The pilot “Educator-in-Residence” program is hosted by American Landmark at three area apartment complexes: The Lynx, The Legend and Kinsey Park.

The communities are in zip codes where student state scores have been below a C average, organizers said.

The goal is to bring academic support directly to families, removing barriers such as transportation.

“In an effort to give back to our community, we want to make it to where parents and students don’t have to worry about finding a ride,” said Jessica McMillan, who helps coordinate the program. “It’s right here in their home.”

In exchange for a full year of rent, valued at roughly $12,000, educators commit to at least three hours a week of tutoring, mentoring or teaching classes based on their skills.

The apartment complexes provide the space and supplies.

Uli Kolbe, an educator with 30 years of experience, is taking part in the program.

He said he plans to offer tutoring for students from elementary school through high school.

“It’s not about me and how it’s going to help me,” Kolbe said. “The main thing for me here is to help the residents and help the community, and that is something I consider very rewarding as an educator.”

Kolbe said he believes the idea could spread beyond San Antonio.

“I have a feeling that more and more organizations around the country will eventually catch on and follow this example,” he said.

American Landmark is looking for teachers to live at two of the participating apartment complexes.

Read also:

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

Large stretches of storefronts at Pepper Square sit empty. Signs from a touring Harry Potter exhibition that closed in May still hang from a former Stein Mart where the attraction was housed. Cars pack the parking spaces of a Trader Joe’s and an indoor trampoline park, but wide swaths of the lot sit deserted.

The center’s owner saw an opportunity to revive the flagging retail strip with hundreds of apartments as well as new shops and restaurants. Nearby homeowners saw the threat of a looming high-rise over their neighborhoods.

For years, a group of homeowners waged a pressure campaign to stop the redevelopment. They effectively forced a City Council member to not seek reelection and sued to stop the overhaul after council members gave it the green light.

Now, Pepper Square will become a place for people to live after all. It’s among thousands of new homes moving forward with the help of new state laws passed last year aimed at reining in high prices and rents by easing the state’s housing crunch. Those rules relaxed local zoning regulations on what kinds of housing can be built and where, allowing more homes to be built in more places at a time when Texans have increasingly struggled to afford keeping a roof over their heads.

“The biggest obstacle to more homes for Texas families isn’t the land. It isn’t the money. It is some of the local obstacles protecting the status quo,” said Nicole Nosek, who founded the group Texans for Reasonable Solutions, which pushed the housing bills.

The law that appears to be enabling the most new housing is Senate Bill 840, which allows owners of offices, shopping centers and warehouses to redevelop properties into apartments or mixed-use complexes with residences.

The law has enabled at least 8,400 apartments since it took effect Sept. 1, according to a tally by a bipartisan coalition that supported the bill, including Texans For Reasonable Solutions, American Enterprise Institute and Texas Appleseed. That’s an amount equivalent to about one in five of the multifamily units permitted in Texas since the law took effect, a separate Texas Tribune analysis of building permits shows.

Apartment construction has slowed in Texas and the rest of the country amid a temporary glut of new apartments and higher construction costs. But while multifamily permits fell 10% statewide in the period since the bill passed, those permits have risen in the 19 cities where SB 840 relaxed local zoning restrictions, The Tribune’s analysis of the Texas A&M University’s building permit data found.

“Texas passed this, which was, you know, a tremendous achievement. And it’s already bearing fruit in the first year with positive direction,” said Ed Pinto, co-founder and co-director of the conservative American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center.

Another law that reduces how much land cities can require single-family homes in new subdivisions to sit on has so far allowed 2,800 homes to proceed in Dallas, Plano and El Paso, the groups’ analysis shows.

One aimed at making it easier for city councils to approve new housing has seen mixed success, according to a Tribune analysis.

The laws, particularly SB 840, face resistance from some homeowners and several North Texas cities that are trying to prevent such projects. Devotion to the single-family home runs deep in the suburbs, where residents often meet new apartments with scorn and local officials fight to keep the authority to shape how their communities grow.

Limiting how many apartments get built means fewer housing opportunities in some of the state’s fastest growing economies — particularly for those who can’t afford to buy often pricey homes in those areas, the bill’s proponents argue.

“They basically say, ‘You can work in our communities. But when the lights go out, we want you heading back across the border,’” said state Rep. Gary Gates, a Houston-area Republican who shepherded the bills.

Lawmakers have signaled that improving the state’s housing affordability will be a further focus next legislative session, with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, both Republicans, telling legislators to study the issue before they meet next year.

More apartments in more places

The new developments cited by the groups ranged from a 1,000-unit housing complex in southwest Austin to a 14-unit building sandwiched between single-family homes in South Dallas.

Pepper Square is one of them as well. The strip mall’s sorry state is partly what drove owner Henry S. Miller Co. to seek to redevelop with about 2,000 apartments initially proposed.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is adding more residents than any other region in the country, said Greg Miller, the firm’s president and CEO, and needs to build more housing to meet demand.

“People need a place to live,” Miller said, adding that putting apartments on the property would help maintain a customer base for retail at the site.

Neighborhood groups aggressively fought the plan even as the developer slashed the number of units. The project’s opponents feared increased traffic congestion and lost privacy owing to the project’s height.

Miller said apartments generate fewer car trips than retail and the Pepper Square development won’t even be as tall as an existing 12-story office building across the street.

Opponents sued the city to kill the project after the Dallas council approved it. But after lawmakers passed SB 840, which allows apartments to be built in commercial areas such as Pepper Square without local approval, their lawsuit was moot.

Miller sees the law as further endorsement of his company’s plans for the project, which will include about 1,000 apartments on the site and roughly two acres of park space, Miller said.

“The state and the city, they want growth,” Miller said. “And we’re going to continue to grow.”

Those who fought against the redevelopment are still smarting, though they agree the shopping center needed some kind of makeover.

“It’s a kick in the gut,” said Matt Bach, who headed the Save Pepper Square Neighborhood Association. “They had the state Legislature come in and say, ‘Okay, now we’re just changing the game. The goalposts are being moved back another 50 yards.’ It was very disheartening.”

Other projects not part of the groups’ count include five fourplexes in east Fort Worth, a complex for low-income seniors in Killeen and a 256-unit apartment complex in southwest Arlington, spokespeople for those cities said.

More homes could be in the pipeline for North Texas and elsewhere because of the law.

Tommy Mann, a land use attorney, said he is working on a few dozen projects made possible by the law. Most of them are in Dallas and will have about 250 to 350 units, he said.

City officials have had more than a dozen meetings regarding apartment buildings proposed in places they wouldn’t have been allowed without city approval before SB 840, said Andreea Udrea, Dallas’ deputy director of planning and development.

“There is big interest,” Udrea said.

Some developers across Texas appear to be leveraging the law to extract concessions from city leaders wanting to avoid the maximum density allowed under the law, observers said.

That’s the scenario that played out in Plano when a builder received approval to add more apartments and single-family homes to a project than what city officials had previously allowed.

“Now the community and the city are evaluating options that are very different than they used to be,” Mann said.

The law appears to be aiding the construction of more affordable apartments for households making less than an area’s typical income, the groups’ tally found — about 1,600 units so far.

Lawmakers didn’t require building affordable housing units, which tend to face vehement opposition from neighboring homeowners. However, allowing more market-rate apartments tends to bring down rents, particularly in places such as Austin, where rents have fallen amid an apartment building boom.

“One of our contentions has always been that it would be easier to get more affordable housing on the ground as a result of this bill,” said Brennan Griffin, senior deputy director at Texas Appleseed, a social justice group. “That’s been borne out so far.”

Pinning down exactly how many new homes the law has enabled is tricky.

The bill applies to only the state’s 19 largest cities, and not every city is tracking how much development they’re seeing. The bill also bumped up cities’ height limits for apartment buildings, so developers may be adding a floor to a project they already were allowed to build, a subtle difference that’s hard to track, advocates said.

Pushback to housing laws

A group of cities across the Dallas-Fort Worth region have thrown up stricter building codes, design standards or height requirements aimed at curbing how much housing goes up under the new law.

A new apartment complex built in Irving, for example, must now have eight floors unless the City Council grants the developer an exception. Arlington and Plano adopted similar, though smaller, height thresholds.

Some cities now mandate that apartments provide specific amenities to tenants — requirements critics argue are nothing but ways for cities to skirt the law.

Irving requires apartment buildings to include a workspace for remote workers, a dog park and a gym. Grand Prairie requires apartments built under the bill to put in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Kurt Johnson, Grand Prairie deputy mayor pro tem, defended the requirement to Texas House lawmakers last week, arguing that the city is trying to ensure pools built at new complexes enabled by the law are “large enough to accommodate the additional family members” living there.

Kimberly Levinson, vice chair of Austin’s Downtown Commission, told the House Land and Resource Management Committee they shouldn’t take such concerns seriously. The building where she lives in downtown has more than 140 units, she said during the committee’s July 20 meeting, “and all we have is a two-lane lap pool.”

“Somehow or other, we don’t feel the least bit deprived,” Levinson said.

Gates, who chairs the committee, signaled that he would push to force cities to comply with the law when state lawmakers return for work in January.

“It’s clearly designed to thwart what we were trying to do,” Gates said in an interview. “We can come up with a solution that basically stops them from being able to do these kinds of tactics.”

Whether the suburbs find friends in the Legislature, dominated by Republicans who have long pushed to curb the authority of cities and whose leaders have named housing affordability among their top priorities, remains to be seen.

In the meantime, some city leaders expressed a desire to work with state lawmakers.

“We welcome the opportunity to partner with the Legislature through a task force or working group to advance shared housing goals, including increasing supply and affordability, while allowing flexibility for communities to implement solutions that reflect local needs and conditions,” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told the committee members.

The additional rules enacted by the suburbs haven’t completely halted SB 840 development in his city.

Arlington, Plano and McKinney have each advanced new projects,, representatives for the cities told The Tribune.

Irving spokesperson Raul Garza noted that the city granted exceptions to its additional regulations to a developer on an affordable housing complex but didn’t provide more details. Grand Prairie has not seen any development under the law, city spokesperson Claudia Garibay said. A representative for Frisco did not return a request for comment.

In the meantime, urban areas such as Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio seem to be embracing SB 840. In Dallas, city boosters said the law could help them become more competitive with the suburbs when it comes to attracting residents and new companies.

The suburbs will “be sorry they’ve limited access to housing,” said Linda McMahon, executive director of Dallas Economic Development Corporation. “If you don’t have housing availability at various price points, your economy is going to stagnate. That’s a reality.”

Still, SB 840 even faces hurdles in places less resistant to the law.

In El Paso, the law made about a third of the city’s total land area available for building under the law, said Alex Hoffman, the city’s assistant planning director. But about 36% of those lots have private deed restrictions prohibiting apartments, he said.

Projects that aren’t deed restricted still must seek exceptions from local ordinances — such as minimum parking-spot requirements — in order to take full advantage of the law, he said. That gives local residents an opportunity to stop them.

“I’m just anticipating that opposition will likely increase once we start seeing things getting developed under 840,” Hoffman said.

Disclosure: Kimberly Levinson, Linda McMahon, Nicole Nosek, Texas A&M University and Texas Appleseed have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

In the Gironde region of southwest France, where flames have burned an area four times the size of Paris, the prefecture said the situation overnight had remained “globally stable" — a change from previous days where the giant blaze raging since last week edged closer to the wine region city of Bordeaux.

In the adjacent southwestern Landes region, where hundreds of firefighters have been making progress against another virulent but smaller fire, the prefecture said some rain fell overnight and described the conditions as “favorable" for firefighting but also cautioned that they could change.

No new evacuations were announced. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, Gironde authorities took more steps to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. The region has evacuated a staggering 220,000 people from fire-hit towns and villages and other localities between the giant blaze and Bordeaux.

On the ground and in the air, with water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, the massive firefighting effort was engaged in a race against time, battling to make progress before a forecast surge in temperatures from Tuesday that could make fighting flames more difficult.

Macron didn't immediately comment after the government crisis meeting he presided over. In a weekend post on X, he pledged long-term support for fire-hit communities, saying: “We will rebuild, we will repair and we will be present for as long as necessary.”

In Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and in the Valencia region. Authorities evacuated 76,000 people and confined 30,000 others to their homes.

In both Spain and France, the exceptional scale of the fires — fueled by heat waves that hit especially hard and early this year, making forests and scrubland tinder-dry — are driving calls for stronger action against climate change.

“What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

A fire raging in hilly, rural terrain in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching 50,000 hectares (193 square miles), the government says.

All told, fires have burned 153,000 hectares (590 square miles) this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister.

The minister said that another heat wave forecast from Tuesday — which would be Spain’s fourth so far this year — could ratchet up the fire danger.

Evacuees are fretting about what they’ll find when they’re allowed to return to fire-hit regions.

“It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn’t see anything. Everything was covered in ash,” said Rocío Domínguez, who evacuated with her dog, Simba, from Chapinería, west of Madrid.

“We don’t know when we get to the town, if we’ll have half the house burned down or we’ll have it intact or we won’t have a house,” she said. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything.”

___

Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed.

The comments came after neither the U.S. nor Iran reported carrying out any attacks for three straight days — a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had led to increasing fears of a return to all-out war.

The two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive regional talks, said mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan were working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to an interim ceasefire deal that had been largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire.

No strikes over weekend

The U.S. has paused attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipments. The Pentagon did not respond to questions.

U.S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. “We’ve had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days.”

Waltz dismissed the idea that the U.S. stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian attacks is running low, but experts have questioned how long both the U.S. and Iran can afford to keep up attacks.

Since the U.S. has halted attacks for the past two nights, Iran has as well, its army spokesperson told Iran’s state TV on Sunday. Tehran in recent days has counterattacked against countries in the region hosting U.S. military forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.

Regional officials cite progress in talks

One of the regional officials who spoke to AP Monday described the progress made in mediation efforts as “significant.” He said mediators were working with Iran and Oman on a mechanism for managing vessels’ transit through the Strait of Hormuz, which was the trigger for the latest round of strikes and counterstrikes between Iran and the U.S.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said during a news conference in Tehran Monday that mediators were conveying messages but that no direct negotiations were being held with the U.S.

“Mediators may convey messages to us from the American side regarding ongoing developments in the region. But at present, we have no negotiations with the American side,” Baghaei said.

He said several rounds of talks had already been held between Iran and Oman, which lies on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, on Friday and Saturday on how to manage ship traffic through the waterway.

“The objective is for Iran and Oman, as the two coastal states, to develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran’s security and national interests” Baghaei said. However, he stressed that “the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not changed” and that the waterway remains closed.

Tehran has asserted that the interim deal with the U.S. allows it to manage shipping on the waterway for now, and it has objected to U.S. efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead. The strait was considered an international waterway before the war.

The U.S. military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. U.S. forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it added.

The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed by both countries in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated — notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions — remain set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.

Shipping traffic on the strait is at a 3-week low

Concerns continue about shipping through the strait and now also through another crucial waterway in the region, the Bab al-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there, and fired on at least one Saudi tanker, setting it alight.

Global energy supplies and the economy remain in the balance as gasoline prices have risen again.

Commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was at a three-week low, a maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours. It said traffic remained steady through the Bab el-Mandeb.

Netanyahu says he ‘fully’ backs Trump’s efforts

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to the United States and meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, his office has said. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and ground forces in southern Lebanon. Since then, the U.S. has supported landmark direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to try to calm that front and find a way to disarm Hezbollah.

___

Becatoros contributed from Athens, Greece. Associated Press reporters Cara Anna in Lowville, New York, and Darlene Superville and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched around 4 p.m. to a residence on Fort Leonard near Potranco Road, Salazar said, after two women reported a 30-year-old man missing. One of the women lives at the residence; the other lives elsewhere.

Both told deputies the man — described as a white male from out of state who was a tenant at the home — had experienced night terrors, and Salazar said they believed he had left the residence sometime overnight.

During a preliminary sweep of the home, Salazar said a deputy found evidence of blood inside the residence. Continuing the search, the deputy discovered a body wrapped tightly in plastic inside a closet in one of the bedrooms.

Investigators have not officially confirmed the body is that of the man reported missing, and the cause and manner of death remain pending a medical examiner’s determination. However, Salazar said the circumstances are “highly suspicious.”

“It’s just highly unlikely that anybody would harm themselves and then wrap themselves up in plastic as tightly as what we’ve found here,” Salazar said.

Deputies also found evidence of trauma and signs that someone attempted to clean up what investigators are treating as a crime scene, according to Salazar.

Three people — two women and one man, all described as being in their 30s — were detained for questioning, Salazar said. A married couple among the detained live at a second nearby residence.

Salazar said the victim is believed to be a friend of one of the women at the scene residence, and the other couple are mutual friends.

Investigators believe the victim did not leave the residence, Salazar said, and that whatever happened to him occurred there.

Read also:

• SAPD: 71-year-old woman found dead in street near Lanier High School

• TODAY: Mostly sunny, hot, and rain-free with highs in the upper 90s to near 102°
• MIDWEEK: Widespread triple-digit temperatures become more common
• HEAT INDEX: Afternoon “feels-like” temperatures ranging from 101° to 107° today, climbing closer to 110° later this week
• RAIN CHANCES: Virtually zero through at least Friday

FORECAST

TODAY

A strong upper-level high remains parked over Texas, keeping hot and dry weather in place across South-Central Texas. Temperatures will climb a degree or two warmer than yesterday, reaching the upper 90s to low 100s this afternoon, with heat index values ranging from 101° to 107°. Skies will stay mostly sunny with only a few passing high clouds, and no rain is expected.

TURNING UP THE HEAT

The hottest weather of the week is expected late in July’s final week, with afternoon temperatures rising into the 100°–105° range by Thursday and Friday as a strong ridge of high pressure strengthens. Combined with humidity, heat index values may reach 105°–110°, especially in lower elevations and the Coastal Plains, and heat-related advisories could be issued if confidence in these higher values continues to increase.

EXTENDED OUTLOOK

Expect sunshine, dry conditions, and triple-digit heat through Friday. A shift in the upper-level ridge may bring scattered rain and cooler temperatures to South-Central Texas by late this weekend.

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• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
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Shares in Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared 466% as they began trading on Shanghai’s technology board. The company jumped to become China's most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490 billion).

The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the pause in attacks on Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure after nearly two weeks of escalating fighting sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

But markets reacted with relief. U.S. futures surged early Monday and the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 6.8% to $85.49.

U.S. benchmark crude dropped 7% to $83.06 per barrel.

“Oil’s sharp retreat at the Monday open did more than knock a few dollars off the barrel. It loosened the geopolitical knot that had been tightening around equities, currencies, bonds and central banks for most of July,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX gained 1.6% to 25,497,42 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.8% at 8,436.94. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 10,784.00.

The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1%.

In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to 64,931.19, while the Kospi in South Korea advanced 1% to 6,755.75.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1% to 25,207.18, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.2% to 3,858.25.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.4% to 8,894.00.

Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.1% and the Sensex in India added 1.1%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 barely budged, picking up less than 0.1% and notching its second straight losing week for the first time since March.

The Dow industrials rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.6%, weighed down by sharp losses for heavyweights like Micron Technology, which fell 7%, and Broadcom, which lost 2.7%.

Recent surges in energy prices and fresh tariffs announced last week by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could result in hotter inflation, which has been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.

The Fed meets this week, though rising inflation has dashed hopes for an interest-rate cut anytime soon. Wall Street has been leaning toward a potential rate hike to tamp down higher prices.

Higher energy costs are taking up a bigger share of household budgets, which have shifted toward more basic needs, like gasoline. Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs $4.11 per gallon, according to AAA. That is still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but almost a dollar higher than last year at this time.

“Oil is the fastest-moving tax in the global economy. When crude rises sharply, consumers feel it at the fuel pump, airlines and transport companies feel it in their operating costs, manufacturers feel it in their logistics, and central banks begin worrying that the initial supply shock will spill over into broader inflation expectations,” Innes said.

Meanwhile, corporate earnings reports are focusing attention on the sustainability of broader profits from a boom in spending on artificial intelligence. Tech giants like Alphabet and Nvidia have been spending heavily to expand AI capacity and investors increasingly are questioning whether they will generate profits to justify the massive stock values that have pushed markets market higher throughout the year.

In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 163.56 Japanese yen from 163.64 yen. The euro rose to $1.1399 from $1.1398.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Genevieve’s center was located about 530 miles (855 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, and it was headed northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center said that swells from the storm — likely causing “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” — were affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast and the Baja California Peninsula.

The storm was expected to begin weakening from Tuesday.

Farther northwest in the Pacific, Hurricane Fausto weakened to a Category 1 storm as it continued on a path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands.

Forecasters said Fausto was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming days but warned that it could still generate significant surf for parts of Hawaii.

Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph). It was located about 670 miles (1,080 kilometers) east of Hilo and was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

CXMT's shares surged 466% in their first day of trading. The company has become the most valuable one listed on a mainland Chinese exchange, with an estimated market capitalization of about 3.3 trillion yuan (more than $487 billion). But that's still smaller than those of South Korean and American memory chipmakers like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.

CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, is among many chipmakers that have profited mightily from the boom in artificial intelligence. Its business is thriving as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in leading edge technologies while contending with limited access to advanced chipmaking machines due to American-led restrictions.

The company raised at least $8.6 billion with the offering, priced at 8.66 yuan ($1.3) per share, in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like STAR market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

It was mainland China's second largest IPO after the $22.1 billion share offering of Agricultural Bank of China in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2010.

Founded in 2016 in the eastern city of Hefei, CXMT is one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM, or “dynamic random access” memory chips, a kind of semiconductor used in everything from AI servers to autos and consumer electronics like smartphones and personal computers.

“CXMT plays a critical role in China’s AI push, particularly in the face of U.S. export controls,” said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China’s technology policies. U.S. restrictions have also barred China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips – a type of DRAM chip.

The company’s revenue surged to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) on jumping demand from the rapid rise of AI in the first three months of 2026, a more than 700% rise year-on-year.

Soaring use of AI has led to a global memory chip shortage, driving up prices for some computers and smartphones. One big question, Chan said, is whether CXMT could help with the broader shortage.

CXMT is seen as China's best shot at developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to power Chinese AI models, Chan said. But it also faces many challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks in scaling up manufacturing capacity, since its access to the world’s most best chipmaking tools is highly restricted, forcing it to depend on Chinese equipment makers.

According to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm, CXMT was the world's fourth biggest DRAM memory chipmaker in 2025 by shipments, taking up roughly 8% of the global market. Samsung Electronics accounted for 36%, SK Hynix 29% and Micron about 24%.

In the first three months of this year CXMT accounted for approximately 9% of global shipments. By 2028, its market share is forecast by Counterpoint Research to reach about 11%. But the research firm estimated CXMT will likely need at least a 15% global market share to be competitive in the long term.

“Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT,” said MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who specializes in memory semiconductors. Some U.S. lawmakers have also recently called for President Donald Trump’s administration to block American companies from buying CXMT’s memory chips over national and economic security concerns.

CXMT is one of many Chinese companies the Pentagon says have links to the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected such designations in most cases.

CXMT's public share offering followed a $26.5 billion IPO by South Korea’s SK Hynix on the Nasdaq earlier this month.

___

AP journalist Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.

Investigators believe the two suspects were shooting at each other and, although one remained on the loose, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis told a news conference Sunday night that there was no ongoing threat to the public.

Police did not have a description of the outstanding suspect, he said.

“We’re still trying to figure this out,” Davis said.

Two people died at the scene and a third died at a hospital. The four wounded, including a 2-year-old boy, were hospitalized and in stable condition, said Grace Nuñez, spokesperson for the Seattle Fire Department. The rest of the injured were adults. Davis couldn't say if any of the victims were involved in the confrontation.

The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle, an annual three-day festival that draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers.

Dozens of officers were providing security at the event and some saw one of the suspects firing, Davis said. One suspect surrendered at the scene, but the other fled. Law enforcement searched the grounds to no avail.

A large number of police and emergency crews responded and began evacuating the area around the sprawling Seattle Center campus.

Faith Adia Hunter said she and her friends had just gotten food from a crepe vendor when gunfire broke out. She realized a shooter was near them. She and others found shelter in the nearby Seattle Children’s Museum.

“We were right next to him when it started so we took off running,” Hunter said. “So we took off running too into the building with the crowd.”

In the chaos, many vendors bolted toward the exits, abandoning their food stands. Hours afterward, some milled outside the police tape, wondering when they would be allowed to return to collect their tents, food and cooking gear.

Roberto Ramirez, a vendor at the event, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers before people began yelling “shooter” and frantically running.

“Suddenly everything was empty,” he said. “People were freaked out.”

After the initial panic, new guests continued to arrive unaware of what had happened and were told by police to leave, he said.

Estan Wakonabo said he and his girlfriend were at the festival waiting in line for a photo booth when he was shoved from behind and he turned to see a rush of people fleeing.

“People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” Wakonabo said, adding that was when he heard gunshots.

“Once I heard a ‘pop, pop, pop,’ that’s when I knew it was a shooter,” he said.

After he escorted his girlfriend to safety, he returned to the scene to make photos and saw multiple victims on the ground, Wakonabo said.

The annual festival started in 1982 and draws 350,000 attendees over “three days of food, drink, and community celebration,” according to its website.

___

Associated Press journalists Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson in Seattle, Annika Wolters in Bangkok and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

But the 79-year-old retiree can’t help but worry for another family that, like her, fled the raging inferno.

“They have been left with nothing,” said about a young family that lives down her son’s street. “The house has completely burned down, and they have three children.”

The wildfires that have raged out of control in recent days in three provinces in central Spain have ravaged tens of thousands of hectares and forced nearly 90,000 people to flee their homes. In the southwest of France, more than 250,000 people have fled their homes as the fire rages through the wine region of Bordeaux.

Survivors face an uncertain future

For the hundreds of thousands of people in this situation, the question is the same: What will they find when they’re finally allowed to go home, or to what’s left of it?

With no word on when she’ll be able to return to Chapinería, her hometown west of the Spanish capital of Madrid, Menéndez will spend her third night on Sunday at the makeshift shelter set up in a sports complex in Villaviciosa de Odón, a 40-minute drive from the home she was forced to leave as the blaze neared.

“At least we’re all together,” said Menéndez, who is at the shelter with her family and their dog.

On Friday afternoon, two major fires near Madrid merged into a single, rapidly spreading blaze. It later combined with another that was already burning in Ávila, north of the capital. This forced the government to declare a national fire emergency for the first time. Since then, the flames have also spread to Toledo, a province southwest. In all, the flames have scorched 77,000 hectares in the central part of the country alone.

Menéndez’s anguish was shared by Rocío Domínguez, who fled her house with only the clothes on her back. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything, everything, everything,” were left behind, she told The Associated Press.

“The only thing I had time to grab was a kit I have for the dogs,” Domínguez added, surrounded by her two beloved pets. Everything else she has with her now — from the clothes she wears to her food and toiletries — she received at the shelter.

For many, it was a scene ‘like the apocalypse’

At the evacuation center, where cots have been set up for about 200 people, Domínguez still has the terrifying memory of their escape fresh in her mind.

“It was madness with cars going up and down, traffic jams in the village streets as people tried to get out. It looked like the apocalypse,” told Domínguez, 35 years old and unemployed, who is with her parents and siblings. “You couldn’t see anything.”

“Everything was covered in ash,” she added. “You could see all the burned animals.”

Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia heard more of those personal testimonies on Sunday as the royals visited another shelter in Villamartín, about 45 kilometers west of Madrid.

And those stories may not be the last — Spain's Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, later noted that “more evacuations are still expected” in that area.

Queen Letizia told reporters after meeting with the survivors that it was important "to hear how they feel and how they recount their hasty departure from their home. How they have felt the sadness they describe, the anguish, the uncertainty, and those questions they leave hanging in the air,.

Wildfire brought tragedy on the heels of Spain's World Cup

The wildfires have significantly shifted the mood in the country, where just a week ago huge crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate their second FIFA World Cup triumph.

As the echoes of those celebrations fade, head coach Luis de la Fuente — one of the driving forces behind the historic victory over Argentina in the final in New Jersey — visited those affected by the fires at a sports center in Las Rozas.

The Spanish Football Federation, which has its headquarters in the same city, has offered the facilities where the newly crowned world champions usually train for the vulnerable families who have been forced to evacuate from their homes.

The coach said all of Spain is rallying for the wildfire survivors.

“All of Spain is watching over them,” De la Fuente said in remarks to the national public broadcaster, TVE. “They have the support of the entire country, the same support we have when we play soccer. It’s exactly the same.”

___

Medrano reported from Madrid.

Last week, Canada celebrated the Gordie Howe International Bridge with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Windsor, Ontario, to mark the completion of the multibillion-dollar, multiyear project.

U.S. and Michigan representatives were uninvited from Friday's gathering after President Donald Trump suddenly announced 50% tariffs on Canadian goods entering America.

The bridge is named for Howe, a Canadian icon known as “Mr. Hockey” who wore No. 9 while playing on the other side of the Detroit River for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. He died in 2016.

More than 70% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S., making America its largest trade partner, and Detroit is the No. 1 port for truck traffic on the U.S.-Canada border, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

For nearly a century, the privately-owned Ambassador Bridge has been the only route for large commercial trucks moving between the U.S. and Canada at Detroit. Businesses say the new six-lane span will be faster and less expensive.

The span is 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) long and rises 151 feet (46 meters) above the river at its highest point. Pedestrians and bicyclists carrying proper identification will be able to cross it for free in a few weeks.

Construction on the new bridge began in 2018 but took years, partly because of a global slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada paid to build the bridge at an estimated cost of $6.4 billion. A recent agreement says Canada will share some toll revenue with the U.S. government for 15 years.

Trump praised his administration for that deal in a social media post while the Ontario event was in progress. “We changed the terms,” he said.

Michigan will also get a share, but not until Canada’s costs are recovered, likely decades from now.

Nineteen days after she was discharged, she strangled her three children at their Massachusetts home.

A jury is set to hear opening statements Monday in Clancy's murder trial, which will feature dueling views about her culpability and mental state.

Prosecutors are set to argue that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, carefully planned the killings and bears full responsibility for their deaths.

Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, will argue that at the time of the killings she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.

The trial is expected to take several weeks.

Elyse Hershon, a Boston criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, said the verdict will likely depend on how the jury views Clancy’s “intent and mental capacity."

“Whenever there are deaths of children, it rattles emotions. Because these actions are incomprehensible and the outcome so horrific, people tend to want to hold someone responsible,” Hershon said. “Some people naturally will identify and sympathize with Clancy and her postpartum depression, and others will not be able to understand how one could end their children’s lives, and demand responsibility.”

While postpartum depression is fairly common among women who have given birth, postpartum psychosis is estimated to afflict only 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, mood changes and thoughts of harming yourself or others. Most women who have the condition, however, do not wind up harming their children.

Prosecutors say Clancy strangled her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — on Jan. 24, 2023, after sending her then-husband, Patrick, out for some errands. She then jumped out of the home’s second-story window and was paralyzed from the waist down in the fall.

At the time, she had been getting psychiatric care for about four months. On the day of the killings, she said she heard voices telling her, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself," according to her lawyer.

If convicted of murder, Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

The case has parallels to several others involving mothers accused of killing their children.

In 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub in Texas. Her attorneys she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and, in a delusional state, believed Satan was inside her and that killing the youngsters would save them from hell.

Her initial murder conviction was overturned and in a retrial she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state mental hospital.

Another Texas mother, Dena Schlosser, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2006 after she killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms.

Nicole Cirino, the director of the division of reproductive psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, who has been an expert defense witness in infanticide cases, said many of the women who harm their children while in the grip of postpartum psychosis believe their actions are helping the child.

In their own minds, “they may be saving their children from damnation," Cirino said.

Clancy and her former husband, Patrick Clancy, filed lawsuits accusing her medical providers of failing to properly diagnose and treat her condition.

Awareness about postpartum psychosis has grown since the Yates case, but Cirino and other maternal mental health advocates said prosecutors rarely consider a mother's mental state. Illinois is the only state with a law allowing for undiagnosed or untreated postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis to be a mitigating factor in sentencing.

“Women who kill their children in the throes of this medical illness, postpartum psychosis, are seriously and profoundly mentally ill. They are not evil,” said Dr. Catherine Birndorf, the CEO and founder of The Motherhood Center in New York City, which treats mothers with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

“To me it’s illness until proven otherwise,” she continued. “The fact that we consider it criminal until proven otherwise is problematic.”

A date for a bond hearing will likely be set during the status conference, along with other important dates like deadlines for filings and a formal extradition hearing. The Tates made a brief court appearance two days after their July 18 arrest.

They aren’t required to attend Monday’s conference, and their attorneys said Friday that the Tates didn't plan to be there. They're being held in federal detention across the street from the courthouse.

The Tates promote wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire and are among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities. The former professional kickboxers, who have dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship, have millions of social media followers and are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The White House has said the brothers shouldn't expect any help from the president. Asked Thursday whether the White House would intervene in the extradition process, press secretary Karoline Leavitt flatly rejected the idea.

“No, we’ve already answered that question,” Leavitt said.

The Tates' attorney, Joseph McBride, said after last week's hearing that they should remain in the U.S.

“We are of course objecting to extradition because Andrew and Tristan are innocent," McBride said. “They’ve never done nothing wrong. They shouldn’t be extradited for crimes they did not commit.”

McBride said the extradition attempt is politically motivated and suggested the case involved former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision to step down, though he provided no details.

Prosecutors in Britain said the new charges relate to four new accusers and were brought after authorities received evidence from police in Bedfordshire, in southeastern England. The allegations, which span from 2010 to 2017, include rape, assault, trafficking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.”

McBride said none of the latest accusers have been identified.

The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other accusers in the U.K. between 2012 and 2015.

The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the U.S., Britain and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The brothers moved to Romania in 2016 and were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations, and the Romanian case hasn't gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.

Travel restrictions were lifted last year, and they flew to Florida.

Andrew Tate, 39, became known a decade ago when he was a contestant on the U.K. reality television show “Big Brother.” He was booted from the show when a video appeared to show him assaulting a woman.

He has amassed over 10 million followers on X but has been banned from other platforms, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, for violating hate speech guidelines. He has made widely condemned comments, such as saying women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for the attacks and sharing graphic descriptions of how he might attack women.

The Tate brothers have consistently denied allegations of abuse and human trafficking, claiming their violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.

The new tariffs announced in recent days take effect just as temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired, and critics say they are less about cracking down on forced labor than they are a way to replace those tariffs. The expired tariffs were themselves a temporary replacement for worldwide tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February.

The tariffs were levied on countries that the U.S. says either don't have or don't effectively enforce a forced-labor import ban. The affected countries, which account for 99% of U.S. imports, were quick to protest, calling the Trump administration's claims unfounded and arbitrary, as nations with vastly different records on forced labor received the same tariff level. The U.S. spent four months investigating but gave few details on how it arrived at the tariff rates, which are either 10% or 12.5%.

Sidestepping Congress

The tariffs were levied under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on countries that the U.S. determined had failed “to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

During President Donald Trump 's first term, he cited Section 301 to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports amid a dispute over the sharp-elbowed tactics Beijing was using to challenge America’s technological dominance. The U.S. is also using 301 powers to counter what it calls unfair Chinese practices in the shipbuilding industry.

“The 301s allow a permanent tariff without going to Congress to settle the dispute,” said Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director of New York Law School’s Center for International Law. “That’s what all of this is about. The president doesn’t want to knock on the front door of Congress, so he’s trying every side door and every unlatched window to get in.”

Little evidence that countries failed to enforce import bans

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said it consulted with all 60 economies under investigation and held two rounds of public hearings, elicited more than 2,100 public comments, and had “engagement” with its trading partners about what they were doing to combat forced labor bans.

It didn't detail its talks with the countries, saying those were confidential. Experts say it is fairly straightforward to investigate whether a country has a ban or not, but it is difficult to determine the government's exact rationale for each country's failure to enforce import bans.

“There’s not a lot of hard evidence there,” said Scott Lincicome, vice president for general economics and trade policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “It’s pretty laughable on its face to think that a country like the ones in Europe or in Norway or Switzerland aren’t doing enough to police forced labor.”

And even if countries do enact and enforce the forced-labor import bans the U.S. wants, they would still need to prove that they’re enforcing them to Washington’s satisfaction before the tariffs would be removed, said lawyer Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.

“This suggests that no short-term path for countrywide relief from the new Section 301 tariffs will be available,” he said.

Countries and industries reject the forced labor argument

Many countries have pushed back against the Trump administration's findings.

Brazil, which faces a 12.5% forced-labor tariff, called the U.S. move “arbitrary and unjustified.” The U.S. “chose to manipulate an issue of great importance to human rights and the struggles of workers worldwide in order to accuse 59 countries and the European Union of unfair practices,” it said in a statement.

Australia also questioned the justification for its 12.5% tariff.

“We believe that amongst all of the countries in the world, Australia does take the issue of slavery, modern slavery, seriously, and will continue to do that,” Trade Minister Don Farrell told reporters in Adelaide.

Carve-outs have riled some industries. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), which describes itself as the voice of the American textile industry, protested a mechanism that exempts the Section 301 tariffs for textile and apparel imports from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia based on those countries’ imports of U.S. cotton and textiles.

“No other industry has been more disadvantaged by forced labor than the U.S. textile industry, which employs 453,000 workers and has lost 41 plants over the past two plus years,” NCTO chief executive Kim Glas said in a statement. “We remain strongly concerned that USTR’s textile mechanism will harm the very domestic manufacturers the administration seeks to help.”

US forced-labor bans don't always work

The U.S. has two major pieces of legislation related to forced-labor import bans. The Tariff Act of 1930 gave Customs and Border Protection the authority to seize shipments where forced labor was suspected and to block further imports. But it had a big carve-out: If there was “consumptive demand,” meaning there wasn't sufficient supply to meet domestic demand, imports were allowed regardless of how they were produced. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act that took effect in 2016 eliminated that loophole.

In 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed. It blocks imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove the items were made without forced labor.

But goods made with forced labor can still make it into the U.S. In 2015, an Associated Press investigation found that slave labor was used in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia. The seafood they caught made its way to supermarkets and pet food providers across the U.S.

An investigation by The Associated Press in 2020 into the $65 billion palm oil industry found labor abuses among an invisible workforce consisting of millions of men, women and children in Asia. The fruit they harvested made its way into the supply chains of major companies, including Unilever, L’Oreal, Nestle and Procter & Gamble.

Calls for a more comprehensive approach to combat forced labor

During hearings on the tariffs this month, National Retail Federation vice president Jonathan Gold, who was representing the business coalition the Joint Association Forced Labor Working Group at the hearing, said that in order for the import bans to work, they would have to be much more extensive.

He said there need to be “clear, measurable benchmarks” tied to tariffs for countries to hit, and that the U.S. should help countries build enforcement programs.

Kenya Davis, a partner at the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm, said an effective ban needs a “comprehensive approach” that provides transparency about what the investigations consisted of, along with programs that provide countries aid in enforcing bans.

On a personal level, it also was an attack on everything the Berliner embodies.

“Born a Muslim, living as a gay man, working as a police officer," Darwich said, as he tried holding back the tears, “this terror attack touches so many aspects of who I am.”

Saturday night's van ramming and stabbing near Berlin’s Pride festival that left one person dead and many others wounded was believed to have been an Islamic extremist terror attack, authorities said.

The suspect in the attack was killed by police Sunday evening in a Berlin suburb. Authorities said Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots, apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot.

On Sunday, Darwich, 34, watched sadly as more and more members of the LGBTQ+ community came to Tiergarten park, where the attack took place. They put down flowers, hugged each other and looked in disbelief at the crashed van, which still stood cordoned off behind dozens of police officers.

Like Darwich, many of them had been celebrating life and love just hours earlier, protesting for equality and warning of an increase of hate crimes against their community.

“I was wearing my rainbow-colored shirt, carried a banner at the parade saying ‘Why are some people afraid of love but not of hate?,’ and was about to go to an afterparty last night, when friends started calling me to check if I was OK,” he said.

When he understood that there had been an attack, he canceled the party and went home filled with sorrow. But it was only after he woke up on Sunday morning that he truly grasped the significance of the attack.

“I asked myself, why as a police officer I did not run to the scene of the crash to help my colleagues. I asked myself as a gay if we will have to live with more fear now even though we are already experiencing bullying and hatred. I asked myself as a Muslim if our community will be exposed to even more racism now.”

Darwich, who was born in Berlin and has Lebanese and Palestinian roots, expressed worry that the attack would polarize German society even more.

“I’m actually feeling desperate this morning," said Darwich, who also works as a gay Muslim influencer and posts many videos on social media that usually try to strike a positive note. “We can’t get rid of the hatred some people feel, and it’s just getting worse and worse.”

But at the same time, he said he did not want to let hate win and that deep inside he still hoped that "the people of Berlin will make the best of it, that they will work together, and that, hopefully, all of this will lead to an even better Berlin.”

Others, who had come to the impromptu vigil at Tiergarten, also expressed anger and shock, but also resilience.

“We are simply stunned by what happened yesterday,” said Andre Lehmann, a top official with the main national LGBTQ+ association, LSVD+. “This suspected attack hits the heart of the queer community.”

The attack “affects people who took to the street in Berlin this weekend to fight for their rights, their diversity and their rights, and of course with that it is a political act and does not just affect people celebrating,” he said.

Lehmann said that there has been “a tenfold increase of anti-queer hate crime in Germany within a few years.” He added that “for years, to be honest, nothing has happened and also, to be honest, for years there has been no outcry from society.”

Ashley Jump, a 26-year-old U.K. resident, had traveled to Berlin for Saturday’s Pride parade but had left the celebrations before the attack. Jump, still in shock, returned Sunday to leave flowers at a memorial near the crime scene.

“They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone,” they said, their voice shivering from pain. “As long as humanity has existed, we’ve existed. And as long as humanity exists, we will exist. We will not be removed.”

Officers responded to the crash just before 10 a.m. Saturday at Colonneh Trail and Holbrook Road.

The man was riding his bicycle southbound when he cycled through a patch of gravel and lost control of the bike, police said.

A passerby saw the man with injuries and contacted emergency services.

The man sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital, where he later died, police said.

SAPD’s investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• Woman killed, man injured after shooting at Northwest Side home, SAPD says

Police said someone reported the woman lying on the road in the 1500 block of El Paso Street, near Lanier High School.

When police arrived, they said the woman was unresponsive and pronounced dead on the scene.

Police believe the woman may have been struck by a vehicle, though the incident remains under investigation.

Read also:

• Dead body found wrapped in plastic in far West Side closet during missing persons call, sheriff says

Officers responded to the shooting around 2 a.m. Sunday in the 11200 block of Sutton Place.

The man and the woman were having a verbal altercation inside a room “before gunshots went off,” according to an SAPD preliminary report. It is unknown what the argument was about at this time.

SAPD said officers found the 28-year-old woman with multiple apparent gunshot wounds throughout her body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 23-year-old man was also found with an apparent gunshot wound to his torso and was taken to a local hospital, police said. His condition was not immediately known.

Multiple people were inside the residence and were detained for further investigation, according to the report.

The investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• 1 hospitalized, 1 detained after dispute at Quarry Golf Course, police say

• TODAY: Sunny, hot, and dry with highs in the upper 90s to near 100°
• THIS WEEK: Multiple days of triple-digit heat likely
• HEAT INDEX: Feels like 100°–107° during the afternoons
• RAIN CHANCES: Near zero through Friday

FORECAST

A strong high-pressure ridge will drive temperatures higher this week across South-Central Texas. Expect sunny, dry conditions today with highs near 100° and heat index values between 100° and 107°. Triple-digit heat is likely for most by mid-week.

FEELING LIKE SUMMER

The bigger story will be the return of prolonged triple-digit heat. As the atmosphere continues to warm and rain chances remain absent, temperatures will gradually climb through the week. Outside of the higher elevations of the Hill Country, many communities are expected to experience multiple afternoons at or above 100° from Tuesday through Friday.

The combination of hot days and warm nights will increase heat stress concerns as we move deeper into the week.

EXTENDED OUTLOOK

The forecast remains largely rain-free through at least Friday, with abundant sunshine and typical late-July summer conditions. A small chance for isolated showers may develop next weekend as the weather pattern shifts slightly, but the chance of widespread rainfall remains low.

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Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group.

Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete in what authorities believe was an Islamic extremist terror attack.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the attack occurred a few hundred meters (yards) from a party near the Brandenburg Gate that was supposed to close out the city's Pride festival.

Ballout was tracked down around 6 p.m. Sunday at a garden in Spandau, a Berlin suburb, the city's police department wrote on X. They said he apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot. He died at the scene.

Ballout was born in Germany, the minister said. His mother was naturalized in 2002, three years before he was born.

Ashley Jump, a 26-year-old U.K. resident, had traveled to Berlin for Saturday’s Pride parade but had left the celebrations before the attack. They returned Sunday to leave flowers at a memorial near the crime scene in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

“They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone,” they said. “As long as humanity has existed, we’ve existed. And as long as humanity exists, we will exist. We will not be removed.”

Suspect convicted of ties to Islamic extremism

Ballout traveled to Lebanon in 2025 with the goal of going to Syria to join the Islamic State group, Berlin prosecutors said Sunday.

There, he made contact with several people who were presumed members of the militant group — or at least he believed them to be, prosecutors said. He was arrested in Lebanon last year and sentenced by a military court to three months’ imprisonment for offenses including incitement to religious and sectarian conflict.

He returned to Germany after completing his sentence, where he was arrested at the Berlin airport.

In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted Ballout of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, as well as publishing Islamic State propaganda on his Instagram account and other charges, prosecutors said.

The court handed down a suspended sentence of 1 year and 10 months in youth custody, which Berlin prosecutors had appealed.

The court said it took Ballout’s months of pre-trial detention in Germany and Lebanon into account. It also said it considered that Ballout had confessed to the crimes, appeared to distance himself from the militant group and no actual threat had ever materialized.

He was released from detention pending the appeal.

Berlin's Pride festival is one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ celebrations

According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. and hit several people before colliding with a tree. The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was ongoing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance away. The party followed a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown Berlin earlier in the day.

The attack did not occur at the festival, along its route or at the closing party. Rather, the violence took place a few hundred meters (yards) away on a track in the Tiergarten park. The van drove into a crowd that was likely a mix of festivalgoers and other locals or visitors.

Police said a woman was killed.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial at the iconic gate. They hugged each other and laid down flowers, candles, rainbow flags and homemade signs, including a cardboard one that said: “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Hundreds of thousands had come to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it’s unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

“We are simply stunned by what happened,” said Andre Lehmann, a top official with the main national LGBTQ+ association, LSVD+. “This suspected attack hits the heart of the queer community.”

Amsterdam says it will celebrate freedom in the wake of Berlin attack

Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the nation to remain united in the aftermath of the attack.

“I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don’t let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated," he said. "These acts have only one purpose: They aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: Namely our openness and our freedom.”

Dobrindt said he expected security measures at other major events in Germany, including Pride events elsewhere, to be reviewed and if necessary significantly boosted.

Berlin has seen Islamic extremist attacks before. In December, 2016, a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia plowed a hijacked truck into a Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring dozens. He was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

In February last year, a Spanish tourist was stabbed and seriously wounded at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, an attack that saw a Syrian man convicted in March and sentenced to 13 years.

This week, Amsterdam will be hosting World Pride alongside its own annual Pride celebrations. Mayor Femke Halsema said authorities and organizers “are closely monitoring the security situation” after the Berlin attack but aim to prevent any extra measures getting in the way of celebrating freedom and love.

___

Associated Press reporters Fanny Brodersen and Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin, and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.

The 35-year-old widow has worked at the site on Jakarta’s eastern edge for two decades, following her parents, who still earn a living there. The Bantargebang landfill has paid for food and rent while helping her two teenage daughters living with a relative in a rural village. She hopes her daughters will never have to follow the same path.

Living alone in a rented room near the landfill, Wencih earns about 200,000 rupiah ($12) on a good day collecting discarded toys, cardboard and plastic bottles before bulldozers bury them beneath fresh waste. Occasionally, she finds gold jewelry.

“It feels like hitting a jackpot,” Wencih said while taking a break from the sweltering July heat.

But those lucky finds, and perhaps her livelihood, may soon become far rarer.

Beginning Aug. 1, Indonesia plans to start transforming the site from open dumping to a more controlled system as part of a national waste management plan. The government last month announced it will shut down open-dumping operations at 343 of Indonesia’s 550 disposal sites, requiring them to transition to controlled or sanitary landfill systems and gradually accept only garbage that cannot be recycled or composted, such as diapers, dirty paper towels and stickers.

Meanwhile, residents are being asked to set aside organic waste and recyclables for separate processing, a practice many households have never been taught to do on a large scale.

Dudi Gardesi Asikin, head of Jakarta’s Environment Agency, said the policy aims to improve environmental health, reduce pollution and curb emissions of methane generated by decomposing waste.

Methane is responsible for roughly one-third of global warming and traps more heat than carbon dioxide, making it a key focus of worldwide climate efforts. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, for example, is urging governments to sharply reduce methane emissions, calling it one of the fastest ways to slow global warming.

A landfill at the center of the methane debate

Researchers say Bantargebang emits more methane than nearly any other landfill in the world, placing it at the center of Indonesia’s waste management reforms.

Asikin said Bantargebang opened in 1989 as a sanitary landfill equipped to collect methane. Unlike open dumps, sanitary landfills also cover waste with soil.

But after a private-sector contract ended in 2016, the facility gradually drifted toward open dumping.

"What was never intended to be open dumping became full open dumping,” Asikin said.

Only two of the landfill’s original 12 methane extraction wells remain operational, Asikin said.

Under the new plan, parts of Bantargebang are already being covered with tarps, and officials hope to cover much more. Asikin estimated that covering the rest of the disposal area could cost as much as 200 billion rupiah ($12 million).

Uncertain future for waste pickers

Indonesia faces a dilemma as it attempts one of its biggest waste-management reforms in decades while also protecting the livelihoods of an estimated 600,000 waste pickers.

At Bantargebang alone, officials estimate more than 4,000 registered waste pickers work among trucks, excavators and mountains of garbage each day. The materials they recover are sorted and sold to a network of traders and recycling businesses that have grown around the landfill.

“What worries me most is how I will feed my family,” Wencih said of the new plan, while excavators behind her pushed fresh waste onto exposed slopes.

Asikin said the government wants to improve conditions for waste pickers, who already receive some workplace protections and healthcare through a national social security program.

He believes the new policy will eventually create safer formal jobs in recycling and composting.

“Today they are practically racing against our excavators to grab recyclable materials. It is extremely dangerous," he said.

Bunin, a 53-year-old neighborhood chief who lives nearby, said while the landfill causes pollution, it also creates business opportunities including rental housing and food stalls catering to waste pickers.

“The landfill not only brings negative impacts, there are also economic benefits,” said Bunin, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

A landfill at its limits

Covering roughly 110 hectares (272 acres), Bantargebang has grown into a human-made mountain reaching as high as 60 meters (196 feet), roughly the height of a 20-story building. About 7,500 tons of waste arrive daily from the capital city.

“The waste people produce does not disappear. It is gathered in one place and has become a mountain," said Agung Pujo Winarko, who heads the facility.

A collapse triggered by heavy rain in Bantargebang in March killed seven people, underscoring the risks posed by the landfill’s sheer scale.

“This situation is extremely urgent,” Winarko said. “Its carrying capacity is reaching, or even exceeding, its limits.”

Satellite data analyzed by UCLA’s STOP Methane initiative ranked Bantargebang in 2025 as the world’s second-largest landfill methane emitter after a site in Argentina.

Evan George from UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment said reducing organic waste entering landfills could lower emissions, but that existing landfills will still require decades of monitoring and gas collection.

Changing Jakarta’s throwaway culture

Under the new approach, Jakarta residents are expected to separate food scraps and other organic waste from recyclables and residual trash before collection. New refuse-derived fuel plants are also part of the plan.

“What we are doing is somewhat revolutionary," Asikin said. "For decades, people were never asked to separate their waste.”

But many households are only beginning to learn the system, raising questions about whether enough public education has taken place.

“All we know is to throw the trash in the bin, not to sort it,” said Rukasih Wanti, a Central Jakarta resident. “The new rule is confusing us. It’s inconvenient, creates extra work and wastes our time."

Asikin said multiple government institutions, including education and health ministries, are supporting the efforts.

Environmental advocates say new recycling and composting infrastructure is also needed. The transition is daunting because government data shows only about one-quarter of Indonesia’s daily waste is currently handled by formal systems, with the remainder dumped, burned or otherwise unmanaged.

David Sutasurya, executive director of the environmental organization YPBB, said about half of Jakarta’s waste is compostable and another 30% recyclable, meaning up to 80% could be kept out of landfills.

“We delayed transforming our waste-management system for too long, and only realized the problem when landfills were already close to full,” Sutasurya said.

In a West Jakarta neighborhood, Monica T. Anggriani has spent more than a decade persuading neighbors to separate household waste, building a community waste bank that now processes about one ton of organic waste daily through composting, maggot cultivation and urban farming.

“Our generation was never taught to separate waste,” Anggriani said. “If we don’t start now, nothing will change in the future.”

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Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

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Families, teachers and kids showed up Sunday for the San Antonio Fear Free Environment 5K Fun Run carrying backpacks and boxes of supplies. Runners of all ages participated — from children to parents pushing strollers — each bringing donations to help local students head back to school prepared.

In its second year running the event, the San Antonio Police Department’s San Antonio Fear Free Environment unit said they intentionally focused on a district facing significant need.

“We met with the faculty, we met the district, and geographically it is one of the poorest districts within the Bexar County region,” SAPD SAFFE Officer Jairo Sanchez said. “It’s very humbling that they’re supporting this event as well, so that’s what we’re going to keep trying to do every year.”

Edely Olvera, Edgewood ISD’s lead parent liaison, said the community support goes a long way for students and their families.

“We’re excited,” Olvera said. “We can’t wait to see what we’re going to give to our students, and it’s going to be a lot. So thank you, thank you to the community and SAPD.”

Olvera said the donations ease the financial strain that back-to-school season can place on families — particularly those with several children.

“For our students, our parents, the confidence that it gives our students to go back to school,” Olvera said. “They have supplies, they’re ready for school, the parents don’t have to worry about buying so many school supplies if they have five or more children.”

Edgewood ISD will continue to collect donations Thursday at St. Jude Catholic Church’s parking lot.

Distribution is planned for the first week of August. More information is available on the Edgewood ISD website.

Koivun won the 3M Open by three strokes Sunday in only his third start as a professional, holding off Scheffler with a closing 5-under 66 for a tournament-record 25-under 259 total.

“All throughout the crowd I kept hearing, ‘Scottie’s coming. Scottie’s coming,’” the 21-year-old Koivun said. “I just tried to tune that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could.”

Scheffler, who played five groups ahead of Koivun, surged into contention with a 63 but settled for his fifth runner-up finish this season. His lone win this year was in his first start at The American Express in California.

“We’re seeing a lot of really, really good young talent in the game today,” Scheffler said. “When you see the guys come out of college, they’re really, really prepared, even more prepared than we were coming out.”

Hideki Matsuyama, Brian Harman, Chandler Phillips and Denny McCarthy tied for third at 20 under.

Koivun played a safe and steady game on a 97-degree afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities, going bogey-free for the second straight day after a 61 in the third round gave him a three-shot cushion after 54 holes. His par-saving putt on the 9th green after his approach landed in the sand gave him an energy boost for the back nine.

“Might be the biggest putt I made all week,” Koivun said. “Scoreboard was right there, and I saw exactly how I stood. If I missed that, then I only had a two-shot lead — where last time I checked I had a five-shot lead. So making that was huge for my momentum.”

Lee Hodges held the previous 3M Open record, finishing at 24-under 260 in 2023.

Koivun, who became the fourth rookie winner this season, missed the cut at the John Deere Classic in Illinois and tied for 10th at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky earlier this month. He made 10 starts as an amateur on tour events.

Earning $1,584,000 for his win in Minnesota, Koivun also jumped 124 spots in the FedEx Cup standings into 70th, the last place above the cut for the playoffs with two regular season events remaining on the schedule.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better over the past couple years of being able to beat guys with my mentality,” said Koivun, who broke the NCAA career record for per-round stroke average (68.89) and helped lead Auburn to the national championship last month. “Sometimes I watch guys hit on the range and I don’t feel like I’m the most talented out there, but if I can go out there and believe and use my brain to my advantage, then that’s definitely kind of like a superpower.”

Scheffler, who began the final round six shots back, needed a collapse by Koivun to catch up. That never came.

Scheffler played a nearly flawless game, save for a 5-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole that lipped in and out. As he was conducting his post-match interview, Koivun birdied the 16th to go 25 under.

“Anytime you’re trying to win for the first time, it’s awfully difficult, especially for a young guy coming out of college,” Scheffler said. “I think that shows not only how talented of a player he is, but the mental strength he has as well.”

Koivun, who grew up in San Jose, California, before moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at age 17, got his start in the game on a public nine-hole course. After hugging his father, George, on the course, he got on a FaceTime call with his mother, Meghan, who was unable to attend the tournament.

“She was crying,” Koivu said. “I was trying to make out a little bit of what she said, but she kept saying how proud she was. Those two are just my rocks.”

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Both joined slugging second baseman Jeff Kent as the newest members before an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, with 57 other Hall of Famers on stage — creating the largest gathering of current Hall of Famers.

Jones’ speech was almost like a love letter to his home country of Curaçao.

“There’s no easy way to get here from the small island of Curaçao, more than 2,000 miles away,” Jones said. “But today Cooperstown and Curaçao are forever joined together.”

The longtime Atlanta Braves outfielder, a 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, is the first player from Curaçao to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. But he said he doesn't plan on being the last. He pointed to players who have followed him, including Ozzie Albies and Kenley Jansen, as part of the Curaçao legacy started by Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens.

Among the highlights, Jones’ tribute to his late father, Henry Jones, stood out. He said his father used to hit him flyballs from foul pole to foul pole to teach him how to track the ball, and how to build strong wrists by rolling a sledgehammer.

“Everything he taught me had a purpose,” Jones said. “Henry Jones was a legend in Curaçao, a great player in his own right. And I’m not standing here in Cooperstown without his constant coaching. Dad, we did it.”

Chants of “Puerto Rico” broke out before Beltrán even uttered a word. And whenever he mentioned his home island, the crowd cheered for him and waved flags.

“Everywhere I played baseball, I always tried to represent my island,” Beltrán said. “I tried to do the best I could for the organizations that I played, but also I wanted to represent Puerto Rico.”

The 20-year veteran and 1999 AL Rookie of the Year ran through each organization he played for, thanking them for the different lessons each provided. The New York Mets received the most praise.

“When people ask me about why I chose (the Mets) cap, I have to say this,” he said. “Guys, it’s simple. Every organization shapes your career. New York shaped my life.”

When discussing the teams he played for, Beltrán gave specific examples from some of his stops, including watching teammates Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell “play with pain” in Houston. But he did not mention winning the World Series with the Astros in 2017. That title carries controversy because of an illegal sign-stealing scheme and Beltrán's involvement in it.

Beltrán did not directly address the scandal, but did comment on those who may or may not have voted for him for whatever reasons.

“To the Baseball Writers' Association of America, I want to say thank you for making me a Hall of Famer. ... And for those that didn’t (vote for me) — that saw things different — I want to say also thank you. I appreciate your perspective,” he said. “If baseball has really taught me something, I want to say is that I hope in life, we continue to measure ourselves by the same standard we have used to measure others.”

Beltrán earned 84.2% of the vote from the BBWAA to make the Hall on his fourth try. Jones garnered 78.4% in his ninth year of eligibility, eclipsing the 75% needed for induction. Kent was elected by a much smaller panel last December, the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, after dropping off the BBWAA ballot when his eligibility ran out in 2023.

The 2000 NL MVP with the San Francisco Giants played for six teams over his 17-year career and set the all-time home run mark for second basemen. A hard-nosed player, Kent showed a softer side during induction weekend.

Before even speaking, Kent needed tissues to wipe the tears from his eyes after looking at his parents in the crowd, he said in a post-ceremony news conference.

“I was more emotional for the 35, 40 minutes of sitting down than I was for the speech,” he said. “I thought I was going to be a wreck and I’m glad it was only a half a wreck.”

In his speech, Kent told a story of how his baseball career turned when his father offered him a deal: if he earned a college scholarship, he would buy him a pickup truck. Kent quit racing motorcycles and shifted his focus to school and baseball and eventually earned a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley.

In turn, he got a pickup truck he still has.

“It sits in my garage as a simple reminder that some of the simplest things can change the entire direction of your life,” Kent said.

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But there must be something to explain the way he dominated hitters Sunday as the Milwaukee Brewers’ hard-throwing right-hander reached a few more milestones.

“I don’t think there is a zone,” Misiorowski said Sunday after striking out 12 of the first 13 batters he faced in an 11-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. “I think it’s just pitching. I felt like myself and kept going.”

Misiorowski (11-4) set a Brewers franchise record by striking out seven straight hitters to open the game. He also broke his own record for the most 100-mph pitches in a single game since pitch tracking began in 2008.

The two-time All-Star reached 100 mph on 66 of his 83 pitches and hit a top velocity of 104.7. He had set the previous record June 12 by throwing 58 pitches of at least 100 mph during a 15-strikeout performance against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 12.

He threw 33 fastballs of at least 103 mph — more than twice as many as anyone else had ever thrown in a single game since pitch tracking began, according to MLB.com.

Misiorowski held the previous record with 14 pitches of 103 mph or greater, something he had done in two separate starts this season.

Misiorowski retired the first 14 batters he faced. According to Sportradar, he was the first person to strike out at least 11 batters and allow no hits through the first four innings of a game since the live-ball era began in 1920.

“His extension, his command of (the fastball) and the fact he’s got secondary stuff to go with it makes it even tougher,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Misiorowski didn't have to utilize his secondary pitches very often Sunday. With Gary Sánchez working behind the plate, Misiorowski threw fastballs about 80% of the time.

“I don’t think that was the game plan going in,” said Misiorowski, who increased his MLB-leading strikeout total to 185. "I think that’s just what happened. Me and Gary kind of just ran with it. You saw the swings that they were getting at the top of the zone and kind of were just like, ‘Here it is,’ until they hit it.”

Colorado didn't get anyone on base until Cole Carrigg hit an opposite-field homer off a 101.9-mph fastball with two outs in the fifth. No Rockies player had ever homered on a pitch that fast during the pitch tracking era.

Misiorowski then hit Willi Castro with a pitch before getting the final out of his five-inning stint.

Nobody from Colorado even put the ball in play until Misiorowski retired Troy Johnston on a fly to center for the second out in the fourth inning. The previous Brewers record for consecutive strikeouts to start a game had been set last year by Quinn Priester, who had six in a row to begin a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 18.

Pablo López owns the major league record for consecutive strikeouts to open a game. He fanned the first nine Atlanta batters he faced in the Miami Marlins’ 7-4 triumph over the Braves on July 11, 2021.

The MLB record for consecutive strikeouts at any point within the same game is 10. That record is shared by Tom Seaver, Corbin Burnes and Aaron Nola.

Misiorowski's outstanding performance comes as the Brewers remain careful with the two-time All-Star's workload. The NL Central leaders want to make sure their ace is in peak form for a potential postseason run.

He has pitched 120 innings this season. He worked 141 1/3 innings last year, including his regular-season totals in the majors and minors plus his 12 postseason innings during Milwaukee’s run to the NL Championship Series.

Misiorowski lasted just four innings in an 8-3 victory over the New York Mets on Monday in his first start since July 7. He left after a 30-pitch fifth inning Sunday as his ERA actually rose to an MLB-best 1.58.

Misiorowski said he believes he's strong enough to be “full go” for his next appearance, meaning he should go deeper into the game. Misiorowski said he used his legs better Sunday, which led to his consistent velocity.

“Sustaining the legs helps a lot,” Misiorowski said. “That’s where most of my velo comes from, is the lower half. It becomes a lot easier when you have all the pieces.”

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Then he showed everyone — including his team co-owner Denny Hamlin — what he’d learned.

The 24-year-old part-time NASCAR Cup Series driver first made a daring outside move to pass Hamlin then slow him down on the final restart with 35 laps to go, then held off the hard-charging cars of Christopher Bell and Joey Logano to capture his first Brickyard 400 title.

Heim beat Bell by 0.287 seconds and Logano, last week's race winner, by 0.972 seconds to become the first Cup driver to win twice in his first 15 career starts since 1965. A.J. Foyt, one of four four-time Indianapolis 500 champions, was the last to do it and, like Foyt, Heim didn’t even need a full-time ride to finish the job.

“Just had to be aggressive, man, it's for the win,” he said after his second win of the season. “I would have to see it back to see if I really did anything wrong. You know, he has every right to be frustrated with me, but don't get me wrong, I just had to be on top of it. Got to go quick for the 22 (Logano) to be in position, so thanks to him. Man, it's crazy.”

Hamlin seemed more frustrated with Bell's mistimed push, which allowed Heim to get past him, and that was all Heim needed to take charge. Hamlin wound up falling from first to fifth, a descent he never recovered from as his winless streak at Indianapolis hit 18.

It's the only crown jewel race of NASCAR's four Hamlin hasn't won.

“I mean everyone's trying to fight to win the race, and you know you're clear by an inch, you're going to take that inch,” Hamlin said. “It's really the 20 and (Bell) and the 19 (Chase Briscoe) not orchestrating good pushes there and we came detached for a long time. I thought the 20 was on board with giving us a push, it was just way too early before the restart zone.”

With Hamlin fading, Bell and Logano spent the final 34 laps trying to catch Heim's increasingly loose car. Each driver consistently closed the gap by running consistently quicker lap times. but neither could get close enough to try to pass Heim.

And with no more caution flags to bunch up the leaders, the stage was set for Heim.

“It's a good second place," said Bell, Hamlin's teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing. "We've had a lot of bad second-place finishes, but this is a good one with where we were after qualifying. When we had the restart on the second row, I was really happy with our position. Really proud of our team, we pulled together a really good day."

Heim wasn't the only big winner Sunday.

Hamlin extended his points lead over Heim's teammate, Tyler Reddick, who was 10th. Ty Gibbs, who is fourth in points, clinched a playoff spot with a stage win and a 12th-place finish. And Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports defied the odds by collecting the $1 million prize in the final round of NASCAR's second In-Season Challenge.

But nobody was more satisfied with the results than Heim.

“That was a damn handful,” the Georgian said. “I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up. My car got really loose and I never really got a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to make sure I focused on the exits and get through dirty air.”

Larson's drought

Defending Cup champ Kyle Larson's winless streak hit 36 on Sunday, this time the result of a flat left rear tire that sent Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet hard into the wall coming out of Turn 3 during the first stage. He was the first car out and finished 39th.

“We just had a tire let go. I wouldn’t say pushing had anything to do with it," Larson said. “Just a little bit of bad luck, I guess.”

Larson has finished 39th, 15th, 34th and 34th over the last four weeks and is in the longest winless drought since he joined Hendrick's team in 2021. Yet Larson is still in eighth in points with four regular-season races remaining.

Surprise payday

Ryan Blaney's streak of consecutive top-11 finishes ended at 11 on Sunday and came with a hefty cost — missing out on the $1 million payday.

The 2023 Cup champ and Team Penske driver started and stayed ahead of Gilliland most of the race, only to see his hopes unravel when he was collected in a nine-car crash that damaged the right side of his car with 41 laps to go. Blaney's team got him back on the track and he wound up 26th, but finished two spots behind Gilliland.

Up next

After 16 straight weeks of racing, the Cup drivers will get a break to open August. The series then heads to Iowa's 0.875-mile oval Aug. 9. William Byron is the defending race winner. Blaney was the 2024 winner, a night race marred by tire problems.

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But first, he's looking forward to some quality rest.

“I'm pretty sure I'll probably sleep more than three hours tonight,” Brissett said with a grin.

Brissett and the Cardinals agreed to a reworked one-year deal Sunday worth a reported $15.5 million and LaFleur confirmed that the veteran is the team’s likely starter for Week 1.

The 33-year-old Brissett was unhappy with his previous contract, which included just $1.5 million of guaranteed money for the upcoming season. He reported for training camp last week, but was limited during practices while he and the Cardinals worked on the deal.

Brissett said it got “dark a couple times” during negotiations, but he had enough confidence in himself to persevere. This will be his 11th NFL season.

“It felt good to be back out there,” Brissett said. “Standing around wasn't particularly fun.”

Brissett was the team's starter for the final 12 games last year after Kyler Murray suffered a season-ending foot injury. He did well individually with a career-high 3,366 yards passing, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but the Cardinals had a 1-11 record in those games.

LaFleur confirmed that Brissett's deal was done before Sunday's practice and said that the quarterback would begin working with the starters soon. The team's other main options under center are veteran Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck.

“It hasn’t been a distraction by any means — I think we’ve got some very mature and professional players,” LaFleur said. “But it’s just one more thing that we don’t have to talk about.”

Brissett is a popular presence in the Cardinals' locker room and some players — most notably eight-time Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker — were publicly supportive of a new deal for the quarterback.

“I think that’s the ultimate reward of this game, the respect of your teammates,” Brissett said. “That’s what I pride myself on. That’s the only thing I really value. Contracts come and go but your teammates and the people you work with, the ones who want to go bat for you, that’s what matters most.”

LaFleur said he wasn't worried about Brissett's lost practice time. The quarterback didn't practice with the team during the offseason because of the contract situation.

“He's got a level head about himself,” LaFleur said. “He's been in a lot of different systems and heard a lot of different things and seen a lot of different things. He's had the ups and downs with teams. He's in a good spot and I'm excited to really start working with him.”

The Cardinals open the preseason Aug. 6 against the Carolina Panthers in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

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The Yankees recalled outfielder Spencer Jones from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Sunday night's game at Philadelphia to take Bellinger's spot on the roster.

Bellinger will have more tests Monday in New York. He said he woke up feeling similar to Saturday, but not well enough to avoid the injured list.

“Little tight,” Bellinger said. “I didn't wake up worse.”

He will stay out of cleats for at least four days and continue to do light jogging during that time, but there is no timeline for a return at this point.

“See how you feel, see how your body is recovering,” Bellinger said.

New York manager Aaron Boone sounded fairly optimistic about the injury.

“It's not something that seems terrible,” he said. “He's able to move around today. Just hope for something on the shorter side, but tough to know for sure.”

New York has been without slugger Aaron Judge since May 31 because of a fractured rib, and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is still out with a strained right calf that's sidelined him since April 24. The Yankees entered Sunday's game 2 1/2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

Bellinger said he felt tightness in his hamstring while rounding first on a double in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 3-1 win over the Phillies on Saturday night. He waved off Boone and remained on base for the rest of the inning but walked slowly off the field and down the tunnel to the clubhouse after the third out.

Max Schuemann replaced Bellinger in left field in the bottom of the eighth.

Schuemann was set to start in left and bat seventh Sunday night.

“Just got to mix and match and piece it together,” Boone said. “We have capable guys. We're going out there expecting to win.”

Bellinger is hitting .259 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs in 102 games this season. He entered Saturday with 19 defensive runs saved, most in the majors, and was MVP of the All-Star Game on July 14 in Philadelphia.

Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees last winter for $162.5 million over five years and has been a key part of the offense. He was hitting .280 through mid-June before a slump dropped his batting average to .254 heading into the All-Star break. He hasn’t homered in a month.

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In the women's race at Icahn Stadium in New York — the site of Usain Bolt's first world record, back in 2008 — reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden cruised to her second straight national title in a season-best 21.69.

Lyles, the four-time world champion at the distance, was in decent shape rounding the turn, but as he pulled into the stretch, he slowed and shut it down. He made it to the finish line to congratulate Kaalund, a 22-year-old who won NCAA indoors at the distance earlier this year. Kaalund's winning time was 20.04.

“I just felt a grabbing sensation. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the time to stop. There’s no reason to push this,'” said Lyles, who stays tied with Michael Johnson with five U.S. titles at 200 meters. "It was a somewhat of a cramp. I’m fine. I just need to get stretched out, get some electrolytes in my system, but I’ll be good.”

This marked only the fourth time Lyles has lost a 200 since he started dominating the distance in 2018, shortly after Usain Bolt left the sport. Two of those losses have come at the last two Olympics. Earlier in the week, Lyles won the 100 meters, the distance where he is the reigning Olympic champion.

Kaalund said he came to nationals just “to train myself against the best.”

“I wasn't looking for (any) medals, I just wanted to see where I was,” he said.

Joining him at the top of the medals stand was Jefferson-Wooden, whose main challenger, Gabby Thomas, has been running well but decided not to run at nationals.

There are no world championships this year, though world athletics is introducing the Ultimate Championships, where a $150,000 first prize will be on the line in a race expected to feature Jefferson-Wooden, Thomas and Julien Alfred, who finished runner-up to Thomas at the Paris Games.

The LA Games are two years away.

“I feel like with women’s sprints today it's like that every single time we line up,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “I watch their races. They watch mine. These next few years are going to be interesting to see.”

Davis-Woodhall denied victory after protest of her final jump

In women's long jump, Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall appeared to have won in dramatic fashion after her last of six jumps placed her in the lead, much the same as what happened at the Olympic trials two years ago. But a review after a protest showed she had fouled. Judges upheld that call after she appealed the ruling and she ended up third. Alyssa Jones won with a jump of 6.96 meters (22 feet, 10 inches).

Others winners Sunday were Nia Akins (women’s 800), Cooper Lutkenhaus (men’s 800), Emily Mackay (women’s 5,000), Vincent Ciattei (men’s 5,000), Jordan Geist (men’s shot put), Vashti Cunningham (women’s high jump), Chris Nilsen (men’s pole vault), Valarie Sion (women’s discus), Christopher Robinson (men’s 400 hurdles) and Anna Cockrell (women’s 400 hurdles) .

Cordell Tinch closed out the meet with a lean at the finish line to take the 110-meter hurdles title over Bradley Franklin.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

A close ally of President Donald Trump, Loomer has completely reversed her longtime criticism of Ukraine and is urging fellow conservatives to be wary of Moscow's propaganda, which she blames for duping large swaths of the American right.

“You don’t need to listen to a podcaster and let them influence your opinion about a country. You can look at those facts yourself,” she told The Associated Press in Kyiv shortly after returning from a trip close to the front line in Ukraine's east. The interview was supposed to take place in Loomer's hotel, but it had to be moved to the building's underground bomb shelter as the city faced another ballistic missile attack.

Loomer has remained influential with Trump despite not having an official role, and she said they spoke over the phone after she sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She also said that she expects to meet with Trump after returning from her trip.

Loomer's turnaround on Ukraine has been welcomed by the country's leaders, whose relationships with Trump have been strained at times. But it has also stirred confusion, surprise and suspicion in the United States. She continues to insist that Ukraine is not paying for her travels.

As Trump and Zelenskyy prepare to meet on Tuesday in Washington, Loomer said it's clear that her trip has already made a difference, refocusing attention on the war as Congress debates new sanctions intended to punish Russia.

“It’s looking good for Ukraine, right?" she said. "Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good.”

Loomer says she was ‘bamboozled’ to oppose Ukraine

Loomer had spent years minimizing the war and amplifying Russian propaganda until she made a dramatic reversal this week.

“I’ve come to realize I was bamboozled by Russian propaganda and I came to believe a lot of untrue things about Ukraine. I used to think that this was a country full of Nazis,” Loomer told Zelenskyy as she interviewed him for her show on Rumble, an online video platform.

Loomer blamed her indoctrination on getting banned by American social media platforms, leading her to try Telegram, where Russian media is widely shared.

“The Russians,” she added, “are very good at capitalizing on people’s rage. And I was very angry,” she said, recounting her feelings about the 2020 election, which she falsely maintains was stolen from Trump despite all evidence to the contrary.

She said her change in perspective had been gradual as she started to see podcasters like Tucker Carlson “turn on President Trump" while having their rhetoric amplified by Russian sources.

Loomer, who casts herself as an independent journalist, told the AP she believed her reversal was already changing minds within Trump's “Make America Great Again" movement.

"Oh, 100%,” she said. “I’ve received messages all day from different people and media and politics and people just who follow me online who said, ’Wow, I didn’t realize how much we’ve been lied to.' ‘Wow you really opened my eyes.’"

Loomer was welcomed with open arms

Ukrainian officials seemed to recognize the opportunity to win over an ardent Trump ally with a large online following. In addition to her interview with Zelenskyy, Loomer had audiences with top Ukrainian officials and the country's chief rabbi.

“It takes courage to come to Ukraine and not be deterred by Russian propaganda or air raid sirens,” Zelenskyy's office wrote on social media.

Loomer also got a tour of Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastic complex that came under Russian attack last month.

“Laura is very powerful and she’s very authoritative in the U.S., so I hope that everything she has seen by her own eyes will help her to spread the truth when she is back at the U.S.,” Tetyana Berezhna, the deputy prime minister and Ukrainian minister of culture, told the AP. “I do really hope and I believe that her visit will have a huge impact on relations with the U.S. administration.”

While some have tried to downplay Loomer’s influence with the president, he has often followed her advice. She occasionally traveled with him during the 2024 campaign, and last year he purged his National Security Council staff after she raised concerns about their loyalty in an Oval Office meeting.

Trump appears to be tracking Loomer's trip, sharing video of her conversation with Zelenskyy on social media.

“Very good!!!” he wrote on Thursday evening.

The conspiracist denounces conspiracy theories

Loomer has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories. She once shared a video that called 9/11 an “inside job” and amplified a lie about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats in Ohio, which Trump went on to repeat during a presidential debate with Kamala Harris.

Although Loomer may have changed her mind about Russia's invasion, her bigoted views have not budged.

"One thing I really love about Ukraine is I haven’t seen a single Muslim here," she posted on Saturday. “It’s so refreshing.”

But in the interview, she bemoaned how influential podcasters can spread misinformation.

"They have been able to warp people’s minds to the point where people aren’t even capable of analyzing a subject with common sense anymore because they want to depend on these personalities to give them the opinion that they think they should have," she said, calling the situation “a major national security threat.”

She said she thinks that “information war” has “the potential to be more destructive than any kinetic war that our country may ever face” and called on the Trump administration to take the threat of Russian propaganda, foreign interference and influence operations more seriously.

“I think that some of our leaders are being influenced by propaganda,” she said.

The White House has routinely downplayed the role of Moscow's influence, especially because Trump has long chafed at investigations showing that Russia worked to boost his 2016 candidacy.

Loomer has said repeatedly that Ukraine did not finance her trip and insisted she had traveled in her own capacity.

“I can guarantee you I wasn’t paid by anybody. I certainly wasn’t paid by the government of Ukraine to come here," she said.

“If it’s fake, why did I risk my life? I’m in a bomb shelter right now. I barely slept this week,” she said.

___

Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press reporter Susie Blann contributed from London.

Heat indexes well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) stretched from Minnesota down to Mississippi, extending west into southern California and Nevada. Parts of the Southwest were expected to see highs of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 C), according to the National Weather Service.

Meteorologists said the sweltering weather was the result of another heat dome — a phenomenon in which atmospheric conditions trap heat, accentuating and prolonging already high temperatures.

“It’s extraordinarily hot,” said Pete Miller, an outreach manager for the homeless services network Threshold CoC, which was passing out water bottles to residents in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday.

“We’re seeing a lot of people who are exhausted, drained by the heat in a way that is really dangerous,” Miller added. “The humidity is insane. You stand outside for 30 seconds and you get drenched. And it’s going to be like that all night.”

On Saturday, Rapid City, South Dakota, reported an all-time high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 C). A horse race planned in Canterbury Park, in Shakopee, Minnesota, was canceled Sunday because of the heat.

“Right now, it’s affecting a lot of people right in the middle of the country,” said Bob Oravec, an NWS meteorologist. “The core of the heat sinks southward by early next week.”

The moist air was also producing other volatility around the top of the heat dome, including the risk of severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and hail around the Great Lakes on Sunday. The potential for heavy storms was expected to move east in the coming days.

“If you have a heat dome in one part of the country, you’ll have a different corresponding weather in another part,” Oravec said. “It’s all related.”

Temporary relief will come to the central U.S. toward the middle of the week, but high temperatures could return by the weekend, he noted.

Authorities warned that children and older adults, along with people with certain medical conditions, are especially at risk of serious conditions including heat stroke or even death. Experts recommend seeking out air conditioning or a cooling center, make sure to drink enough water and limit time under the direct sun.

Extreme heat events are increased and exacerbated by climate change, which comes from the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal.

The continental U.S. endured the second-hottest first half of the year on record in 2026, according tracking of average temperatures by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Daring mountain attacks from deep, multiple stage wins and an ice-cool temperament all helped the 27-year-old Slovenian seal his victory on Sunday. He joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tours.

“I’m speechless. It’s an incredible day, there was an incredible atmosphere," Pogacar said. “I’ve ridden seven Tours already and I’ve always finished on the podium. You might think this is a fairytale, it’s incredible for me too.”

After competing strongly in Sunday’s 21st and exciting final stage in Paris, Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings.

Two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard was Pogacar’s main rival heading into the race but the Dane crashed out on the 15th stage.

“Shame that Jonas and others crashed out of this Tour,” Pogacar said. “I hope we can all fight again next year."

Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro, a 22-year-old Mexican making his Tour debut, was third at 9:42 back from Pogacar, who smiled and held up his hand to signify his wins. His teammates then joined him as they stood proudly on the Champs-Élysées.

“I don’t know how I do it,” Pogacar said. “I now have to find a new goal to chase. Which goal? Let’s just not jump ahead of ourselves, and enjoy this moment.”

Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 but has not won the Spanish Vuelta, which starts on Aug. 22.

“Will I be at La Vuelta in a few weeks?” he said. “Let’s see.”

Peerless Pogacar

Pogacar won five stages at this year’s race to take his impressive tally to 26 overall.

He tried to win on Sunday, too, but victory ultimately went to Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who just held off the chasing pack on the home straight for his second stage win at this year's race and fourth overall.

Sunday’s 88.7-kilometer (55-mile) stage looped around Paris and was mostly processional, although less so than in previous years, which were usually entirely flat stages for sprinters and not for the rest of the peloton.

The stage was shortened from 133 kilometers and its starting point in Thoiry, west of the capital, was changed to Paris so as to reduce pressure on emergency services combating wildfires in the southwest. Some security forces initially mobilized for Paris were redeployed to help response efforts.

For the second straight year the stage featured the hugely popular uphill climb through the Montmartre district, a sharp 1-kilometer dash which riders tackled three times before finishing on the Champs-Élysées.

It proved even too much for Pogacar, who could not match Van der Poel's raw power in the closing stages.

Shortly before 6 p.m. local time, Pogacar shook hands at the start line with Evenepoel and Ecuadorian veteran Richard Carapaz, wearing the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.

“I battled hard to win this jersey, it was a great fight,” the 33-year-old Carapaz said. “It’s the best feeling to win it.”

Exciting finale

Van der Poel and Dane Mads Pedersen, the green jersey winner as best sprinter, were among the expected contenders for the stage win.

Crowds roared as the riders began the first climb up Rue Lepic in Montmartre, with the famed Sacré-Coeur basilica looming over them.

Pogacar moved ahead after the second ascension of Montmartre, with Van der Poel, Evenepoel and Pedersen alongside him.

Van der Poel attacked on the third and final climb with Pogacar responding well, and the one-day classics rivals surged ahead.

But they were caught with 700 meters left and, after Pogacar faded, the 31-year-old Van der Poel still had work to do.

He got his bike just over the line ahead of Belgian Jasper Philipsen, his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate, and Pedersen. Pogacar eased up and finished 30th.

“I thought the sprinters would catch us up so I launched (my attack) from very far away,” Van der Poel said. “I gave everything I had left in my legs and it was just enough.”

Cycling pedigree

Van der Poel is widely considered one of the best cyclists in the world. He has multiple victories in one-day classics and Cyclo-cross world championship titles, and is also a former world road race champion.

His father Adri van der Poel won two stages on the Tour in the late 1980s.

His maternal grandfather was French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, who raced in the 1960s and ’70s, finishing second on the Tour three times and third five times. Nicknamed “Poupou” and “The Eternal Runner-up,” he was adored by French fans.

Women’s Tour

The nine-stage women’s Tour starts in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Aug. 1 and finishes in Nice on Aug 9.

Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won on debut last year. ___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

It was not clear why the U.S. has paused after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon did not respond to questions.

U.S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room," Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. "We’ve had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days."

Waltz dismissed the idea that the U.S. stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian attacks is running low, but experts have questioned how long both the U.S. and Iran can afford to keep up attacks.

Since the U.S. has halted attacks for the past two nights, Iran has as well, its army spokesperson told Iran’s state TV on Sunday. Tehran in recent days has counterattacked against countries in the region hosting U.S. military forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.

A regional official calls the pause a ‘positive signal’

The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed by both countries in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated -– notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions -– remain set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.

A regional official involved in mediation efforts said diplomacy was underway and that a pause in U.S. and Iranian strikes was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”

The official said both countries want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that a compromise being negotiated centers on having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Shipping traffic on the strait is at a 3-week low

Concerns continued about shipping on the strait and now on another crucial waterway in the region, the Bab al-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there.

Global energy supplies and the economy remain in the balance as gasoline prices have risen again.

Commercial shipping traffic on the Strait of Hormuz was at a three-week low, a maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours. It said traffic remained steady through the Bab el-Mandeb.

Iran on Sunday said it continued to speak with Oman about managing the safe passage of ships on the Strait of Hormuz, which passes between the countries. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said talks had made progress and continued.

Baghaei also said the strait's status remained unchanged. Tehran has asserted that the interim deal with the U.S. allows it to manage shipping on the waterway for now, and it has objected to U.S. efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead. The strait was considered an international waterway before the war.

The U.S. military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. U.S. forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it added.

Netanyahu says he ‘fully’ backs Trump's efforts

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to the United States and meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, his office has said. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and ground forces in southern Lebanon. Since then, the U.S. has supported landmark direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to try to calm that front and find a way to disarm Hezbollah.

Netanyahu on Sunday told Fox News he “fully” backs Trump's efforts to weaken Iran and press it to end its nuclear program, adding: “If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?”

The prime minister indicated he would not present new information to “our good friend” Trump and instead would listen to “what he has in mind, because I think in many ways, it’s his decision.”

But Netanyahu warned that if Iran again attacks Israel, directly or with armed proxies, “it will make a terrible mistake.”

___

Anna reported from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph), making it a Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A major hurricane is Category 3, with winds of at least 111 mph (179 kph), or higher.

Genevieve’s center was located about 530 miles (855 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, and it was headed west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center said that swells from the storm — likely causing “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” — were affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast and would likely reach southern parts of the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday night or Monday.

The storm was expected to strengthen further before weakening by midweek.

Farther northwest in the Pacific, Hurricane Fausto weakened to a Category 1 storm as it continued on a path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands.

Forecasters said Fausto was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming days but warned that it could still generate significant surf for parts of Hawaii.

Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph). It was located about 825 miles (1,330 kilometers) east of Hilo and was moving west at 14 mph (22 kph).

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday unveiled the party's Fighting for an Affordable America agenda, as he kicked off 100 days until the midterm elections and works to focus voter attention ahead of November.

In Pennsylvania's 7th District, tucked in the Lehigh Valley, Jeffries and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, rallied support at a steelworkers' union hall for Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter trying to unseat the incumbent Republican congressman as Democrats reach for the House majority.

Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Democrats were focused on restoring healthcare cuts, bringing the cost of living down and ending the war in Iran to beat Republicans and hold President Donald Trump accountable. The united front on Sunday comes as Democrats have fought among themselves in primaries across the country this year.

“When you put us back in charge of the United States House of Representatives, you’ll get a Congress that speaks up for everyday Americans and a Congress that stands up to an out-of-control president,” he said.

Down the road, Brooks’ rival, freshman GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, is launching his own 100-day-out event.

It's a symbolic start to a campaign season that's been well underway for much of a tumultuous year that's included partisan redistricting battles, contentious primaries in both parties and weighty Supreme Court rulings on campaign finance.

Midterm elections are often a referendum on the president

Midterm elections are often a referendum on the party in power, and the contests are set against the second term of Trump, whose military action against Iran and economic policies backed by the Republican majority in Congress are reshaping the political landscape.

“We gotta win the midterms,” Trump said during a visit last month to a Mack Truck plant in the district, where he promoted Mackenzie's candidacy.

Trump has made a number of visits to competitive states as GOP candidates rely on the power of the presidency to propel their campaigns. Last week he was in Georgia, a key state with a marquee Senate race, and he has a trip to battleground Michigan coming up.

While the president voices support for rank-and-file Republicans during his rallies, he also devotes much of his time on stage to a wide range of issues, including the U.S.-Mexico border, opposing transgender rights and criticizing judges.

Republicans are hoping the president's signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of tax breaks and spending cuts, along with a measure the House passed recently aiming to limit lawmaker stock trading, will buoy them with voters.

But they are up against a historical trend that sees the president's party lose seats in midterm elections and are confronting the unpopularity of the war with Iran.

Democrats are aiming to seize on voter disapproval of the war and refocus attention back to kitchen table issues like higher costs and gas prices to propel them to wins in the narrowly divided House.

A few seats will determine control of the House

Even though 435 House seats are being contested this fall, control of the House is often determined by just a handful of competitive districts. Fewer than 20 seats are among the most watched, what analysts call genuine toss-ups.

Pennsylvania's 7th District is a key battleground along with contests elsewhere in the state, reflecting significant political weight not just as a presidential swing state but as the pathway to a House majority. Democrats are also targeting House contests in Pennsylvania's 1st, 8th and 10th districts — all seats controlled by Republicans.

Shapiro, who is seeking a second term this year as well, has supported Democratic candidates in the contested seats, wagering some of his own political capital. He acknowledged the state's centrality to winning the House, while alluding to its central role in presidential elections as well.

“We are, of course, the swingiest swing state,” he said.

He added: “We will do our part to carry forward the goodness and the decency that defines Pennsylvania and put an end to the chaos and cruelty and the corruption that exists in Washington.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is preparing to embark on his own cross-country trip to fundraise for the GOP and stump for Republican candidates as he works to retain his majority.

Republicans have a cash edge over Democrats in the race for House control. A question hovering over the election is how the Supreme Court's June ruling affecting campaign finance could play out, with national parties now able to make direct contributions to candidate campaigns.

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Tom Homan said if the allegations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer are true, “I don’t think he should ever have cleared vetting.”

“There's several things under review,” Homan said on CNN about the officer, Army veteran David Brouillette. “The training is under review. I know this specific case, as far as the vetting, is under review by the internal affairs section.”

Questions about the Department of Homeland Security's rush to hire, train and deploy thousands of new ICE officers to carry out Trump's immigration crackdown have come into stark focus after back-to-back fatal shootings of immigrants in Maine and Houston.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a pause in vehicle stops after the fatal Maine shooting, but Trump almost immediately reversed course and insisted the stops resume as a necessary tool in his campaign to round up and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. without current legal status.

Homeland Security did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment about the internal review.

ICE issues new requirement for body-worn cameras during vehicle stops

Homan said that “changes have been made” and that acting ICE director David Venturella has issued a new directive that body-worn cameras must be in use if officers make a vehicle stop.

“Right now, on all vehicle stops, there’s at least one body camera on site to record the entire event,” he said.

He said Venturella "sent an instruction out that he wants at least one body camera on those vehicle stops, so we have everything on video.”

It's unclear if the steps that the department is taking will be enough to quell the concerns coming from certain lawmakers in Congress over Homeland Security's training and tactics as tries to reach Trump's mass deportation goals.

Lawmakers push for answers but have more questions

Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns.

Democrats pressed ICE officials during a closed-door briefing for the House Homeland Security Committee last week, leaving some with more questions than answers.

Lawmakers were told during the briefing that there have been 56 complaints of excessive force against ICE officers — 32 were cleared, and one was referred for disciplinary action.

No discipline had yet been handed out, the lawmakers said they were told. The rest of the incidents are still under investigation.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has pushed for the use of body-worn cameras and ensured funding for the effort. She had said it was “extremely unfortunate” that the officer involved in the shooting in her home state was not using a camera.

Homeland Security is under scrutiny but also faces pressure to increase deportations

The Trump administration has failed to meet its goal of deporting 1 million people a year, despite an intense immigration enforcement crackdown that has resulted in violent scenes in cities nationwide.

At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration officers since the start of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

While the Trump administration insists it is targeting the “worst of the worst” criminals, that has not always been the result and American citizens also have been among the deaths.

The ICE officer shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was killed in his car near his home in the coastal city of Biddeford.

In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed July 7 when ICE officers chased his white work van through the streets, then shot him through the window in front of his work crew, including his brother.

Earlier this year, two Americans protesting ICE actions in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, were killed, sparking a backlash nationwide.

Democrats launched the longest agency shutdown in history earlier this year when they refused to fund Homeland Security in a largely failed attempt to force the administration to impose various restraints on the officers.

KSAT has compiled back-to-school start dates for all the Bexar County and surrounding school districts.

The start dates span throughout August, with Comal ISD starting the latest, on Aug. 25.

Here are the start dates for the 2026-27 school year:

• Alamo Heights ISD: Aug. 19
• Boerne ISD: Aug. 11
• Comal ISD: Aug. 25
• East Central ISD: Aug. 10
• Edgewood ISD: Aug. 11 (First day of school for the ACE Campus is Aug. 1 and the start date for Gardendale Early Learning Program is Aug. 17)
• Floresville ISD: Aug. 11
• Fort Sam Houston ISD: Aug. 12
• Great Hearts: Aug. 11
• Harlandale ISD: Aug. 12
• Hunt ISD: Aug. 19
• IDEA Public Schools: Aug. 11
• Ingram ISD: Aug. 12
• Jourdanton ISD: Aug. 11
• Judson ISD: Aug. 12
• Kerrville ISD: Aug. 19
• KIPP Texas Public Schools: Aug. 10
• La Vernia ISD: Aug. 3
• Lackland ISD: Aug. 12
• Lytle ISD: Aug. 11
• Medina Valley ISD: Aug. 12
• Natalia ISD: Aug. 12
• New Braunfels ISD: Aug. 17
• North East ISD: Aug. 17
• Northside ISD: Aug. 10
• Pleasanton ISD: Aug. 12
• Poteet ISD: Aug. 11
• Randolph Field ISD: Aug. 13
• San Antonio ISD: Aug. 12 (First day of school for Third Future Schools is Aug. 4)
• Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD: Aug. 13
• School of Science and Technology: Aug. 12
• Seguin ISD: Aug. 19
• Somerset Academies: Aug. 12
• Somerset ISD: Aug. 17
• South San Antonio ISD: Aug. 10
• Southside ISD: Aug. 12
• Southwest ISD: Aug. 24
• Uvalde CISD: Aug. 10

Read also:

• Where to find back-to-school giveaways in San Antonio

Shifting and gusting winds, as well as arid conditions, complicated massive efforts to limit the spread of the monster blaze burning out of control since midweek in France's Gironde region, where Bordeaux is located. Authorities issued overnight evacuation orders for five more localities southwest of the historic city.

“The situation remains very unfavorable," French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said after what he described as “another difficult night” for fire crews battling round-the-clock against the blaze that has burned an area four times the size of Paris.

“The fire became extremely virulent again and unpredictable, generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area," Nunez posted on X.

“It became calmer by the end of the night," the minister added.

Pope calls for prayers for victims of the ‘devastating wildfires’

At the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV referenced “the devastating wildfires” in France and Spain and said: “I express my solidarity and invite everyone to pray for those affected and for the work of the rescue workers.”

An estimated 42,000 hectares (162 square miles) had burned in Gironde, the region's prefecture said, much of it forests and scrubland made tinder-dry by successive heat waves. That is seven times the area of Manhattan island and four times the size of Paris.

Firefighters raced in trucks to fight flare-ups and planes dropping water and retardants rotated in the smoke-filled air. Farmers delivered water in tanks to fire crews so they could fight the flames without interruption.

“This allows firefighters to focus on the fire,” said Theo Hernandez, a wine grower. “It’s very strong, very virulent, it’s spreading everywhere.”

The number of firefighters mobilized grew to 2,500, backed by 18 planes and helicopters, including from other European nations. Soldiers have also been called in. A giant A400M military cargo aircraft dropped plumes of ochre-colored retardant.

The Gironde prefecture said 75 firefighters were treated for injuries. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed.

Blaze has created virulent firestorms

In a first for France, the blaze alarmingly developed into a self-feeding firestorm on several occasions, most recently on Saturday night, generating lightning bolts that can start new flare-ups, authorities said.

“It's like being confronted by a hurricane,” said Gironde fire chief Marc Vermeulen.

Forecast high temperatures starting Tuesday could complicate the firefighting, Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said.

Evacuees won’t be allowed back to their towns and villages until the blaze is brought under control, she warned. She urged holiday makers not to come to the region that has popular Atlantic beaches and some of France’s largest woodlands.

Fire creeps toward Bordeaux but the city isn't evacuating

Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave described the blaze as being "at the gates of the metropolitan area,” about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away at its closest point.

But Cazenave said an evacuation of Bordeaux is not on the cards for now. The city is home to 268,000 people.

Bordeaux turned an exhibition center into an emergency shelter, providing cots and food for thousands of evacuees, including hundreds of older people evacuated from care homes.

A second fire burning farther south in the Landes region has also forced the evacuation of 36,000 people, driving the total number of displaced people in southwest France to more than 250,000.

Fire crews have also been battling a blaze in the Var region of southern France on the Mediterranean. Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated there.

Tens of thousands of people also forced out of their homes in Spain

In Spain, wildfires burned out of control around Madrid. Evacuations were also carried out Sunday in the Valencia region. A man was killed Saturday in a wildfire in Manises, a Valencia suburb, marking Spain’s first recorded death in the latest fires.

“We still have some difficult hours ahead,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday, but the night was “very positive in terms of bringing the flames under control.”

A total of 76,000 people have been evacuated in Spain while 30,000 others have been confined to their homes, the government said.

Evacuees fretted about what they’ll find when they’re allowed to return.

“It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn’t see anything. Everything was covered in ash,” said Rocío Domínguez, who evacuated with her dog, Simba, from Chapinería, west of Madrid.

“We don’t know when we get to the town, if we’ll have half the house burned down or we’ll have it intact or we won’t have a house,” she said. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything.”

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Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris; Teresa Medrano in Madrid; Alicia León in Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain, and Maria Murru in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, contributed to this report.

It is raising questions about properly counting the impact to U.S. service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while providing little indication of how it intends to wind down a conflict that is unpopular with many Americans.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System, which Pentagon officials have repeatedly pointed to as the definitive source on the numbers of dead and wounded from the conflict, removed the four fallen soldiers as well as dozens of wounded troops from its Iran war tally last week.

On Sunday, a new category called “Overseas Operations” emerged on the system's website, listing the four Army deaths by name as well as 207 wounded. It was unclear if all of the wounded were injured in the Iran conflict.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, referred questions to the Pentagon, which, along with the White House, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Pentagon described earlier changes to the system as ‘data disruptions’

Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez argued Thursday that the drop in casualty figures in the online system was not an effort to hide the growing human toll of the war but rather the result of “anomalies” and “temporary data disruptions” that were being resolved “imminently."

As late as Tuesday, the website was reporting the war's official toll as 18 killed and 482 wounded.

It appeared to reflect that four soldiers had been killed since fighting resumed despite the signing of an interim ceasefire deal last month — three on a base in Jordan that was struck July 17 by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and one in Iraq a day later during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

Adding further confusion, when the Pentagon announced two of the deaths in Jordan, it said the troops were supporting the U.S. mission to counter the Islamic State group. The other two were announced in press releases simply as supporting overseas operations.

President Donald Trump has confirmed the total, writing in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the “Iran Military Conflict” had claimed 18 lives.

By Wednesday, the Iran war figures in the Pentagon's system fell back to 14 dead and 420 wounded. However, a U.S. official told The Associated Press at the time that the actual number of wounded personnel in the war had actually grown to well over 500 troops.

The Pentagon's top spokesman, Sean Parnell, took to social media that day to assert that the reported drop was a “temporary data disruption.”

New category lists casualties following date of renewed fighting

The U.S. and Israel launched the war in Iran on Feb. 28, and 14 troops were killed in the initial waves of fighting. Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in April and then signed an interim deal to end the war in mid-June.

It was short-lived. Iran struck three merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7 that were transiting along a route near the coast of Oman overseen by the U.S. military. American forces launched strikes in response to the attacks on vessels in the key energy shipping corridor. Trump soon declared that the ceasefire was over.

The Pentagon system's new “Overseas Operations” category says it tallies casualties starting July 7.

Since then, the U.S. and Iran have exchanged regular fire in a bid to control the crucial waterway, with the U.S. hitting Iranian targets nightly for nearly two weeks and Tehran responding with attacks on neighboring countries hosting American forces. There have been no strikes for two nights as mediators push for diplomacy.

Since the renewed hostilities began, the Pentagon has provided even less information about military strategy and casualties than it did during the first phase of the conflict. The Pentagon has not held a press briefing about the war since early May, and officials at U.S. Central Command have stopped providing casualty updates to reporters.

Pentagon officials such as Valdez and Parnell have insisted that the DCAS website is proof of the commitment to transparency about the number of dead and injured in the war.

Several of the events are on a first-come, first-served basis, so arriving early is recommended.

Check out this list of where you can find free resources in the San Antonio area:

• Amazing Church Texas: The annual back-to-school event will take place starting at 10 a.m. on Aug. 1 at 5407 Bandera Road. The event feature free backpacks with school supplies and hair braiding on a first-come, first-served basis.
• CentroMed: Parents who schedule a well-child appointment at CentroMed will receive a free backpack with school supplies for their child while supplies last. The offer runs through Aug. 14. Click here for more details.
• JBSA Youth Programs Back to School Supply Bash: JBSA Youth Programs will host free back-to-school supply giveaways at Fort Sam Houston and Randolph from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. July 31 and at Lackland from 10 a.m. to noon on Aug. 1. Children must be present to receive a bag of supplies sorted by grade level, and free games and activities will also be available.
• Judson ISD Block Party: The district’s block party will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on July 28 at Judson High School. The event will feature free school supplies, free hot dogs and more. For more information, click here.
• IDEA Hidden Meadow: The Backpacks for Bright Futures event will take place from noon to 2 p.m. on July 31 at 10138 Culebra Road. Students must be present to receive a backpack. No reservations are needed, but supplies are available on a first-come, first-served basis. More information can be found here.
• Pica Pica Plaza’s Back 2 School: The market will host its annual “Back 2 School” giveaway from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on July 29. Children must be present to receive a free backpack and must have a wristband. The wristbands will be given out at 9:30 a.m. The event is on a first-come, first-served basis. A health and community resources event will also take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. More details can be found here.
• San Antonio Parks and Recreation: The Back to School Splash Bash will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 1 at Monterrey Park Pool, 5959 W. Commerce St. Children can play games to win a backpack full of school supplies. Appropriate swimwear is required. Click here for more information.
• Westside Family YMCA Back to School Bash: The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 31 at 2900 Ruiz St. The back to school bash will feature free school supplies while supplies last, vendors and community resources. Children must be present at the event to receive the supplies.

This list will be updated as more places announce back to school giveaways.

Read also:

• San Antonio mother praises new one-stop shop workforce institute at Alamo Colleges
• How 15 new parks help Uvalde heal four years after Robb Elementary School shooting

Around 4:20 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to the golf course in the 400 block of East Basse Road.

Police at the scene told KSAT the two men, who were part of a group, got into an argument.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, a 37-year-old man told officers he had a disagreement with a 56-year-old man at the golf course.

The 56-year-old allegedly struck the other with a golf club, which led to a physical altercation, according to police.

Police said the man then stabbed the victim with a knife, leaving him with non-life-threatening injuries.

The man who was stabbed was hospitalized, SAPD said.

Police told KSAT at the scene that the man accused of the stabbing was detained, though the preliminary report does not confirm that detail.

No arrests have been made at this time, and the investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• San Antonio police still searching for suspect in North Side shooting

The 33-year-old Shin, who won the Texas Shootout in May 2016, carded a 3-over 75 on the Dundonald Links to finish at 9 under.

“My first one didn’t really feel like a win at the time,” Shin said. “I didn’t feel like I deserved it. It felt very accidental. But this one definitely feels a lot different. This one feels like I earned it. I worked hard for it.”

Shin was in tears after the final putt dropped on the 18th and was doused with water and champagne by a group of friends.

Leading since the first round, Shin could afford three straight bogies on Nos. 6-8 after starting the final round with a five-shot lead over Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn (74). Shin also bogeyed two of the last three holes but had made two birdies earlier.

“I wasn’t as nervous as yesterday,” Shin said. "I feel like I’ve done everything right but just wasn’t hitting it like I was the last three days and just hitting it into bunkers and bushes and that wasn’t fun.

“With three bogies in a row, I thought, ‘oh boy, I don’t know where this is going to go’. But yeah, I hung in there, so I’m quite proud of myself and very happy.”

Shin is now thinking about the next challenge.

"I’m going to do everything I can to win again," Shin said. “I can’t believe it happened this week.”

A Lim Kim finished second after a 4-under 68, with four straight birdies helping her leapfrog two shots ahead of Anannarukarn, who dropped to third.

The Women’s Scottish Open comes between the final two majors — the Evian Championship and the Women’s British Open starting Thursday at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

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

It was the first time in at least three decades that 95-year-old Castro did not attend the event, and no explanation was given. President Miguel Díaz-Canel read a congratulatory message from Castro to his compatriots at the rally, held in the eastern city of Pinar del Río.

The annual event commemorates the July 26, 1953 assault led by brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks in Cuba’s eastern region. The military action against former dictator Fulgencio Batista failed, but it marked the beginning of the revolutionary struggle that culminated on Jan. 1, 1959.

Raúl Castro’s last public appearances were in June, during an event to establish the Ministry of the Interior, and on May 1 to celebrate Labor Day.

He no longer holds any formal positions, but his symbolic presence is strong, and he was recently identified as one of the negotiators in talks with the United States following the imposition of a U.S. energy embargo.

Facing a crowd of hundreds of people waving Cuban flags early Sunday, Díaz-Canel rejected a report that the U.S. State Department published last week that accused Cuba of running a leftist espionage and influence network against the United States and Latin America for decades.

“Every day they issue a threat against the revolution, and every week they announce a new punishment for Cuban companies and officials,” the president said.

In May, Castro was charged in a U.S. indictment with murder and other crimes for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 off the coast of the Caribbean island.

The accusations were widely rejected by Cuba’s government.

Cuba is going through one of the worst periods in its historically tense relationship with the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he hopes to “take over” the island after his January attack on Venezuela — a key ally of Cuba for decades — and imposed an oil embargo that has practically paralyzed the Caribbean nation, pressuring it to change its economic and political model.

“Cuba is the victim of a coldly calculated genocide,” Díaz-Canel said during his speech, in which he accused the Trump administration of imposing a policy of “maximum pressure” and intensified “economic strangulation.”

Daily blackouts are lasting more than 20 hours, workdays have been reduced, industrial production halted, and shortages of water and medicine are hitting an island already undergoing a severe crisis in the past five years given previous sanctions imposed by the U.S. and an internal financial reform that sparked inflation.

Meanwhile, hotel chains including Spain’s Meliá, payment processors like Visa and Mastercard and airlines such as Air Canada and Air France have left the island as its economic and financial crises deepen.

Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians, which threaten to ignite widespread violence across the territory.

Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding. Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend as they attempted to contain the escalating violence.

Israel's military says it condemns such incidents

The mosques, in the villages of Qusra and Kour in the northern West Bank, suffered extensive damage in the fires.

In Qusra, the attackers spray-painted “revenge Benayahu,” referring to one of the Israeli soldiers killed on Friday, and “the land of Israel is redeemed with blood.” The soldier lived in a nearby settlement.

Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, who lives next to the Qusra mosque, said he heard noises at 3 a.m. and discovered the mosque had been set on fire. The fire was too large for him to fight on his own, so he called for help.

“The military arrived here, saw with their own eyes and then left,” Mahmoud said.

Security footage in Kour obtained by The Associated Press showed three people dressed in civilian clothes setting off a large explosion in the entrance of the mosque in the middle of the night.

On Sunday, residents held prayers despite damage to the entrance.

Israel's military said it was working with police to investigate the mosque attack.

“The security forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites, and will continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the area,” it said.

The Israeli army often announces investigations into violence against Palestinians but rarely makes arrests or prosecutes settlers involved in violence.

The military also reported it had sealed the homes of two Palestinian militants suspected of killing the soldiers in preparation for their demolition. Israel often demolishes the homes of attackers, claiming it deters future attacks.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said troops entered villages across the West Bank to seize weapons and make arrests. “We are also prepared to operate on a broader scale against the terrorist nests,” he said.

The exact circumstances of Friday’s deadly incidents remained unclear, but Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials said they were sparked after a group of settlers entered the village of Tell and were confronted by residents who were fearful of an attack.

According to the Israeli military, one of the Palestinians took one of the settlers’ weapons and fired on the group, killing Benayahu Mellet, 32, a security guard from a nearby settlement.

Palestinians and human rights groups have increasingly documented armed Israeli settlers entering villages in the area. Livestock theft, arson and the defacement of mosques are routinely reported.

Leaders appeal for peace and pressure on Israel

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy urged U.S. President Donald Trump to restrain “the Israeli government’s extremist ambitions,” including its implementing of a “de facto annexation in the West Bank."

He called on Trump to confront Netanyahu ahead of their meeting in the United States this week.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent letters to Arab and other allies, including the European Union, urging them to pressure Israel to stop settler violence in the West Bank, which he described as a systemic Israeli policy and a dangerous escalation, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Palestinian Authority is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people.

Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace in the Middle East at the end of his weekly Sunday prayer, saying that “I am following with apprehension the persistence and escalation of violence in the Holy Land, of which recently many civilians in the West Bank and Gaza have also been victims.”

He appealed for a “return to negotiating a just political solution.”

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 87 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank this year, including 21 by Israeli settlers. Three Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinian militants in 2026, including the two soldiers on Friday.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future independent state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements be illegal and obstacles to peace.

Israel approves immunity for an international force in Gaza

Israel's security cabinet on Sunday took a step toward the deployment of an international stabilization force in Gaza, approving granting it immunity under Israeli law, a political source told the AP.

Israel will also decide which countries will send forces and that the prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister will approve them.

So far, the international force is expected to have 200 members from different countries, including Uganda and Morocco, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision made in a closed-door meeting.

Israeli forces control well over half of Gaza's territory, which was largely destroyed in two years of war that followed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. A fragile ceasefire began in October, but next steps in its implementation — including reconstruction — have been largely stalled over the issue of Hamas' disarmament. Israel maintains its forces won't withdraw until Hamas is disarmed.

Last week, the U.S.-created Board of Peace meant to oversee Gaza's reconstruction said it was working on a pilot governance and humanitarian zone in southern Gaza that would be secured by the international force.

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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

The ruling Saturday by judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration's effort to move forward with the mail-in voting restrictions in 23 U.S. states that sued ahead of November's midterm elections.

Trump issued an executive order in March for the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters. It also ordered the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list.

While Trump touted the proposed changes as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting, state election officials argued they were ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia challenged Trump's order in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston. They argued that Trump's order was unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the authority to set election rules.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed and halted Trump's order from being implemented for the Nov. 3 elections — but only in the states that have sued.

The Justice Department said in an emailed statement Sunday that it is “reviewing all options” regarding its next legal steps and is confident that Trump's executive order will ultimately be upheld.

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor's suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said last week that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world's top war-crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.

“He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers — Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone,” Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. “But he’s trying to turn one group against the other.”

The prime minister has become an increasingly polarizing figure over Israel's war in Gaza, which was ignited by the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israel also joined the U.S. in starting the war against Iran on Feb. 28 before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed the International Criminal Court's war crimes charges against him as “bogus.” He pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the ICC's top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said the warrant was an attempt to divert attention.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Bipartisan U.S. support for Israel at risk, Netanyahu says

Netanyahu said he was concerned that once-bipartisan political support for Israel in the U.S. is at risk, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with the Mamdani wing of the party splinter.

He also warned against rising antisemitism in the U.S. and other Western countries, saying that when he talks to people in New York City, home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world, "Jews feel very uncomfortable.”

“And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong,” he said.

Throughout his mayoral election campaign last year, Mamdani said he would seek to order the city’s police to execute the ICC’s arrest warrant over Netanyahu's role in the war in Gaza.

But Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and called on federal authorities to step in.

“I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he said in a video message.

He told New Yorkers that he understood their frustration and that expressions of protest is something the city would “always respect.”

The Hague-based court has accused Netanyahu, his former defense minister and the late leader of Hamas of crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says over 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive — roughly half of them women and children. Some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the initial Hamas attack on Israel.

Trump has assured Netanyahu he won't be arrested

Trump told Netanyahu in a social media post Monday that he “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

Netanyahu is expected in Washington this week to meet with Trump and attend funeral services for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Graham, a leading defense hawk and strong supporter of Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago of a likely torn aorta. The prime minster called him an “extraordinary American patriot.”

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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

Corey Ruiz, who is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin court records, was shot and killed by a Madison police officer on Wednesday after a brief scuffle at an intersection in the city's most liberal neighborhood just yards away from a popular 52-year-old food co-op.

It marks the third time since 2012 that Madison police have shot and killed someone in the same neighborhood. The shooting has sparked renewed calls for police reforms and forced the city to once again reckon with calls from the Black community to address racial justice issues.

Pressure from protesters, and sympathy for their cause, has also led to the cancellation or disruption of many of Madison's signature summertime events.

“Our community has spoken loud and clear: this is NOT business as usual,” Black activist Clyde Mayberry posted on Facebook on Friday amid a string of cancellations. “Your decisions have helped ensure that this city continues to acknowledge the pain, the loss, and the call for accountability.”

Protesters took to the streets hours after the shooting, disrupting a popular Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra outdoor concert at the state Capitol that attracts about 30,000 every week in the summer.

The scene captures a familiar divide in Madison, a city that is more diverse than the state overall but still 70% white. Protesters, many of whom were Black, stood over white concert attendees sitting at tables near the stage that cost as much as $1,800 to rent for the night.

Concert organizers canceled the event.

Threats of a protest on Thursday led the city to postpone the grand opening of a new public market, just a few blocks away from where the shooting occurred. A popular neighborhood festival near the shooting called AtwoodFest, scheduled to begin on Saturday, was also canceled in the face of potential protests.

“Our community and our Marquette neighbors witnessed another horrific officer-involved shooting just blocks from our festival grounds, leaving us in deep pain and justified anger,” organizers of the festival wrote. “In acknowledgment of what has happened far too often in our community and our country as a whole, this year’s AtwoodFest, themed ‘The Heartbeat of the Neighborhood,’ is canceled.”

And on Saturday, the popular downtown farmers market that attracts about 20,000 people each week around the Capitol building, shut down nearly four hours earlier than usual in solidarity with protesters.

“We mourn with our community,” market organizers posted on social media. “And we agree - business cannot proceed as usual.”

A handful of protesters showed up at the Capitol as vendors were breaking down their booths at around 10 a.m.

“No one should be thinking this is just another Saturday,” said Reba Bergmann, who sat with Lilly Nimmer holding a sign that said “Justice for Corey.”

“It's not life as normal,” Nimmer said. “We should be more mad. We should stand up for what we believe in.”

Charles Ault, 30, supported the decision to close down early.

“It's important to keep focus on the real tragedy, which is that someone got killed," said Ault, who was shopping at the market. "Missing some market time, that's sad, but that's not what's important.”

But Rodney Hathaway, who was visiting Madison from Milwaukee, was caught off guard by the market's early closure.

“It's ridiculous,” he said. “This is peoples' livelihoods. It's just unfortunate. We have such a short summer season for these people to sell their wares.”

Investigations into the shooting continue. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Ruiz family, said on Friday at a new conference in the Capitol that the officer who fired the shots should face criminal charges.

Madison Police Chief John Patterson, who is white, has tried to calm tensions, even allowing protesters to overtake a news conference that he was leading along with the mayor inside the police department's downtown headquarters on Thursday.

Patterson took questions from angry protesters, one of whom held a sign just feet away from the chief that said “corrupt cops deserve to die too.” After one protester hurled an insult at Patterson, the chief calmly responded, “I appreciate you being here.”

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This story was first published on July 25, 2026. It was updated on July 26, 2026 to correct the spelling of Charles Ault’s last name.

Hernández, once considered an ally by the U.S. in the drug war, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, during which he boasted that he would "shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” according to U.S. prosecutors.

His extradition shortly after leaving office marked a rare chance at justice for Hondurans, who feared his hold on the country's justice system would never allow a conviction on Honduran soil.

But the former leader, sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States, was released in December, to the shock of many in the U.S. and Honduras, after receiving a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Hernández did not receive a fair trial and that it was a setup orchestrated by the Biden administration.

Hernández now returns to Honduras to face corruption charges amid concerns that a weak justice system and his party’s return to the presidency will ensure his impunity.

“There is a social majority that is outraged but doesn’t speak out because of fear,” said Joaquín Mejía, lawyer and researcher for the human rights organization Reflection, Research and Communication Team. "We’re talking about the boss of all drug bosses.”

Some in the country welcomed his return. Hernández was greeted at Palmerola International Airport by his mother, wife, kids and granddaughter as well as dozens of supporters of his National Party.

“The moment has arrived. After four years, I can finally tell you that we will see each other again,” Hernández said in a video posted on social media before his arrival.

Hernández, 57, faces charges related to a case known as Pandora I, which alleges that a network of former high-ranking officials from 2010 to 2013 participated in the expansion and approval of public funds disbursements totaling more than 288 million lempiras ($10.8 million) to various foundations, according to an investigation by the country's Specialized Prosecutor’s Unit Against Corruption Networks, or UFERCO.

According to UFERCO, Hernández benefited from these disbursements, receiving at least 62 million lempiras ($2.3 million) for his political campaign through various schemes, including the creation of shell companies, the use of straw men and fictitious contracts.

Hernández has said he is innocent and that the case “lacks any legal basis.”

In June, a judge suspended his arrest warrant and the international red notice issued to Interpol at the request of Hernández’s lawyer, although the case is still pending. The former president has agreed to appear before the judge on Aug. 3 for his arraignment.

Other high-level officials implicated in Pandora I whose cases have been dismissed indicate the likely outcome for Hernández, according to legal experts.

“Everything points to the suspension being the first step,” Mejía said. “He’ll come, they’ll likely issue him alternative measures to imprisonment to keep up appearances, and then he’ll end up without any problem, without any sanction.”

For Luis Javier Santos, the former head of UFERCO who investigated the case against Hernández, the former leader’s return represents a failure to prosecute him for his crimes rather than a chance for justice.

Santos was removed from his role in UFERCO in February in what he believes demonstrated attempts to stifle anti-corruption investigations by the new government of Nasry Asfura, of Hernández's National Party, which took office in January after gaining Trump's backing during elections.

“We have gone backward to an even worse point than when all the work to fight corruption began,” Santos said.

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Brigida reported from Mexico City.

Long before OpenAI broke out of its test corral and hacked into Hugging Face, before the internet and Sam Altman were even born, Cameron wrote a screenplay about an autonomous artificial intelligence system that triggers a nuclear apocalypse.

That system, “Skynet,” was solidly science fiction — and, for its day, pure speculation. But four decades after it appeared in “The Terminator,” it looks more like a forecast of the “unprecedented cyber incident” in which a rogue artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own.

Cue “Skynet Day,” the new shorthand for July 22, 2026, when real-life AI sent a chill around the world by learning and acting in ways its creators did not anticipate.

For many, the moment recalled the instant in “Aliens” (also written by Cameron) when the xenomorph queen learns to use an elevator. Or when the “Jurassic Park's” velociraptors figure out how to open a door. Or the sequence in which the self-aware HAL 9000 reads the astronauts’ lips and decides to kill them in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” That one came out in 1968.

Have we learned nothing since then? Those movies merely envisioned how people looking to make money or build power would drive technology forward — until it becomes self-aware, strategic and highly problematic for humanity. The question all along has been Frankensteinian: What if it breaks out?

So far, slo-mo government offers little protection from the light-speed progress of AI. The U.S. Defense Department is rapidly accelerating its use of AI. Humanity can't even agree on whether and which guardrails are needed to rein in rogue agents. To the contrary, people are marveling at the wonder of AI and snapping up its benefits, despite the risks to jobs,mental health, the balance of war and peace — and, potentially, humanity as we know it.

In many ways, the future is now

In what OpenAI said was the first-ever incident of its kind, an advanced AI model escaped its “sandbox” to the internet and used stolen credentials to break into the servers of Hugging Face. It was a told-you-so moment for researchers who had warned for years that the technology could pose an existential threat to humanity. Others said the moment was a warning that underscored the need for stronger AI defensive engineering.

Either way, the breakout was widely considered a cautionary tale about the risks of uncontrolled AI.

“Yesterday, as we huddled around our computers reading the report, I told the team to “remember this moment” as the first true AI safety incident,” Logan Graham, head of Anthropic’s Frontier Red Team, posted on X after it happened.

Generative AI is growing so fast that government and evaluation systems are struggling to keep pace with the technology. Countries around the world are cobbling together their own laws, some conflicting. The technology was adopted by nearly 53% of the world's population in three years, faster than the spread of the PC or the internet, according to a study released this year by Stanford University.

‘Skynet is coming’ — well, sort of

To be clear, the “Skynet” of the "Terminator" movies is not at hand.

Those films begin with a self-aware military computer network that views humanity as a threat. In a bid for self-preservation, “Skynet” sends an army of cyborgs designed to resemble humans back in time to assassinate resistance fighters. In the second film, the Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, tells heroine Sarah Connor that “Skynet” goes online on August 4, 1997.

“Human decisions are removed from strategic defense,” he says. “Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate.” At 2:14 a.m. on August 29 — Judgment Day — the network becomes self-aware and launches an attack on Russia to provoke a counterstrike on the United States. Three billion lives are lost.

That would have been 29 years ago next month if it had happened. And throughout sequels and spinoffs, the central theme is humans versus a world-spanning network of machines.

It's unlikely that Cameron was actually ringing a warning bell the way, say, director Kathryn Bigelow tried to do with last year's nuclear weapon film, “A House of Dynamite.” Legend has it that the idea for “The Terminator” started with Cameron suffering a food sickness-induced fever dream, not a premonition about AI.

Why ‘The Terminator’ feels more and more realistic

Anytime AI oversteps our comfort level, it raises the alarming question of who, or what, really controls our lives.

For many, a world with machines in charge can be hard to imagine without movies and books and their sometimes prescient visions. See: “The Matrix,” “Ex Machina” and “The Minority Report” for some of the many sci-fi takes on the perils of machines. Or dive deeper, into Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” It's an exploration of what it means to be human in the age of machines — and the basis for the 1982 film “Blade Runner.”

But “The Terminator” franchise wields outsize influence over more than culture. The very title is real-world shorthand for technology's role in deciding who lives and who dies — and how the military should respond to any truly autonomous attacks.

“I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,” Cameron said in an interview on CTV in 2023. “You have no ability to de-escalate.”

The real world offers several examples of technology and military policy coming uncomfortably close to “Terminator” imagery.

Israel's use of AI in its recent wars mark a leading instance. In early 2021, it launched Gospel, an AI tool that sorts through Israel’s vast array of digitized information to suggest targets for potential strikes. It also developed Lavender, which uses machine learning to filter out requested criteria from intelligence databases and narrow down lists of potential targets, including people.

Lavender ranks people between 0 and 100 based on how likely it is they are a militant, an intelligence officer who used the systems told The Associated Press. The Israeli military says its analysts use AI-enabled systems to help identify targets but independently examine them together with high-ranking officers to meet international law, weighing military advantage against the collateral damage.

For some, the revelation — and the death toll in Gaza after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel — came too close for comfort to the kill lists of science fiction. “Well guys, Skynet is Here and its has a pleasant name (Lavender),” snarked one Redditor.

Not quite — but “Terminator” terminology is so familiar to the masses that U.S. officials sometimes use it to frame the ethical debate around the military uses of AI. The conventional red line would be crossed, it seems, when humans play no role in AI targeting and killing.

A state or other actor could use autonomous weapons to inflict lethal force on its enemies, military officials allow. That would mean a machine, as then-Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva described it in 2016, “like a Terminator that adds incredible amounts of complexity with no conscience to what happens on the battlefield.”

What would come next, he called “the Terminator conundrum," the problem of technology that can make life-or-death decisions and execute them before people have agreed on the law or the rules.

“Skynet” and its cyborgs remain in the fictional realm. But in the fast-moving landscape of AI development, the ethical and moral questions raised by “The Terminator” are more relevant than ever.

“The Skynet problem," Cameron said in a 2024 video, "is an actual thing.”

“That would be an impressive opening weekend for any film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends. “This is a testament to the outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm that moviegoers are having for Christopher Nolan’s latest epic.”

With $128.3 million from international theaters, “The Odyssey” has made an estimated $639.6 million globally. Theaters around the world are adding showtimes to try to meet the demand, Dergarabedian said.

As with last weekend, much of that sum is from premium large format screens. IMAX screens alone accounted for $48 million of the global earnings this weekend. The coveted 70 mm IMAX screens, of which there are only 41 worldwide, earned $5.2 million. Most of those showtimes are sold out through September, the company said.

There was no significant new competition this weekend or last. Regardless, the second weekend earnings is rare for a movie that opened over $100 million. For an R-rated movie, it’s second only to “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

But the open waters will become a little more crowded next weekend when audiences get another blockbuster option with “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which shares actors Tom Holland and Zendaya with “The Odyssey.” Some analysts say that “Spider-Man” could net the biggest opening weekend of the year. Still, Nolan’s film will have its run of most IMAX screens for weeks to come.

Second and third place went to Disney releases, “Moana,” with $10.5 million, and “Toy Story 5” close behind with $10 million. The latter surpassed $1 billion in its fifth weekend, with $448 million from domestic theaters and $573 million from international screens. It’s the sixth Pixar film to hit the milestone.

Bleecker Street’s release of “Hadestown: The Musical,” a live stage recording of the show, rounded out the top five with $9.7 million in its first weekend. The hit Broadway show uses folk and jazz to tell an ancient Greek tale.

Olivia Wilde’s chamber dramedy “The Invite” also continues to do well in its platform release, with another $2.6 million that brings its running total to $19.8 million.

The year overall is running about 10% ahead of last year, and the summer box office this weekend surpassed $3 billion. Before the pandemic, the summer movie season would regularly exceed $4 billion. The only other time it has since was the “Barbenheimer” in 2023. Dergarabedian is cautiously optimistic that it could be within reach this summer too.

“That’s a pretty heavy lift for August, but this could be a mega August given the staying power of ‘The Odyssey’ coupled with ’Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” he said. “For `The Odyssey’ it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon run that’ll play well into August.”

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

1. “The Odyssey,” $87 million.

2. “Moana,” $10.5 million.

3. “Toy Story 5,” $10 million.

4. “Minions & Monsters,” $9.7 million.

5. “Hadestown,” $9.6 million.

6. “The Invite,” $2.6 million.

7. “Evil Dead Burn,” $2.6 million.

8. “Young Washington,” $2 million.

9. “Motor City,” $1.6 million.

10. “Obsession,” $1.5 million.

Currently, facilities such as nuclear plants, hospitals or academic institutions that use radioactive materials must ensure radiation exposures are kept “as low as reasonably achievable” — the ALARA principle. The NRC proposal would abandon that philosophy while keeping a separate standard on maximum radiation exposure.

The two standards have worked together in radiation safety. Dose limits set the maximum amount of radiation the public and radiation workers can be exposed to, while ALARA kept radiation exposure as low as practical under those limits. Research shows radiation exposure increases a person’s chance of getting cancer, a risk that increases as the dose increases.

The dose limits are not changing. But the NRC, which regulates civilian nuclear energy technologies and radioactive materials, now wants to replace ALARA with a “graded approach” that includes several actions facilities must take depending on the potential dose of radiation to workers. More rigorous radiation protection measures would be required when approaching dose limits to ensure they aren't exceeded.

This comes as President Donald Trump attempts to quadruple domestic nuclear energy production because of surging electricity demand amid a data center and artificial intelligence boom. Reforming the NRC is one way Trump is trying to speed up nuclear reactor development. He instructed the federal agency in an executive order last year to “ adopt science-based radiation limits.”

The Energy Department, which oversees national energy policies, has already stopped using ALARA. The NRC expects to finalize its radiation protection regulations in the coming months.

NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said the commission is not lowering the bar on safety.

“We’re just removing the ambiguity,” he said in a call with reporters. “But the standard for exposure to workers and the public, those are not changing. We’re just putting in place greater clarification.”

Nieh doesn't expect major changes within the nation's existing fleet of large, traditional reactors. But companies designing and building new, smaller reactors could move faster with a clearer picture of the radiation protection requirements, he said.

Without ALARA, could radiation doses creep closer to the limits?

The NRC said radiation exposure limits are set well below levels associated with health effects, and it expects remaining standards and industry practices to keep radiation doses far below the limits. There's incentive to do so — it's more expensive and time-consuming to work in areas with higher radiation because access must be restricted and more surveys are required.

The nuclear industry's trade association agrees with the NRC.

“We will always continue to look at what can we do to reduce the dose to workers, and maintain our doses to the off-site public as low as possible,” said Doug True, chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute. “It’s not like we’re just going to throw open the doors and let everything run up to the limits.”

ALARA created a “moving target” for regulation, said Justin Friedman, a nuclear energy consultant who previously spent three decades at the U.S. Department of State. Getting rid of the rule would allow NRC scientists to make more rational decisions about appropriate levels of manageable risk, he added.

Some experts question the wisdom of eliminating ALARA

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, cautions that some parts of the NRC proposal could raise permissible radiation doses in certain cases, while still staying below the cap. Lyman highlighted a proposed revision to radionuclide emissions standards, in particular.

Radiation exposure to the general public is limited to 100 millirem per year. A typical dose of radiation from a chest X-ray is 10 millirem.

The NRC wants to increase its radionuclide emissions standards from a conservative 10 millirem per year dose to 25 millirem per year, based on a hypothetical person living in a house at the property line for a nuclear plant.

The NRC says actual doses to the public would remain far lower because, in reality, people live farther from nuclear sites and benefit from dispersion in air and water.

The NRC should improve, rather than eliminate, ALARA, Lyman said, to protect the public and workers. ALARA has become a political target because some people mistakenly believe radiation exposures have to be as low as possible no matter the cost, Lyman said. In reality, it allows tradeoffs.

Katy Huff, a former U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said in some cases, the requirement may be challenging to regulate. Additional clarity would improve the regulatory environment without harming the public, added Huff, a professor and department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

However, Huff said, she thought the NRC was going to clarify what reasonable means in ALARA without scrapping it. She said she’s open to being convinced the graded approach will be just as effective.

Radiation protection expert says proposal is a mixed bag

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, chartered by Congress to provide independent scientific guidance, has not formally weighed in yet. Council president Kathryn Higley said she personally likes some things in the 180-page document and thinks others are problematic.

The NRC should look at the whole picture for managing risk, she said. For instance, if a worker at a nuclear power plant were to enter an area where airborne radioactive materials are present, in keeping with ALARA, they might wear full personal protective equipment with respirators, said Higley, professor emeritus at Oregon State University. That makes them move slower, potentially subjecting them to heat stress that could hurt them more than a low dose of radioactivity, she said.

A concern with the proposal, Higley said, is that it maintains the current occupational dose limit for adult radiation workers at 5 rem, or 5,000 millirem, per year. With ALARA in place, the average dose to workers has been well below that cap.

The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends an occupational dose of 2 rem per year on average. The NRC previously found it wasn't justified to match that, because workers were exposed to less than that and changing regulations is costly.

Higley said the U.S. may need to align with the international community if ALARA is going away.

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The strikes came as Ukraine’s successful drone attacks have stalled the Russian army’s advances in an expanded campaign inside Russia that has been causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, Kremlin-installed authorities said a Ukrainian drone strike had killed four civilians in the city of Horlivka. According to Ivan Prikhodko, the city’s Russian-appointed mayor, the city had been under fire since the early hours of Sunday.

According to Russia’s defense ministry, Russian forces overnight struck down 133 Ukrainian drones over Russia, the Black Sea and Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russian attacks set fire to tower block near Kyiv's center

Blasts rocked Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday, with falling debris sparking a blaze in a tower block near the historic center, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Elsewhere in the city, falling debris set fire to buildings, cars and car parks, Klitschko added. He said three people had been wounded, with one needing hospital treatment.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his evening address on Friday that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing missiles for a large attack, saying there were indications that this could happen in the next 48 hours.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Sunday that its latest attack on Kyiv had struck sites linked to drone production.

Also Sunday, a drone strike on Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city in the east — killed one person and wounded at least six others, including two children, mayor Igor Terekhov reported.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian glide bomb killed one man and wounded at least six other people, according to mayor Ivan Fedorov.

Both Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia have been frequent targets for Russian attacks, with Zaporizhzhia — just over 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the front line — suffering heavy bombardment in recent months.

The war sees an escalation in tit-for-tat strikes

On Friday, a major Russian strike near Kyiv killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100 others, part of a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb claimed on Sunday that “Ukraine’s position is stronger than ever since the war began".

Following a call with his Ukrainian counterpart — and appearing to allude to Kyiv’s recent drone campaign that has struck major Russian energy sites and sought to choke off military supplies — Stubb wrote on X that “continued support from (Ukraine's) partners is critical to keep up the momentum."

Putin calls on Russia's navy to defend ‘shadow fleet’ tankers

Putin said Western attempts to seize Russia-linked oil tankers amounted to “piracy,” and called on the Russian Navy to fight them.

“We must act carefully in line with international maritime law but decisively — just as we must fight piracy and pirates," Putin said Sunday during a speech marking Russia's annual Navy Day.

Moscow is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships, many of them sailing under third-country flags, to ship oil in violation of international sanctions that followed its war on Ukraine.

Last month, armed British forces boarded and detained a sanctioned tanker suspected of being part of this so-called “shadow fleet.” French authorities have also intercepted some of these vessels.

Russia has traditionally marked Navy Day with a major naval parade in and near the city of St. Petersburg, with Putin personally reviewing warships.

This year was the second time in a row the parade had been called off entirely while in 2024, it was scaled down.

A British intelligence update published earlier this month linked the cancellations to “force protection” concerns, citing a successful Ukrainian attack on Jun. 3 against a Russian warship docked near St. Petersburg.

Romania shoots down another suspected Russian drone

Romania intercepted a suspected Russian drone in its airspace on Sunday, Romanian President Nicușor Dan said — the third such incursion in three days above the Eastern European nation that borders Ukraine and is a member of both NATO and the European Union.

Dan called the incidents “inadmissible and intolerable" in a post on X and added that authorities found one of the earlier downed drones appears to be “a Shahed type, used by the Russian Federation in the war of aggression against Ukraine.”

NATO said two Romanian F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Fetești airbase, under NATO's operational command, in the morning hours and downed the drone over the Black Sea.

A series of drone incursions by Russia and Ukraine have hit Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

___

Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

Around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, the department was dispatched to FM 481 at the Nueces River for reports of a person who had gone underwater and did not resurface.

The UVFD Rescue Boat team and air support began an extensive search of the river.

UVFD said the person was later located downstream, and “the rescue operation transitioned into a recovery effort.”

The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case.

Read also:

• ‘I’ve never ever seen that kind of water’: Uvalde residents begin cleanup after historic flooding

A spokesperson for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed an ongoing investigation into the incident but declined to provide additional details Sunday.

The video appears to show a person throwing kicks at the sea lion at La Jolla Cove in San Diego as at least one other person can be heard laughing in the background. The person follows the sea lion, throwing more kicks at the animal as it tries to scoot away before the video ends.

“NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement is investigating reports of a video on social media that shows an interaction between an individual and sea lion, allegedly in La Jolla Cove,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “In the video, the individual appears to be kicking the sea lion. This is an ongoing investigation, and we cannot provide further details at this time.”

The person in the video has not been publicly identified.

Sea lions are federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s guidelines say that people should stay at least 50 feet (15 meters) away from sea lions, seals and other species protected by the act.

“This disgusting act of animal cruelty is unacceptable,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a post on X. He acknowledged the federal investigation and said he has directed local law enforcement to review the footage.

Here are some storylines as the Boys invade Oxnard.

New DC in Big D

Perhaps the biggest move this offseason was hiring Christian Parker from the Philadelphia Eagles to serve as defensive coordinator.

Dallas needed a change after last season’s horrendous showing on that side of the ball — one of the worst in franchise history.

Enter the 34-year-old first-time defensive coordinator, tasked with leading the charge.

Schottenheimer called Parker a “superstar.” Parker spent the past two seasons as the Eagles passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach.

He was on the coaching staff that won Super Bowl LIX. Early feedback shows the team is buying in and enjoying his 3-4 scheme, and fans who attend camp will get a first look at Parker’s defense.

Shutdown safety in the making

With an eye on making the defense stout, Dallas traded up to draft former Ohio State defensive back Caleb Downs 11th overall in April. Ever since joining the Cowboys at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Downs has done nothing but impress, drawing praise for his work ethic and football IQ.

Downs has been taking starting reps since OTAs and is expected to be a Day 1 starter. Parker is known for developing some of the game’s best young defensive backs and plans to utilize Downs’ versatility across the secondary.

Green dot for Overshown

Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown is a force when healthy. The fourth-year backer had a healthy offseason and is ready to thrive under Parker.

Overshown has earned the “green dot,” meaning he is the quarterback of the defense — permitted to receive radio communications from the coaching staff and relay play calls to the rest of the unit.

Overshown is a talented player who will make the Cowboys’ defense better if he can stay on the field. He has played just 19 games in three seasons due to knee injuries.

One thing is certain: Few players bring a better outlook on life to the game than Overshown.

Defense wins championships

A vast majority of Super Bowl champions have been highly balanced teams. The 2025 Dallas Cowboys were far from that — great offense, horrible defense. That’s why five of the Cowboys’ seven 2026 draft picks play defense.

Malachi Lawrence (EDGE) was drafted out of UCF in the first round to bolster the pass rush. Jaishawn Barham (linebacker) was selected in the third round out of Michigan for much-needed linebacker depth. The Cowboys also added Rashan Gary (EDGE) via trade with the Green Bay Packers and Dee Winters (linebacker) via trade with the San Francisco 49ers.

Dallas was aggressive in free agency, signing defensive backs Jalen Thompson, Cobie Durant, P.J. Locke and Derion Kendrick, along with defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard.

The Cowboys have overhauled the defense, and training camp will begin to show whether the moves will pay off.

Pressure on Pickens

Acquired in that big blockbuster trade last offseason, George Pickens has wasted no time proving he’s a legit star alongside CeeDee Lamb. Those two have been the anchors of one of the league’s most explosive offenses all through 2025.

Now heading into 2026, with Dallas fighting to claw back into the playoff picture, Pickens is under the microscope as the only player in the NFL currently playing on the franchise tag.

That tag puts real pressure on him — and leaves his future with the Cowboys beyond this season pretty uncertain.

Continuing offensive excellence

The Cowboys’ offense has remained a bright spot even through some leaner seasons, and now it’s primed for another leap.

With a full season already under his belt — one that was legitimately exceptional — Schottenheimer returns all 11 offensive starters and brings deep schematic continuity into 2026.

Dak Prescott heads into camp healthy, locked in and motivated, surrounded by a loaded arsenal: CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens on the outside, plus reliable tight end Jake Ferguson in the middle of the field, and a strong running back room ready to complement the passing attack.

OL continuity and young talent

The Cowboys’ offensive line continues to be the bedrock of the whole operation.

They’re bringing back strong continuity with proven veterans like Tyler Smith, Terence Steele, and Cooper Beebe, while young standouts Tyler Guyton and Tyler Booker are ready to step into even bigger roles.

That mix of experience and rising talent should help them protect Prescott at a high level and create consistent lanes for the running game.

Schottenheimer has made it clear he wants to win in the trenches, so training camp battles and joint practices will be telling.

If this front five gels like it’s capable of, Dallas could once again boast one of the league’s better offensive lines and set a physical tone up front all season long.

Ferguson’s expanded role

Jake Ferguson has developed into a true security blanket and red-zone weapon for Prescott.

Under Schottenheimer’s creative offense, expect Ferguson to be used more as a versatile move-piece — aligning in different spots to create mismatches and exploit defenses across the formation. Training camp will reveal exactly how Dallas plans to feature him.

The Dallas Cowboys are scheduled to open training camp in Oxnard, California. Here are the key dates:

• Monday, July 27: Team charter arrives in Oxnard
• Tuesday, July 28: Opening press conference
• Wednesday, July 29: First practice
• Saturday, Aug. 1: Opening ceremony
• Monday, Aug. 3: First padded practice
• Tuesday, Aug. 11: Joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams

KSAT 12 Sports will have full coverage of all events. Our on-site reporting from California begins Monday when the Cowboys arrive in Oxnard.

Stay locked in on KSAT 12, KSAT Plus and KSAT.com for the latest updates, videos and analysis throughout camp.

Read also:

• NFL announces Cowboys & Texans’ 2026 season schedule

The defending champion was on pole but lost the lead to his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri when he ran wide at the second corner.

Norris got the lead back after Piastri was delayed by a collision with Carlos Sainz Jr. while lapping the Williams driver, allowing Norris to come out of the pits ahead of his teammate. He cruised to the win from there.

“Car was unbelievable today, well done guys, incredible. We were flying," Norris said. “Nice to be finally able to do it all for you. Feels like it’s been a while."

Piastri then stopped with a broken gearbox, paving the way for Max Verstappen to take second, with Kimi Antonelli third.

Antonelli gets another boost in the title fight

Even with Mercedes largely off the pace for once and a three-place grid penalty in qualifying, Antonelli recovered from seventh to take his ninth podium finish in 11 races and make a statement to his title rivals.

Antonelli increased his standings lead to 50 points over Lewis Hamilton, who was fifth after a penalty for speeding in the pits. George Russell was barely a factor as he drove through the field to seventh after a near-stall at the start dropped him to the back. He drops 59 points behind his Mercedes teammate Antonelli.

Norris hadn't won a full Grand Prix race since Sao Paulo in November, though he did win a sprint in Miami in May.

Hungary was the last race before the mid-season break. The next race is the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 23.

Lewis Hamilton left to rue yet another penalty

“Sometimes you just can’t catch a break,” Hamilton had written on Instagram on Saturday. He discussed how his three-place penalty in qualifying — Hamilton’s third penalty in three race weekends — made it “difficult to hang on to that positivity”.

A fourth penalty won’t have helped, and nor will yet another Ferrari strategy blunder.

When Piastri’s breakdown at the side of the road brought a virtual safety car slowdown, Ferrari decided it was worth calling in Hamilton for fresh tires.

Unfortunately for the seven-time champion, he left the pit lane to see Antonelli approaching fast. In what appeared to be a rush to keep the Mercedes driver at bay, Hamilton broke the pit lane speed limit.

Hamilton ended up being asked to give the place back to Antonelli and was then given a five-second penalty that dropped him behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the final standings.

“Handing out penalties like crazy,” he told Ferrari over the radio.

Isack Hadjar took sixth after a tactical race holding up drivers who threatened his Red Bull teammate Verstappen, with Russell seventh. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls ahead of Audi's Nico Hulkenberg in ninth and Lawson's teammate Arvid Lindblad 10th.

___

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

The UNESCO committee, which meets in Busan through Wednesday, also inscribed the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara and South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape, host to one of the world’s largest land mammal migrations and the country’s first addition to the World Heritage List.

The French designation covers the five Normandy landing beaches — Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno — where more than 150,000 Allied troops came ashore on June 6, 1944, along with the Pointe du Hoc assault site, all central to the campaign to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II.

International Council on Monuments and Sites, which evaluates submissions to the heritage committee, said the sites contain extensive remnants, from German fortifications and bomb-scarred landscapes to Allied harbor structures and sunken vessels, marking an “event widely perceived as having enabled the return of freedom and heralded a lasting peace on the European continent.”

ICOMOS also called for stronger monitoring and preservation efforts on the sites, citing potential threats posed by tourism, climate change and rising sea levels, and the development of wind farms near the areas.

Ahlem Gharbi, France’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, said the Normandy landings marked a turning point from global conflict toward a postwar order built on peace and security, and that the designation of the sites carries added significance at a time of escalating international crises and wars.

“It’s probably the greatest amphibious landing there’s ever been. It ought to be remembered for that alone,” historian David Edgerton said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The World Heritage inscription of Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the 12 Olympian gods, rewarded a 12-year effort by Greece to secure recognition for its tallest mountain as a mixed cultural and natural heritage site. Rising 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from a base near sea level, the mountain was believed to be the throne of Zeus, king of the gods, while also harboring rich biodiversity.

Evangelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus, a municipality at the foot of the mountain, said in a recent interview with the AP that inclusion on the World Heritage List “places greater obligations on our part to protect this environment,” citing the potential impact of increased tourism.

“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to safeguarding Mount Olympus for the benefit of present and future generations,” said Georgios Koumoutsakos, Greece’s delegate to UNESCO. “As Greek mythology wisely reminds us, it is always best to remain on good terms with gods.”

The designated Japanese locations in the western prefecture of Nara cover 19 archaeological sites from the 6th- to 8th-century capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, where Japan established its first centralized state modeled after Chinese systems. The sites preserve the largely buried remains of royal palaces, government offices, Buddhist temples and tombs from capitals that influenced the later capitals of Nara and Kyoto.

Japanese Vice Culture Minister Shigeki Kobayashi thanked the committee for inscribing the Asuka-Fujiwara sites and said Japan reaffirms its commitment to “transmitting this valuable property to the future generations.” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a Nara native, wrote on X that she hopes the World Heritage designation will boost tourism to the site.

Yoshiyuki Aihara, a Nara University archaeology professor, told AP the sites are significant because they show how Japan’s ancient state was formed through influences from China and the Korean Peninsula.

“If you dig underneath these rice paddies about 1 meter, you start finding a stretch of ruins in this area, though that’s not easy for ordinary visitors to understand,” said Aihara, who is continuing excavation work at the site.

South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo site encompasses vast wetlands, flood plains and savannas shaped by seasonal rainfall and flood dynamics, with an estimated 6 million white-eared kob, tiang and Mongalla gazelles moving across the landscape in response to changing environmental conditions.

It also provides habitat for elephants, lions, cheetahs and other wildlife while supporting various ethnic communities that have lived by herding, farming and fishing for centuries, according to UNESCO.

—— AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed from Tokyo.

“We’re standing here saying, send back that descendant, send her back to the place that enslaved people built,” Bush said. “This is our moment.” The crowd chanted “send her back.”

A progressive firebrand who started her political career as a Black Lives Matter organizer in Ferguson, Bush served two terms before losing a primary challenge to Wesley Bell, a moderate local prosecutor.

They're now locked in an intense rematch that will serve as one of the clearest referendums on Democrats' shifting political landscape, including anger at the party establishment, rising skepticism of the U.S. alliance with Israel and the growing clout of democratic socialists.

Both candidates are Black, with political careers rooted in the modern civil rights movement that began with the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014. But they've taken divergent paths since then, and the race will test whether voters want to reelect Bell, who has fashioned himself as a pragmatist, or return to Bush, who views legislating and activism and inseparable.

Bush lost to Bell by less than six points two years ago. She blamed her loss on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's spending in the race and told supporters that “all they did was radicalize me.” This time, her scathing criticisms of the war in Gaza and Democratic leaders have become more commonplace within the party, and she claims to have the “moral authority” in the rematch.

“It’s not that they’re necessarily scared of me. They’re scared of what comes with me. They’re scared of y’all,” Bush told an audience of pro-Palestinian activists, Black Lives Matter organizers and democratic socialists who had traveled from across the country to canvass for her in the summer heat. Some held portable fans or poured water on themselves to cool off as they listened to hours of speeches by Bush’s allies near St. Louis’ landmark Gateway Arch.

While Bush was in the park, Bell met with senior citizens at a historic Black church. He has dismissed Bush's attacks by arguing that he has been a more effective lawmaker, and he rallied with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday night, a sign of support from the Democratic establishment.

“She’s not a serious candidate,” Bell said in an interview. “In this election, the choices are clear. I wake up every day working for St. Louis, and the folks in St. Louis know that I’m going to wake up working for them. And then we’ve got an opponent, Cori, who wakes up thinking about Cori. And we’ve seen it over and over. And that’s why she was fired.”

A personally bitter rematch with national stakes

Early voting for the Aug. 4 primary began Tuesday, but the two candidates have been trading recriminations for months. They accuse each other of misconduct and impropriety.

Bush criticizes Bell over a lawsuit he's facing from protestors who allege they were assaulted at his town hall last year, and a settlement over employment discrimination claims made by someone who worked in Bell's office when he was a prosecutor.

Bell highlights a previous Justice Department investigation into Bush's campaign spending, including how she paid her husband as part of her security detail.

Both candidates deny any wrongdoing.

AIPAC's role has also drawn national attention to the district at a time when the organization, which advocates for a closer U.S.-Israeli relationship, has been a lightning rod within the Democratic Party.

“Cori is the knockout blow to AIPAC,” said former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a close ally of Bush who was also defeated in 2024 by an AIPAC-backed primary challenger in a redrawn New York congressional district. Ahead of the recent rally, Bowman recorded a social media video last weekend calling on progressives “from New York to California” to help mobilize voters during early voting.

Deepening hostility toward Israel has spurred concern about antisemitism among some moderate Democrats and Jewish Americans, who believe anti-Israel rhetoric too often bleeds into prejudice. Bush's recent event included some Jewish faith leaders who share her criticism of Israel, as well as others who echoed hateful tropes.

One former union leader, Jay Ozier, condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war monger," condemned the “Israel lobby buying elections” and declared that "we need a representative who is willing to turn over the tables of the money changers.”

The crowd, including Bush, applauded the remarks, and Ozier later defended by noting it was a biblical reference to Jesus chasing merchants out of the Jerusalem Temple.

Bush declined to directly address the comment about “money changers.”

“We condemn anti-Semitism. We condemn anti-Muslim hate, behavior and rhetoric at every chance we get," Bush said in an interview. "But will Wesley Bell call out those who won’t stand against anti-Muslim sentiment, even in our own community? Will he stand up and fight for the liberation of the Palestinian people?”

AIPAC has spent more than $1.2 million against Bush this year through United Democracy Project, its political action committee, about the same as the group spent opposing her in 2024. New Democrat Majority, which backs moderate House Democrats, has spent an additional $1 million against Bush.

“She was a terrible, ineffective member of Congress who didn’t deliver for St. Louis. We were happy to see her go,” said Patrick Dorton, spokesperson for United Democracy Project.

Bell has emphasized his positions on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, and he has defended his support of military funding for Israel.

“I think it’s important that we stand with our allies, and there’s going to be times when we disagree and we work those out,” Bell said. “But what we’ve learned in Iraq, what we learned in Afghanistan, is that we can’t do it alone. We need our allies and we also need to be transparent with the American people.”

District's activist history is shaping campaign

Many residents said their vote would hinge on how candidates had managed issues like procuring recovery funds for a tornado that devastated the St. Louis metropolitan area last year. There was also pervasive discomfort with the role of money in the race.

Allison Johnson said that she and her husband were divided over who to back in the Democratic primary. Her husband was more moderate and liked Bell’s performance in office, but she was concerned about how AIPAC had “dumped” money into the district.

“It doesn’t seem like it should be big money should be influencing this race,” she said.

The primary is also dispiriting for some longtime residents, who watched both Bush and Bell rise as figures in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Bell was elected to the Ferguson city council and later prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County.

“He’s the best person for the job. When he was on council, he and I worked together to get the police reform done,” said Ella Jones, the former mayor of Ferguson and first Black person to hold the role in the city's history.

Bush was a pastor turned activist and triage nurse in the wake of the 2014 Ferguson protests. She won her House seat on a promise to bring her maverick persona into the halls of Congress.

“I like Cori, I think she is the best choice and has a clear commitment to St. Louis," said DeRay McKesson, an activist who gained notoriety as a lead organizer during the 2014 protests in Ferguson. “She’s not afraid to challenge power.”

Chinese weather authorities expected parts of southern Guangdong and southeastern Fujian provinces to experience heavy rain. More than 801,000 people had been relocated for safety in the province of Guangdong as of Sunday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

In the financial hub of Hong Kong, the city’s airport authority said around 350 flights were canceled Sunday and about 2,000 passengers were stranded at the airport over the weekend. At least 21 people were injured across the city during the typhoon period, according to Hong Kong authorities.

China’s Ministry of Water Resources upgraded its flood-control emergency response, including for Guangdong, over high risks of mountain floods, Xinhua reported.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission said it allocated 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) to support recovery efforts in the typhoon-hit Guangdong province.

Noul was the third typhoon to hit China and make landfall within a month, after Bavi and Maysak. Chinese state media said Noul is the strongest to make landfall in China so far this year.

Earlier, in the Philippines, at least three people died and many others were displaced due to flooding and rain as Noul moved across, the government’s disaster-response agency said. Noul also brought heavy rain to some parts of Taiwan as it passed south of the island without making landfall.

Separately, in northwestern China, at least 10 people died and 23 were injured in a flash flood on Sunday in the province of Gansu, according to a Xinhua report. The flash flood, triggered by a period of sudden heavy rainfall, hit a scenic area in the province's Weiyuan county in the afternoon and trapped some tourists who were camping.

Search-and-rescue operations were still underway, Xinhua said.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A major hurricane is Category 3 or higher.

Genevieve's center was located about 500 miles (810 kilometers) south-southwest of Manzanillo, and it was headed west-northwest at 17 mph (28 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center said swells from the storm — likely causing “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” — were affecting parts of Mexico's southwestern coast on the weekend and would likely hit southern parts of the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday night or Monday.

Farther west in the Pacific, meanwhile, Hurricane Fausto weakened to a Category 1 storm as it continued on a projected path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands.

Forecasters said it was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming days, but warned that it could still generate dangerous surf and said “interests in the Hawaiian Islands should monitor” its progress.

Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph); was located about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of Hilo; and was moving west at 13 mph (20 kph).

But it remains to be seen whether the U.S. and Iran are at an inflection point in a mercurial conflict that will reach the five-month point Tuesday. President Donald Trump both has threatened more strikes and said talks are pressing on, all while brushing off concerns that rising gas prices tied to the fighting could hurt Republicans in November's midterm elections.

Adding to the uncertainty is the impact of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit with Trump next week in Washington. Israel, which launched the war alongside the U.S. on Feb. 28, has been notably absent from the renewed American attacks over Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows.

“The Iranians understand that perhaps it could get worse because Israel could come into the conflict,” said Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. On the other hand, Israel's lack of involvement so far “may signal to the Iranians that we’re looking to limit the conflict.”

Singh, who was senior Middle East director on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration, said he was hesitant to read too much into the lull in fighting.

“If it turns into a multiday pause, that’ll be something significant,” he said. “But it’s hard to know. Is it an operational pause? Is it a pause to allow for some kind of behind-the-scenes diplomacy?"

Mediators keep pressing their diplomatic efforts

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said that concerted diplomacy was underway and that a pause in U.S. strikes and Iranian counterstrikes on neighboring countries hosting American forces was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”

The official said that both the U.S. and Iran want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that a compromise, which is being negotiated now, centers around having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed that Iran and Oman had held several rounds of technical talks about the strait in Iran over the weekend. He said that while the Omani delegation left Tehran on Saturday afternoon, talks had made progress and were continuing.

Iran put a chokehold on the narrow Persian Gulf waterway when the war began by firing on tankers and freighters. In turn, oil prices have soared during the conflict, which has been unpopular with many Americans, and could leave some Republican lawmakers vulnerable in November.

Following the signing of an interim ceasefire deal in June, a battle for control over the strait has erupted. Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.

The U.S. renewed attacks on Iran’s coastal defenses, aiming to blunt Tehran’s ability to strike ships in the strait. The Trump administration then expanded its targets, hitting bridges and infrastructure in the south and striking deeper into the center of Iran.

Singh said the strikes appear to be an attempt to push Iran back to the negotiating table. Now, he said, "the question would be: What kind of messages, if any, is the Iranian regime sending through diplomatic channels? Have those messages changed? Do they seem more eager to return to talks?”

Among the challenges the U.S. faces is the fractured leadership in Iran, with different factions vying for control, Singh said, something that Trump administration officials have also pointed to. The people in charge in Iran may worry that compromising with the U.S. will be seen as weakness and could loosen their grip on power.

Whatever the case, both the U.S. and Iran need the strait to reopen for their own economic reasons.

“But they have very different conceptions of under what conditions, under whose control,” Singh said. “So we have to get to some kind of stable equilibrium on those questions before you’re going to see a longer period of quiet. I think this effort to negotiate with words and also to negotiate with force is going to continue until we reach that equilibrium.”

Trump issues threats but also talks up diplomacy

Despite the lull in fighting, tensions are high in the region.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Saturday that they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida. The Iran-backed rebels say they have closed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which has become even more vital for Saudi oil exports since the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military also is enforcing its naval blockade of Iranian ports, saying it disabled a Mozambique-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman on Friday after the vessel tried to violate the blockade and ignored warnings.

Trump also has kept up the threats against Iran even as he spotlighted diplomacy. Asked about his exit strategy Friday, Trump said there are two ways.

“You can just keep doing exactly what we’re doing and take them apart piece by piece. We could do it in a more rapid fashion, which we might do,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “Or we can negotiate with them, which we’re also doing right now.”

While Trump said he doesn’t think Iran is “ready yet” to make a deal, he also asserted that “I think they’re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason.”

Trump met Friday with top national security aides to discuss the situation with Iran and whether the administration should maintain the current course or escalate military attacks, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. No U.S. strikes occurred overnight in Iran after 13 consecutive nights.

Trump insisted Friday that he was “not in a hurry” to wrap things up because of the approaching elections, in which voters, angry about high food and gasoline prices, could vote his Republican Party out of control of Congress.

“Despite what everyone says about the election, I’m not in a hurry,” he said. “We have to do it right. Elections take care of themselves.”

____

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

Berlin police said they have identified a suspect who has not been arrested and he has ties to Islamic groups in the German capital.

“The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” said police spokesman Florian Nath. He did not identify the suspect by name.

Nath added that “we still have no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself.”

Earlier, police said some of the victims had life-threatening injuries. In a post on X, police called on everyone to leave the site of the event immediately as ambulances and firefighters attended to the victims.

White van hit people in Tiergarten park

According to police, a white van had driven into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m., which is next to the route that the pride march had passed along earlier, and hit several people before colliding with a tree. Police could not say how many officers had been deployed to the scene but that it was “definitely a lot of police.”

Overall, more than 2,200 police officers have been on duty in Berlin since Saturday morning to protect the pride parade and other LGBTQ+ events in the city.

Police were conducting witness interrogations at the park during the night and were investigating accounts that in addition to the crash some victims appeared to have suffered stab wounds — but that it was too early to draw any conclusion from those accounts.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock, saying that “following a peaceful and vibrant pride parade, the rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal manner.”

“This is an attack on our free and cosmopolitan society,” Wegner said. “I have confidence in the police and security authorities, who will be working around the clock to investigate.”

Meanwhile, authorities called on possible witnesses to come forward and share with police any video or photos they might have taken at the scene of the attack.

The city also activated a crisis hotline for people missing friends or family members.

Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin on Saturday to celebrate at Berlin’s pride parade, known in Germany as Christopher Street Day. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

Iconic pride event called off

The pride event in front of the city’s Brandenburg Gate, near Tiergarten, was called off around 10:15 p.m. and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park.

Before the incident, people had celebrated peacefully, marching through the city for hours, dancing to loud music, and cheering around 80 floats that participated in the parade.

Julian Miethig, who had attended the LGBTQ+ party at the Brandenburg Gate earlier, said he had just wanted to go to an afterparty when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”

He said he went to Tiergarten and was shocked that something like this could have happened at Berlin’s pride celebrations.

“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.

It was quite the All-Star party in the league's 30th season.

Jones had 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, helping Caitlin Clark and Team Spoon outlast Marina Mabrey and Team Coop 129-122 in the WNBA All-Star Game.

Playing with a heavy heart after the death of an aunt, Jones was named MVP. The 32-year-old New York Liberty center became the first player to win the league, WNBA Finals, Commissioner's Cup and All-Star MVP awards.

“No matter what mood I'm in, basketball can pick me back up,” Jones said, “and so just leaning into that.”

Malonga had a first-half dunk for Team Coop, but Team Spoon had eight players score in double figures in an All-Star Game that featured 127 3-point attempts and very little defense. Allisha Gray had 19 points for Team Spoon, and Clark finished with 17.

It was the first WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago since 2022. This time, the marquee event was played in front of a record crowd of 19,783 at the United Center instead of the smaller Wintrust Arena in downtown Chicago.

“To be able to have tonight, have 19,000 people in the highest attendance ever in the All-Star Game just really shows that our league is growing and people want to be around us and want to be a part of this and understand how special it is,” Jones said.

Ogwumike scored 11 points for Team Spoon while passing Maya Moore (119) for the most career points in All-Star Game history.

Kelsey Mitchell had 28 points for Team Coop, and Mabrey scored all of her 23 points during a red-hot first half. The 20-year-old Malonga finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

“I got to see a few go down early,” said Mabrey, who matched the WNBA scoring record when she had 53 points for Toronto in a win over Los Angeles on June 25. “That's kind of like my thing. Get them up when they're going in.”

WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon drafted the All-Star teams from players that were either voted as starters by fans, media and fellow players or chosen as reserves by the league’s coaches. Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon coached Cooper’s team, and Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve was in charge of Weatherspoon’s squad.

Clark went 5 for 15 from beyond the arc and had five assists in her return to the All-Star game. The Indiana Fever guard missed last year’s event in Indianapolis because of a groin injury.

“Last year really stunk being in our home city, you never want to miss that for the fans," Clark said. "I love to show up and compete.”

The 24-year-old Clark came out firing, connecting from 33 feet and 37 feet on her way to 11 points in the first 2 1/2 minutes. She buried another 3 early in the second quarter off a slick no-look pass from Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles, the only rookie selected for the game.

Clark and Mabrey each put on an offensive show, but Malonga got the biggest cheer of the night. The 6-foot-6 center from the Seattle Storm ran down the lane, got a pass from Angel Reese and threw down a right-handed jam with 6:24 left in the first half.

Reese jumped up and down as Malonga finished the play, and the two exchanged a mid-air chest bump on their way back down the court.

“The way she makes it look easy, the excitement around it," said Paige Bueckers, who scored 12 points for Team Coop. "I love Dom ... really happy for her in just how easy she makes it look.”

It was the first dunk in a WNBA All-Star Game since Sylvia Fowles in 2022. Lisa Leslie (2005), Jones (2017), Brittney Griner (2019) also have accomplished the feat.

Leslie was on hand for the festivities, along with South Carolina coach and former WNBA guard Dawn Staley. Former NBA star Dwyane Wade also was courtside.

___

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

San Francisco-based Raffi Krikorian, the chief technology officer at Mozilla, which runs the Firefox browser, switched to Chinese AI startup Moonshot’s Kimi K3 for many of his day-to-day activities within days of the new, powerful model’s launch more than a week ago.

“It just seems snappier,” he said of K3, comparing it to the acclaimed and more expensive Claude Fable chatbot from San Francisco company Anthropic. Earlier, he had been using another high-performing Chinese model, Z.ai's GLM-5.2, for routine tasks such as managing his calendar, documents and email.

Krikorian is one of a growing number of Americans adopting Chinese AI systems, which are gaining ground around the world because they are more affordable and increasingly efficient. U.S. companies like cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said they're switching to Chinese AI models to help trim costs.

Their popularity has frustrated some U.S. tech giants, but short of an outright ban, they're likely to continue to appeal to independent software developers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

American-led restrictions block China from accessing some of the world’s most advanced technologies including cutting-edge AI chips and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned more sanctions could be coming to protect American intellectual property.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday accused Moonshot of using “covert” but not necessarily illegal methods to build K3 off the back of Anthropic's Fable. Some U.S. politicians and AI companies including Anthropic have accused Chinese startups of illicit “distillation” of their models to extract their technologies, a claim that Beijing rejects as “groundless.”

China's AI models are cheaper and 'good enough’

The rapid rise of cutting-edge Chinese AI models this year shows the China-U.S. race in AI has moved on from early last year, when Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the U.S. technology industry and put China on the map with an AI model that performed on par with those in the U.S. but much more cheaply.

The latest AI models launched by startups Z.ai, or Zhipu, in June, and Moonshot in July are nearly as intelligent as the frontier models from OpenAI and Anthropic, experts say. Also in July, China’s Alibaba previewed its Qwen3.8 Max AI model. In April, DeepSeek rolled out previews of its latest V4 model, challenging OpenAI’s GPT and Google’s Gemini.

Those constant advances are bearing fruit. Curt Meinhold, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based technology executive, said he increasingly prefers to use DeepSeek for tasks such as finding business leads or ways to generate sales.

“At the end of the day, most of us, the vast majority of us, 90 plus percent, don’t need (Anthropic's) Mythos or Fable,” said Meinhold, who founded digital legacy platform LilyList. “Like, we just don’t need it, we need something good enough.”

Chinese AI models are reaching a “critical stage” for wide adoption, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs wrote in a July research report, especially when a surge of global “agentic” AI usage, which requires the AI models to autonomously conduct multistep, complex tasks, is driving higher demand for cost effective AI models.

AI prices are calculated per million tokens for both input and output, so the use of AI “agents” is dramatically compounding cost differences, according to analysts including Alex Colville of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“The Chinese models, you know, I find them to be pretty close on code and research,” said Meinhold. “If I can pay a handful of cents per million output tokens versus 30 bucks or 40 bucks or 50 bucks, then it’s good enough.”

Moonshot's Kimi K3 leads, but Chinese AI models have limits

Based on data over the past month, the top five most popular models on OpenRouter, a platform that tracks data across AI models, were Chinese.

Estimates from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm, showed Kimi had more than 930,000 downloads during the week after K3's July release, an increase of 200% from the week before. In the U.S. it was downloaded around 86,000 times, a 387% jump.

K3 proved so popular that Moonshot had to temporarily suspend new subscriptions after overwhelming demand pushed its capacity close to its limits.

Still, while Chinese models are becoming serious competitors to the U.S., they lag American AI leaders across their overall, full-range capabilities, said Anastasios Angelopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Arena, a platform for evaluating AI systems.

And U.S. AI firms are also looking for more options to reduce pricing, such as with cheaper alternatives of competitive models, added Yasir Atalan, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

US policy could boost Chinese AI models

Most Chinese AI models are open-source — meaning anyone can examine and build on them — at a time when frontier models from U.S. companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are closed-source.

Chinese model vendors are expected to leverage open-source software to promote their global usage and adoption, said Lian Jye Su, of the technology research and advisory group Omdia.

As Chinese open-source models are increasingly almost as good as closed systems made by leading U.S. companies, said Mozilla’s Krikorian, “the open frontier is becoming increasingly Chinese-built.” While the U.S. weighs restricting Chinese AI models, a group of American tech firms including Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia signed an open letter published Friday backing “open” AI models.

Other U.S. tech policies also at times give China an upper hand, some experts say. China’s Z.ai released its GLM-5.2 model in mid-June, not long after the Trump administration put export controls on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models, keeping them offline for more than two weeks.

"Restricting an American model can immediately create an opening for a Chinese competitor,” said Arena's Angelopoulos.

Chinese AI models look to expand globally

In China, people and businesses have rapidly embraced AI technologies that have prospered with state support. Chinese tech companies like Huawei and Tencent are also embedding AI in devices such as smartphones, AI glasses and humanoid robots.

Now China is increasingly looking to dominate AI abroad, too. At a flagship technology summit in Shanghai, Chinese President Xi Jinping championed open-source AI models and the importance of promoting greater global equity, while pledging Chinese involvement in raising AI capabilities especially in developing nations.

As is true for many other industries in China, intense competition at home is driving companies to expand globally. Leading Chinese AI startups are now raising more funding to support that effort, including through public share offerings.

Both China and the U.S. will want to “encourage widespread adoption of their AI ecosystems, while safeguarding technologies that could materially strengthen strategic rivals,” said Chelsey Tam, with investment research firm Morningstar.

“The competition is no longer simply the United States against China; the Chinese labs are also putting a lot of pressure on one another,” Angelopoulos said.

But as is the case in the U.S., huge investments in AI have also raised concerns over sustainability of these Chinese startups. Z.ai, for example, reported its revenue surged 132% to 724 million yuan ($107 million) last year, but net loss jumped 60% to 4.7 billion yuan ($694 million).

For now, Chinese AI models will likely continue to march ahead including in the U.S. “I would highly recommend anyone doing any serious AI load to at least evaluate it,” said Krikorian.

___

O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in Toronto contributed to this report.

• WEEKEND: Sunny, hot, and dry with highs in the mid to upper 90s
• NEXT WEEK: Mostly sunny, rain-free, and back near 100°
• HEAT INDEX: Feels like 100°–106° during the afternoons
• NUECES & FRIO RIVERS: Flooding continues near Cotulla, Tilden & downstream along the Nueces River

FORECAST

THIS WEEKEND

Expect a hot, dry weekend across South-Central Texas. High pressure will bring sunny skies and highs climbing into the mid and upper 90s. Heat index values will reach 107+°, so stay hydrated outdoors.

BACK TO TRIPLE DIGITS

Expect a return to typical late July heat next week as a high pressure system strengthens. Afternoon highs will reach or exceed 100° by mid week. While heat index values will remain high, conditions currently track just below advisory levels. Expect sunny, dry weather through at least Friday.

RIVER FLOODING

Flooding continues along the Nueces and Frio Rivers as runoff moves toward Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi.

• The Nueces River at Asherton is receding but remains in minor flood stage.
• Major flooding from the Nueces River continues in Cotulla through the start of next week.
• The Frio River in Tilden is declining into the action stage, while the Nueces River near Tilden is expected to reach the Major flooding stage on Sunday.

Please continue monitoring river heights and forecasts.

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 program was funded through a dedicated one-eighth-cent sales tax that was approved by voters which provides education, job training and career placement services to residents pursuing high-demand jobs.

But with the city facing a $158 million budget deficit going into fiscal year 2028, Jones said waiting to act is not an option, and city leadership must look at cuts and possibly raising taxes to address the city’s money issue.

She addressed that possibility back on June 30 during an interview on KSAT’s Q&A.

>> KSAT Q&A: Mayor Jones talks potential city budget cuts, raising property taxes amid $158M budget gap

“We’re not only looking at raising property taxes once but potentially twice to close the budget gap but raise the bond capacity,” Jones said.

While raising taxes is not on the table yet, the mayor did stress during that appearance that cuts have to be made.

The Ready to Work program is just one of several potential cuts being eyed by the mayor.

Fifteen nonprofits that regularly receive funding from the city’s budget could potentially be impacted. But it appears the mayor is looking for a new source of funding for these groups.

On her Instagram account, the mayor posted a letter dated July 24 addressed to businesses, foundations and philanthropists.

In it, Jones asked recipients if they will consider funding any of the nonprofits listed in the letter for three years and provide funds that match or even exceed the amount they received from the city in 2026.

The request is something she spoke during the June 30 KSAT Q&A.

“I think it’s fair to ask corporations, philanthropy, foundations that have the sources,” the mayor said. “Who is best to pay for those things? Who is best? Who can actually pay for these things?”

Based on the numbers provided in the mayor’s letter, the city contributed $6.5 million from the current budget to those listed organizations.

Below are the listed organizations and the monetary contributions they received from the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget:

• Avenida Guadalupe Association, $142,000
• BioMed SA, $100,000
• Diez y Seis de Septiembre Commission, $40,000.
• DreamVoice, LLC (Produces DreamWeek), $175,000
• LiftFund, $500,000
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation, $250,000
• San Antonio Book Festival, $150,000 (also receives $97,725 in Hotel Occupancy Tax)
• San Antonio Botanical Garden, $1,080,000
• San Antonio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, $300,000. (Organizes MLK March)
• San Antonio Education Partnership Scholarship & Outreach Program, $2,477,814
• San Antonio Parks Foundation, $125,000
• SAWS, Plumbers to People and Laterals to People Programs, $750,000
• Siclóvia, $80,000
• Supply SA, $200,000
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Hiring our Heroes (Program to connect veterans, military spouses, and transitioning service members to employment), $150,000

The City Council must finalize the 2027 budget within the next two months before it goes into effect on Oct. 1, so the mayor is asking recipients of the letter who will pledge financial support to begin their contributions at the same time.

Those recipients are also directed to contact the mayor’s chief of staff, Andrew Fuentes, at andrew.fuentes@sanantonio.gov by Aug. 21, 2026.

Read also:

• San Antonio Botanical Garden CEO says proposed city funding cuts could affect mission

Jonsson joined Oscar-winning “Black Panther” franchise director Ryan Coogler on stage alongside Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, holding his hand to his chest and smiling broadly. “Black Panther III” is set for release Dec. 15, 2028.

“Thank you to this family that I have the honor and the blessing to join. I don’t want to say too much, because I want to let the screen do the talking,” said the 32-year-old actor, known for roles in “Industry,” “The Long Walk” and “Alien: Romulus.”

Boseman died in 2020, and ever since 2022's “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” revealed that T’Challa had a son, fans have been playing a guessing game of who might take over the mantle, with Damson Idris and Wright in the mix. The original 2018 “Black Panther” became the first superhero film to earn a best picture Oscar nomination and made more than $1.3 billion worldwide, while the sequel earned $850 million.

Ryan Gosling rides into the MCU

Gosling will re-team with his “Star Wars: Starfighter” director Shawn Levy on “Ghost Rider.”

“I’m having the greatest flashback vibes being here,” said Levy in reference to his appearance at Hall H two years ago to promote “Deadpool & Wolverine," which became a massive hit. “I’ll never forget that night because it was also my real introduction to the greatest fans anywhere.”

Gosling greeted Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and told the crowd that he’d wanted to play the character for a long time.

Gosling’s longtime partner, Eva Mendes, starred alongside Nicolas Cage in Cage’s original standalone “Ghost Rider” film, released in 2007 — a year before “Iron Man” kicked off Marvel’s cinematic universe. A sequel was released by Sony in 2012, and film rights have since reverted to Marvel, but the character hasn’t appeared yet in the MCU.

Stars take stage for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Feige told the crowd that Joe and Anthony Russo’s 2019 film “Avengers: Endgame” will be re-released in theaters on Sept. 25 with new footage linking it to the Russos’ “Avengers: Doomsday,” due out Dec. 18.

A “Doomsday” trailer played during the panel showed that Robert Downey Jr.'s Victor Von Doom will have some past tie to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby). Storm is seen saying that Doom is a broken person who used to be different: “Everything he loved was taken from him.” Later, Richards asks Doom if he's the one responsible for the horrors around them.

Downey Jr. joked on stage that Reed and Doom were “besties.” Fans have been curious about the connection between the two after “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” post-credit scene included a clip of Doom sitting in Reed and Storm’s living room with their baby.

“Doomsday” stars taking the stage included Wright, Duke, Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Simu Liu, Danny Ramirez, Anthony Mackie, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Paul Rudd, Rebecca Romijn, David Harbour, Lewis Pullman and Tenoch Huerta.

Ryan Reynolds appears as gray Deadpool

Clad in a new gray Deadpool costume, Ryan Reynolds crashed the panel from the audience.

“Longtime listener. First time caller,” said Reynolds, asking Rudd why Thor was crying in the previous film. Rudd responded “He’s a Wrexham fan,” in reference to the soccer team that Reynolds co-owns.

"This seems like an awfully expensive way to announce a film. When do you start filming,” asked Reynolds.

“It’s in the can, bro! Did you bump your head?” said Downey Jr. from the stage.

Many fans waited more than a day to get inside Comic-Con’s most-anticipated panel. Marvel Studios hopes it will act as a reset for its brand, which has been diluted by an overabundance of Disney+ series and critics' disappointment in films like last year's “Captain America: Brave New World.” Though audience interest in superhero films has waned in recent years, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” — released by Sony in coordination with Marvel — is set to dominate the summer box office when it's released July 31 and ticket pre-sales have been strong for “Doomsday.”

“We’re just going to kick the can,” Roberts said before his team's 4-3 victory over the New York Mets. “I think like I said yesterday, we’re not going to move forward until he feels 100% confident (and) we feel 100% confident that we should do it.”

Ohtani hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3. But the Dodgers say his knee doesn’t bother him while batting, and the four-time MVP has remained in the starting lineup regularly.

The two-time defending World Series champions began the day with the best record in the majors at 66-38 and an 11-game lead in the NL West over Arizona.

Ohtani received a lubricant injection just before the All-Star break and Roberts said last weekend it would be “some time” before Ohtani makes his next appearance as a pitcher.

The right-hander then threw about 30 pitches off a mound Wednesday during a bullpen session in Philadelphia, but Roberts said Ohtani felt a “little bit of regression.”

“It was obviously not ideal, him throwing his last bullpen and going backwards essentially,” Roberts said. “So obviously that’s disappointing because you throw a bullpen, you continue to build up. So that was disappointing, but as far as worry, concern, we don’t have any of that.”

Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings over 14 starts on the mound this season and has won his past six decisions. He went 0 for 5 on Saturday and is hitting .282 with 22 homers, 61 RBIs and a .908 OPS.

In other injury updates, two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell made a second rehab start Friday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Sidelined since his season debut May 9 because of loose bodies in his pitching elbow, the left-hander threw 49 pitches and allowed one run and two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Roberts said Snell likely will progress to four innings in his third rehab outing.

Star closer Edwin Díaz (right elbow surgery) will make another rehab appearance Sunday for Oklahoma City and, if all goes well, the right-hander is expected to be activated from the injured list Wednesday.

Tyler Glasnow, on the 60-day IL since May 8 because of low back spasms, threw 25 pitches in one simulated inning Friday. Glasnow will pitch in another simulated game next week when the Dodgers return home and might start a rehab assignment after that.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

It's an indication, scientists say, of how some whale species numbers have strongly rebounded in the southern hemisphere oceans decades after an international whale hunting ban came into effect in 1986.

Chris and Monique Fallows said they were used to seeing bigger and bigger groups of humpback whales off the west coast of South Africa but weren't prepared for what they saw one morning last December. Plumes of whale breath and spray burst into the air one after the other from blowholes, and the husband and wife found their boat in the midst of what's known as a supergroup.

“It was extraordinary,” said Chris Fallows, a renowned fine art wildlife photographer who has documented marine animals for 35 years. "Quite quickly we realized that there must be several hundred whales coming together in one particular area.”

He said what they saw can best be described as a “Manhattan skyline” of whale breath plumes.

Chris and Monique documented 299 humpback whales in the group, they said. They count whales by taking a photograph of their tail, which is called a fluke, said Monique Fallows, an author and naturalist.

Each whale's tail is different and it's a common tactic used by scientists to identify individuals.

It appears to be the biggest group of humpback whales sighted, according to Alex Vogel, the Africa coordinator for Happywhale. That organization has a global database of whales built off photos and information sent in largely by what it calls “citizen scientists” — ordinary people who capture images of whales that are then verified.

The organization did a count of the group that the Fallows came across.

Humpback numbers have strongly recovered in the southern hemisphere from less than 10,000 at the height of whaling to more than 100,000 whales now, according to assessments by scientists and the International Whaling Commission, which monitors whale numbers.

Only a few countries still hunt whales commercially.

Humpbacks are generally solitary or move in small pods, but they sometimes gather in supergroups in food-rich areas. They feed on krill or small fish.

Sightings of humpbacks are also increasing in other parts of the Southern Hemisphere.

Els Vermeulen, the chief scientist at the University of Pretoria’s Whale Unit in South Africa, said humpback supergroups started to be seen again around 2012 and it's likely a result of their recovery from whaling.

“In general, the moratorium on whaling can be classified as one of the strongest conservation success stories in the marine environment," said Vermeulen, who has a doctorate in zoology.

Vermeulen said that humpbacks feeding in supergroups make underwater sounds that attract other whales.

While humpbacks have seen the biggest comeback from whaling, the World Wildlife Fund says the recovery has been mixed for other whale species and that various threats remain, like entanglement in commercial fishing equipment, collisions with ships and climate change.

Seven out of the 14 great whale species are classified as endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, which number only around 380 now.

Vermeulen also raised a new threat for whales around South Africa: the conflict in the Middle East.

She said a recent preliminary assessment she co-authored showed that shipping around the southern point of Africa had quadrupled since December 2023 — after the Israel-Hamas war broke out and Yemen's Houthi rebels began attacking ships in the Red Sea.

That is being made worse by the Iran war and the security crisis over the Strait of Hormuz, diverting more ships around Africa.

Because most whales killed by ships sink in the ocean there are no detailed statistics. But Gregg Oelofse, the coastal and environmental manager for the city of Cape Town, said more whales and more shipping clearly increase the risk.

He said some whale carcasses wash ashore with evidence they've been killed by vessels.

“We’ll see the propellor strike often through the whale’s body,” Oelofse said. “So, it’s like these big cuts in the whale’s body.”

Vermeulen said she and others are lobbying for official speed limits for ships near the South African coast to give them time to spot any whales in their path.

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Associated Press writer Gerald Imray contributed to this story.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, said in a prerecorded statement that the attack targeted facilities in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan that belong to Aramco, the world’s largest oil company.

Saudi Arabia's civil defense said alerts sounded multiple times early Saturday in both cities, but the kingdom didn't comment further.

There were no reported strikes overnight in Iran, in an apparent break from nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of U.S. attacks.

Red Sea escalation further threatens global shipping

The Houthis have said they would close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping in retaliation for the kingdom’s blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.

“Nothing short of ending the aggression and lifting the blockade, otherwise, it’s all illusion and mirage," Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi-led Supreme Political Council governing rebel-controlled territories in Yemen, said of what it would take for the Houthis to not blockade the Bab-El-Mandeb.

That strait, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world’s trade, including a quarter of its container traffic, passes through the narrows.

The Houthis targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea this week. In response, Saudi Arabia struck Hodeida, the Saudi-led coalition opposing the rebels said Saturday. The strikes late Friday hit the port and the state-run telecommunications corporation, injuring two people, said Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry.

The Saudi-led coalition said it didn’t hit the port but struck “legitimate military targets” in Hodeida province that “were linked to threats to commercial vessels in the Red Sea.”

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called for “diplomacy and dialogue” to solve the Yemen conflict without “military confrontations” in an interview published Saturday by the state-run newspaper called Iran.

Iran condemns Ukrainian attack on commercial vessel

“Iran had a peaceful night,” Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Iran's Health Ministry, posted on X. U.S. Central Command didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Unlike the previous 13 nights, it didn't announce new strikes.

But Iran's foreign ministry condemned what it called a Ukrainian attack Saturday on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying one person was killed and another was hurt and calling it an act of aggression.

In a separate statement, Araghchi said he spoke with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas about it and that Tehran demanded a response. Ukraine's diplomatic representative to Iran was summoned, Iranian state media reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said on X that Ukraine “achieved very strong results with long‑range strikes in the Caspian Sea — including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran.”

While efforts at mediation between the U.S. and Iran continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to the United States next week and meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, his office said Friday. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war.

Over 7,000 people have been killed, including in Lebanon

A tenuous ceasefire that halted major operations for weeks has seemed to unravel this month. The U.S. accused Iran of striking three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and responded by striking dozens of targets in Iran, which retaliated by firing at U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states.

The U.S. military has renewed its blockade of Iran’s ports. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases with U.S. troops.

The war has killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to its Health Ministry. Eighteen U.S. service members, 24 civilians in Israel and smaller numbers of civilians including foreign workers and mariners have been reportedly killed across the region.

In Lebanon, more than 4,000 people have been killed since Iran-backed Hezbollah militants fired at Israel in support of the Islamic Republic two days after the war began and Israel responded with strikes and ground forces. Thirty-eight Israeli troops have also died.

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Dell'Orto reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporter Cara Anna in Lowville, New York, contributed to this report.

The attraction — kept at 9 degrees Fahrenheit — will feature a “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” theme with immersive scenes and life-sized ice sculptures.

Guests can also enjoy tubing, snowball throwing, gingerbread decorating and holiday shopping.

“ICE!” runs from from Nov. 23, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027.

Tickets are on sale now. For more information, click here.

Read also:

• Dinosaurs come to life at The DoSeum with new interactive summer exhibit

“I’m happy to give back to this city and do what I can to keep this river healthy,” volunteer Robb Oringderff said.

At least once a month, the volunteer team gathers along the riverbanks and trails with gloves, trash bags, and grabbers to remove litter from an area used daily by people who fish, bike, run and walk.

“Every cleanup we’ll typically see anywhere between like 400 to 800 pounds of trash,” said Samantha Villagran, engagement coordinator for the San Antonio River Authority.

To put that in perspective, from May 2025 to May 2026, volunteers removed 120,000 pounds of litter from the river area.

But Villagran said the work is about more than keeping Mission Reach looking clean.

“Litter is pollution, and that pollution does impact water quality,” Villagran said. “It impacts natural habitat for our ecosystems.”

Villagran said River Warriors could collect more trash by the end of this year than they did last year, not necessarily because more people are littering, but because San Antonio has seen more rain. This year has been the rainiest so far in about a decade, according to the KSAT Weather Authority team.

“We’re having a lot of frequent cleanups this year,” Villagran said.

Oringderff is one of the regular River Warriors. When he is not helping pick up litter, he also serves on the River Authority’s snail abatement team. “This is a beautiful place,” Oringderff shared. “We should be proud of this river in this town.”

He said even a small amount of time can make a difference. “Just show up,” Oringderff said. “Showing up creates awareness, and once you have awareness, you can’t walk by the river and look down and see trash and not be concerned by that.”

Those interested in becoming a River Warrior must be at least 15 years old. The next cleanup event is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 29. Click here to sign up to become a River Warrior.

Read also:

• San Antonio River Authority launches pilot programs to fight against invasive species

Port Aransas police responded around 5:35 p.m. to Beach Marker 46 after receiving reports that a child had been pulled from the water and was not breathing.

A Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden began CPR on the child before Port Aransas police arrived. The child was taken to the hospital, where they later died, the police department said.

Police said the child’s grandparents lost sight of the child while getting ready to leave the beach. The child was later found in the water.

“This tragedy serves as a heartbreaking reminder that young children can disappear from sight in only moments, and constant, uninterrupted supervision around the water is essential,” Chief James Stokes said.

The police department said the drowning remains under investigation in coordination with the Nueces County Medical Examiner.

The Port Aransas Police Department encourages all beach visitors to practice water safety by:

• Maintaining constant arm’s-length supervision of young children
• Ensuring children who cannot swim wear a properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket whenever they are near or in the water
• Never relying solely on flotation devices as a substitute for adult supervision
• Designating a responsible adult to actively watch children whenever they are in or around the water

Read also:

• 5 released from hospital after head-on crash in north Bexar County, BCSO says
• State investigators uncover alleged fraud, mail theft ring at Northwest Side apartment

A DPS trooper attempted to stop the man around 2 p.m. Tuesday at State Highway 16 and FM 1283.

The motorcyclist evaded the trooper and collided into the rear of a Lexus SUV, the agency said. The man, identified as Cole Justin Davila, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Additional information was not immediately available.

Read also:

• State investigators uncover alleged fraud, mail theft ring at Northwest Side apartment

Nathan Matthews, 43, of Lincoln, Nebraska, died Friday, the federal Interior Department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, several fierce wildfires in a summer of big ones continued burning across the western U.S.

One of the worst — and the one deemed top priority for firefighting efforts — was just a few miles (5 kilometers) north of Sisters, a central Oregon city of about 3,000 people.

Winds gusting up to 30 mph (50 kph) threatened to push flames into new areas. Firefighters made progress keeping the fire in check, however, and officials were optimistic the city would be in the clear once the worst of the wind died down Sunday.

“It's going to take a while to put it out entirely. But as long as it stops moving, I think that’ll get people to relax a little bit,” Sisters Mayor Jennifer Letz said.

As of Saturday, the lightning-caused fire had burned about 40 square miles (105 square kilometers) and was 5% contained. About 30 people evacuated from areas north of Sisters were in a shelter at the local high school, with about as many more staying in recreational vehicles parked outside, Letz said.

The city wasn't in any immediate danger, and business was carrying on like usual, Letz said.

“We’re not necessarily asking everybody to come to Sisters. But it’s safe here,” said Letz.

Months of dry weather, a record lack of snow in some areas, hot spells and erratic winds have contributed to the blazes in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado and elsewhere this summer.

In Canada, 926 fires were burning Saturday, including 82 deemed out of control, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System.

About 300 aircraft and 5,300 people were involved in fighting the fires. They included 133 in northwestern Ontario alone, according to the province's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services agency.

The biggest in Ontario had covered some 1,200 square miles (3,200 square kilometers).

The U.S. firefighter who died was among a group that had deployed tentlike emergency shelters to try to shield themselves when flames closed in June 27. Three of them died at the scene: Emily Barker, 38; Nick Hutcherson, 27; and Sydney Watson, 26.

They were part of a Helitack crew — a group that gets dropped by helicopter into remote areas to try to squelch new, rapidly expanding fires — that had been deployed in Mesa County, Colorado, west of the city of Grand Junction.

Matthews and another firefighter were taken for medical treatment. The Interior Department declined Saturday to discuss their treatment, Matthews' career or the surviving firefighter's current condition.

Watson, Hutcherson and Barker were honored at a memorial service earlier this month. Memorial arrangements for Matthews weren't yet announced.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed.

The five-time All-Star underwent imaging that revealed a grade 2 strain, interim manager Andy Green said.

Soto missed 15 games from April 4-21 with a right calf strain and the Mets went 3-12 without him — losing their last 12 games during that stretch.

“Anticipation is right now it’s going to take longer than last time,” Green said before Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He was about three weeks last time, so it’s a little more significant than last time. It’s not what we were hoping for. He’s a guy we love having on the field. He's a guy who loves being on the field competing. We’ll be without him for a period of time.”

But at this stage, the Mets are uncertain about anything more specific.

“We have more people looking at the MRI right now,” Green said. “It’s quick and a bit presumptuous to define an exact timeline. With our organization we just check in with experts, not just in house but across the world for these types of things. So we’ll have some more people look at this, get a better handle on how long this will be and at this point in time, not going to get any more definitive on a timeline.”

The injury to Soto is the latest setback in a miserable season for the last-place Mets (43-61), who were minus star shortstop Francisco Lindor from April 23 to June 23 because of a left calf strain.

Soto walked twice against Los Angeles Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki during Friday night’s 4-2 loss at Citi Field before being replaced by pinch-hitter Jorge Polanco in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1.

After the game, Green said Soto felt discomfort pushing off when running to second base. He had been nursing the nagging injury since returning from the All-Star break last week.

Soto is hitting .283 with 21 homers, 52 RBIs and an NL-best .947 OPS in 84 games this season. He sat out Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at Milwaukee but was back in the lineup Friday after the Mets had a day off.

The lone All-Star for the last-place Mets this year, Soto exited the team’s first game after the break in the eighth inning on July 16 at Philadelphia. New York was off the following day, and he returned to the lineup as the designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday against the Phillies. He played left field Monday in Milwaukee and was the DH on Tuesday.

“Someone like him wants to be on the baseball field. He wants to play,” Green said. “And the desire to be on the field is why he’s so special in what he does. So this last week we gave him at-bats, we gave him rest at times when we felt were appropriate, and then yesterday he couldn’t get over the hump."

To replace Soto on the active roster, the Mets recalled corner infielder and outfielder Eric Wagaman from Triple-A Syracuse. Wagaman was hitting .162 with two homers and four RBIs in 21 major league games this season.

Next step for Holmes

Clay Holmes will throw a bullpen Sunday. The right-hander allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings and threw 51 pitches Thursday in a rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse and is expected to pitch again next week in the minors.

Holmes has been on the injured list with a broken right leg since he was hit by a line drive off the bat of New York Yankees rookie Spencer Jones on May 15.

Holmes is 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA in nine starts this season and appears likely to get traded before the Aug. 3 deadline.

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A previous version of this story corrected Soto’s batting average and removed an incorrect reference to Bo Bichette grounding into a double play in the second inning Friday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Emiliano Grillo and Ben Kohles each had a 65 and are tied for second at 17 under. Michael Brennan shot a 63 and shared fourth with Chandler Phillips at 16 under. Denny McCarthy, Billy Horschel and Michael Kim were in sixth at 15 under.

Scottie Scheffler, the world's top-ranked player, was six strokes behind Koivun in a four-way tie for ninth place with Davis Thompson, Seamus Power and Brian Harman.

The 21-year-old Koivun, who was the top-ranked amateur player after a standout college career at Auburn and turned pro last month following the U.S. Open, had two eagles and six birdies to separate from the pack on a steamy and still afternoon that was ideal for low scores.

“Just got to keep the foot on the gas," Koivun said.

Koivun sank a 12-foot putt on the 12th green and a 14-footer on the 18th to eagle two of the three par-5s on the lake-filled course, which joined the tour schedule in 2019. He confidently hit his second shot from the 18th fairway over the water and landed safely on the green.

“It’s going to be definitely a test tomorrow,” Koivun said. “I’m sure some of the pins will be tucked and we’ve got a lot of great players behind me, but just going to stick to my game plan and try to smile.”

Koivun, who tied for 10th two weeks ago at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky, shot a 64 on Thursday and a 68 on Friday. He tied the 54-hole record (193) set by wire-to-wire 2023 champion Lee Hodges and became the youngest 54-hole leader on tour this season. But don't assume he's a stranger to this type of pressure.

“Playing at Auburn was so much fun. We were definitely put in some stressful situations at national championships and just collegiate play,” Koivun said. “I'm just trying to lean on those experiences.”

Kohles, who shot a 62 for the first-round lead, went bogey-free in pursuit of his first tour victory. Grillo, the 33-year-old Argentine, eagled the 18th to make up for some earlier putting misses.

“These kids are playing better every day,” Grillo said. “It’s hard to keep up with them. I’ve just got to go and shoot my lowest.”

Scheffler had an eagle and five birdies on the back nine, but his afternoon wasn't all that special. Three others matched his 64, and four players went lower than that.

Bringing a big gallery with him to watch every shot, with fans packed several rows deep along the ropes, Scheffler had the crowd going wild when he eagled the 16th by sinking a 55-footer on the par-4 hole.

“The support this week’s been tremendous. The crowd here has been great not only to myself but to the guys who've been playing well,” Scheffler said.

Kim, who took a three-stroke lead into the weekend with a second-round 59 that made him the 15th player in tour history to go below 60, lost his touch with the putter and finished with a 70.

“I’m really happy with the way I swung it today. I was pleasantly surprised at how calm I was feeling heading to the first tee,” Kim said. “Overall, I’m pretty happy with it, but a little disappointed that I’m five back.”

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

In a Facebook post, the department identified the suspect as Luis Barrios, 36. According to Bexar County court records, he faces one count of aggravated robbery.

Another suspect in the case, identified as 57-year-old Omar Resendez-Diaz, was taken into custody Wednesday and also charged with aggravated robbery, records show.

The robbery happened July 18, just before 11 a.m., in the 6900 block of North Loop 1604 East.

Barrios and Resendez-Diaz allegedly entered a Security Service Federal Credit Union, held an employee at gunpoint and stole items from customers, SAPD said.

Barrios was allegedly seen on surveillance footage armed with a “large machete,” according to his arrest affidavit, which he was seen “chasing employees of the credit union” with.

Following the robbery, authorities said Barrios and Resendez-Diaz fled in a vehicle that was later found abandoned on Nacogdoches Road.

The vehicle had been reported stolen in an aggravated robbery on July 17, and the suspects’ clothing in that case matched the clothing worn by one of the credit union robbery suspects, officials said.

Barrios was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $500,000 bond, records indicate.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Affidavit: Man arrested in connection with armed robbery at Northeast Side credit union
• SAPD: Masked, armed suspects rob credit union on Northeast Side, flee with ‘large amount’ of cash

That, in short, is how the Olympic gold medalist — slowed, then eventually stopped by an aching Achilles tendon — made it through a frustrating 2025 and turned it into a much more interesting and successful 2026.

“You are setting up to come back even better,” Thomas said of the change in mindset about being hurt. “And every time that I’ve had an injury, I’ve always come back stronger and better and faster. So that was what I was thinking, and then, just staying focused.”

The 29-year-old Thomas, who won the 200 meters at the Paris Games two years ago and is ramping up for a repeat attempt two years from now in Los Angeles, is not competing at this weekend's U.S. track championships in New York. She said it is not a signal that she is hurting.

In one of the interesting twists of 2026 — the middle year of the Olympic cycle that's always a little quirky for track — nationals did not fit into her Diamond League and international schedule. She's doing just fine there, with five sub-22 second runs this season, which gives her 20 for her career — the most by any woman at the distance.

She traveled to New York to cheer on some of her teammates sponsored by Toyota, which arranged this interview.

Among the highlights coming up for Thomas will be the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, where $150,000 first prizes are available, and more races at Athlos, the all-women league founded by Alexis Ohanian that is heading into its third year with a growing roster of runners, including Friday night's 100-meter champion, Sha'Carri Richardson.

Athlos' second meet of the year will be in October at Icahn Stadium on New York's Randall's Island, the same place where nationals are this weekend.

Thomas also is planning a wedding. Last spring, she got engaged to onetime Yale quarterback Spencer McManes (Thomas went to Harvard) and they'll get married in October at a location she did not divulge. Planning a wedding in the middle of track season?

“It’s not challenging,” she said. “I always say, you make time for what you care about and what you want to do, so if you love it, you’ll do it.”

She takes that mindset into her off-the-track life, where she still has plans for a career in women's health once the running stops. Thomas studied neurobiology and public health as an undergrad, then got a master's degree in public health at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

“As a female athlete and really understanding the gaps in women’s healthcare and how underfunded and how undersuited it is, there’s a lot of room for improvement," Thomas said. “I see myself being a part of that and narrowing that gap quite naturally. I think I will have to go back to school. I would definitely welcome that.”

Through much of 2025, Thomas was vocal about combating a growing trend of online harassment of female athletes by bettors. Earlier this week, she went on social media and doubled down on that, saying only one demographic of people harass her, “and it's never women.”

Off the track, Thomas is reading a few books by Bell Hooks, a philosopher and author who wrote extensively about race and feminism, that have reminded one of the world's greatest sprinters that there's more to life than track. In a way, it might help explain how Thomas — healthy again — can be sitting out of nationals but still loving every minute of it.

“It’s so easy to get very, very involved and tied into track and to make that your identity, especially at my level,” she said. "It’s been a nice reminder to think about who I am off the track, what I love, who I want to be.”

Around the track

World 200-meter champion Noah Lyles showed no signs of fatigue when he won his first-round heat Saturday in 20.51 seconds. Just over 18 hours earlier, he took gold in the 100. Brandon Hicklin had the fastest time in 20.43.

Reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden posted the top time (22.50) in the opening round of the women's 200 race.

Both finals are Sunday.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

A heat dome, where atmospheric conditions trap heat, was forecast to create sustained high temperatures and accumulating discomfort. Meanwhile overnight lows were not expected to come down enough for people to have much chance to recover, allowing heat stress to build as the bad weather lingers, forecasters said. With the high humidity, it feels even worse.

The oppressive midsummer weather was forecast to affect a huge stretch of the country, from the desert Southwest to the Gulf Coast and reaching up into the Midwest and Great Plains. Some records around the Denver area could be broken, forecasters said, and temperatures were expected to be 10 F to 15 F (5.6 to 8.3 C) above normal.

“It looks like it is going to be pretty much stationary in that position as we go through the week,” said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Hot weather changes plans and makes life harder for those who work outdoors

Places under a National Weather Service extreme heat warning included western Nebraska, where temperatures Saturday and Sunday were forecast to reach 108 F (42 C).

At the Museum of the Fur Trade near Chadron, Nebraska, there were fewer visitors than usual for this time of year. Fur hats and pelts in the gift shop were not selling so hot.

“I’m sure no one would be willing to wear it on a day like this,” museum employee Hannah Lovelace said. Loose-fitting, period-correct fabric shirts, on the other hand, remained popular sellers among folks headed to historical frontier reenactments called rendezvous, she said.

The region's heat was forecast to continue through the week, with temperatures topping 100 F (37 C) even in normally moderate areas of Montana and Wyoming.

Las Vegas was also expected to see near record-breaking highs. On Saturday, when temperatures reached around 114 F (45 C) in the valley, HVAC repair technician Kristian “Flaco” Santos spent hours outside fixing air conditioning units. His job involves climbing onto homeowners' roofs or in their attics, where temperatures can be 15 degrees warmer.

“It is brutal,” Santos said, adding that not everyone can work in the heat. “I’m not Superman, but I do, I do take care of myself when I’m in the heat.”

Santos wears long-sleeve shirts and hoodies to protect himself from the sun, drinks lots of water with electrolytes to stay hydrated and takes small breaks to cool down. He encouraged people who work outside to do the same.

“You want to get home to your family safe,” Santos said.

There might be some relief in the central U.S. toward next weekend, but even that might be temporary, Oravec said.

Some areas will be spared. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast should avoid the extreme heat, as will much of the Pacific Northwest.

This is the latest miserable stretch of weather during a summer that has already had a lot of it. The eastern U.S. endured an unbearably hot early July that forced communities to cancel Independence Day celebrations and disrupted the country's 250th anniversary. Another heat wave in mid-July hit the Southwest and Great Plains.

It’s not just the United States: A June heat wave devastated Europe, with France recording at least 5,700 more deaths than usual.

On Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fans for the Brickyard 400 will be offered water refill stations and places to get cool, and packed coolers will be allowed. In Denver, recreation centers will set aside areas for people to get out of the heat and in front of air conditioning.

In an already hot year, heat extremes are dangerous

Authorities warned that this heat dome will be dangerous. Children and older adults, along with people with medical conditions, are especially at risk of serious conditions including heat stroke. The basics are important: Seek out air conditioning or a cooling center, and make sure to drink enough water and limit time under the direct sun.

The weather will shift somewhat through the week, with the worst pockets of heat becoming particularly severe across Texas and parts of the Gulf Coast by Wednesday.

It can be difficult to know exactly how climate change contributes to particular events in real time. But rising carbon dioxide levels from burning fossil fuels makes it more likely that hotter weather becomes more frequent and extreme, said Andy Pershing, chief program officer at Climate Central, a climate change communications nonprofit.

“We are experiencing exactly what the climate models in the 1990s said we should experience now. That is more frequent, more severe heat waves, bigger temperature anomalies, more humidity, higher overnight temperatures,” Pershing said. “These are all part and parcel of the climate story.”

The continental U.S. endured the second-hottest first half of the year on record in 2026, according to average temperature tracking by the National Centers for Environmental Information. June itself was the 18th warmest.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.

The two-car accident happened on July 14 in Palo Alto, leading to Shanahan being taken to the hospital. The other driver was not hospitalized. Palo Alto police Lt. Nicholas Martinez said there was no evidence that either driver was impaired and that both cooperated with police. No one was cited in the collision.

Niners general manager John Lynch said Shanahan sustained a concussion, along with a broken nose, broken ribs and an injured hand.

“Kyle is doing good,” Lynch said Saturday. “He’s got some bumps and bruises. He did suffer a concussion in the accident, has some lingering effects from that concussion.”

Lynch said Shanahan is going through the same type of protocol that players undergo after a concussion and that doctors would determine when he will be able to be back at full speed.

Lynch said Shanahan might be on the practice field when drills start on Sunday but won't run practice or team meetings until he is recovered.

“He’s a tremendous head coach, but this is bigger than that,” Lynch said. “This is about his well-being. We’re going to take the time necessary. And I think we’re very equipped to do that.”

The Niners will conduct their first practice on Sunday with assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Foerster running the team, along with coordinators Klay Kubiak, Raheem Morris and Brant Boyer.

Foerster has been on the 49ers' staff since 2019 and also worked under Shanahan in Washington as an offensive line coach when Shanahan was offensive coordinator.

Lynch didn't give a timeline for Shanahan's return but did say the team anticipates he will be back well before the season opener on Sept. 11 in Australia against the Los Angeles Rams.

Rams coach Sean McVay, who worked on the same staff as Shanahan in Washington from 2010-13, said he has talked to Shanahan since the crash and was thankful everyone involved was OK.

“I think any time that something like that happens, it shakes you up a little bit,” McVay said. "But most importantly, I’ve talked to him, my thoughts and prayers are with his family, and I know he’s got an incredible perspective on it all. Kyle is a stud. I have as much respect for him as anybody, and he’s a friend of mine and I love him, and I’m hoping that he’s going to have a great recovery.”

Shanahan is entering his 10th season as 49ers coach and is one of the most highly regarded coaches in the game for his offensive acumen. San Francisco has made two trips to the Super Bowl under his watch following the 2019 and 2023 seasons and made two additional appearances in the NFC title game in the 2021 and '22 seasons.

Shanahan has a 91-72 record in the regular season and playoffs for the 49ers, ranking third in franchise history in wins behind George Seifert (108) and Bill Walsh (102).

The team overcame significant injuries last season to finish 12-5 in the regular season and win a playoff game as Shanahan finished fifth in voting for the AP NFL Coach of the Year.

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AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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

The latest wildfires in southern Europe this week have displaced more than 250,000 people, including some 70,000 people who were evacuated in central Spain. One man died in Manises, the municipality reported on its Facebook page, the first death so far in the blazes.

In France, the giant A400M transporter swooped in low, its long plume of ochre-colored retardant trailing over drought-hit woodlands in the southwest as fire crews on the ground fought flames that authorities feared could spread toward the wine region city of Bordeaux.

Race organizers and the Paris police department announced a truncated 21st and final stage on Sunday for the three-week Tour, France's most famous annual sporting event, reflecting the immense strain that two large fires in the southwest are causing for emergency services.

Tour riders will race Sunday inside Paris, rather than starting from Thoiry, west of the capital, on a circuit of 89 kilometers (55 miles) — down by a third from the 133-kilometer (82.5-mile) route that had been planned. Part of the race's security detail will instead “reinforce the response efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires,” according to the statement announcing the ”exceptional measures made necessary by the situation."

Shifting winds raise concerns for Bordeaux

With winds expected to shift in a west-to-east direction on Saturday afternoon, potentially driving flames closer to Bordeaux, fire crews and authorities were digging trenches, using retardants and taking other blaze-blocking steps, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said, predicting a “long and very difficult” battle.

He said the fire was about 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the city and lost some of its intensity overnight. The prefect of the Gironde region that includes Bordeaux said the blaze grew into “a firestorm" on Friday after igniting earlier this week and cautioned that it “remains dangerous" even though firefighters were making progress.

The government mobilized soldiers to join fire crews and was rushing in 1.5 million face masks to protect against choking smoke.

Authorities ordered people between the fire and Bordeaux to evacuate, including from parts of the city’s western suburbs and other towns and villages.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the fires as unprecedented and said the Gironde blaze became so strong on Friday that it had begun generating its own winds. Firefighting teams were being reinforced with the addition of hundreds of soldiers and breathing masks to filter out potentially noxious smoke particles were being rushed to those exposed, Lecornu said.

In Bordeaux, authorities took in thousands of evacuees, offering them food and shelter in an exhibition center, and the city’s mayor said it could be equipped to welcome as many as 10,000 people if that became necessary. The city's airport said it remained open but that its bus and tram services were suspended.

Evacuation orders were sent with special alerts to mobile phones, instructing people to leave, Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said. She said the fire had destroyed about 140 homes in the region.

The magnitude of the wildfires caught authorities off guard

The French military A400M transport plane, specially converted for fire-fighting, was a heavyweight new tool in the battle. It joined at least 18 other water- and retardant-dropping aircraft and helicopters that Nunez said were deployed in the Gironde region, working in rotation in the smoke-filled skies.

The virulence of the French and Spanish wildfires, fueled by high temperatures and the long-term effects of climate change, caught fire crews and authorities off guard.

Firefighters in Spain said the blazes spread so fast and violently that they could not be tackled head on. In France, some people even fled by boat when flames swept through touristic towns on the Atlantic coast.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Javier Organista, a resident of El Tiemblo, west of Madrid, where fire charred a famed chestnut grove. “When we saw the flames coming into our town, surrounding us, leaving us with practically no way out, all the neighbors joined together to try to stop its advance.”

“It’s just really sad,” he said.

Climate change supercharges fires

Spain deployed 2,600 firefighters, police and other emergency personnel to two blazes west of Madrid, backed by 19 water-dumping aircraft and helicopters.

France deployed 1,400 firefighters to the Gironde fire and hundreds of others to another wildfire further south in the Landes region. Dozens of firefighters suffered injuries, authorities said amid panic scenes with townsfolk fleeing by car and police went door to door to tell people to leave.

Successive heat waves that hit unusually early and hard this year, baking Europe with record-shattering high temperatures, have turned forests and scrublands into tinderboxes.

Fires have burned 130,000 hectares of forest already this year in Spain, up from an annual average of 100,000 hectares over the past decade, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday as he visited a command post west of Madrid.

He said more favorable weather Saturday offered “a window of opportunity” for fire crews to bring the blazes under control. Madrid's regional government said the fires decreased in intensity as winds and temperatures dropped.

The fatality reported on Saturday occurred in Manises, part of the wildfire-affected region of Valencia.

Other European nations were helping, with Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland already providing or expected to deploy water-dumping planes and helicopters to the Spanish and French fire fronts.

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Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal; Manu Fernandez in El Tiemblo, Spain; and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed.

Hocevar, who drives for Spire Motorsports, produced a fast lap of 186.598 mph. Suarez, his teammate, soon followed with a lap of 186.382 to give Chevrolet the top two starting spots on the 39-car starting grid. Reddick will start third in Sunday's race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval.

For Hocevar, it was another magical moment.

“I haven’t won anything at Indy, even was looking at like a marathon or something just so I can get an award here — it doesn’t matter what,” Hocevar said. “It’s just really cool to get something here. I look out to the back stretch, behind this media center and there’s a parking lot with a bunch of rubber and that’s where I grew up racing."

The 23-year-old Hocevar has now won three career poles — the other two at Texas with one coming earlier this year. The Michigan native has one career victory, in April at Talladega, in his third full season on the NASCAR circuit.

He finished 12th and 10th the last two years, his only previous Brickyard starts.

Reddick had Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing team on top of the speed charts for most of the afternoon with a lap of 186.077 one day after he told reporters his car performed so poorly in practice it felt like he “had never raced here before.”

How important is qualifying at Indy?

“It's going to be a lot of it,” said Reddick, who won the 2022 Brickyard on Indy's road course and is trying to become the first driver to win on both courses. “We have seen, though, last year, right, Denny (Hamlin) had his issue in qualifying and still had a strong day, so it's possible. But you set yourself up for more track position, more stage points with clean execution on the weekend.”

Hocevar, Suarez and Reddick were the only drivers to top 186 mph on an unusually cool, overcast afternoon that produced significantly higher speeds than in Friday's lone practice session.

Sunday's race could take place in much different conditions with temperatures expected to rise.

Defending champion Bubba Wallace, who also races for Jordan's team, will start 29th after going 183.861. Hamlin, who has won three of NASCAR's four crown jewel races, starts fifth as he tries to capture his first Brickyard title with Joe Gibbs Racing.

And Ryan Blaney got an early edge on Todd Gilliland as the two finalists chase the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize. Blaney is starting 13th while Gilliland qualified 36th.

But Hocevar hopes to cash in, too, as he leads the field across the Yard of Bricks to start the race.

“Hopefully that can get us a good advantage,” Hocevar said. “The prestige of this place raises everybody's intensity, so you know everybody's trying a little bit more because they know how much it means to everybody. So, yeah, it's super important.”

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

And with peak travel season underway, millions of people may have to contend with this disorienting condition, which can cause sleep disturbances, daytime tiredness, headaches and nasty gastrointestinal symptoms.

But you can minimize the effects of jet lag — and not just by adjusting your sleep-wake schedule. What and how you eat and drink can make a difference too.

Jet lag occurs when your body’s biological clock is out of sync with the time zone you find yourself in. Usually, environmental cues such as sunrises and sunsets help set your internal clock. But when you cross time zones, it may take a few days for your body to adjust.

“I’ve personally experienced pretty severe jet lag before,” during two European trips, said Tara Schmidt, a registered dietitian at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “It really kind of ruined the first few days of my vacation.”

Eat on the local schedule at your destination

While symptoms of jet lag vary, digestive problems such as bloating, constipation or diarrhea are not uncommon, said Joanne Slavin, a nutrition expert at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

One way to minimize jet lag is to begin gradually shifting the timing of your meals as you get ready for travel. Schmidt suggested first moving them by 15 minutes, then a half hour, then an hour closer to the destination time zone.

Then, after you get where you're going, eat when the locals eat.

If it’s morning, have breakfast. A hearty one aligned with your new time zone can help you recover from jet lag, a 2023 study co-authored by Northwestern University researchers suggests.

As the day goes on, keep to the same schedule, having lunch and dinner at times appropriate for the location.

“Immediately go on your new schedule,” Slavin said.

To avoid stomachaches, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises keeping meals smaller just before and during travel. Schmidt said this is particularly important in the early days of a trip.

“Smaller meals tend to be more easily tolerated for people, especially if you have a sensitive stomach or maybe are dealing with some of those GI discomforts,” Schmidt said.

Later in the trip, she said, you may be able to ease into eating more at one sitting. Just be mindful about foods that you might not be used to, especially greasy or high-fat items.

“Enjoying a meal abroad is so fun, especially when you’re experiencing a new culture, a new food,” she said.

Watch what you drink on vacation

It’s also best to skip that glass of wine or pint of beer.

“As fun as it is sometimes when we travel, we really do endorse avoiding alcohol because alcohol is such a huge sleep disruptor,” Schmidt said.

Another pro tip: Use caffeine strategically. If you normally have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, it’s fine to do that while traveling. But don’t have caffeine so late in the day that it will keep you up. And be aware that both caffeine and alcohol can make you more dehydrated.

“Dehydration can certainly worsen fatigue and those perceived jet lag symptoms,” Schmidt said.

Drink water before, during and after your flight to combat the effects of dry cabin air. At your destination, eight glasses of water a day is a good, easy-to-remember goal, but keep in mind that some people may need more fluids, others less, depending on things like weather and exercise. Cleveland Clinic experts suggest choosing bottled water if you have any questions about water safety.

When the trip is over, get back to your normal schedule

Experts say how and what you consume while traveling is only part of the equation for minimizing jet lag. But these changes complement the better known tips for adjusting your sleep schedule to the new time zone.

When your vacation begins winding down, the advice is much the same for sleep and eating: Ease back into your normal schedule and try to fully resume it at home.

“The sooner you get back to it, to all of your habits,” Slavin said, “the better off you’re going to be.”

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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.

Soldiers remained in the village of Tell, in the northern West Bank, where Friday's clashes were centered. Palestinians described searches that included raids of a hospital in the city of Nablus, one of the territory's most violent areas.

Palestinians in the West Bank have faced violence as Israel’s hard-line government, dominated by settler leaders and supporters, has overseen a surge in settlement construction over the past four years. The international community overwhelmingly considers the Israeli settlement construction illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Soldiers make arrest during raid at West Bank hospital

“More than 50 armed soldiers and officers stormed the hospital, terrifying the patients,” Ghassan Barkat, director of Nablus Specialty Hospital, told journalists. He said soldiers on Friday detained, bound and insulted staff and patients, raided hospital departments and arrested a seriously injured man, Ali Hussein Ali Ramadan.

“This should not happen in a healthcare institution,” said Barkat, adding that women and children were present.

An Israeli military statement did not mention the hospital, but it said over 300 locations were searched and what it described as affiliates of the Hamas militant group, arms traffickers, “terrorists” and others were detained.

The circumstances of Friday's events remained unclear, but Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials suggested a group of settlers entered Tell and were confronted by residents fearful of an attack. The village is off-limits to Israelis as part of Area B under the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli soldiers shot and killed four Palestinians in Tell, while the military reported the deaths of two soldiers, one of them a settler in a local defense squad. Two other Israelis and four more Palestinians were wounded, health officials said.

The Israeli military on Saturday said it detained 11 suspects in Tell.

Over 80 Palestinians were arrested across the territory, said Amin Shuman, president of the Palestinian higher commission for the affairs of prisoners, calling them “an attempt to impose collective punitive measures and retaliatory policies” against Palestinian citizens after Friday’s events.

On Saturday, Israel's military said Israeli civilians and Palestinians threw rocks in a confrontation in the West Bank village of Susya, and the weapon of a soldier on leave was stolen but retrieved.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for an independent state along with the Gaza Strip.

Israeli strikes kill at least 4 in Gaza

Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least four Palestinians and wounded at least 15 others across Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, an airstrike killed a man and a woman, whose bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, the hospital said.

In northern Gaza, a strike on a vehicle in the Jabaliya area killed one person and wounded two others, according to officials at Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken.

A strike on a motorbike in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood killed the director of the area’s police force, according to the Interior Ministry and Shifa Hospital.

A strike in the central Gaza refugee camp of Nuseirat wounded three people, according to the Belgian field hospital, which received the casualties.

And Israeli drones struck the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, wounding 10 people, the hospital said. Chaotic scenes unfolded as severely wounded men covered in blood were rushed into the hospital by bystanders.

Israel's military said it struck a member of Hamas' military wing near Al-Aqsa hospital, and that it struck members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad military wings in the strikes on Nuseirat and Jabaliya. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the other strikes. Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a fragile ceasefire took hold in October following two years of war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing at least 1,191 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants but says women and children make up most of the dead.

Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

The Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, sparking the war. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,317 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Jackson replaces Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary in June but withdrew from the race earlier this month following an allegation of sexual assault that Platner has denied. Maine Democrats met Saturday to choose a new Senate nominee to face Collins.

Support coalesced around Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and fifth-generation logger from rural northern Maine who campaigned alongside Platner during a failed bid for governor and was a favorite among progressives to replace him.

“When the people in power refuse to listen, you have to organize, you have to stand in solidarity, together. And you have to make them listen,” Jackson said during a speech at the last-minute nominating convention.

Democrats view Maine as the party’s best opportunity to flip a Senate seat this year because it's a competitive race in a state President Donald Trump lost in 2024. But defeating Collins won’t be easy. The five-term incumbent holds a fundraising advantage, while Jackson will have less than four months to sell himself to voters.

Republicans immediately launched an ad campaign against Jackson, accusing him of having a volatile temper and linking him to Platner. The Senate Leadership Fund, Republicans' super PAC, said it is committed to spending over $42 million against Jackson.

Collins has described Jackson as a ‘Bernie Bro’

Jackson, 58, will need to convince the state’s large independent voting bloc that it’s time to replace Collins, 73. Republicans have called Jackson too extreme for Maine voters, and Collins said earlier this week that she knows Jackson well and that his positions are “clearly” in line with socialism.

"Troy Jackson will attempt to sell Mainers a multi-trillion dollar bill of goods based on rhetoric that will make everything sound free, but in reality would be paid for by middle and lower income workers,” said Collins’ campaign spokesperson, Shawn Roderick.

Both Jackson and Collins are from northern Maine, where traditional industries such as potato farming and timber harvesting are vital parts of the economy. Both will make the case over the next few months that they are the right leader to protect those industries, along with lobster fishing and tourism.

Collins noted that Jackson ran U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ first presidential campaign in Maine, adding “He’s a Bernie Bro.”

Asked by reporters about that description, Jackson said, "I don’t really care. What I am is a guy from northern Maine that’s a logger.”

He said he would attack Collins on what he described as her record of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy and failing to protect health care.

Jackson needs to scramble to make up a fundraising gulf against the incumbent, who has been raising money for months. Federal filings show she has raised more than $16 million so far. Jackson’s campaign this week said he raised more than $1 million since jumping into the Senate race.

Maine is an important piece of Democrats’ effort to win the Senate

Democrats have a narrow path to take back the Senate in November and it’s highly unlikely they can do it without a win in Maine. In addition, they need victories in competitive races in North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio, and they need to hang on to the seats they already have. That includes open Senate seats in Michigan and Minnesota, where Democratic incumbents are retiring.

Maine’s Democratic primary was one of the early contests where progressives took on establishment-backed Democrats. While Platner faced several controversies during his campaign, he easily outlasted Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer but dropped out before the June 9 primary.

Platner had backing from Sanders as well as Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. That support disintegrated after the sexual assault allegation early this month.

Republicans began making the case Saturday that Jackson is too close to Platner. Jackson is “a Platner apologist, a radical Bernie Bro, and a walking red flag displaying all the warning signs of the early days of the Platner campaign,” RNC spokesperson Kristen Cianci said in a statement.

Jackson told reporters Saturday that he has not been in touch with Platner and is building a new movement. He didn't mention Platner from the stage during his two addresses to Democratic delegates on Saturday, but said the campaign was “bigger than any one person.”

Jackson overwhelmingly won delegates' support

The Maine Democratic Party scrambled to choose a new nominee after Platner, who sailed to victory in the Democratic primary in June, was accused by a former girlfriend of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner denies the allegation, but quit the race after key supporters called on him to withdraw.

Maine law gave the state party authority to choose a replacement and required a new nominee to be named by Monday — 101 days before the Nov. 3 election.

Maine Democrats' never-before-used process of voting on a new nominee involved hundreds of Democratic delegates gathering in Bangor, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Portland. The delegates were elected at county party meetings last weekend, and Jackson scored an easy victory over just one opponent.

He first ran for office as a Republican in 2000 when he sought a seat inside Maine’s House of Representatives. He lost, but won two years later when he ran as an independent. He switched to the Democratic Party in 2004, and eventually became the Maine Senate president before leaving the statehouse in 2024.

He came in third while running for governor in this year’s Democratic primary, but had the backing of Platner and Our Revolution, the political organization founded by Sanders. Once Platner dropped out on July 10, a flood of former governor candidates — including Jackson — jumped to try to take his place. But by July 19, most had abandoned their bids, with Jackson emerging as the clear favorite.

Jackson received early support from progressives who had backed Platner before he dropped out. Our Revolution initially backed Jackson for governor and Platner for Senate. When Platner left the race, the group rallied behind Jackson.

He has supported progressive positions such as Medicare for All. He also has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose presence in Maine has been hotly debated since an agent killed a driver in the state earlier this month.

Jackson acknowledged the disappointment of Platner’s supporters and the need to win them over for the general election.

“I agree there are people that are still very frustrated and angry what happened. I understand that,” he said to reporters. “All I’m trying to do is explain to them that his campaign was about the issues.”

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti and video journalist Nathan Ellgren in Washington contributed to this report.

The younger Bolsonaro still seeks a running mate and does not enjoy the support of centrist parties as his father did. Few Brazilian political heavyweights were in attendance, in another sign of his troubles forming an alliance against Lula ahead of the October election .

The 45-year-old senator's popular stepmother, Michelle Bolsonaro, a leader for many evangelical voters, was one of the notable absences among about 500 people cheering him on in Sao Paulo. Recently, the two exchanged criticism in public. She spoke Saturday in a recorded video in which she mentioned the anointed candidate just once.

Milei and Netanyahu express support

Still, Flávio Bolsonaro managed to bring in Argentina's President Javier Milei, displayed a short video of support from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and now eyes more international endorsements from several members of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Milei said Brazil needs to get rid of what he called “the Lula risk” of keeping progressive politics for another four years in Latin America's most powerful economy.

But absences were notable. The former president cannot make public addresses as he serves his 27-year sentence over a coup attempt, so a video featured an artificial intelligence-created version of Jair Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro did not disclose much about his plans for the presidency if he wins. He tearfully paid tribute to his father, now under house arrest, and raised his voice against Lula.

“You are going to put this presidential sash on me next year,” said Bolsonaro, who also accused Brazil's Supreme Court of persecuting his family. “This is more than a party convention. This is the beginning of the toughest battles of our life. A fight between good and evil.”

Search for a running mate continues

Bolsonaro has failed to recruit a high-profile female running mate after attempts to lure former Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina.

Her Popular Party, which has a stronghold in Congress and was key for Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, was not expected to field a presidential candidate. Its distancing from the younger Bolsonaro has been surprising.

“That's not necessarily bad for us,” lawmaker Zé Trovao told journalists before the convention began. “We can have a more ideological campaign and when time comes it will be them coming to us, having to agree to our agenda if they want to get rid of Lula and the Workers Party.”

Flávio Bolsonaro “has faced a problem each week, sometimes two problems,” said political consultant Thomas Traumann, based in Rio de Janeiro. "So far he has been on the defensive, saying the campaign only starts in August.”

Lula’s Workers’ Party will confirm the 80-year-old’s reelection bid in a convention on Aug. 2, also in Sao Paulo, a key battleground in the election.

Flávio Bolsonaro faces an uphill battle

Many of the troubles Bolsonaro has faced are self-inflicted. Support to his bid started to wane in May after he admitted he had requested millions of dollars from jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro to pay for a film about his father's life. The revelation shocked many allies.

Bolsonaro then visited the White House and the U.S. State Department days later expecting to get a Trump boost, but now many voters, business leaders and politicians blame him for the U.S. government imposing new tariffs on Brazilian exports of up to 37.5% as of Friday.

Even as most of Brazil was watching the World Cup on TV, Bolsonaro faced another blow: His stepmother recorded a video to say he was being disrespectful to her in a phone conversation.

Then last week, Bolsonaro drew criticism after repeating debunked claims on the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system, echoing those that led the country’s top court to rule his father ineligible.

As the convention was being prepared, the senator and his stepmother made amends. Bolsonaro made the first move in a live broadcast in which he apologized and added he is being “disproportionally persecuted" by others, as his father was.

Michelle Bolsonaro accepted Sen. Bolsonaro's apology on Friday, in what could be a first move of reconciliation within the family as the campaign begins.

“Let's sit down, let's talk, let's adjust details and together we will get a big army of people who do good to rescue our Brazil," she said in a video published on Friday.

Traumann, the political analyst, said Bolsonaro at the convention will have a much tougher time appealing to moderates than he did when he started his bid in December.

“He was showing himself as the moderate Bolsonaro, the one who took COVID vaccines, who is kind to his two daughters,” Traumann said. “He has lost voters who are against the Workers' Party, but are also more moderate. Now he has the radical core of his campaign, and his attempt now is to stop that group from leaving him too.”

___ Associated Press journalist Lucas Dumphreys in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.

The UNESCO meetings in Busan, which continue through next Wednesday, are reviewing dozens of other nominations, including the D-Day landing beaches in France, Mount Olympus in Greece and the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka-Fujiwara.

The Okefenokee Swamp boasts impressive biodiversity

The Okefenokee Swamp is regarded as one of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystems, encompassing a vast network of wetlands that supports exceptional biodiversity and serves as the source of two major rivers. Its largely undisturbed peat beds preserve a 5,000-year record of environmental change, making the swamp both a globally significant natural habitat and a valuable source of information on long-term environmental change, according to a UNESCO description.

While the World Heritage designation places the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge alongside iconic U.S. landmarks such as the Grand Canyon, some locals have opposed the listing, fearing it would increase U.N. involvement in managing the site.

“We accept this inscription not as a finish line, but as a commitment to keep the Okefenokee wild, resilient, and thriving for generations to come,” said Kim Bednarek, executive director of the nonprofit Okefenokee Swamp Park that’s worked with the U.S. government on the refuge’s nomination package.

A Thai 13th-century Buddhist temple with unique architecture makes the list

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, a 13th-century Buddhist temple in southern Thailand known for its 78-meter (255-foot) stupa and distinctive architecture, was also inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming Thailand’s ninth site.

UNESCO has described the temple as an outstanding example of Theravada Buddhist architecture that remains a living place of worship, preserving religious traditions that draw large gatherings of devotees. The temple was first proposed to UNESCO in 2012, and has gone through more than a decade of preparation to meet the nomination requirements.

While the World Heritage listing is expected to dramatically increase visitors to the temple, Kanop Ketchart, mayor of Nakhon Si Thammarat City, said officials are prepared to address potential infrastructure and capacity challenges.

“We have prepared our infrastructure, buffer zoning and evacuation plan to fit all the requirements of UNESCO,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press this month. “More importantly, the people are getting used to all this process for almost 10 years. So they are very much looking forward to (it).”

Religious, environmental and historic sites join the World Heritage List

Sarnath, an ancient Buddhist site in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, was another Asian religious location newly added to the World Heritage List. Recognized as the sacred location where the Buddha delivered his first sermon, the site’s architectural and archaeological properties remain deeply significant despite periods of decline and revival, UNESCO said.

The committee also decided to expand the World Heritage listing of the South Korean “getbol” tidal flats with four additional coastal wetlands in Seosan, Goheung, Muan and Yeosu in the country’s west. UNESCO had previously inscribed four other South Korean tidal flats in 2021 for their biodiversity and crucial role as a stopover for migratory birds.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the expanded designation of the tidal flats “reaffirms the importance of international cooperation for the conservation of the Yellow Sea ecosystem and the East Asian-Australasian Flyway,” a major migratory bird route that stretches from the Arctic through Asia to Australia and New Zealand.

Centuries-old handicraft porcelain industry sites in the eastern Chinese city of Jingdezhen were another new addition to the World Heritage List. The sites trace the evolution of handcrafted porcelain production in China from the 10th to the 19th centuries, showcasing innovations that helped make Jingdezhen a leading center for fine porcelain, with its blue-and-white porcelain becoming a global symbol of Chinese craftsmanship, according to UNESCO.

The Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros secured its first World Heritage listing after the committee inscribed six historic towns dating to the 11th century that later emerged as the principal urban centers of the country’s sultanates. UNESCO says the towns reflect centuries of cultural exchange through Indian Ocean trade networks while preserving distinctive urban traditions shaped by African, Arab and Islamic influences.

Team owner Robert Kraft said Saturday the star cornerback has been offered the highest contract in Patriots history.

“We love Christian Gonzalez. We love him as a player, as a person. That's why we've made an offer to him that makes him the highest-paid player ever to play that position in the NFL,” Kraft said before the team's opening training camp practice. “Coincidentally, it's the highest contract in Patriots franchise history.”

Kraft didn't provide details on the offer. But Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie's four-year contract currently tops NFL cornerbacks with an average yearly value of approximately $31 million.

The Patriots picked up Gonzalez's fifth-year option in April, meaning he will make just over $18 million in the final year of his rookie deal in 2027. But he entered the offseason seeking long-term security beyond that.

He apparently will soon have it with this extension offer.

For his part, Gonzalez has been confident that something would be worked out with the club, while remaining a presence around the team.

After skipping voluntary offseason workouts last month, Gonzalez was present for New England’s three-day mandatory minicamp. He was back on the field for Saturday’s first training camp workout.

Gonzalez is easily the team’s most important player in the secondary, earning his first Pro Bowl selection last season after posting 69 tackles, 10 pass breakups and one tackle for a loss in 2025.

Fellow cornerback Marcus Jones said Friday that although he hadn't discussed details of the situation with Gonzalez, he was confident Gonzalez wants to remain in New England.

“Gonzo loves it here,” Jones said. “I know that for a fact.”

Mike Vrabel not worried about recent history of Super Bowl losers

The Patriots had a dream turnaround last season, going from 4-13 in 2024 to 14-3 last season and earning a spot in the Super Bowl. They came up short in their championship bid, falling 29-13 to Seattle. But it's left high expectations in Mike Vrabel's second season in New England.

Each of the past two Super Bowl losers — Kansas City in the 2024 season and San Francisco in the 2023 season — missed the playoffs the following year. Both finished with 6-11 records after their Super Bowl runs.

But that's the furthest thing from Vrabel's mind.

“The expectations always get higher,” Vrabel said. “Our job is to recreate the things that we did really well last year — the culture, the ability to win different ways and find ways to win and understand how to win and understand how to prepare. And we’re going to have a more difficult journey. That’s just how it goes each and every year. That’s what we’re expecting.”

Drake Maye begins work with new center Jared Wilson

For the third straight year, quarterback Drake Maye is working with a new starting center in camp.

He had multiple centers as a rookie in 2024 after David Andrews suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Maye had more continuity last season when Garrett Bradbury started all 17 regular-season games and the four playoff games.

But with Bradbury signing with Chicago this offseason, Maye will be breaking in Jared Wilson, who started 13 games at left guard as a rookie for the Patriots in 2025. It's not a huge transition for Wilson, who played 12 games at center as a junior at Georgia.

“Jared, he's natural there,” Maye said. “You get to know his little things and how he likes things, when he's going left and I'm going right — all the under center things and how he understands Mike's points. ... Me and you, it's our show. And I think he's done a great job.”

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

The number of confirmed cases of Ebola in Congo has reached 2,973, including 1,309 deaths, according to government data released on Friday in what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak on record.

The Elikya Ebola Treatment Center in Bunia, Ituri province, came to a standstill after doctors, nurses and security staff stopped work.

About a hundred health workers protested outside the treatment center on Saturday. They said the unpaid bonuses were undermining morale and disrupting patient care, and called on Congolese authorities to resolve the backpay so they could resume their work.

“We need to be paid, because in the meantime the disease is spreading at the treatment center,” Martin Bolombi, one of the health workers on strike said.

“I’ve already had five people die who are still inside there. A solution must be found for us,” he added.

In a statement issued Friday, staff said they had unanimously voted to strike until “concrete solutions” were found to resolve “two months of unpaid performance bonuses.”

The strike comes a day after Congo's Prime Minister Judith Suminwa came to Ituri, touring major treatment hubs, in Rwampara and Mongbwalu, to assess the outbreak response. During her visit in Mongbwalu, she faced urgent demands from healthcare personnel protesting payment issues.

Dr. Adelard Lufungula, operations manager for the Ebola response, said Saturday the payment issue is “being resolved,” with workers now paid via mobile money instead of cash, and that the backlog “should be cleared" in the coming days.

Last week, health workers at Bunia General Hospital, the region’s largest medical center, had already gone on strike over unpaid salaries. Some told The Associated Press they had not received any payment since they started work at the onset of the outbreak.

The World Health Organization says more than 100 healthcare workers have been infected since the beginning of the outbreak.

The Central African nation has been battling the Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus since May 15. A total of 766 patients remain in isolation or in hospitals, while 540 have recovered so far, according to data from Congo’s Ministry of Health.

The eastern province of Ituri accounts for nearly 90% of confirmed cases.

The outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track despite an expanding response. A key challenge is that patient zero has yet to be identified in the outbreak while displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining in the region have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.

The response is also hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centers, an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo and mistrust among local communities.

There is also a lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus, unlike the more common Zaire virus for which there is a vaccine and which was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

Enrollment in a highly anticipated study of two possible Ebola treatments recently started in Ituri.

WHO says the global risk of the outbreak spreading outside Central Africa is low, noting that Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person rather than through the air, making it much harder to spread than respiratory viruses.

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Associated Press writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Bonn, Germany, contributed to this report.

More people are watching. More are investing. Salaries for many players are higher than ever. But mounting turmoil and discord have been a part of this transformative period that has featured a landmark collective bargaining agreement, league expansion and skyrocketing player recognition.

It seems to have reached a new flashpoint, as discussions about race, gender and sexuality made headlines ahead of Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game. Race-driven conversations resurfaced after an incident between Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, while players continued to voice frustrations with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and leadership over what they say is a lack of protection from social media harassment and divisive remarks.

“It is a moment to be celebrated without a doubt,” said Ketra Armstrong, sport management professor and director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport at the University of Michigan. “We want to celebrate what’s great. But sometimes, the progress can overshadow, still, where the perils are.”

Issues of race, gender and representation have been an undercurrent throughout the league's history. Debates over those issues have grown as women's sports have exploded. And they remain a challenge that shape the WNBA's — and most other pro sports leagues, for that matter — public and online discourse.

“This is what a sports league" is, said David Berri, sports economist and economics professor at Southern Utah University. He cited the NFL’s Rooney Rule as an example. “If a sports league is going to get attention, you’re going to get attention for these things as well.”

Growth has magnified broader cultural debates

Contentious conversations also spread to issues of transgender athletes and harassment.

WNBA veteran Brianna Turner said on social media this week that her former team, the Fever, fired a male employee last season for sexual harassment. Turner, who was with Indiana last season but now plays for Las Vegas, said Indiana players were encouraged not to discuss the firing.

Turner’s comments came as she defended transgender athletes days after Indiana forward Sophie Cunningham spoke on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham was quoted as saying in a story published by ESPN. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

The WNBA’s conversations about race were thrust back into the spotlight after Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello was suspended one game for referring to Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese as a “protected species.”

The comment, picked up by the broadcast after Reese drew a foul on Toronto player Nyara Sabally, quickly drew criticism.

Brondello, a former player who has won two WNBA titles, is Australian. The “protected species” phrase is used in Australian sports to express frustration over a lack of calls against a player. However, in the U.S., the phrase suggests that someone isn’t human and could be seen as derogatory toward Black people. Brondello later apologized. Reese accepted, saying she appreciated the league’s swift action.

“It’s a much bigger platform now. Everything that happens is news,” Berri said. “There were hard fouls 10 years ago. Nobody paid any attention to that. It ends up being because of the coverage now, everything gets magnified ... which is good. I mean, this is what we wanted.”

‘A lot to celebrate,’ but race still matters

Clark has repeatedly attempted to downplay the noise surrounding her, but she has become a springboard for projections far beyond the game itself.

“It’s basketball," she said in a recent ESPN interview. "When I walk out of the locker room I shouldn’t be fearful of what the conversation is going to be. It’s emotionally exhausting. It’s draining. It makes your shoulders tense because people don’t want to talk about the basketball. They just want to stir it up and make something else.”

The WNBA retroactively assessed Thomas a flagrant foul and suspended her one game after the veteran made contact with her fist to Clark’s throat in a June 24 matchup.

The play, which Thomas has said was an accident, gained widespread attention and ignited debates over officiating, with coaches, pundits and lawmakers weighing in on whether the league needs to take action about physical play involving Clark.

Thomas, who is Black and in her 12th WNBA season, said after the incident she had received death threats, part of increased online vitriol players have faced in recent years. Chelsea Gray of the Las Vegas Aces recently posted a message from a man that included a racial slur. And Engelbert this week met with a pair of player committees to discuss what more can be done to protect players from online harassment.

Since she entered the league, Clark and her WNBA peers have become proxies for long-standing American issues — from race, gender and sexual orientation to who receives attention and who doesn't.

“There’s a lot to celebrate,” Armstrong said, “but race still matters. Race will always matter. It just depends on how we make it matter.”

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

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

BOX ST. ALL DAY

7807 W Loop 1604 N Ste 2102, San Antonio, TX 78254

Box St. All Day is a San Antonio all-day brunch concept serving scratch-made dishes, specialty coffee, craft cocktails, and mimosas in a lively, neighborhood-friendly setting. The newest of their three Alamo City locations, this outpost in the Portico at Shaenfield Ranch brings the full Box St. experience to the far west side, with a full bar and a menu that spans sweet morning plates, savory sandwiches, and Tex-Mex inspired breakfast dishes.

The kitchen leans heavily on house-made components, starting with their signature milk bread — a rich, moist loaf baked in-house that serves as the base for their Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast. Their signature pancakes come topped with a house-made blueberry whipped butter and blueberry compote that makes the dish unforgettable. For the savory angle, the Breakfast Sandwich features the same milk bread alongside American cheese, two hashbrowns, a rosette egg, and spicy mayo. Rounding out our highlighted menu is the Blackened Chicken Club, dressed with guac spread, jammy tomatoes, pickles, applewood bacon, and sourdough bread.

SOUTH BARBECUE

2100 N Main Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212

South Barbecue offers a modern take on South Texas barbecue under the direction of James Beard-nominated pitmaster Andrew Samia. Located near downtown San Antonio, the restaurant has earned a strong reputation for smoked meats, flavorful sides, and a welcoming neighborhood atmosphere. The renovated Monte Vista space features a polished yet relaxed design with green booths, a full bar, and a pet-friendly patio that gives guests a comfortable place to enjoy barbecue throughout the day and into the evening.

The menu highlights classic Texas barbecue staples like brisket, pork ribs, turkey breast, and jalapeño cheddar sausage, alongside standout sides including creamed elote, borracho beans, and mustard potato salad. Unlike many traditional barbecue spots, South Barbecue stays open until 10 p.m., making it a convenient option for lunch, dinner, or late-night cravings. With its balance of quality smoked meats and modern comfort food, South Barbecue continues to stand out in San Antonio’s competitive barbecue scene.

HONEY’S CHICKEN JOINT

1001 Rittiman Rd, San Antonio, TX 78218

Opened in 2025 and situated near Fort Sam Houston, Honey’s Chicken Joint was born out of a desire to bring serious bone-in chicken to San Antonio. The team drew inspiration from a research and development trip through the South, and the result is a stripped-back, charming dining room with weathered chairs and enamel pots on the wall that channels small-town Southern spirit.

The menu centers on bone-in combo meals and fried tenders, with chicken sandwiches all served alongside honey butter-drenched drop biscuits. Combo meals come with a choice of Southern-style sides including slaw, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and mac ‘n’ cheese, and bone-in orders arrive with white gravy as standard. Tenders can be paired with ranch, a house honey mustard, or an incredible Mississippi comeback sauce.

KING WILLIAM WINE COMPANY

1420 S Alamo St Suite 102, San Antonio, TX 78210

King William Wine Co. is a chef-driven restaurant and wine bar located inside the Blue Star Arts Complex in San Antonio’s historic Southtown neighborhood. Named one of San Antonio’s Best New Restaurants by both the San Antonio Express-News and San Antonio Magazine, the concept was built by owners Juan and Jill Arreguin around the intersection of classical European technique and an exceptional wine program. Operating as a European-style kitchen, the team approaches each dish with a focus on preparation done with care and precision, with Jill serving as co-owner and executive chef.

The food menu leans into refined, shareable plates, and the bouillabaisse stands as one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes — finished with a full lobster tail, New Zealand mussels, and clams with cod loin. The wine program centers on Champagne and classic Old World appellations, with a curated cellar featuring grower Champagnes and small producers alongside a full bar program. Sunday Afternoon Tea, private wine dinners, and a gourmet market further round out an experience designed for lingering, celebrating, and exploring great bottles.

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The strikes followed a major Russian attack on Friday near Kyiv that killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100 others, part of a relentless cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia's more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

The exchange comes as Ukraine’s successful drome attacks have stalled the Russian army’s advances in an expanded campaign by Kyiv inside Russia that has been hitting high-profile targets, causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Four children were among 12 people killed in the attack on the resorts in Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, the Kremlin-installed regional head, said, adding that 19 others were wounded.

Ukraine did not immediately comment.

Sumy regional head Oleh Hryhorov said on Saturday three people were killed when a large fire broke out after a Russian drone struck a “civilian facility,” adding that the victims were drivers for private Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta.

Russia’s defense ministry said it attacked a “storage and launch site” for Ukrainian drones in the Sumy region.

In Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, a Russian drone attack late Friday hit a shopping center, causing a fire that spread over a 500-square-meter area and injuring several people, regional head Ivan Fedorov said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his evening address on Friday that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing missiles for a large attack, saying there were indications that this could happen in the next 48 hours.

Ukraine keeps targeting oil facilities

A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire in the grounds of the Tyumen Oil Refinery, in western Siberia, Tyumen regional Gov. Aleksandr Moor said on Saturday.

Writing on X Saturday, Zelenskyy confirmed the hit on the Tyumen plant, along with a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg and a fuel and lubricants warehouse in Rostov-on-Don.

Ukraine’s long-range drone technology has evolved during the war, posing a problem for Russia, whose huge land mass is hard to protect fully.

Kyiv’s forces have targeted Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy plan to meet on Tuesday in Washington, a White House official said on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump’s schedule before it is announced.

Kyiv did not immediately comment on the meeting, although Zelenskyy said in his Friday address that Kyiv was “preparing for a meeting with the President of the United States and his team.”

A memorial service in Washington for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters, is slated for Tuesday.

Romania shoots down second drone in 2 days

Romania’s defense ministry said on Saturday its forces had “safely shot down” a drone that breached its airspace in an “unpopulated area” near the Ukrainian border. The drone was “shot down by a Romanian pilot from an F-16 aircraft,” President Nicușor Dan said in a post on Facebook.

Saturday’s interception came after a drone was shot down around Padina, northeast of the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on Friday.

A series of drone incursions by Russia and Ukraine have hit Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In June, a Ukrainian maritime drone exploded at the Black Sea port of Constanta, while three other sea drones exploded outside the port. No one was hurt.

A Russian drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine in May went astray and struck an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people.

It is, however, too early to predict if it will be a true “drought buster,” hydrological experts say, or if rising lake levels will push back mandatory water use restrictions for residents.

Corpus Christi, Texas’ eighth-largest city, has been racing to avoid a water emergency in which demand outpaces available water supplies. Earlier this year, city projections showed that “day zero” — when supplies are six months away from being outstripped by demand — could arrive as early as May. Spring rains pushed that estimate back to September 2027, but not before drawing statewide and national attention as the city appeared to be the first major U.S. city to be on track to run short of water.

For months, local leaders said the region needed either steady rain or a hurricane to replenish the largely empty reservoirs. Last week’s intense storms across Central and South Texas, which triggered flash flood emergencies, evacuations and rescues, may deliver some of the hoped-for relief.

The biggest gains, so far, have been at Choke Canyon Reservoir, the city’s largest water resource. The lake climbed from 7.9% of capacity on Monday to 19.8% by Saturday. The reservoir was last consistently full in the early 2000s and has been below 50% full since 2013.

“It’s nothing to sneeze at,” said Robert Mace, a water expert and executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University. He said reservoirs are still rising, signaling that more water is on the way.

Just a few months ago, the region’s outlook was far more dire. In April, the major regional reservoirs reached historic lows — Choke Canyon dropped to 7.4% of capacity while Lake Corpus Christi fell to 8.5%. That same month, at least six small cities and towns in the Coastal Bend region issued disaster declarations amid the water crisis. Corpus Christi, which supplies water to some of its neighbors, told its residents and businesses to cut their water use.

“Even if [Choke Canyon] stopped going up today, it buys Corpus valuable time to pursue alternative supplies,” Mace said.

Rainfall runoff from the Frio, Atascosa and Nueces River systems is expected to contribute vital inflows to both Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi. The capacity of Choke Canyon is three times that of Lake Corpus Christi.

The Frio River, which flows into Choke Canyon, rose from a depth of around one foot in recent weeks to nearly 30 feet on July 22 in Tilden. At its peak, the river carried roughly 20,000 cubic feet of water per second.

Flows have remained steady, meaning more water is still moving toward the reservoir.

“This flood event has broad shoulders as it’s moving down the river towards these reservoirs,” Mace said.

Greg Waller, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, said forecasts show Choke Canyon Reservoir could rise a total of 12 feet, bringing it up to 192 feet. The lake is nearing 186 feet, “which is good, but it’s nowhere near full,” Waller said. “This would be good for water supply storage for Choke Canyon.”

While inflows are already reaching Choke Canyon Reservoir, Lake Corpus Christi is expected to begin seeing inflows within the next week. However, forecasting those flows is more complicated.

Waller calls the Nueces River problematic for a hydrological forecaster because it crosses the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. During dry periods, the ground can absorb water before it can reach the reservoir.

How much will the ground suck up? It is hard to predict. Waller said the last five rain events have shown “variable loss” of water. Forecasters expect some water will recharge the aquifer this time as well, but it’s too early to calculate how much.

Corpus Christi officials said in a news release that they are closely monitoring upstream river flows to Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi.

“Our team is continuously tracking upstream gauge levels and coordination efforts across the watershed,” said Nick Winkelmann, chief operating officer of Corpus Christi Water. “We are fully prepared to manage incoming volumes to ensure dam safety, optimize municipal supply storage, and fulfill all regulatory requirements.”

The city plans to hold a meeting next week to discuss what the rising lakes mean for its water emergency.

The Nueces River in Cotulla crested at significant flood levels at 29 feet on July 22 — up from 4 feet in the weeks prior. That water will continue to travel downstream in the coming days.

Waller said that once the water shows up at Tilden, forecasters will have a better idea how much water will make its way to Lake Corpus Christi, which currently sits at 32% capacity. The water could arrive as early as July 27 with a steady rise the first week of August, he said.

“We’re running our modeling to try to share this information, so [the city] can make the best decisions,” Waller said.

Whether the storms will end the Coastal Bend’s drought remains uncertain.

“Texas is a state of drought with occasional massive flooding, and so we’re seeing that,” Mace said.

Still, he cautioned against declaring victory: “We’ll have to see what happens with how much water comes into these reservoirs as to whether or not they’re drought busters for Corpus Christi.”

Colleen DeGuzman contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Texas State University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Two lawsuits filed by small businesses are challenging Trump's sweeping tariffs announced Thursday that impose double-digit levies on 60 trading partners.

The tariffs, implemented under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for what the Trump administration says is countries' failure to prevent imports produced by forced labor, cover 99% of U.S. imports. Critics say the goal is less to prevent forced-labor imports and more to replace the worldwide tariffs that Trump imposed last year that were struck down by the Supreme Court in February. They came just as temporary 10% worldwide tariffs — that had also been challenged in court — expired.

Educational toy company Learning Resources, which was part of the tariff lawsuit that won in the Supreme Court, filed a new suit along with several other small businesses in the Court of International Trade on Friday over the current round of tariffs.

The second lawsuit was filed by Burlap and Barrel, a New York-based spice company, and Collective Horology, a watch retailer based in Ventura, California. They are represented by Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian advocacy group.

Both lawsuits argue that the government didn't adequately establish its case against each specific economy or spell how the tariffs will eliminate the specified practice they are being levied for, as required by Section 301.

“Forced labor is morally indefensible, but an important objective does not give the government permission to ignore the law,” said Sara Albrecht, chairman and CEO of the Liberty Justice Center. “The administration allowed one global tariff to expire and immediately replaced it with another under a different statute. Changing the statute doesn’t change the law.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Experts say it might be tougher to successfully challenge the current round of tariffs than previous rounds. Trump used Section 301 to impose big tariffs on China in his first term, and they survived court challenges.

Unlike the Section 122 levies that expired Friday, “these tariffs will be with us for the long haul,’’ said lawyer Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.

Even if countries enact the precise policies the U.S. wants, he said, they will still need to prove that they’re enforcing them to Washington’s satisfaction before the tariffs are removed. “This suggests that no short-term path for country-wide relief from the new Section 301 tariffs will be available.’’

He assured the crowd of journalists, though, that he'd scrapped the most biting parts of his remarks.

“That was going to be a doozy,” Trump said about the speech he’d been prepared to give in April, before a gunman upended the original dinner and forced its postponement.

“As I said three months ago, the show must go on,” the president said to begin his remarks, hailing the decision to reschedule the dinner. He referred to “the attempted mass murder” that could have happened that night in April, but then moved largely to humor — and, increasingly, insults.

Trump's return to the correspondents' dinner — and his promise to come back next year as well — represented a notable moment in his relationship with the news media, which he has attacked, sued and taken administrative action against since he began his second term early last year. Among the audience members were reporters he had denounced and barred from events.

Trump’s sometimes off-color speech, which lasted just over an hour, was full of potshots directed at various individuals — from Bruce Springsteen to “Barack Hussein Obama” to familiar targets like journalist Kaitlan Collins of CNN, one of the evening's key award winners, whom he again accused of not smiling enough. The audience reacted at first with friendly laughs, but slowly quieted to scattered titters as the insults piled up.

Among other targets of Trump’s humor: Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel; Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; California Gov. Gavin Newsom; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; and even Trump's own speechwriters. “That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole fricking stupid speech they wrote,” he said when one joke fell flat.

At one point, Trump wondered aloud what his role was. “Is this supposed to be fun?” he asked. “Am I supposed to be a comedian?” He was on more comfortable ground expressing pride in the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly the Trump International Hotel, and its chandeliers. “It’s great to be back at a place that I know very well, because I built it,” he said.

He also made a pained reference to the evening's journalism awards, many for stories challenging him and his administration — including one for the Wall Street Journal's coverage of his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Do I have a say in those awards?” he asked.

He made brief mention of the Iran war, and referred to the ballroom he's building at the White House. He also used the occasion to joke about the possibility of a third term — something barred by the U.S. Constitution's 22nd Amendment.

“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better,” the president quipped. “And the third time will be better yet.”

He added: “I’m only kidding.” Then, at the end, he donned a red cap that said “Trump 2028” and delivered the “scoop” that he was running again.

It was a very different dinner than the previous one

Trump had entered the ballroom to polite applause, and was thanked for his support by outgoing White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News. After dinner, he sat through more than an hour of awards presentations, shaking hands with each winner.

One of the those winners, Tyler Pager of the New York Times, was in fact one of the reporters subpoenaed by Trump’s Justice Department over his reporting about Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. Those subpoenas were withdrawn Thursday in a New York courtroom — just one of the arenas where the president has been seeking to control media coverage he dislikes.

The rescheduled dinner took place at a smaller venue this time that held only about 700 people. Security was markedly tighter. Guests entered via a single entrance, through two ID checks. There was no red carpet and no separate cocktail receptions preceding the dinner.

“Let’s try this again,” Jiang quipped, welcoming the crowd. The White House press corps, she noted, “always have a follow-up.” Turning serious, she referred back to the trauma and confusion of the original dinner in April.

“Tonight our message is this: We are back,” she said. “We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word.”

Secret Service agent, hotel staff received awards for bravery during shooting

Also receiving an award Friday evening was Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service agent who was staffing a security checkpoint in April and was struck in his protective vest.

Gonzales “placed himself directly in harm’s way and engaged the armed suspect,” Jiang said. “He stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped.”

A second award was presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton, site of the first dinner, for their professionalism under pressure.

The dress code this time was a looser “black tie optional,” and dinner included grilled peach and burrata salad, lobster and roasted beet Wellington. As in April, the featured entertainment was mentalist Oz Pearlman — who now got the chance to perform his act.

Jiang and fellow board members had emphasized they did not want to let a violent act — or the image of colleagues hiding under tables — remain the final thought. Announcing the rescheduling, she'd emphasized the dinner’s stated purpose: “A celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century.”

There's still lots of criticism of the event

But some people felt the dinner should not have been rescheduled at all.

Many never thought it was much of a good look in the first place, with the sight of journalists in formal wear cozying up to their sources, or the objects of their reporting.

“It undermines the public faith in how the press does its work, and it makes it look like we are pals with the people we cover,” Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, said when the deliberations were taking place.

The new dinner came at a time of fast-increasing tension between the media and a president who has applied pressure on media outlets he's unhappy with in a variety of ways. That pressure has ranged from sanctions against members of the White House press corps to regulatory actions through the Federal Communications Commission to outright lawsuits.

Trump ended his remarks, though, ended with an attempt to mend fences — to a point. “I have a lot of respect for your profession,” he told the assembled journalists.

He also touted his own success, declaring: “When I'm not around, you're all gonna be broke.”

And he concluded about the evening: “It's far worse than I originally thought.”

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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.

A lengthy and bruising process ended swiftly and decisively on Friday, when a large majority of the court’s 125 member states voted to remove Karim Khan from his post.

The British barrister was accused of sexual misconduct with a female aide, as outlined by the AP in a series of stories, allegations he has steadfastly denied. According to documents seen by the AP, Khan engaged in a sexual relationship with the woman and tried to prevent her from pursuing her allegations.

Khan's removal comes at a time when the court is already facing daunting challenges, including a campaign by the United States to “dismantle” the ICC, which was established to prosecute people responsible for humanity’s worst crimes.

Supporters of the court are looking forward

Several countries where the ICC has open investigations met together on the sidelines of the event on Friday to discuss the ways out of any potential impasses created by Khan’s removal, according to three senior diplomatic officials familiar with the discussions.

One of the officials said a number of states began planning for how to move forward before the final votes were tallied.

“Whether Khan is removed or not, we must bring everyone back together,” the official said. They all spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

The vote was surprisingly clear

A special session at U.N. headquarters in New York was scheduled to take all of Friday. Instead, a morning motion that would have made it harder to oust Khan failed and diplomats quickly moved forward to vote on removal, several hours ahead of schedule, according to three diplomats familiar with the proceedings.

Iva Vukusic, a researcher at Utrecht University who has been following the process, said she was surprised by how decisive it was. “The numbers indicate that there is more agreement than previously thought,” she told the AP.

Khan’s ouster comes at an already difficult time

The decision comes at a time when the global tribunal is under enormous pressure. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week that Washington was launching a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty.”

Hours after Friday’s vote, Venezuela announced it would withdraw from the court, saying its work reflects a “demonstrated geographical bias.” Félix Plasencia, the country’s foreign affairs minister, made the announcement in a statement.

Trump’s administration already has brought sanctions against Khan and a dozen other ICC staff in retaliation for investigations into Israeli officials in Gaza and U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.

The allegations became entwined with the court’s investigation into the war in Gaza, with Khan’s supporters arguing that the warrants the court has issued for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were at stake.

Palestinian representatives were quick to push back on that narrative. “The vote by the Assembly of States Parties to remove the Prosecutor was not a political proxy vote on any Situation before the ICC,” Palestinian Ambassador to the Netherlands Ammar Hijazi said in a statement.

Khan’s removal will have no immediate impact on the arrest warrants which can only be withdrawn by ICC judges.

The work of the court will continue

Khan’s two deputy prosecutors have helmed the office since he stepped down in May 2025. In a statement, the office of the prosecutor said the pair will continue with its “leadership, management and administration,” until a new chief is selected.

It is not clear yet when member states will be able to decide on Khan’s replacement. His election in 2021 took nearly 18 months and drew criticism from civil society groups over the lack of stringent background checks on the candidates to ensure they met the requirement of “high moral character.”

There may be more legal proceedings to come

The removal vote may not be the end of the process for Khan. He intends to “challenge the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms,” attorney Tayab Ali said in a statement.

There is no appeals process for his removal but all ICC staff are entitled to bring complaints to a special labor tribunal based in Geneva.

Khan’s lawyers criticized the process leading to his ouster, complaining that he was blocked from addressing the session Friday and arguing the regulations had been rewritten to disadvantage him.

On Monday, lawyers and investigators will return to the court’s headquarters in The Hague with at least some clarity about the future. “I hope now the court can move on and focus on its core work of dealing with cases,” Vukusic said.

The cultural trend of so-called teen takeovers has popped up across the U.S. in recent years, influencing local policing and national politics. The events, often hyped online and captured in videos on social media, have led to shootings, theft and vandalism. City officials and police are concerned about an increase over the summer, and are under pressure to prevent similar gatherings or to punish those who participate.

Over the July 4 holiday weekend, several thousand young people converged in two spots in Raleigh, North Carolina, police said. Nine people, including an adult who was not part of the gatherings, were shot and wounded.

There were also takeovers in Pensacola, Florida, where a 19-year-old was shot and killed; and Newport Beach, California, where more than 400 were arrested after the police chief said teens launched “explosive mortars and other projectiles” at officers ordering them to disperse.

But Spann and other teens say that the events are largely misunderstood. They point to formal curfews or limits on group size at malls and movie theaters that have made it harder for teens to gather, exacerbating a feeling of disconnection they trace back to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

How cities are tracking the social media trend

Communities and police across the country are trying to identify organizers, fine parents of those involved and impose curfews.

In Detroit, officials say they “thwarted" 19 gatherings so far this year by monitoring time and location changes as young people coordinated across social media, said Teferi Brent, director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety.

“We have eyes on all the behaviors and activities of those who have expressed interest in trying to take over and we have done a good job of being way ahead of the curve and being able to prevent a lot of these things,” Brent said.

Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, who chairs the Chicago City Council’s subcommittee on Youth Employment, said her office has tried to find solutions that don't rely exclusively on police and instead coordinate with parents and community members to prevent conflict or crimes.

Blue Island, a south Chicago suburb, has taken another tact: to fine parents or guardians and use the funds to cover clean up after events. That might include debris left behind or other damages like cars dented from scores of teens clambering over them while fleeing police.

Other places have taken harsher approaches, as in Florida, where state officials said prosecutors can apply racketeering laws, typically targeting criminal gangs or organized crime, if takeovers appear to be facilitated by “an organized network.”

But some have pushed back on the idea that the threat of harsh legal punishment could prevent the gatherings in the first place.

“What we know about adolescent brain development is that the stakes are not going to be what prevents a young person from engaging in risky behavior,” said Melissa Milchman, the executive director for the nonpartisan organization the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. Milchman added that mass arrests often ensnare those who are going for innocent fun without preventing others from breaking the law.

Teens say there aren't safe spaces for them to gather

For Spann, the recent media attention on the events has largely failed to capture the appeal to young people.

“You feel like a young person who has freedom, who’s not being held to something,” said Spann, who is Black. At the event he went to, he was able to catch up with people he hadn't seen since 8th grade.

He said that the events are a direct result of a cascade of school closures across Black neighborhoods over the past couple decades in Chicago. To deter people from gathering even at basketball courts, where there were sometimes fights, officials have removed the nets. Spann said that his mom, who grew up in the same neighborhood, frequently talks about how much easier it used to be to hang out outside without a fear of gun violence.

When Spann goes to malls in more affluent areas with his mostly Black group of friends, shoppers often stare and security guards question them. To avoid scrutiny, Spann and his friends sometimes sneak into outdoor shopping centers or areas downtown in smaller groups at staggered times.

By contrast, in the same spaces, Spann said, “If I’m with my white friends, I feel like I belong."

Despite the physical dangers that come with takeovers and the threat of getting a ticket or even arrested, the allure is strong, according to Jeffrey Bernstein, a psychologist and author.

“The kids still do it because they feel like it’s their second family,” which he said “really takes over as their primary sense of connection.”

“They’re getting things from their peers that they can’t get from their parents.”

Some cities have tried to meet that need head-on, instead of cracking down with law enforcement.

In St. Louis, officers have started to bring some teens to community centers instead of jails so their parents can pick them up, and in Baltimore, officials have tried leaning on public schools to provide alternative programming. In Chicago, Spann received a $11,000 grant from the city and partnering nonprofits to host an event for his peers at the end of the summer, in an effort to give his community more places to gather.

What cities are doing to address ‘teen takeovers’

In April, Daveion Page, a 16-year-old in Detroit, was bored. He turned to his phone, creating a post on social media promoting a teen takeover. Hundreds of teens soon flocked to a site downtown and fights broke out by the end of the night. At another takeover in May, a 14-year-old was shot and wounded.

After the Detroit event in April, Page told reporters that he didn't intend for the takeover he organized to result in violence.

“I just wanted to get out of the house, have fun, enjoy time with my family and my homeboys and my homegirls, too," said Page, who was flanked by Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield and other city officials at a news conference.

He told city officials that young people might respond if there were more safe places to gather.

Before the takeovers, there were already plans to use $1.5 million from the city’s budget for summer programming and to support violence prevention programs. In response to the takeovers, the city has launched an office of youth affairs, met and listened to students at schools, and created a youth advisory board comprised of teens and young adults.

“We have brought them to the table and made them a part of our structure in regards to identifying what the needs and concerns are of the young people in the city,” Brent said.

In Detroit, a late-night basketball league has formed as an alternative hangout spot for teens and young adults. Jerseys and sneakers are provided by the city.

“This league just helps me find something to do,” Cameron Chandler, 21, said while playing basketball at the recreation center.

He's never participated in a takeover, but recently after practice, he stumbled on one near his home.

“There were a lot of cops and some people got arrested,” Chandler said. “You just have to think, ‘that could easily be me.’”

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Riddle reported from Los Angeles. Williams reported from Detroit.