The 57-year-old Hiller replaces Craig Berube as part of an offseason overhaul led by new general manager John Chayka.

Most recently, Hiller served as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, compiling a 93-58-24 record over parts of three seasons. The Kings fired Hiller on March 1 following an 8-1 loss to Edmonton.

“(Hiller) has worked with successful teams throughout his career, connects well with players and brings a clear approach behind the bench,” Chayka said in a news release. “We believe he’s the right person to lead our team and help us reach our goals.”

Hiller served as an assistant coach with the Kings for two seasons before being promoted to head coach.

A native of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Hiller spent 11 seasons coaching junior hockey, including stints with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and several teams in the British Columbia Hockey League, before moving to the NHL ranks.

“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to return to Toronto and lead the Maple Leafs,” Hiller said in the release. “This is a special organization with great players, passionate fans and high expectations. I’m looking forward to getting to work with our players and staff and doing everything we can to help this team reach its full potential.”

The Leafs fired Berube on May 13 after two seasons, following a first-to-last turnaround this past season. After finishing atop the Atlantic Division in 2024-25 and making it to the second round of the playoffs, Toronto fell to last in the division and 28th in the NHL.

His firing came 10 days after Chayka was brought on board to replace Brad Treliving. Chayka called the Berube firing “an opportunity to start fresh,” and said the team would go through a wide-ranging search.

Along with making some new front-office additions, Chayka traded goaltender Joseph Woll and depth defenseman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for blue-liner Emil Andrae, goalie Samuel Ersson and a third-round pick at next week’s NHL draft.

Toronto owns the No. 1 pick in the draft, a first since taking Auston Matthews atop the 2016 draft.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

In an unusually short statement after their two-day meeting, Fed officials dropped language that had suggested their next move would be to cut their key rate. The brief statement likely reflects the influence of new chair Kevin Warsh, appointed by Trump, who has previously criticized the Fed for commenting too broadly on the economy.

In a set of quarterly projections, nine Fed officials said they expected at least one rate hike this year, with six supporting two or more. It’s a sharp change from March, when no policymakers penciled in a hike and the committee as a whole forecast one cut in 2026. The change is an acknowledgement that inflation is at its highest level in three years and many officials have said in recent speeches that if inflation doesn’t decline, higher rates may be necessary as early as the end of the year.

All told, another eight officials signaled they would support keeping the rate unchanged, and one penciled in a cut.

In another sign of how Warsh may change the way the Fed operates: He appears to not have submitted a forecast for how the Fed might change its key rate. A chart illustrating the projections showed just 18 dots, even though there are 19 policymakers. He has previously criticized the projections for potentially locking the Fed into a specific policy outlook.

Wednesday’s policy meeting is the first for Warsh, who was appointed by Trump after the president sharply criticized Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, for not reducing rates deeply enough. The attacks largely backfired because they prompted Powell to stay on the Fed’s governing board, where he voted Wednesday in favor of keeping rates at about 3.6%.

Warsh now faces a difficult choice: The Fed typically seeks to combat inflation by lifting interest rates to slow borrowing and spending and cool the economy. Yet taking such a step would likely attract the ire of the White House, and could lift the cost of mortgages, auto loans, and other borrowing, just before the midterm elections.

If the Iran war is resolved, gas prices will likely continue to decline and inflation may cool in the coming months. But prices of many goods and services — such as clothes, dental care, and child care — were rising before the Iran war, and inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for five years, suggesting that there may still be inflationary pressures in the economy.

Warsh also faces a sharply different economic environment than when he appeared to campaign for the job of Fed chair last year. Back then, he was outspoken in favor of lower interest rates, as Trump has demanded. He pointed to the development of AI as a technology that could vastly expand the economy's ability to produce goods and services cheaply, which would over time bring down inflation.

Even then, many economists were skeptical of his claim. At least in the short run, analysts note that soaring investment in semiconductors and computing equipment is contributing to higher inflation.

Indeed, since the Iran war began Feb. 28, inflation has accelerated to a three-year high of 4.2%, lifted mostly by costlier gas stemming from the Iran war. The Fed typically fights higher inflation by raising its key interest rate to cool spending and growth.

Trump has announced an initial peace agreement that could bring the three-month conflict to an end, but it's not clear if peace will hold. And even if oil flows freely out of the Middle East again, it could take months for prices of gas, groceries, and items such as airline fares, to cool. Already, inflation according to the Fed's preferred measure has topped its 2% target for more than five years.

At the same time, hiring has picked up in recent months, removing a key rationale for cutting rates. In January, the Fed forecast that it would reduce rates twice this year, as part of its quarterly economic projections. A big reason for those potential cuts is that employers were shedding jobs and policymakers worried that the unemployment rate would rise. The central bank typically cuts its key rate to spur economic growth and hiring.

But earlier this month a government report showed that hiring jumped in May, when employers added 172,000 jobs, the third straight month of solid job gains.

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly demanded that the Fed cut its key rate. Yet in recent weeks as inflation has picked up, he has said he wants “Kevin” to be independent and make his own decisions. But he also said earlier this month that the Fed shouldn't raise rates, despite higher inflation.

Trump repeatedly attacked Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, for not cutting rates deeply enough. In January, the Department of Justice even launched an unprecedented investigation into Powell over brief testimony he gave last July about a building renovation. A federal judge threw out the DOJ's subpoenas in the case and the government dropped the investigation.

The move largely backfired, as Powell decided to stay on the Fed's board of governors even after his term as chair ended May 15. He can serve a separate term as governor until January 2028. By staying on, he has denied the Trump administration an opportunity to fill an additional seat on the seven-member board. Powell is expected to vote on the Fed's rate decision Wednesday.

Flash flooding was the main threat from Arthur, a weak tropical storm that the National Hurricane Center in Miami said would be short-lived. Maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph (75 kph), with little change in strength forecast before it is expected to dissipate by Wednesday night or early Thursday. A tropical storm warning remained in effect for a roughly 350-mile (560-kilometer) stretch along the coast of Texas and Louisiana.

The storm hung over coastal Texas on the same day a World Cup match was being played between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Houston. The stadium is covered, and no plans were announced to move or reschedule the match.

National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan said during a briefing that flash flood warnings were already being issued in the Houston metro area, with more likely to follow across the region, even after the center of the storm passes.

“The main threat from Arthur is going to be a prolonged, multiday, heavy rainfall event that could produce dangerous to life threatening flash flooding,” Brennan said.

A teenager appears to have drowned in a flooded retention pond outside Houston, authorities said Tuesday evening. A group of teens was playing near a construction zone and an adjacent retention pond when a 15-year-old boy entered the water, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said on social media. Rescue workers found his body using sonar technology following an extensive search.

“This incident serves as a solemn reminder of the dangers associated with floodwaters, particularly following periods of heavy rainfall,” the post said.

With the storm so spread out, forecasters weren't particularly concerned with when and where the center would make landfall.

“A lot of the winds have already been occurring along portions of the coast of Texas and Louisiana,” National Hurricane Center operations chief Dan Brown said. “And there’s also been a lot a heavy rainfall that’s kind of preceded both the development of the storm and center of the storm.”

Flooding was likely through Friday over parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, the hurricane center said.

The tropical storm is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters), with isolated higher totals near 20 inches (50 centimeters). The combination of storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.

Swells generated by Arthur are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along the northwestern Gulf Coast for the next couple of days. Tornadoes are possible through Thursday.

The center of Tropical Storm Arthur was located Wednesday afternoon about 55 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of Port O'Connor, Texas, according to an advisory. The storm was moving northeast near 9 mph (15 kph), and an increase in forward speed was expected.

Closing the three-day summit, French President Emmanuel Macron called it a “very good deal,” adding that U.S. allies in the G7 support it “because it’s an agreement that puts a stop to a situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies.”

At his own press conference, Trump hailed the deal as “historic” and said other G7 leaders say “they love this deal because they want to see it over.”

U.S. officials meanwhile dictated the text of the deal to journalists, with details released after the summit ended.

The accord, due to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday, lays out that the U.S. would work to end all U.S. and United Nations sanctions imposed on Tehran if a final agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program is reached.

“I think it’ll be done. They want to sign. They want to get back to a normal life,” Trump said earlier Wednesday.

The final day of G7 talks at a lakeside resort in the French Alps started late with Trump, the last to arrive, saying “I’m the boss” as he entered and sat next to Macron. The assembled leaders laughed, and Trump grinned.

The formal talks of the leading industrial democracies closed with sessions on the future of artificial intelligence and fostering economic growth. They discussed concerns that China is flooding export markets with subsidized products, unfairly out-competing their own industries and destroying jobs. Leaders of India, South Korea, Kenya and Brazil joined the meeting.

Trump later was having a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris before he jets back to Washington.

Resuming traffic on the Strait of Hormuz is key

Trump still has to sell the deal to some members of his own Republican party who doubt it will defang Iran’s nuclear program. At the same time, he faces an anxious international community looking for him to follow through on his promise that the deal will reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic and keep it open.

The G7 leaders said an international maritime mission led by France and the U.K. “can play an important role to facilitate the resumption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz by protecting merchant vessels, reassuring commercial shipping operators, and supporting verification that all mines are removed.”

Iran effectively closed the strait early in the war that began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Isreali attacks.

The deal also calls for an immediate end to all fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. That is one of the most delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon.

The agreement that U.S. officials dictated to journalists on Wednesday also has provisions to ensure “territorial integrity” of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory.

In their declaration, G7 leaders said they supported “through an immediate robust ceasefire” Lebanese efforts to disarm Hezbollah, and protect Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed nearly 4,000 people and displaced more than 1 million since fighting there began on March 2.

“Israel’s fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people are being killed,” Trump said.

Leaders vow to support Ukraine, tackle global drug gangs

In a flurry of unanimously agreed declarations, the G7 leaders stressed their support for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion and agreed to increase deliveries of air defense systems. They also said they would bolster sanctions on Moscow, including on Russia's oil and gas industries.

Trump called the conversations on ending the war in Ukraine “productive” and said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy want to “do something."

“They just don't know how,” he said.

Leaders also pledged to step up the fight against the multibillion-dollar international drug trade.

Trump has been waging his own battle against drug traffickers. United States military strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats transiting in Latin America have killed more than 200 people since September, when the Trump administration began an operation it has justified as necessary to stem the flow of drugs.

Critics have questioned the legality of the strikes.

In a separate declaration, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their efforts to halt migrant smuggling and human trafficking, which they said “constitute serious transnational crimes that erode the sovereign right of States to control their borders and expose smuggled and trafficked persons to life-threatening risks.”

Trump calls Modi ‘most beautiful-looking man’

Trump said Wednesday after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the U.S. is “very close” to reaching a trade deal with India, and then went on to lavish praise on Modi as “a very tough negotiator.”

“He’s the most beautiful-looking man. He looks so nice. He’s like an angel. But actually, he’s as tough as he’s a killer,” Trump said.

The meeting with Modi came at a choppy moment in the U.S.-India relationship, in part because of the war in the Middle East. On June 10 three Indian sailors were killed in a U.S. military strike on a tanker in the Gulf of Oman in the midst of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Modi alluded to the incident at their meeting, saying the safety of Indian mariners "is of utmost importance to us.” He added he was “confident” the issue of seafarers” will be a top priority during implementation of the agreement between the United States and Iran.

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Superville reported from Geneva. AP writers John Leicester in Evian-les-Bains, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Seung Min Kim and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed reporting.

The U.S. draft of the agreement includes a new ‘minimum’ standard for the dilution of Iran’s highly enriched uranium and toll-free passage of the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, though it doesn’t preclude future fees, the officials said. It also features provisions to ensure “territorial integrity” of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks there against Hezbollah, according to the officials. In return, the U.S. will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran once the deal is signed.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is wrapping up his time with world leaders in Évian-les-Bains, France, for the Group of Seven summit. Trump has blurred the timeline for the Iran deal’s signing — amid conflicting messages about whether the deal has already been signed — even as he tries to sell the tentative agreement as a pact that will ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.

Trump’s last stop in France is a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris.

Here is the latest:

Official says US or Iran could walk away at any time until they reach a final deal

The second official said the signed memorandum of understanding is final and has not been changed since it was signed electronically on Sunday. But the official said either side could walk away at any time until they reach a final deal, which they will attempt to do over 60 days.

The official referred to the plans to work with Iran to reach a final deal as a “gentleman’s agreement” and said they would find out in talks starting this weekend whether they can continue moving forward.

If talks with Iran do not seem to be working, then the U.S. could pull the plug on the effort to negotiate and return to “tightening the screws on them very, very aggressively,” the official said.

Oxfam’s withering view of the G7 gathering

A statement from the campaign group calls it the “summit of omissions” that was “defined as much by what was left off the agenda as by what was discussed.”

“Climate change, gender inequality and human rights were conspicuously sidelined to secure President Trump’s attendance. Silence became a strategy,” it said.

But the statement welcomed the G7 leaders’ call for a strong and coordinated response to the Ebola outbreak in Congo.

Trump says US isn’t giving Iran money but suggests frozen assets will be returned

He has repeatedly denied that the U.S. is sending money to Iran as part of a deal, but he said Iranian assets frozen during the war should be returned.

“It’s not our money, it’s their money, and we froze it,” Trump said. “At a certain point in time, I guess we’re going to have to give it back.”

Trump said he considered keeping the frozen assets for the U.S., but said it would hurt the strength of the U.S. dollar. “If we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again,” he said.

Trump jokes that if the Iran deal is a failure, he’s blaming Vance

Asked about the possibility of blaming the vice president if the deal with Iran doesn’t work out, Trump replied, “I like that idea, sure.”

“This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” the president continued. Then, striking a more playful tone, he added, “You better be careful, JD.”

Vance has become a leading administration voice promoting the initial agreement to end the war in Iran, even as Trump has occasionally contradicted facets of the agreement that Vance has announced publicly.

The vice president is expected to be part of the U.S. delegation signing the agreement Friday in Switzerland. But Trump joked of Vance, “He’s gonna turn his plane around and get the hell out of here.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry suggests deal with US may be signed by Presidents Trump and Pezeshkian

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday night suggested that Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian could sign the deal with the United States.

Such a signing ceremony would represent a major step for the two countries, which saw diplomatic relations break off in 1980 over the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, quoted by Iranian state television, made the comment.

Pezeshkian became president on a promise of seeking better relations with the West. However, he’s been sidelined for months after Iran’s mass killing of protesters in January and in the war as hard-liners broadly have taken over the levers of the country’s theocracy.

US officials read memorandum of understanding with Iran to journalists after days of secrecy; Iran has not released text

Senior U.S. officials have dictated the memorandum of understanding with Iran to journalists after days of secrecy.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to read the draft, which Iran has not released, ahead of a formal signing ceremony set for Friday.

According to the officials, the draft agreement includes a new ‘minimum’ standard for downblending of highly enriched Iranian uranium. Also, it has provisions to ensure the ‘territorial integrity’ of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory.

In return, the U.S. will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran once the deal is signed.

The U.S. draft of the agreement also only secures toll-free passage of the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, and it doesn’t preclude fees in the future, the officials said.

If Iran violates agreement, Trump says US will ‘bomb the hell out of them’

Asked how the terms of an agreement would be enforced, Trump said the threat of further bombings would be enough.

“What else am I going to do? Am I going to say, ‘I’m going to take you to court?’” Trump said. “You know, we’re going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement.”

Trump said he doesn’t think Iran will veer from the deal and said he does not want to resume attacks. But he added that “bad things happen in war — war is a nasty place.”

Trump indicates he doesn’t plan to hold US officials accountable for bombing of Iran school

Asked whether he’d hold anyone in his administration accountable for the deadly missile strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed over 165 people, the president suggested that no, he would not.

Trump said it was an odd question given that the bombing had happened so long ago, during the opening days of the war in Iran.

He also said that all war is nasty and that, in this case, mistakes might have been made, but that “Nobody did it on purpose.”

Trump also said, though, that the Department of Defense is still investigating the bombing.

During a subsequent question, he returned to the school bombing, repeating the sentiment that war was nasty: “Bad things happen in war.”

Trump hints at diplomatic visit from Lebanon, offers sympathy amid Israeli strikes

It wasn’t immediately clear who would be visiting from Lebanon — Trump first said the president and then the prime minister would be coming to Washington “over the next week or two.”

Trump repeatedly expressed sympathy for Lebanon while criticizing Israel, calling it a source of tension with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah,’” Trump said.

Trump said he feels bad for Lebanon, adding that it was “a great culture.”

“It was an incredible culture, maybe the highest in the Middle East, for years and years, centuries,” Trump said. “And for the last 50, 60 years, they have been just trashed.”

Trump offers lengthy – and very meandering – opening comments

The president began the press conference by speaking for around 40 straight minutes – offering a steady, stream-of-consciousness-style monologue that covered everything from Iran and Ukraine to drug dealers hiding fentanyl in hubcaps.

Trump talked about not wanting to crash the U.S. economy during the Iran war and said he thought Russia and Ukraine might make a deal to end that war.

He boasted about securing the U.S.-Mexico border but said that Mexico “has lost control of that country” and suggested that smuggling cartels – which he said hid drugs in cars and car parts to move them over the U.S.-Mexico border – had Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum “scared.”

Trump also talked about reaching a possible nuclear accord internationally, even as he suggested that he’d avoided “a nuclear holocaust.” And he said he was looking forward to admiring the golden finishes of the Palace of Versailles when he went to dinner there later Wednesday.

Trump thanks China, Russia for staying ‘neutral’

As he wrapped up his meandering opener during his press conference, the president noted that the leaders of China and Russia - often allies with Iran - largely stayed out of the conflict.

“They could’ve made it much more difficult for us,” Trump said.

China, in particular, had weapons that could “knock down airplanes,” he said.

“I said. ‘I would really appreciate your not giving or selling any of that stuff to Iran,’” Trump continued. “And you know what? For the most part, he didn’t.”

Trump again denies $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, traces it to Vance statement

“JD made a statement. It was a perfect statement, and they reported it in a very strange way. But that’s because that’s why it’s fake news, I guess,” Trump said.

He emphasized that the U.S. is “not investing any money” even though he said Tehran will need aid to recover.

Trump says an Iran deal will be signed ‘shortly’ and that a copy has been sent to Israel

Amid conflicting messages from Trump and top administration officials about whether an initial deal to end the war in Iran had already been signed, Trump said the agreement could be signed “maybe tomorrow” or the next day, meaning Thursday or Friday.

Trump recalled his years as a developer and said, “My whole life is all about deals,” and that sometimes “Crazy things happen with deals.”

But he added, “We are going to most likely sign a deal.” He said Iran wants “to sign a deal, and they’ve been acting very appropriately.”

Exactly what the deal entails is a matter of confusion since Trump and his administration have refuted publicly reported details without providing concrete details, they say are correct.

Trump also said a copy of the deal would be released and that the U.S. sent a copy to Israel.

Trump shifts tone on US allies, praises their support for Iran agreement

After complaining for months that U.S. allies were doing too little to help the U.S. in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, Trump on Wednesday quickly shifted to praise for their support of a deal.

“The past two days have provided a chance to discuss the details of this historic agreement with many of our closest friends and allies, including the G7 nations and many presidents and prime ministers,” Trump said in remarks at the summit.

It comes after U.S. allies issued a statement welcoming the framework of a deal to extend the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said, “They all put out statements saying they love this deal, because they want to see it over.”

Trump says negotiating an end to the Iran war buoyed the stock market

The president suggested that fears of a weakening U.S. economy were a big driver for the administration’s work to negotiate an initial deal to end the Iran war.

“Every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship,” Trump said. “The stock market is more brilliant than anybody there is.”

Trump also said that the “one thing I didn’t want to see is, I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe.” He said that “could have happened” if the war had continued.

“The one president I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover,” Trump said, referring to the president whose policies helped exacerbate the Great Depression.

Macron defends red carpet treatment for Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to roll out the red carpet for Trump, including a dinner at the Palace of Versailles later Wednesday.

“Versailles is a diplomatic tool and an instrument of influence,” Macron said.

Using a soccer analogy, Macron said he approaches diplomacy like the French national team: “Whether I’m playing at home or away, my goal is to score goals. And when I host other teams, I try to give them a nice welcome.”

Macron says he has always trusted Trump

Macron said he has “always trusted President Trump” because they both have “always spoken frankly.”

That applies on U.S. tariffs issues, Macron said, after Trump threatened 100% tariff on French wines unless a European digital tax is dropped. Macron is still seeking a compromise that would avoid U.S. tariffs from taking effect.

“Partners should never impose tariffs on one another or create instability,” Macron said.

Macron says US limit on cutting-edge Anthropic AI is a ‘bad thing’

The French leader is taking aim at a Trump administration directive preventing the use of Anthropic’s latest artificial intelligence models by foreign nationals.

He said it is “a good thing” that U.S. officials recognize that cutting-edge AI models could be dangerous. “What do they fear? That these models could be used by others to attack them or attack us,” he said.

But the “very strong decision” from the Trump administration is also “a bad thing,” he said. “The reaction is in some regards strictly nationalist.”

Anthropic said it has taken its latest artificial intelligence models, known as Fable 5 and Mythos 5, offline to comply with the directive. The AI giant said it did not believe the steps taken by the government were warranted by the concern it flagged about a potential security issue.

Macron describes ‘an Evian moment’ on Ukraine

Macron said the summit, attended by Zelenskyy, helped convince Trump that Russia currently has no serious intention of negotiating peace.

It’s too early to say whether there would be a clear “before” and “after” the Evian summit, Macron said — future developments will determine its impact.

“But there was an Evian moment, certainly on Ukraine,” he said.

Macron warns of the risks of artificial intelligence

G7 leaders discussed the revolutionary technology on Wednesday, the summit’s last day.

The French leader, the summit host, called for regulation.

“No one — neither political leaders nor business leaders — can any longer ignore the impact of AI on our democracies, on our societies. That is why the possibility and the necessity of regulation have now become imperative,” he said.

Italy’s leader says the US-Iran deal created a positive atmosphere at the summit

Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said the existence of a deal gave leaders an opportunity to show unity among Western allies on major global crises.

“The U.S.-Iran agreement … clearly had a positive influence” on the summit’s climate, and all the leaders congratulated Trump, she said.

Talking to reporters at the end of the meetings, she said discussions were dominated by the war in Ukraine and developments in the Middle East and Gulf, adding that G7 leaders agreed on the need to sustain support for Kyiv and “maintain high pressure on Moscow.”

Meloni said Western unity is “one of the most effective tools” to create conditions for negotiations, with the goal of direct talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

She said Zelenskyy had shown a “sincere attitude” toward a solution, while “no serious signals have arrived from Moscow.”

Thune on why Trump is derailing Jay Clayton hearing: ‘Good question’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday that Republicans still plan to move forward with a confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, the president’s nominee for director of national intelligence, despite Trump saying in an early morning social media post that he wanted to cancel it.

“Chairman Cotton is planning to proceed, as you all know, with the hearing,” Thune told reporters. “And then from there on, we’ll just have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on what the White House position is on this.”

Senate Republicans had hoped Clayton’s nomination would help break the impasse over renewing a key national security surveillance authority that lapsed last week amid Democratic opposition to Trump’s temporary DNI pick, Bill Pulte.

Asked Wednesday why Trump was now holding up the effort, Thune offered a blunt response: “Good question.”

Macron says China is key source of global economic imbalances

Macron cited what he described as China’s industrial overcapacity, excessive subsidies and weak domestic consumption.

The French president said Europe needs to invest more and modernize its economies, while the United States must address its fiscal and trade deficits.

Macron hails initial US-Iran deal

The French president says it’s a “very good deal” and that U.S. allies in the G7 support it “because it’s an agreement that puts a stop to a situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies.”

It’s due to be signed Friday.

At his news conference, Macron is detailing the statements — nine in all — that the summit produced, on cancer, rare earths, the Ebola outbreak in Congo and other topics.

Macron hails G7 convergence on Ukraine, says Trump backed defense support

Macron said the Evian summit produced an “unprecedented convergence” among G7 leaders, including Trump, in supporting Ukraine, after he invited Zelenskyy to take part in the gathering.

Macron said “we all agreed to increase the supply of air defense capabilities, additional systems and interceptors, as well as long-range capabilities.”

Trump “emphasized the mobilization of the American defense industry and its ability to provide such equipment,” Macron told a news conference.

Macron also praised the leaders’ agreement to increase pressure on Russia, including through stronger sanctions, as “extremely important.”

Macron hails G7 summit as a success

At his news conference closing out the 3-day summit that he hosted, the French president is detailing the progress he says was made.

“It was a moment of unity, of high-quality discussions and of real cooperation between the leaders,” Macron said.

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

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve about where it sees interest rates going.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, coming off a mixed day where falling tech stocks weighed on the index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 125 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:27 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged.

Several stocks involved in the artificial-intelligence business headed back up their roller-coaster ride, supporting the market. Jabil rose 1.9% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, as CEO Mike Dastoor said that “AI infrastructure demand remains extremely strong.”

Broadcom climbed 5.4%, and Applied Materials rose 7.4%.

Such AI stocks have veered up and down in recent weeks and yanked the rest of the market behind them on worries that their prices shot too high because of the mania around AI.

SpaceX, meanwhile, erased an early gain and dropped 1.8%. It's potentially on track for its first loss since its ballyhooed debut on the U.S. stock market last week.

Outside of tech, La-Z-Boy jumped 19.1% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It benefited from revenue made at newly opened stores, though Chief Financial Officer Taylor Luebke said the company continues to have “a measured view” of the broad sales environment.

A report released Wednesday said retailers across the country saw their revenue grow at a faster pace in May than economists expected, offering hope that solid spending by consumers can support the economy. But high inflation has also made U.S. shoppers feel more discouraged about their finances.

The day’s main event will come in the afternoon, when the Fed will announce its latest decision on what to do with interest rates. The widespread expectation is that it will leave its main interest rate alone, as it has throughout this year.

Investors are more interested in the projections that Fed officials will give about where they see interest rates heading in upcoming years and what Kevin Warsh will say after his first meeting as the Fed’s chair.

Traders had been building bets that the Fed may have to raise its federal funds rate this year in order to keep a lid on inflation, which has accelerated because of expensive oil caused by the war with Iran. But oil prices have pulled back to $80 per barrel after the United States and Iran reached a tentative agreement on their war.

Iran is set to immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the deal is signed, and that would allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf once again and deliver crude to customers worldwide. The hope is that will take pressure off inflation.

As a result, traders are split on where the Fed could take interest rates through the end of the year. Some are betting on a cut to rates, which is something that President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for. But the most popular bet is for no move on rates, while some traders still see a hike as the most likely outcome, according to data from CME Group.

Oil prices ticked higher Wednesday following their sharp slides on optimism about the tentative U.S.-Iran deal to get the global flow of oil going again. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil rose 0.3% to $79.23. It’s still above its roughly $70 price from before the war, but it’s well below its $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.43%, where it was late Tuesday.

High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation have been threatening to slow economies and undercut prices for all kinds of investments.

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

London’s FTSE 100 was virtually unchanged after a report showed U.K. inflation remained at 2.8% in May.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

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

Such a signing ceremony would represent a major step for the two countries, which saw diplomatic relations break off in 1980 over the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to read the the draft, which Iran has not released, ahead of formal signing ceremony set for Friday.

According to the officials, the draft agreement includes a new “minimum” standard for downblending of highly enriched Iranian uranium and has provisions to ensure the “territorial integrity” of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory.

In return, the U.S. will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran once the deal is signed.

The U.S. draft of the agreement also secures toll-free passage of the Strait of Hormuz for only 60 days, and it does not preclude fees in future, the officials said.

Meanwhile in Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei was quoted by Iranian state television talking about the potential for the two presidents to sign the pact.

Pezeshkian became president on a promise of seeking better relations with the West. However, he’s been sidelined for months after Iran’s mass killing of protesters in January and in the war as hard-liners have taken over the levers of the country’s theocracy.

Trump casts uncertainty on signing plans

Trump cast some uncertainty on whether the signing would happen as planned. Asked how confident he was that the ceremony would take place, Trump remarked on the unpredictability of deals.

“You never know with deals, do you? But you’re going to find out pretty soon,” he said.

The U.S. and Israel went to war on Feb. 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, although Trump's goals in the conflict have repeatedly shifted. The interim deal stops the war before that aim is secured. Instead, it opens a two-month period for nuclear negotiations and appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.

The U.S. agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the offer to eventually lift all sanctions, for instance, represent major concessions that go beyond the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Trump withdrew America from that pact in his first term, declaring it the “worst deal ever.”

The accord likely will draw intense opposition in Washington, and it appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under criticism at home from the media, his opponents and even some allies as details emerge.

The deal will stop the fighting and start more negotiations

Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including ending hostilities, restarting negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, and reopening the strait, which is a crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas and whose closure created a historic energy crisis.

The deal includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. That is one of the most delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon. Iran has said Israel must withdraw under the deal, although the leaked versions make no mention of withdrawal.

The White House and other American officials have not published the terms and did not immediately respond to questions.

Trump has cited various goals for the war, including at times vowing it would end Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and its support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region. He also suggested it could lead to toppling the Iranian government.

The interim deal falls short of all of these goals, but Trump hailed it Wednesday.

“Nobody knows what it is, but it’s very strong,” Trump said in France, where he is attending a Group of Seven summit.

But he also opened the door to abandoning it: “It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs.”

Major concessions have been offered to Iran

Some concessions to Iran — including the full lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets — would happen gradually and be linked to progress in the nuclear talks, according to officials from Pakistan, a key mediator. They outlined some of the deal’s major points on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

But in the meantime, the U.S. will issue waivers to sanctions that allow Iran to sell oil freely.

The Islamic Republic's oil export revenues in 2024 were more than $46 billion. Its main buyer of oil, China, is believed to have bought at below-market prices because of its willingness to ignore the sanctions.

Granting oil waivers at the start of the 60-day talks strips the U.S. of a major point of leverage. Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 were sanctions on Iran's oil lifted.

The interim deal also opens the door to ending all sanctions Iran faces from the U.S. and at the U.N. — including those over Tehran’s weapons programs and human rights abuses — though it says the schedule for that will be worked out later. Still, that far surpasses the 2015 deal, which only lifted some sanctions in exchange for Iran drastically reducing its enrichment and stockpile of uranium.

The accord would also provide Iran with at least $300 billion to rebuild after an intense U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign — an extraordinary figure and another major benefit for Iran. The money also appears dependent on the progress of further negotiations.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said Gulf Arab nations would invest that amount. But Gulf countries would likely be reluctant to help Iran after Iranian attacks in the war destroyed oil facilities and other sites in their territory.

Trump reiterated Wednesday that the U.S. would not contribute and said it was up to other countries if they wanted to invest.

The pact would provide relief to the global economy

The deal provides a major win for the global economy — the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed before the war began. Since then, Iranian attacks on shipping and the threat to vessels effectively shut the strait.

The strait's closure drove up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Iran let out some vessels that paid tolls, something never done before in the strait, which has long been considered an international waterway. The U.S. later provided military support to get other tankers out, but traffic was nowhere near levels before the war.

The deal also says the U.S. will lift a blockade imposed on Iranian ports and that the strait will return to its prewar traffic levels in 30 days, while acknowledging Iranian mines may need to be destroyed.

Many issues would have to be resolved in future talks

The interim deal sets a 60-day window, which can be extended, to negotiate over limiting Iran's nuclear program, which has been discussed at multiple rounds of talks during Trump's second administration without success. The U.S. promises not to make threats of military action under the current deal after two rounds of talks were interrupted by attacks.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, though it has enough highly enriched uranium to build multiple atomic bombs, should it choose to do so, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In the interim deal, Iran reiterates that it will never build a nuclear weapon — a promise it also made in the 2015 nuclear accord.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Catalini reported from Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Evian-les-Bains, France, Darlene Superville in Geneva and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this story.

In an overnight social media post from the Group of Seven summit in France, Trump declared he was delaying the nomination of federal prosecutor Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence just hours ahead of his scheduled hearing, despite bipartisan praise for the nominee and Republican efforts to speed him through the confirmation process this week.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Republicans would go ahead with the Clayton hearing anyway, “unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination," but later he postponed it, saying it was “regrettable” that Trump had directed Clayton not to appear.

“Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly,” Cotton said. “While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”

Trump's attempt to delay Clayton makes it more likely that his temporary pick for the intelligence job, top housing official Bill Pulte, will take over when outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard leaves office on Friday to spend time with her husband as he fights cancer. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized Pulte, a Trump loyalist who has no known national security experience and has used his current administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the president.

That resistance that last week forced Trump to turn to Clayton, but he has continued to defend Pulte, calling him “fair” and “talented” in his social media post.

Caught in the middle is the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, bipartisan legislation that aims to prevent terrorist attacks by monitoring the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States. Democrats had said they would not provide the necessary votes to pass the bill unless Pulte's temporary appointment was withdrawn, and the current authority expired last week.

Further complicating matters, Trump said in his social media post that he would not sign the FISA renewal without his legislation to require proof of citizenship for all voters — which does not have enough votes to pass the Senate — and that he does not want to remove Clayton from his current position as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until his replacement, James McDonald, is approved.

Trump's post sent Senate Republicans scrambling, and it was unclear if they would challenge Trump's attempt to push back Clayton's nomination or try move it forward.

“We’ll just have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on what the White House position is on this,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday morning. He said he didn't know why Trump was holding up the effort.

“Good question,” he said.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Trump’s post an “extraordinary display of dysfunction from a president who seems determined to turn America’s national security into a political bargaining chip.”

“The biggest obstacle to resolving these issues has not been Senate Democrats or Senate Republicans,” Warner said. “It has been the chaos and confusion coming from the White House itself.”

Key surveillance program could be affected

Hanging in the balance is not only the identity of the nominee but also Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

National security officials across both major political parties have for years described Section 702 as vital for gathering intelligence that can disrupt terror attacks and espionage operations, though some lawmakers and civil liberties advocates have raised concerns over the government's use of information about Americans that is incidentally collected through the program.

Trump's post suggested that debate to revive Section 702 could be indefinitely postponed. As Democrats pushed back on Pulte, Republicans have sounded the alarm about the government operating without congressional authorization of the powerful spy tool.

A court order from March certified that the program could continue for another 12 months, though it's possible that communications companies could challenge the government's authority to force them to cooperate and share data.

Trump's delay of Clayton “shows he has no interest in getting FISA done,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "He has pulled the rug out from under his own Republican colleagues, and he’s doing everything he can to thwart it.”

Who is Clayton?

Clayton, a chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, has spent the last 14 months as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, one of the Justice Department’s premier posts.

His office during that time facilitated the unsealing of thousands of pages of court records from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, documents that were made public as part of the Justice Department’s release of records related to the late sex offender and his longtime confidant.

Clayton has also overseen the prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein but insists she's innocent. Maduro and his wife have protested their capture and said they're not guilty.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Joey Cappelletti and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Aamer Madhani in Evian-les-Bains, France, and Darlene Superville in Geneva contributed to this report.

The fiery crash late Tuesday in Laredo near the Mexican border sent bystanders racing from their cars to help police rescue passengers and crew from the burning aircraft.

Video from the frantic scene showed someone trying to smash the cockpit glass with a sledgehammer, while others used makeshift levers as they worked to open the plane's door. Local officials said a firefighter entered the smoke-filled jet to extract one person still inside after the rest had escaped.

“While the loss of life is deeply regrettable, it is nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño told a news conference Wednesday.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating along with the National Transportation Board.

Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. said investigators working to reconstruct the crash were at the crash site Wednesday.

Police did not release the name of the person killed, citing a request from family members. Rodriguez said those on the plane included two pilots and three teenagers.

The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement.

The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement it was cooperating with authorities.

The jet went down at about 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Loop 20 highway, just a few minutes after its pilots radioed the local airport seeking to make an emergency landing. Their call to air traffic controllers “mentioned low fuel and a power outage,” Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez said.

“They had mechanical issues and they lost communication with the tower,” Sanchez said Wednesday, “and that’s when the accident happened.”

Dashcam video posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway and knocking down a light post before coming to a stop near the airport. The jet also barreled into a car, sending one motorist to a hospital in stable condition, said Laredo police investigator Jose Baeza.

Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier with the tail ripped from the fuselage.

“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.

Garza, who shot video of the scene as her husband ran to help, saw motorists leave their cars to try to help smash the cockpit glass. She said the plane’s door opened and three people who looked like teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another crew member tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.

Smoke billowed from the plane as a firefighter climbed into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger. Police officers helping prop open the door had to back away as they doubled over coughing because of the intense smoke. Police said five officers were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation.

“What was worrying me was the fire,” Garza said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”

This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.

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Golden reported from Seattle; Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut; and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

The fiery crash late Tuesday in Laredo near the Mexican border sent bystanders racing from their cars to help police rescue passengers and crew from the burning aircraft.

Video from the frantic scene showed someone trying to smash the cockpit glass with a sledgehammer, while others used makeshift levers as they worked to open the plane's door. Local officials said a firefighter entered the smoke-filled jet to extract one person still inside after the rest had escaped.

“While the loss of life is deeply regrettable, it is nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño told a news conference Wednesday.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating along with the National Transportation Board.

Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. said investigators working to reconstruct the crash were at the crash site Wednesday.

Police did not release the name of the person killed, citing a request from family members. Rodriguez said those on the plane included two pilots and three teenagers.

The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement.

The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement it was cooperating with authorities.

The jet went down at about 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Loop 20 highway, just a few minutes after its pilots radioed the local airport seeking to make an emergency landing. Their call to air traffic controllers “mentioned low fuel and a power outage,” Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez said.

“They had mechanical issues and they lost communication with the tower,” Sanchez said Wednesday, “and that’s when the accident happened.”

Dashcam video posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway and knocking down a light post before coming to a stop near the airport. The jet also barreled into a car, sending one motorist to a hospital in stable condition, said Laredo police investigator Jose Baeza.

Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier with the tail ripped from the fuselage.

“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.

Garza, who shot video of the scene as her husband ran to help, saw motorists leave their cars to try to help smash the cockpit glass. She said the plane’s door opened and three people who looked like teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another crew member tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.

Smoke billowed from the plane as a firefighter climbed into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger. Police officers helping prop open the door had to back away as they doubled over coughing because of the intense smoke. Police said five officers were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation.

“What was worrying me was the fire,” Garza said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”

This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.

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Golden reported from Seattle; Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut; and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Sandra Trevino, 52, faces an impersonating a public servant charge, which is considered a third-degree felony, authorities said.

Trevino is accused of identifying herself as a federal deportation officer during a traffic stop, police stated.

Officers said Trevino later identified herself as an ICE agent to court personnel and a police department supervisor while discussing the citation.

Police said the impersonation attempt was an “effort to circumvent the traffic violation.”

Trevino was arrested and booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Tuesday, jail records indicate.

She posted a $5,000 bond and was released early Wednesday morning, records show.

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Messi's three goals in the 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday saw him become the joint highest scorer in men's World Cup history alongside Germany's Miroslav Klose with 16 in total. It was also the first hat trick of this year's tournament and the 55th in World Cup history.

Hat tricks used to have a very different meaning

The term “hat trick” is well-known to sports fans in the United States and, just like soccer, it is used in hockey to describe when a player scores three goals in one game. But it was originally used in cricket and is widely regarded to date back to 1858 when English bowler H.H. Stephenson took three wickets off consecutive balls. It is said that a collection was made and Stephenson was presented with a hat to mark the feat.

The term has since spread to other sports to not only describe three goals, but anything from three consecutive wins, championships or even defeats.

According to the NHL, “hat trick” was used by newspapers as early as the 1930s and the Hockey Hall of Fame traces it back to a promotion by Toronto businessman Sammy Taft offering a free hat to a player who scored three goals in an NHL game in the city.

Messi joins a list of greats to score World Cup hat tricks

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it took Messi so long to record the latest feat in his trophy-laden career.

The game against Algeria was his record-extending 27th in the World Cup, two more than Germany's Lothar Matthäus. His first appearance was in 2006.

Messi became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat trick and joined a list of greats that include Pelé, Eusebio, Gerd Müller, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé.

The next target will be to join an even more elite list of players to have scored multiple World Cup hat tricks.

Only four players have achieved that feat: Sándor Kocsis, Just Fontaine, Müller and Gabriel Batistuta.

The first World Cup hat trick was scored by an American

It was at the first edition of the World Cup in 1930 that American Bert Patenaude scored the competition's first hat trick in a 3-0 win over Paraguay. But it took several decades for it to be officially recognized by FIFA because there was a dispute over the scorer of one of the goals.

According to the U.S. soccer federation, historian Colin Jose helped to convince FIFA to amend its records.

For a long time, England's Geoff Hurst was the only player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final as the Three Lions were crowned champion in 1966.

Mbappé emulated that feat in 2022, but he ended up on the losing team in Qatar against Messi's triumphant Argentina.

World Cup hat tricks are becoming less common

The most hat tricks in a single World Cup was eight in the 1954 edition. The only edition in which none were scored was in 2006.

The last time there were more than two hat tricks at a World Cup was back in 1986 when there were four.

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

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

The airfield where the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff on Monday remained closed but other base operations have resumed, according to a base spokesperson. No cause has been determined. Officials said it could take six months to complete the investigation.

The victims were identified as: Col. Gregory Watson, 53; Retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, 50; Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, 40; Maj. Alexander Davis, 34; Maj. Robert Dee, 40; Maj. Brad Hovey, 35; Jeromy Smith, 32; and Christopher Rischar, 41.

“They were dedicated professionals, beloved family members and irreplaceable teammates," Col. Thomas Tauer, commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards, said in a statement.

Watson and Middleton were Boeing employees and the company said their loss "is deeply felt across our teams, and our hearts remain with their families, loved ones and those who worked with them.”

Bomber was part of a test program

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress was taking part in a test mission as part of a program to keep one of the oldest aircraft in the U.S. fleet flying for decades to come. The bomber had arrived at Edwards in December after having a modernized radar installed at Boeing’s facility in San Antonio, an Air Force press release said at the time.

The plan was to use the bomber as a testbed throughout 2026 to help military officials decide whether to proceed with the B-52 Radar Modernization Program, the Air Force said. The program is aimed at making the 65-year old bombers operable through at least 2050.

For almost a decade before the plane served as a testing platform, it was based in Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where the bomber was the flagship of the 307th Bomb Wing.

Its pilot, Col. Bruce Cox — an alumni of Texas A&M -- dubbed the bomber “The Spirit of Aggieland.” An Air Force press release from 2015 said that the bomber was “dedicated to former and future cadets that graduated from Texas A&M; University’s Corps of Cadets Program.”

Cox would go on to take his final flight aboard the bomber in 2017 before retirement, according to the unit’s Facebook page.

The crash came quickly

The aircraft took off shortly before noon on a clear day, heading southwest into the prevailing winds. It flew straight and crashed on the same 15,000-foot (4,572-meter) runway. The compact wreckage indicates the plane dropped sharply.

Aviation safety experts have said their first thoughts about what might have caused the crash were about a malfunction in the flight controls or engines, but it is much too early to know. Investigators will consider several factors, including the age and maintenance of the plane.

Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down at the base in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles (161 km) northeast of Los Angeles.

Lauren Smith told Eyewitness News KBAK-CBS and FOX58 that her husband, Jeromy Smith, was a flight test engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and died doing what he loved.

“It is such a horrible hurt, and I’m still processing everything that happened,” she said Tuesday.

The B-52, a long-range bomber that entered service in 1955, is designed to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons. It has been used in conflicts involving the U.S. military from Vietnam to Iran. .

Edwards is home to the 412th Test Wing, which conducts regular developmental testing of all Air Force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components before purchase by the service as well as throughout their life span. Test missions take place at Edwards daily.

The base is where Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager reached a speed of Mach 1.05 and broke the sound barrier in 1947.

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Toropin reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press journalist Josh Funk contributed from Omaha, Nebraska.

Thursday's ticker-tape parade for the new NBA champions will be a first. When the team won the title before, in 1970 and ‘73, they weren't honored with New York's signature procession.

Why not? There's no one definitive explanation. But there is some informative context: The '70s wins came at a time when then-Mayor John Lindsay had reined in the confetti-tossing spectacles. He celebrated the Knicks at the mayoral mansion and then City Hall — august settings, for sure, but not the fabled trip through lower Broadway’s “Canyon of Heroes.”

If there's pent-up demand for a Knicks parade, current Mayor Zohran Mamdani seems determined to meet it. He has predicted that Thursday’s celebration might be “the largest parade in New York City history.”

“There will be performances, there will be New Yorkers, there will be the team and there will be history,” the mayor, a Democrat, said Monday while visiting a city facility that prepared temporary “Champions Way” signs for the parade route.

The event is set to start at 10 a.m. Thursday near Battery Park and end at City Hall, where Mamdani plans to give the players the keys to the city.

Police plan to deploy 10,000 officers to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks' run to victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Some 650 sanitation workers have been assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilos) of debris, if recent history is any guide.

How ticker-tape parades started

New York's ticker-tape tradition began in the late 19th century, when brokerage firm workers watched parades from office windows and — apparently to add decoration — flung out the narrow paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines, according to the Downtown Alliance, a lower Manhattan advocacy group. It joined with the private Museum of the City of New York to research and list the parades.

The organizations say the ticker-tape tradition began with an 1886 event honoring the dedication of the Statue of Liberty and became city-organized in 1919 to welcome returning World War I soldiers. The first ticker-tape celebration of athletes was a tribute to the 1924 U.S. Olympic team.

The parades proliferated, celebrating various feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more, according to the museum and the Downtown Alliance.

Processions honored historical anniversaries, firefighters, the Red Cross, ship rescues, an attempted ship rescue and even a ship replica (the Mayflower II, in 1957). There were a handful of parades for U.S. presidents and dozens for visiting foreign leaders, some notorious. For example, French Marshal Henri Petain was showered with ticker tape in 1931 and later convicted of treason for heading the Vichy government that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Why they tapered off

By the time Lindsay took office in 1966, not everyone loved a parade.

Lower Manhattan businesses resented the frequent disruptions, and some New Yorkers saw the celebrations as rote and manufactured. Lindsay and his public events commissioner — former Knicks captain and jump-shot ace John “Bud” Palmer — eschewed ticker-tape extravaganzas for visiting dignitaries, instead favoring more personal and inexpensive gatherings, according to news stories by The Associated Press and other outlets at the time.

By 1970, the nation was in a recession. The city events budget had been cut, and Palmer — whose salary was a symbolic $1 — was peeved about the rejection of a $372 bill (about $3,300 today) for some materials for a 1969 ticker-tape parade celebrating the New York Mets' World Series win, according to memos unearthed by the city Department of Records & Information Services.

There was no ticker-tape bash for the New York Jets' 1970 Super Bowl win, which came days after such a parade honored the Apollo 8 astronauts ' historic orbit around the moon.

How the city celebrated the Knicks' 1970s titles

The Knicks topped the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship later that year. Lindsay, a liberal Republican, sent a congratulatory telegram and hosted the Knicks for a reception at the official mayoral residence, according to news coverage at the time.

When the Knicks bested the Lakers again to win the 1973 title, Lindsay scheduled a celebration in front of City Hall and urged “every New Yorker who can to come.”

Officials apparently were startled when more than 2,000 mostly young fans did just that. Police struggled to keep the speakers' stand clear, according to a New York Times article from the day.

But the ceremony went ahead as planned, and Lindsay bestowed the team with a distinctly municipal honor: medals commemorating the 75th anniversary of the unification of New York's five boroughs into one city.

Parades for championship sports teams picked up in subsequent decades. The city's most recent ticker-tape festivities honored the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2024.

Hamilton appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at a hearing where lawmakers assessed a group of 10 nominees for administration posts.

“My focus will be to ensure that FEMA is objective, is fair and reasonable, follows the law, and is consistent” in how it reviews disaster declaration requests, Hamilton told Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the committee. Peters had asked about partisanship in granting major disaster declarations.

Hamilton had a brief tenure as FEMA's temporary leader early last year but was ousted after defending the agency's existence. At a House hearing in May 2025, he said he did not “believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate” FEMA. He was fired the next day.

His nomination comes as the Republican administration has increasingly signaled it is backing away from promises to dismantle an agency that has been heavily criticized by the president.

If confirmed, he would be FEMA’s first permanent administrator in Trump’s second term. He will need to lead FEMA through what is expected to be a busy summer disaster season, while answering to Trump, who is likely to expect major changes after a council he appointed recommended sweeping moves at the agency that is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Hamilton distanced himself from some FEMA controversies

Nominees did not give opening statements, but Hamilton received the bulk of lawmakers' questions while appearing with four others in the first half of the hearing.

His answers suggested a departure from some of the more aggressive policies considered and enacted during Kristi Noem’s turbulent leadership at DHS. FEMA’s workforce has been worn down by mass staff departures, policies that hamstrung operations and a protracted DHS shutdown.

Hamilton expressed faith in the FEMA staff and praised the recent opening of 350 positions to counteract some of the cuts. He said that if confirmed by the Senate, he would do what he could to speed up disaster declaration decisions and reimbursements to states, tribes and territories.

“We owe you answers, I think, much faster,” he told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, adding that many FEMA processes needed to be simplified.

Hamilton disavowed a recommendation he included in an April 2025 memo to quadruple the threshold of financial damages a state needed to prove to receive FEMA public assistance. He also noted the importance of resilience funding, despite halting billions in resilience grants during his previous tenure.

Republican and Democratic senators at the hearing expressed support for FEMA's mission, despite Trump’s early threats to eliminate it. “I think what your agency does is hugely important,” Hawley told Hamilton.

But multiple Democrats echoed Peters' concern that Trump was approving far more disaster declaration requests from Republican states than Democratic ones.

Of the state disaster declaration requests Trump answered through the end of May, he approved about 82% from states that voted for him in the last election and 44% from states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris, according to an analysis of public FEMA data by Andrew Rumbach, senior fellow at the nonpartisan think tank Urban Institute.

Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, has never worked as a state or local emergency manager and has publicly criticized FEMA in the past. He has held positions at DHS and the State Department related to emergency response.

No senator questioned Hamilton’s suitability for the position.

Federal law requires the FEMA administrator to have “a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security” and at least five years of “executive leadership and management experience.”

Criticism over the hearing format

Peters criticized the committee chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for scheduling so many nominees at once, saying that made it more difficult for senators to properly screen them.

“The lineup today severely limits our ability to have transparency for the American public,” Peters said. He noted that Hamilton was among two nominees whose FBI background investigations were not yet complete, and that two others had not submitted their financial disclosure reports.

Others who appeared included Trump’s pick for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Hal Duncan, and administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, David Cummins.

Paul said the committee would only vote on the nominees when their financial and background checks were complete.

House Speaker Jon Burns sent Kemp a letter hours before a special session was set to begin Wednesday, and he announced the decision as demonstrators filled the Georgia Capitol with chants of “Black voters matter!”

The decision marked a setback for both Kemp and President Donald Trump, who has urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts to their advantage. Ten states already have enacted new congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections. Georgia would have been the first to change districts for the 2028 elections.

Burns said lawmakers want to take their time after the court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander and laid the groundwork for other Southern states to redraw their congressional districts. Burns said it was more important for lawmakers to focus on economic matters rather than “partisan games.” He also cited pending litigation over existing Georgia districts and the need for the state to understand the full ramifications for how race can or cannot be used in redistricting.

Republican legislative leaders did not rule out revisiting redistricting later this year.

Minority voting rights are especially salient in Georgia, where the Capitol complex includes a statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and sits blocks from where the slain civil rights icon lived, preached and led the movement that yielded the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Conservative justices gave the green light

Before Callais, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was understood to require maps — for Congress, state legislatures and local legislative bodies — that gave historically marginalized minorities a reasonable chance to select candidates of their choice. Nationally and in Georgia, those so-called “opportunity districts” have disproportionately elected Black and other nonwhite representatives.

For example, about a third of Georgia's 180 state representatives are Black. Latino, Asian and other minorities bring the total nonwhite share to about 40% — roughly reflecting the state's overall population. Georgia's U.S. House delegation has five districts out of 14 total where the electorate is majority or plurality nonwhite. All elected Black Democrats in 2024.

With the Callais ruling, issued in April, a conservative majority of justices concluded that jurisdictions drawn with racial makeup in mind are discriminatory and violate the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause. The justices declared that apportionment should be “race neutral.”

Their stated reasoning did not hinge on party interests, and federal courts have said partisan gerrymandering is constitutionally permissible. But in Southern states, especially, party loyalty dovetails considerably with race and ethnicity. So the decision has allowed Republicans — a party dominated by white people — to redraw maps to goose likely GOP districts by redistributing nonwhite voters who tend to support Democrats.

That, many civil rights activists and experts argue, makes it impossible for Southern legislatures to be genuinely “race neutral” when drawing boundaries.

Emory University professor Carol Anderson compared Callais and the resulting redistricting push to poll taxes and literacy tests imposed by white Southern conservatives — and blessed by the Supreme Court — during the Jim Crow era.

“They used racially neutral language for policies that were clearly racially targeted,” said Anderson, who is also a board member of Fair Fight Action, a group organizing against the Georgia redistricting.

There were risks for Kemp and Republicans

It's not guaranteed that Georgia Republicans can get what they want from new maps.

Partisan gerrymandering involves redistributing voters — packing certain citizens into fewer districts or dividing them across more districts. Around metro Atlanta, spreading nonwhite, Democratic-leaning voters across more districts could make more seats seem to lean Republican. The risk, however, is that more battleground districts emerge because white metropolitan voters are trending less conservative, which could give Democratic candidates of any race or ethnicity more chances to win.

That's perhaps not a major factor in the Georgia state Senate, which already is considered gerrymandered for Republicans. But it could be a consideration when drawing state House and U.S. House maps.

Kemp was effectively asking Republicans, especially in metro Atlanta, to redraw their own boundaries and take on new, unfamiliar territory.

Trump started the fight before the Supreme Court decision

Nationally, a partisan redistricting battle started last year when Trump urged Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional boundaries to shore up the GOP's narrow House majority in Washington this November. Texas answered the call first.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in Sacramento answered with their own gerrymander that voters later approved. A succession of states followed. The outcome would have been close to even had the Virginia Supreme Court, controlled by conservatives, not struck down new Democratic-drawn maps approved by the state’s voters. All told, Republicans think they could gain as many as 16 seats from their redistricting efforts while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new districts in California and Utah.

That still may not be enough for the GOP to hold a congressional majority, given Trump's lagging approval ratings. But it could mitigate Democratic gains and set Republicans up well for 2028 and beyond.

The hip-hop superstar, formerly known as Kanye West, announced the sudden concert that is now expected to be one of the highest attended in Alamodome history.

KSAT reached out to the City of San Antonio for previous attendance records for musical concerts.

George Strait holds the current record with an attendance of 70,956 for his performance on June 1, 2013. The top five attended concerts are below:

• 70,956: George Strait on June 1, 2013
• 54,000: Bad Bunny on Sept. 7, 2022
• 53,899: George Strait, Reba McIntyre and Leann Rimes on May 1, 2010
• 48,942: One Direction on Sept. 21, 2014
• 48,709: Paul McCartney on May 29, 1993

Bad Bunny broke the record for gross ticket sales with more than $11 million.

Over the past few years, the Alamodome has seen a resurgence as a destination for major musical artists. A part of that is the relationships the Alamodome has built with the promotion companies, but also the regionalization of the market and proximity to the border.

“I think one thing that Kanye’s folks knew is in the San Antonio market, northern Mexico market, all the different areas that come into San Antonio to the dome for these shows, they know they didn’t need a huge turnaround to be able to pull this off,” said Richard Oliver, communications manager for the City of San Antonio. “They’re going to sell fast, and folks will be ready, and they’ll know to come in on that holiday weekend.”

Below is a list of the recent attendance figures for the Alamodome:

• 48,511 on September 3, 2025: The Weeknd
• 47,288 on October 25, 2024: Billy Joel and Sting
• 44,600 on October 25, 2025: Paul McCartney
• 43,189 on May 17, 2023: Red Hot Chili Peppers
• 43,000 on September 27, 2025: Chris Brown
• 42,190 on May 11, 2024: Luke Combs
• 41,441 on June 13, 2025: Shakira
• 41,071 on May 7, 2025: Post Malone and Jelly Roll

“Kanye is kind of an exclamation point on a timeline that’s pretty dramatic for the Alamodome,” said Oliver. “This is without a doubt between now and early October when Chris Brown and Usher come in, this is going to be the busiest stretch of the Alamodome’s history for concerts. I would dare say there’s probably not a facility in the country that’s tackled the number of shows that we’re going to tackle here over the next few months.”

This fall, the Alamodome concert lineup includes AC/DC, Bruno Mars, Karol G and My Chemical Romance.

Read also:

• Ye to perform at Alamodome on Fourth of July

The letters, which went to the governors of every state, are the latest in a series of actions from President Donald Trump's administration focused on fraud, waste and abuse in state-run programs that include federal funding. Like with most of the other similar announcements, the administration focused on issues in states where Democrats control the government.

“We are officially putting governors on notice,” Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said in a statement Wednesday. “The American people will no longer tolerate the blatant waste, fraud, and abuse of their hard-earned tax dollars — no state should allow it either. If states allow it, they will suffer the consequences.”

Labor Department offers few details

The Labor Department said Wednesday that poor oversight, outdated technology, weak identity verification and lax controls have “allowed unprecedented fraud to flourish.”

In its announcement, it cited problems in California, Illinois and New York — three states where Democrats control the governments.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office blasted the move and criticized “lax regulations and rushed distribution” of unemployment benefits by the first Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Meanwhile California outperforms other states in addressing fraud,” Newsom spokesperson Marissa Saldivar said in a statement.

The federal Labor Department did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the details of the alleged fraud.

The unemployment insurance program has come into question before

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office estimated that fraud accounted for between 11% and 15% of the amount paid out through unemployment insurance programs from April 2020 through May 2023, when the nation was under a public health emergency for the pandemic.

During that time — which included the last months of Trump's first term and over half of former President Joe Biden's time in office — access to the funds was eased, and the government noticed the issues as the money was going out.

In the new letter to the states, the department said that consequences from pandemic-era fraud “are still playing out.”

The Labor Department said states would receive further directives in coming weeks.

The administration has focused on fraud in state-federal programs

Vice President JD Vance is overseeing an anti-fraud task force focused on potential misuse of social programs.

The Department of Health and Human Services tried to withhold money for child care subsidies and other social service programs from five states — all governed by Democrats — but has been rebuffed by a court. The department has also announced it’s using artificial intelligence to police how states and other recipients of federal dollars are auditing their program.

The Department of Agriculture has threatened to withhold administrative funds from states that don’t provide data on participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including their immigration status.

___

Associated Press reporter Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California, contributed to this article.

A jury that accepts such a defense would be obligated to convict Mangione of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. An emotional disturbance defense isn't available in Mangione's federal case, where he also faces a possible life sentence.

New York Judge Gregory Carro announced the defense's decision in court two weeks after holding a secret hearing on the matter. He said he will unseal a transcript and other records from that hearing once redactions are made.

Carro said Mangione’s lawyers first raised the possibility of a psychiatric defense last year in a letter that was filed under seal and confirmed their decision at the June 3 hearing, which the judge said was held in secret at the defense's request.

“The reasons for the sealing was to give the defense an opportunity to determine whether they were going forth with that defense and the nature of that defense,” Carro said.

Carro said he didn't expect the development to delay Mangione's trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8. His next pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said he wants Mangione evaluated by a prosecution psychiatrist. To facilitate that, Carro said, Mangione could soon be moved to New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex from a federal jail in Brooklyn, where he has been held since shortly after his December 2024 arrest.

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13.

Mangione, sitting between his lawyers and wearing a blue suit, didn't appear to react as Carro spoke. At a February at a hearing, Mangione railed against the prospect of two trials, telling Carro: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

An extreme emotional disturbance defense wouldn't absolve Mangione of responsibility for Thompson's killing. It is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said unsealing the transcript of the secret hearing and materials related to his psychiatric defense will harm him in his federal case.

“The reason why we asked for the sealing is that this defense is not available federally and Mr. Mangione is being prosecuted federally and this is prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts,” Friedman Agnifilo said.

The judge had been set to rule on the matter Tuesday, but was forced to delay it a day because prosecutors failed to let Mangione's jail know that he was needed in court.

Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

At a May 18 hearing, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him. The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”

On Wednesday, Carro dismissed a charge related to a gun magazine that he had ruled inadmissible because it was found during an initial search of Mangione’s backpack at the McDonald’s.

To establish an emotional disturbance defense, Mangione's lawyers must show that the disturbance was so extreme it robbed him of self-control; that, in his mind, he had a reasonable explanation or excuse for the disturbance; and that he killed Thompson while “under the influence” of that disturbance.

__

This story has been corrected to show that Mangione could receive less prison time as a result of a conviction using this defense, not be sent to a psychiatric facility.

The San Antonio City Council will vote Thursday on $122.1 million worth of tax breaks, job training grants, fee waivers and infrastructure improvements as well as recommending them for another $20.7 million worth of help from the city’s power and water utilities.

In return, it hopes to bring in thousands of well-paying jobs.

Toyota, which opened its South Side plant where it currently assembles the Tundra and Sequoia in 2006, is deciding where to place a new vehicle assembly line in a “highly competitive” selection process.

The company has not said what model the new line would produce or what other locations it’s considering.

The city’s proposed incentives include:

• A 10-year property tax break worth an estimated $88.1 million
• Road and intersection improvements with $24.5 million of city money
• Worker training grants worth up to $9 million
• City fee waivers worth up to $500,000

The city would also endorse Toyota for a CPS Energy program that could reduce the company’s electric rates, worth $16.2 million, and recommend it for $4.5 million worth of San Antonio Water System fee waivers.

But on the same day council members vote on the incentive package, they’ll also receive a briefing on a “trial” budget that is expected to include insight on how the city can close a $131 million budget deficit projected for the 2028 fiscal year.

Belinda Román, an associate professor of economics at St. Mary’s University, told KSAT the Toyota expansion would be a “significant’” project and that the city would have already done its analyses, “So, yes, they can afford it.”

“The question is going to be: Does it play out the way it looks like on paper?” she said.

As part of the deal, Toyota would create 2,000 full-time jobs earning at the least the county’s average annual wage — currently $32.46 per hour. Román noted other strings included in the incentive package, like required spending on training, transportation or childcare for employees.

She thinks money from the project will make its way through the local economy and believes the city’s taking a long view on the investment.

“The calculus here is, ‘OK, we’re going to invest in this because the growth around it is going to be what we’re interested in, perhaps even more permanent,’” she explained.

The city’s Economic Development Department declined to comment for this story.

San Antonio’s not the only one flashing cash at Toyota, trying to bring an expansion to the South Side.

Bexar County is scheduled to discuss its own 10-year, $55.3 million tax break proposal next week, and Southwest Independent School District has indicated its support for a break of its portion of Toyota’s property tax bill.

San Antonio is also expected to nominate Toyota for a Texas Enterprise Zone (TEZ) “Triple Jumbo” project, which could allow it to get up to $3.75 million worth of state sales and use tax refunded.

Previous coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Why a new $2B Toyota assembly line in San Antonio isn’t a done deal yet

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Today on Texas Eats NOW:

HOOTERS

9802 Ingram Rd, San Antonio, TX 78245

13131 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78216

Hooters is a popular American sports bar known for its world-famous chicken wings, cold drinks, and lively atmosphere. The San Antonio location on Ingram Road serves up a wide variety of pub favorites, including hand-breaded wings, burgers, seafood, and shareable appetizers. With dozens of wing flavors ranging from mild to extra spicy, it has become a go-to destination for sports fans and families looking for casual dining and game-day favorites.

In addition to its signature wings, Hooters offers popular menu items such as fried pickles, loaded tater tots, Buffalo shrimp, and Home Run Burgers. Currently, the restaurant is highlighting two fan-favorite seafood deals: 1 pound of snow crab legs for $19.99 and a half-pound of steamed shrimp for $9.99 at participating locations. Combined with daily specials, frosty beverages, and a fun atmosphere, Hooters continues to be a favorite stop for comfort food and sports-viewing entertainment.

BURNT BEAN CO.

108 S Austin St, Seguin, TX 78155

Burnt Bean Co. is one of the most celebrated barbecue destinations in Texas, earning national recognition for its expertly smoked meats and inventive approach to traditional barbecue. Founded by pitmasters Ernest Servantes and Dave Kirkland, the Seguin smokehouse has built a devoted following thanks to its prime brisket, massive beef ribs, house-made sausages, and competition-level barbecue techniques. The restaurant has been ranked among the best barbecue joints in the state and is frequently praised for its consistency and creativity.

While the brisket remains the star attraction, Burnt Bean Co. is equally known for pushing barbecue boundaries with unique menu offerings and standout side dishes. Favorites include Hot Cheeto queso mac and cheese, street corn pudding, brisket croissants, chopped beef conchas, and decadent desserts like the bourbon peach cobbler taco. By combining traditional Texas barbecue with bold flavors and innovative recipes, the popular eatery has established itself as a must-visit destination for barbecue lovers from across the state.

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However, following the dayslong police operation, several of the cats died because of the harsh conditions they were found in, animal welfare groups said. They didn't elaborate or provide an exact number on the cats who didn't make it.

Since the operation, veterinarians and volunteers have flocked to care for the cats at a temporary rescue center set up at a facility run by the Ho Chi Minh City Criminal Police Division.

“People who lost their cats can come to the police station to identify their pets and help the police with the investigation,” police official Nguyen The Bao told the state-owned Tuoi Tre newspaper.

This operation is “a sobering reminder of the enormous scale of Viet Nam’s cat meat trade,” according to Karanvir Kukreja, who leads a campaign against dog and cat meat consumption for the international nonprofit Humane World for Animals.

Local media also reported that the Ho Chi Minh City police investigation into a spate of pet thefts resulted in the arrest of nine people

During the operation, police raided a yard and uncovered 45 cages containing around 400 live cats and four ice-filled foam containers holding approximately 80 dead cats. About 20 live cats were also recovered at a separate location, according to police, who said a kilogram of cat meat sold for around 70,000 Vietnamese dong (around $2.70).

The operation, with a total of more than 500 cats seized, was one of Vietnam's largest cat welfare cases in recent years, media reports also said.

The suspects admitted to trapping and collecting cats across south Vietnam over the past three years — in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest city, as well as in the cities of Tay Ninh and An Giang, police said.

“The sad truth about this trade is that thousands of cats every month are being stolen, trafficked and slaughtered for meat across the country,” said Phuong Pham, the country director of the Humane World for Animals in Vietnam. “Thankfully, these survivors escaped.”

Several of the rescued cats were pregnant, leading to kittens being born in police custody this week, she said.

Chris Gindelhumer with the nonprofit Vietnam Cat Welfare, who is helping care for the rescued animals, said he “saw quite a lot of tears in the last few days.”

“It’s really beautiful to see how many Vietnamese families are coming, looking for their cats,” he said. “But it’s also heartbreaking because many families were looking for their cats and didn’t find them.”

Many veterinarians and volunteers are working around the clock for the cats, Gindelhumer said.

Consumption of dog and cat meat is legal in Vietnam. Vendors must have permits to validate the animals' origins. But certain cities like Hoi An in central Vietnam are working with global animal welfare groups to stop dog and cat meat consumption in the city.

Not long after South Korea's 2024 ban on dog meat, Vietnamese officials said the government plans to rebuild parts of the legal system to better protect pets and the rights of their owners.

“This event surprised a lot of people and has raised awareness among many to stop consuming cat meat,” said An Pham, a master's degree student and avid cat lover in Ho Chi Minh City.

In a Wednesday morning news conference, Salazar said Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found Anthony Wayne Neasham in an unspecified county.

Neasham was identified as a person of interest after a disturbance Tuesday in the 7900 block of Cactus Plum ended with a 22-year-old man dead and a woman in her 60s seriously injured.

“We believe that Neasham is now deceased,” Salazar told reporters.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office is still working to identify the 22-year-old man, the sheriff said. Salazar believes gunshots were a factor in the man’s death.

“We did find evidence of gunshot wounds on that male, which is what we believe led to his death,” Salazar said.

The man also suffered a laceration to his throat area, the sheriff said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Salazar said the 22-year-old man and the woman are mother and son. Neasham was described as the woman’s boyfriend.

The woman is now conscious at a local hospital, but is unable to recall what happened, BCSO said. She suffered “severe” head trauma, specifically a fractured skull and a large laceration. Her condition is unknown at this time.

“It was most likely a savage beating that this lady suffered,” Salazar said.

On Tuesday, BCSO said it received a 911 call from a relative of the victims who had not heard from them and went to the home to check on them.

The relative knocked on the door but received no answer, then spotted the injured woman through a window, Salazar said.

When authorities arrived, they found the man dead and the woman suffering from multiple injuries.

BCSO said it believes a firearm was used at some point during the situation, though the weapon has not been recovered, the sheriff said.

At this time, it remains unclear what led up to the disturbance.

Read also:

• ‘I knew I killed him’: Man arrested in connection with South Side murder, affidavit states
• SAPD: Teen found shot in middle of North Side street dies at hospital

Retail sales rose 0.9%, up from a revised 0.4% gain in April, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday. Sales got a boost from generous government tax refunds in both April and May, though economists say that cash cushion is starting to fade.

Excluding sales at gas stations, retail sales in May rose 0.7%.

The figures aren't inflation-adjusted so higher prices likely helped boost sales. But economists point to healthy spending with increases that were broad-based. Business at clothing, accessory and furniture stores all posted sales gains. Online sales rose 1.5%.

There were a few weak spots. Electronics and appliance stores and department stores both registered slight sales declines.

The data offers only a snapshot of consumer spending and doesn’t include activities like travel and hotel stays. The lone services category – restaurants – registered a 0.1% decline. That might have reflected how high gas prices forced shoppers to cut back on driving to eating establishments, according to Sam Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macro.

But the so-called control group—which excludes food services, autos, building materials and gas station sales and is used to calculate economic growth—rose 0.7%. That suggests solid spending, economists said.

Consumers are the engine of the American economy, driving most of the nation’s economic growth. And the latest retail sales report underscores that spending has remained resilient so far this year despite rising prices. Solid increases in hiring have also buoyed spending, economists said.

"The stronger-than-forecast and broad-based gains in May retail sales show that consumers continued to spend strongly despite higher gasoline prices in the month,” Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic writes. “The large tax refunds and overall tax reductions for households this year and the recent strengthening in employment growth helped buffer the negative drag from higher gasoline prices.”

Tombs was more cautious about the spending outlook.

“Consumption regained some momentum over the spring, but the sugar rush from bigger-than-usual tax refunds will wear off soon,” Tombs wrote in a report.

Rising gas prices pushed inflation to its highest level in three years, U.S. data showed last week, with consumer prices rising 4.2% in May, compared with last year. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5% last month, after big gains of 0.6% in April and 0.9% in March.

There is a tentative deal to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but even after oil starts flowing again from the Middle East it could take awhile for the supply crunch to ease.

Gas prices fell about a penny overnight to $4.02, down 11% from a month ago, according to motor club AAA. The national average for a gallon of gasoline has not been below $4 since March, according to AAA.

“While the deal is encouraging, our industry is still holding its breath,” said Steve Lamar, the CEO of trade group American Apparel & Footwear Association. ”Our question now is, will this agreement be strong enough for our global industry to begin recovering?”

Lamar noted that unplanned costs continue to squeeze profit margins, with companies facing higher expenses for ocean freight, air cargo and packaging. He said that even under the best-case scenario, it will take time to stabilize.

The spike in gas prices this year due to the Iran war may alter some behavior, peace deal or not.

Even as gas prices continue to retreat, analysts say some shoppers will stick to habits they picked up as prices soared, like filling up the car at big box stores where they can get discounts.

Visits to gas stations operated by big box chains like BJ’s, Costco and Sam’s Club, which offer discounts to members, began to accelerate in early March, aligning with a sharp rise in fuel prices, said R.J. Hottovy, the head of analytical research at Placer.ai, which tracks people’s movements based on cellphone usage.

Craig has been the organization's American Hockey League coach in Henderson, Nevada.

Craig will address reporters on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Chicago-based Invenergy has agreed to end its four offshore wind leases that were very early in development in exchange for reimbursements of lease fees totaling $765 million. The company had already canceled the largest of the four in November, Leading Light Wind off New Jersey's coast. The others are off the coasts of Maine and California. It will invest that money in natural gas and geothermal ventures that can be built more quickly instead.

By buying back leases, the Republican administration is stopping offshore wind farms that President Donald Trump does not support, and redirecting the money to fossil fuel projects that he does. It adopted this strategy after federal courts thwarted Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind development through executive action. Trump has frequently talked about his hatred of wind power and calls turbines ugly.

“Under President Trump, companies are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. "We applaud Invenergy for recognizing the importance of baseload power and investing in energy solutions that deliver real benefits to American consumers.”

Hillary Bright, executive director of offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward, said these buyouts are not one-for-one ‘swaps’ for another kind of energy, since the fossil fuel projects won't deliver power to the same states as the offshore wind farms would have.

“Replacing coastal offshore wind with geothermal or natural gas infrastructure in another region does nothing to address rising ratepayer affordability concerns, reliability challenges or potential gaps in power supply in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic,” she said in a statement.

Eight offshore wind projects have been stopped

Under the first deal announced in March, French company TotalEnergies is getting nearly $1 billion — essentially a refund of its two offshore wind leases — if it invests the money in fossil fuels instead. Those leases were off the coasts of North Carolina and New York. New York is leading a lawsuit challenging the TotalEnergies agreement and Democrats in Congress are investigating it.

Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind agreed in April to end their leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million, provided they invest equally in fossil fuels. California is investigating the deal that ended Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind farm proposed off the state’s central coast. Bluepoint Wind was an offshore wind farm in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York.

Invenergy is North America’s largest privately held independent power producer. It has four offshore leases: a large lease area for Leading Light Wind, which would have used traditional turbines that affix to the seafloor; two leases for projects with floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine; and a lease for a floating project off California’s central coast.

Invenergy says it's focused on energy projects that can move forward today

For Invenergy, the deal offered a way to move forward with energy projects that could bring power to the grid more quickly for its customers than the dormant offshore wind leases. Trump has erected roadblocks for permitting wind energy, while trying to speed up fossil fuel development.

The company left the door open to reentering the offshore wind industry in the future. Daniel Runyan, senior vice president for development at Invenergy, said in a statement that at a time of unprecedented energy demand, they "will deploy additional capital into projects that can be delivered on a commercially reasonable timeline and meet customer demand while continuing to evaluate opportunities as market conditions evolve.”

Leading Light Wind was targeted for as much as 2.4 gigawatts to power more than 1 million homes. Invenergy told the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in November it was canceling Leading Light Wind because of challenges with the supply chain, equipment and vendors, and changing regulatory requirements.

The floating projects were so early in development that Invenergy hadn't yet calculated how much power those sites could provide.

Invenergy, a major player in the natural gas sector, has 14 operational natural gas facilities. It’s expanding into geothermal energy, with 45 leases totaling 144,000 acres in Nevada, Idaho, California, Utah and New Mexico. Invenergy plans to use the $765 million from the agreement for natural gas facilities in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, and geothermal development in the West. It was not refunded interest paid on the offshore wind lease payments or incremental development costs.

Invenergy has a large portfolio of projects other than offshore wind that produce electricity without warming the planet. That includes about 125 land-based wind farms operating and in construction, more than 60 solar and nearly 30 battery storage projects developed, and many more that it's actively planning and building.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental 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.

Musket balls and other artifacts from one of the American Revolution’s most consequential battles were buried just below their feet the whole time.

Inspired by a centuries-old map, archaeologists have been digging in the park that sits on the site where American patriots hastily constructed an earthen fort to slow advancing British forces at what became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Ground-penetrating radar identified potential locations for the fort in Boston's Charlestown section. Soon after digging the first trench, the team led by Joe Bagley, the city of Boston's archaeologist, found definitive signs of a ditch constructed hours before the battle on June 17, 1775, one of the first of the American Revolution.

“The part that’s really crazy to me is that we get to stand in the same ditch,” said Bagley, standing over one of the two dig sites, where soil is removed about 4 inches (10 centimeters) at a time, put in buckets and filtered through screens. Any items found are bagged up and identified.

Tea cups and wig curlers

So far, the dig has uncovered musket balls and parts of a musket from the battle. They also found objects likely left behind by British troops who occupied the area after the battle — including tea cups, tobacco pipes, sleeve buttons and a wig curler. There were nearly 150 combatants who died there but no human remains have been found, though a forensic archaeologist is on site to identify any bones.

“Everything about the ditch is from 1775. You’ve got musket balls, gun flints. It’s what you would expect to see,” Bagley said. “It’s pretty powerful because these things are being dropped in the middle of the battle.”

The start of the American Revolution is often associated with the Battle of Lexington and Concord, skirmishes fought on April 19, 1775. But many scholars cite Bunker Hill and June 17 as the war's first significant battle.

Historic battle

Rebels intended to hold off a possible British attack by fortifying Bunker Hill, a 110-foot-high (34-meter-high) slope in Charlestown across the Charles River from British-occupied Boston. But for reasons still unclear, they instead took a position on a smaller and more vulnerable ridge known as Breed’s Hill, where most of the fighting took place.

The battle ended with the rebels in retreat, but not before the British had sustained more than 1,000 casualties. Bunker Hill is often portrayed as an American victory, since the British failed to win decisively and it served to galvanize the colonies against the British.

Today, a 221-foot (67-meter) white obelisk atop Breed's Hill memorializes the battle.

On Wednesday, a church service in Charlestown will be followed by a procession that makes its way to the Bunker Hill Monument. A remembrance ceremony will be held there that includes a wreath-laying, moment of silence and musket firing demonstration. The dig also ends Wednesday.

Musket balls tell stories

At the dig site, Joel Bohy, a battlefield archaeologist who specializes in identifying American Revolution weaponry, marveled at what had been pulled from the dirt. One volunteer held in her hand two jagged stones — the gray one was an English gun flint while a beige one was a French gun flint. When the trigger on the musket was pulled, flint struck the steel, producing sparks that ignited the gunpowder.

They also found eight marble-sized musket balls from both sides in the battle. The markings and shape of some bullets showed they had been fired from a distance but didn't hit anyone. If they had, the balls would have been deformed.

“You can see the ramrod mark from when the soldier rammed it down. You can the little ring on the top where it was pushed down,” Bohy said, adding that “marks on the edge of the ball” show that it had been fired.

Where was the fort?

Using pick axes and shovels, more than 1,000 provincials and residents dug through the night to construct a ditch that was 3 feet (1 meter) deep and over 6 feet (2 meters) wide. They shoveled the soil in front of the ditch to make a 6-foot-high wall or parapet that reached 150 feet (46 meters) long on each of the four sides.

A map drawn by Henry Pelham two months after the battle showed a square redoubt on Breed's Hill. But it wasn't until the dig that anyone had confirmed the shape in the map was accurate. Previous digs in the 1990s had found items related to the battle and some evidence of the ditches.

“If you come to the site, we have the monument, we have a lot of maps on display, and the landscape is beautiful. But you can’t really see the fort, the fortifications that were built,” Bagley said. “Very little of what’s here visibly is from 1775. So, this trench is the reason why all of this is here.”

History comes alive

Beyond locating the fort, the dig also provides visitors a chance to hold “a piece of the battle in their hand,” Bohy said. “In a way, it makes the history more dimensional when you look at these objects from the battle itself.”

Several tourists from Colorado stopped by to watch the dig. One visitor, Greg Nockleby, who had spent a week in Boston learning about American history, said watching the archaeologists at work was a “wonderful surprise.”

“A live dig happening right now to uncover our nation’s history is amazing,” he said. “To see that there has been people here who have died for our freedom and our nation is very immersive.”

The business jet was carrying six people when it crashed onto Loop 20 and caught fire around 10 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. 

Baer, who was also a Texas Tribune board member from 2015 to 2017, was the only person who died. The other five passengers were taken to local hospitals with no serious injuries. Most of them were released shortly after, said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. 

Capital Factory confirmed in a statement to KVUE Wednesday morning that Baer died in the crash. The company said that for more than two decades, Baer was a “visionary force, mentor, and champion for the Texas technology and startup ecosystem.” 

“Josh was a fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us,” Capital Factory president Bryan Chambers said in a statement. “While we are devastated by this unimaginable loss, Josh built an incredibly resilient organization and a deeply capable team.”

The plane, a Cessna 680A business jet operated by NetJets, struck a car, whose passengers were taken to a nearby hospital with “no critical injuries,” Baeza said. Five officers were also treated for smoke inhalation and cleared at 2:45 a.m. 

After the plane hit the ground, nearby highway motorists and passengers assisted the people inside, according to footage of the crash’s aftermath. Two of them tried to break through the cockpit’s window by smashing it with a sledgehammer and a shovel. Most plane passengers were able to exit the jet on their own. 

The plane departed Tuesday evening from San José del Cabo, a city at the southernmost point of Baja California Sur, in the Mexican Pacific. It was bound for Austin, according to the FAA. 

At approximately 9:55 p.m., one of the pilots called the Laredo Airport to inform them that the Cessna was having “mechanical issues,” said Baeza. He requested an emergency landing. 

Five minutes later, the Laredo PD began to receive 911 calls about a plane crash on Loop 20. 

The mechanical issues that might have prompted the accident are not clear yet. 

“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the crash. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide future updates,” said the FAA. 

A police officer who was heading home after a shift witnessed the crash. He was one of the drivers who ran to aid the plane passengers. 

“We had first responders there almost immediately. There was almost no delay in response,” said Baeza, who thanked “the community and the heroism of many people who were simply on the same road and immediately rushed to try to rescue people they didn’t know at all.” 

The identity of the passengers hasn’t been released yet. Baeza said that some of them were family and friends who were flying back from San José del Cabo.

“The words I would say would have no meaning,” added Rex Heuermann, the Long Island architect who lived a secret life of violence for years before admitting he killed eight women.

The sentencing capped an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing mysteries. The seemingly unconnected and largely overlooked disappearances of young women became the focus of true-crime documentaries, books and podcasts after police began discovering the victims’ skeletal remains in the sandy scrub along a coastal parkway.

Heuermann, 62, will have no possibility of parole.

But “a million years isn’t enough,” Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, said. “Nothing will ever make this right.”

“You fill me with so much repugnance, I can’t stand it,” Robinson said.

Judge calls Heuermann ‘despicable’

As a series of victims' kin spoke, Heuermann sat with his hands on the defense table, looking straight ahead and lightly tapping his fingers. Then Amanda Funderburg, victim Melissa Barthelemy's sister, urged Heuermann to look at her.

He glanced in her direction, but his eyes were slightly downcast.

“I hope you suffer,” said Funderburg, who recounted getting a taunting phone call from him days after Barthelemy disappeared, when Funderburg was 15 years old.

JoAnn Mack, the mother of victim Valerie Mack, told the killer that her daughter "had dreams, and you took them all away from her.”

“Justice has been done, but it can’t replace what has been taken,” Mack said.

Heuermann pleaded guilty in April to charges that he murdered seven women: Barthelemy, Mack, Taylor, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Sandra Costilla.

Heuermann also admitted in court to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata, though he was never charged in her death. He said he strangled his victims, many of them sex workers, and dismembered some of their bodies.

“Are you at least a little sorry?” Judge Timothy Mazzei asked him Wednesday in a loud, indignant voice.

Heuermann nodded and appeared to mouth “yes.”

“You are disgusting — a despicable man, if you are a man at all,” the judge said, his voice rising. “And you are a coward.”

As Heuermann was led away in handcuffs, spectators in the packed courtroom seemed to jeer.

Victims' children recount a confounding loss

Most of the women disappeared between 2000 and 2010, and most of their remains were found on a parkway not far from Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan.

Costilla’s remains were found in 1993, more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away in the Hamptons, while Vergata’s remains were found in 1996 on Fire Island, more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Gilgo Beach.

Brainard-Barnes’ two children, who were 7 and 1 when she disappeared in 2007, underscored Wednesday how her absence shaped their lives and how she never got to know the adults they grew up to be. Her sister, Melissa Cann, said she lived with “survivor’s guilt” for decades, wondering whether she could have done something more to protect Brainard-Barnes.

“It was a weight I carried everywhere,” Cann said, sobbing deeply. But, she said, that guilt is “not mine to carry. It is for Rex and Rex alone.”

Liliana Waterman was 3 when her mother, Megan Waterman, vanished. The daughter said she didn’t fully understand what had happened until she was about 9.

“In an instant, my world was shattered,” she said. “Was she in pain? Was she scared?”

How the Gilgo Beach serial killer was caught

The case spilled into view in 2010, when investigators started to find remains along Ocean Parkway while looking into the disappearance of another sex worker, Shannan Gilbert, whose death was ultimately ruled an accidental drowning.

The case went cold until 2022, when detectives linked Heuermann to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.

Eventually, they matched DNA from a pizza crust Heuermann discarded in a Manhattan trash can to genetic material extracted from highly degraded hair fragments found on the women’s remains.

Investigators amassed other evidence, including cellphone and tracking data showing Heuermann arranged meetings with some victims shortly before their disappearances.

After Heuermann's 2023 arrest, prosecutors recovered what they described as a “blueprint” for the killings from his computer files. Among the documents was a series of checklists with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence.

Calling the man “a monster,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declared there was nothing Heuermann could say to mitigate his deeds.

As part of his guilty plea, Heuermann agreed to cooperate with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit to help catch other serial killers.

Heuermann spent the past three years alone in a segregated cell at the Suffolk County jail, reading crime novels, occasionally being visited by his lawyers or family, and striking up a brief correspondence with the infamous “Happy Face Killer,” according to Sheriff Errol Toulon.

Through their lawyers, Heuermann's ex-wife and two grown children said they did not attend the sentencing out of respect for the victim’s families.

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Peltz reported from New York.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo.

Drivers who came upon the burning plane, which was nearly sheared in half and tipped on its side, captured dramatic rescue scenes on video or rushed toward the aircraft on foot to help. Two people came running with a sledgehammer and shovel, which they used to strike the cockpit glass and try propping open the plane’s door.

The Laredo Police Department provided an update on the crash during a Wednesday morning news conference.

The plane crashed on the Loop 20 highway near the Texas-Mexico border shortly after 10 p.m., said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. He said one person on the plane died in the crash. A person in a car struck by the plane was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

Dashcam footage posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop. It came to a rest not far from the Laredo International Airport.

“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.

No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

The plane, a Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet, departed Tuesday evening from San José del Cabo in Mexico and was bound for Austin, Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

It’s not clear what caused the crash as it reached Laredo, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio. Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez told KGNS-TV in Laredo that the plane experienced a mechanical failure. He provided no details.

Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier. The tail was ripped from the fuselage and laying mostly intact on a lower-level road beneath where the rescue was taking place.

Garza began shooting video as she approached the scene and then stopped her vehicle across from the crippled jet, which was on fire.

She saw someone inside the plane trying to break the cockpit window to escape. Soon, people got out of their vehicles to try to smash the window from the outside as the fire on the fuselage continues to burn.

Garza’s husband jumped out of their vehicle to help and Garza then saw the door of the plane open. She said three people who looked to be teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another member of the crew tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.

As smoke billowed from the plane, a firefighter used a small ladder to climb into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger, while others shot water out of a hose at the wreckage. Rescuers can be heard calling for a rope as others use rods to hold up the plane door.

Several times, officers helping prop open the door dart away from the plane and double over in coughing fits because of the intense smoke.

“What was worrying me was the fire,” she said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”

This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.

NetJets said in a statement that the crash involved one of its aircraft and it is working with authorities. NetJets is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and allows people to buy part ownership in private jets.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• 1 killed when small plane crashes on Laredo highway; People leave vehicles to try to help

Preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is a key reason that President Donald Trump said he launched the war alongside Israel in February, but the tentative agreement he has trumpeted leaves little runway to negotiate the long-running sticking point. The previous nuclear pact between Iran and world powers, from which Trump pulled the U.S. in his first term, took many months to negotiate.

Under terms of the initial deal, Iran would immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to global oil shipments and would be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions, U.S. and regional officials say.

The accord, due to be officially signed Friday in Switzerland, also envisions Iran receiving at least $300 billion to rebuild after the war and says the U.S. would work to end all American and U.N. sanctions imposed on Tehran. That is if a final agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program is reached after the opening of a 60-day period for talks.

There is deep skepticism among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, pro-Israel advocates and Israel itself that the deal is realistic, workable or would have any effect on nuclear talks.

“My skepticism is Iran itself. What would a good deal look like? No enrichment. And we’ll see if we can get there,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close Trump ally and longtime Iran hawk, said Tuesday. “But whether or not we can get phase 2, I don’t know.”

A nuclear deal takes commitment to the details

David Schenker, director of the Arab Politics Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said “this administration has proven that it has a hard time keeping its attention on these issues.”

Schenker, who served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs in the first Trump administration, questioned whether the current administration would have the wherewithal to reach a nuclear deal even if the agreement is signed Friday.

“This is the kind of thing that requires dogged attention, attention to detail and numerous technical experts involved,” he said. “Trump loses his attention, moves on, and so does the administration. It’s like they don’t understand Iran’s strategy. They didn’t get it the first time, or the second.”

The Republican administration has maintained its confidence. Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that much of the technical details must be negotiated but that the U.S. must see action for Iran to receive incentives such as sanctions relief.

“Our plan under this deal is, again, the Iranians are getting a lot of benefits so long as they dismantle that nuclear weapons program," Vance told Megyn Kelly on her podcast.

“People always ask me, ‘Why do you believe it this time?’ I don’t believe them,” he added. “I don’t trust anything that anybody says. I trust what people do. And the way this deal is structured is that as they do more, they receive more. As they do less, they receive less.”

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.

It took over a year and a half to get the previous nuclear deal

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, took more than 18 months to negotiate, starting with secret talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Oman at the end of Democratic President Barack Obama’s first term.

They required dozens of direct high-level interventions from Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, not to mention a team of dozens of technical experts traveling to Europe and elsewhere before the conclusion of the negotiations in Vienna.

Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 before most of its more contentious concessions had come into effect, and there is no indication now that Iran is willing to offer much more.

The JCPOA relied on very technical language and understandings, including limits on uranium enrichment, advanced centrifuges and heavy water production. In exchange, Iran was granted significant sanctions relief, amounting to billions of dollars.

As unhappy as critics were about the JCPOA — Trump called it the “worst deal ever negotiated,” while all Republicans and a number of prominent Democrats voted against it — all sides acknowledge it took more than 18 months to get to an even imperfect agreement.

Republicans say Congress must approve any deal

Republicans say any nuclear deal with Iran should be brought to Congress, as required by law. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he “would certainly anticipate that” the Senate will get the final say.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he had little confidence Iran would abide by any agreement.

But Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., one of a handful of senators who has spoken to Vance about the agreement, said the shortened timeline could be an advantage.

“Iran’s modus operandi is to negotiate for the purpose of delaying, so they can rearm themselves,” Marshall said. “I think the president has to give them some type of a finite amount of time, or there’s going to be consequences. So I think it can be done.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., noted that what could help Trump’s negotiators to hammer out a nuclear agreement in such a truncated timeline is that there is “a base" to work from following the Obama-era talks.

Still, the JCPOA "took years to put together. You had allies and even adversaries — China and Russia — around the table, you had the IAEA at the table, the Obama chief negotiator had a Nobel Prize in physics, Ernie Moniz,” Kaine said. “I don’t know that either Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff have a Nobel Prize. So it’s going to be hard.”

Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner, neither of whom had any prior experience in nuclear negotiations, made numerous but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement under Omani mediation during the first months of Trump’s second term.

Those tapered off after the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, after which Pakistan emerged as the main facilitator.

There also is uncertainty about other issues besides nuclear that have been of concern to Arab countries, Israel, Europe and the United States.

Those issues, including Iran’s ballistic missile program, its support for militant proxies in the region or repression of its own people, do not appear in copies of an interim agreement that officials say broadly matches the document. The deal has not been publicly released.

It includes major concessions, such as Iran selling its oil freely, beyond the terms of the JCPOA. Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 were sanctions on Iran’s oil lifted.

“A deal is better than more fighting, but the war America and Israel prosecuted against Iran has fallen short of achieving its stated objectives,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “This agreement is mostly about cleaning up an unnecessary mess and putting the best face on it.”

___

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and representatives from the U.S. Secret Service spoke at a news conference at 10:30 a.m. at BCSO Headquarters.

The agencies said they’ve arrested 14 people who committed sex crimes. How recent these crimes were committed is unclear.

Among those arrested were “teachers” and people who worked, or are first responders, Salazar said. They collectively face an online solicitation of a minor charge.

“These are folks who have regular contact with children,” the sheriff said.

BCSO and the Secret Service said they have focused on cracking down online predator cases towards summer break because children’s internet usage tends to increase during that time.

Read also:

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• Man wanted by New Braunfels PD added to DPS’ most wanted immigrants list

Discussion

At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Arthur was located near latitude 28.6 North, longitude 95.8 West. Arthur is moving toward the northeast near 9 mph (15 km/h), and an increase in forward speed is expected today. On the forecast track, the low pressure area should move northeastward along the Texas coast today and then move inland over southwestern Louisiana by tonight.

Surface observations and data from the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected before the center moves over land. Weakening is anticipated once the low moves inland, and it could dissipate by tonight or early Thursday.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km) from the center. NOAA buoy 42035 east of Galveston recently reported a sustained wind of 38 mph (61 km/h) and a gust of 43 mph (69 km/h). The Scholes International Airport (KGLS) in Galveston recently reported a wind gust of 48 mph (78 km/h).

The minimum central pressure based on surface observations is 1001 mb (29.56 inches).

Watches and Warnings

CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:

The Tropical Storm Warning has been extended westward to High Island, Texas.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for, * High Island, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for, * Sargent, Texas to High Island, Texas

A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area, in this case within 12 hours.

A Tropical Storm Watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, in this case within 12 hours.

For storm information specific to your area, including possible inland watches and warnings, please monitor products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast office.

Land Hazards

Key messages for Tropical Storm Arthur can be found in the Tropical Cyclone Discussion under AWIPS header MIATCDAT1 and WMO header WTNT41 KNHC.

RAINFALL: Tropical Storm Arthur is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches, with isolated higher totals near 20 inches, through early Friday from the Mid and Upper Texas coast east-northeast into southern and central portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, along with western portions of Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. This could generate dangerous to life-threatening flash flooding.

For a complete depiction of forecast rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Arthur, please see the National Weather Service Storm Total Rainfall Graphic available at hurricanes.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?rainqpf and the Flash Flood Risk graphic at hurricanes.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?ero.

For a list of rainfall observations (and wind reports) associated with Tropical Storm Arthur, see the companion storm summary at WBCSCCNS1 with the WMO header ACUS44 KWBC or at the following link: www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc1.html.

WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area today. Tropical storm force winds, especially in gusts, are possible within the watch area today.

STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide,

Port Bolivar, TX to Morgan City, LA, 2-4 ft

The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the east of the landfall location, where the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves. Surge-related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances. For information specific to your area, please see products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast office.

For a complete depiction of areas at risk of storm surge inundation, please see the National Weather Service Peak Storm Surge Graphic, available at hurricanes.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?peakSurge.

SURF: Swells generated by Arthur are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along the northwestern Gulf Coast for the next couple of days. Please consult products from your local weather office.

A depiction of rip current risk for the United States can be found at: hurricanes.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?ripCurrents

TORNADO: A couple of tornadoes are possible through Thursday from the Upper Texas Coast into southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida Panhandle.

The enclave has seen near-daily strikes, as well as shelling and gunfire along the boundary that divides Gaza into Israeli and Palestinian-controlled zones. The most recent deaths were recorded after a series of Israeli drone strikes in the past few days on towns and refugee camps in central Gaza and Gaza City.

Also Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed two Palestinians and wounded six others in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, health officials at Nasser Hospital said. The Israeli military acknowledged carrying out the strike and said the target was a “terrorist” but did not elaborate. Families at the hospital said the strike targeted a group of people near the beach in the sprawling tent camp of Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians live.

Israel has said it is continuing to operate against Hamas and allied militants in Gaza and has expanded the amount of territory it controls inside the strip.

In a separate statement Wednesday, the Israeli military said that it killed two militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in strikes over the weekend.

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday said the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war that started in October 2023 had surpassed 73,000 in Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Photographer will be an engaging visual storyteller, responsible for shooting and editing news content under tight deadlines for broadcast and digital platforms. This position demands an individual who can work independently as well as alongside reporters and other team members to create impactful stories that resonate with our audience. Our ideal candidate is a proactive, motivated professional with a knack for innovative storytelling and a dedication to excellence in news production.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Operate cameras and editing equipment to produce high-quality video and audio for news broadcasts and digital platforms.
• Engage with the community to capture news stories, demonstrating a connection to the stories and the people they affect.
• Utilize creative editing and graphics to enhance storytelling, ensuring content is modern, clean, and distraction-free.
• Serve as a field producer & photographer on location, collaborating with the news team to plan and execute coverage.
• Identify opportunities for digital video content, including vertical video for social media, OTT, and website.
• Manage a complex shooting and editing schedule to meet deadlines ahead of time.
• Ensure brand consistency through the use of graphics, clean visuals, and on-screen text that align with our guidelines and storytelling needs.
• Act as a problem solver in the field, resolving technical issues under pressure and contributing to the team’s success under deadline constraints.
• Other related duties as assigned.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum 2 years of professional news photography experience, showcasing exceptional non-linear editing, lighting, and production skills.
• Proficiency with ENG/SNG operations, and capable of operating microwave trucks. Satellite truck experience is a plus.
• A strong understanding of computer/IT workflows and File Transfer Protocols.
• Demonstrated capability in innovative storytelling, with a preference for NPPA-style reporting.
• Ability to work independently and make decisive judgments in the field.
• Strong news judgment and digital media savvy.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 lbs. of gear and shoulder an ENG camera for extended periods.
• Willingness to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as required, as well as be on-call for breaking news and travel for assignments.
• A collaborative attitude and excellent communication skills to work effectively with management, colleagues, and community members.
• A valid driver’s license and a clean driving record.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Broadcast Journalism/Production degree.
• Advanced proficiency with Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Cloud products, and creatively inclined to explore new technologies.
• Previous recognition for high performance in news gathering and news production.

Interested candidates, please submit your resume and cover letter detailing your relevant experience to jefoster@ksat.com.

KSAT12

1408 N St Mary’s

San Antonio, TX 78215

KSAT 12 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, KSAT 12 will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

• TODAY: Hot & humid, heat index 100-105°
• EXTREME HEAT THURSDAY: Highs upper 90s, heat index 108-112°
• STORM CHANCE FRIDAY NIGHT: Next chance of rain is late Friday, Saturday

FORECAST

TODAY

Tropical Storm Arthur has formed in the Gulf this afternoon, however, it will not have any impacts on our forecast (other than helping temps to climb). Any heavy rainfall will get pushed into Louisiana.

This afternoon, high temperatures will reach the low-90s. However, high humidity will make it feel much worse. Heat index values will range from 100-105° for a few hours this afternoon.

EXTREME HEAT WARNING THURSDAY

Temperatures tomorrow will climb even higher. Highs will warm into the upper-90s. That means heat index values may briefly top 110° in San Antonio tomorrow. While we are no stranger to heat, we have not seen heat indices this high in a long while. If you work outdoors or plan to spend extended time outdoors tomorrow, you’ll want to be very careful.

RAIN CHANCES RETURN FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY

Friday will be hot, too. Thankfully, a weak cold front will slide south into the area by Friday evening. The front likely washes out over the area, but not before cooling us down some and bringing a shot at storms. Plus, an area of low pressure over the Rio Grande may also aid in getting some storms going Friday night and into the day Saturday.

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 50th edition of the nation’s largest Independence Day celebration in New York City will fire 85,000 shells in 30 colors from six barges, as well as host a new laser show from the Brooklyn Bridge. The fireworks show will be accompanied by a vocal performance by “The Voice” season 29 winner Alexia Jayy.

TV viewers can watch on NBC or see it simulcast live on Peacock from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST and live to tape on Central, Mountain and Pacific times. A Spanish language simulcast will air on Telemundo starting at 8 p.m. EST.

"'Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks’ delivers the largest Independence Day celebration in the nation through a show-stopping spectacle that reminds us of the power of connection and shared experience. We’re proud to honor our 50th Fireworks with an expanded show, never-before-seen effects and music’s biggest stars for a truly unforgettable celebration,” Will Coss, Macy’s 4th of July executive producer, said in a statement.

Then he scored again. And again.

Suddenly, any questions about Messi's hamstring injury, or whether he could help Argentina become the third team to win consecutive World Cups — even as his 39th birthday approaches next week — had been answered. With a brilliant hat trick in a 3-0 win over Les Fennecs, Messi moved into a tie with Germany's Miroslav Klose for the career scoring record at the men's World Cup.

“My tears after the first goal? I’ve had some tough days. It wasn’t related to football. And those feelings were because of that,” Messi said afterward, without elaborating. “I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me.”

Messi scored that emotional first goal in the opening minutes on a nifty feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the second off an opportunistic rebound early in the second half, and the third on a crisp strike moments before subbing out to a standing ovation from a crowd of 69,045 tilted heavily toward the three-time World Cup champions.

“At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say?” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “He’s incredible.”

Messi has starred in the World Cup for two decades

His incredible trio of goals came 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut in a match against Serbia and Montenegro — he scored in that one, too — and made the pride of Rosario only the second player to score in five editions of the men's tournament.

Messi has 16 goals in his record six World Cup appearances overall, and it seems inevitable that Klose's record will fall in the coming weeks. The hat trick was the 61st of Messi's career, his 11th while playing in his national team colors and his first in the World Cup.

It also was the fifth straight World Cup game in which Messi has scored.

“It makes me very happy to have lived through everything that came my way. What I’m living though now is the cherry on top,” Messi said. “I’m very happy an grateful for this wonderful group. I enjoy it so much.”

Messi upstaged two of soccer's other stars — Kylian Mbappé of France and Erling Haaland of Norway — who had big games of their own on Tuesday. Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a tie for fourth on the men's World Cup goals list with 14, while Haaland scored twice for Norway in its 4-1 victory over Iraq.

“Messi is a madman,” Haaland said in a post on Snapchat during Argentina's game.

Shaking off injury, Messi remains Argentina's engine

Messi had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami that slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup. But the eight-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, which honors global soccer's best player, had no problems in a tuneup last week with Iceland, scoring on a penalty kick while playing 20 minutes in a sharp performance.

“This is my sixth World Cup, and I still feel like I’m in good shape,” Messi said. “Fortunately, I’m doing well, and today we managed to win a tough match. It’s important to start the tournament with a victory in the first game, as that’s never easy in a World Cup.”

Messi's appearance against Algeria was the 200th of his international career, which began in 2005 at age of 18. The only players with more are Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who will play his 229th on Wednesday, and Bader al-Mutawa, who played in 202 for Kuwait.

Messi and Ronaldo are the only men to have scored in five World Cups.

“Class is permanent,” Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic said. “He's fortunate to have the privilege that the entire Argentina team works for him, and supports him, and for a number of years now — decades — he's done incredible things.”

Fans flock to Kansas City for a glimpse of the GOAT

Argentina is among four national teams making their base camps in the Kansas City metro. And much as it has the rest of the world, Messi-mania has swept through the area ever since La Albiceleste's arrival in the Heartland about two weeks ago.

On match day, thousands of fans wearing his No. 10 jersey trekked into the home of the NFL’s Chiefs on the outskirts of Kansas City, singing odes to their hero. Meanwhile, during a watch party at the downtown Power & Light District, a goat accompanied by former NFL quarterback-turned Fox broadcaster Jameis Winston came on stage wearing an Argentina jersey.

The humorous moment seemed to have foreshadowed a big night for Messi when he scored an hour later, and the argument that he's soccer’s GOAT — the greatest of all time — is becoming no argument at all with every match he plays.

“It’s an advantage to have Leo because of how he handles the group and pushes it forward. Because of who he is,” De Paul said. “He doesn’t care about individual records. He prioritizes the group, and for us it’s incredible.”

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

In a news release, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath pointed to math gains and middle school reading improvements as highlights of the 2026 results.

“We are encouraged by continued gains in mathematics, especially with the growing number of students participating and succeeding in advanced mathematics courses,” Morath said in the release. “The gains in middle school reading are also notable, as it may be associated with the statewide ban on the use of cell phones in schools.”

The results encompass assessments in reading and mathematics for third through eighth grades and social studies for eighth grade.

The TEA said science results for fifth and eighth grades will be released July 31, 2026, following a standard-setting process tied to updated curriculum standards.

The TEA broke scores down into four categories:

• Did not meet (the academic standard)
• Approaches and above
• Meets and above
• Masters

Statewide, fourth-graders recorded the largest math gain — up four percentage points — and more students are meeting grade-level standards now than before the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows.

Eighth grade students’ reading and language arts performance increased by three percentage points since last year, while students in seventh grade improved by two percentage points.

Here is how San Antonio’s three largest school districts — San Antonio, Northside and North East independent school districts — compare to averages across the state and in Region 20, which includes 58 districts in and around Bexar County.

Here’s a breakdown of scores by subject:

Math

North East ISD outperformed or matched the regional average in most grade levels in math, data shows, while Northside ISD closely tracked the regional average across grade levels.

San Antonio ISD trailed the regional average across all grade levels in math.

In its news release, the TEA noted the lower seventh grade math percentages seen across all districts — including the regional average — reflect a shift in who is taking that test.

Under Senate Bill 2124, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023, students who showed strong elementary math performance are automatically enrolled in advanced math courses, meaning more seventh grade students are now taking the eighth grade math assessment instead.

Below are the math scores for the state, Region 20, NEISD, NISD and SAISD:

STAAR math results by gjimenez

Reading

North East ISD outperformed the regional average in reading across every grade level in spring 2026.

Northside ISD closely tracked or matched the regional average in reading across all grade levels, while San Antonio ISD trailed the regional average in reading across all grade levels in spring 2026.

Below are the reading scores for the state, Region 20, NEISD, NISD and SAISD:

STAAR reading results by gjimenez

Social studies

The STAAR social studies assessment is administered only for eighth grade.

Statewide, the TEA reported an increase from 30% to 32% of students meeting grade level in social studies in spring 2026.

North East ISD and Northside ISD both outperformed the regional average in social studies, while data shows San Antonio ISD trailed the regional average significantly.

Below are the social studies scores for the state, Region 20, NEISD, NISD and SAISD:

STAAR social studies results by gjimenez

A full breakdown of district and campus scores from across the state can be found on the TEA website.

Read also:

• How high school students at San Antonio’s 3 largest districts performed in 2026 STAAR tests

Leaders attending the Group of Seven summit in France promised to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and ensure its energy supply, as well as step up international economic pressure on Moscow.

“The G7 Summit in France delivered important results for Ukraine. Most importantly, we agreed on additional strengthening of Ukraine’s air defense,” Zelenskyy, who attended the gathering, said on X.

“Our partners will ensure support for our defense and energy resilience,” he said, adding they will also introduce new sanctions on Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the summit at the lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains produced “unprecedented convergence” among G7 leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, on maintaining support for Ukraine. Trump and Zelenskyy have had a sometimes strained relationship.

Zelenskyy has spent a lot of time since the war began in 2022 trying to secure international support and isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin diplomatically.

Zelenskyy was expected at a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday. Ukraine on Monday officially started its EU membership negotiations, launching a process that could take years even as it fights Russia.

The Iran war has distracted Washington from its largely fruitless effort to end the fighting in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy sought to engage with Trump at the G7 gathering where key European leaders were also present.

Putin has tried to cut out Europe and Kyiv and negotiate Ukraine’s future directly with Washington.

G7 leaders praise Ukraine's battlefield progress

The leaders of Japan, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the U.S. threw their support behind Ukraine in a joint statement published overnight.

“We commend Ukraine for its resilience and progress on the battlefield in recent months and emphasize there is now a new momentum” in Kyiv’s resistance, it said.

Ukraine’s performance against Russia’s bigger army has improved markedly in recent months, Western officials and analysts say.

High-tech Ukrainian drones are pinning down Russian troops on the front line, choking Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine and disrupting oil production deep inside Russia that provides vital revenue for Moscow. That has made the war, which Moscow refers to as a “special military operation,” more visible to Russians and increased pressure on Putin.

But Ukraine is short of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles, in part because of American stocks being depleted by the Middle East conflict, leaving it vulnerable to Russia's ballistic missiles.

The G7 statement promised Ukraine more air defense capabilities, without specifying what type of weapons.

The leaders also said they would consider granting Ukraine licenses for it to manufacture Western weapons. Kyiv has asked for permits to make Patriot missiles itself.

The summit outcome shows that G7 backing for Ukraine is “as strong as seldom before” and sends a clear signal to Moscow, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

Russia says Ukraine attacked a children’s bus but Kyiv denies it

In Russia's Bryansk region, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus, Gov. Egor Kovalchuk said a Ukrainian drone struck a bus carrying a children’s soccer team. A woman among the 44 passengers, which authorities said included 28 children, was killed, according to Kovalchuk. Eight people, including six children, were wounded as the bus traveled to Russia from Belarus, he said.

But Ukraine’s General Staff dismissed the Russian allegation, calling it a “fabrication,” and saying its forces did not conduct drone operations in the Bryansk region at the time. Its statement reiterated that soldiers aim only at military targets.

In other attacks reported Wednesday, a Russian drone struck an equestrian sports school for children in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, hitting a stable and killing horses, a regional official said.

Staff at the school were not hurt in the nighttime attack, according to preliminary information, said Oleh Hryhorov of the Sumy regional military administration.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 157 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday until early Wednesday.

___

AP reporters Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Sylvie Corbet in Evian-les-Bains, France, contributed.

___

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

The disease has sickened humans for thousands of years and wiped out a significant chunk of Europe's population in the 14th century during what's known as the Black Death. Though rare, the plague is still around today and is treated with antibiotics.

“To understand our own history, we believe that understanding the history of plague is extremely important,” said study co-author Eske Willerslev, an evolutionary geneticist with the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Willerslev and other researchers looked for traces of plague-causing bacteria in remains from four cemeteries near Siberia's Lake Baikal. They found remnants of plague DNA in teeth from 18 ancient hunter-gatherers.

Dating the carbon in the bones revealed that the plague triggered two outbreaks, with the first cases detected around 5,500 years ago.

The team found that the prehistoric plague developed in stages and infected several small families. It likely spread from marmots — large native rodents — when people ate their raw organs or touched infected hides during butchery. The disease also traveled between people through coughing and sneezing, the authors said.

Many of those who died were young children aged 8 to 11. Three young girls were buried side by side, two of whom were likely cousins. An aunt and nephew were found together, but her niece was in a different shared grave, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

“People were around to bury the dead who knew who these people were when they were alive. And that’s a really human element to all of the scientific work,” said study co-author Ruairidh Macleod, who studies ancient DNA at the University of Oxford.

Kids may have been at greater risk because their immune systems weren’t as strong, researchers said.

The presence of multiple victims suggests that the prehistoric plague was capable of causing both individual cases and outbreaks, said geneticist Aida Andrades Valtueña with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. She had no role in the study.

Researchers found that this type of ancient plague evolved long before bubonic plague, which was responsible for the Black Death that struck medieval Europe. But there's evidence that earlier plagues were just as deadly. The disease decimated not only crowded cities, but also small, nomadic hunter-gatherer groups.

Knowing this can help us “understand the steps that the bacterium took to become the deadly pathogen we know today, and that can provide clues on how pathogens may emerge in the future,” Andrades Valtueña said in an email.

___

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.

The new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified earlier this year allows the league to play up to 50 games for the next two seasons. There can be up to 52 regular-season games in 2029 and for the rest of the CBA.

“Demand for the WNBA has never been greater, and expanding to a 50-game regular season reflects the extraordinary momentum we are seeing across the league,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement.

“This move reflects our commitment to growing the game and creating more opportunities for fans to watch the best players in the world and experience the extraordinary talent and competition that define the WNBA.”

The league is playing 44 games again this season. Over the next few seasons the WNBA is adding three new teams through expansion. Cleveland is joining in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. Connecticut is moving to Houston next year.

When the league first started in 1997, teams only played 28 games. That's grown over the past three decades with the exception of 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Engelbert has said she'd love to play games overseas starting next saeson. The league expanded its footprint to Canada this year with the addition of the Toronto Tempo — the first WNBA franchise outside of the United States.

The WNBA has added a lot of new TV and streaming partners over the past few years including ION, USA Sports, NBC and Amazon to go along with ESPN and CBS.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Ezra Aguilar, 21, was terminated from his maintenance worker position late last year, days after he was taken into custody by San Antonio police on a misdemeanor charge of family violence causing bodily injury.

Aguilar’s then-girlfriend told police he slapped her and poured bleach on her face during a dispute in the backyard of his South Side home in the early morning hours of Nov. 17, 2025.

Aguilar called police after the woman used a hammer to smash the front and rear windows of his SUV.

He denied striking the woman. Aguilar said he tossed a bottle at her filled with water and small amount of bleach he used to clean a dog kennel after she picked up a hose and blasted him with water.

“At some point, she got, like, really mad,” Aguilar told KSAT Investigates as he described the backyard altercation.

San Antonio police body-worn camera footage shows both Aguilar and the woman, who KSAT is not naming because she has not been criminally charged, being detained at the scene as officers attempted to sort out what happened.

Aguilar and his parents are seen in the body-worn camera footage repeatedly asking officers to watch the video of the woman smashing the windows with the hammer.

Officers declined to watch the video at the scene. Instead, they took Aguilar into custody while the woman was taken to a hospital by paramedics after she complained that her eyes were burning, the footage shows.

Aguilar told KSAT he self-reported his arrest to Public Works management.

He was given a proposed termination the next day, which became a notice of final termination in early December, city personnel records show.

Aguilar appealed his termination Dec. 12.

On Feb. 13 he appeared in person before the Municipal Civil Service Commission, which ruled that Aguilar’s actions were in self-defense and were not a violation of city policy covering domestic violence.

The commission voted 2-1 to recommend having City Manager Erik Walsh reduce Aguilar’s termination to a suspension for time served, commission records show.

Weeks later, on March 11, prosecutors dismissed the criminal charge against Aguilar, court records show.

Walsh, however, on March 31, went against the commission’s recommendation and upheld the termination.

Both Aguilar and his father Antonio Aguilar, Jr. said Walsh undercut protections for city employees disciplined over false allegations.

Antonio Aguilar Jr. is himself a City of San Antonio employee with 24 years of service.

“Before I’m an employee, I’m a father. Erik Walsh put his name on the paper,” Antonio Aguilar, Jr. said. “The city failed my son. SAPD failed my son.”

Walsh declined a request to be interviewed for this story.

A city spokesman instead released the following statement:

“The City of San Antonio has a zero-tolerance domestic violence policy for its employees and is committed to preventing and reducing domestic violence within our community. The City Manager reviewed the facts of this case, as well as the Municipal Civil Service Commission’s recommendation to reduce the termination to a suspension with time served. However, given the nature of the rule violation, the original termination action was upheld.”

City of San Antonio spokesperson

Seven months after the altercation, the woman has yet to be charged for smashing the windows.

SAPD records show officers opened a criminal mischief investigation on the day of Aguilar’s arrest, but a police spokesperson confirmed to KSAT no arrests have been made.

The criminal mischief incident report states the woman caused $1,000 in damage to the vehicle’s windows.

The woman did not respond to a social media message sent by KSAT seeking comment on the incident.

Walsh has overruled a city civil service commission before

Walsh’s decision on Aguilar is at least the second time in as many years he has gone against recommendations from one of the city’s civil service commissions.

In late 2024, Walsh pulled the application of San Antonio Fire Department applicant Juan Torres Valenzuela.

The decision came after the Fire Fighters’ and Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission determined Torres Valenzuela’s brief use of a psychedelic drug to treat brain cancer was for medical purposes.

After Torres Valenzuela again applied to the department a year later, Walsh again pulled his application.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic violence, there is so much help for you. KSAT has a list of resources on its Domestic Violence webpage, which also explains how to identify different types of abuse.

If it’s an emergency, text or call 911. For wrap-around services, including the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter, call Family Violence Prevention Services at (210) 733-8810.

You can also contact the Bexar County Family Justice Center, which also provides wrap-around services at (210) 631-0100.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

But the campaign hasn’t dented China’s industrial prowess.

The world’s second biggest economy is exporting more products than ever. It’s just redirecting them away from the U.S. tariff wall and toward more open markets in Europe and elsewhere in Asia.

The shift in Chinese trade risks creating a European sequel to the China Shock that wiped out hundreds of thousands of factory jobs in the American heartland in the 2000s and contributed to the political upheaval that put Donald Trump in the White House twice.

Despite U.S. sanctions, China last year notched a record global trade surplus — an astonishing $1.2 trillion.

Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Chinese exports are “literally killing a large part of the European industry’’ and admitted that Europe was “slow to see that.’’

The Europeans are clear-eyed now. China’s trade practices will be near the top of the agenda this week as leaders of the G7 rich democracies gather in Évian-les-Bains, France. In briefings last week, French officials indicated that they hope to come out of the summit with a plan to tackle the China threat.

The G7 leaders didn’t mention China by name in a statement from the summit Wednesday on “balanced, durable and resilient growth.’’ But they clearly had Beijing in mind when they noted “with concern that global imbalances have been persistent and widened in recent years.''

One possibility is that the European Union and others will build a higher tariff wall of their own against Chinese imports. Currently, the EU imposes relatively low tariffs on China under World Trade Organization rules — though it hits specific Chinese products with higher ones (up to 35% on electric vehicles, for example).

“China’s export surge, unless its leaders rein it in, will provoke a protectionist wave against Chinese imports worldwide,’’ said Maurice Obstfeld, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “All the more so if the current disruptions around the Iran war persist and cause a sharper global slowdown.’’

Economist Taylor Wang at HSBC warned this month that a China-EU trade dispute could threaten Chinese exports; Europe accounted for a big share of China’s exports of electric vehicles, solar panels and lithium-ion batteries.

The Europeans also hope to persuade Trump to stop targeting U.S. allies like the European Union and Canada with punitive tariffs and to start working with them instead to counter China.

China Shock 2.0 is different — and more disruptive

The first China Shock started around 2001 when the Chinese joined the World Trade Organization and gained low-tariff access to the lucrative markets of the United States and Europe. In the United States, many factories couldn’t compete with low-cost Chinese textiles, furniture, electronics and other manufactured goods.

Economists David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, David Dorn of the University of Zurich and Gordon Hanson, now at Harvard, found that competition from China had led to the loss of 2.4 million American jobs.

China Shock 2.0, as it’s come to be known, is playing out differently.

The first time around China was still emerging as a major player in global commerce. Now it dominates world trade and manufacturing.

China accounted for just 4% of global goods exports in 2000. Now its share is 16% — the highest in the world — making Beijing’s trade policies far more consequential.

China has also upped its game, exporting sophisticated products like EVs and batteries, advanced machinery, software, scientific instruments and putting it in direct competition with the richest countries in the world. For example, Chinese exports now compete with nearly 58% of the exports from the 21 European countries that share the euro currency, up from 46% in 2000, according to a paper last month by researchers at the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“The second China shock is characterized by its companies running the board on manufacturing exports -- from low-tech, low-wage to high-tech high value-added industries,” said economist Eswar Prasad of Cornell University. “This is directly hitting advanced economies where it now hurts the most″ — high tech industries such as EVs and high-end robotics that many countries “had been counting on for a manufacturing revival.’’

Germany has taken a hit from Chinese exports

Germany has been hit hard. German companies once grew fat on exports to China but the situation has reversed: China now sells more goods to Germany than it buys. And German companies are struggling to compete with the Chinese rivals in industrial machinery, construction equipment, cars and chemicals – all mainstays of Germany’s export-oriented economy.

Partly because of the competition from China, Germany’s economy has stagnated, shrinking in 2023 and 2024 and growing just 0.2% last year.

The United States is less vulnerable than it was in the 2000s. Trump’s tariffs have kept out a lot of Chinese products. Exports of Chinese goods to the United States dropped 37% from January through April this year, versus the same period of 2025, the U.S. Commerce Department reports.

The United States is also in a stronger economic position because it produces its own energy — unlike the EU and Japan — and is enjoying a boom in productivity and investment in artificial intelligence.

Despite Trump’s tariffs and diminished sales to the United States, China is benefiting from soaring demand for its low-cost EVs and from AI investment, which generates sales of Chinese electrical components and machinery for data centers.

Exports from China to the 27-nation EU climbed 16.4% in January to May from a year earlier. For France, that meant that its trade deficit with China, according to Beijing’s customs statistics, rose to $5.3 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier.

Chinese policies contribute to the problem

Economists say China’s policies encourage factories to overproduce and consumers to underspend. For example, state-run Chinese banks pay low interest rates to savers but offer cheap loans to government-owned manufacturers. A flimsy social safety net pressures Chinese families to save, not spend, to build a financial buffer against old age and medical problems.

Obstfeld said the policies are partly meant to keep factories busy and workers employed. “The result is an excess domestic supply of manufactured products, which must be exported abroad,’’ he said. So low-priced Chinese products flood world markets and threaten to put European and other factories out of business.

Beijing also has encouraged companies to compete ruthlessly against each other at home. “The rest of the world is ill prepared to compete with these apex predators,’’ Autor and Hanson wrote in a New York Times column last year.

China has repeatedly promised to rein in overproduction and encourage consumer spending – as the United States and other countries have urged for decades. That would make its economy less reliant on exports and its consumers better off. It would also give U.S. and European an expanding market to sell into. “The leadership has long said this is a goal,’’ Obstfeld said, “but they have been slow to act as if they mean it.’’

“Countries with large and persistent external surpluses should strengthen domestic sources of growth,” the G7 leaders’ statement said. “Depending on national circumstances, such growth policies could include lifting constraints on private demand growth; improving social safety nets; avoiding distortive policies with negative spillovers to other countries.’’

Former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, says that “Beijing has been relying on the rest of the world to address its overcapacity problem.”

“However, this unsustainable situation may soon change if the EU and others take steps to halt Chinese imports, following the U.S. lead,’’ she added.

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AP Business Writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong, AP Chief Correspondent John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.

Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok and McHugh from Frankfurt, Germany

“It was just kind of normal,” said Ricky, a 17-year-old recent graduate in Superior, Wisconsin. “Kids were vaping in class, in the bathrooms, wherever.”

Nationally, nearly 6% of middle and high school students — amounting to 1.63 million kids — reported using electronic cigarettes in 2024, federal figures show. Although that is down from previous years, e-cigarettes remain the most commonly used tobacco products among teens, and nearly 9 out of 10 of kids choose flavored products.

Some doctors are concerned that youth vaping rates may rise again. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced its first authorization of fruit-flavored vapes intended for adults interested in quitting or cutting back on more harmful traditional cigarettes. The policy shift came after months of appeals to President Donald Trump from the vaping industry. An FDA memo released this week said these fruit-flavored e-cigarettes are not significantly better at helping smokers quit than tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes.

“I understand the goal of giving adult smokers a less harmful off-ramp, but fruit and sweet flavors are precisely what draw young people in,” said Dr. Scott Hadland at Mass General Brigham for Children and Harvard Medical School. “I worry this could erode the hard-won progress that brought teen vaping to its lowest level in roughly a decade.”

Experts say there are ways parents can counteract the allure of e-cigarettes, teach kids about the dangers of vaping and help them quit.

Vaping poses many dangers to kids

Dr. Devika Rao sees lots of kids with respiratory problems caused by vaping, including coughing, worsening asthma, bronchitis and more severe types of lung disease.

Studies show teens who vape report higher rates of wheezing, shortness of breath and a reduced ability to tolerate exercise. Gaby Cuadra of Miami, who vaped for nine years starting at age 15, remembers how it hurt her high school track and field performance.

“As the years kept going on and I would keep vaping, the distances that I used to be able to run, I, like, couldn’t do them anymore,” said Cuadra, 25. “I would run out of breath.”

While an e-cigarette's aerosol doesn't contain most of the 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, most vapes “emit numerous potentially toxic substances,” according to a comprehensive 2018 consensus report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Researchers said the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes are not yet clear.

One of the biggest dangers of vaping is nicotine addiction, which can disrupt the developing brain and affect attention, learning and mood.

“The addiction factor cannot be overstated enough,” said Rao at Children's Health in Dallas. “Adolescent brains are primed for addiction.”

How to talk to your child about vaping

Start by asking questions, experts advise. You can raise the issue by, for example, pointing out a new vape shop.

“Start open-ended conversations,” Rao said.

Ask what your child knows about vaping and its harms, whether they've seen e-cigarettes and if their friends are using them.

Even if your kid is already vaping, Rao said, take a deep breath and don’t yell. Be nonjudgmental.

Consider what your child may see on social media, where some influencers call nicotine a “hack” for stress relief. Some studies show that many people misinterpret the curbing of nicotine withdrawal symptoms as stress or anxiety relief and that quitting reduces stress. A 2025 study in the journal Tobacco Control said vaping may be linked to adverse mental health outcomes and that those who quit “experience fewer urges to vape, reduced anxiety, and stabilized mood.”

Teens’ decisions are often based on their peers and what’s cool, said Anthony Alberg of the University of South Carolina, a member of the expert committee that produced the National Academies vaping report. Tell your teen they don’t have to succumb to peer pressure and that their friends should want to be friends whether they vape or not.

Younger children, Alberg said, may be more likely to listen to arguments about health effects, such as comparing vaping to “putting poison in your system.”

Arming kids with information is better than simply trying to limit access to vapes, experts said, since age restrictions often don’t keep them out of kids’ hands.

“Most teens get e-cigarettes from friends, older peers or online sellers rather than buying them in a store,” Hadland said.

A teen’s journey through vaping and quitting

When Ricky first tried e-cigarettes, he used an older cousin’s vape. Later, an older friend bought e-cigarettes for him and his friends. He particularly liked the flavors blue raspberry, strawberry, watermelon and kiwi.

In the early days, he thought vaping helped him with his ADHD.

“What I didn’t realize is that because I was addicted to nicotine, when I didn’t have it, I’d be anxious and really couldn’t focus,” he said. "Instead of being something that helped me, it just made things worse.”

Vaping also sapped his stamina, made it harder to sleep, worsened his asthma and compromised his performance as a football player and wrestler.

Eventually, he got into trouble with his school and parents for vaping and selling vapes to others. He began meeting with a school social worker and joined the American Lung Association’s Not On Tobacco program, which helps teens to quit.

The first couple of weeks were extremely difficult. But eventually, he stopped thinking about vaping as much. He quit for good in 2022.

Like Ricky, most middle and high school students who vape want to quit, researchers have found.

Parents can help them by first seeing their doctor, who can connect them with counseling or free text-message quit programs for young people.

For kids who vape heavily, Hadland said doctors may consider medications like Chantix or nicotine replacement therapy as part of a supervised quitting plan.

Cuadra quit after giving up e-cigarettes for Lent, assisted by a free program developed by Truth Initiative and Mayo Clinic called EX, which provides text message support, advice and encouragement.

“The best thing I ever did for myself was quit vaping,” said Cuadra, who has shared her story on social media.

Since Ricky gave up vaping, he’s also shared what he learned. Usually, he asks his peers what triggers their vaping and how they can avoid those situations, as he did.

“I tell them, like, ‘I’m not here to judge you,’” he said. “'I’m here to help you.'”

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

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This story has been corrected to show the name of an interview subject is Gaby Cuadra, not Cuandra.

Officers responded to the crash around 2:20 a.m. on the Interstate 37 and Interstate 35 interchange ramp, which is located above Broadway.

A man around 20 to 30 years old was thrown off the motorcycle after failing to control his speed and hitting a concrete barrier, SAPD said.

The motorcyclist then fell approximately 40 feet to his death, officers said.

The man was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival, SAPD said.

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

Read also:

• 1 killed when small plane crashes on Laredo highway; People leave vehicles to try to help
• SAPD: Teen found shot in middle of North Side street dies at hospital

Robert Kuzovkov, known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot and killed at close range near his home in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska on Monday, prosecutors said Tuesday.

“Everything points to this being a political murder," Tusk said at a news briefing in Warsaw. “But we must wait for evidence or more concrete indications. Because if that was the case — if it was ordered by Russia — then it is an extremely serious matter internationally. It would constitute state terrorism.”

Polish investigators initially detained two Belarusian citizens but Tusk said Tuesday that they had been released because authorities had no evidence that they were directly involved in the killing.

Tusk stressed that law enforcement authorities are still collecting evidence.

“The case is difficult. If there’s a hired killer involved, it’s unfortunately not easy to identify such a person,” Tusk said, adding that Skrepetsky had been offered protection by Polish authorities but he had refused it.

Through his art, Skrepetsky “expressed criticism of the current policies of the Russian authorities,” Polish prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday.

He painted unflattering portraits of Putin, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and other high-ranking Russian officials. One depicts Putin being cradled in the arms of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

On Sunday, he posted a video on his YouTube channel showing him in Berlin putting a Russian flag in a trash can on June 12, the holiday marking Russia’s sovereignty.

Prosecutors said the artist was approached near his home around 9:45 a.m. Monday by an unidentified man who fired two shots at him, then shot him three more times at close range before fleeing. Prosecutors said the victim died at the scene of gunshot wounds to the head, chest and back.

Since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been accused of trying to assassinate its opponents abroad, including targeting exiled activists in France and Lithuania.

Officials in Germany have also broken up plots targeting the head of a German weapons supplier to Ukraine and a Ukrainian military official.

Polish authorities arrested a man in 2024 in what they said was a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That same year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain, with Russian operatives as the prime suspects.

The Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance sent the reports Tuesday to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Edwards Aquifer Authority and Bexar County.

The reports cover a June 13-15 storm event in and around Grey Forest that produced more than four inches of rain, the release said.

Residents reported creeks turning a "pale, milky, muddy color" and an unusual odor at the Grey Forest swimming hole — conditions they said are inconsistent with normal stormwater.

The flooding also carried visible silt downstream, which raised residents’ concerns about water quality, aquatic habitat and public health, the alliance said.

The reports point to active construction sites at Guajolote Ranch, a Lennar Homes development project, as the suspected source.

The main concern was the flooding of Helotes Creek and its tributary, Cates Creek, according to the release.

“As a result of clearing and bulldozing in the creek bed, as observed by EPA officials, we believe that significant silting, sedimentation and turbidity to Cates and Helotes creeks, and possibly to the groundwater as well, may have occurred as a result of the ongoing work on this property,” Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance Steering Committee Chair Randy Neumann said in the release.

The reports allege that best management practices failed at upstream construction sites. The group said at least one Bexar County clearing permit issued to Lennar Corporation reportedly waived BMP requirements, which could potentially noncompliant with the Clean Water Act.

The alliance is requesting immediate site inspections, water quality sampling of Cates Creek, Helotes Creek and Grey Forest’s swimming hole.

If violations have been found, the group is also asking for enforcement action.

More recent Guajolote Ranch coverage on KSAT:

• Muddy Helotes Creek water raises concerns near Guajolote Ranch development
• Guajolote Ranch development inches closer to reality after additional acres approved
• Developer pays City of San Antonio $3.3 million to clear land where endangered species lives

The two left the Rwampara Treatment Center on Tuesday, near Bunia, in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, along with five other people who also recovered from Ebola.

“The joy is immense given the state he was in at first,” Kahindo Mireille Pierrette said of her infant. “If you had seen him before, you wouldn’t believe he could have this strength now,” she added.

Pierrette said she brought her child to the treatment center at the end of May, after he started bleeding from the mouth and nose and could barely move.

Modet Camara, a doctor at the center, said the baby was treated with antibiotics after a PCR test came back positive for Ebola on his second day at the hospital.

Congo's Ministry of Health said Tuesday that 837 cases of the virus have been confirmed so far, including 196 confirmed deaths. However, the number of cases is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed on May 15, weeks after it is suspected to have begun.

Since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, 49 have recovered, the ministry said.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. The more common Zaire virus, which now has a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

More than 90% of the cases in the current outbreak are concentrated in Congo’s eastern province of Ituri. Cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda.

The head of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that the outbreak could become the worst on record, noting that tens of thousands of contacts of infected patients have yet to be traced.

“If we don’t stop the outbreak very soon it will ​be worse than what ​we had in West Africa and eastern ‌DRC,” ⁠Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said during a virtual meeting of African heads of ​state.

An outbreak a decade ago across several countries in West Africa was the worst on record, with more than 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by years of conflict in Ituri, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, making contact tracing difficult as people flee attacks or move frequently in the vast province with dense forests, poor roads and remote villages that can take days to reach.

Tracing is also difficult among the thousands of miners who regularly move among remote sites in the mineral-rich region.

Yet when they took the field at Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, they marked Sudan’s first appearance in international women’s soccer since a civil war erupted in a country where women’s participation in sports has long been controversial.

“My goal is to lift up soccer in my country,” Nura Mohamed, the 17-year-old team captain, told The Associated Press.

“It’s a beautiful, unique feeling because, at the end of the day, I just love playing.”

With the men's World Cup unfolding on the other side of the planet, Sudan’s under-17 women’s national team traveled to Morocco last week for qualifying matches on the road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The inexperienced squad suffered heavy defeats against Comoros, conceding 30 goals in two matches. Many of the players broke down in tears after the final whistle in front of a dozen cheering fans.

They faced an older, fitter, and more experienced opponent. Unable to assemble a senior women’s squad in time, Sudan’s soccer federation entered a younger team to avoid forfeiting its place in the qualifiers. They only started training weeks ago.

“The difference between us and the others is huge. We cannot yet compete at the highest level," Burhan Tia, a veteran Sudanese soccer coach who oversees all of Sudan’s women’s national teams, said after the first match, a 17–0 defeat.

“Comoros has many players competing in Europe, our team is mainly made up of schoolgirls."

This team represents hope for Sudan's future

Sudan’s women’s soccer collapsed when civil war erupted in 2023. For federation officials, debuting this young squad in Casablanca after years of conflict marks an important step in keeping women's soccer alive in Sudan.

“Some traveled long distances just to attend training. Many are separated from their families, yet they continue to work hard and pursue their dream," Manal Ali Bushra, a businesswoman who heads the women’s soccer committee, told the AP.

To support that vision, Ali Bushra said the federation is working on infrastructure projects, including a planned sports city and the renovation of key stadiums in safer parts of the country. She declined to answer questions about the women’s program budget and funds.

Tia knew the magnitude of the challenge when he accepted the job of rebuilding a shattered team.

“First, I had to find girls who played soccer. Then, once I found girls who played, I had to make sure they were the right age,” he said. “Then I needed to convince their parents to let them miss classes for training.”

With the league suspended, his scouting trips took him to schools across Sudan and to neighboring Egypt, where many families had fled the war. He recruited 10 players from teams and academies in Cairo, with the rest drawn from Sudanese cities.

Tia would have liked to recruit from conflict-hit areas like Darfur or Kordofan, a region known for producing Sudan’s top athletes. But many girls had lost their identification documents, making it impossible to verify their ages under international regulations. The war has also shattered transportation, turning journeys between cities that once took hours into perilous trips lasting days.

On the field, the players’ lack of experience was evident. Several struggled with basic positioning, failing to hold the offside line or maintain tactical discipline. Throughout the matches, they repeatedly looked to the sidelines for instructions from the coach and his assistant.

Facing war, fatwas and conservatism

The United Nations has described the war in Sudan as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It began in 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into fighting marked by mass killings, rape and ethnic violence. More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to U.N. figures, and over 14 million have been displaced, with famine and disease spreading across parts of the country.

The war halted every sports activity, including the women’s soccer league, which was officially established after the 2019 progressive revolution that ousted President Omar al-Bashir. His three-decade Islamist rule was marked by Public Order Laws that rights groups said restricted women’s freedoms. Even after the revolution, prominent Sudanese preacher Abdulhay Yousif said the establishment of a women’s football league was aimed at undermining religion.

“The idea of women running, jumping, sweating, and even something as simple as their bodies being visible in motion, was seen by Bashir’s Islamist regime as producing fitna, which in a Sudanese context was understood as sexual or moral chaos,” Liv Tønnessen, a political scientist researching gender politics in Sudan, told the AP.

“So when women step onto a soccer pitch, they are directly confronting that entire logic. They are not just present in a male-dominated sports arena, they are moving freely in it, on their own terms,” Tønnessen, a former guest researcher in a women-only university in Sudan, added.

Beyond institutional hurdles, players also faced a wave of sexist abuse online. On the national team’s social media accounts, many commenters mocked them for big defeats. Others posted the phrase “go back to the kitchen,” in multiple languages.

A team caught in politics

While Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s military government has allowed international soccer trips for teenage girls, the U.N. has documented sexual and gender-based violence by the Sudanese Armed Forces, which he commands.

Tønnessen sees the state backing as a calculated effort by the military to project legitimacy. By sponsoring the team, she said, the army attempts to signal that the state is functioning normally and to align itself with the spirit of the 2019 revolution.

Hala Al-Karib, a prominent Sudanese women’s rights activist, dismissed critics who say the team is being used to portray a more progressive image on women’s rights.

“The main challenge for me is a reform of the federation,” she told the AP, citing a lack of investment in and support for women’s soccer in Sudan.

Back on the field in Casablanca, the politics, war and debate faded away, leaving only a group of teenagers chasing a ball.

The 41-year-old is set to enter the World Cup on Wednesday when Portugal meets Congo after impressive performances by the tournament’s other top stars.

France’s Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland of Norway each had two goals as they opened their World Cup campaigns on Tuesday, while Lionel Messi scored a hat trick for Argentina. That gave Messi 16 career goals in the World Cup, tying him with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the all-time record.

Ronaldo is also looking to make history by becoming the first player to score in six World Cups. Messi, too, is playing in his sixth World Cup but failed to find the net in 2010.

“Well, I wish him the best — I hope that he scores but not against us," Congo coach Sébastien Desabre said of the Portugal forward.

Ronaldo's focus has been on his team's success.

“We go match by match, but not with the expectations of winning it all,” Ronaldo told reporters in Portugal last week before the team’s departure. “It has to be step by step. A good start is the most important thing,”

Some Portugal supporters question whether the aging star will be a help or a detriment to the team.

After scoring just once in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo was upset after he subbed off against South Korea and benched for the club's first knockout-stage match against Switzerland. He also failed to score in the 2024 European Championship — the first time that has happened at a major international tournament.

But Ronaldo has also shown signs of his old productivity.

He scored eight goals during Portugal’s 2025 UEFA Nations League title, including an equalizer in the final against Spain. And, he recently won his first Saudi Pro League title with Al-Nassr, scoring a club-high 28 goals.

What to watch on June 17

— Portugal vs. Congo, 1 p.m. EDT in Houston (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— England vs. Croatia, 4 p.m. EDT in Arlington, Texas (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Ghana vs. Panama, 7 p.m. EDT in Toronto (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Uzbekistan vs. Colombia, 10 p.m. EDT in Mexico City (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

Kane, England seek strong World Cup start vs. Croatia

Harry Kane, one of the world’s dominant goal scorers, leads England into its first match against Croatia with the Three Lions seeking their first World Cup title since 1966, when they won on home soil.

Kane has been a force over the past year with 61 goals in 51 matches for Bayern Munich across all competitions. The 32-year-old striker has eight goals in two previous World Cups and won the Golden Boot in 2018 by scoring six times in Russia.

But he didn’t score in England’s semifinal loss to Croatia in 2018. In 2022, he missed a penalty late against France in a 2-1 semifinal loss in Qatar when he sent the ball over the crossbar.

Kane’s eight World Cup goals are two shy of Gary Lineker's England record.

Ghana to be without Partey for opener after appeal denied

Ghana will play its opening match against Panama without midfielder Thomas Partey after a Canadian judge on Tuesday rejected a bid to allow him into the country as he awaits trial on rape charges.

Partey's visa application was denied last week.

He will remain in the United States while his teammates play in Toronto on Wednesday. He will be eligible to play in Ghana’s next two matches — both in the U.S.

Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had criticized the visa denial, calling it a “high-handed and extremely unfair decision.” Its appeal was heard by the court earlier Tuesday.

Partey is awaiting trial in Britain while facing allegations from several women dating to his time playing for Arsenal from 2020-25. He has pleaded not guilty.

England's Livramento will miss tournament with injury

England fullback Tino Livramento was ruled out of the World Cup on Tuesday because of a calf injury, forcing coach Thomas Tuchel into a late squad change ahead of his team’s opener against Croatia.

Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah was called up as a replacement and due to head to the England training camp in Kansas City. Livramento was injured during training on Sunday.

“A subsequent scan and medical assessment on Monday unfortunately confirmed he could play no further part in England’s tournament,” it said in a statement.

Uzbekistan ready to make World Cup debut

Uzbekistan will mark the biggest moment in the country's soccer history on Wednesday when it participates in its first World Cup, facing Colombia.

Coached by Fabio Cannavaro, Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain and a former Ballon d’Or winner, Uzbekistan finished second in Asian qualifying to earn its way into the expanded 48-team field.

Colombia is back in the World Cup after failing to qualify in 2022.

More World Cup news

— France striker Kylian Mbappé scores 13th and 14th World Cup goals, moving into tie for 3rd all time

— US official says Iran knew team would have to leave shortly after match

— Social media star Tim Payne leaves New Zealand for Paraguay’s Olimpia

— Tunisia fires coach Sabri Lamouchi after 1 match at the World Cup and appoints Herve Renard

— US forward Christian Pulisic practices on his own in calf injury rehab, team says he is ‘day to day’

— This Sweden defender at the World Cup isn’t your typical soccer player: He’s a baron!

— Highlights from Day 6 in photos

Stats of the day

England has struggled against European opposition at the global showcase, losing six of its last eight matches. Its overall record versus UEFA teams at the World Cup includes 14 wins, 12 losses and 13 ties.

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This story was updated to correct the spelling of Partey.

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AP Sports Writers Jim Vertuno and Kristie Rieken contributed to this report.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Many view the onset of hemorrhagic fever as a spiritual affliction and seek out herbs and prayers instead of going to the hospital. This is the case now in Congo, which is suffering its seventeenth outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the virus was first identified in the rich Congo Basin ecosystem.

Five decades later, the virus continues to mystify many of the sick in Africa while turning religious leaders into first responders in a deadly emergency. The current outbreak’s victims include health workers without protective gear as well as pastors and worshippers who gathered while Ebola was spreading, according to humanitarian workers and others who spoke to The Associated Press.

Ebola spreads through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids. The current outbreak is particularly worrisome in a region where many are distrustful of health workers and refuse to seek medical care.

In Bunia, a town in Ituri province that is the outbreak's epicenter, misinformation about Ebola has made it harder for health workers to respond to the outbreak that has so far killed at least 181 people. One rumor suggests that Ebola is spread by malicious people who drop magical charms tied to dollar bills down pit latrines.

“Some people still describe Ebola as something mysterious, spiritual, or brought by outsiders, rather than a disease that needs medical care,” said Onesphore Bangenza of the aid group Mercy Corps, speaking from Bunia. “When people do not trust the health system, they often go first to traditional healers, faith leaders, or people they already know. The danger is that many only reach the hospital when they are already very sick.”

Uncommon type of Ebola causing the outbreak

The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola that has no approved medicines or vaccines to combat it. It is occurring in a remote area of Congo that also faces armed violence by rebel groups as well as displacement. Ebola intensifies the suffering, with its terrifying symptoms that evoke a modern-day plague.

The outbreak was confirmed on May 15. Some experts believe infections may have been occurring in February, but health officials initially tested for a different kind of virus that causes Ebola disease.

The World Health Organization quickly declared the event a public health emergency of international concern. The U.S. government has imposed a temporary ban on the entry of people without U.S. passports who have recently visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan.

With so many people in afflicted communities seeking spiritual answers to the outbreak, humanitarian workers are urging religious leaders to get involved in combating Ebola.

In a video widely shared among people in Ituri, a catechist leader recently cured of the disease in the Ebola hot spot of Mongbwalu spoke candidly of the mistake that could have cost him his life.

“I don’t usually rush to the hospital, so I decided to go to the fields,” Deogratias Kasereka said, before explaining how his children compelled him to seek medical treatment.

His symptoms had included muscle weakness and headaches, and he “felt very hot.” Ebola in later stages also can bring about internal and external bleeding.

The symptoms are so disturbing — and sometimes shameful — that some victims prefer the privacy of a traditional healer’s shrine, said Vincent Isimbwa, an elder among Seventh-day Adventists in a remote community of Ugandans that faced the first-ever outbreak of Bundibugyo in 2007.

“They faced it so rough,” said Isimbwa. “The challenge with Ebola is that it is so bad that some people can believe that there are supernatural powers behind it.”

That outbreak of Ebola killed at least 36 people and left the community terribly scarred. Many here also regret that the Bundibugyo virus is named for their district, the mountainous homeland of roughly 200,000 people mostly living as farmers.

Mistrust and medical limitations drive sick people to healers

In Bundibugyo two decades later, the Ugandan nurse whose sample of blood confirmed the 2007 outbreak said his symptoms confused those who examined him in the early days of the outbreak. Some thought Samuel Kuule had a case of food poisoning. While others afflicted may have gone to see healers, described pejoratively as witch doctors, he was nursed in a narrow hospital room by caregivers including his pregnant wife, who was never infected.

Kuule recalled that his symptoms — peeling skin, bloodshot eyes and severe headache — terrified him without shaking his Seventh-day Adventist faith, unlike some others who may have felt they were being bewitched.

“For those who are weak in faith, they may (think) that they are being bewitched,” he said. “Maybe they can believe it.”

Some locals recalled that an early victim of the 2007 outbreak was a woman stretchered down the mountains and into the shrine of a traditional healer, an older man who survived but lost three sons to Ebola. Speaking through his presumptive heir, Amon Balinda, the healer said he switched his service from benediction and prayer to the prescription of herbs after he was told Ebola was spreading.

“For us in African traditional societies, in most cases when you fall sick and you go to the hospitals and they give you some injections and there is no improvement, there and then you switch to your neighbor, or anybody, and say maybe he is the one bewitching you,” he said. “Then you decide to go to the witch doctor.”

In fact, Ebola outbreaks are believed to start with the virus spilling over into humans from an infected animal such as a fruit bat. These cross-species infections often happen when people handle and eat wild meat, experts say.

The WHO is urging early testing for Ebola, in addition to isolating contacts in the current outbreak.

That's challenging in communities with deep religious faith, Christian but especially traditional. People insist on burying the dead according to established custom, because to do otherwise may deprive the dead of an afterlife. Pastors who stake their authority on the ability to heal the sick are expected to perform. Traditional healers face similar hopes.

This is why Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni rebuked religious leaders in a recent televised speech, saying there was no need to touch the sick in the time of Ebola. He said that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief, told him while visiting Uganda that many victims in Congo are religious people.

“The pastors, the pastors, the pastors,” Museveni said, squinting in apparent disappointment. “The people of God — they are the ones who touch patients. … God is not deaf. You can pray without touching.”

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Associated Press religion coverage 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.

Ingredients:

• 3  Ripe peaches, cut into wedges
• 8 oz Brie cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 6 slices Prosciutto, folded or torn into bite-size pieces
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 12 Small wooden skewers
• Salt & pepper
• Skewers (metal or soaked wood)
• 1 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1⁄4 tsp Freshly cracked black pepper
• Finishing
• 1⁄4 cup Fischer & Wieser Hot Peach & Honey Sauce
• Extra fresh basil leaves, chiffonade or torn

Directions:

1. Preheat grill pan to medium-high heat.
2. Thread peach wedges, Brie cubes, folded prosciutto, and basil leaves onto the skewers, alternating ingredients for an attractive presentation.
3. Lightly brush the skewers with olive oil and season with cracked black pepper.
4. Grill for 1–2 minutes per side, just until the peaches develop light grill marks and the Brie begins to soften. Handle carefully to prevent the cheese from melting too much.
5. While the skewers are grilling, gently warm the Fischer & Wieser Hot Peach & Honey Sauce in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl until slightly loosened and pourable.
6. Arrange the grilled skewers on a serving platter.
7. Generously drizzle the warm Hot Peach & Honey Sauce over the skewers.
8. Finish with fresh basil, a drizzle of balsamic glaze, flaky sea salt (if desired), and additional cracked black pepper.

"It feels like you're stepping back into his world," Ward said of the grounds in Hyde Park, New York, that once were home to the Roosevelt family. “The library and home collections reflect all his many interests — stamps, coins, birds he shot and had stuffed as a boy, model ships, children’s books, books about naval history, the pony-drawn sleigh he rode in as a child, and on and on.”

Since FDR helped launch the modern system of presidential sites in the late 1930s, a network of museums and research facilities has grown nationwide, overseen in part by the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, but otherwise as varied as the men they honor. They are set everywhere from the scenic Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in California's Simi Valley to the small-town setting of the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa, to the vast Barack Obama Presidential Center that opens to the public on Friday, Juneteenth, in Chicago.

Historian Douglas Brinkley, who says he has visited all of the post-FDR libraries, calls them vital hubs for lectures, research, school tours and tourists.

“Each of the libraries have their own aura," Brinkley says. “Roosevelt came up with a perfect idea by gifting his home in Hyde Park to the people of America, instead of having his papers stored in a warehouse in Virginia or Maryland. He started a tradition of having them go where the president lived.”

A little presidential spin

Libraries carry with them a given president's personality and legacy. Brinkley and others note that while the library archives are managed by NARA, the museum is funded by private donors who are likely to prefer a given president's more favorable moments be emphasized or less favorable ones softened.

On the Hoover website, a page dedicated to the Great Depression emphasizes that some of the policies enacted by Roosevelt, who easily defeated Hoover for reelection, were first proposed by Hoover. The Richard Nixon library in Yorba Linda, California, was for years at the heart of a battle between museum administrators and the former president and his supporters over everything from control of his archives to how much space should be dedicated to the Watergate scandal that helped lead to his resignation.

Max Boot, author of a 2024 biography of Reagan, contrasted his access to the Reagan archives with the museum itself. The late president's records were “administered by federal employees in an entirely professional and apolitical fashion. There is no attempt to hide anything,” he said. The museum “naturally focuses on Reagan’s achievements and shortchanges his failures.”

“It’s designed to present a positive portrait. Thus, volumes critical of Reagan are not sold in the library bookstore,” Boot said.

Historian Ted Widmer, a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton, said, “While it’s inevitable that the presidential libraries will present the highlights of a presidency, there has been some progress toward transparency in recent years.”

He praised the Lyndon Johnson library, located in Austin, Texas, for its willingness to take on LBJ's widely criticized handling of the Vietnam War. In 2023, the library helped revive interest in one of Johnson's most notorious campaigns — the 1948 Senate campaign now widely believed to have been stolen — by posting recordings on its website of interviews by Associated Press reporter James W. Mangan with a former Texas election judge who acknowledged certifying false votes that helped LBJ win.

“It is hard to know if future libraries will continue that trend, in an era in which history is increasingly politicized and polarized,” Widmer says. "But it’s healthy for our democracy to encourage the study of history as it really happened — not a sanitized version.”

The Obama experience

Obama officials have faced criticism for the center's size and aesthetic — “The building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters,” wrote The Guardian's Oliver Wainwright — and for their decision not to have a NARA facility on site. A substantial amount of the former president's records are digital, a trend Brinkley expects to continue with future libraries.

As many as 1 million people are expected to visit the center's 20-acre campus each year, with highlights including a public library branch, an NBA-grade basketball court, a fruit and vegetable garden and a playground. Obama tested out one of the high metal slides in May.

“That was fantastic,” he said after zipping down, according to a video posted to the Obama Foundation’s social media. “I was a little tall for it.”

Obama also decided many of the center's details and features, from textured stone on the museum’s 225-foot tower to a pair of high-backed reading chairs inside the library. Among his favorite items, though, are charcoal grills that will be available for public use. He floated the idea to the public at a 2017 community meeting and was met with warm laughs from the hometown crowd.

“We don’t have any folks who grill here?” Obama said at the time. “I thought this was the South Side of Chicago.”

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Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.

The San Antonio Housing Trust is working on a long-term plan for what it is calling “Project DC,” or the “District of Cattleman.”

The area has deep roots in trade and commerce, including the cattle trade and the railroad, but now it is considered one of the city’s most neglected communities.

According to Pete Alanis, the CEO of the San Antonio Housing Trust, 112 people experiencing homelessness are known to live in the small area.

Officials said past development efforts have struggled to move from investment to reality.

“This is a very challenging area for a number of different reasons,” said Alanis. “And I think that no one project by itself is going to be a success as a standalone project.”

The housing trust has purchased several properties in the district with the goal of creating affordable housing.

Alanis said the organization also wants to hear from residents, businesses and community members about what else should be included.

Leaders for the project are taking cues from Housing Forward, a Dallas effort designed to provide not only housing but also services such as mental health support.

Early conversations in San Antonio have shown interest in housing for people who work downtown.

“This is a critical piece of the downtown fabric, right, and also the West Side fabric,” Alanis said. “It’s in between the West Side and it’s in between downtown. So this is a great opportunity to serve a community that’s been neglected for so long.”

The area also sits near major transit connections. It is next to where VIA’s Metropolitan Transit’s future Silver Line is expected to run, connecting people from the East Side and West Side. It is also near the railroad station and VIA Centro Plaza.

Community meetings are scheduled at Tafolla Middle School from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 18. Another meeting is set for 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 20.

Feedback from the meetings and an online survey can help establish priorities and guide development of the master plan. Click here to access the survey.

The moment gave birth to what we now call Juneteenth, and the holiday continues to grow in size and significance across the U.S.

San Antonio has no shortage of ways to honor the day. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the city this week.

Music, narration, and reflection at the Tobin Center

On Thursday, June 18, the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) opens the week’s festivities with Freedom: The Soundtrack of 250 Years at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, located at 100 Auditorium Circle. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The evening marks America’s 250th anniversary with a program exploring the role of Black musical traditions as expressions of power, protest and community.

The San Antonio Gospel Heritage Choir performs Black spirituals and gospel anthems, and they’ll be joined by the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness, whose work spans gospel, jazz, R&B, and soul.

Tickets and more information are available at tobincenter.org/freedom.

Freedom Coalition Parade steps off Saturday morning

The Freedom Coalition Parade kicks off Saturday, June 20, starting at 9 a.m. at Sam Houston High School, located at 4635 East Houston Street.

Organizers describe it as a community gathering where families and friends can come together to educate and remember that freedom is for all. The parade runs through 11 a.m.

More information is available at juneteenthparadesa.com.

Juneteenth Festival returns to Comanche Park

Also on Saturday, June 20, the annual Juneteenth Festival takes over Comanche Park No. 2, located at 2600 Rigsby Avenue, from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The festival dates back to 1996, when the first Juneteenth Celebration was held at the Freeman Coliseum.

Over the years, the festival has been hosted at the Carver Cultural Center and St. Paul Square before settling at Comanche Park, where it has been held for more than 20 years.

The event has grown into a popular destination for family reunions and community gatherings.

Details are at juneteenthsanantonio.com.

SA Block Party brings an upscale celebration to St. Paul Square

Rounding out the day, the SA Block Party runs Saturday, June 20, from noon to 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul Square.

Organizers describe it as an immersive environment designed for professionals, creatives, entrepreneurs, and cultural tastemakers — a celebration of legacy, growth, and Black culture.

More details are at sanantoniojuneteenth.com.

Read also:

• Here’s which City of San Antonio services will be open, closed on Juneteenth

Franklin Estuardo Gonzalez Flores, 34, has been on the run from NBPD since Nov. 5, 2025, the release said.

He is currently wanted on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, troopers stated.

Gonzalez Flores also has several past arrests in Comal County for public intoxication, DPS said.

He’s described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs around 130 pounds. Troopers said he has tattoos on his chest, shoulders and right leg.

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $3,000 for information leading to Gonzalez Flores’ arrest.

Those with tips can contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submit one on the DPS website or on Facebook.

Read also:

• BCSO seeks person of interest after man found dead, woman injured in far West Side home
• SAPD: Teen found shot in middle of North Side street dies at hospital

This recipe is designed for an 8–10 lb pork butt and works great on an offset smoker, pellet smoker, or charcoal smoker.

Overnight Smoked Pork Butt (Pulled Pork)

Ingredients

• 1 pork butt (8–10 pounds), bone-in preferred

• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard

Rub

• Season with Grill Sergeant’s Squeal Team Six Rub

• Follow that up with a light seasoning with Grill Sergeant’s M.R.E. Rub

Spritz

• 1 cup apple juice

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Prep the Pork

Pat dry with paper towels. Apply a thin coat of mustard. Season heavily with the rubs on all sides. Let sit for 30–60 minutes while the smoker heats up.

Fire Up the Smoker

Set smoker to 250°F. Use hickory, oak, pecan, or a blend. If possible, have a small foil pan under the pork butt filled with water to catch drippings.

Start Smoking around 6pm

Place pork butt on the smoker fat side down. Insert a meat probe into the thickest part.

Smoke at 250°F.

First 4 Hours Leave it alone. Avoid opening the lid frequently.

Spritz

After 4 hours: Spritz heavily with the apple juice/vinegar mixture. Let the smoker do the work while you go to bed! Continue smoking until the internal temperature reaches 165–175°F. This usually takes around 8 hours depending on size.

Wrap

Once the bark is dark mahogany and the internal temperature reaches 165–175°F:Texas Crutch

Wrap tightly in: Heavy-duty foil (softer bark), or Peach butcher paper. Add a small splash of Apple juice, Butter, Or a little BBQ sauce (optional)

Finish Cooking

Return to smoker and raise the temp to 275°F.

Cook until Internal temperature reaches 200–205°F. Probe slides in with almost no resistance (like warm butter). This typically takes another 3–5 hours.

Rest

This is the secret step. Remove from smoker. Leave wrapped. Rest in a cooler, oven (off), or insulated bag for 1–3 hours. The meat will stay hot and become even more tender. The longer the rest, the better the BBQ!

Pull the Pork

Remove bone (it should slide/wiggle right out). Shred using meat claws or gloved hands. Mix bark and interior meat together. Add any juices from the wrap back into the pork. Lightly sprinkle with Grill Sergeant’s Squeal Team Six BBQ rub. Enjoy!

Pro Tip

Don’t cook pork butt to a specific time—cook it to tenderness. A pork butt at 198°F that’s probe tender is done, while one at 205°F that’s still tight may need more time. The feel of the probe is the real test! Doing overnight pulled pork will have it ready for dinner the next day!

Find more great tips & recipes on Grill Sergeant Youtube Channel.

Norton, who served 18 terms as the District of Columbia’s nonvoting representative in Congress, chose not to run for reelection after mounting concerns that, at 89 years old, she was no longer capable of forcefully combating a Republican-led Congress and presidential administration constantly overriding the heavily Democratic city's leadership. Voters choose their local leaders, but Congress has final say on the laws the city passes and its budget.

Council member Robert White Jr. won the Democratic primary to replace Norton and is expected to win the general election in November. He will face Republican Denise Rosado, an immigration attorney who ran unopposed.

A D.C. native and lifelong resident, White is a lawyer and worked as Norton's legislative counsel for five years, as well as serving at the attorney general's office for the District of Columbia before winning the special election in 2016 for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council.

“Our turn will never come unless we demand it. Eleanor Holmes Norton understood that. The generations before us understood that. And before this night is over, I hope every Washingtonian understands it, too: We will not yield,” White told a cheering crowd of supporters after polls closed Tuesday.

A new era for DC politics

The D.C. delegate position is a nonvoting one, but it grants the nearly 700,000 people of the district, who have no other representation in Congress, a voice through speechmaking on the House floor and bill introduction.

In Congress, Norton championed education, including securing a grant program that provided up to $10,000 annually to D.C. high school graduates to assist with out-of-state tuition. She also pushed for federal legislation that helped save the city from financial ruin.

Calls for her to step aside grew in the aftermath of a surge of federal law enforcement officers and National Guard troops into the city last year by President Donald Trump. Critics, including her former chief of staff, argued that she was diminished and no longer capable of providing the energy and presence the moment called for against Trump.

The pressure on Norton to drop out came as questions of generational change gripped the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden, also in his 80s, tried to run for reelection despite concerns about his age. He eventually dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, but she lost to Trump, sparking ongoing recriminations.

Before running for office, Norton was a fixture of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1963, she split her time between Yale Law School and Mississippi, where she volunteered for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. One day during the Freedom Summer, civil rights activist Medgar Evers picked her up at the Jackson airport. He was assassinated that night. Norton also helped organize and attended the 1963 March on Washington.

Norton went on to become the first woman to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which helps enforce anti-discrimination laws in the workplace.

Political historian Matt Dallek said her credentials bring a certain gravitas and moral standing that “I think a lot of residents in the district could respond to and did respond to. It resonated with them.”

“That kind of generational moral clarity and moral gravitas that she and others brought to the political arena is being lost. That’s not to say that others can’t pick up that mantle” he said, but White will have different concerns and experiences in a city changing demographically.

Different challenges and priorities for a changing city

White would become only the third Washington delegate to Congress since 1971, when Walter Fauntroy Jr. was elected as the nonvoting delegate. The position was created in 1970 under the District of Columbia Delegate Act.

George Derek Musgrove, associate professor of history at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, said no candidates seeking the office have the national stature of their predecessors, “which is, for me, one of the biggest changes in the city.” Both Fauntroy and Norton, Musgrove said, “leveraged their national political contacts to do the work of the delegate.”

White made D.C. statehood and pushing back on federal interference in local affairs priorities in the campaign.

He will need to build relationships quickly, said Amanda Huron, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia who teaches courses on D.C. history and politics. It is especially critical with a Congress that intervenes in local affairs.

“One of the real challenges of governing D.C. locally is that you’ve got these people in Congress who we don’t elect so these decisions are being made at a congressional level where we don't even have any representation effectively,” Huron said.

Maurice Jackson, a historian at Georgetown University, said Norton is also a brilliant constitutional lawyer along with being a civil rights legend and EEOC trailblazer. That said, he added, change is not always a bad thing.

The question, he said, is whether White will fight for the rights of all the city’s residents and work to stop the Black population from leaving a city that is changing demographically.

When Martin Luther King Jr. died “everybody knew there would never be another King,” he said. "So there's no need to worry about whether there'll be another Norton. There are people who can step forward.”

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Follow the AP's coverage of the District of Columbia at https://apnews.com/hub/district-of-columbia.

Canadian leaders typically get a bilateral meeting with American presidents at summits of the world's leading industrialized democracies, but Carney dismissed any notion of a snub.

“I wouldn’t take a big message from that,” Carney said. “I had seven or eight discussions with President Trump over the course of last 36 hours. I’ll have more today, a wide range of subjects from the economy, relations, his birthday, artificial intelligence, Ukraine, obviously Iran.”

Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January helped make him an international political star, when he declared the global rules-based order over and condemned coercion by great powers on smaller countries. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks and upstaged Trump at the gathering.

Talks on the latest iteration of the North American free-trade pact have reached a crucial moment. The agreement, which has intertwined the economies of Canada, the United States and Mexico since the early 1990s, is up for renewal on July 1. Trump said last week he may not renew the deal.

Preserving the accord is critical for Canada, which sends about 75% of its exports to the U.S.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the U.S., and Janice Charette, Canada’s chief negotiator, met with U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer at the summit. LeBlanc said they made progress.

LeBlanc has previously said he believes the U.S. might want to have the trade agreement subject to annual reviews, and that the Trump administration might seek to cause uncertainty about its permanence.

French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host, is the only G7 leader to get a bilateral meeting thus far. Trump also met one on one with the leaders of non-G7 countries of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and India.

Carney noted the host country always meets with the American president.

Carney used humor to engage with Trump in at least one of their interactions about trade. In a lighter moment, a microphone caught Carney and Trump joking about stealing Macron’s watch.

Carney then moved to a serious exchange about allowing Chinese electric vehicles into Canada. A microphone recorded Carney telling Trump about how less than 3% of Canada’s market, 49,000 cars, will be allowed to enter from China after he made a deal with Beijing.

“It’s a cap, we capped, a hard line,” Carney said. “I thought you’d actually like that.”

“That’s good, I like it,” Trump responded.

Breaking with the United States, Canada agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars earlier this year in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products. Carney said he spoke to Trump about it twice.

“I’m not surprised that the president of the United States doesn’t follow every detail of every agreement that Canada has, and he likes the structure. Actually, we had a follow-up conversation about it as well,” Carney said.

Peter Boehm, a member of the Canadian Senate who led a number of G7 summits for Canada, said Carney would have had a lot of time for conversations with Trump.

“I wouldn’t see it as a snub,” he said. “It’s amazing how much time leaders can actually have to have conversations.”

From A Humble Peach Stand To An Internationally Recognized Specialty Food Company, Fischer & Wieser has more than 150 gourmet products—including sauces, jellies, preserves, confections, condiments, soups, pasta sauces, and more. They’re live in the studio showing us how to turn their products into trendy snack for summer.

The official first day of summer is right around the corner & one of the best ways to cool off is a day at Schlitterbahn. We find out what’s new, what’s been upgraded, & we go ahead and try out some of the rides ourselves.

This July 4th is America’s 250th anniversary - First Baptist Church of San Antonio is celebrating with a free concert. It’s happening Friday, July 3 & it’s free & open to everyone.

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TRT said in a statement late on Tuesday that the commentator, identified by Turkish media as Murat Ekrem Çimen, had been withdrawn from the World Cup broadcast team in the U.S. pending investigation. It added that he would not continue to comment on matches during the tournament.

According to reports in Turkish media, Cimen referred to Iran’s attacks as New Zealand’s and described New Zealand’s moves as Iran’s during the opening minutes of the broadcast. The teams shared a 2-2 draw on Monday night in Group G.

TRT said the mistake was “unacceptable” under its broadcasting standards.

“We apologize to our viewers and the public for this error,” it said. “It is unacceptable for TRT that someone with over 30 years of experience in sports broadcasting would make such a mistake.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Americans across demographics believe the right to vote, the right to free speech and freedom of religion are integral to the country. But they were more divided on the importance of the right to bear arms, and few — about one-third or less — saw those rights as safe from threats.

The survey, which was conducted April 16-20 — before the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that winnowed a section of the Voting Rights Act — highlights an enduring consensus among Americans that personal freedoms are vital to the country's national identity. But it also reveals deep anxieties about the nation’s trajectory on the cusp of a summer filled with celebrations of the country's semi-quincentennial birthday.

“Our idea of rights has been very consistent in this country until the last few years,” said Louise Rochon, 85, of Connecticut. “Now, they’re all under threat. Every single last one of them.”

Americans see rights as vital, but threatened

About 9 in 10 Americans say the right to vote is “extremely” or “very” important to the United States’ identity, the poll found. About the same proportion of Americans consider freedom of speech to be highly important to the country’s identity. Meanwhile, about 8 in 10 Americans consider freedom of religion to be core to the national identity, while about 6 in 10 Americans consider the right to keep or bear arms as highly important to the nation’s identity.

But many in the country see those same principles as imperiled today. About two-thirds of Americans view the right to vote as under some threat, with about one-third saying voting rights are under “major threat” while about 3 in 10 said they faced a “minor threat.” Only about one-third of Americans said voting rights faced “no threat at all.”

Additionally, nearly half of Americans say freedom of speech is under major threat, followed by about 3 in 10 who said the same about gun rights and religious freedom.

The country is going “down the drain,” said Tracy Gonzales, an independent from San Antonio, Texas. Americans of all stripes, she said, have “thrown religion to the side at the moment” and allowed for other civil liberties to be eroded amid fierce debates over immigration and the economy.

“Given everything going on with our president, you really don’t have time to think of anything else,” said Gonzales, 37, of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdowns. “There are so many other crimes that are being committed and people that actually need help, and you’re focused on the ones that are trying to get it together.”

Vast majority of Black Americans see threat to voting rights

The poll's results also surfaced complicated opinions about democracy and identity among Black Americans. Those are likely rooted, at least in part, in the country's history of denying voting rights and full citizenship to people of African descent for centuries.

Black Americans are less likely than white Americans to say the right to vote is “extremely” or “very important” to American identity, with about three-quarters agreeing with the sentiment compared to about 9 in 10 white Americans.

But about 4 in 10 Black Americans say that the right to vote is facing a “major” threat in the country today, higher than any other racial group.

“You cannot feel like you are a total and full part of the American experiment unless you have the right to vote,” said Antonio Williams, a school administrator in Dallas, Texas, who is Black. “And African Americans didn’t fully get to enjoy the right to vote until about 60 years ago, and I feel like it’s under threat right now."

Younger adults see the right to vote as less important

Independents and younger adults are less likely than Americans overall to say voting and freedom of speech are central to American identity.

“My age group has grown up a lot more with social media as part of their existence in life and the microcosms that that creates in politics,” said Julian Goodwin-Ferris, 28, a professional dancer from New Jersey.

“I think we feel more like our voice doesn’t matter as much because it feels like we’ve grown up with our rights sort of being more ignored,” said Goodwin-Ferris.

Democrats and Republicans are divided on magnitude of threat

Americans at times diverged along partisan lines in their view of the threats to rights, with Democrats seeing a greater threat to freedom of speech, while Republicans were more worried about the right to keep and bear arms.

While Democrats and Republicans are similarly likely to say freedom of speech is at least “very important" to the nation's identity, about 6 in 10 Democrats say freedom of speech is facing a “major threat” compared to about 4 in 10 independents and roughly one-third of Republicans.

Similarly, while most Americans believe the right to bear arms is at least “very” important to the nation's identity, about 8 in 10 Republicans agree with that sentiment, compared to only about 4 in 10 Democrats. About half of independents shared that view. And about 4 in 10 Republicans found that the right to bear firearms was under threat, an increase from October 2025 not reflected among either Democrats or independents.

"We have the Bill of Rights for a reason," said Nuri Simmons, a warehouse worker in New York and a registered Democrat. Simmons, 31, said that threats to different rights “bleed into each other” and that while he was most concerned about threats to voting rights today, he understood that others may feel differently.

“Like when people try to bring some gun control into it, I think some people look at that as an attack on their rights. I guess that all depends on your politics," he said.

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

Gane finished off Pereira in the second round to win the title on Sunday after sending him stumbling with a right jab followed by a hammer fist. The referee then stopped the fight 1:27 into the round after a left to the chin.

After hitting Pereira with a jab, Gane launched a brutal floor sequence that included elbows to the back of the head.

Pereira said on his social media it was difficult for him to recover from those “illegal shots.”

“I believe that if it wasn’t for those shots I'd be in that situation, and I could have possibly recovered," he said. “Maybe not, but they were very hard shots, and illegal.”

Pereira criticized referee Herb Dean, saying he should not have been picked for their fight. Dean explained his decisions in a video, saying “the rule we’re talking about is the back of the head, and that's confusing because it's different in boxing."

Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary with an unusual UFC show featuring seven fights within an eight-sided, wire-mesh cage on the White House South Lawn.

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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts

The Thrive Youth Center and the San Antonio Housing Trust Foundation announced their agreement during Pride Month.

Advocates said this is a crucial missing piece for LGBTQ+ youth who experience homelessness 120% more often than their non-LGBTQ+ peers.

“Forty percent of our local homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+,” Thrive Executive Director Justin Holley said. “They’re running away, they’re not being in affirming spaces, they’re being rejected from their families, and they don’t know where to go, so they end up on the streets.”

Thrive Youth Center already runs the LGBTQ+ youth emergency shelter at Haven for Hope, but soon they will be able to offer a full housing community.

It will be called Thrive Vecindad, or neighborhood, and will house 25 youth.

The property on Buena Vista on the West Side currently consists of two historic homes that will be fixed up, and then Thrive will build two more structures. One of the structures will be a community center building.

“Three of the homes will be transitional supportive housing, so they’ll be individual bedrooms with shared living rooms and bathrooms,” Holley said. “Then one community space for services like a community kitchen, a community library where they can come down and be in community and learn from each other, and then those services that they might need.”

The youth will be able to stay for two to three years and receive counseling, case work, and support with education, work, and permanent housing.

Mariana Lara Lozada, 21, who is currently living at the Thrive shelter at Haven for Hope, said the biggest piece of this new project will be the sense of community.

“We will feel more comfortable living in that part of the community and being able to use the amenities and have more chance of freedom that we don’t experience as much in the shelter,” Lara Lozada said. ”Just give us the opportunity to be able to say like, ‘Yeah, we’re not homeless anymore because we’re not in the shelter. We finally have our own space where we can still feel like family, and we can all support each other.’”

Once Thrive and its partners raise the approximately $10 million needed for the project, they plan to break ground in late 2027 and complete it by late 2028 or early 2029.

“The special housing task force that the mayor asked us as a community to build out, it’s looking for 100 units for LGBTQ youth,” Holley said. “This’ll take 25% of that off of the table, which is an amazing opportunity for us to offer those services to youth.”

This is also opening up opportunities for youth outside Bexar County, which is the only population the Thrive shelter can serve at Haven for Hope.

Once the transitional housing opens, Holley said it will be available to teens from across Texas.

Read also:

• Pride Center San Antonio moving after 8 years downtown, still seeking permanent home

Fifty students received $590,000 in scholarships, while nearly $176,000 in grants went to local schools and community groups.

Officials said the scholarship recipients distinguished themselves through their contributions to their schools and communities.

For two of this year’s recipients, the award carries meaning beyond the financial support.

“I feel like this opportunity has helped me and is going to help me in the future to build connections with people, because a lot of people here are going their separate ways, but knowing that you can say, ‘Oh our senior year, that summer we both won the ... scholarship,’ so we can build that connection,” said Quentin Batts and Micai Thompson, who both received scholarships.

Organizers said the money will not only help students with college costs but also boost local job training programs across Bexar County.

Read also:

• Texas students show gains on 2026 STAAR tests; Here’s how San Antonio’s largest districts compare

In his tournament debut, he showed he’s more than up for that challenge.

Haaland scored two goals, including one off a defensive blunder, on Tuesday to propel Norway to a 4-1 victory over Iraq in Group I.

The Manchester City striker's 56th and 57th international goals came in Norway’s first appearance in the tournament since reaching the knockout round at the 1998 World Cup in France — two years before Haaland was born.

Haaland said he will do his best to meet the expectations he created with this performance.

“Of course I will try,” Haaland said. “It’s about continuing and don’t think too much. It’s difficult at this stage. But I’ll focus on (the) next (game) and of course be happy. But also stay calm.”

Norway coach Stale Solbakken said he had a feeling Haaland was ready after watching how loose he was in the team's last training session before the match.

“You could see that he lived up to the occasion,” Solbakken said. “The occasion wasn’t too big for him.”

Leo Ostigard scored in the 76th minute off a corner kick from Martin Odegaard. An own-goal by Iraq forward Aymen Hussein just before the final whistle completed Norway's scoring.

Hussein also scored for his team, an equalizer just nine minutes after Haaland’s first strike.

Haaland put the Norwegians in front for good just before halftime when he sneaked in front of a poor back pass to Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan. Haaland beat Hassan to the ball, preempting his attempted clearance, and then used his shin to put the ball in the back of the net.

“It's one of those things. It happened,” Iraq coach Graham Arnold said. “It is what is and we have to learn from it.”

Haaland’s first goal, which came in the 29th minute, followed a cross into the box from David Moller Wolfe. Haaland slid and used his right heel to finish it off. It ignited waves of cheers from the Norway supporters, who dominated the stands clad in red as they broke out in synchronized Viking row chants.

Iraq, playing in the World Cup for just the second time after debuting in 1986, held its own with a sizable contingent of supporters that was mostly concentrated behind one of the goals.

That energy helped Iraq briefly get back into the game.

In the 38th minute, Amir Alammari corralled a ball on the baseline halfway between the left corner and the goal and fired a cross in front of the net. It eluded Norway’s defenders, allowing Hussein to get a clean header that bounced under the hand of diving goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to even the score at 1-1.

It was Hussein’s 34th international goal. That includes his winning goal against Bolivia in Iraq’s final World Cup qualifying match in April that gave the country the last spot in the 48-team tournament field.

“It’s a proud moment to be back in the World Cup after 40 years. To lose 4-1, it hurts,” Iraq's Hussein Ali said.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Now, as Trump tries to finalize a deal to end the war with Iran, he's unloading on Netanyahu with rhetoric that no other American leader has dared to use publicly.

He claimed credit for Israel's existence — “without me, there would be no Israel” — and cursed his judgment in interviews. He even described him as “crazy.”

Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister spans four U.S. presidents, and he's frustrated all of them at one point or another. But none has voiced that as openly as Trump, who started the conflict in tandem with Netanyahu.

The tension comes as Trump criticizes recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which threatened to jeopardize negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Trump has been pushing for a deal as he faces political blowback at home, where the war is unpopular and has driven up gasoline prices.

“If Netanyahu gets in between something Trump really wants, and that’s out of this war, he’s prepared to use the leverage that he has,” said Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations over two decades.

An agreement is scheduled to be signed on Friday in the Burgenstock resort near the city of Luzern. Speaking on Tuesday at the annual G7 summit in France, Trump said he told Netanyahu that he's been unhappy with his recent moves.

“Without the U.S., there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did,” Trump said. “I have had a great relationship with Bibi. Now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”

There has long been a bipartisan consensus around supporting Israel in Washington, but that has frayed in recent years. Liberals have been increasingly outraged by Israel's treatment of Palestinians, especially during the war in Gaza, and conservatives have questioned the importance of longstanding American support for Israel. There are concerns about antisemitism on the left and the right.

Trump’s latest comments drew swift criticism from left-leaning groups.

“He is framing Israel’s mere existence as contingent on him,” said Halie Soifer, who leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “It’s deeply offensive to the vast majority of Jews who care about Israel’s future.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris often disagreed with Netanyahu during the war in Gaza, and sometimes they criticized him publicly. But they were more circumspect to avoid facing accusations of being anti-Israel.

Conservative, pro-Israel groups were divided on the seriousness of Trump’s public condemnation of Netanyahu.

Republican Jewish Coalition President Matt Brooks described Trump’s criticism as little more than the inevitable disagreement among family members.

Brooks dismissed that any muted criticism of Trump’s comments from his party represented a political mixed message because Trump has been reliably supportive of Israel as president.

“If Biden or Harris said something critical, it came from the position of someone who was hostile toward or didn’t have the same level of support for Israel that President Trump has,” Brooks said.

He noted the first Trump administration’s role in moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza during the president’s second term, among other acts.

Biden had criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, though Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu comes with a “tremendous reservoir of goodwill on this issue that neither Biden nor Harris ever had.”

Pro-Israel advocate Mort Klein said Trump should have kept the comments private, especially in light of his public praise over the years of authoritarian leaders in Turkey, North Korea and China.

Klein, president of the conservative Zionist Organization of America, said he worried that Trump was making the comments in public to appeal to Israel critics “because he sees that Americans have become more hostile toward Israel than they’ve ever been.”

“That worries me,” Klein said.

In the Senate race, Rep. Mike Collins, 58, topped former football coach Derek Dooley and advanced to face Sen. Jon Ossoff, the only Senate Democrat running for reelection in a state that Trump won two years ago. The outcome will help determine control of Capitol Hill for the final years of Trump’s second presidency.

For governor, healthcare tycoon Rick Jackson, 71, outpaced Lt. Gov. Burt Jones after spending about $100 million of his own money on the campaign. That investment ultimately outweighed Jones' backing from the president. Jackson will face Democratic nominee and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.

Trump, who endorsed Jones nearly a year ago and Collins two days before the runoff, is poised to be a fault line in both general election contests. The president was notably absent in Republicans’ remarks on Tuesday, however, a shift from other primary nights where candidates paid homage to their party's leader despite his sagging approval ratings.

Collins, a second-term congressman, is a self-described “MAGA warrior” and echoes Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election loss in Georgia was rigged. Yet when celebrating in his hometown, Collins thanked his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, friends, supporters and staffers — but never the president. He even touted his bipartisanship and pitched himself as a sound conservative who can achieve progress by “building coalitions and finding common ground.” And he promised to campaign in “every ZIP code and every community” of this closely divided state.

Ossoff, first elected during the 2020 cycle, has made Trump a focal point, blasting him as a “national embarrassment” who is using the presidency to enrich himself and his family. The 39-year-old faces tremendous pressure to hold his seat as Democrats try to gain a net of four seats to claim a Senate majority.

In the governor's race, Jackson spent months comparing himself — the tremendously wealthy political newcomer — to Trump and his unusual path to the presidency. He didn't do that as directly Tuesday night.

“I’m the only candidate who doesn’t owe a thing to the political establishment,” he said, later adding, “We proved the people of Georgia are in charge.”

Trump congratulated Jackson on social media, saying he “very successfully campaigned on being ‘TRUMP,’ and won.”

“He will be your next Governor of Georgia," the president added. "Can’t wait!”

Republicans face an immediate task to unify and raise money

Both parties in Georgia are trying to buck trends. Republicans haven't won a Senate race here since 2016, the year of Trump's first election. Democrats haven't won a governor's race since 1998.

But Democrats are bullish after they drew about 160,000 more voters than Republicans in the May primary, the first time since their victorious 1998 year that they led primary turnout. Republican runoff turnout also was lower Tuesday than in recent election cycles.

Collins said he had “good conversations” with Dooley and Gov. Brian Kemp, who had supported Dooley, and that Republicans “stand united around one mission” — defeating Ossoff in November.

Dooley offered a similar message to his more subdued crowd in metro Atlanta. “We have a lot of disagreements but the one thing that hasn’t changed is my opinion of Jon Ossoff,” Dooley said.

There were bitter attacks in both Republican runoffs — some of which Democrats are promising to recirculate in the general election.

Dooley repeatedly hammered Collins for a House ethics complaint that accuses him of abusing taxpayer funds by paying the girlfriend of his former top adviser for congressional job duties she allegedly did not fulfill. After an initial investigation, a federal panel forwarded the matter to the House Ethics Committee. Kemp told voters for months that they should nominate Dooley as a “political outsider” who could relentlessly attack Ossoff without having to defend a record of his own.

Jones lambasted Jackson as a faux conservative who has employed immigrants in the country illegally and whose wife has donated to Democratic candidates.

State Republican Chairman Josh McKoon said he's confident about corralling the party base and appealing to swing voters.

“This election is going to be won by the side that is able to become the party of common sense,” he said.

Collins also begins the general election campaign at a financial disadvantage. He raised about $4.9 million through the end of May, and reported having less than $1.2 million remaining. Through late April, the last time Ossoff had to file before his primary, the incumbent had raised $60.4 million and had $32.5 million on hand.

Republican candidates will need to navigate Trump ties

Despite his ties to Trump, Collins has argued that he has broad appeal, and he plans to use immigration as a contrast with Ossoff.

In the House, Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, a 2025 law that requires immigrants accused of certain crimes to be detained. It is named for a Georgia nursing student killed in 2021 by a Venezuelan man who was in the U.S. illegally. Ossoff voted against a version of the legislation before backing the final proposal after Trump’s return to power.

He leaned heavily on his decades building his trucking company, based in the same community where he was raised.

“You see, I know what it’s like to have employees and their families count on you to make the right decisions every day. Jon Ossoff doesn’t,” he said.

Trump's mixed results in Georgia come after most of his preferred candidates have prevailed in primaries this spring. But Jackson's seemingly bottomless personal coffers were a new variable.

Jackson blanketed television and online platforms with ads. He's pledged that immigrants in Georgia illegally will be “deported or departed.” He promises a slew of tax cuts. And previewing a potential general election argument, he played up his biography as a product of the state foster care system and featured his grandchildren advising him on how to make friendlier ads.

Jones, 47, comes from a wealthy family but his personal spending measured in the single millions. And despite Trump's endorsement, the president did not travel to Georgia to campaign with Jones.

Runoffs for elections chief could shape 2028

Georgia's secretary of state race was open for the first time since Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election, famously pressuring outgoing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” to overtake Biden. Raffensberger refused.

For his potential successor, Republicans were left to choose between an outright election denier, Vernon Jones, and a state lawmaker, Tim Fleming, who avoids explicitly disputing the president’s 2020 election lies. They went with Fleming, who won the nomination on Tuesday.

Jones, a perennial candidate who was once a Democrat, embraced Trump’s “stop the steal” movement and said he stood “with those who believe there was election fraud.” Fleming, who once served as deputy secretary of state, has said there were “irregularities” in 2020, a word choice that has become code for Republicans who want neither to ratify nor call out Trump’s errant claims.

Democrats voted for Penny Brown Reynolds — a former state judge in Fulton County who also served in the Biden administration as deputy assistant secretary for civil rights for the Department of Agriculture — over Dana Barrett, a Fulton County commissioner.

—-

Associated Press reporters Kate Brumback in Jackson, Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, and Matt Brown in Washington contributed.

Rick Jackson's campaign spent more than $100 million, largely out of his own pocket, to defeat Trump-endorsed Burt Jones in the Republican runoff for Georgia governor. It was another rare example of the president's choice falling short in a primary battle.

Trump's efforts were more successful elsewhere. His candidate for U.S. Senate won a runoff in Alabama, and his pick for Oklahoma governor advanced to another runoff there.

Four states and the District of Columbia held primaries Tuesday. Among Democrats, the contests hinged on longstanding divides between progressives and moderates as the party tries to chart the best path forward to November.

Here are some takeaways as votes come in from Alabama, California, the District of Columbia, Georgia and Oklahoma.

Trump's endorsement can be overcome — for a price

Nothing is certain in politics, but a “complete and total endorsement” from Trump is about the surest path possible to winning a Republican primary.

Jackson found another path to the Republican nomination for Georgia governor, but it was pricy. The billionaire healthcare tycoon personally supplied most of the $100 million-plus that his campaign has spent to persuade Republican primary voters to overlook Trump’s advice.

Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones more than a year ago and reiterated his support last week, praising Jones’ “Courage and Wisdom” in a social media post.

Before Tuesday’s runoff, Jackson came in second behind Jones in the May 19 primary, though nearly a third of voters backed other candidates.

Jackson will face Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, in November to lead one of the nation’s preeminent battleground states.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s Republican primary for governor tested Trump’s endorsement in a different way. There, the president weighed in late, throwing his support two weeks ago to former state Sen. Mike Mazzei among a crowded field without a clear front-runner. Mazzei secured a spot in a runoff on Aug. 25, finishing nearly even with Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

Trump is used to getting his way, but earlier this month his choice for governor of Iowa, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, lost to Zach Lahn in the state’s primary.

MAGA becomes the insider movement and faces an outsider

Trump rose to power as an outsider, the head of a “Make America Great Again” movement keen to bulldoze the old political order.

But now the onetime insurgent sits atop a sprawling establishment. What happens when he endorses an insider candidate?

In Alabama, it worked out for Trump. He successfully backed U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, a three-term congressman who has promised to be “a warrior for President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda" if elected to the Senate.

Moore defeated former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson, who presented himself as a Washington outsider and tried to harness the anti-establishment fervor that propelled Trump to power to defeat Trump’s preferred candidate.

Alabama is a Republican stronghold, so the GOP primary victor will be heavily favored to prevail in November.

The seat is being vacated by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee in the race for Alabama governor.

DC mayor’s race features a democratic socialist and a new voting system

One of the leading Democratic contenders in the District of Columbia mayor's race, Janeese Lewis George, describes herself as a democratic socialist, a political denomination that became more prominent with Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns.

Lewis George’s bid for the party’s nomination is not so far removed from democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's upset victory for New York City mayor last year. The race has drawn national attention, including the president's.

Trump indicated days before the mayoral primary election that he might take over the city if Lewis George wins, saying “we won’t put up with it.” Lewis George called Trump’s threat “an attack on democracy itself.”

The overwhelmingly Democratic city's relationship to the president is a focal point of the campaign as Trump has exercised broad power over Washington, D.C. That’s included an open-ended deployment of National Guard troops in the streets and his culling of the federal workforce, a chunk of the city’s jobs.

Some residents were frustrated that the mayor, Muriel Bowser, didn’t push back enough on the administration. Part of Lewis George’s platform on her website, which heavily focuses on affordability, is to “protect Home Rule” with “leaders that stand up and fight back, not shrink in the face of injustice.”

The race was too early to call on Tuesday night, and it could be decided by D.C.’s new ranked choice voting system.

Like a handful of other places, D.C. voters ranked the candidates on a ballot, and if no one crosses 50% of the popular vote, then residents' second choices come into play. That happened in Maine, where election officials started counting ranked choice votes for governor and a key House race three days after election night.

In D.C., election officials have warned the new system could delay results by days.

Georgia Republicans opt for candidate less skeptical of the 2020 election

State Rep. Tim Fleming won the Republican nomination for Georgia secretary of state Tuesday night, defeating opponent Vernon Jones, who leaned more into conspiracies over Trump's loss to Joe Biden.

The two were competing in an election to replace Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who resisted Trump's unfounded claims of election fraud and the president's request to “find 11,780 votes" six years ago.

Those claims hovered over Tuesday's race.

Jones had said he believes there were “irregularities” and “violations” in 2020 and he stands “with those who believe there was election fraud.” Of four key points on Jones’ campaign platform, three had to do with election management, including stronger voter identification rules.

Fleming tiptoed around the topic, saying there were “irregularities” in 2020 but adding he’s “not running on conspiracy theories.” Of the seven platform points on his campaign website, however, four were focused on election management and one said the state should “make it impossible for the Left to cheat in our elections.”

Fleming will face Democrat Penny Brown Reynolds, who won her party's nomination Tuesday.

More progressive candidate advances in California race to serve out Swalwell's term

Democrat Eric Swalwell resigned from the U.S. House and dropped his bid for California governor in April after a woman alleged he had sexually assaulted her twice, saying she was too intoxicated to consent to sex in both cases.

A special primary election was held Tuesday to finish Swalwell's term, and Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab advanced to the special general election on Aug. 18. It remained too early to determine who would fill the second slot.

Whoever wins will serve in the U.S. House through January. Wahab was favored along with Melissa Hernandez, a Bay Area Rapid Transit director.

Wahab, who's established in California politics, represents a more progressive wing of the party, while Hernandez is a local politician who sits closer to the political center. To lower costs, Wahab takes aim at “corporate profiteering” and argues for an expansion to social safety nets. Hernandez focuses on local job growth and supporting small businesses.

Both candidates also ran in the regular primary election for Swalwell’s seat and will face off in the general election in November. Whoever wins that race will take over next year.

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This story has been corrected to show Trump wanted to find 11,780, not 11,800, votes.

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Cooper reported from Phoenix, and Bedayn from Austin, Texas.

White’s win in the heavily Democratic city sets him up to take the top spot in November’s general elections, when he could replace 18-term delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Norton, 89 and a fixture of the Civil Rights movement, decided not to run again after facing growing concerns over her ability to forcefully push back against the Trump administration’s federal intervention into the city’s affairs.

White had campaigned on promises to fight for the city’s autonomy, which has been squeezed under President Donald Trump, who deployed the National Guard on an ongoing, open-ended mission meant to fight crime and rattled the capital’s economy by downsizing the federal workforce.

“My election means we’re going to keep our independence and we’re going to get statehood. People know I’m not going to lay down. I’m going to fight,” White told The Associated Press after his win was declared.

The D.C. delegate position is a nonvoting one, but it grants the nearly 700,000 people of the district, who have no other representation in Congress, a voice through speechmaking on the House floor and bill introduction.

The primary marked the first time in a generation that D.C. residents voted for a new mayor and delegate in the same election. And in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, that party’s winner is expected to come out on top in both races in November. The AP has not yet called a winner in the race for mayor.

Current Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was first elected in 2014, decided not to seek a fourth term. Democratic front-runners Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie are hoping to replace her. The primary includes ranked choice voting for the first time, which the district's election officials have warned could delay results.

Trump looms large over the vote

Central to all the campaigns has been the city's fraught relationship with the Trump administration and the federal government. The city has limited autonomy and federal leaders retain significant control over local affairs, including approval of the budget and laws passed by the D.C. Council.

That autonomy has been further squeezed under Trump, who launched a federal law enforcement surge last summer and sent in the National Guard. Trump's efforts to downsize the federal government also roiled the capital region, costing thousands of people their jobs. He has also been reshaping the city by removing or renovating storied landmarks and putting his name or image on buildings.

Bowser found herself walking a fine line between staying in Trump’s good graces and responding to the concerns of constituents, many of whom said she didn’t push back hard enough on Trump’s actions.

Trump last week threatened a new federal takeover of Washington when asked about his response to a potential victory by Lewis George, a democratic socialist.

“Maybe we’d take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” he said.

Lewis George, who has pledged to protect the city's autonomy, stood that ground at her post-election event where pop music blared and a crowd danced with the candidate on stage.

“If there was any doubt, right now we lay it to rest," she said to cheering supporters. "It is the people of D.C. who elect the mayor.”

McDuffie, closing out the day at an event with supporters, echoed that sentiment.

“It is under threat right now, but Donald Trump does not run Washington, D.C. We do. The people of D.C. run Washington, D.C.," McDuffie told the crowd. "And we will fight for D.C.’s autonomy every single day of the week.”

Neither candidate declared victory as preliminary results rolled in.

Federal intervention, affordability among candidates' top priorities

Washington resident Fran Tatu, 69, said the National Guard deployment was a concern for her.

“What’s at stake — many young lives with the surge of federal officers by Trump and all of the troops that are here,” she said, adding that she was voting for Lewis George and White.

White said he plans to call for Washington residents and other actors to mobilize as much as possible and head to battleground states to help the campaigns of candidates who will be friendlier to the city's needs.

“We cannot have a Congress that is in complete opposition to D.C. come January,” he said.

Candidates have also made affordability a priority, which Lewis George has blamed on the Trump administration. Public safety has also emerged as a top concern even as the Trump administration has touted its federal law enforcement intervention as a successful crime fighting initiative.

Other candidates for mayor include former council member Vincent Orange and Hope Solomon, a former federal contractor who lost her job because of cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency.

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A previous version of this story misspelled D.C. congressional delegate candidate Kinney Zalesne's first name. It is Kinney, not Kenney.

The call to action was issued at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, the first time an African nation has hosted the major annual event, which focuses on addressing critical ocean issues, including climate change, biodiversity and pollution.

Hundreds of delegates from Africa, the United States, the European Union, and climate-vulnerable Caribbean and Pacific island nations are taking part in the conference, where leaders have sought to position Africa as a driving force in global ocean governance.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in his opening remarks at the Commonwealth Ocean Ministers’ Roundtable that the High Seas Treaty, which came into effect in January after ratification by 60 countries, marked a historic turning point by creating, for the first time, a legal mechanism to establish protected areas in international waters.

But he warned that progress remained too slow.

“We have 10% of the ocean under protection this year,” Kerry said. “That is worth marking. But only 3% is highly or fully protected, and the rest of the protections are, unfortunately, just lines on a map.”

Kerry said that industrial fishing fleets continue to exploit the oceans, with some vessels operating thousands of miles from home and using massive nets that indiscriminately catch marine life.

“Ratify it if you haven’t, and move immediately to implementation,” he urged countries, noting that key decisions on the future of the treaty will be taken next year.

The treaty, formally known as the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, aims to help countries achieve a global target of protecting 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.

The Kenyan Cabinet secretary of maritime affairs, Hassan Joho, said that governments must now shift from promises to tangible action.

“The purpose of this roundtable is not to restate ambition, but to convert such pledges into measurable results for our communities, our economies and our oceans,” Joho said.

Joho noted that since 2014, the One Ocean Conference has generated more than 2,900 pledges worth more than $169 billion. The challenge, he said, is to turn them into effective management of marine ecosystems.

The Commonwealth’s 56 member states collectively account for 36% of the world’s ocean jurisdiction and nearly half of its coral reefs, giving the bloc a unique responsibility in protecting marine resources.

Africa, meanwhile, is increasingly setting itself as a leader in ocean conservation.

Kerry praised African countries for championing transboundary marine protection and pointed to commitments by eight Gulf of Guinea nations to sustainably manage all of their waters by 2030.

“A region long described as a victim of ocean exploitation is now choosing to lead instead,” he said.

The East African nation has adopted integrated coastal management plans, expanded marine protected areas and stepped up efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Its 640-kilometer (400-mile) coastline and vast exclusive economic zone support fisheries, tourism and other sectors that sustain millions of livelihoods.

As negotiations continue in Mombasa, delegates say the coming months will be critical in determining whether the new treaty becomes a transformative tool for ocean conservation or another set of international promises that fail to materialize.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental 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. ___

This story has corrected the dateline to Mombasa, not Nairobi.

Trump has been at the center of this year’s midterm campaigns, and his influence was being tested in different ways as four states and the District of Columbia held primaries.

Among Democrats, the primaries hinge on longstanding divides between progressives and moderates as the party tries to chart the best path forward to November.

Here's the latest:

Robert White Jr. wins Democratic primary for DC’s delegate to Congress

He becomes the favorite to replace 18-term delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who decided to not seek reelection in the heavily Democratic city.

White, an at-large member of the D.C. Council, would become the third delegate in the district’s history, following Norton and Walter Fauntroy Jr., both politicians with national standing in the civil rights era.

Norton faced heavy pressure to step down from critics who argued she didn’t challenge the Trump administration strongly enough when it deployed the National Guard to the city, among other contentious actions.

DC mayoral candidate says Trump’s attacks on her energized voters

Trump last week threatened a federal takeover of Washington if Janeese Lewis George becomes the city’s next mayor. Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist, said she believed that threat prompted people to go out and vote.

“Some people who weren’t paying attention to this race until the very end, when Trump made those comments, people were (like) ‘Wait a minute I need to pay attention,’” she told reporters.

Robert White addresses supporters as he seeks to become DC delegate

White, a former city councilman, is running to succeed Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s outgoing congressional representative and his former boss.

He thanked his supporters and spoke about the capital’s history as a refuge for Black Americans during the Great Migration, its crisis and reconstruction after riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the city’s tensions with the current president.

White said that he was often “counted out as a kid” but that the district’s community “never gave up on me and I will never give on you.” He said the district’s community was proud and undaunted by threats to its autonomy.

“Because our turn will never come unless we demand it. Eleanor Holmes Norton understood that. The generations before us understood that. And before this night is over, I hope every Washingtonian understands it, too: We will not yield,” White told a cheering crowd.

Democrat Aisha Wahab advances in California special election to replace Swalwell

Wahab, a state senator, moves on to the Aug. 18 special general election, which will determine who will fill the remainder of Swalwell’s term through January. At that time, the winner of November’s election for California’s 14th District will be sworn in for a full two-year term.

Wahab also is competing in the November election.

Swalwell’s seat was vacated when he resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual assault.

DC mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George gives upbeat speech to supporters

“Tonight we are making history by showing America that the dream of America is alive in its capital city,” Lewis George told a crowd at her election viewing party.

With results still rolling in, Lewis George expressed confidence in her chances.

“The early results have come in, and it is looking good for us,” she said as she thanked the coalition of volunteers and workers that came out to support her.

Everett Wess wins the Democratic primary runoff for US Senate in Alabama

The attorney defeated businessman Dakarai Larriett and moves on to the November general election.

Wess is seeking the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor.

Wess is the managing partner of The Wess Law Firm, a former municipal judge, city prosecutor and public defender. His legal practice is primarily focused on estate planning and criminal defense. Wess has emphasized his legal experience and experience working within the Democratic Party.

“Families throughout Alabama are struggling with inflation, housing costs, high gas bills, high utility bills and these everyday expenses,” he said during an online candidate forum hosted by Birmingham Indivisible.

Republicans dominate Alabama politics, currently holding all statewide offices. But Democrats believe that frustration about inflation and other issues could give them an opening to sway some voters.

Moore says GOP primary and runoff were ‘brutal’

Alabama’s Republican nominee for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat told supporters he was humbled as they stood by him through a “brutal” campaign.

His runoff win Tuesday is another chapter in his political survivor story.

Moore was first elected to the state’s 2nd District in 2020. But after the district was redrawn to favor a Democrat in 2024, he challenged the sitting GOP incumbent in the 1st District and won. In the Senate primary, he defeated Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and newcomer Jared Hudson.

Moore said he was grateful for the endorsement the president, whom Moore called the “greatest president of my lifetime.” He supported Trump as far back as 2015 after he announced his first run for president.

“For him to come out early for us, and get in the fight for us, that was a full-circle moment for our family,” Moore said.

Polls have closed in California

In-person Election Day voting concluded in California’s 14th Congressional District at 11 p.m. ET. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.

In the statewide special election for Proposition 50 on Nov. 4, 2025, the AP first reported results from Alameda County, home to the 14th District, at 11:14 p.m. ET, or 14 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 1:33 a.m. ET, with about 57% of total votes counted. The county completed about 99% of the vote county by Nov. 10.

Voters were still casting ballots hours after most DC polls closed

Election board spokesperson Sarah Graham said six centers remained open around 10:30 p.m. ET. She said it was unclear whether the cause of the delay was long lines.

Guidance for the Board said the voting centers would remain open for anyone who was still in line at 8 p.m. when polls closed. D.C. has 75 such centers and residents are allowed to vote at any of them.

Tuesday’s primary marked the first time that D.C. has ever had ranked choice voting. There are a number of races on the ballot, including several D.C. Council seats as well as primary elections for mayor and delegate to Congress.

Alabama city could be well represented in Congress

If Moore prevails in November, both of Alabama’s U.S. senators will be from the same hometown.

He and Republican Sen. Katie Britt grew up in Enterprise, a city of about 31,000 in southeastern Alabama. They also graduated from Enterprise High School — Moore in 1984 and Britt in 2000.

Moore had his election night watch party at Rawls Restaurant, an Italian restaurant in Enterprise, where he still lives. A large crowd gathered in the private event room decorated with campaign signs. Britt now lives in Montgomery.

Enterprise is in a region of the state called the Wiregrass, which refers to a type of native grass that dots the region. It’s best known for peanut farming and Fort Rucker, an Army base where helicopter pilots are trained — but could soon be known as the hometown of senators.

Burt Jones laments his loss in Georgia governor’s race

Jones kept his remarks short, expressing his disappointment and thanking his supporters.

“Looks like we’re going to come up a little short here tonight and that’s unfortunate,” he said. “We had a great Election Day. We just didn’t have enough runway to get it all the way there.”

He thanked Jackson and congratulated him on his win.

“We were outspent probably seven or eight to one, and it was a very competitive race, and we felt like we had a chance to win tonight and just came up a little short,” Jones said.

After his remarks, Jones circulated among his supporters, posing for photos and thanking them for being there.

US Rep. Barry Moore wins GOP nomination for US Senate in Alabama

Moore benefited from Trump’s endorsement in the solidly Republican state. He defeated political newcomer Jared Hudson in the Republican primary runoff.

Moore is a three-term congressman and a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. In endorsing him, Trump said Alabama deserved a “Trump conservative” in the Senate

Hudson, a former Navy SEAL, had forced Moore into a competitive runoff after the state’s May primary by running as a political outsider and attacking Moore over his ties to Washington.

The seat is being vacated by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor in November.

Mike Mazzei, Gentner Drummond advance to Oklahoma GOP runoff for governor

Mazzei, a former state senator, didn’t receive Trump’s endorsement until the final weeks of a race that featured several prominent Oklahoma Republicans.

In the runoff he’ll face Drummond, who has served as Oklahoma’s top law enforcement official since 2023 and has loaned his campaign millions of dollars in a bid to become the state’s first new governor in eight years.

The eventual GOP nominee will be a heavy favorite to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who cannot run again because of term limits.

The runoff will take place Aug. 25.

DC mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie addresses supporters

McDuffie told those gathered that it’s “going to be a while before we know the results of this election.” He urged voters to “respect the process.”

McDuffie thanked his supporters and said that Washington residents had “showed up in this election like I have never seen before.”

He defended the city’s autonomy against threats of a federal takeover by the Trump administration.

“Washington, D.C., has a right to govern itself. It is under threat right now, but Donald Trump does not run Washington, D.C. We do,” McDuffie told the crowd. “And we will fight for D.C.’s autonomy every single day of the week.”

Jackson says his early life experiences gave him empathy

He said he feels the pain of Georgians.

“I know what it’s like to feel like nobody sees you,” he told supporters after the Republican gubernatorial runoff.

“I had seven different stepfathers and a mother who battled alcoholism,” he said. “I lived with five different foster families and attended 13 different schools.”

“But with God’s help, I built a business, created thousands of jobs and lived the American dream.”

Rick Jackson tells supporters “I can’t be bought”

Jackson sounded jubilant after the Georgia Republican gubernatorial runoff.

“The SEC championship is over — on to the national championship,” he said to a cheering audience. “Thank you, Georgia.”

The billionaire noted his outsider status as a strength.

“I’m the only candidate who doesn’t owe a thing to the political establishment,” he said. “I can’t be bought and I won’t back down.”

Jackson, whose opponent Burt Jones was endorsed by Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp, said: “We proved the people of Georgia are in charge.”

Billionaire Rick Jackson wins Georgia’s GOP nomination for governor

Jackson, who gave his campaign more than $93 million of his own money, defeated Burt Jones, the lieutenant governor who carried Trump’s endorsement after being part of the president’s effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Jackson said he was the most Trump-like figure in the race as an outsider businessman. His personal investment puts him among the biggest self-funded candidates in U.S. history.

He’ll face Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms in the general election. Bottoms was just the second Black woman to serve as Atlanta mayor and she’s vying to become the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state.

Derek Dooley concedes to Collins in Georgia and attacks Ossoff

The former college football coach said he had been “humbled” by the grueling Senate campaign. He thanked his political ally, Gov. Brian Kemp, for endorsing his Senate bid, as well as his family and campaign staff for their support.

“I will be forever indebted to you, and I will help you any way I can,” Dooley told his staff.

“Congratulations to Congressman Collins. He ran a tough campaign, he got out early and we just never could catch him. We have a lot of disagreements but the one thing that hasn’t changed is my opinion of Jon Ossoff,” Dooley said.

Collins says the mission is to defeat Ossoff

“Y’all know what the mission? It’s to put a Republican in that seat and to get rid of that Jon Ossoff,” Collins told supporters after winning the Georgia Republican Senate runoff.

“We can put forward an agenda that puts Georgians first. One that builds on a vision where the forgotten man is forgotten no more,” he said.

“It stands in stark contrast to what Jon Ossoff has done,” Collins said, calling the Democrat “the deciding vote for Joe Biden’s massive spending bill.”

Collins thanks family but not Trump in victory speech

Collins is thanking supporters after winning the Georgia Republican runoff for U.S. Senate.

Amid waving signs of “I like Mike” and “Delivering wins,” the U.S. House member first thanked his wife of 37 years, Leanne, before mentioning others.

“She is the rock of our family,” he said. “And has always had my back.”

Collins did not mention Trump, who endorsed him in the runoff.

Senate super PACs ready for major showdown in Georgia after Collins wins GOP runoff

Senate Leadership Fund, the top Senate Republican super PAC, congratulated Collins on his win. It then then immediately pivoted to attacking his general election Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff,” as a “rubber stamp” for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

In a statement, the PAC said Ossoff “is wildly out of step with Georgia voters, spending the last six years advancing radical liberal priorities at the expense of working families.”

Meanwhile, Senate Majority PAC, the top Democratic super PAC in Senate campaigns, swiftly lambasted Collins.

“Mike Collins is an opposition researcher’s dream,” Lauren French, a spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement. “He treats Congress like a money-making scheme for his family business, an ethics-free zone, and a conspiracy theory clearinghouse — sometimes all in the same week. This unelectable nepo baby doesn’t have what it takes to beat Jon Ossoff.”

Janeese Lewis George’s watch party gets started in DC

The crowd has started filtering into the mayoral candidate’s party inside the historic Howard Theatre, where some of the biggest names in Black music and entertainment history have played, including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and James Brown.

Frazier O’Leary, a former member of the D.C. Board of Education got there early to support Lewis George. He met her in 2018 during his first campaign.

“She helped me in my campaign,” he said. They supported one another’s campaigns until 2024, when he lost his reelection bid.

“I’ve always been impressed by her commitment to the city and to the things I care about,” he said. “It’s been wonderful watching her grow as a person.”

Trump-backed Rep. Kevin Hern wins GOP Senate nomination in Oklahoma

Hern is seeking the Senate seat once held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

His victory is the latest demonstration of the power of Trump’s endorsements within the GOP.

The four-term congressman received more than 50% of the vote in a five-person field to avoid an August runoff after Trump’s support kept his most serious potential rivals out of the race.

The endorsement arrived even before the Senate confirmed Mullin as a replacement for fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Hern will be favored to win the seat in November. Democrats haven’t won a U.S. Senate race in Oklahoma since 1990.

Mike Collins wins Georgia’s Republican Senate nomination

Collins, a second-term congressman, defeated Derek Dooley. He advances to face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff for a seat that will help determine control of the Senate for the final years of Trump’s second presidency.

The president endorsed Collins on Sunday. The congressman has identified closely with Trump since he first won his House seat in 2022.

A trucking company owner and son of a congressman, Collins campaigned as a self-described “MAGA warrior.”

Trump will be a key fault line in the general election matchup. Ossoff was first elected in 2020 and blasts Trump as a “national embarrassment.”

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Correction: This post has been corrected to show that Trump endorsed Collins.

Voter sees Jared Hudson’s military service as a plus in bid for US Senate seat in Alabama

Julian Metheny, who voted for Hudson in Shelby County, said he liked the Republican candidate’s service as a Navy SEAL, his Christian messaging and that he is not part of the political system.

“I like the fact that he was willing to put his life on the line for our country,” said Metheny, 70, who is from a family with multiple veterans.

“He’s not playing the game of politics. He’s an outsider,” he said.

Supporters of US Rep. Barry Moore for US Senate in Alabama like his experience

Trump’s endorsement helped Moore with certain voters, but some said it wasn’t the only factor in deciding to cast their ballot for him.

Moore voters at a Methodist church in Pike Road, a rural-feeling suburb near Montgomery, cited his political experience in Washington and the state capital.

“He’s the best qualified, I can tell you that — no question,” said Bob Marshall, 91.

Jim and Sandy Cowen said they also thought Moore’s years in office were a benefit.

“I like the way Moore presents himself. I don’t know Jared,” Jim Cowen said, referring to Moore’s opponent in the GOP primary, former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson.

Polls have closed in Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington, DC

In-person Election Day voting concluded in Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. at 8 p.m. ET. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.

In Alabama’s GOP U.S. Senate primary on May 19, the AP first reported results at 8:28 p.m. ET, or 28 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 12:54 a.m. ET, with more than 99.9% of total votes counted.

In the 2022 Oklahoma state primary, the AP first reported results at 8:10 p.m. ET, or 10 minutes after polls closed. By 10:30 p.m. ET, more than 90% of the votes had been counted. The last vote update of the night was at 12:33 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

In the 2022 primary election in Washington, D.C., the AP first reported results at 8:30 p.m. ET, or 30 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:59 p.m. ET, with about 69% of total votes counted. The District’s new ranked choice voting system will extend the timeline for any races that advance to ranked choice tabulation.

Polls have closed in Georgia

In-person Election Day voting concluded in Georgia at 7 p.m. ET.

Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.

In the May 19 Republican primary for governor, the AP first reported results at 7:13 p.m. ET, or 13 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 3:13 a.m. ET, with more than 99.9% of total votes counted.

Personal relationships with candidates color Georgia voters’ choices

At a polling place in Griffin, some Republican voters relied on their personal knowledge of candidates when making their selections.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who’s running for governor, and U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who’s running for U.S. Senate, both grew up in Jackson, about 20 miles away.

Joann Colwell-Kinard, 82, said she voted for both Jones and Collins, having known their families for more than 50 years and believing them to be “good, honest people.”

“I just think he’s a very honest person and I think he’ll do a good job,” she said of Jones.

Stephen Tobias, 63, said he voted for former football coach Derek Dooley for Senate, saying he didn’t like Collins. He also backed Rick Jackson over Burt Jones for governor because he doesn’t like data centers.

“They’re putting a data center right in my backyard, so I’m not really a happy camper,” Tobias said.

On Tuesday, deputies with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home on Cactus Plum Drive near Mayan Ranch after a family member became concerned when they were unable to reach relatives.

When deputies arrived, they found a 22-year-old man dead inside the home and a woman in her 60s suffering from injuries, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

“She was not able to articulate very well and was somewhat combative with deputies on scene,” Salazar said. “She was transported to the hospital, and I do not have an update on her condition at this point.”

Resident Emily Musella said news of the fatality has shaken the neighborhood.

“I’ve actually heard a few neighbors mention what feels like jokes about maybe it’s time to move, so I think some of that could be rooted in fear and some truth,” Musella said.

Another resident, Nadia Alston, described the neighborhood as “very family oriented.”

“We see everybody playing around ... and the peace is just very disturbed now,” Alston said.

Authorities are searching for a person of interest in connection with the case. The sheriff’s office identified the person of interest as Anthony Wayne Neasham, 65.

Investigators told KSAT that the injured woman and Neasham are believed to be in a romantic relationship.

According to Salazar, witnesses reported seeing Neasham leave the residence Tuesday morning in a vehicle.

Deputies said Neasham may be driving a 2005 Toyota Highlander with animal paw print stickers on the exterior and a camouflage front hood.

The sheriff’s office said a gun was recovered from the home, and investigators believe Neasham may be armed and dangerous.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information about Neasham’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office at 210-335-6000.

Read also:

• SAPD officer shot while serving warrant on North Side, police chief says

On Tuesday, DPS said Victor Mata Villarreal, 45, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities continue to investigate the shooting, and no additional information will be released at this time.

ORIGINAL STORY: At least 11 people were injured in a mass shooting Friday in Midland, Mayor Lori Blong said during a morning news conference.

One of the 11 victims, 62-year-old Edward Randall Scott, died at the scene. The other 10 victims were taken to a local hospital.

Earlier Friday, Midland police said a possible suspect in the shooting was in a standoff with officers. Blong confirmed Friday afternoon that the shooter is now dead, as well.

In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) identified the suspect as Odessa resident Victor Mata Villarreal, 45.

Troopers said DPS, Midland police officers and other state, local and federal members law enforcement were dispatched at approximately 8 a.m. on an active shooter call in the 4600 block of West Wall Street in Midland.

Upon arrival, DPS said Villarreal opened fire on officers and bystanders before barricading himself inside an abandoned building.

After a perimeter was established, officers found Villarreal dead inside the building just after noon Friday, according to the agency. No members of law enforcement were hurt.

It is unclear what led up to Villarreal’s death. Additional details on the victims are also unclear at this time.

Troopers said Villarreal had been accused of attempted capital murder of a peace officer after allegedly firing shots at a Midland police officer Wednesday. The Texas Rangers are handling the investigation into Friday’s shooting, according to DPS.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More recent news coverage on KSAT:

• Teen detained for questioning in connection with fatal Northwest Side stabbing, SAPD says
• One year later: What’s been done after 13 people killed in San Antonio floods

The audience peaked at 33 million, as Brunson was putting the wraps on a 45-point performance as the Knicks rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

The finals averaged 20.6 million according to Nielsen, the highest since ABC and ESPN started carrying it in 2003. It is only the third time since 1999, the finals have averaged at least 20 million.

Golden State’s victory over Cleveland in five games in 2017 averaged 20.47 million while the 2016 finals, where the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors in seven games, averaged 20.2 million.

Last year’s finals between Oklahoma City and Indiana averaged 10.31 million across seven games.

The 1998 series between Chicago and Utah, where Michael Jordan won his sixth and final NBA title, averaged 29.04 million in six games.

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

In the email sent to district staff, Dr. Robert Jaklich said his final day with the district is June 30.

“The work we have accomplished together has always been a collective effort, rooted in a shared commitment to creating a future of hope and endless possibilities for every student we serve,” Jaklich wrote.

Judson ISD’s board of trustees voted in February to appoint Jaklich as interim superintendent after Milton “Rob” Fields III was placed on administrative leave in January and later terminated on Feb. 4.

In a statement shared with KSAT Investigates on Tuesday, Judson ISD Board President Monica Ryan said Jaklich’s “extraordinary efforts helped guide Judson ISD through some of the most challenging decisions facing school districts today.”

Ryan said the board would discuss options for the next interim superintendent at a meeting next week.

In 2021, Jaklich served as the interim superintendent for the San Antonio Independent School District. He was previously the superintendent of Harlandale ISD and Victoria ISD.

Who’s led Judson ISD since start of 2026?

• Dr. Robert Jaklich, interim superintendent
• • Served from Feb. 16 through June 30
• Dr. Mary Duhart-Toppen, interim superintendent
• • Served from Feb. 4 through Feb. 16
• Dr. Lacey Gosch, interim superintendent
• • Served from Jan. 10 through Feb. 4
• Dr. Milton Fields, superintendent
• • Served from May 11, 2023, until Jan. 10, 2026, when he was placed on administrative leave

You can read Jaklich’s full email to Judson ISD staff below:

Dear Judson ISD Family Member,

After an exceptional five months in Judson ISD, I want to share that I will be resigning my position as the Interim Superintendent of Schools effective June 30, 2026.

It has truly been an honor to be part of Judson ISD’s journey. My time here has been incredibly meaningful, and I have grown to deeply appreciate JISD and all the amazing opportunities that it represents. I am also very grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside such dedicated and exceptional individuals across our 55.8 square miles of excellence. The work we have accomplished together has always been a collective effort, rooted in a shared commitment to creating a future of hope and endless possibilities for every student we serve.

As educators, our job is to look into the future and see the organization not as it is, but as it should be. Florence Scovel Shinn once stated; “Every great work, every big accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding on to the vision.” Thank you for your vision to see things as they should be, for expecting the very best for our children and for reminding us all that “The Judson ISD is too great for small dreams.”

With much admiration and gratitude,

Dr. J

More Judson ISD coverage on KSAT:

• Judson ISD school board conflict persists amid academic, enrollment issues
• Judson ISD school board approves new campus boundaries, staff cuts

Messi scored his first goal in the opening minutes on a nice feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the second on a rebound early in the second half. Shortly after he got his third on a strike from the top of the penalty box, he subbed out to a standing ovation from a heavily pro-Argentina crowd.

The trio of goals gave him 16 for his career, putting him in a tie with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the career record. They also allowed him to join Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to have scored in five World Cups.

“The first matches at the World Cup are always tough,” Messi said after playing in the tournament for a record-setting sixth time, “and we’re seeing that nobody’s giving anything away.”

Well, almost nothing. Algeria made some crucial mistakes on the first two of Messi's goals, which came 20 years to the day that he made his World Cup debut for Argentina in a match against Serbia and Montenegro — he scored in that one, too.

“We're not talking about any old footballer,” Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic said. “Unfortunately we also afford him the opportunity with the first and second goal, and we actually made it easier for him. But Messi, with his clear thinking in crucial stages of the game, is able to do things that much more easily.”

Messi's brilliant hat trick helped Argentina get off to a much better start than its last World Cup. Four years ago, La Albiceleste were beaten by Saudi Arabia in their opening match in Qatar, only to rally from there to win their third world title.

“The first match is always tricky,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “We had stumbled in the last World Cup and we needed to have a good debut today.”

Messi, who turns 39 next week, nearly had two other goals against Algeria, never once looking like the mild hamstring injury that worried fans in the run-up to the tournament was a problem. One found the back of the net but was called back because he was ever-so-slightly offside, and another strike in the second half just cleared the crossbar.

He was a pest on defense, too, helping Argentina lock down the overmatched Les Fennecs.

“Argentina have a special player who can change a game on his own,” Algeria star Riyad Mahrez said.

Algeria's best chance came in the opening minutes, when Fares Chaibi's would-be goal was taken away by a VAR review that showed he was offside. Messi scored moments later, and the rest of the night belonged to him and Argentina.

“I like playing soccer. It’s been my passion since I was little,” Messi said. “When I’m in good shape, I give it my all.”

The game played at Arrowhead Stadium fulfilled the longtime dream of the late Lamar Hunt, who not only founded the NFL franchise that calls it home, but who was instrumental in the growth of soccer in the U.S. from the 1960s through the early 2000s.

Hunt played a big role in the U.S. hosting the 1994 World Cup. His sons, Clark and Dan, are doing likewise with this edition.

Among those in the crowd on a picture-perfect night in the Heartland were Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who traded in his usual red-and-yellow football uniform for a blue sweatsuit and white shirt, and his wife, Brittany.

Argentina will continue its pursuit of back-to-back titles in Arlington, Texas, when it plays Austria on Monday and Jordan on June 27. Algeria plays Jordan on Monday in Santa Clara, California, before facing Austria in its Group J finale on June 27 in Kansas City.

“The goal,” De Paul said, “is always to arrive on the first day and leave on the last.”

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

During a Tuesday press conference, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said there may have been some sort of disturbance on Monday among the three in the 7900 block of Cactus Plum.

It’s unclear what led up to the disturbance.

Salazar said, to his understanding, the 22-year-old man involved and the woman are mother and son. The person of interest, identified as Anthony Wayne Neasham by BCSO, is described as the boyfriend of the woman.

Salazar said Neasham, 65, left the home around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in a 2005 green Toyota Highlander with paw print stickers on the back and a camouflage-patterned hood.

Neasham has ties outside of Texas, and according to Salazar, it is possible he left the state.

On Tuesday afternoon, BCSO said it received a 911 call from a relative of the victims who had not heard from them and went to the home to check on them.

The relative knocked on the door but received no answer, then spotted the injured woman through a window, Salazar said.

When authorities arrived, they found the man, who has not been identified, dead from an apparent traumatic injury, Salazar said. The woman, believed to be in her 60s, was also found suffering from injuries.

The woman was taken to a local hospital and is alive, Salazar said, but was described to be “somewhat incoherent.” Her condition remains unknown at this time.

BCSO said it believes a firearm was used at some point during the situation. The weapon has not been recovered, and Salazar said it is possible Neasham is armed.

Anyone with information about Neasham’s whereabouts or the vehicle is asked to contact BCSO at 210-335-6000 or email BCSOtips@bexar.org.

Read also:

• ‘I knew I killed him’: Man arrested in connection with South Side murder, affidavit states
• SAPD: Teen found shot in middle of North Side street dies at hospital

The shootings happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday at an apartment complex near the 12000 block of Jones Maltsberger Road.

An associate of the suspect called police with “concerns” about the suspect, McManus said.

When the suspect arrived at the complex, McManus said officers were waiting to serve him a warrant for possession of a prohibited weapon when the suspect pulled a gun as officers approached.

An officer was struck once, according to McManus, and four officers returned fire, striking the suspect. It’s unclear how many times the suspect was hit.

Both the injured officer and suspect were taken to a hospital. McManus said he doesn’t believe either has life-threatening injuries.

McManus said the suspect is in his late 20s to early 30s.

The four officers who returned fire have between six and 10 years of experience with the department and are assigned to SAPD’s SWAT unit, according to McManus.

The chief said he would not go into further detail about what led up to the shooting.

The investigation is ongoing.

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• ‘I knew I killed him’: Man arrested in connection with South Side murder, affidavit states

All eight people aboard were killed in Monday’s fiery crash of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, which was taking part in a test mission as part of a program to keep the oldest aircraft in the U.S. fleet flying for decades to come.

No cause has been determined. Officials at the base said it could take six months to complete the investigation.

The bomber took off shortly before noon on a clear day, heading southwest into the prevailing winds. It flew straight and crashed on the same 15,000-foot (4,572-meter) runway. The compact wreckage indicates the plane dropped sharply.

Officials have not yet released the names of the crash victims.

Lauren Smith told Eyewitness News KBAK-CBS and FOX58 that her husband, Jeromy Smith, was among the victims. He was a flight test engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and died doing what he loved, she said.

“It is such a horrible hurt, and I’m still processing everything that happened,” she said.

The airfield remained closed Tuesday. Crews were making the crash site safe for search and recovery teams to enter, after fires flared up overnight, said Mike Paoli, a spokesperson for the 412 Test Wing at Edwards.

The aircraft was supporting a “radar modernization program,” Col. James Hayes, the deputy commander for the 412 Test Wing, said Monday. In 2025, Boeing sent a B-52 to Edwards with a modernized radar system that is key to keeping the bomber in the air through at least 2050, nearly a century after it first entered service.

A test team planned to conduct ground and flight test activities on the aircraft throughout 2026 to feed a production decision, the Air Force said in a 2025 news release. The modern Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system replaced the aircraft’s antiquated radar. It was unclear if that was the same aircraft involved in Monday’s crash.

AESA replaced 1960s radar technology and offers improved navigation and targeting capabilities, according to a 2023 news release from Raytheon, which designed the new system for the Air Force’s entire B-52 fleet.

B-52 began flying in the 1950s

The B-52, a long-range bomber that entered service in 1955, is designed to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons. It has been used in conflicts involving the U.S. military from Vietnam to Iran.

Along with a new radar, the fleet of 76 B-52s are scheduled to receive additional upgrades, including new engines, crew compartments, conventional and nuclear communication systems, avionics and weapons. The military said the goal is to make the B-52 a complement to the Air Force’s newest strategic bomber, the B-21 Raider.

Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down at the base in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles (161 km) northeast of Los Angeles. Officials determined no one could have survived after reviewing footage of the crash, Hayes said at a news conference.

Those on the B-52 included government contractors, Boeing employees and uniformed military.

Edwards is home to the 412th Test Wing, which conducts regular developmental testing of all Air Force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components before purchase by the service as well as throughout their life span. Test missions take place at Edwards daily, Hayes said.

The base is where Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager reached a speed of Mach 1.05 and broke the sound barrier in 1947.

Investigators will closely examine the flight controls and engines

Aviation safety experts have said their first thoughts about what might have caused the crash were about a malfunction in the flight controls or engines, but it is way too early to know. And investigators will consider a myriad of factors, including the age and maintenance of the plane.

J. Joseph, a retired Marine Corps colonel and airline pilot. said that even in a B-52 with eight engines, a malfunction can make the plane difficult to control if the pilot loses the outboard engines, and the forces pushing the plane get out of balance in a condition Joseph called asymmetric thrust. Although if there is time, the pilots can adjust the other throttles to rebalance the forces.

Heather Penney, a former F-16 combat pilot and aviation expert, said she knew one of the people who died aboard the B-52 personally — reinforcing how tragic this crash is for the close-knit community of military aviators. She declined to name the person before officials do.

She said it is unlikely that pilot error caused this crash given the expert training and experience of the test pilots on this flight. The age of the B-52 also opens up the possibility of problems with the structure of the plane.

“The youngest B- 52 was delivered to the Air Force in 1962. That was before the Cuban missile crisis, before the first man walked on the moon, before we had personal computers,” said Penney, who is director of Studies and Research at The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “These are old airplanes. They’re structurally robust, but they are old aircraft. So structural failure can’t be ruled out.”

All the modernization efforts and upgrades that have been made to the B-52s over the decades have extended the life of these planes. At some point, these bombers will have to be replaced, but for now they continue to play a crucial role for the Air Force.

“The B-52 fleet that we have today, is the backbone of America’s bomber force. It’s over 50% of our bomber force, and it can go further, have larger payload, and stay airborne longer without refueling than any of our other bombers,” Penney said. “There’s no other bomber in our force has the attributes of the B-52. It’s been a workhorse. It’s going to continue to be a workhorse.”

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This story has been updated to correct details of the bomber’s flight based on data analysis by AirNav Systems. AirNav now says the plane took off toward the southwest, not the northeast flew straight and crashed almost immediately, and was not airborne for 3 minutes and did not make a turn. It flew straight and crashed almost immediately.

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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press journalist Konstantin Toropin contributed from Washington, D.C.

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS

• COASTAL FLOODING: Heaviest rain stays relegated to coast, flooding likely. A tropical depression or storm may develop soon.
• VERY HOT THURSDAY: Heat index could soar above 110°
• MORE RAIN CHANCES: Friday & Saturday

FORECAST

TODAY

A few spotty downpours around San Antonio this afternoon, as an area of low pressure is sweeping across South Texas and into the Gulf today. This low could even briefly take on tropical characteristics, and perhaps become a tropical storm as it hugs the coast. However, the result is the same: scattered rain and the risk of flash flooding along the Gulf Coast.

HEAT KICKS UP

In the wake of this low, stable air will fill in over the area. This will limit clouds and allow temperatures to soar. By Thursday, highs could reach the mid to upper-90s. Meantime, at the surface, we’ll still have humid conditions. That means heat index values could be near 110° on Thursday afternoon!

MORE RAIN CHANCES

By Friday, another front will make a run for South Texas. This could kick up more showers & storms for the area. Rain chances will continue on Saturday and some heavy rainfall will be possible. Rain chances fall again by Sunday.

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• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
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Records show Superintendent Jaime Aquino’s educator certificate is currently under review by the TEA Educator Investigations Division.

Aquino became SAISD’s superintendent in May 2022. Earlier this year, Aquino announced he would retire from the district in January 2027.

Jake Kobersky, the TEA’s director of media relations, told KSAT Investigates the agency’s investigation into Aquino opened around June 7, which is when Aquino was notified of the investigation.

Kobersky said the agency is early in its investigation and SAISD is cooperating.

KSAT Investigates emailed SAISD Chief Communications Officer Laura Short on Tuesday afternoon requesting details about the alleged incident.

Short said the district found out about the review of Aquino’s educator certificate after a reporter reached out on Monday. The district then contacted the TEA and provided additional supporting documentation.

“We can speculate that someone questioned whether CPS (Child Protective Services) was notified of an incident involving a student at one of our campuses,” Short said. “We provided the documentation to confirm that CPS was contacted by the campus. If this satisfies the TEA review, and TEA determines the review was unfounded, the flag will be removed. Flags are removed when determined to be unfounded; they only remain on record if cause was found.”

Short said the district expects a resolution this week.

On Monday, SAISD’s board voted to name longtime district employee Toni Thompson as the district’s interim superintendent starting July 1. She currently serves as the chief of staff for SAISD.

Aquino has been the subject of multiple KSAT Investigates stories in recent years.

A January 2024 KSAT investigation revealed, under Aquino’s watch, the district spent more than $9 million from its 2020 bond at campuses that were scheduled to shut down.

Two months later, KSAT Investigates learned how misinformation from the district and inadequate heating during winter weather in January 2024 contributed to dozens of schools to close down for multiple days.

Records show during his tenure, Aquino traveled cross-country at least 36 times on the district’s time. Total cost: $36,896.

The district also spent nearly $500,000 on a single expense: a consultant. Tens of thousands were also spent on attorneys to review media records requests while SAISD was strapped for cash.

Know something the public should know about SAISD? Reach out to Daniela at dibarra@ksat.com

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• Cost of transparency: Records show SAISD pays attorneys nearly a teacher’s salary to review requests

In a news release, the district said the board named Jarrett as the lone finalist for the superintendent position during a special meeting on May 18. This triggered a state-mandated 21-day waiting period before the board could officially vote to appoint him.

Jarrett brings more than 25 years of experience in public education, including six years with North East ISD, according to the release.

Jarrett, who previously served as the district’s chief instructional officer, was named interim superintendent in December 2025 after former Superintendent Sean Maika announced his resignation.

Prior to joining North East ISD in 2019, he served as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent in Northside ISD, according to the release.

“Thank you, the board, for entrusting me with this opportunity. I want to thank the families in our community for allowing us to serve their children,” Jarrett said in the release. “Change is inevitable, but if we all pull in the same direction and we all stay grounded into our ‘why’ and our purpose, I really believe our schools will excel. Our schools will be even better for years to come.”

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Three fans bicycled nearly 11,000 miles (17,700 kilometers) from South America to Kansas City, Missouri — without tickets in hand. One group drove 20 hours, living off sandwiches to save money. Daniel Otero, a 73-year-old attending his seventh tournament, is shelling out around $100,000 so he and his two sons can watch the team play over the coming weeks.

“We are crazy for Argentina,” he said. “That’s why we spend so much money to see our country, our national team.”

The obsession was rewarded in Kansas City as the team made opened its World Cup defense, defeating Algeria 3-0. Scoring all three of those goals was the legendary Lionel Messi who, turning 39 next week, could be playing in his last World Cup.

“Argentina now is like the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan,” said Juan Martin, 43, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, before the match. “In his prime, he had fans around the world. Argentina has fans around the world with Messi.”

Martin plans to spend the next month following the team with his girlfriend, 31-year-old Agostina Gomez Uvia, a quest that he estimates will cost them $20,000 each. Similarly Otero is spending $40,000 on tickets alone.

Otero and his son, Franco Otero, 27, marveled that U.S. families also were wearing Argentina jerseys, emblazoned with Messi’s name.

“I can't remember an Argentinian team without Messi,” Franco Otero said.

“He changed the game,” agreed Manuel Valdes, a 29-year-old engineer from Corrientes, Argentina, who traveled to the match with his father and younger brother. “There’s a before and after in football.”

In the parking lot outside the stadium, 11-year-old Andre Cornuz, of Miami, joined his father as he set up a flag atop a van before the game. In front, members of the band Los Sin Entradas (translation: Those Without Tickets) lined up drums. Passersby stopped to pose for photos in front of the display, which included a giant banner that read, “Lio Te Quiero” — “I love you, Lio” — and a photo of Messi.

“I have been raised with Messi,” said Andre, whose father is from Argentina and who often travels back to visit his family. “I am very connected to the land.”

The band's next stop is Dallas, where Argentina is playing next, and then “wherever it takes us,” Andre said.

Pam Kramer, the chief executive of the Kansas City organizing committee, has marveled over the past week at the lengths that Argentina fans have gone to support the three-time World Cup champions, including the trio that cycled their way to Kansas City in time for the opening match.

“We had those three Argentine cyclists come here, and they came here without tickets. And the people in Johnson County (Kansas) were like, ‘You know what? We’re fans too. We’re going to make sure you get to a match,’” Kramer said, “and that’s genuine. Nobody is doing it for show. We want people to see what we see, that this place is pretty special.”

Three hours before kickoff, fans already were lining up to get into the stadium. Jorgelina Skorput, 34, of New York City, waited with her friends as police officers on horseback patrolled the crowd. They drove two days to get here, munching on sandwiches and staying at an Airbnb an hour out of town because it was cheaper.

All told, she figures the trip cost her $2,000, including the $800 game ticket.

“I felt like this is the only time, the only opportunity I’m going to get to see the World Cup,” said Skorput, who was born in Rosario, Argentina, and moved to the U.S. when she was 9. “We’re the last champions.”

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AP Sports Writer David Skretta contributed to this report.

___

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Mbappé scored his 13th and 14th World Cup goals on Tuesday in France's 3-1 tournament-opening victory against Senegal. Those were his 57th and 58th playing internationally, tying and passing Oliver Giroud for the most in the country's rich history.

“I play to make history with my country and help my team win the World Cup,” Mbappé said in French, adding that he was thinking of his family, friends and loved ones when he scored.

Mbappé first scored in the 66th minute after having several quality scoring chances denied by goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, including earlier in the second half. He scored again from long range in the sixth minute of stoppage time, mere seconds after Senegal got its first goal.

“It was crazy,” France defender William Saliba said. “We just conceded the first goal for Senegal, and just one minute after, we score a banger. I was so happy. Yeah, a crazy goal.”

Mbappé's second goal broke a tie with Pelé. He celebrated by mimicking playing a flute, after comedian James Corden suggested that on his Fox show.

After scoring his second of the afternoon to pass countryman Just Fontaine, the 27-year-old playing in his third World Cup is now tied with Germany’s Gerd Müller for the fourth most in tournament history. Mbappé is one behind Brazil's Ronaldo and two away from the record of 16 held by Miroslav Klose of Germany and Lionel Messi, who had a hat trick for Argentina hours later to match that mark.

“Of course I think he has everything to beat the World Cup (record),” Saliba said. “I hope he is going to do it in this tournament because for sure he has everything, and I’m sure that he will do it.”

France coach Didier Deschamps liked what he saw from Mbappé even before putting the ball in the net.

“Before he scored the first two goals today, as a captain and outside of the field he does a lot for the group,” Deschamps said through an interpreter. “He’s got a global aura due to his real talent. He’s a very decisive player at all times.”

Deschamps called Mbappé an iconic player, while acknowledging there will always be criticism. That does not seem to be a problem for a player coming off scoring 25 goals this past season for Real Madrid.

“The critics? It’s not about revenge,” Mbappé said. “If I started playing for all the people who criticize me just to silence them, I’d have to play until I was 80.”

Mbappé helped France win the World Cup title in 2018 and reach the final in 2022, when he was awarded the Silver Ball as the second-best player. Joined up front by Désiré Doué and reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, France went into this year’s tournament as the co-favorite along with Spain.

Mbappé had little trouble finding room between Senegal defenders several times in the first 14 or so minutes. But he was sloppy with the ball for much of the rest of the first half before he and his teammates started to mesh.

Then the goals materialized, a good sign for France given the lofty expectations. Mbappé will be counted on to keep scoring to contend to win the World Cup.

“For him, it’s a good thing to achieve this thing to be the best scorer of the French national team,” teammate Adrien Rabiot said. “Great achievement. We are happy for him. And I hope he will continue like this for the tournament.”

___

AP Sports Writer Eric Nunez contributed to this report.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Mbappé scored twice to move past Pelé with 14 World Cup goals, celebrating by mimicking a flutist as he had promised, and Les Bleus beat Senegal 3-1 Tuesday in their World Cup opener.

“He could have scored four or five goals, OK, theoretically, but we’re happy with two goals,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.

Mbappé had 14 touches in the scoreless first half, the fewest of any player, then put France ahead in the 66th minute. He burst past Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly, turned onto a diagonal pass from Michael Olise and slid the ball past goalkeeper Édouard Mendy from just outside the 6-yard box.

In a segment with Mbappé taped May 20 and aired Friday by U.S. broadcaster Fox, award-winning actor and television host James Corden suggested the 27-year-old star striker celebrate his next World Cup goal by imitating a flute player. Mbappé practiced the instrument for a year or two as a child at the behest of his parents.

“I’ll do it for you first game,” Mbappé said.

Mbappé ran toward a corner, brought both hands to his lips and air-tooted for a few seconds.

“If he wants to miss the first half again and score two goals in the second half in another match, that’s OK with me,” Deschamps said.

Bradley Barcola doubled the lead in the 82nd, two minutes after entering, and Ibrahim Mbaye cut the deficit in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Mbappé scored just 68 seconds later on a spectacular right-footed shot from 30 yards. The ball dipped perfectly between Mendy's outstretched left arm and the crossbar.

“A crazy goal,” French defender William Saliba said.

Mbappé, who led the 2022 tournament with eight goals, moved one ahead of Lionel Messi and fellow Frenchman Just Fontaine on the World Cup career scoring list before Messi scored his 14th, 15th and 16th for Argentina later Tuesday. Mbappé is tied with Germany’s Gerd Müller, trailing Messi, Germany's Miroslav Klose (16) and Brazil's Ronaldo (15).

“I’m sure that he will do it,” Saliba said of Mbappé setting the record.

Mbappé also became France's career scoring leader with 58 goals, one more than Olivier Giroud.

“He can from time to time miss a game or two but on one action he really is able to tip the scales and bring his team to victory,” Deschamps said. “People say he doesn’t defend enough. Well, he’s not here to defend.”

Mbappé brushed off critics.

“It’s not about revenge,” he said. “If I started playing for all the people who criticize me just to silence them, I’d have to play until I was 80.”

Trying to reach its third straight World Cup final, France plays Iraq on Monday in Philadelphia, then closes Group I on June 26 against Norway at Foxborough, Massachusetts. Senegal meets Norway on Monday at MetLife Stadium and finishes the first round against Iraq at Toronto.

With fans in Senegal denied visas by the U.S. government, supporters of the Lions of Teranga appeared limited to a few sections in MetLife's southwest corner on a sunny 77-degree Fahrenheit (25-degree Celsius) afternoon.

While most of the stadium was filled with a just-under sellout crowed of 80,545, there were empty seats in a mezzanine club level, which has air-conditioned suites behind the outdoor chairs.

Two hours before kickoff, tickets dropped to as low as $69 on FIFA’s resale site. FIFA sold tickets at $220-$620 in December.

France was outshot 5-1 in the first half. Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson’s 25th-minute shot hit a post, rebounded off the heel of goalkeeper Mike Maignan and bounced into touch.

Les Bleus then outshot their opponents 10-1 in the second half, when Olise shifted centrally from the right flank.

“If we had been more efficient, by halftime, we would have been able to lead 1- or 2-nil,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said.

___

AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Pratt made his major league debut and went 0 for 3 in a 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night after getting called up from Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers made room for Pratt by designating third baseman Luis Rengifo for assignment.

“This is a kid we’ve signed for the long term,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before Tuesday's game. “We feel confident he will be our shortstop of the future. He’s going to play.”

Pratt, 21, found out he was going to the big leagues when Nashville manager Rick Sweet notified him during the Sounds' game on Sunday.

“It was magical, man,” Pratt said. “It didn’t quite feel real.”

The news came at an ideal time for Pratt because the Brewers were off Monday, enabling his family to make it to Milwaukee for his first MLB game. Pratt's father, Russell Pratt, doesn't travel by airplane.

That meant a 700-mile drive from the Pratt's family home in Oxford, Mississippi. Those long-distance drives were common during Pratt's road to the big leagues.

“We drove in travel ball for like 20 hours sometimes, from like Mississippi to Arizona,” Pratt said. “Arizona to Texas. We drove all over.”

Pratt signed an eight-year deal on April 3 that includes club options for 2034 and 2035. The $50.75 million contract includes escalators that could raise the value by $10 million if he repeatedly finishes high in MVP voting and the team exercises those two options.

In the weeks after agreeing to that deal, Pratt felt pressure to live up to that contract. His batting average in Nashville didn't climb above .200 for good until April 26.

He has performed better lately. He was hitting .241 with a .349 on-base percentage, six homers, 32 RBIs and 17 steals in 58 games with Nashville at the time of his promotion.

Pratt's defense is ahead of his offense at this point in his development. He won a Gold Glove as the top shortstop in the minor leagues in 2024.

“Now we’re well aware of a guy making his first trip to the big leagues, it could go many different ways,” Murphy said. “When are they ready? When is it a perfect time? Right now, in my opinion, it doesn’t really matter. It matters he gets comfortable in the big leagues, understands it, starts to make his adjustments he needs to make, and then we roll from there.”

Murphy has a connection to Pratt's family. Pratt is the nephew of BYU coach Trent Pratt, who played for Murphy at Arizona State from 1999-2000.

The Brewers can afford to be patient with Pratt’s bat as long as he fields the way he did in the minor leagues.

Milwaukee has received little offensive production from the left side of its infield all season, yet the Brewers still entered Tuesday leading the NL Central by 4 ½ games over St. Louis as they chase their fourth straight division title. The versatile David Hamilton had been splitting time with Joey Ortiz at shortstop and with Rengifo at third base.

Hamilton entered Tuesday battting .231 with a .316 on-base percentage, .320 slugging percentage, three homers, 11 RBIs and 14 steals in 58 games. Ortiz was hitting .207 with a .299 on-base percentage, .262 slugging percentage, one homer, 14 RBIs and five steals in 60 games.

Rengifo was hitting .205 with a .280 on-base percentage, .254 slugging percentage, no homers, 19 RBIs and three steals in 57 games.

Murphy mentioned that he now might have Hamilton and Ortiz splitting time at third base, with Hamilton primarily starting against right-handers and Ortiz getting the call against lefties. Ortiz was Milwaukee's starting third baseman in 2024.

“I've had many meetings with Joey, and he totally understands what's happening," Murphy said. “Six weeks ago, I sat with Joey and said, ‘Joey, this has happened. They signed this guy. Do you understand that? ... But it doesn’t mean you can't have an incredible career in the big leagues, including playing shortstop for us at times.' ”

Pratt was one of two Brewers prospects to sign a lucrative long-term deal this year while still in the minors. Luis Lara, a 21-year-old outfielder playing for Nashville, signed a seven-year deal worth $31 million last week.

___

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

According to a news release, Thompson will officially take over the position on July 1. She currently serves as the chief of staff for SAISD.

SAISD Board President Alicia Sebastian said, “We are truly excited to have Toni serve in this capacity.”

“She has been a tremendous asset to this district for a number of years. What a better way to honor one of our own,” Sebastian said.

Before becoming chief of staff, Thompson served as associate superintendent for human resources for 22 years.

Her experience in the human resources field dates back to 1985.

Thompson’s promotion follows the retirement announcement of current Superintendent Jaime Aquino, who is expected to leave the role in January 2027.

Read also:

• North East ISD names Anthony Jarrett as new superintendent after months as interim leader
• How high school students at San Antonio’s 3 largest districts performed in 2026 STAAR tests

Jones made the case for supporting a SAWS rate increase set to come before the City Council on Thursday, citing aging infrastructure and public health concerns.

“We need safe drinking water,” Jones said. “Some of our pipes are over 100 years old. We’ve got a wastewater treatment plant that was built in 1965. These are not things that we need to take a risk on.”

Jones said the rate increase would cost residents less than $4.70 per month from 2026 to 2029.

She pointed to Corpus Christi as a cautionary tale, noting the city’s bond rating was recently downgraded by Fitch after years of deferred water infrastructure investment, which made its own projects more expensive.

Jones also noted the rate increase would expand SAWS’ financial assistance uplift program from 125% to 150% of the federal poverty level, benefiting lower-income residents in some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.

Jones also addressed a letter she sent to Spurs ownership demanding $5 million owed to the city after Spurs Sports & Entertainment failed to deliver a Major League Soccer franchise.

With the city facing a $131 million budget gap over the next two years, Jones said collecting the debt is a matter of fiscal responsibility.

“I’m not going to talk about raising property taxes on folks when one of the things we can do is just go get the money that we’re owed,” Jones said.

A response from Spurs ownership is expected by the end of the week, according to Jones.

Watch the full interview in the video player above.

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The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education, administration officials announced. With those moves, the Education Department has now carved away the vast majority of its functions for other agencies to handle.

The two Education Department offices involved — the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights — defend the rights of children with disabilities and those who experience discrimination based on race, sex or religion. Advocates worry the change could mean lapses in communication for families and school officials who need help.

Trump, a Republican, campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, saying he would “move education back to the states where it belongs.” While only Congress can close the department, Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has formed agreements with other federal agencies to handle much of her department’s work.

McMahon said the agreements align federal responsibilities with the agencies best positioned to support them.

“The Trump Administration has been clear: as we scale back federal micromanagement when it hinders success, we are equally committed to bolstering the efficacy of federal oversight where it is essential,” McMahon said in a written statement.

Critics warn of impacts to student services

Advocates said the changes would create uncertainty around services relied upon by millions of students and families.

“As is too often the case, traditionally underserved students — including students with disabilities, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners, students from low-income backgrounds, and students in rural communities — will bear the greatest burden created by this reckless decision, to which the disability and civil rights communities have already been vehemently opposed,” said a written statement from EdTrust, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates for educational equity.

The Education Department already has offloaded some of its programs through 10 earlier internal agreements, but the offices affected by Tuesday’s announcement were among the most closely watched.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services manages billions of dollars in grants and oversees state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Office for Civil Rights, which has been thinned by mass layoffs, investigates complaints of discrimination at the nation’s schools and universities.

The Department of Justice also will take over work protecting student privacy and will provide some training and advisory help to schools.

While Justice and Health and Human Services will handle over most day-to-day duties of the assigned offices, the Education Department will continue to perform some tasks, such as responding to audits and issuing final determinations in civil rights cases, which it is explicitly required to do by law.

Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said the announcement Tuesday was a political one intended to fulfill the president's campaign promise. The changes, he said, will likely widen inequities for students of color and students with disabilities.

The agreements are scattering education programs to agencies that do not have the expertise to manage them, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

“Instead of helping kids get a great education, this administration is spending its time, energy, and taxpayer resources fixated on where employees sit and illegally trying to shutter the Department of Education,” Murray said in a written statement.

Rachel Gittleman, president of the union that represents department employees, said the moves will create chaos for families, students and schools.

“This will leave our most vulnerable students and families who have been shut out of our education system without the services they need and without protection when they face discrimination,” Gittleman said in a written statement.

Families of students with disabilities opposed the decision

The transfer of special education to Health and Human Services most alarmed disability advocates, who say oversight of whether schools are adequately serving children with disabilities is best handled by education experts — not medical experts.

“The IDEA is intended to equip students as they learn alongside their peers, not cure them — the HHS is not prepared to oversee and administer the IDEA program effectively. Health and education systems speak in entirely different languages, including variations in terminology, training and disciplines," said Jennifer Coco, interim executive director of the Center for Learner Equity.

The Education Department said McMahon spent over six months in listening sessions with families, advocates and educators to better understand concerns around how the department's dismantling could affect special education. Many families raised concerns about obstacles to obtaining proper services for their children, but Coco said participants in those sessions were united in their opposition to moving special education oversight out of the Education Department.

“I think we agree on the problem,” Coco said. “We have stark disagreement on the solution and these transfers today don’t feel like a solution to that problem.”

___

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Huang has been optimistic about AI’s potential to rapidly transform society, creating faster economic growth and more scientific breakthroughs. But as the head of a computer chip company now developing AI systems, he and others are confronting a public increasingly concerned about the potential harm the technology might bring. Huang has felt obligated to respond to critics who warn of job losses and threats to humanity itself.

“We need to create new social norms,” Huang said in an interview. “I would advocate that everybody use AI. Just go engage it.”

Huang made his case as AI has emerged as a political flashpoint, with objections to plans to build more data centers and fears that the speed with which it’s being adopted could spur the layoffs of workers who might not have a safety net. Such questions have threatened public support of the technology at a time when a race has kicked off with China, a contest Huang believes can best be won by a U.S. that is open to competing globally in AI.

His close relationship with President Donald Trump also has been a source of criticism among Democrats, even as he emphasized that the computing power created by AI is vital to adding the factory jobs that have been promised for decades without much enduring success. It was an argument delivered by a 63-year-old man who has watched the technology develop and described himself as “boring” because his own life revolves mainly around work and his family.

Huang disclosed during the interview some personal details, saying his favorite movie is “Kingdom of Heaven,” the 2005 epic about the 12th century Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. He said he had watched the movie “Project Hail Mary" three or four times and “I think we might watch it again this weekend.”

Huang said the ability of AI to design a website, analyze complex documents, guide advanced research or even plan a kitchen remodeling has helped to close the technological divide in America. People can now do advanced work on computers without having to know how to program or write software, he added.

Huang contended that there is a need for some government regulation and safety standards for AI, emphasizing that national security also needed to be a priority for the technology that has been powering stock market gains and U.S. economic growth in recent years.

Huang said society will adapt to AI just as it did to automobiles. He said cars were once portrayed as killing children, but the world changed its norms by having sidewalks and crosswalks and stopping kids from playing in the streets.

Huang skeptical of what government ownership of AI companies would achieve

With a market capitalization of roughly $5 trillion, Nvidia has soared in valuation in recent years to become the world’s most valuable company. AI modeling companies OpenAI and Anthropic are potentially set to also clear the $1 trillion mark once their stocks are publicly traded.

That explosive surge in wealth concentrated in AI companies has prompted renewed worries about economic inequality. Trump has tried to defuse those concerns, recently musing about the prospect that the U.S. government could own some shares in AI firms, so any windfalls would be more broadly shared with the public. That idea has also been advanced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Huang expressed skepticism about the idea, saying he expects the country will already benefit broadly from AI advancements.

“I’m not exactly sure what they’re trying to achieve,” he said regarding government ownership. “I haven’t had a dialogue with them about that. But just remember that these are American companies. Their success benefits the stock price, of which many Americans are investors in. It generates taxes, which helps many Americans. It creates a lot of jobs.”

He noted that AI companies could also lead to higher profits for energy, construction and hardware technology firms.

“Americans have a stake in American companies already, naturally, in a whole lot of different ways,” Huang said.

Huang says national security needs to be a priority on AI

The Trump administration has recently reversed course from using a light touch on regulating AI to taking a heavier hand.

It placed export controls on the AI company Anthropic’s latest models, leading the company on Friday to shutter all public access to those models over security concerns. Trump, a Republican, also signed an order to have new AI models voluntarily screened by the government before their release.

Huang said the government was properly focused on national security issues, but it was important to provide clear guidance.

“National security should always be the top concern of all technologies,” Huang said. “But having said that, you know, you have to be very specific about the risk that you’re concerned about, before setting up policies for export controls.”

During the Biden administration, Nvidia pushed back against export controls that were designed to restrict its ability to sell chips to China, rejecting the administration’s premise that a ban would preserve an American edge on AI. Huang had warned that the export controls might limit America’s ability to develop the world’s AI ecosystem, as China would respond with its own advanced chips.

Huang says energy is key problem for America’s AI development

Huang stressed that the U.S. is vulnerable because of its deficient energy supply. The data centers performing the computations used in AI are creating a huge demand for electricity, which could be a strain on the power grid.

Some data centers will be constructed with their own electricity sources, but Huang said the U.S. is starting from a disadvantage on energy. And without more energy, it can be harder to play to American strengths in its AI infrastructure, models and computer chip development.

“The United States is woefully behind in energy production,” Huang said. “We just suffocated energy production for too long.”

Huang complimented Trump on his approach to generating more energy in the U.S.. The president has aggressively supported the use of oil, coal and natural gas, but he has scorned the use of solar and wind power.

The Nvidia CEO was not commenting on Trump's opposition to climate-friendlier energy sources. But the gap he identified goes to some of the fears that U.S. households have about AI increasing their utility bills.

Huang was speaking Tuesday in Sherman, Texas, at an expansion of the Coherent factory to develop a laser for transmitting data among chips, which could cut power use by AI systems by up to 50%.

Trump’s fondness for Huang started at a Mar-a-Lago dinner

Trump, not known for technological expertise, quickly developed a friendship with Huang. The president has called him “smart" and “amazing," insisting that Huang accompany him on foreign trips. Most recently, Trump had Air Force One pick up the leather-jacketed CEO in Alaska while en route to his state visit to China.

Their relationship started last year with an invitation to dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home and private club in Florida. Huang was in the area to receive the Edison Achievement Award for his AI work.

“He says drop by for dinner, and so I did,” Huang said. He went with his wife, Lori.

“He was incredibly engaging, incredibly charismatic, conversational, asked a lot of questions,” Huang recalled. “From the moment that I met him, the only thing that he’s ever talked to me about is creating more jobs, reindustrializing the United States, protecting national security, winning.” He added that Trump "calls me in the middle of the night and wants to talk about one of these topics.”

But his proximity to Trump has also led to criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., objected to Huang not testifying before a Senate committee even as “he has time to attend a $1 million-a-head dinner at Mar-a-Lago."

Huang said he wants the U.S. president and other officials — regardless of party — to succeed. “We could differ with politics, but we should want him to succeed," he said. "Because when President Trump succeeds, our country succeeds.”

New statistics released by the U.N. reveal that 2,300 people have been killed across Haiti so far this year, with another 100 kidnapped, while 1.5 million have been displaced. Among those abducted is James Boyard, cabinet director of the Defense Ministry, who was kidnapped last week in one of the few relatively safe areas of the capital.

Guterres’ one-day visit to Port-au-Prince comes after more than 30 people were killed, injured or missing last weekend in Cité Soleil, a seaside slum, according to Cooperative for Peace and Development, a local human rights organization.

His convoy sped past a neighborhood once fully controlled by gangs that left in their wake decimated car dealerships, abandoned homes and dozens of concrete buildings pockmarked with bullet holes. A colorful bus known as a tap-tap rumbled past, its windshield peppered with bullet holes.

Graffiti scrawled on a crumbling concrete wall read: “Down with Viv Ansanm, long live the police.” Viv Ansanm is a powerful gang federation that the U.S. government designated a foreign terrorist organization. It is estimated to control 70% of Port-au-Prince.

Guterres traveled past dozens of Haitians who fled the clashes and now live in makeshift homes under large pieces of canvas strung up with frayed rope.

They are among the more than 300,000 people displaced by gang violence across Port-au-Prince — a record. Among them are more than 18,000 people who fled the Cité Soleil slum in May, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration.

“Haiti’s displacement crisis is entering an even more alarming phase,” Gregoire Goodstein, IOM chief of mission in Haiti, said in a recent statement.

Guterres’s first stop was the headquarters of the new gang-suppression force, which the U.N. Security Council approved in September. It replaces a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that aimed to help Haiti’s National Police fight gangs but remained underfunded and understaffed. So far, Jamaica, Chad, El Salvador and Guatemala have deployed troops that number less than 1,000 to form part of the growing force, which is due to start operations in the coming weeks.

They are expected to work with Haiti’s National Police and its growing Armed Forces, with hundreds of Haitian men and a couple of women lining up on a dusty road hoping to interview to join.

Guterres then met behind closed doors with Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé, who is under pressure to hold elections in the country of nearly 12 million people that hasn’t had a president since Jovenel Moïse was killed at his private residence in July 2021.

“We had a frank conversation about what’s happening in Haiti, the vision the government has for the future,” Fils-Aimé told The Associated Press after the meeting.

He said security is a priority so the transitional government can hold elections and “get back to republican rule.” Fils-Aimé added that Guterres can help with that effort by ensuring that the countries backing the gang-suppression force “live up to their engagement.”

Forced to flee to makeshift shelters

Guterres also stopped by a makeshift shelter in a former school where dozens of the people living there crowded around him.

Forced to flee their homes after gangs shot up their community and set fire to it, some had been living there for up to four years.

“Solino is not ready,” 31-year-old Clifford Lala said of going back to his community. It was one of the last holdouts in Port-au-Prince until gangs overran it.

Guterres ducked into a hot classroom and met privately with a group of six women who decried the lack of privacy at the shelter, even to shower or use the bathroom, and said they worried about their young children.

"It’s skin-to-skin and mouth-to-mouth,” said one woman.

The shelter houses more than 1,200 people who sleep side by side, and only one meal a day is guaranteed.

“We’re going to do our best,” Guterres told the women.

Outside, a man began to slap the building’s metal siding and bellowed, “We want to go back home!” His voice grew louder and angrier as security walked into the room and whisked Guterres away.

Wendy Cejour, 26, told the AP that he and his family have been living at the school for a year and a half.

“As long as we’re alive we have hope, but … things are difficult,” he said. “We ask ... to return to our neighborhood to live better, because we don’t have a life here.”

A day before Guterres’s visit, Human Rights Watch published a letter urging him to protect the population and target the root causes of violence and human rights abuses. Guterres said he was deeply impacted by what he saw.

“What I saw will not leave me,” he said. “Each day is a fight to survive. ... The women and the children pay the highest price.”

___

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

Griffin’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Nevada, says that in 2025 her former middle school classmate “told The New York Times — and through it, the world — that Amy Griffin is a fraud and a thief.”

The lawsuit says that in the woman's telling, “Mrs. Griffin stole the rape of another woman and built a bestseller on it.”

A Times spokesperson said the lawsuit misrepresents its story and reporting. The former classmate said her account will prove true in court.

In “The Tell,” a hit that became an Oprah's Book Club selection, Griffin, a venture capitalist and memoirist, recounts being sexually abused as a child by a teacher at her middle school in Amarillo, Texas, and writes that years later she recovered memories of the experience by undergoing therapy using the psychedelic drug MDMA.

The Times story published six months after the book included stories from a classmate who said some of Griffin's experiences were eerily similar to her own. Then in March the woman filed a lawsuit in California state court, which Griffin is fighting and seeking to have dismissed.

The Associated Press doesn’t typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly or otherwise consent. The woman who sued Griffin filed her lawsuit as Jane Doe, and her name did not appear in the Times story.

Griffin says documentation backs her in every aspect

Griffin's lawsuit says the most essential fact is that she put her account of her abuse in writing in 2020, and in 2021 she provided another detailed and documented account in an interview with the Amarillo Police Department. Both accounts match up with the book, and both came before Griffin is alleged to have extracted the woman's abuse story by having someone posing as a talent agent call her in 2022, according to the lawsuit. The statute of limitations prevented the criminal investigation from moving forward.

Griffin's lawsuit says the woman falsely claimed to be another middle school classmate who appears in “The Tell” under the pseudonym “Claudia,” whose meeting with the author is recounted in the book. The lawsuit Griffin had not talked to the woman in more than 35 years, had never been part of the same church youth group as alleged, and was demonstrably not in the Palm Springs area in 2019 — or the years before or after — when the woman claims the two of them met for coffee.

Griffin's lawsuit says the coffee shop conversation with “Claudia” took place thousands of miles away in the presence of a collaborator, and that the woman in the Times story had been unable to produce any evidence the meeting with her had taken place.

“Amy Griffin’s accuser has had every opportunity to set the record straight," Griffin's lawyer Tom Clare said in a statement to the AP on Tuesday. "This lawsuit’s purpose is to make the truth known. The New York Times knowingly promoted her false allegations and must also be held accountable.”

Accuser says this is an attempt to silence her

In an email to The Associated Press sent through her lawyers, the woman said the shame and humiliation from her sexual assault were unimaginable and she was “violated all over again after reading about my own experiences in Amy’s book.”

“Despite trying to remain anonymous, Amy has now chosen to use her immense wealth and influence to try and silence me,” the email said. “She has had her lawyers identify me publicly as well as sue me. I am shocked and disappointed that she would choose to take this route, especially since she herself knows the truth."

Griffin's attorneys said in filings that the woman's attorneys gave them her name — which they have used unredacted in exhibits that they've shared — and have not proceeded with the case anonymously under California law.

Griffin's lawsuit seeks a declaration that the allegations that she stole the woman's abuse stories are false, along with financial damages to be determined at trial.

New York Times stands by its reporting and story

Griffin's lawsuit, while not naming the Times as a defendant, is harshly critical of the paper, saying it "deemed the story too good to scrutinize” despite Griffin's lawyers making it clear the woman's account was “demonstrably false.”

Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said in an email to the AP that the lawsuit and related filings “repeatedly misrepresent The New York Times story and its reporting,” and that the article “is markedly different in key aspects put forth” in both women's lawsuits.

Rhoades points out that many of the allegations Griffin is pushing back against did not appear in the Times' story, including that the woman they spoke to was “Claudia,” or that a person posing as a talent agent on Griffin's behalf called to get her stories of abuse.

And Rhoades said the Times story did not say Griffin “misappropriated” the woman's story, and she said claims that the reporters did not vet their story are false, and that they “engaged extensively with Ms. Griffin’s legal representatives prior to publication including meticulous fact checking.”

“Our story was about a publishing phenomenon, the reliability of memories recovered while under the influence of MDMA and the impact of a bestselling memoir on the author’s hometown,” Rhoades said. “Our reporters’ only agenda was to pursue the facts, including corroboration of accounts from all sources.”

All the recent rain and the humidity have created the perfect environment for mosquitoes to breed.

“We’ve definitely seen an uptick in our service requests through the 311 line,” said Joel Lara, the senior environmental health officer for San Antonio Metro Health’s Vector Control Services, which keeps an eye on the mosquito population.

Lara said Vector Control has been surveilling mosquitoes since April, when all of the rain started.

“We deploy specialized traps that we set out throughout the city. We monitor those traps and the mosquitoes that we collect from those traps,” he said. “We test for West Nile virus, and we also respond to public service requests that come in through our main city 311 line.”

Lara said those 311 service requests for mosquitoes answered by Vector Control Services are for city and city commercial properties and for areas around the city where trapped mosquitoes have tested positive for illnesses. Vector Control techs will spray or fog that area to kill mosquitoes.

San Antonians needing an elevated response to mosquitoes for their private property would have to contact a pest control company on their own.

He said that depending on the species of mosquito, it takes between five to 14 days for larvae to become adult mosquitoes that bite, and we usually see mosquitoes flying around five to seven days after it rains.

Lara said if there are places or things on your property that don’t drain completely or constantly collect water, there are some products, such as mosquito dunks, at various retailers that can be added to the water to kill mosquito larvae.

“Throw (in) a mosquito dunk and that will prevent mosquito from developing,” he said.

While you cannot get rid of them completely, Lara said you can keep your yard and properties from being busy nurseries for the insect.

“Drain all standing water at least once a week from containers, from flowerpots, from bird baths, and even pet bowls,” he said. “You want to keep vegetation low; you want to trim back the trees to open the canopy, allow air to flow through the yard, because mosquitoes, adult mosquitoes, you know, like (anything) else, they seek shelter.”

Lara said mosquitoes like to rest in overgrown vegetation.

He added that the key is to be consistent with removing standing water and mowing grass and cutting down vegetation, since vegetation grows quickly when it rains.

Metro Health also offered the following tips to deal with mosquitoes:

• When indoors, if you can, use the air conditioner.
• Use screens to cover doors and windows.
• Use an FDA-approved insect repellent that has Deet or lemon Eucalyptus oil, or Picaridin.
• Cover up your legs and arms as much you can when outside.
• Stay indoors when mosquitoes are most active, which is at dusk and dawn.

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Investigators recovered high-powered firearms from several of the suspects and reviewed encrypted text messages between roughly 20 participants who shared detailed maps and aerial photographs of the area and discussed the need for a “safe house” and escape routes after the intended attack, the documents show.

But it's unclear from the court records how close the would-be attackers could have come to being able to carry out the plan had it not been thwarted.

Several suspects or co-conspirators who were questioned by the authorities said they did not intend themselves to carry out violence but planned to instead observe others. One said he would have traveled to the UFC event as a protester but had to return home after his vehicle malfunctioned. And though the participants spoke of using drones rigged with explosives, charging documents suggest they were still looking to acquire such equipment when the plot was interrupted.

“It didn't even get close to the point of execution,” Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday evening on Fox News Channel, describing the planning as “not that advanced.”

“They weren’t in town. They had not really done that much planning,” he said.

United by conspiracy theories and anger over the country's direction

Law enforcement officials learned about the possible threat on June 10, four days before the mixed martial arts extravaganza on the White House’s South Lawn, “and thanks to the rapid action of the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” Director Kash Patel said in a post on X on Tuesday.

Five people from states including Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska and California were arrested on federal charges, the Justice Department said.

Asked about the arrests Tuesday, Vance said there was “more violent rhetoric coming from the left than the right these days.” But the charging documents paint a more muddled view of their views, depicting them as espousing a tangled web of anti-government sentiment, antisemitic grievances, fury over the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and conspiracy theories about a powerful elite that sacrifices and consumes children.

Both Trump and Vance said they had not been briefed in advance of the plot. A top Secret Service official suggested Tuesday the investigation was continuing and an announcement might have been premature.

“Anyone that believes that case was worked in a bubble is naive,” Deputy Secret Service Director Matthew Quinn told reporters at an unrelated news conference. “I'll tell you the Secret Service led that investigation from the beginning. I'll tell you that it's ongoing. In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan, we chose not to leak it.”

Communications took place on TikTok and Signal

Among those arrested was Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old Ohio man whose mother contacted law enforcement last week with concerns about his firearms purchases and online communications, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.

Proper told officials he participated in the planning of an attack, according to the affidavit, which says some members of the group began communicating with each other last March through a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old.”

“The members of the group stated that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction,” the affidavit says. “Members of the group believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt. Some expressed a desire that people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein should not govern the country.”

Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday at the UFC event on Sunday, was friends with Epstein many years ago but has said he ended their relationship before the disgraced financier’s crimes became known. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

A lawyer for Proper, who is charged with firearms offenses and crimes including attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The logistics were discussed via Signal, an app that uses end-to-end encryption for its messaging and calling services, through a primary chat of “approximately 19 individuals" and smaller side chats, authorities said. Messages obtained from Proper's phone show he identified by name several Republican lawmakers he said should be targeted because they apparently received donations from causes supportive of Israel, the affidavit said.

Proper told law enforcement officials that he had been planning to drive with weapons and body armor to a meet-up spot in Fredericksburg, Virginia, court papers say. He said though he did not intend to shoot people at the White House, others in the group did, the affidavit said.

The plan called for the use of drones that would be detonated over the north side of the White House, prompting an evacuation into the line of fire of waiting snipers in an attack Proper said was designed to “jumpstart” a revolution, authorities said.

Investigators who examined Proper's phone and TikTok account identified additional suspects.

Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, California, told officials he viewed himself as “the planner and advisor for the group, and while he was not willing to take action himself, wanted to guide and instruct others on how to carry out attacks" designed to overthrow the government, an FBI agent said in an affidavit.

The agent said Thomas believed the U.S. government was “run by an elite group of individuals who sacrifice and consume infants who also were deeply involved" with Epstein and are now protected by Trump.

Another suspect, Bryan Omar Roa, also of California, told the FBI he had planned to attend the event as a “protester” but he had to return home because his car was broken, an agent said.

It was not immediately clear who their lawyers were.

Two other suspects were identified as Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Missouri, who officials say said in a group chat that a target of the attack should be “big and someone a majority of the country knows,” and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, an Omaha, Nebraska, man who the FBI said posted detailed plans with the co-conspirators.

A lawyer for Alvarez declined to comment and a lawyer for Eskridge did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

___

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Évian-les-Bains, France, and Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report.

A county spokesperson told KSAT that Joelle Taylor, 53, was found in the vehicle near Lower Mason Creek Road and Chipman Lane.

Bandera County Sheriff Josh Teitge said the sheriff’s office received a call from the woman at approximately 5:30 a.m. Monday. Taylor told authorities her car was moving into the creek due to fast-moving floodwaters.

Taylor began floating downstream at a high rate of speed and was unable to exit her vehicle, the sheriff’s office said. Moments later, the call disconnected, but first responders were able to pinpoint her cellphone’s last known location.

The county spokesperson said Tuesday that Taylor’s vehicle was found under water in a remote creek behind a nearby subdivision. First responders discovered Taylor and the vehicle after the floodwaters receded, officials said.

According to the KSAT Weather Authority team, more than 6.4″ of rainfall fell Monday north of Bandera off State Highway 173, which was located near the original area multiple agencies began their search for Taylor.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Woman found dead after vehicle swept away by floodwaters in Bandera County, sheriff’s office says
• Search underway for person in vehicle swept away by floodwaters, Bandera County deputies say

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 208 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat traveling in the water before being hit by the strike and bursting into flames.

Southern Command said it "immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors."

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

The strikes have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The U.S. military’s first strike in early September drew particular concern from some lawmakers and those who study military law.

Two men on the boat initially survived the attack that killed nine others, and they were clinging to the wreckage when the vessel was struck again, killing them. The White House confirmed the follow-up strike, insisting it was done “in self-defense” to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.

But some legal scholars said a second strike killing survivors would have been illegal under any circumstance, armed conflict or not.

The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes.

However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general’s office said.

Former officer Abdiel Munoz was fired after the March 3, 2024, death of Jesus Gonzales, 19. City attorneys argue Munoz failed to conduct a proper search before transporting Gonzales to jail, which allowed to bring a handgun into the facility.

During Tuesday’s arbitration hearing, attorneys for the city said the tragedy could have been avoided and stemmed from Munoz’s actions.

“This tragedy was preventable,” a city attorney said during the proceedings.

For the first time, body camera and jail surveillance footage from the incident was shown publicly.

Video played during the hearing showed Munoz repeatedly asking Gonzales whether he had any weapons on him before transporting him to jail. The footage appears to show Munoz checking Gonzales’ pockets but not conducting a more thorough pat-down search.

San Antonio Police Department Internal Affairs investigator Sgt. Rachel Mendez testified that the search shown in the video raised concerns, particularly because Gonzales had a pending unlawful carry of a firearm charge at the time.

“Normally, you would ask them to spread their feet to perform a search up and down the legs,” Mendez said. “I don’t see that happening.”

According to investigators, Gonzales later produced the handgun during a strip search inside the jail and died by suicide.

Munoz’s attorney argued that the punishment was excessive and inconsistent with discipline imposed in similar cases. The attorney also contended that others had opportunities to discover the weapon after Gonzales arrived at the jail.

Surveillance video shown during the hearing depicted a Bexar County Sheriff’s corporal searching Gonzales again after he entered the jail. The handgun was not found.

Moments later, body camera footage captured the beginning of a strip search. After taking off his pants and shirt, Gonzales retrieved the handgun from his basketball shorts and fired a single shot.

The footage wasn’t able to capture where exactly Gonzales retrieved the gun out.

The arbitrator must now determine whether Munoz violated department policy and whether his termination was justified or if a lesser form of discipline would have been more appropriate.

The hearing is expected to continue Wednesday.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, call 988 or text TALK to 741-741.

You can also reach out to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) or the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) at 210-223-7233 (SAFE) or 800-316-9241. You can also text NAMI to 741-741.

More related coverage of this story on KSAT:

• SAPD fires officer for failing to pat down teen who shot, killed himself in Bexar County Jail
• SAPD body-worn camera video shows officers failed to pat down teen who killed himself inside Bexar County Jail
• 19-year-old man takes his own life inside adult detention center, BCSO says