently over the past several years.

But across the country, results are gloomier. Researchers warn that the U.S. is experiencing a reading recession — a slide predating the pandemic’s disruptions in schooling.

Scholars at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth analyzed state test scores from third to eighth grade for over 5,000 school districts in 38 states, allowing comparisons across school districts and states in a national Education Scorecard.

What they found was sobering: Only five states plus the District of Columbia had meaningful growth in reading test scores from 2022 to 2025. Nationally, students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading scores and only slightly better in math.

While schools have focused on catching kids up since the COVID-19 pandemic upended education, reading test scores have been falling since 2013 for eighth graders and 2015 for fourth graders, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

“The pandemic was the mudslide that had followed seven years of steady erosion in achievement,” said Thomas Kane, a Harvard professor who helped create the Education Scorecard.

Still, some states and school districts are making progress — largely by shifting toward phonics-based instruction and providing extra support for struggling readers.

The picture is also brighter in math.

Almost every state in the analysis saw improvements in math test scores from 2022 to 2025. Student absenteeism also declined in most states. In over 400 U.S. school districts, including Modesto, reading or math growth outpaced demographically similar districts in the same state.

A shift toward phonics and extra reading support

Researchers are still debating the reading recession’s causes.

One possible factor, researchers say, is the rise of social media on smartphones and corresponding declines in kids’ recreational reading. States have also backed off on strict consequences for schools whose students fail to make progress on standardized tests, Kane said.

But the states that improved reading scores — notably Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana — all had one thing in common: They ordered schools to teach with a phonics-based approach known as the “ science of reading.”

For years, schools taught reading using approaches that de-emphasized phonics and encouraged strategies such as guessing words based on context clues. As reading scores tumbled over the past decade, parents, scholars and literacy advocates pushed for teaching methods that align with decades of research about how kids learn to read — largely by sounding out words.

Along with reforming teaching methods, states have also required schools to screen for learning disabilities such as dyslexia and hire coaches to help teachers improve their reading instruction.

That said, “science of reading” reforms did not guarantee success. Some states, including Florida, Arizona and Nebraska, changed parts of their reading instruction but still saw test scores fall.

In Modesto, reading instruction was revamped during the pandemic, and math a couple years earlier. The district created a new department to help students who are still learning English. Schools also ramped up teacher training, paying educators $5,000 to complete an extensive “science of reading” program called LETRS, or Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.

Modesto’s test scores grew enough to represent an extra 18 weeks of learning in math and 13 weeks in reading. Nevertheless, the district still has a way to go: Overall scores remain far below grade level.

Getting kids ‘consistently in the seat’ key to Detroit's success

A focus on reading has also improved scores in Detroit — but so have efforts to get kids in school more consistently. For years, the large urban district struggled with deplorable school conditions, leading to a 2016 lawsuit in which students argued they’d been denied the “right to read.”

The lawsuit ended in a settlement of over $94 million, money that helped move the needle. While the district is still far below the national average, student test scores have grown faster than in similar urban districts in Michigan.

“It took a lot to rebuild systems, and now kids are learning at higher levels, but I’m still not satisfied. And I think that’s the next challenge: continuing to motivate, inspire and change things,” said Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

The money has helped Munger Elementary-Middle School, located in a largely Latino neighborhood in Detroit, to employ 18 educators who give kids extra support in small groups. An attendance agent also makes calls to the homes of absent students, even showing up at their doors.

Just a few years ago, says first grade teacher Samantha Ciaffone, it was normal for about seven or eight kids to be absent from her class every day. Now it’s usually only one or two.

“It allows us to be better educators to see kids consistently in the seat instead of once or twice a week,” said Ciaffone. “It makes such a difference.”

A bright spot in the South

For the last decade, the South has stood out as a region leading the way on education reforms — bucking an established trend of landing at the bottom of education rankings. Southern states were quick to change to research-based teaching methods, and states have paid to train and coach teachers.

It's paid off. Louisiana and Alabama were the only states where math scores were higher in 2025 than pre-pandemic. Louisiana is also the only state that beat its pre-pandemic average in reading, with 87% of traditional public school students attending a district where scores are higher than in 2019.

Alabama had standout gains in reading following the pandemic, driven by a state law requiring every school to use phonics-based instruction. The Legislature modeled math reforms in 2022 off Alabama's reading successes. The state’s Numeracy Act standardized math instruction, required regular testing and mandated intervention for kids who lacked adequate math skills.

Oxmoor Valley Elementary in Birmingham hired a full-time math specialist this year to help struggling kids. The school, which made the state’s “failing” list in 2016, has steadily improved math and reading scores, although a majority of kids still test below proficient in both subjects.

“We can provide all of these supports, but at the same time, hold kids to high expectations,” Birmingham Superintendent Mark Sullivan said.

Researchers stress such progress is possible across the U.S., because it’s been done before. Starting in the 1990s, the country saw decades of growth in test scores and graduation rates, while racial disparities declined. That progress continued until the mid-2010s.

“We made enormous progress as a country in terms of educational success from over a 30-year period. Test scores went up dramatically,” said Stanford professor Sean Reardon. “And so I think that says, as a country, we can improve education and educational opportunity.”

At Modesto's Fairview Elementary, where Barajas teaches, students now practice their reading speed and fluency every day. After a dance break, the class reads a one-page text together in unison for one minute, then students split into pairs to read again. Students learning English are paired with native English speakers, and each child gets a turn reading with Barajas.

“Eventually, you get through the word like it’s water,” one boy said. “You just say it smooth.”

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

She's not terribly interested in being the first non-American to try it, either.

Just hours after her NASCAR team, BRANDed Management, announced that the 45-year-old British driver had added the Coca-Cola 600 to a May 24 schedule that already included the Indianapolis 500, Legge told reporters she welcomed the opportunity more than the milestone.

“I don't want to be like the first woman because at the end of the day, I always say I just want to be a race car driver,” she said. “It doesn't matter whether I'm Black, white, female, male, whatever it may be. I think I'm probably getting the opportunity to do this because I'm female, so that does not escape me and I'm very grateful for it. I think being the first to do anything is cool. Being one of the very few who gets to attempt to race at Indy and at Charlotte and then do both on the same day, like looking back in 10, 20 years, like yeah."

Legge's feat also comes on the 50th anniversary of Janet Guthrie making her first appearance on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval.

Guthrie did not make Indy's starting grid in 1976 but still traveled to North Carolina and made her NASCAR Cup Series debut by starting the World 600 in Charlotte. That was the previous version of today's Coca-Cola 600.

Now, like then, A.J. Foyt is playing a role in this gender-breaking attempt.

In 1976, Foyt let Guthrie use a backup car in her attempt to make the field. This weekend, Legge will be one of 33 drivers trying to qualify for the 500, and she'll driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing. In 1977, Guthrie returned to Indy, becoming the first woman to start the 500 on the same day that Foyt became the first four-time race winner.

Foyt also cast aside his longtime rivalry with the Andrettis in 1994 when he put the late John Andretti in an IndyCar as Andretti became the first driver to attempt "The Double.”

And Legge has gotten a crash course in that history as she also prepares to qualify in the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports at Charlotte. She's the only female driver in Indianapolis this month.

“He's been awesome, Larry (Foyt) has been awesome, too,” Legge said, referring to the 91-year-old team owner and his grandson, who is running the team's day-to-day operations. “Actually, there's a few idiosyncrasies we weren't aware of until this came up. So it's like weird, serendipitous things, neat little facts."

Five drivers have competed in both the 500 and 600, but three-time Cup champ and Indiana native Tony Stewart remains the only one to complete all 1,100 miles in one day.

Defending Cup champion Kyle Larson attempted “The Double” each of the past two years but failed to complete it. He missed the Coca-Cola 600 start in 2024 after the Indy 500 ran late because of rain, and he crashed in both races last year.

Larson's attempts will be featured in a Prime Video documentary titled “Kyle Larson vs. The Double,” which is set to premiere in Indianapolis next week.

The difference between Legge and others who tried "The Double” is logistics. Their plans were made months in advance while Legge's became a reality only recently.

“I knew that at some point, it would be something we looked at doing, but I didn't anticipate it being this year,” she said. “I think it's just a very cool opportunity that kind of came up. Obviously, Indianapolis was first, and when that domino fell there was a lot of talk about it and we thought, why not?"

Legge certainly has experience on her side.

She'll attempt to qualify for her fifth Indy start on Saturday and Sunday after finishing 29th last May. Her best 500 finish was 22nd in 2012. Over the past two years, she has competed in eight Cup races, including last week's 35th-place finish at Watkins Glen.

Legge also has competed in Ferraris in Bahrain and Audis in Germany, as well on the A1 Grand Prix, Formula E and the IMSA SportsCar circuits during her career, though she's never run the Coca-Cola 600.

But nothing is certain. While Legge is one of 33 drivers trying to make the 33-car field in Indy (qualifying will focus on the pole), she'll be one of 41 attempting to make the 40-car Coca-Cola 600 field. And yet she's willing to take her chance on making history.

“It might be the only opportunity I get,” she said. “It might not be, but I might as well take it while the iron is hot and it's one of those really cool things not many people get to do.”

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AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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

The organization announced a team of nine firms that “will lead key aspects” of the Spurs downtown arena and entertainment district:

• CAA ICON, who specializes in project management for sports and entertainment venue development
• Goldman Sachs as financial advisors
• Hunton Andrews Kurth, LLP as legal counsel
• Jorge Rodriguez Financial Consulting as financial consultants
• Marquee Development, who will be in charge of developing the district
• Overland International as architects for the downtown arena
• Pape-Dawson as civil engineers
• Sasaki to masterplan the entire district
• Stafford Sports as advisory and strategic planners

The new arena and district will also collaborate with local businesses and community partners, an SS&E news release said.

“We are bringing together the right partners to deliver something San Antonio can be proud of,” SS&E CEO RC Buford said in a news release. “We are combining world-class capabilities with local insight to ensure this project reflects the character of our city and creates meaningful opportunities for our community.”

More recent Spurs coverage from KSAT:

• South Side boutique becomes go-to spot for custom Spurs fashion in San Antonio
• Wembanyama returns with a huge performance as the Spurs beat the Wolves 126-97 for a 3-2 lead
• Should there be honking celebrations after every Spurs playoff win? San Antonio fans weigh in
• Meet the DJ behind the turntables at Spurs games, watch parties

A seventh person, who is a Mexican resident believed to be connected to those found in Laredo, was discovered along railroad tracks in southwest Bexar County on Monday, according to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

He was identified on Wednesday as Nereo Aguilar Garcia, 49, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office.

According to a Tuesday news release from the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office, the identities of five people found in Laredo are:

• 56-year-old man from Mexico
• 45-year-old man from Mexico
• 29-year-old woman from Mexico
• 24-year-old man from Honduras
• 14-year-old boy from Honduras

Six of the bodies were discovered just after 3:30 p.m. Sunday during a rail yard inspection in north Laredo.

The Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the woman from Mexico died due to hyperthermia. While exams for the other five people remain pending, officials believe it is likely they all suffered the same cause of death.

Salazar said his office believes the train originated in Del Rio and had a door open to allow people to load in before the train split, with half going to Houston and half going to Laredo.

The medical examiner’s office said it believes the “individuals originated from Mexico and Honduras.” The office said it is working closely with the Mexican Consulate to facilitate communication with families of the deceased.

The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the case as a potential human smuggling event, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson.

The discoveries took place a little more than a year after two guilty verdicts were reached in the 2022 migrant smuggling tragedy along Quintana Road, which left 53 people dead, making it the nation’s most deadly.

Referencing Sunday’s tragedy, Laredo Mayor Victor D. Treviño said in a statement that it is “a reminder of the ongoing humanitarian challenges along the border and the need for solutions that prioritize both security and human life.”

Read more:

• 6 found dead inside railroad boxcar, Laredo police say
• Body found near railroad tracks in southwest Bexar County, sheriff’s office says

They dismissed any link to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on another vessel that has put European health authorities on alert.

The Ambition was midway through a 14-night cruise from Belfast and Liverpool that was due to take in ports in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast.

It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks outbreaks on voyages that call on U.S. and foreign ports, recorded 23 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships last year. Most were caused by norovirus, including a new strain.

Last week, a Caribbean Princess cruise ship reported a norovirus outbreak during a voyage with more than 3,100 passengers aboard, according to the U.S. health agency. More than 140 passengers and 15 crew members fell ill during the trip, which ended Monday, the CDC said.

The prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and Gironde department, Étienne Guyot, suspended disembarkation from the Ambition and restricted the vessel’s interactions with the port of Bordeaux.

He acted on the recommendation of the regional health agency, the Agence Régionale de Santé Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the joint statement said.

Up to 50 passengers showed symptoms consistent with acute digestive infection after the ship’s captain alerted French authorities on Tuesday evening, the statement said.

Those affected were treated by the ship’s doctor and isolated in their cabins.

A medical team was dispatched to the vessel, and samples are being analyzed at a Bordeaux hospital.

“There is no reason to establish a link between this outbreak aboard a cruise ship from Belfast and Liverpool and the hantavirus cases detected aboard the MV Hondius,” the joint statement said.

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius last month prompted a multicountry response and the hospitalization of passengers in Britain, France, Spain and the United States. Three passengers died and there have been nine confirmed cases, with another two suspected.

An update is expected later on Wednesday, once analysis results are available.

Ambassador Cruise Line said earlier Wednesday that a 92-year-old male passenger had died on Sunday, although he had not reported symptoms consistent with the illness, and that his cause of death was yet to be established by a coroner.

The company said 48 passengers and one crew member were displaying gastrointestinal symptoms as of late Wednesday morning.

Ambassador said its data showed cases had risen after passengers boarded in Liverpool on May 9. All shore excursions at Bordeaux had been canceled and affected passengers offered full refunds, the company said.

Ambassador Cruise Line, a British operator targeting passengers over 50, was founded in 2021.

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia contributed.

“When we’re talking about Asian Americans or Asian people in the U.S., oftentimes it’s people who might look like you and me, and maybe not people who look like (New York City Mayor) Zohran Mamdani,” Yi told The Associated Press. “Why is that when this term is supposed to be so capacious and so inclusive?”

So Yi, who is Korean American, was beyond excited when approached to helm a new HBO documentary dedicated to AAPI identity and community.

Timed for release during AAPI Heritage Month, “The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas” drops Wednesday on HBO Max. It's the latest in “The List Series” created by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The franchise has previously produced documentaries on prominent Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ Americans.

In the documentary, Yi captures no-frills, intimate interviews conducted by journalist Jada Yuan with 15 people of AAPI heritage across industries. They include TV broadcaster Connie Chung, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth and “Basement Bhangra” creator DJ Rekha. Actors Sandra Oh, Kumail Nanjiani and Bowen Yang — who are sometimes more associated with comical roles — also shared their thoughts about identity and belonging.

“When talking to people who are professionally funny, oftentimes they’re really comfortable not being funny,” in unscripted conversation, Yi said. “I appreciated that chance to get a little bit deeper into some of their stories.”

Stars say talking about growing up AAPI on camera was cathartic

Yia Vang, chef and owner of Vinai, a popular Hmong restaurant in Minneapolis, filmed his “A List” interview three years ago. Since then he's been featured in various cooking and lifestyle shows. Vang, who was born in a Thai refugee camp until his family settled in Wisconsin when he was 4, likened the experience of being interviewed on camera to a confessional.

Vang tearfully recounts to viewers how his desire to not be “the weird kid” drove him to throw out school lunches of sticky rice and fermented vegetables packed by his mother. He did not expect to get emotional but the memory sparked a core life lesson.

“I will never, ever try to be ‘cool,’” Vang said. “That’s why I guess I get so intense about like how we do our food here. Not because I’m chasing perfection or some kind of award, but I just want to make sure I stay true to the integrity that they (my parents) laid before me.”

In what Vang calls “full-circle redemption,” those dishes he used to throw out are now on his restaurant's menu.

Last month, Vang got a taste of reactions to the documentary back home at a Milwaukee Film Festival screening. He definitely was not seen as the weird guy.

“The audience really connected because I’m a Wisconsin boy,” Vang said. A few approached him just to say “It's so awesome to see a Midwest kid in there.”

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders still struggle for visibility

Asian Americans make up one of the fastest growing U.S. populations. Still, adults in the U.S. have a harder time recognizing the influence of AAPI people than people from other racial groups, according to a new survey by The Asian American Foundation.

The annual Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the United States, or STAATUS, Index, done in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, found 4 in 10 U.S. adults cannot think of a single, famous Asian American; Jackie Chan, who is not American, was among the most frequently named. About half were unable to name examples of famous Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

“It’s an indication of just how for most of America — and our data shows this as well — people get most of their information about Asian Americans not so much from direct contacts, but from the media,” said Norman Chen, CEO of The Asian American Foundation.

Chen recently attended a screening of “The A List.” He applauded the breadth of personal stories Yi and his team curated. It's a film he's not sure would have gotten made a decade ago. So, it was gratifying to see how moved the audience was by stories recounted by celebrities and everyday people.

“Even people that we don’t know have such powerful stories to show you the depth and richness of our community and the struggles that we’ve had to go through in multiple generations,” Chen said.

Working on a film about identity as the political climate changed

When Yi and the crew started working on the documentary, Vice President Kamala Harris was running against Donald Trump for president. Now under a Republican Trump administration that vehemently opposes diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Yi acknowledges how the documentary might come off as inherently political.

“What I’ve certainly seen during the stretch of time — just speaking for myself — is just how quickly things can backslide and how quickly people can be erased,” Yi said. “We literally have people being disappeared on the streets and we literally have histories being erased.”

He is especially gratified that some of the documentary's older participants related to historical events such as a story told by activist Kathy Masaoka, whose mother was held in Japanese American incarceration camps. Yi hopes people recognize the struggles AAPI people have endured in the past and present while building community.

“We can really move forward from this moment in terms of rebuilding and reclaiming and taking up space with confidence and hope again,” Yi said.

The state’s 15th Court of Appeals granted a request by lawyers for the hemp industry to reinstate a temporary pause on the smokeable hemp ban. The appeals court is expected to rule in the next few weeks on whether the district court can hear the case over the summer.

Lawyers for the state filed an appeal on Tuesday against Travis County Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle’s ruling last week, which extended the pause on the smokable hemp ban. The state’s 15th Court of Appeals agreed to hear the appeal Wednesday, putting the state’s rules that effectively bans the sale of smokeable hemp back into effect. Then, on Thursday, the appeals court granted the hemp industry a reprieve from the ban. 

“We are very pleased that the Texas Court of Appeals did the right thing by reinstating the injunction,” said David Sergi, an attorney for the hemp industry. “The veterans, elderly, and the approximately 30,000 employees in our industry thank the court, and we look forward to obtaining a permanent injunction and protecting these businesses by embracing the governor’s vision as outlined in his veto message.”  

This week’s decisions on smokeable hemp is the latest in a string of dizzying court actions that have ping-ponged the status of the drug’s sale in Texas.

The statewide ban on the sale of smokeable hemp was supposed to go into effect on March 31. After lawyers for the hemp industry filed a lawsuit asking to block the ban, a Travis County district judge on April 10 temporarily lifted the ban until May 1. Last week, Lyttle ruled to extend the ban until the next hearing in the district courts, scheduled for July 27, but because the 15th Court of Appeals agreed to considering the state’s appeal, the ban was back in effect. That ban only lasted for some hours until the appeals court allowed the sale for another week.

The Texas Hemp Business Council, Hemp Industry & Farmers of America, and several Texas-based dispensaries and manufacturers have been fighting the state’s new testing requirements that create a 0.3% total THC threshold that would effectively bar the sale of natural smokeable hemp products. The state also created a 3,000% increase in licensing fees for hemp retailers. 

During the three-day hearing last week, lawyers for the hemp industry argued that the Texas Department of State Health Services overstepped its constitutional authority by rewriting the statutory definitions of hemp established by lawmakers in 2019. 

“The Texas Legislature must answer to the voters of Texas; that is a fundamental check and balance of our constitution. Agency bureaucrats lack accountability to the people of Texas, which is why their authority is limited,” said Jason Snell, one of the attorneys for the hemp businesses. 

Attorneys for the state argued in court that Texas law requires the health agency to prioritize Texans’ well-being in rulemaking, allowing them to implement new hemp regulations. The judge disagreed, saying the rules were doing irreparable harm to the industry.  

“The Court finds that the purpose of a temporary injunction is to preserve the last, actual, peaceable, non-contested status that preceded the controversy,” said Lyttle. 

Andrew Alvarado, an attorney representing the hemp industry, said Lyttle’s ruling upholds the separation of powers among government entities. 

“Frankly, I think it’s a win for all Texans, because fundamentally, the Court confirmed that unelected officials and state agencies cannot impose rules that conflict with the will of the people,” he said. 

In a separate decision that could harm the industry’s chances of defeating the overall ban on smokeable hemp products, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state health agency’s prohibition on another natural intoxicating hemp compound called delta-8 THC. Delta-8 THC has been off store shelves since 2022 because of the ban, allowing delta-9 THC to proliferate and become the most commonly found intoxicating chemical in hemp products now.

The court’s decision says the delta-8 ban can remain because state law gives the agency overarching authority to protect Texans. The state could invoke this ruling to allow the state health agency to ban any or all consumable hemp products based on its statutory responsibilities to protect Texans, and that can only be undone if the Legislature tells the state agency those products are legal. 

“If the legislature desires to legalize powerful drugs, it has every tool it needs to do so—and to do so unmistakably, as we expect for such a major change to social policy. The role of the courts is merely to assess the state of the law as it is,” Texas Supreme Court Justice Evan Young said in his court opinion.  

State law defines hemp as containing less than 0.3% levels of intoxicating delta-9 THC. The health agency redefined hemp in accordance with federal law which clarified last November that hemp can’t contain total amounts of any type of THC — not just delta-9 THC — that is more than 0.3% of its dry weight, according to Zachary Berg, an attorney with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Berg added that the federal government’s new definition doesn’t go into effect until this coming November, but the state wanted to be in compliance early with federal law.  

Snell said that by trying to mirror a federal law that isn’t yet in effect, the state clearly overstepped its regulatory authority. He also called on a slew of witnesses, including veterans, suburban mothers, rural store owners, and economists, to testify on how these new regulations are already shuttering businesses and killing off the industry.  

Hemp retailers told the court that businesses have lost over 50% of their revenue since the rules went into effect; manufacturers are shutting down production due to increased licensing fees; and farmers are not planting crops because new testing requirements are making hemp flower worthless. 

The hemp businesses also asked for a temporary injunction on other rules that increase licensing fees for retailers and manufacturers and prevent businesses from selling smokeable hemp out-of-state. Lyttle last week also temporarily lifted both of these state rules. 

The background: Even though Texas law bans marijuana, lawmakers legalized hemp in 2019 with the Texas Farm Bill. State law defines hemp as containing less than 0.3% levels of intoxicating delta-9 THC.

To get around the law’s delta-9 THC restrictions, manufacturers started cultivating hemp plants with another type of THC, called THCA, that, when ignited in a joint or smokeable product, can produce a high. Many lawmakers have said this legal loophole has allowed a recreational THC market to appear overnight without direct approval from the state.

Last year, the Texas Legislature voted to ban the products out of fear that these intoxicating products were consistently getting into the hands of children. But, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the decision last summer, before asking the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and DSHS to increase regulations on the industry instead. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services released regulations on consumable hemp-derived THC products that went into effect on March 31. These new regulations include child-resistant packaging, a significant increase in licensing fees, new labeling, testing, and bookkeeping requirements. The rules also codify the legal purchasing age to 21, which went into effect last year as an emergency directive. 

Why the hemp industry sued: Also under the new rules, laboratories tests now measure the total amount of any THC in a product. If the THC levels exceed the 0.3% threshold, even if it’s only activated upon being smoked, the product will be noncompliant under state regulations. As a result, some of the most popular hemp products, like THCA flower and pre-rolled joints, have been banned. 

Hemp businesses caught selling noncompliant products face a range of penalties and fines, including license revocation and up to $10,000 in violation fees for each day these products were sold in stores. 

Retailers cannot sell hemp to out-of-state customers either. 

Several hemp industry representatives testified on Thursday that smokable products aren’t the only items being removed from shelves due to the new testing requirements. Hair gels, bath bombs, balms, tinctures, dog treats, and much more can no longer be made because the main ingredient is hemp flower.  

“It’s like trying to regulate the sale of wine by banning grapes,” said Amanda Taylor, one of the attorneys for the hemp businesses, in court.  

The state health agency didn’t conduct a complete economic impact report on the proposed rules and regulations, which the lawyers for the hemp industry called negligence. 

Attorneys for the state said the health agency either couldn’t find or verify the data needed to confirm the economic impact of these rules or wasn’t required to do so because the well-being of Texans takes priority over industry concerns. 

Beau Whitney, the founder and chief economist at Whitney Economics, a cannabis economic research firm, told the court that his own impact report done earlier this year found that the new rules and regulations will have a $7.2 billion negative impact on the Texas economy due to job losses and reduced tax revenue from hemp retail closures. He said the process of preparing the economic report on the Texas hemp industry was simple and well within the state health agency’s reach in both economic and time terms. 

The rules also increase licensing fees for manufacturers of hemp-derived THC from $258 to $10,000 per facility and retail registrations from $155 to $5,000, which industry leaders say will fulfill the ban by forcing businesses to close. The state’s attorney said the state needs the fees to build a system to regulate the hemp industry, despite the health agency stating in its rules that it didn’t have any plans to hire additional DSHS employees for this effort. 

The hemp business community’s lawsuit is not challenging the other new regulations, including the age verification or ones they say protect consumers.  

What the state says: Concerns about the safety of these high-THC products among youth led lawmakers to attempt to ban hemp-derived THC products outright last year. While the overall ban didn’t succeed, lawmakers successfully banned vape pens containing THC and other hemp-derived intoxicating chemicals. 

Berg said in court that the state has received reports of hemp products containing 100 times the recommended amount of THCA being sold in these stores, and customers weren’t using it for wellness reasons but to get intoxicated. 

“Many are consuming recreationally and not just adults,” said Berg. 

Data provided from the Texas Poison Center Network confirms a sharp increase in cannabis-related poisoning calls starting in 2019, a year after hemp-derived THC was legalized by the federal government, from 923 to a 10-year high of 2,592 in 2024. Calls climbed to 2,669 last year. The majority of these calls involve suspected poisoning of children under the age of five and teenagers.

Drug policy experts said these numbers seem alarming, but it is natural for poisoning calls to increase when a drug has become legalized, and the data needs additional context before making conclusions from it.

What’s next: It’s not clear if Friday’s Texas Supreme Court ruling on delta-8 could affect the court case involving the smokeable hemp ban.

The state health agency added delta-8 to the controlled substance list, making it illegal in 2021. The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling upheld that, giving the agency broad authority over drugs on the list. However, Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, said that doesn’t give the state agency authority to prohibit any substance it wants.

However, if the state agency ever wanted to put any THC found in consumable hemp on the controlled substance list, the ruling could be invoked to justify making consumable hemp illegal.  

“While the Texas Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives, it did not explicitly legalize or remove from scheduling all THC compounds. The delta-8 issue was not directly addressed in that legislation, and DSHS clarified back in 2021 that delta-8 was considered a controlled substance,” Harris said.  

David Sergi, an attorney representing the hemp industry, has broader legal concerns about the Texas Supreme Court’s decision, as it places the state’s health agency on the same level as lawmakers in terms of authority to make industry-shifting decisions. 

“There are some very large constitutional concerns that, I think, a result-driven case like this, an opinion like this, causes us. But those are the conversations that the legal team is having right now,” Sergi said, adding they have been speaking with lawyers around the country about the Texas Supreme Court decision and what it might mean legally. 

Separate from the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling, the federal government passed restrictions that redefined hemp so that only 0.3% of any type of THC is allowable, which effectively bans smokeable hemp nationally starting this November. There are ongoing efforts in Congress to alter the ban or allow states to opt out of following this new definition. 

Hello parents, teachers and students! Yep, I’m sure you’ve heard of this classic. Science with Sarah for the 2025-2026 school year ends with a bang. Here’s how you can do it with your kiddos.

Be sure to check out GMSA@9 on Wednesdays when KSAT Meteorologist Sarah Spivey does the demonstrations and explains the science behind it. To view, click on the video player above. Check out our Science with Sarah webpage for more fun science experiments!

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• A piece of paper
• Scotch tape
• Index card
• Roll of Mentos
• 2L Diet Coke bottle (the smaller ones don’t work as well)

DO THE EXPERIMENT

• Make a Mentos dispenser by rolling up a piece of paper and taping it into a tube shape
• Stack the Mentos into the paper tube. You’ll use the index card to keep the Mentos in the tube until it’s time to drop them into the Diet Coke.
• Unscrew the 2L Diet Coke bottle and place it on the ground
• Drop all of the Mentos into the Diet Coke bottle using the paper tube and index card, step back and watch the geyser launch into the sky

The Nature Playscape was developed with extensive input from community members, according to a news release.

The playscape will feature natural climbing structures, shaded areas, water play spaces, gardens with native plants, accessible pathways and more.

“This playscape shows what happens when a community comes together with a shared vision,” said Chris Maitre, the chief executive officer of the Brackenridge Park Conservancy. “San Antonio families told us they wanted a place where all children, regardless of ability, could explore, play, and feel a sense of belonging in nature.”

According to the release, the conservancy partnered with the City of San Antonio, Skanksa, Susan Naylor, John R. & Greli N. Less Charitable Trust, the Ewing Halsell Foundation and others on the project.

The nearly $12 million investment includes $9.7 million in construction, more than $1 million in design and permitting and $750,000 to incorporate trees for shade.

While construction is underway, the conservancy said that fundraising efforts continue to ensure that the entire vision for the playscape comes to fruition.

The conservancy is also inviting the community to be a part of the project through its commemorative brick campaign.

The playscape is expected to be completed by summer 2027, the release states.

More recent Outdoors coverage on KSAT:

• Upper Guadalupe River Authority prepares to install river warning sirens
• San Antonio doctor, skin cancer survivor share sun safety tips ahead of summer

• SUNNY & HOT TODAY: 90s return to the forecast
• MORE HUMIDITY: Friday and beyond
• STORMS RETURN: Monday and Tuesday

FORECAST

TODAY

Expect sunny skies all day long, which will give us our warmest day in a while. Temperatures will likely top 90 in most spots.

NEXT RAIN CHANCE

We’ll get through the weekend rain-free. Storm chances return on Monday, as the pattern shifts. A weak front may help to stir up additional rainfall on Tuesday.

EL NINO UPDATE

Waters continue to warm in the Pacific, indicating El Nino will kick in soon. An El Nino is likely to emerge by July. While impacts for Texas are generally minimal in the summer, a continued strong El Nino could bring a busier, wetter winter.

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.

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is listed on Oceanwide Expeditions' website as scheduled to depart on a cruise later in May that would take it to the Arctic. Three of the ship’s passengers died in an outbreak that was first confirmed earlier this month while the vessel was in the Atlantic.

In all, there have been nine confirmed and two suspected cases in the outbreak.

More than 120 people — all passengers and some of the crew — were evacuated from the Hondius in Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday and Monday and are in isolation in several countries.

Asked on Monday whether it would amend its cruising schedule due to the outbreak, Oceanwide Expeditions said it did not “foresee changes to our operations” — which included a new cruise beginning May 29 from Keflavik, Iceland.

But on Wednesday, the company told AP it expected “clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week.”

Separately, over 1,700 passengers and crew aboard a British cruise ship on Wednesday were ordered to remain on board following an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, French authorities said.

They ruled out any link to the hantavirus outbreak on the Hondius. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 16 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships in 2024, with most caused by norovirus, a foodborne illness that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain for about one to three days.

Much is still unknown about the hantavirus

Despite years of research, many questions have yet to be answered about the hantavirus, including exactly how it spreads, how long it can survive outside a host and why it can be mild for some people and severe for others.

There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival. The Andes virus implicated in the cruise ship outbreak can have an incubation period of up to eight weeks and a mortality rate of up to 50%, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, though the Andes virus may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

The genome of the hantavirus has been completely sequenced, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Wednesday.

“There is no data to suggest that this virus is behaving differently in terms of transmissibility or severity from any of the known virus circulating in certain regions of the world,” said Andreas Hoefer, who oversees the operational coordination of the European Union’s reference laboratories for public health.

“Based on that data, I would say that currently we have no reason to suspect that this is a new virus,” Hoefer said.

Cruise ship to be disinfected in Rotterdam

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.

The ship is now sailing to the Dutch port of Rotterdam with 25 crew, two health workers and the body of one of the passengers who died on board. None is showing symptoms, and the vessel is expected to arrive on May 17 or 18, Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement Tuesday.

Once there, the Hondius will “undergo a thorough cleaning and disinfection process,” the company said. “The specific protocols are currently being finalized” in cooperation with health authorities.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment told the AP on Tuesday the vessel “will be cleaned and disinfected. We are currently working on the protocol on how to do this,” and no further details could be shared.

Responding to a question about whether the disinfection procedure might alter the ship’s cruising schedule, Oceanwide Expeditions told the AP it was following official guidelines and “currently awaiting further information on how to proceed.”

It added: “We expect clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week. ... A ship cannot sail without official authorization.”

Asked whether it had received any cancellation or rebooking requests for cruises on the Hondius, Oceanwide Expeditions said Monday it was “not providing commentary on commercial matters at this time as we are focused on safety, disembarkation procedures and coordination with authorities.”

Experts say future passengers are likely safe

How long the hantavirus lives on surfaces is highly variable, experts said, potentially from days to weeks depending on how cold it is or the presence of sunlight. But based on circumstances known about the outbreak, basic sanitation should suffice, they said.

Normal disinfectants and ultraviolet light are enough to kill the virus, said Erik Hill, a virus expert at Seton Hall University. Someone would need to be exposed to a large enough dose of the virus to get sick, he explained, which is why people cleaning rodent droppings in an enclosed space are most at risk. The virus won’t survive very well on touch surfaces, he added.

Hantavirus “is not the concern on cruise ships,” Hill said. He and other experts say more contagious bugs, like measles or the norovirus, are much larger threats on cruises.

Dr. Max Brito, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said that “with proper disinfection and sterilization practices, I think it should be OK to go back to operations within a reasonable time.”

But the experts could not say definitively what that time frame would be because of the variables involved.

Oceanwide Expeditions says it has no indication of any rodents on board, and it operates under strict hygiene and safety protocols.

Based on the hypothesis that the first patients were exposed on land and reports that ship officials did not find rodents on board, the risk to those on the next cruise should be low, Brito said.

“I don’t want to say that it’s a one-off but, as it’s shaping up to be, it’s a very specific outbreak and it’s probably not so easy to reproduce in the same way,” he said.

___

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and public health reporter Shastri reported from Milwaukee. AP writers Thomas Adamson in Paris and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

No one was hurt, officials said. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked the public to stay calm in televised remarks.

It was not immediately clear who fired the shots or why. The gunfire erupted as Philippine authorities tried to arrest Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who enforced former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug efforts in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed from 2016 to 2018.

Allied senators took dela Rosa into “protective custody” on Monday, when he reappeared after months of absence.

Several senators were still in the building after holding a session when the gunshots were heard by a throng of journalists, including two from The Associated Press. Armed security personnel, including military members, ran around with guns ready and later asked employees to leave as tensions started to ease.

Senate President Alan Cayetano briefly appeared before journalists in the Senate shortly after the shots were fired but could not provide details.

“The emotions are high here,” Cayetano said. “This is the Senate of the Philippines, and we are allegedly under attack.”

Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. later arrived with top police officials and said he was deployed by the president to secure the senators. He said he did not come to arrest dela Rosa, who remained in the building.

Investigation launched

An investigation was underway, and security cameras would be reviewed to find out who was behind the gunfire and their intentions, Remulla said.

On Monday, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa.

Originally issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the national police force under Duterte.

The ICC had no immediate comment on the events in Manila.

Dela Rosa, 64, has vowed to fight the ICC arrest order. He called on his followers Wednesday night to gather in the Senate to prevent what he said was his impending arrest.

National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to arrest dela Rosa on Monday, but he managed to dash to the Senate's plenary hall and sought the help of fellow senators. Cayetano said then that he would cite the government agents involved for contempt.

Duterte was arrested in March last year and flown to the ICC's headquarters in The Hague. He is still in detention in the Netherlands and faces a trial in the killings from his crackdown, in which dela Rosa has also been accused.

“We should not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague, the second one after President Duterte,” dela Rosa said, addressing his followers in a Facebook message and blaming politics for his predicament.

“This is unacceptable,” dela Rosa said.

He said he was ready to face any allegations before Philippine courts, but he denied condoning extrajudicial killings when he led the police force. Duterte has also made the same denials, although he openly threatened suspected drug dealers with death while in office.

Police deployed outside Senate

Hundreds of police officers have been deployed outside the Senate since Monday to maintain order, sparking complaints from dela Rosa and allied senators.

“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate.

Five senators called on dela Rosa to surrender to authorities in a proposed resolution, but his allies opposed the move in a heated exchange Wednesday in the Senate, where 13 of 24 senators friendly to dela Rosa wrested control of its leadership on Monday.

Duterte and his daughter, the current vice president, and political allies such as dela Rosa have been the harshest critics of Marcos.

Vice President Sara Duterte, once a political ally of Marcos, has blamed the president for allowing what she said was “the kidnapping” of her father and his handover to a foreign court.

Sara Duterte has recently been impeached by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by the allies of Marcos, over accusations that included unexplained wealth and threats to have the president assassinated if she herself were killed amid their political disputes. The Senate was preparing to convene into a tribunal to try the vice president.

Disputes reflect deep division in Philippine politics

The disputes reflect the deep divisions that have long plagued the rambunctious Asian democracy.

After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte appointed dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs that alarmed Western governments, including the United States and human rights groups.

Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was a longtime mayor and built a political name for his extra-tough approach to crime.

“My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people,” dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.

“When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves,” dela Rosa said.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.

The ICC, however, said that it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member and successfully moved to have him arrested, the first former Asian leader to fall into such disgrace.

___

Associated Press Writer Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, Netherlands.

A decade of conflict between the world's two biggest economies has left U.S.-China trade greatly reduced from the boom times of the 2000s and 2010s, forcing companies to regroup. Many American firms have shifted production out of China to countries like Vietnam and India. And Chinese firms have scrambled to find new customers in Europe and Southeast Asia.

But the two countries are finding that they still need each other. "The idea of somehow China being totally independent of us and us being totally independent of China, I think, is a fiction,'' said financier Wilbur Ross, who served as U.S. Commerce secretary in Trump's first term.

This week's summit is primarily about keeping the economic relationship stable, with only modest policy announcements expected. A trade truce reached last October likely will be extended, while China may announce plans to buy American soybeans, beef and Boeing airplanes. U.S. officials also have teased the creation of a Board of Trade.

Watching closely will be American farmers who were shut out of the Chinese soybean market for most of 2025, as well as U.S. manufacturers who lost access to China’s rare earth minerals they need to make everything from smartphones to fighter jets.

In China, manufacturer Michael Lu is hoping the Xi-Trump summit will herald more positive signs. Chances of U.S.-China commerce going back to the roaring trade of 15 years ago may be slim, but factory owners in China are expecting for at least some improvements. “The U.S. used to be a more stable market,’’ said Lu, founder and CEO of gift box producer Brothersbox in the southern city of Dongguan.

A freefall in U.S.-China trade

Before Trump began slapping taxes on Chinese imports in 2018, the average U.S. tariff on China stood at 3.1%. Now, even after coming down from the triple-digit levels they briefly hit last year, they are still at almost 48%, according Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

In 2016, the United States did more business with China than any other country. Trade between the two countries — exports plus imports — accounted for more than 13% of America’s trade with the rest of the world. By last year, China’s share had been halved to 6.4%. Mexico and Canada had leapfrogged China to become the top two U.S. trading partners.

The problem with the pre-Trump U.S.-China trade boom was that it was so lopsided. China sold far more to the United States than it bought. The U.S. deficit in the trade of goods and services with China peaked at $377 billion in 2018. Last year, it was down to $168 billion, the lowest since 2004.

Still, China has exported so much to other markets — Southeast Asia and Europe, in particular — that it recorded a record global trade surplus of $1.2 trillion last year.

Chinese companies find workarounds

The American government’s statistics probably overstate the drop in U.S.-China trade. Many Chinese companies have relocated to Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand and now send their stuff onto the United States, dodging U.S. tariffs. The Trump administration wants to crack down on these “transshipments.’’

As China sent fewer goods to the United States last year, goods imports from Southeast Asia surged — up 42% from Vietnam, 44% from Thailand, 24% from Indonesia.

“It would be wrong to think that China is no longer relevant for the U.S. market,’’ said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Chinese goods are still coming into the U.S.’’

Velong Enterprises, which was founded in China’s southern Guangdong province in 2002 and makes kitchen gadgets and grilling tools for Walmart and other U.S. retailers, diversified its supply chain in the years since Trump’s first term in the White House in order to serve U.S. customers, including by adding production capacity in Cambodia and India.

“Most serious manufacturers did not simply ‘leave China,’” said Velong CEO and founder Jacob Rothman. “Instead, they built multi-country supply chains around China.”

Contending with erratic tariffs

The trade war with China has taken a toll on Appu Jacob Varghese, who owns Zion Foodtrucks, a small food truck manufacturer outside Colorado Springs that imports Chinese equipment for its trucks.

“Last year,’’ Varghese said, “a lot of my hair turned white.’’

What tormented Varghese was the erratic way Trump imposed his taxes on Chinese imports. They changed unpredictably from week to week – and briefly shot up to a terrifying 145%. Zion Foodtrucks relied on Chinese suppliers for the cooking and fire-suppression equipment that goes into its $50,000 to $60,000 food trucks.

Zion’s customers typically signed a fixed-price contract and took delivery of a brand-new food truck six weeks later. Trump’s fluctuating tariffs meant the Varghese’s costs were bouncing around wildly – but his contracts kept him from raising prices.

He managed to get through the year but he knew he needed to find suppliers outside China. These days, he gets about half his cooking equipment from Vietnam and Thailand, and the fire-fighting gear comes from U.S. and Israeli suppliers.

He speaks highly of his Chinese suppliers but doesn’t expect to ever rely so heavily on them again. Given the testy relations between Washington and Beijing, he said, “it’s too risky.’’

Shifting away from China

A lot of U.S. companies are pulling back from China. Apple has moved some of its production of its iPhones to India. Nike has stepped up production in Vietnam.

“Trade tensions can flare up quite quickly, and that makes the U.S. firms hesitant to rely too heavily on Chinese supply,” said Sarah Tan, a Singapore-based economist at Moody’s Analytics whose focus includes China.

InStyler, a hair appliances company outside Los Angeles that once relied entirely on Chinese suppliers, is shifting some production to South Korea and France and is eyeing Italy, Vietnam and Mexico. CEO Dan Fugardi said trade tensions aren’t behind the moves; InStyler is rolling out some more high-end products for luxury hotel clients, and “there’s a little bit of panache that goes with manufacturing in France.’’

Still, reducing reliance on China, he said, “doubles as an insurance plan so that we’re not caught with our pants down."

Tit-for-tat

The trade skirmishing between Beijing and Washington has extended beyond traditional tariffs and counter tariffs.

The United States has blocked shipments of the most advanced computer chips to China, and the Chinese have blasted back by periodically cutting off supplies of rare earth minerals crucial for electronics.

Last year, the Chinese limited exports of tungsten – a super strong metal used in defense, aerospace and medical device production – because it can be used by the military as well as by private industry. China controls about 80% of the world’s tungsten.

China also stopped buying U.S. soybeans, delivering a well-aimed blow at Trump’s supporters in rural America. After U.S.-China talks in October, the Chinese resumed the purchases. But U.S. soybean exports to China nonetheless dropped 75% in 2025.

The tit-for-tat moves showed just how much damage the United States and China can do to each other. Now there’s hope that Trump and Xi can lower the temperature this week in Beijing.

“We are the No. 1 trading player. They are next in line,’’ said former Commerce Secretary Ross. “We have to coexist in some way. The question is, what will be the rules of the road, and who will benefit the most from those rules.″

____

Chan reported from Hong Kong.

The school said in a statement early Sunday that Hardy, a Doak Walker Award finalist for the Tigers, had been shot and was in stable condition. Police later said Hardy was shot in the upper leg while attending an outdoor concert at a bike club in Laurel, about 90 minutes away from where he grew up in the small town of Oma, Mississippi.

Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said during an event in Dallas late Tuesday that the timetable for Hardy's recovery is undetermined.

“We'll take it day by day,” Drinkwitz said. “He will be back healthy. You know, when you're dealing with elite athletes, right, getting back healthy and getting back to elite status is a little tricky in these situations. There is an opportunity he could be back this year; there is an opportunity he couldn't be back this year.

“We won't know those answers for a few weeks,” Drinkwitz added.

Laurel police Sgt. Macon Davis told the Laurel (Mississippi) Leader-Call three people of interest were in custody following the incident. Davis described the scene as a “melee,” saying at least two people were injured and it was a miracle others were not.

The 20-year-old Hardy began his career at Louisiana-Monroe, where he ran for more than 1,300 yards with 13 touchdowns during his freshman season. He transferred to Missouri before last season and ran for 1,649 yards — second among players in the Football Bowl Subdivision — and scored 16 touchdowns in helping the Tigers go 8-5 with a loss to Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

His best game came against Mississippi State last November, when he ran 25 times for 300 yards and three touchdowns, joining Devin West as the only players in school history with a 300-yard rushing game. Hardy also ran for 250 yards in a game against Louisiana.

Several mock drafts already list the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Hardy as the No. 1 running back available next April.

“He has the full support of our team to help him in his recovery,” Drinkwitz said, “and we're taking it day by day.”

___

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

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 57, was arrested in June 2025 and booked on a murder charge after he admitted to the shooting following an ongoing dispute with Joss.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Bexar County Prosecutor Neil Cordero told Judge Joel Perez, who is presiding over the case in Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court, that the state is continuing to ”evaluate the case right now.”

“We’re in the process of gathering information to be able to speak to witnesses about what occurred,” Cordero said. “That’s the update we have.”

The defense, led by attorney Jason Goss, said their team has “identified” dozens of witnesses who could be a part of their case.

“We’ve kind of identified, like, 40 to 60 relevant witnesses,” Goss told the court. “This is, kind of, a neighborhood thing where there’s a lot of witnesses and a lot of people that have witnessed the behaviors of the complainant (Joss) for years. And so, we’re still in the process of locating them.”

As of Wednesday, Goss said the defense has located approximately “two dozen” of those witnesses.

Both sides agreed for Alvarez to return to for another hearing on June 29.

Before Wednesday, his most recent court appearance took place on Feb. 24.

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, 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:

• Court hearing reset for man accused of killing ‘King of the Hill’ actor Jonathan Joss
• Bexar County grand jury indicts Jonathan Joss shooting suspect for actor’s murder
• Attorney says his client defended himself in deadly Jonathan Joss shooting, denies hate crime claim

As the San Antonio Spurs continue their playoff run, fans know one thing for certain — the energy inside the arena never stops.

Win or lose Friday night, Spurs fans are guaranteed at least one more home game. And helping power that atmosphere every night is DJ Quake, the man behind the music that keeps fans dancing, cheering and chanting from tipoff to the final buzzer.

David “DJ Quake” Gamez has been the Spurs in-arena DJ for 12 years now. He’s a San Antonio native who attended South San High School and loves every bit of being part of the Spurs and the local DJ music scene.

KSAT’s RJ Marquez caught up with DJ Quake to learn what it takes to keep the crowd rocking inside Frost Bank Center during some of the biggest moments of the season.

Watch the story in the video player above.

Read also:

• Wembanyama returns with a huge performance as the Spurs beat the Wolves 126-97 for a 3-2 lead
• Should there be honking celebrations after every Spurs playoff win? San Antonio fans weigh in

The Upper Guadalupe River Authority told KSAT it is coordinating the project with county emergency management and local cities.

The first eight outdoor sirens are expected to be operational by this summer, with a second phase planned for summer 2027, according to Kerr Together.

Residents may have heard testing last week as crews prepared for installation.

The initial phase targets flash flood alerts near camps along the North and South Forks of the Guadalupe River in West Kerr County.

Read also:

• Hunt residents see progress on Hunt Post Office reopening
• What led up to Camp Mystic shutting down for the summer

Officers responded to the shooting around 11 p.m. Tuesday in the 6300 block of Interstate 35, located near Center Park Boulevard.

Upon arrival, SAPD said its officers found the man with a gunshot wound to his chest.

The 31-year-old man reported that the suspect had entered his room and robbed him at gunpoint, police stated.

The suspect then shot the man and fled the scene in a dark-colored SUV, SAPD said.

Officers stated the man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

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

More crime coverage on KSAT:

• Man found dead near southwest Bexar County railroad identified by medical examiner’s office
• Man who admitted to killing actor Jonathan Joss expected back in court

The social media company said in a blog post that incognito chat mode provides a way to have private, temporary conversations with Meta AI, its artificial intelligence assistant that's been available on WhatsApp for a few years.

Messages will be processed in a “secure environment" that even Meta can't access, won't be saved by default and will disappear when exiting a session, Meta said.

Generative AI systems have been dogged by privacy concerns because the large language models that underpin these systems are trained on vast troves of data, sometimes including personal information provided by users themselves in their conversations with AI chatbots.

Rival chatbot makers already have some privacy features. Google's Gemini chatbot has the option to disable chat history and opt out of allowing one's data to be used in training its AI models. ChatGPT has similar controls.

Meta says it's rolling out incognito chats because users often ask chatbots sensitive questions or include private financial, personal, health or work data in their questions.

“We’re starting ask a lot of meaningful questions about our lives with AI systems, and it doesn’t always feel like you should have to share the information behind those questions with the companies that run those AI systems,” Will Cathcart, Meta’s head of WhatsApp, told reporters.

Incognito chat mode has safety features to prevent the chatbot from answering questions about harmful topics, Cathcart said.

It will “steer the user towards helpful information if it can and then refuse (to answer) and eventually even just stop interacting with the user completely,” Cathcart said.

Users will only be able to type in questions and get text responses; they won't be able to upload or generate images. They'll also have to confirm their age because Meta doesn't allow users under 13 on its platforms.

The Tejano Conjunto Festival, described on its website as the longest-running conjunto festival in the United States, announced that its 44th annual event takes place from May 14-17.

Thursday’s event will be held at the Royal Palace Ballroom, located at 3506 SW Military Drive, and is free for seniors, according to the website.

Friday through Sunday events are held at Rosedale Park and feature over 30 bands, including local high school conjunto performances.

Sunday night ends off with a tribute to Jiménez starting at 8 p.m. Fans can expect performances from Los Texmaniacs, Flaco’s brother Santiago Jiménez Jr., and international guests representing Mexico, Spain, Japan and the Netherlands, a festival spokesperson said.

Jiménez was a Tejano music pioneer who was known as an accordionist for the Texas Tornados, Los Texmaniacs, Los Super Seven and Sir Douglas Quintet.

He died on July 31 at the age of 86. Jiménez’s accordion solos are remembered through the “San Antonio National Anthem” — "(Hey Baby) Que Paso“.

“I think this is one of the best and most diverse, nationally and internationally, musical line-ups we’ve had at the TCF in a long time. I’m excited,” said festival founder Juan Tejeda in a news release. “No other tribute to Flaco has brought together as many international artists to honor him.”

Day pass wristbands for the festival range from $15 to $25 for Friday through Sunday.

A whole weekend wristband pass costs $50, and an additional $10 for a replacement.

More Things To Do stories on KSAT:

• Journey to perform at Frost Bank Center in October on farewell tour
• Karol G announces world tour, plans Alamodome return in September
• Free outdoor films under the moon are back at South Side theater
• Free, discounted movies return to San Antonio theaters this summer

On a day when the British government's legislative plans were presented by no less than King Charles III himself, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was fighting to remain in power following rising discontent within his Labour Party.

The traditional pomp and pageantry associated with the state opening of Parliament was overshadowed by the political intrigue, specifically the mounting speculation that Health Secretary Wes Streeting was planning to quit Starmer's government and launch a leadership bid as soon as Thursday.

The embattled prime minister has been urged to set a timetable for his departure by more than a fifth of the Labour Party’s lawmakers in the House of Commons. Some junior ministers have quit the government in protest, but no one has yet challenged Starmer directly.

“It is absolutely preposterous that the government is here laying out a program as its ministers are resigning and a large proportion of the party is saying that the prime minister needs to go," Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, told lawmakers as they began a debate over the government's agenda.

On the ropes

Starmer's premiership has been imperiled by the huge losses Labour suffered in local and regional elections last week. If those results were repeated in a national election that has to be held by 2029, the party would be overwhelmingly ejected from power.

Labour was squeezed from the right and the left, losing votes to both anti-immigrant Reform UK and the Green Party, as well as nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

Labour secured a landslide election victory in 2024, driving the Conservatives from power after 14 years, but since then the party’s popularity has plunged and Starmer is getting much of the blame. The reasons include a series of policy missteps, a struggling British economy, a perceived lack of vision on the prime minister’s part and questions over his judgment. Starmer’s choice of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has continued to haunt him.

Streeting is expected to launch a leadership bid as early as Thursday, according to some media reports. Streeting, who has long been known to harbor ambitions to become prime minister, met with Starmer earlier Wednesday for less than 20 minutes. Neither have discussed what was said, but Starmer’s office insisted that the health secretary retains the prime minister’s full support.

Starmer, who says he has no intention to stand down, has his supporters within the party. More than 100 lawmakers have signed a letter saying it's “no time” for a leadership contest.

“We should let him get on with doing his job, because he is a serious politician and these are very, very serious times,” Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn told Sky News.

King offers Starmer some respite

In a speech to lawmakers outlining the government's legislative program for the coming year or so that was written by the government itself, the king said that the U.K.’s economic, energy and national security would be tested as it deals with the fallout from the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

Planned measures include controlling the cost of living, strengthening ties with the European Union and making it easier to build new energy infrastructure.

And pledging action on antisemitism following a run of attacks on the Jewish community in recent months, Charles said that the government would “defend the British values” of decency and tolerance.

The monarch, who made the short journey from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a horse-drawn carriage, also said the government will “defend the British values of decency, tolerance and respect for difference under our common flag,” and said that urgent action would be taken to tackle antisemitism.

The real question is whether Starmer will be around to implement the measures in the speech and, even if he remains in office, whether he will have the authority to push his proposals through.

In his speech advocating his policy agenda, Starmer gave no indication that he wouldn't be around to push the planned bills through.

“This King’s Speech sets a different course, a more hopeful course, a course that sees the conflict in Iran, a war on two fronts, not as something to wring our hands about, but as an opportunity we must take to shape our country’s future, to end the status quo that has failed working people, to build a stronger, fairer Britain,” he said.

Historic power collides with modern reality

The King’s Speech merges the historic power and grandeur of Britain with the reality of the modern United Kingdom, a midsized country with an underfunded military, rising debt and waning international influence.

The speech is the focal point of a day of ceremony and tradition that has been followed since 1852, with elements of the program dating to the 16th century. The state opening of Parliament uses carefully choreographed pageantry to showcase Britain’s evolution from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy where real power is vested in the elected House of Commons.

The royal paraphernalia

During his speech, which he delivered seated next to Queen Camilla, the king donned the Imperial State Crown and robe of state.

Once they were seated, a Lords official called Black Rod, named for the ebony rod he or she carries, went to the House of Commons to summon the chamber’s members. The doors to the Commons chamber were slammed in Black Rod’s face to symbolize the chamber’s independence from the monarchy, and they aren’t opened until Black Rod strikes the doors three times.

Once members of the Commons crowded into the Lords’ chamber, the king delivered the speech.

After the speech was read, the royal couple left and the two houses of Parliament begin several days of debate on its contents.

The major human rights funder pledged Wednesday to strengthen interfaith partnerships and protect those facing heightened threats in response to the rising levels of hate against both Jewish and Muslim communities, coinciding with the Israel-Hamas war and the current fragile ceasefire.

Last year saw the highest level of deadly violence against Jews worldwide in over three decades, according to an annual study released last month by Tel Aviv University, including the December shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia. Meanwhile, anti-Muslim rhetoric has intensified against the backdrop of the Iran war, with one congressional Republican saying Muslims “ don't belong in American society.”

“The deep injustices occurring in the Middle East are fueling indiscriminate prejudice, dehumanization, and violence directed against both Muslims and Jews," Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee said in a statement. "Entire communities cannot be targeted simply because of their religion. Bigotry and intolerance in any form must be called out and confronted.”

The announcement marks the foundations' most visible campaign since last fall's reports that the U.S. Department of Justice was considering possible charges against Open Society Foundations. President Donald Trump specifically named Soros as he ordered the FBI to crack down on what he called “left-wing terrorism” — an accusation that OSF has denied in statements emphasizing their mission to strengthen democracy.

Alex Soros, who took over leadership of his father’s foundations in late 2022, noted that “discrimination and hate” aren’t abstract concepts for him as the son of a Holocaust survivor and husband to a Muslim American. The foundation added that George Soros, who holds significant influence as a liberal megadonor with vast financial investments and philanthropic ties, is frequently targeted by conservative conspiracy theories that twist those powerful connections into antisemitic tropes about behind-the-scenes puppet masters.

“At a moment like this we need to stand together and act,” Alex Soros said in a pretaped video posted on social media. “This investment is about keeping people safe and pushing back against hate.”

The commitment is aimed broadly at expanding education on forms of discrimination, supporting cross-community leaders who build trust and safeguarding free speech rights to lawful expression. The foundations have already selected some grantees and are inviting other nonprofits to apply for funding. Recipients include the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the Nexus Project. Shoulder to Shoulder, a multifaith alliance that prepares religious leaders to address anti-Muslim discrimination, is among those leading the work on Islamophobia.

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, welcomed the strategy to tackle both matters together. The grant will allow JCPA to build upon its solidarity work with Muslim and Arab American communities, Spitalnick said, which have deepened since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. She pointed to a fellowship and a Capitol Hill discussion on Jewish-Muslim solidarity that were both launched with the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

She emphasized that hate is interconnected. The normalization of Islamophobia, racism and broader anti-democratic extremism creates the conditions for antisemitism to flourish, she said.

“We need funders and others to recognize that treating any of these issues in silos doesn’t get at the root cause, doesn’t get at the broader resiliency we need right now," Spitalnick said. "The fact that Jewish safety requires Muslim safety, that Muslim safety requires Jewish safety.”

The Soros' announcement did not say how the foundations will define antisemitism — a point of contention on college campuses and in state legislatures where debates have raged over whether criticism of Israel amounts to hatred of Jewish people. The shortlist of Open Society grantees suggests a more nuanced definition than the Anti-Defamation League, which releases an annual audit of antisemitic incidents in the United States. The ADL holds that vilifying Zionism, or the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state in Israel, is a form of antisemitism.

In contrast, the Nexus Project promotes definitions of antisemitism that do not include opposition to the Israeli state's policies. Similarly, in opposition to a National Education Association resolution prohibiting the use of the ADL's educational resources, Spitalnick emphasized that “one does not need to align with the ADL on every issue."

Andrés Spokoiny, the president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, estimated that the philanthropic sector has dedicated hundreds of thousands of dollars to countering antisemitism — regardless of its definition. Other high-profile efforts include the $25 million “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” ad campaign launched by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in March 2023 through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

But the persistence of antisemitism has left some members of Spokoiny's group questioning their approaches.

“There's a lot of perplexity around what actually works,” he said. “So many funders are very frustrated.”

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The body of Nereo Aguilar Garcia, 49, was discovered around 1:30 p.m. Monday near Pue and Wolf roads, just outside Loop 1604.

In a news conference on Monday, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said they believe Garcia’s death is connected with the six people found dead inside a boxcar in Laredo over the weekend, which investigators suspect was a human smuggling attempt.

>> What we know about 6 people found dead in a Laredo boxcar, another found near Bexar County railroad

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Garcia on Wednesday morning. His official cause and manner of death are still pending, the office told KSAT.

What we know about six people found dead

The six bodies in Laredo were discovered in a potential human smuggling event Sunday afternoon during an inspection at a rail yard in the 12000 block of Jim Young Way, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Salazar said investigators believe Garcia was traveling with the same group connected to the Laredo boxcar deaths.

Watch the full Monday afternoon news conference below:

He said after the bodies were found in Laredo, Union Pacific and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents went back to patrol the Pue and Wolf roads location, where they had received an alert that one of the containers had been opened.

Salazar described the boxcars as “basically airtight,” estimating temperatures can reach up to 150 degrees. Because the boxcars cannot be opened from the inside, authorities believe smugglers either found Garcia’s body and dumped it out to avoid accountability, or he was leaning against the door when it was opened and he fell out.

>> What we know about the 6 people found dead in a Laredo boxcar, another found near Bexar County railroad

Salazar said he was in possession of a Mexican voter registration card.

Salazar said on Saturday evening that the San Antonio Police Department received a call from a person out of state who said they had received a message from a relative believed to be in one of the boxcars.

The relative said “it was getting very, very hot, and that they were having some physical trouble as a result of it,” Salazar said.

SAPD was dispatched to a location in the city several miles up the road, Salazar said, but nothing was found. Authorities believe the person who sent the message was among the six deceased found in Laredo.

The train originated from Del Rio, Salazar said. When it arrived at a station near where Garcia was found on Monday, the train split, with half going to Laredo and the other half going to Houston.

Salazar said it remains unclear whether the full group was larger than seven people.

“It’s quite possible that load of people may have been somewhat bigger than the seven bodies we’re up to now, or it’s possible that may have been it,” Salazar said.

Union Pacific said it is “working closely with law enforcement to investigate.”

Anyone who has information or believes they may have seen something suspicious is urged to contact the sheriff’s office.

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The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon, hours after telling residents of six southern villages to evacuate.

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold another round of direct talks in Washington on Thursday as the Trump administration pushes for a breakthrough between the two neighbors that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.

The Health Ministry confirmed the seven airstrikes on vehicles, but didn't provide full details of the number of people in each vehicle.

Two of Wednesday’s drone attacks hit a highway linking Beirut with the southern port city of Sidon, while a third struck the town of Saadiyat near the busy freeway, the state-run National news agency said. The Health Ministry said those strikes killed eight people in total, including the mother and children.

A fourth strike took place in the early afternoon near the northern entrance of Sidon, leaving one person dead and another wounded, the ministry said. It added that three other drone strikes on cars deeper in southern Lebanon killed three people.

An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies of three people killed in two of the strikes near the coastal towns of Barja and Jiyeh.

In southern Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes were reported in various towns and villages while Hezbollah claimed that it launched additional attacks on Israel as both sides keep exchanging fire despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on April 17.

Hezbollah also has been using drones in its attacks on Israeli forces.

The U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL said Wednesday it is increasingly concerned about fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers near its positions, putting peacekeepers at risk, including with explosions of drones in and around U.N. bases.

UNIFIL said that a presumed Hezbollah drone detonated inside its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura on Tuesday, following earlier presumed Hezbollah drone detonations on Monday and Tuesday. No one was injured, but some buildings were damaged.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war started on March 2, when the Lebanese militant group fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday that since the war began, 2,896 have been killed and 8,824 wounded.

Trumparrived in Beijing Wednesday to meet with President Xi Jinping. Aside from discussions about Iran, the two leaders are expected to discuss trade and artificial intelligence.

Here's a look at some of the executives, according to the White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Elon Musk

Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency until leaving in the spring of 2025 before the controversial pop-up agency was shuttered in November. The billionaire, who also owns the social media platform X, feuded with Trump last summer in a war of words that included Musk claiming without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk eventually said that he regretted some of his posts on X about Trump.

Since then, Musk has refocused his energy on Tesla and his other companies. Tesla has operations in China and Musk has visited there. He's also been dealing with French prosecutors seeking charges against him and X for child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok. There's also trial pitting Musk against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Musk traveled to China on Air Force One with Trump.

Tim Cook

Cook remains busy as his tenure at Apple winds down. The CEO announced last month that his 15-year reign as the head of the technology company will come to an end on Sept. 1, when he turns the CEO duties over to Apple’s head of hardware engineering, John Ternus. During Cook's years as the top executive, Apple saw the its market value soar by more than $3.6 trillion during an iPhone-fueled era of prosperity. Cook will remain with the company as executive chairman.

Apple’s reliance on overseas manufacturing required Cook to master the art of political diplomacy, particularly while Trump waged trade wars with China during both his terms in the White House. After persuading Trump to exempt the iPhone and other products from Trump’s first-term tariffs, he faced a more daunting challenge during the current administration.

While insisting that Apple shift its iPhone manufacturing from China to the U.S., Trump imposed some tariffs on the device this time around. But Cook still managed to minimize the fees by shifting the production of iPhones destined for the U.S. market to India and also winning some exemptions after promising Apple would invest $600 billion in the U.S. during Trump’s second administration.

Jensen Huang

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang heads to Beijing just months after the company received approval to sell one of its powerful AI chips to China, with conditions.

In January the Trump administration placed new security requirements on Nvidia’s semiconductor sales to China, but essentially greenlit the export of its H200 artificial intelligence chips.

Nvidia must ensure that there is an adequate supply in the U.S., and the H200 chips must undergo a third-party review before being exported to China, according to new rules set by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. But the new rules lower the bar for exports.

China won’t be allowed to use the chips for military purposes and is not allowed to import more than 50% of the chips sold to U.S. customers.

The H200 is not Nvidia’s most advanced product. Those chips, called Blackwell and the upcoming Rubin, were not part of the approved chips for export.

Huang also traveled aboard Air Force One with Trump to China.

Kelly Ortberg

Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, a former CEO at aerospace manufacturer Rockwell Collins, became CEO of Boeing in 2024. He's spent time focusing on Boeing's recovery, as the aerospace company was dealing with legal, regulatory and production problems and mounting financial repercussions when he took over.

A year ago Ortberg said that he didn't expect the U.S. trade war with China to forestall Boeing's financial recovery, nor prevent it from reaching aircraft delivery targets with Chinese airlines that were refusing to accept its planes. Beijing increased its import tax on American goods to 125% in April 2025 in retaliation for Trump raising the tariff on products made in China to 145%. China’s tariff would more than double the cost of passenger jets that Boeing, the U.S.’ largest exporter, sells for tens of millions of dollars. But Beijing is less of a threat to Boeing now that it used to be, as it has started to send fewer of its finished planes there over time.

Boeing has been in ongoing talks with China over a possible large aircraft sale.

Who else is going

Blackrock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink

Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman

Cargill Chairman and CEO Brian Sikes

Citi Chairman and CEO Jane Fraser

Coherent CEO Jim Anderson

GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp

Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon

Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach

Meta President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick

Micron Chairman, President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney

———-

Aamer Madhani in Washington D.C. contributed to this report.

Franky Garza, 24, was shot and killed on May 6 at Sienna at Westover Hills apartment complex in the 11800 block of Potranco Road. His family lives in Carrizo Springs and got the call from Garza shortly before he died.

“Frank said he’s been shot,” Erica Garza, his mom, said. “I could hear him breathing very heavy.”

Franky Garza had just moved to San Antonio on May 4. He was only living in the city for two days before he was killed.

BCSO said someone called to report a sick adult who was passed out. When deputies arrived at the apartment complex, they found Garza with a gunshot wound and began life-saving measures. Franky Garza died at the scene.

“We call every day,” Erica Garza said. “I ask to see what’s going on with the case, you know, like is there any suspects? Do you have anyone arrested? Of course, they say no.”

The sheriff’s office told KSAT that it has received 46 calls for service at the apartment complex so far in 2026. In the same timeframe in 2025, Jan. 1 to May 8, the request date, the sheriff’s office received 61 calls for service.

BCSO said its agency has investigated five murders so far in 2026, and of those five, two of them have no suspects in custody.

“We want to make sure that Franky gets the justice he deserves,” Alexis Ivy, Garza’s sister, said.

Garza’s mom described him as very giving and having a beautiful heart.

“He’s just so loved by a lot of people,” Erica Garza said.

Anyone with any information about the fatal shooting at Sienna at Westover Hills can contact the sheriff’s office at 210-335-6000.

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In a related note, the Spurs won.

San Antonio took a 3-2 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves with a dominant 126-97 win in Game 5 of their second-round series, putting the Spurs one victory away from a Western Conference finals showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 8-0 so far in these playoffs.

Wembanyama had 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the Spurs' win.

The Timberwolves are down but not out. They've been a resilient bunch in these playoffs and get to host Game 6 on Friday.

Wednesday's schedule

— Game 5, Cleveland at Detroit, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Tied, 2-2.

Odds: Detroit by 4.5.

Home teams are 4-0 in this series, and the Pistons need to continue that trend. Everyone knows Game 5 in a tied series is a swing game, but the Pistons — who fended off elimination three times in the Round 1 win over Orlando — are used to playing amid pressure.

Thursday's schedule

— No games scheduled.

Tuesday's recap

— Spurs 126, Timberwolves 97. Wembanyama atoned for his Game 4 ejection.

Sad day in the NBA

The NBA had a rough day on Tuesday — mourning the death of Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke and the death of former player Jason Collins, who was the league's first openly gay player.

Clarke, 29, was found dead Monday at a home in the Los Angeles area and emergency personnel who responded to the scene found drug paraphernalia in the home, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those details were not released publicly.

Collins, 47, died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Awards watch

A breakdown of this season's NBA awards:

— Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

— Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.

— Clutch Player of the Year: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City.

— Sixth Man of the Year: Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

Among the announcements still to come:

— Most Valuable Player: Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.

— Coach of the Year: Johnson, Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-165) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+300), New York (+650), Detroit (+2500), Cleveland (+5000) and Minnesota (+12500).

Key dates

— Through Sunday: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft.

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft.

Quote of the day

“I feel like we got the Vic that you’ve seen all year,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said after Wembanyama's bounce-back performance. “I think his maturity level was off the charts. I mean, he played smart, didn’t really foul much, took the shots that were there for him."

Stat of the day

Wembanyama (22 years, 128 days) became the third-youngest player in league history with 25 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a postseason game behind Magic Johnson (20 years, 276 days) and Luka Doncic (21 years, 177 days).

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

An initial session took place at the office of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a five-minute walk from Major League Baseball's headquarters in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center. The meeting lasted about two hours and was scheduled for initial presentations from each side on their view of the sport and its economics. No proposals were made.

Players who attended included Mets infielder Marcus Semien, a member of the union's eight-man executive subcommittee, along with Mets teammates Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Austin Slater and Sean Manaea. Several Detroit Tigers players, who were in town to play the Mets, also were at the meeting and additional players joined via video conference.

“It’s the first one I’ve been at, so I don’t really have much to compare it to," Holmes said. "It was just kind of initial meetings, first time the sides were getting together and kind of sharing their thoughts on kind of where they thought things were at and what they thought was best for kind of the game moving forward.”

The sport's five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1, and baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has said repeatedly that management prefers offseason lockouts to in-season strikes, aiming to prevent the loss of regular-season games. Baseball has not lost regular-season games to a work stoppage since a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that caused the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.

Talks for the last agreement began in April 2021 and ended with a deal on March 10, 2022, that preserved the 162-game schedule only after the sides bargained past several deadlines and Manfred announced the cancellation of 184 games, which were restored.

Bruce Meyer will lead negotiations for the union, as he did in 2021-22, but in his new role as interim union head. He moved up from deputy director in February after the forced resignation of Tony Clark, a former All-Star first baseman who took over following the death of Michael Weiner in 2013.

Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem heads MLB's negotiations team, as he did in talks for the previous two agreements.

MLB and Meyer declined to comment on the session.

“I think just player engagement as a whole, it just seems like there’s a lot of it right now,” Holmes said. “Guys are wanting to hear and guys are wanting to be there and so, just to be able to kind of be there and pass along things that you may see or learn or just have conversations there.”

Some major league owners have said a salary cap system that also contains a floor is needed and would improve the sport. MLB, unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, has not had a cap system but since 2003 has had a luxury tax designed to slow spending.

“When I talk to the players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America last summer. “I identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem."

Restraints had not appeared to have had much impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets in recent years. The Dodgers shattered MLB's spending records with a combined $515 million in payroll and luxury tax last year en route to their second straight World Series title, according to final figures compiled by the commissioner’s office, and Los Angeles is projected for the highest total again in 2026. The ratio of the five highest spenders to the five lowest increased from 3.6 in 2021 to a record-high 4.7 last year.

The union maintains a cap system decreases spending on players, while management argues a cap and a floor would benefit most players.

Players increased their potential war chest of cash and investments ahead of collective bargaining to $415 million heading into 2026. MLB also has been accumulating cash ahead of bargaining, about $75 million per club in withheld central fund distributions.

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AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.

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

The 29-year-old Clarke was found dead Monday at a home in the Los Angeles area, and emergency personnel who responded to the scene found drug paraphernalia in the home, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those details were not released publicly.

Neither the Grizzlies nor Clarke's agency, Priority Sports, provided any details about the nature of Clarke's death.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke. Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten," read a statement from the Grizzlies.

His agents wrote on social media that they were “beyond devastated.”

“He was so loved by all of us here and everyone whose life he touched,” read the statement from Priority Sports. “He was the gentlest soul who was the first to be there for all of his friends and family.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed sympathies to Clarke’s family and friends and the Grizzlies organization.

“We are devastated to learn of the passing of Brandon Clarke,” Silver said. “As one of the longest-tenured members of the Grizzlies, Brandon was a beloved teammate and leader who played the game with enormous passion and grit.”

Clarke was the 21st overall pick out of Gonzaga in the 2019 NBA draft by Oklahoma City, which dealt his rights to the Grizzlies.

He was fourth in the 2019-20 Rookie of the Year balloting — his Grizzlies teammate Ja Morant was the overwhelming winner of that award — and was 11th in the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year voting for the 2021-22 season.

Clarke averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in 309 career NBA games.

He averaged 16.9 points in his one season at Gonzaga, transferring there after starting his college career at San Jose State. At Gonzaga, he was a huge part of a team that also had Rui Hachimura — now with the Los Angeles Lakers — and went 33-4.

“He had such a kind, gentle and warm soul, and I will remember the great smile he had on his face whenever you were around him,” read a statement from Gonzaga and its coach, Mark Few. “BC was one of the most easygoing players we have ever had, and he was part of one of the greatest teams in our program’s history.”

Clarke was arrested April 1 in Arkansas for speeding and possession of a controlled substance that was reportedly kratom, an herbal supplement promoted as an alternative pain remedy that becomes illegal in Tennessee as of July 1. He was released on bond a day later.

Health officials have been warning about the risks of an opioid-related chemical known as 7-hydroxymitragynine and a component of kratom. The plant native to Southeast Asia has gained popularity in the U.S. as an unapproved treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.

A federal report in 2019 found overdose deaths involving kratom were more common than previously reported. Most who died had also taken heroin, fentanyl or others, though officials counted a few instances in which kratom was the only substance listed.

“love you broski. gone way too soon,” Morant wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday.

Clarke joined Morant on the NBA's All-Rookie team in 2020, and the Grizzlies gave him a multiyear contract extension in October 2022.

But injuries dogged him for more than three years. He tore his left Achilles tendon on March 3, 2023, in a loss to the Denver Nuggets in a showdown of what were then the top two teams in the Western Conference. Injuries limited him to 72 of a possible 246 games over the past three seasons, including only two this season.

“This is an incredible loss for the brotherhood," the National Basketball Players Association said. "We will remember Brandon not only for the immense joy he brought to so many throughout his career, but for the genuine friendships he built far beyond basketball.”

Clarke was under contract for the 2026-27 season with Memphis, which went 25-57 this season. The San Antonio Spurs paid tribute to Clarke with a moment of silence — both for him and former NBA player Jason Collins, whose death was announced Tuesday — before a playoff game Tuesday night.

Clarke's “leadership and passion earned him respect throughout the Memphis community and around the league,” the Spurs said.

___

AP Sports Writers Teresa M. Walker and Anne M. Peterson contributed to this report.

___

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

The meat of the summit doesn't start until Thursday, when the leaders hold bilateral talks, visit the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops, and take part in a formal banquet. But the Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome, literally rolling out the red carpet for him after Air Force One landed in the Chinese capital.

The president was greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; and the U.S. envoy to Beijing, David Perdue.

The welcoming ceremony included a military honor guard, a military band and some 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” as Trump made his way to his waiting limousine. The youth greeters were decked out in white and robin's egg blue outfits that matched the paint job of the iconic presidential plane.

“We're the two superpowers,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House on Tuesday for the long flight to Beijing. “We're the strongest nation on Earth in terms of military. China’s considered second.”

While Trump likes to project a sense of strength, the visit occurs at a delicate moment for his presidency as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The Republican president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American soybeans, beef and aircraft, saying he'll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”

The Trump administration hopes to begin establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump's tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.

But Trump is visiting Beijing when Iran continues to dominate his domestic agenda. The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike to levels that could sabotage global economic growth. The U.S. president declared that Xi didn’t need to assist in resolving the conflict, even though Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing last week.

“We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn’t say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control," Trump told reporters Tuesday.

Taiwan high on the agenda

The status of Taiwan also will be a major topic as China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island, which the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.

Trump told reporters on Monday that he would be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan that the U.S. administration authorized in December but has not yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.

But Trump has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that’s raising questions about whether the U.S. leader could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.

At the same time, Taiwan — as the world's leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of artificial intelligence, with the U.S. importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.

The Chinese Communist Party's news outlet, People's Daily, published a strongly worded editorial ahead of Trump's arrival underscoring that Taiwan is “the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations” and is “the biggest point of risk” between the two nations.

Trump says relationship with Xi is on solid footing

Trump was already portraying the trip as a success before he even left White House grounds. He openly mused about Xi's planned reciprocal visit to the U.S. later this year, lamenting that the White House ballroom under construction would not be completed in time to properly fete the Chinese leader.

“We’re going to have a great relationship for many, many decades to come,” Trump said of the U.S. and China.

Trump embarked on Air Force One for the big meeting with a coterie of aides, family members and business world titans, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk. While en route to Beijing, he posted on social media that his "first request" to Xi during the visit will be to ask the Chinese leader to bolster the presence of U.S. firms in China.

“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!” Trump wrote.

Despite Trump’s outward confidence, China appears to be entering the meeting from “a much stronger place," said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser on Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

China would like to reduce tech restrictions on accessing computer chips and find ways to reduce tariffs, among other goals.

“But even if they don’t get much on any of those things, as long as there’s not a blow-up in the meeting and President Trump doesn’t go away and look to re-escalate, China basically comes out stronger,” Kennedy said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met on Wednesday to discuss economic and trade issues at Incheon International Airport, just west of the South Korean capital of Seoul, according to the Chinese state run Xinhua News Agency.

Trump wants 3-way nuclear arms deal

Trump also intends to raise the idea of the U.S., China and Russia signing a pact that would set limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters ahead of the trip. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

China has previously been cool to entering such a pact. Beijing's arsenal, according to Pentagon estimates, exceeds more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is far from parity with the U.S. and Russia, which each are estimated to have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads.

The last nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century. As the treaty was set to expire, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for “a new, improved, and modernized” deal that includes China.

The Pentagon estimates China will have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.

___

Boak reported from Washington. AP writers Darlene Superville in Washington, Huizhong Wu in Bangkok, Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed reporting.

Now, he is one of 18 Americans under observation at specialized healthcare facilities designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases after three people died and others were sickened by a hantavirus outbreak aboard the ship.

Rosmarin, 30, said he expects to spend 42 days at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Fourteen other American passengers from the ship are also there. Another who tested positive for the virus is in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Two were being monitored in the serious communicable disease unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Public health officials have said the risk of the virus spreading from passengers into the general public is very low and that healthy people are being quarantined as a precaution.

Rosmarin, a content creator and photographer from Boston, told The Associated Press he intends to make the best of his isolation.

His room is more like a small hotel suite. He has a closet, smart TV, bathroom, small refrigerator, bed, chair and stationary bike. He has windows, but he keeps the blinds closed from peering media.

“It's a very nice room,” Rosmarin said. “I already ordered a mattress pad, new pillows. I think, for now, my plan is to take it one day at a time and that's the best I can do.”

On Tuesday, he received a special treat that he posted to social media.

Nurses at the facility brought him an iced horchata with oat milk and vanilla cold foam. “This is everything I needed, right now. Wow!” Rosmarin said into the camera.

Life in quarantine

Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

“I never got sick,” Rosmarin said Tuesday.

Eleven people who were aboard the MV Hondius fell ill, with at least nine confirmed cases. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The last remaining passengers on the ship disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.

The quarantine and biocontainment units in Omaha are specialized facilities created to monitor people exposed to serious illnesses. The biocontainment unit is used for treating people who are ill with highly infectious diseases.

Outside of doctors, who wear full personal protection equipment that include gowns and masks when they come into his room, Rosmarin can't receive visitors. Most nurses don't come into his room even when it is time for meals.

“I open the door with a mask on and they kind of put the food toward me and I grab it on the tray,” he said.

Once people began to get sick on the ship, passengers were also advised to stay in their cabins as much as possible.

“I left the cabin about 15 minutes each day to refill my water, get fresh air and grab food for breakfast and lunch,” he said, adding that passengers practiced social distancing and masked up.

Penguins, seals and albatross

Rosmarin began traveling the world in 2022 after quitting his job as a media buyer. He has an influencer partnership with the ship's operator. The company covered the cost of his trip, which included stops at remote islands in the South Atlantic, including South Georgia Island.

“We saw a king penguin colony — the largest in the world, 300,000 to 500,000,” Rosmarin said. “We got to see gentoo penguins, fur seals, elephant seals, chinstrap penguins, albatross.”

Rosmarin described the MV Hondius as an expedition vessel and not a cruise ship. Since passengers and crew would be disembarking on islands, some with fragile ecosystems, biosecurity measures were in place, he said.

“An expedition vessel is much cleaner than any cruise ship you’re ever going to go on,” Rosmarin added. “For South Georgia, there were the strictest biosecurity measures. We have to sit down in the lounge pulling fuzz out of our jackets. A little pebble in your shoe, it needs to come out.”

Those precautions, though, were meant to protect the environment from passengers, rather than the other way around.

His planned trip of five weeks stretched to six because he couldn't get off the ship once the outbreak was discovered.

“We didn't really know it was the hantavirus until the night we were supposed to disembark,” Rosmarin said.

Waiting for Rosmarin back home in Boston is his fiance. The couple plans to marry next year. “I think he tried to be calm for me, but I think he was also very scared,” Rosmarin said Tuesday.

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Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

As the Spurs continue their postseason run, fans are once again filling streets with car horns after big victories — but not everyone agrees on when the honking should happen.

Should fans celebrate after every playoff win, or save the noise for major moments?

Local rapper King Kyle Lee, known for creating multiple songs dedicated to the Spurs, said playoff celebrations should be reserved for bigger milestones.

“If you live in San Antonio, how can you not root for the Spurs?” Lee said.

But when asked how often fans should celebrate with honking, Lee suggested patience.

“Every series has four wins,” he said. “After we win those four games, then celebrate, because the job isn’t complete.”

Another well-known fan, Spurs Jesus, said the city’s playoff energy is part of what makes San Antonio unique.

“When we would make big, big wins, we’d go honking on Commerce,” he said, adding, “If you want to go celebrate and celebrate responsibly, I think that’s what it’s all about.”

Both fans agreed the tradition is subjective and ultimately depends on personal preference — especially after years without playoff basketball in San Antonio.

“I think we’re honking more now because we went through a drought,” Spurs Jesus said. “Lots of honking is a good thing because that means the Spurs are doing good.”

The debate has also reached organized fan groups.

The president of the Spurs superfan group, The Jackals, shared a statement, saying, “The tradition of honking is built on the playoffs and building the atmosphere and energy in the city.”

“Every win in the playoffs is a major win, and the celebration each time it happens goes to show, despite our accomplished history, the city doesn’t take it for granted,” the statement continued.

For now, one thing appears certain: Playoff basketball has reignited excitement throughout the Alamo City — and the honking tradition is back along with it.

In an online poll, KSAT asked viewers: How often should Spurs fans go honking?

Here are the results as of Tuesday night:

• Every playoff win - 20%
• Every playoff series win - 72%
• Every finals win - 8%

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Members voted 4-3 in favor of ending Valeria Acevedo’s tenure with the city at a council meeting Monday night.

Acevedo was believed to be at the center of how the city interpreted its recent mayoral election results.

In the race, the city announced challenger Michael French (49.18% of the vote) as the winner on May 2 over incumbent Mayor Neal Linnartz (38.25%) and two other candidates because — as the city charter dictates — French was the candidate who earned the most votes (plurality).

However, on May 4, the city’s outside legal counsel informed the City Attorney’s Office about the discrepancy between the city charter and the Texas Constitution, which states that any office term longer than two years “must be elected by a majority vote (50% of the vote + one vote).”

Later that night, the city reversed course and announced a runoff.

What led to the confusion

While the plurality rule was in effect, the city said last week that every mayoral election since 1995 was won by a candidate who earned the majority vote.

Each February, the City Council approves an ordinance recognizing the state Legislature’s dates for municipal elections, which is typically the first Saturday in May.

In last Friday’s news release, the city acknowledged that the city secretary “discovered that previous ordinances stated the Mayor would be elected by majority and was inconsistent with the City Charter.”

After a discussion with the city attorney, this year’s ordinance was “written to be consistent with the City Charter,” officials said.

“The ordinance (#2026-05) stating that the 2026 Mayoral election would be decided by plurality was approved by City Council on February 9, 2026 as part of the Consent Agenda,” according to the news release.

When the ordinance was approved, the city said Linnartz, City Council and city staff were not aware that New Braunfels’ charter was “in conflict with” the Texas Constitution.

‘We must follow the law’

Acevedo, who had served as New Braunfels’ city attorney since November 2011, spoke to the council and residents during the Monday meeting.

“In New Braunfels, for the last 31 years, the mayor has been elected under the understanding that it was ‘plurality,’” Acevedo told the council. “‘Why those ordinances have said, ‘majority’? Nobody knows.”

Acevedo counted herself among those at City Hall who had no knowledge of the city charter-Texas Constitution conflict.

“I did not know there was such restriction on the City of New Braunfels due to our (mayoral) term limits being longer than two years,” Acevedo said. “Again, as stated in the May 4th press release, I learned of the conflict by that phone call — that phone call that’s changed, seemingly, my life, and the life of many other good, hardworking people.”

Despite the error, Acevedo insisted that the city continue forward with a runoff election.

“We must follow the law. I am duty-bound, as I was then, to tell you that is the law,” Acevedo said. “And we must follow it.”

Acevedo requested that any decision made on her job status be done in public as opposed to a closed-door executive session.

When the vote was held, the first six votes were split down the middle: three votes in favor of firing Acevedo, and three votes opposing her termination.

Linnartz, who served as the tiebreaking voter on the council, was the fourth and final “yea” vote.

In a social media post early Tuesday morning, District 4 Councilman Lawrence W. Spradley said the election error happened because of “complacency.”

“Never take anything for granted and question abnormalities. In this case, she (Acevedo) had many small issues that should have been enough to raise questions & resolved with a simple phone call to outside counsel,” Spradley said. “She fell back on that it’s been this way for 30 years and nothing was questioned. Well, I guess it was just lucky nothing happened until now.”

“This decision was not an easy one, nor was it about personalities, (Val is a wonderful person) or politics just for politics’ sake,” Spradley continued. “It is truly only about accountability, transparency, and restoring public confidence after this complete unacceptable breakdown in the matter of our elections.”

What’s next

French and Linnartz are headed to a runoff. During the same meeting, council members decided that the mayoral runoff will be held on June 13.

In the aftermath of Acevedo’s firing, an interim city attorney has not yet been appointed.

Because city attorney is a position overseen by City Council, a city spokesperson told KSAT that any future item related to the role “will need to be addressed at a future City Council meeting.”

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• ‘A significant mistake’: New Braunfels mayoral race heads to runoff after results announcement conflicted with state law

Keldon Johnson had 21 points, De’Aaron Fox added 18 and Stephon Castle had 17 as San Antonio moved a game away from the Western Conference finals. The Spurs can advance to face Oklahoma City with a victory in Game 6 on Friday in Minneapolis.

>> Where to score free food, coffee after each Spurs playoff win

Anthony Edwards, who was limited to eight points in the first half, finished with 20 points for Minnesota. Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels added 17 points apiece.

Watch Spurs fans celebrate the team’s Game 5 win below:

Wembanyama returned after his ejection early in the second quarter of Minnesota’s 114-109 victory Sunday during Game 4 in Minneapolis. Wembanyama received a Flagrant 2 foul after elbowing Naz Reid in the throat.

Both teams continued to hammer each other, with Reid receiving a technical foul for pushing Wembanyama in the back on a Minnesota free throw with 2:24 left in the first half.

The foul fired up Wembanyama, not that he needed any additional motivation.

Wembanyama was 6 for 8 from the field and 2 for 3 on 3-pointers in scoring 18 points in the opening quarter.

After being approached by Minnesota’s Ayo Dosunmu after getting tangled up with McDaniels in the first quarter, Wembanyama would run untouched to the rim for an emphatic windmill dunk.

The Timberwolves opened the third quarter on a 14-2 run to tie the game after trailing by 18 points in the first half. Minnesota tipped away three attempted alley-oop passes to Wembanyama before they reached the 7-foot-4 post.

The Spurs recaptured a double-digit lead in the third spurred by Keldon Johnson’s block on Rudy Gobert’s attempted dunk followed by his short jumper after bodying Edwards under the rim.

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AP NBA: apnews.com/hub/nba

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Major donors aren’t giving. Liberal influencers are publicly questioning Martin's refusal to release an internal report on the party's failures. And Democratic operatives have begun informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even as most believe that Martin's job isn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.

Amanda Litman, who leads the Democratic-allied organization Run For Something, said she's been approached by senior strategists in recent days gauging her interest in replacing Martin. She declined but said many in the party have lost faith in the DNC leader.

“I think it’s a really hard job, and also Ken is not doing it very well,” Litman told The Associated Press. “I honestly think he’s going to have a hard time rebuilding trust.”

Part of the challenge for those Democrats frustrated with Martin, she said, “is that there’s not really an alternative.”

The criticism has gotten to Martin, said two people who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations. They said he's become increasingly paranoid, even inside party headquarters in Washington, where he did not install his own team after taking over last year.

Martin tries to press forward

The handwringing comes in spite of the Democratic Party's undeniable success in the vast majority of elections under Martin's leadership, which coincides with Republican President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Democrats over the last year have dominated races for governor and special elections for state legislative and congressional seats. They've also won campaigns for state supreme court, county executive and even county sheriff.

Less than six months before the 2026 midterm elections, however, the concern over Martin's leadership is, at best, an unwanted distraction for a party desperate to break the Republican Party's grip on power in Washington. And, at worst, the conflict will make it harder for Democrats to win in November, while undermining faith in the DNC as it coordinates the party's next presidential nomination process.

Martin declined to comment for this article. He has sought to avoid media interviews over the last week, preferring to keep his head down while focusing on improving the DNC's financial health and scouting potential sites for the presidential convention in 2028.

While in Denver, for example, Martin hosted a crowded fundraising event before three private one-on-one donor meetings in between calls to more donors in other cities.

Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, whom Martin replaced, said he’s upset and frustrated by those in his party who are publicly challenging Martin's leadership. Harrison was especially angry with Democratic operatives from the podcast “Pod Save America,” who pressed Martin during a recent episode about why he reneged on a promise to release a post-2024 election autopsy.

Even Martin's close allies described the interview as a cringeworthy moment for the first-term chair.

“Am I happy with everything that goes on in the party? No. Am I happy with leadership that sometimes you get? No. But do you see me going out at this juncture trying to make that case? This is not the moment for that,” Harrison said. “We have to be as strong as we possibly can going into November, because we have to win. Once we win, we can fight like hell.”

Asked if he thought Martin's job was at risk, Harrison said, “I don't think so.”

Martin's gamble

Martin is leaning into a 50-state spending strategy that his supporters privately acknowledge is risky.

The DNC each month is distributing $1 million among party organizations in every state and key U.S. territories, besides allocating $5,000 more per month to nearly two dozen Republican-controlled states, to help build party infrastructure.

The investments are overwhelmingly popular with local leaders even as the DNC struggles financially.

The national party reported $22.1 million cash on hand with $18.4 million in debt at the end of March, according to its most recent federal filing. The Republican National Committee, by contrast, reported $116.8 million in the bank with zero debt.

Despite the criticism, DNC national finance co-chair Chris Lowe said the cash disparity is the result of an intentional strategy Martin outlined when running for chair and has executed since taking over the building.

“We made a conscious decision to spend money,” Lowe said. “His view, and I would agree with this view, is the best way to position ourselves for the presidential (election) in ’28 is not just to amass a bunch of money, it’s to have a history of winning elections all across the country up and down the ballot. And that’s what we’ve done.”

Lowe notes that Martin raised more money in his first year as chair than anyone else in an equivalent year when the Democrats did not have the White House. And in 2026 so far, he said, the committee has exceeded its big-dollar fundraising targets every month.

DNC member Michael Kapp, a vocal Martin ally from California, said that he'd “love to have big donors come on board” but that the committee's bank account isn't what matters most.

“Republicans can brag about having more money but they’re not spending it, and they’re not winning,” Kapp said. “At the end of the day the scoreboard matters more than the spreadsheet.”

The secret autopsy

Beyond fundraising, the furor around Martin's leadership centers on his refusal to release the DNC's internal study of the 2024 election — known inside the DNC as the “after-action report” — despite his past promises to do so on his first day as chair.

Kapp, as is the case with many of Martin's allies, said “it's certainly something that should be made public,” but he's willing to accept Martin's argument that it's too close to the November midterm elections to release the autopsy now.

“I know there are lessons to be learned from that,” he said of the report. “I trust Ken. I’ve known the man for 10 years. But at this point, when we’re six, seven months away from the midterms, we need to be focused on the midterms.”

Martin has been aggressively courting big-dollar donors, despite their demonstrated reluctance to give to the committee. He acknowledged pressure related to the autopsy in some of the conversations and indicated changes could be coming soon, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions but not authorized to share them.

As Martin looks ahead to 2028, when the DNC is tasked with building out the political infrastructure for the party's next presidential nominee, some presidential prospects are approaching the intraparty conflict with caution.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who is expected to launch a presidential bid, did not answer directly when asked whether Martin should continue to lead the DNC.

“Ken and I work well together. And I say that being somebody who wasn’t originally on board,” Beshear said. “But he made an effort to reach out to me. And, listen, I want to work with whoever’s there. We need a healthy DNC. We need it to work.”

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AP writer Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed.