For Cohen, who served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Trump’s “dirty deeds,” it was the culmination of a behind-the-scenes detente that would have been impossible to imagine several years ago.

The interview, part of which aired on Cohen's 77 WABC radio program Thursday evening and which will air in full on Sunday, was an exceptionally friendly affair, with only passing reference to the men's tumultuous history.

“They weaponized you like nobody's ever been weaponized, like few have been,” Trump told Cohen.

“I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,” he went on. “That’s a big thing that you did."

In an interview with CNN shortly before the radio interview aired, Cohen said he had resubmitted a pardon application to the White House that had been denied by the previous administration, but had yet to receive any response and planned to follow up on Friday.

The truce with Cohen makes him the latest in a long line of Trump loyalists who have had public falling-outs with the president but found themselves back in his good graces. Other recent examples include Elon Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But the split from Cohen was perhaps the most personal. Cohen once boasted that he would “take a bullet” for the president and was by Trump’s side during his political rise. After their public breakup, Cohen’s testimony in Trump’s 2024 criminal hush-money trial instead helped secure Trump’s criminal conviction just as he was trying to make his political comeback.

Cohen has since criticized prosecutors in the case — an admission that paved the way for their reconciliation.

‘Boss, remember when I was by your side,’ Cohen tells Trump

Cohen has said he and the president have had multiple conversations over the past year and introduced the interview by explaining his decision to move on.

“Forgiveness does not mean amnesia. It does not mean that the past did not happen. It does not mean the scars vanish, that the pain was fake or that I have forgotten a single second of what transpired, I have not. Forgiveness isn’t about erasing history," he said. “It is about having the courage to decide that yesterday will no longer dictate tomorrow.”

He sounded nostalgic about a time when he was one of Trump's most trusted aides.

“Boss, remember when I was by your side,” he said at one point.

The clip was introduced with the 1975 War song, “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” and closed with the lyrics, “Reunited and it feels so good,” from the 1978 Peaches & Herb song.

In a long post on his online newsletter Thursday promoting the interview, Cohen said that although his relationship with Trump became “political blood sport,” there were 15 years of close friendship between them.

“The good times don’t cease to have existed because the bad times came afterward,” Cohen wrote.

Simply, he said: “We forgave.”

Trump had made no warm public statements about Cohen before Thursday, but in a series of social media posts this year, he linked to some of his former lawyer’s comments saying he felt pressured by prosecutors to testify against Trump in the criminal hush money case and a civil fraud case.

Cohen was a key figure in Trump's prosecution in New York

In 2024, Cohen was the star witness in Trump's criminal hush money trial, which resulted in a 34-count felony conviction. He ended up facing no punishment.

But over days of probing questioning by prosecutors, followed by bruising cross-examination, Cohen placed the then-Republican candidate at the center of schemes during the 2016 presidential election to stifle accounts from an adult film actor and former Playboy model who said they had sexual encounters with Trump.

Cohen testified that Trump promised to reimburse the lawyer for the money he fronted and that he was constantly updated on behind-the-scenes efforts to bury stories feared to be harmful to the campaign.

“What I was doing, I was doing at the direction of and benefit of Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified.

Cohen’s testimony at the time appeared to be the final breach in a once-close relationship between the lawyer and his client that was tested in dramatic fashion in 2018 when FBI agents searched Cohen’s office, home and hotel room.

Cohen later pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Russia as well as to campaign finance violations in which he implicated Trump in payments that went to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, and Playboy Playmate Karen MacDougal. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Since his trial testimony, though, Cohen has sung a different tune as he’s moved closer to Trump, insisting that he had testified under duress.

“I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” he wrote in a Substack post in January.

Cohen testified before Congress in 2019, alleging Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets to gain favorable loan terms and tax benefits.

He gave similar testimony in a 2023 civil fraud trial in New York, which found that Trump and his companies had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. A New York appeals court later threw out a $550 million judgment against Trump in that case. Trump has asked a court to overturn the remaining parts of the case.

In his tell-all memoir in 2020, “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump,” Cohen was unsparing, calling Trump an “organized crime don” and “master manipulator.”

But, foreshadowing their later rapprochement, Cohen also wrote that he still cared for Trump, writing, “I had and still have a lot of affection for him.”

___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

The United States' debt surpassed a record $40 trillion Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending.

The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.

The Latest:

Democrats introduce legislation to stop trades from early access to Trump’s Truth Social posts

The bill seeks to bar social media platforms from selling preferential access to posts from government officials including the president, Congress and the judiciary.

It comes in response to Truth Social’s launch of a subscription-based service that provides advance access to posts from Trump and other influential accounts.

The legislation would also make it illegal for people to trade securities or other instruments off the information obtained through the preferential access.

Introduced by Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut and other Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee, the bill is the House version of similar legislation from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

Himes said “auctioning off advance access to government announcements on Truth Social is one of the most brazen attempts at self-enrichment yet.”

Vance says the debt is too high but puts blame on Biden administration

“Even though we inherited this debt bomb from the Biden Administration, we actually do have a plan to get the economy growing faster than the debt, and that’s the most important thing,” Vance said in an interview on Newsmax.

The debt has exploded over several presidential administrations as the government spent more than it collected in taxes, including during Trump’s first term, under former President Joe Biden and in Trump’s second term, when the president signed tax cut and spending legislation into law last year.

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Trump praised Cohen for ‘recanting everything you said’

In the roughly 15-minute friendly exchange on the radio show between Trump and Cohen that aired Thursday evening, the president told his former lawyer that he respects “the fact that you recanted everything you said.”

“That’s a big thing that you did. That’s a very big thing,” Trump told him.

Much of their conversation focused on Trump’s second term and the Iran war, with Cohen slipping back into a role of adviser and at one point telling Trump, “Maybe what we should do is then have a press conference and literally put out all of the accomplishments.”

More than 750 US troops have been wounded during operations against Iran, Pentagon data shows

Of the 757 service members who have been wounded since the war began in February, more than 580 are Army soldiers. The total injured also include 86 sailors, 64 airmen and 19 Marines.

While many of the casualties are categorized as having occurred during “Operation Epic Fury,” the formal name for the conflict, the Pentagon created a new category for wounded troops called “Overseas Operations” in the Defense Casualty Analysis System in late July. The Pentagon said that was because Operation Epic Fury has concluded and the military has decided to classify casualties tied to the latest strikes in the new category.

The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command have offered almost no details on how the injuries have occurred or the amount of damage that U.S. bases have sustained. However, officials have said the vast majority of the injuries are traumatic brain injuries.

Michael Cohen says he sent a pardon application to Trump after first submitting it to Biden

Trump’s former fixer told CNN on Thursday that he applied for a pardon to former President Joe Biden, but it was denied. Cohen served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Trump’s “dirty deeds.”

“What I did is I took that same application, with the same documentation, and I just rewrote the cover letter removing the name of President Joe Biden and inserting the name President Donald Trump,” Cohen said.

Cohen said he has not received any acknowledgment from the Trump White House of the application but he said it’s on his to-do list for Friday.

Canadian premier says Trump is a ‘bad person’ as Canada weighs concessions for trade deal

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada has leverage in the talks even as his province weighs restoring U.S. alcohol sales at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s urging to help secure a deal that would avert threatened 50% U.S. tariffs.

“Everybody knows the American president by now, he’s erratic, he’s irresponsible, and he’s not to be trusted. And this is the person that we were supposed to make a deal with, and we’re going to make additional concessions for it. That’s why I say you can’t make a good deal with a bad person, because who’s to say it’s not going to be undone?” Kinew said.

Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U. S. trade, said Thursday the two countries were close to finalizing an agreement after he returned to Washington to meet again with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

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Army is shutting down unit in Europe focused on drones

The Army’s top general has directed a Europe-based unit specializing in drone warfare to revert to traditional infantry roles.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade has spent over a year experimenting with drones, influenced by tactics from the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Last November, 600 soldiers formed a battalion that specialized in drone warfare and was set up to deploy anywhere drones were required.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting chief of staff, has ordered the battalion to refocus on its core mission of being an airborne infantry unit, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Army deliberations. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the change.

The move is part of broader Army changes under LaNeve, who took over after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted his predecessor, Gen. Randy George, in April.

Melania Trump accepts $2 million gift to provide college scholarships

The $2 million donation from IndyCar and Fox Corp. will pay for scholarships at Indiana University and Purdue University through the first lady’s Fostering the Future program for youngsters in foster care.

The Indiana schools are the latest to join a network of more than two dozen colleges and universities nationwide that participate in her program, she said during an event in the White House Rose Garden to announce the gift. The program, she said, give foster care youth the opportunity to get a college education, launch a career and achieve financial independence

“America’s greatest competitive advantage remains in its own people,” she said.

IndyCar is sponsoring Sunday’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix through the streets of downtown Washington in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

Treasury extends Lukoil license

The U.S. Treasury has extended a general license that grants permission for certain transactions connected to the potential sale of the foreign assets of sanctioned Russian oil firm Lukoil.

The latest license, which has been renewed several times, expires Sept. 19.

Last October, the Trump administration announced “massive sanctions” against Russia’s oil industry that were aimed at moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and bring an end to Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine. Those sanctions included punishing measures on Lukoil.

Trump meets Vance’s baby

The vice president said in an interview on a radio show on Thursday that he took his youngest son, Alec Neel Vance, who was born July 19, to meet Trump.

Vance, speaking on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, said the president loves children and gave his son a challenge coin.

“The baby doesn’t understand that, but he will someday,” Vance said.

Vance said the meeting happened after he and his wife, Usha, had lunch with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and country music star Luke Bryan, who is in town for a show.

Trump keeps embracing data centers even as they become toxic in midterm races

The president has voiced strong support for AI and data centers, emphasizing their economic benefits and importance in the global AI race.

“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center,” Trump said, “I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.”

Candidates in competitive midterm elections, however, are far less accepting.

Data centers have become a contentious issue, with concerns about energy costs and environmental impact. In Ohio, Republican Jon Husted faces attacks over his support for data centers. In Nevada, Democrat Aaron Ford accused Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo of aligning with Trump on the issue.

The debate reflects broader tensions over technology and local impact.

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US ramps up Cuba sanctions and detentions of Americans returning from the island

The Trump administration is imposing new sanctions on Cuba targeting its mining and metals sectors and broadening restrictions on Americans’ transactions with government-owned or affiliated businesses. It also accused Havana of using cultural and educational exchanges to radicalize U.S. citizens.

The Treasury and State departments announced sanctions on Thursday against 10 state-owned mining, metals, and construction companies and the leadership of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ICAP is responsible for sponsoring a “subversive network” to “cultivate” Americans, most recently with educational and cultural exchanges around the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth earlier this month.

The sanctions follow an operation at the Miami airport last weekend in which several American citizens returning to the U.S. from events marking Castro’s birthday in Cuba were briefly detained, some of whom had their cellphones and other personal electronic devices seized for inspection.

Federal agents seize devices from ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell in sexual misconduct probe, AP source says

Federal agents have seized electronic devices from former Rep. Eric Swalwell and searched his Washington home as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the ex-Democratic congressman from California, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Swalwell’s devices were seized at the San Francisco airport on Saturday, and federal agents searched his home a day later.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday with an attorney for Swalwell.

Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress in April following sexual assault and misconduct allegations, which he has denied. The AP source wasn’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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Bessent says bond buyback operation could be more than $4 billion

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a CNBC interview on Thursday that an accelerated buyback of government debt “could be more than $4 billion per issue.”

His comments followed the Treasury’s Wednesday announcement that it would dramatically expand the amount of U.S. government bonds it will buy back. When asked about the motivation for the move, Bessent said: “We’re trying to signal that this is a thinly traded area of the market, we’re in August and there’s been a lot of corporate issuances.”

“We’re trying to keep the market in equilibrium.”

Melania Trump is set to announce new scholarships for foster children

The first lady is partnering with IndyCar, the sanctioning body for U.S. auto racing, and Indiana and Purdue universities to fund the scholarships, her office says.

Both Indiana-based schools are joining about two dozen other institutions of higher learning to offer scholarships through Melania Trump’s “Fostering the Future” initiative benefiting young people in foster care.

A formal announcement is set for Thursday afternoon in the White House Rose Garden. The first lady will be joined by her husband and representatives from IndyCar and the universities.

The announcement comes just before Sunday’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix race in downtown Washington, which was organized by the president to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

US approves $4.5 billion sale of military aerial refueling planes to Qatar as Iran conflict lingers

The State Department said Thursday that it had given the green light for Qatar, a key U.S. partner in the Gulf, to buy four KC-46A aircraft along with assorted equipment, including turbofan engines, radar warning devices and countermeasure systems. The sale will also include trucks, training and assorted logistics services.

The sale “will increase Qatar’s capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing its defense capabilities and interoperability with U.S. and allied forces and reinforcing Qatar’s strategic role in regional security,” the department said.

Qatar, which hosts a major U.S. military base, has been a critical part of the war with Iran, including by trying to mediate an end to the conflict.

North Korea fires missile barrage toward the sea after dismissing overture from Trump

The launches come a day after North Korea shrugged off a U.S. decision to scale back military drills with South Korea in an apparent bid to resume diplomacy.

South Korea’s military said the launches of about 10 short-range ballistic missiles happened from North Korea’s capital region Thursday evening. The military said the missiles flew about 300 kilometers each toward North Korea’s eastern waters.

Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises just before they began Monday. The president cited what he said was a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to support him over the war in Iran.

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White House legislative affairs director James Braid is leaving his post

Braid was in charge of helping to shepherd Trump’s legislative agenda through a Congress where his Republican Party controlled both chambers.

Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that Braid “played a critical role in all of the administration’s achievements in Congress,” including the sweeping tax and spending legislation approved last summer.

Vance described Braid as “brilliant” and “one of the hardest workers you will ever meet.”

The vice president didn’t provide details of Braid’s next job, saying only that he was “very excited to see what he does next.”

Fresh US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East

The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday.

The Washington is relieving the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln after reports that sailors were facing mental health challenges and supply shortages while supporting the Iran war.

The Lincoln’s deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea. Democratic lawmakers are pressing for accountability from the Pentagon over conditions aboard the carrier, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.”

The deployment of the Washington to the Middle East has left Asia without an American carrier strike group at a time when China shows more signs of aggression.

Democrats narrow their list of 2028 presidential convention sites

Democrats on Thursday narrowed the list of potential host cities for their 2028 presidential convention to Boston, Denver and Philadelphia as their party looks ahead to a wide-open primary to succeed President Trump.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement the cities put forward “incredibly strong bids,” and he promised the convention would be an “inspiring celebration of our party’s future nominee.”

A final decision is expected to be made later this year by party leaders. Republicans have already chosen Houston for the site of their 2028 convention.

The Democratic convention, scheduled for Aug. 7-10, 2028, traditionally gives the party a chance to formally introduce its nominee to the country, rally the base and kick-start the most intense period of campaigning ahead of the general election.

The party didn’t specify why Atlanta and Chicago, which was the site of the 2024 convention, were eliminated. Officials visited all five cities in April and May, considering logistical and fundraising capacity among other factors.

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Trump plays White House tour guide to show off work on his helipad and ballroom

Trump played White House tour guide on Wednesday, showing off the helipad he is building on the lawn before leaning over to autograph a piece of it and bragging about the ballroom he’s rushing to complete despite legal challenges.

Trump gushed for several uninterrupted minutes about granite being laid and said the chopper landing area would leave visiting foreign leaders “very impressed” — including Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is coming next month.

At times, he sounded almost like a construction manager, singing the praises of granite over asphalt in painstaking detail and noting for reporters he brought out for the show that the stone could withstand 35,000 pounds per square inch of pressure.

The president also revealed for the first time that he has replaced the walkway from the White House’s diplomatic entrance along with a portion of the asphalt driveway around the South Lawn with white granite.

▶ Read more

The US national debt now stands at $40 trillion

The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending.

The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.

The unprecedented $40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting defense spending that the U.S. relies on to carry out President Donald Trump’s almost 6-month-old war in Iran to lowering the cost of gas and groceries.

Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the Trump administration “has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America’s debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction.”

However, experts say the exploding debt and the latest record milestone are already affecting Americans’ pocketbooks by raising borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lowering wages from businesses that have less money available to invest, and creating more expensive goods and services.

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That agreement is at the center of whether a judge will order a retrial for Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison over the killing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf last year during a confrontation in the bleachers of a high school stadium near Dallas.

Anthony, 19, sat at the defense table as one of his attorneys argued that the agreement was among several missteps allowed by the court that marred the June trial.

The hearing was set to continue Friday, and it was not clear when the judge will make a ruling on Anthony's retrial request.

Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Anthony once sent a text fantasizing about stabbing someone, and Metcalf had a history of fighting and using racist language, prosecutor Bill Wirskye said. Both were details that did not come up during the trial.

During the trial, lawyers on both sides told jurors the tragedy had nothing to do with race, but social media posts amplified the killing nationwide in racial terms.

“All of us wanted the temperature on this, so to say, to be turned down,” said Mike Howard, who was Anthony’s lead attorney during the trial.

Prosecutor says Anthony was angry before meet

Defense attorney Russell Wilson told the judge Thursday that a new trial should be allowed because of errors that limited access to the proceedings. He cited the off-the-record agreement between the legal teams.

He said the case’s original judge allowed a “shadow docket” that shielded character information about both sides. “Everything was done off the record, at an astonishing clip,” said Wilson, who didn’t represent Anthony at the criminal trial.

But the prosecutor argued that Anthony received a fair trial and said his original attorneys had agreed to everything done during the trial.

Wirskye said he agreed not to use the character evidence because he wanted to focus on the moments leading up to the stabbing.

“Witness after witness came in” and said Anthony did it and it was not self-defense, Wirskye said.

The prosecutor said he agreed not to use evidence that showed Anthony had an obsession with guns and knives and that he was angry on the morning of the stabbing.

“He went there that day spoiling for a fight,” Wirskye said about the day of the track meet.

Howard, Anthony’s trial attorney, said the defense team had information showing that Metcalf had used racial slurs in the past and had bullied Black classmates. As Howard spoke in the courtroom, Metcalf's parents sat quietly in the gallery.

Karmelo Anthony case spurred a wave of threats

As national attention intensified last year, the families of both Metcalf and Anthony said they had been targets of harassment.

The prosecutor said there were threats against the trial judge, fake autopsy reports circulating online and attempts to intimidate witnesses. They once had to sneak Anthony into the courthouse because they were so concerned about his safety, Wirskye said.

“The lawyers on both sides were worried about their lives in this case,” he said.

New judge deciding whether Anthony will get a new trial

Anthony already won a legal victory on Wednesday when the judge who presided over his trial was removed from the case. Judge Michael Chitty was then assigned to consider the motion for a retrial.

Anthony's attorneys had asked for state District Judge John Roach to be removed in part because of a TV interview in which Roach said jurors “got it right” when they delivered a guilty verdict.

Students who took the stand described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team.

Several schools were competing at the track event when Anthony sat under a tent in the bleachers. Metcalf and others repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to a confrontation.

Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses testified that Anthony was the aggressor.

Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.

Metcalf pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.

___

Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

The San Antonio City Council voted unanimously Thursday morning to officially revert the name César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard in the wake of a March New York Times investigation into the labor leader.

Chávez, who died in 1993, is accused of sexually abusing girls and the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union, Dolores Huerta, decades ago.

Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) submitted the official request to change the name back to Durango Boulevard and told KSAT “what we heard from (the) community is ‘how soon can they come down?’”

“Streets and public spaces should reflect community values, and what that meant to me is that we had to have this conversation about renaming the street,” she said.

The street, which spans from the West Side across downtown to the near East Side, was named after Chávez in 2011, replacing the previous name, Durango Boulevard.

Changing it back will cost nearly $375,000, mostly in city and state signage changes. The updated signs will include:

• 58 ground-mounted pole signs
• 15 highway signs
• 31 streetlight-mounted overhead signs
• 1 overhead frontage sign

San Antonio officials expect to change the city signs within two months. It could take up to 12 months for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) signs, though officials hope it will happen sooner.

It will also require 295 address changes, but the Development Services Director Amin Tohmaz said they got confirmation “in writing” from the county that it won’t affect anyone’s ability to vote in the November election.

After the allegations against Chávez came to light, the city received more than 18,000 responses for a survey on renaming the street.

And though many of the suggestions included other civil rights or farmworker movement themes, such as “Dolores Huerta Boulevard,” the city says 64% of respondents wanted the name changed back to Durango Boulevard.

For the respondents who live on the street, the city says that rose to 79%.

Rose Garcia grew up on Durango Boulevard and said the name change for her was less about dropping Chávez’s name than reverting to the name that she feels is tied to her family’s identity.

“I see Durango Boulevard as me. I see me. I see my family,” she told KSAT. “We grew up there. We skateboarded on there. We rode our bikes on there, and I live there still. So it’s in my blood.

The city’s Governance Committee gave the go-ahead for a name change three months ago, but it also had to go through technical review and be reviewed by the Historic Design Review and Planning Commissions, which both recommended approval.

Read KSAT’s previous reporting: Renaming César E. Chávez Boulevard could cost over $300K, city estimates

The district is facing a bus driver shortage that has left more than 70 transportation positions unfilled, according to Tesilia Soliz, NISD’s director of transportation.

The shortage is forcing drivers to run double routes — picking up one group of students, dropping them off and returning for a second load — making buses take more time across the district.

Marcie Miller is a mother who lives on San Antonio’s Northwest Side with two children that attend Northside ISD. She said her middle schooler’s bus skipped their street, arrived more than 30 minutes late and sometimes failed to show up at all since the first day of school.

“The first day of school, he did not come at all on our street,” Miller said. “My son was outside, my son calls me. I leave work to go get him.”

Miller said driving her son to school is not always a reliable backup option.

“I don’t always have the gas money to do that, and my son knows that some of us have to rely on that bus,” she said.

Miller said she called the district’s transportation department multiple times to report the issues, but says staff have not consistently followed up with her or other parents on her street.

“I wish that they would return calls if they say that they’re going to call us back,” Miller said. “If they don’t, then we’re stuck in the middle, still dealing with it every day.”

To address the shortage, Northside ISD held an Auxiliary Job Fair Thursday morning at its transportation stations across the district.

NISD’s director of transportation said the district is looking to fill more than 30 CDL driver positions, more than 20 non-CDL driver positions and more than 20 bus monitor roles.

No CDL is required to apply. Soliz said the district handles all training in-house, including on-site DPS testing and a state school bus certification course. New hires could be behind the wheel within four to six weeks of being hired.

As for the two-mile eligibility rule — which determines whether a student qualifies for bus service — Soliz said that is not a Northside ISD policy.

“This policy has been set by the state of Texas and it’s been in practice for years and years, way before I came on board,” Soliz said. “It’s just something that we have always enforced and it’s nothing new.”

Soliz said the district is aware that the shortage is affecting families and is committed to improving service.

“We just want parents and the community members to know that we’re doing the best that we can with the resources that we currently have,” Soliz said.

Northside ISD said anyone interested in a transportation position can walk into any of its five transportation stations at any time for an on-site interview with management.

Read also:

• No injuries reported after separate Northside ISD bus crashes on Northwest Side, district says

Until now, Mexicans deported from the United States were sent almost exclusively back to their country by air and land. Only a handful arrived in other countries.

Some civil organizations believe this change reported in recent days is a way to increase pressure on Mexico, whose government has protested the deaths of 17 Mexicans in immigration custody or during enforcement operations. This also comes as Trump has expanded agreements with allied Latin American countries to conduct joint operations in the region against criminal groups and has increased its security demands to Mexico.

Sent to Central America by plane and Mexico by bus

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed Wednesday night that, so far this year, 2,284 Mexicans deported from the U.S. have arrived in the country as part of a “transit stopover” before being taken to Mexico as part of an “arrangement” with the Mexican government, and without these individuals being under any refugee or asylum status.

“They are arriving on planes carrying Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is bring them in transit so that, in coordination with Mexican immigration authorities, we can return them to Mexican territory within 24 hours of their arrival in the country,” he explained at a press conference.

The costs of these operations are covered by the Mexican government or, in some cases, by U.S. funding, he added.

Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) confirmed to The Associated Press in a brief message that Mexicans have been deported by the Trump administration to Guatemala and Honduras, primarily since April, and are then transported by bus to southern Mexico.

“The reason is that the United States wants to prevent them from crossing back into its territory,” the institution said. The INM did not provide figures or further details.

Asked about why the Mexicans were sent to Central America and not their own country, and for more details, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, said in an emailed statement that the administration “is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised.”

“The Mexican government has expressed its opposition to this practice to U.S. authorities and has reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the country,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. It added that Mexico is coordinating with the countries involved to ensure the safe return of Mexican citizens.

Third-country deportations raise concerns for Mexican migrants

Historically, Mexico has always been willing to receive its deported citizens.

Since Trump’s first term, it has also accepted deportees from third countries, although the details of immigration agreements with Washington have usually been opaque. In 2025, Mexico received some 12,000 deported foreigners, mostly Cubans and Venezuelans, according to figures provided by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The government has not updated these figures since December although the practice has continued.

Authorities in Honduras also did not respond to requests for comment, but according to official documents from the country accessed by The Associated Press, 82 Mexicans deported from the United States arrived in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on two flights on August 13 and 15. An additional 35 were scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

Another 165 Mexicans were deported to Honduras between May and mid-July, according to the website Third Country Deportation Watch, run by the NGOs Human Rights First and Refugees International, which track U.S. deportation flights to third countries.

The website does not clarify the source of its nationality figures, but both organizations have expressed concern because these transfers could endanger migrants who possibly sought asylum in the U.S. or have few resources in an unknown country.

The deportation tactic “seems to be to put pressure on the Mexican government,” said Savitri Arvey of Human Rights First. “They really don’t want any Mexicans crossing the border.” Some of those deported arrived in Honduras on U.S. military flights, she added.

A recent change in the deportation pattern

At the beginning of his second term, with immigration control as one of his priorities, Trump reached agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama to act as “bridge” or destination countries for migrants from third countries expelled from U.S. territory. These agreements gradually expanded to more countries, including some African ones, most recently Liberia.

Until recently, only a handful of Mexicans had been expelled from the U.S. to countries other than Mexico.

Arévalo said on Wednesday that Guatemala received 15 Mexicans in 2025. As of February 2026, Honduras had officially reported the arrival of six. Costa Rica has received 11 Mexicans since Trump’s return to the White House, and according to local immigration authorities, they remain in the country. Presumably, these individuals may have requested not to be returned to Mexico out of fear.

Immigration lawyers believe that the Trump administration is using deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers to return to Mexico when the government cannot send them there because it would violate court orders from immigration judges that recognize the dangers. Organizations and politicians both inside and outside the U.S. have also questioned the use of force by U.S. immigration authorities.

___

Verza reported from Mexico City and González from Tegucigalpa.

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

Swalwell’s devices were seized at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and agents executed a search warrant at his home a day later, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday with an attorney for Swalwell, who has denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. The Daily Mail first reported the seizure of Swalwell's devices on Thursday.

Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress in April following allegations that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported the allegations. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

The seven-term lawmaker had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before dropping out after the allegations surfaced.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed in April that it was investigating Swalwell after a former staffer told CNN and the Chronicle that Swalwell raped her at a hotel while he was in New York City for a charity gala in 2024. In a statement, Bragg’s office encouraged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.”

A lawyer representing Lonna Drewes, a California woman who in April said she had been raped in 2018 by Swalwell, said his team was cooperating with all law enforcement agencies investigating the former congressman.

“We are encouraged to learn about the escalation of the FBI’s investigation into the allegations against Eric Swalwell,” attorney Arick Fudali said in a statement.

Drewes spoke of the assault at a news conference days after Swalwell dropped out of the California governor’s race. She said it occurred at a hotel in Southern California. Swalwell denied that assault.

Swalwell, an Iowa native, was elected in 2012 and represented a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but ended it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters.

He was one of Republican President Donald Trump’s top Democratic antagonists in Congress. He was a prominent member of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees during Trump's first term and served as one of several Democratic prosecutors for Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Swalwell was removed from the Intelligence Committee by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2023 based on Swalwell's contact with a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang.

Fang was reported to have come into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012 and to have participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign.

Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns and briefed Congress about Fang in 2015, at which point Swalwell says he cut off contact with her. He was not accused of wrongdoing and a House Ethics Committee investigation that was opened in 2021 closed two years later without any action.

California lawmaker Aisha Wahab secured victory Thursday in a special election to serve the rest of Swalwell’s House term, which ends in January. She will run again in the November election to represent the district for a full two-year term. ___

Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisak in New York and Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Hurricane Lala tore roofs off houses, uprooted trees, covered roads in mud and rocks and left many households without electricity. With thousands of homes and businesses still in the dark Thursday, forecasters warned yet another tropical cyclone is likely to approach the islands soon.

A depression moving west and northwest could become a tropical storm in the coming hours and pass near or south of Hawaii's Big Island over the weekend or early next week, the U.S. Central Pacific Hurricane Center said. That system could dump up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain on the Big Island and trigger life-threatening flooding, mudslides and rip currents, it added.

Forecasters said the disturbance had top sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was located at midday Thursday about 900 miles (1,445 kilometers) east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii.

On Hawaii's Big Island, there's ‘tension in the air’

“There's definitely tension in the air'' at the thought of more rain in communities that floodwaters turned into rivers, said Tiffany Edwards Hunt, a teacher living in Keaau, on the east side of the Big Island. “There were some areas that were completely washed out.”

Some people paddled to safety on surfboards, she said.

Hunt went to the area's grocery store but hesitated to buy food in case the power goes out again. Her home was without electricity from Saturday to Monday, she said, but some neighborhoods were still in the dark days later.

The Hawaiian Electric utility said it expects nearly all affected customers on the Big Island to have power restored, except for certain remote and severely damaged areas.

Many families with limited resources are worried about spending more money to prepare for another storm, Hunt said Thursday.

“We’re at the beginning of the hurricane season,” she said. “We know how to pull it all off in our community. It’s just having to mentally and emotionally prepare for it.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and other state officials planned a news conference Thursday afternoon to discuss the approaching system as well as ongoing recovery efforts from Lala, which has been blamed for two deaths.

A 93-year-old beloved teacher died fleeing Lala's floods

Residents found the body of a man in his 60s in a pasture Tuesday, a day after the recovery of the body of May Doi, 93, whom neighbors said was trying to escape from floodwaters in her home. Doi was a beloved former kindergarten teacher who taught generations of residents in a small town on the Big Island.

“She taught grandkids of her students,” said ʻĀina Akamu, a former student of Doi who is now a vice principal at a local school. “She was a fixture in this community.''

The highest total rainfall from Lala, 43.54 inches (1.1 meters), was recorded on the northeast coast of the Big Island, the National Weather Service said. Dozens of homes were washed from foundations, bridges were damaged and about 13,200 customers on the Big Island remained without power Thursday.

It could still be two weeks before all power is back on

Efforts to restore power in hard-hit areas of the Big Island could take at least two weeks, the Hawaiian Electric utility said.

Lala is the first major hurricane of 2026 in the Central Pacific Ocean. Now well west of Hawaii’s main islands, Lala had top sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph) on Thursday and had begun pummeling the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument — a remote area at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago. The impacts were being felt between Lisianski Island and Maro Reef, authorities said.

Forecasters said Lala would cross the waters of the marine national monument for a few days at hurricane strength despite some gradual weakening.

One charter boat heads far out to sea to avoid stormy weather

Even in that remote area, people were seeking safety. A charter boat carrying a 16-member crew dedicated to removing marine plastics and abandoned fishing nets from the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands got out of Lala’s projected path.

Kevin O’Brien, president of the nonprofit Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project, said the vessel left Lisianski Island on Monday and headed hundreds of miles (kilometers) out to sea away from the storm.

“We were ready for it,” O’Brien said. “We keep on our toes out here during hurricane season.”

___

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writer John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

Hundreds of emails exchanged between U.S. immigration officials, which were obtained by the National Iranian American Council and made public on Tuesday, offer the most transparent play by play yet of how the two countries worked together to arrange for more than 100 Iranians to be flown back to Iran on three separate immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026. The emails obtained by NIAC were first reported on by the Intercept.

The emails show that Iranian officials had some influence over which Iranian immigrants in the U.S. were sent back to their home country, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials apparently heeded some last-minute changes to deportation lists at the request of Iran.

“Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases," one unnamed ICE official wrote in late August, a month before the first deportation flight in September. Just over a week later, someone with the same job title moved to make another, unspecified change to the deportation list after they said they met with the “Director at the Iranian Embassy.”

“Iran has requested that I amend the previous manifest and expedite the removal process,” the official wrote.

In a Sept. 26 email, just three days before the deportation flight left U.S. soil, an ICE official said in an email that the Iranian Embassy was still making requests for three additional Iranians on the flight. It's not clear who ended up on the flight, which ended up being much smaller than initially planned. Iranian officials were still making requests the day the flight departed, although one official wrote that those requests were denied.

Coordination of the flights remained a high priority even as ICE officials acknowledged internally that Iranians were fleeing Iran amid the deadly 12-day war with the U.S. and Israel in June 2025, emails show. The flights departed just months after the U.S. and Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran.

The new emails highlight a clear departure from a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced a large number of Iranians to flee.

The deportation of Iranians to a country whose government has a pattern of violent persecution against women, religious minorities and political dissidents has drawn significant criticism from human rights activists.

The Department of Homeland Security did not offer comment in response to an emailed request sent Tuesday afternoon.

Some deportees were handpicked by Iranian officials, emails show

Iranian officials acknowledged in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump administration. They said most of the Iranians had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, while some faced other immigration issues.

It is not clear from the emails how frequently U.S. immigration officials had direct contact with the Iranian government. Sometimes messages were conveyed through Qatari officials, who helped charter the deportation flights through Doha, but other times officials reference regular meetings with the “Iranian delegation," the “Director at the Iranian Embassy” and other unnamed Iranian officials.

It is not clear whether the people Iran put on the list had volunteered to repatriate or if they were forced. Previous reporting from The New York Times revealed that asylum-seekers were among those deported to Iran, while others said they were deported against their will.

At least one person was deported who wasn't supposed to be, emails showed.

“An Iranian not included on the final manifest we sent to the Qatari MOI was boarded on the flight,” an unnamed U.S. official wrote.

In response, another unnamed U.S. official wrote, “I have no idea how the case/person got through on the plane.”

US prioritized deportation efforts during war

Emails suggest that pressure to carry out the Iranian deportations came from the highest levels of the Trump administration, even when U.S. and Israel were exchanging strikes with Iran in a 12-day conflict between June 13 and June 24, 2025.

Just days after Trump's June 16 warning on social media that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” the former acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, called the repatriation of Iranian immigrants a “priority" in an email sent to the agency’s head of removal operations Marcos Charles and a number of unnamed staff.

Shortly after Lyon's email, Charles forwarded the message to a group of officials whose names are redacted. An unnamed ICE official responded, warning that “removal will prove difficult” amid the ongoing conflict because Iran wasn't issuing the travel documents for Iranians eligible for deportation. On top of that, the Iranian airspace was closed to all flights during the bombings and Iranians were fleeing the country.

Charles was unfazed, telling staff in a subsequent email to make a plan to deport 58 Iranians with final removal orders in ICE custody at the time.

“We need a plan forward ASAP,” Charles wrote. Another official, who name was redacted, urged colleagues to “identify a solution for this White House priority.”

Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said the emails undermine Trump’s assertions that the U.S. is at war with Iran to save ordinary Iranians from a repressive regime.

“It demonstrates that the top priority here was to kick out as many people as possible by whatever means necessary,” Abdi said.

Iranian officials had access to immigration detainees

On several occasions, the emails show ICE officials arranging for Iranian officials to meet for unspecified reasons with people detained in the U.S., echoing testimony from Iranian asylum-seekers in an unrelated lawsuit filed by an unaffiliated Iranian interest group in July.

Eleven Iranians in immigration detention said they were forced to meet with Iranian government officials while in ICE detention. Those Iranian authorities knew intimate details about their asylum claims, according to the sworn declarations filed in a Washington, D.C., court in July.

The lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration agencies have been illegally sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum-seekers with the Iranian government.

The U.S. government is allowed to work with government officials of foreign countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, federal regulations passed in the late 1990s prohibit the government from sharing information that could reveal that the person getting deported applied for asylum.

DHS vehemently disputed the lawsuit's allegations.

“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” DHS said in a statement in July.

The Atlanta right-hander was getting outs in a hurry Thursday. The few times White Sox batters made solid contact — flies to the warning track or infield liners — his fielders were in position.

Holmes didn’t allow a hit until Andrew Benintendi lined a single to left with no outs in the seventh. That turned out to be Chicago’s only hit in the contest, and followed a walk to Miguel Vargas that put two runners on.

Holmes was relieved by Didier Fuentes, who struck out the side. Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias each followed with a perfect inning as the Braves' bullpen fanned seven of nine batters to complete the one-hitter in a 2-0 victory.

“It was nice to have the slider kind of come back there for a little bit,” said Holmes, who felt good after warming up before the contest. “Went into the game knowing it’s working and just trusted it, and it came out on the good side.”

Holmes improved to 8-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.64 with a 94-pitch outing, throwing 51 sliders. He walked three and struck out three in a six-plus innings to help the Braves prevail in a meeting of division leaders that was a makeup game for a June 11 rainout.

The 30-year-old was aware during the game he hadn't allowed a hit.

“Absolutely, I looked every inning,” Holmes said. “And how the day was going, I felt like I could throw it anywhere and they were going to get hit at somebody. So I was just keeping that mindset and filling up the zone as quick as possible and getting the outs as quick as possible.”

Holmes rebounded after allowing six runs in his last start against Arizona on Saturday. In the two outings before that, however, he tossed scoreless ball through six innings.

He revived his slider by watching video and tweaking his wrist positioning.

“Opposing teams, they game-plan for (the slider) and they know it's coming, but it's a really good pitch,” manager Walt Weiss said. “It's just goes to show you if you execute pitches, even if they are sitting on it and you put it in a good spot, it's still tough to hit.”

Weiss said he wanted to let Holmes go as deep in the game as possible. Had Holmes walked Benintendi to put two runners on, Weiss would have faced a tougher decision. The single made it easier.

“He gave up the hit and the point is moot,” Weiss said. “I was going to give him as a long a leash as I should because that's a special thing, chasing that stuff.”

Holmes retired 18 of the first 20 White Sox hitters. Colson Montgomery walked with two outs in the second and Drew Romo walked with one out in the fifth for Chicago's first two baserunners.

There's been only one no-hitter in the majors this season, a combined effort by three Houston pitchers in a 9-0 win over Texas on May 25. The Braves' last no-hitter was by Kent Mercker in a 6-0 win over the Dodgers at Los Angeles on April 8, 1994.

Holmes has never pitched a complete game in the majors. His longest effort was 7 2/3 innings on April 14, 2025, in an 8-4 win over Toronto.

Holmes spent 10 years in the minors before making his major league debut on June 16, 2024, with the Braves.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

William Hunt, the owner of Kingpin Kush, said his business has 10 locations in San Antonio, about 40 employees and serves between 800 and 1,000 customers each day.

“We have dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the legal process of defending the industry,” Hunt said. “Praying for regulation, not for cancellation.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) implemented new regulations July 31 affecting consumable hemp products. Texas lawmakers legalized certain hemp products in 2019 and gave DSHS authority to regulate it.

Hunt said Kingpin Kush built the business around the rules established by the state. Now, he is asking a judge to intervene.

Kingpin Kush and two other businesses have filed a more than 300-page lawsuit against the state seeking a temporary injunction. Hunt said he wants the court to pause enforcement while the issue can be addressed by state lawmakers next January.

“We feel like not one department in the state should have the authority to regulate this,” Hunt said.

The lawsuit challenges the state’s regulation of consumable hemp products and argues the new restrictions threaten businesses that have operated under the state’s previous regulatory framework.

For Hunt, the fight is about more than his own business. He said the future of his employees, customers and the broader hemp industry is at stake.

Hunt also said he is prepared to take his message to voters and state leaders.

“When we have these officials saying, ‘If you don’t like it, vote me out.’ Challenge accepted,” Hunt said. “We’re going to raise the votes here.”

KSAT contacted the Texas Department of State Health Services for a response to the lawsuit.

“DSHS doesn’t comment on pending litigation,” a DSHS spokesperson told KSAT. “We’ll respond via the court process.”

The lawsuit remains pending. A temporary restraining order hearing is expected in the coming days.

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From that distance and that angle, however, it was hard to be too certain.

Alonso's deep fly was ruled foul, and the call stood after a review in Baltimore's 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. That led to plenty of outcry — and calls for baseball to use technology to evaluate possible home runs near the foul pole.

It doesn't sound like that is imminent.

If baseball were to start using additional technology on fly balls like these, it would have to be developed, tested and installed by MLB, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Unlike with the Automated Ball/Strike system, Hawk-Eye data above the foul pole is unlikely to be accurate that far from the field. It’s based on data from the first part of the ball’s flight, with the rest of the path estimated — meaning factors like wind aren’t fully accounted for.

Before Thursday's game, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said the front office had communicated with Major League Baseball about the call.

“Just said that there wasn't enough video evidence to overturn the call on the field,” Albernaz said.

One angle showed the ball on the right side of the pole and another showed it on the left side. Neither provided much clarity on where the ball was at the moment it passed the pole and the wall in left, which was the key question.

If the ball were lower, the camera angles might've shown it passing in front of or behind the pole, but when a hit sails higher than the top of the pole, it's not easy to find a definitive view.

The difference between a home run and a foul ball is substantial, so it's understandable players would want to feel confident those calls are correct.

“Obviously, this is a big game in division, so obviously this one’s going to be a little bit more amplified. But this happens quite a few times throughout the season, more than you would think,” Alonso said after the game. “I think having a camera or laser shooting straight up, we have all the technology, analytics and whatever and funds. I don’t see why we can’t do it.”

The ABS system launched in the majors this year, and MLB has been experimenting in the minors with technology allowing challenges to checked swing calls.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

In Gary, Indiana, schools remained closed after the deadly Aug. 11 storm downed trees and power lines. Residents turned to social media to find open laundromats and working Wi-Fi, while others sought food, diapers and cleaning wipes for low-income neighbors.

Meanwhile, heavy rains in central Ohio brought flash flooding that covered roadways Thursday morning in Columbus, the state capital, where emergency crews rescued motorists from stranded cars and saved a 12-year-old boy who was swept off a bridge.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said 68,000 customers were still without power as of Thursday morning, the majority of them in Lake County beside the Illinois border. The utility said it has restored power to 306,500 others since Aug. 11. But power is not expected to be fully restored until Tuesday in some places, including Gary.

Courtney Page-Tan, an Indiana University Indianapolis professor who studies community resilience, said health concerns grow each day of a prolonged outage. With many people using generators, poor ventilation can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition, those reliant on medical devices risk having them lose their charge, while refrigerated food once safe to eat could pose health risks as it spoils.

“Nine days is a long time for a community to be without power,” Page-Tan said.

Residents are exhausted from days without power

Shatiya Hardin, a hair stylist in Gary for 25 years, has been unable to open her salon since the storm. She said residents in her lower-income neighborhood initially took the outages in stride. But now patience is wearing thin.

“We’re always in survival mode in Gary. And I think that’s probably why it wasn’t so much of an uproar because the first few days, it was like, ‘OK, we’re used to this .... but this is the second week now," Hardin said. "It’s not OK for us to continually be in survival mode, doing the best that we can.”

More than a week after the initial storm, many residents in East Chicago, Indiana, who lost power regained it, but then lost it again. Kevin Mejia, who has a community Facebook page, was in that category Thursday.

“If I make one post, I get 500 comments,” Mejia, 30, said. “A lot of people have been reaching out to me for food: ‘Hey, I threw out hundreds of dollars in groceries.’ Elderly people don’t know who to turn to.”

He’s been sleeping on the floor because his mattress is too warm. With no power, his window air conditioners are silent.

Raydia Martin, assistant director of the Flourish Community Hub at Flourish Church in Gary, said the “silver lining” has been the response from volunteers and community groups.

“We thrive best, you know, as humans on certainty and predictability,” Martin said. “So for something so devastating to happen so quickly, it definitely takes a toll on people mentally. Just not knowing what’s coming next, where the next meal is going to come from, and when this is all going to be over. We need to have a light at the end of the tunnel."

The utility, NIPSCO, has called the destruction “unprecedented and widespread,” and said crews from around the country have arrived to help repair downed wires, broken poles and damaged equipment.

Illinois, which is served by a different utility, recovered sooner from the same storm, but Melody Birmingham, an executive at NIPSCO’s parent company, said that part of Illinois had fewer trees and different infrastructure, including some power lines that may have been buried.

“No storm is created equal,” she said. "No service territory is the same.”

Schools across northwest Indiana are still closed

The power outages have also disrupted the start of the school year for thousands of children.

Gary's school district, with about 4,300 students, started its school year in early August but has been closed since Aug. 13 and will remain closed through at least Friday, officials said.

Portage Township Schools had to cancel its Aug. 12 start of classes because of the storm and now is planning an Aug. 25 launch of the academic year. Officials this week said there are “existing safety concerns regarding trees down across several properties and damage that needs to be repaired.”

Page-Tan said school closures can have significant consequences for vulnerable families.

“For a lot of households that live paycheck to paycheck, if they are missing work because they’re unable to find childcare, it can be detrimental to the stability of a family,” she said.

Flash flooding brings new woes to central Ohio

About 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Gary, heavy rains drenched Columbus, Ohio, with more than 3 inches (7 centimeters) of rain in 12 hours, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said.

Two women who were on foot and trapped in a flooded creek were rescued, Fire Division Lt. Nick Davis said. He also reported that first responders saved the life of a 12-year-old bicyclist who was swept off a bridge in high water.

The city was still cleaning up from severe weekend thunderstorms when the heavy rains struck midweek.

“We’ve been all hands on deck supporting residents since last week,” Ginther said Thursday morning at a news conference. “We’re going to be focused on recovery, even with this curveball from Mother Nature.”

___

Rico reported from Atlanta and White from Detroit. Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed.

According to a Union Pacific spokesperson, the rail cars were derailed at approximately 2:45 p.m. near U.S. Highway 90 and Lacoste Road in Macdona, Texas, which is an area located 20 miles west of downtown San Antonio.

While no injuries have been reported and no materials were spilled, the company said cleanup efforts are already underway.

A Bexar County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said deputies are providing traffic control in the area.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

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

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The decision affecting most Omaha middle and high schools came after The Associated Press first revealed Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to give officers the gloves, which are known as G.L.O.V.E.s or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters. The devices have also been used in recent years by some jails.

Omaha Superintendent Matthew Ray requested that police working in the schools, known as school resource officers, stop using the gloves. Omaha Police agreed.

However, the suburban Bellevue police department that patrols two Omaha schools and the large Bellevue district said its officers will continue carrying the gloves. Three other large school districts in the metro area that have Omaha school resource officers assigned to their buildings have not taken action to stop police from using the devices.

The AP left messages seeking comment Thursday from the Millard, Elkhorn and Westside districts that are also patrolled by Omaha officers.

Bellevue schools spokeswoman Amanda Oliver said the district has a great relationship with Bellevue police and doesn't see a need to alter anything.

“We’ve got a great communication and dialogue that we have with them consistently. And so for us right now, no changes are being made,” Oliver said.

Ray said in a school board meeting Monday and in a letter to the public schools community that he’d only learned about the gloves the previous week. But local television station KETV found emails from 2023 when Omaha police notified the districts that the department planned to equip officers with the gloves, and an official with the Omaha district said they were already familiar with them because Bellevue police had them at two Omaha schools.

Students in all the Omaha area districts have gone back to class over the past two weeks.

The Omaha Police Department held a news conference last week in which an officer demonstrated the gloves to show how they can help an officer quickly get control of someone who is refusing commands.

Omaha police used the gloves twice during the 2025-2026 school year, and Bellevue police have also used them twice in previous years.

Residents and school board members speak out against the gloves

At last week's school board meeting, about 30 people spoke out against police using the gloves. Residents and board members alike said they were appalled at the practice. No one spoke in favor of it.

“I can't even imagine walking down the hallway and seeing a peer of mine being electrocuted in a place that is supposed to be a safe space for students,” said Nora Wessel, a senior at Omaha Central High School. “Yet, this is now a very real possibility. These are adults we are supposed to be able to trust, but these weapons create a barrier for our students to turn to resource officers when needed.”

Ken Trump, president of the consulting firm National School Safety and Security Services, said before schools allow police to bring in technology like shock gloves, there should be a careful discussion of questions like how school resource officers will respond to students with disabilities or special medical needs, how parents will be informed, and under what circumstances the gloves can be used.

“Less than lethal doesn’t mean low risk,” said Trump.

Ray said the district recognized long-standing relationships with law enforcement partners and the important role school resource officers have in promoting school safety. Continued use of the gloves “would be counterproductive to our work together,” Ray said.

Mayor John Ewing Jr., who helped oversee creating the school resource officer program when he was on the police force, said the department has honored the school district's decision to “opt out.” The Omaha Police Department said officers will continue to carry tasers, batons, OC spray and firearms.

Most school resource officers were trained to use the gloves

Most of the Omaha Police Department's 34 school resource officers had been trained and were allowed to use the gloves, the mayor and Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said in a statement.

“We believe it is the safest use-of-force option in the rare times when it is used,” the statement said.

In 2025, Omaha police agreed to pay Compliant Technologies LLC, which manufactures the gloves, about $66,000 for 40 gloves, according to the contract.

Officers were expected to give warning before using the gloves and then touch the person for up to 15 seconds while the electric shock was delivered, the statement said.

Bellevue Police Chief Ken Clary said his officers will continue carrying the gloves, which they have had for more than three years.

“I am not comfortable having our officers give up a tool that has repeatedly proven to be safe, effective, and less harmful than the alternatives,” Clary said in a statement.

The devices activate when an officer presses a button. The gloves must touch someone’s skin directly to produce voltage that causes pain, which is intended to make people stop resisting officers. Unlike Tasers, they do not leave burn or contact marks.

In the 2025-2026 school year, an Omaha officer used the glove in one case to stop a high school student from another school from trying to escape after fighting with a security guard, according to the statement. In a second case, the glove was used on a student at the Omaha district's Integrated Learning Center for special education students. Police said that student made verbal threats and threw a chair at a school security guard, striking the guard in the head. The student also punched the guard in the head, according to the statement.

Bellevue police didn't immediately have details about when its officers have used the gloves. Clary said the devices have been an extremely effective tool that sometimes make students cooperate on sight even without shocking a student.

Omaha Public Schools is the largest district in Nebraska and serves more than 50,000 students, according to its website. The other districts in the metro area are also among the biggest in the state. ___ Associated Press Writers Ryan J. Foley, in Iowa City, Iowa; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; and Sharon Lurye in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

“Old Glory Stories” features flags from the museum’s collection, exploring how German immigrants embraced Independence Day traditions after founding New Braunfels in 1845.

Curator Keva Hoffmann Boardman said the community celebrated the Fourth of July during its first year in Texas.

Among the exhibit’s centerpieces is a massive 45-star flag once displayed inside the Seekatz Opera House.

The collection also includes flags representing seven changes in the number and arrangement of stars as new states joined the country.

Other flags offer more personal connections to American history. Boardman said one was draped over the coffin of a World War I veteran, with the exhibit sharing his story alongside the flag.

The display opened prior to July 4 and is expected to remain on view until around Christmas.

The museum traces its roots to 1933 and focuses on telling the story of New Braunfels and Comal County, including how the community was founded and developed.

Boardman said she hopes visitors leave inspired to learn more about their own past.

“You should know your history,” she said. “And be proud of it.”

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The league announced the fines Thursday after requesting video of the tumultuous workout at the Cowboys ' training camp base in Oxnard, California.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team will appeal the “pretty stiff” fine, even though he understood why the NFL issued such a hefty penalty. The Cowboys also plan to fine their own players who were involved in the fracases.

“The Competition Committee has made sportsmanship — including at joint practices — a point of emphasis over the past several years,” the league said in a statement. “All clubs were remined by memo prior to training camp of their responsibility in preventing unsportsmanlike behavior at joint practices that has the potential to result in injury.”

Players from the Cowboys and the Saints threw punches during several skirmishes throughout the joint practice, which was conducted in uncommonly hot, humid weather in the coastal town.

A lowlight of the brouhaha was Saints tight end Brock Rechsteiner’s body slam of Cowboys safety Jalen Thompson in a move worthy of Rechsteiner’s father, pro wrestler Scott Steiner. Saints center Erik McCoy threw a Cowboys helmet high in the air during one scrap, while McCoy and Cowboys linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku threw punches at each other in an ugly sequence that ended with Ezeiruaku getting thrown out of practice for the second time in camp.

“All of that makes it a real focal point of the league to stay within good sport, and the taking of helmets off and swinging and hitting and that type of thing is not good for anybody, and it’s certainly not what we want to represent to our fans as a league or as a team,” Jones said Thursday in Oxnard. “And so it’s understandable how they’re coming with real severe fines.”

Jones said the size of the NFL's financial penalty “does make the point that it’s a serious matter. … It really emphasizes the league’s intent to control it from the very top, which when they start dealing out those kinds of fines, they get your attention.”

Saints coach Kellen Moore and Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer nearly called off the practice early after repeated post-whistle scuffles. Schottenheimer called the workout “a little chippy. Not the way we like to do business.”

“Obviously there was non-football stuff in that joint practice, unfortunately,” Moore said Thursday before the fines were announced.

Jones indicated Ezeiruaku, who started nine games and had two sacks last season as a rookie, is one of the Cowboys players who will be fined.

“Well, I think that you have to have consequences, and that needs to register,” Jones said. “In other words, whether you’re playing a game or out here in society, if you aren’t sensitive about consequences of your behavior, then you’ll be brought to your knees pretty quick.”

The Saints have left Louisiana for California this week, conducting a few practices on the coast before a preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday at SoFi Stadium.

New Orleans had no scuffles or disciplinary issues Thursday during another joint practice with the Rams at Los Angeles' training complex in Woodland Hills. The teams still wrapped up their workout earlier than scheduled because the Saints had already done extensive work this week before a handful of players left this practice early with injuries that currently appear minor.

Moore said he spoke to his players about professionalism before they visited the Rams. New Orleans also had no issues last week when it hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars for a joint practice.

“We acknowledged some of the things that happened on Tuesday,” Moore said. “Thought our guys were focused, Rams were focused, and it was a really good, clean practice.”

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AP freelance reporter Dan Greenspan in Oxnard, California, contributed to this report.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

For more nearly a year, soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade have been experimenting and building their own drones, as well as participating in drills on waging unmanned warfare after Ukraine pioneered such tactics in its yearslong conflict with Russia. Last November, 600 soldiers formed a battalion that specialized in drone warfare and was set up to be used as a dedicated unit that could deploy anywhere drones were required.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army's acting chief of staff, has ordered the battalion to refocus on its core mission of being an airborne infantry unit, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Army deliberations. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the change.

The move comes amid a broader reshuffling of the Army under LaNeve, who has been its top uniformed leader since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suddenly ousted Gen. Randy George in April.

The decision also comes despite the Iran war showing the need for the U.S. to learn lessons about drone warfare from Ukraine. Iran has deployed its low-cost Shahed drones against ships and bases, killing U.S. troops, downing an Army helicopter and forcing the military to expend precious supplies of advanced interceptors.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in March that Ukrainian officials were helping five countries in the Middle East and Gulf region counter Iranian drone attacks, while the United States and European countries were among others that had requested support.

Drone unit had expected to continue its work before Army leader's ousting

The overall 173rd Airborne Brigade, which is based in Italy and Germany, has been involved in drone warfare even before last November.

In May 2025, the Army highlighted that soldiers from the brigade were designing and building their own attack drones in a new “first-person view (FPV) drone lab” at Caserma Del Din, Italy.

Its commander at the time, Col. Joshua Gaspard, said in an Army media post that his soldiers “see videos of FPV drones in Ukraine all over Instagram and the news media” and they were “excited to be using these systems.”

The unit also dabbled in artificial intelligence, which Hegseth has been pushing, and designing drones resistant to jamming.

An Army statement said the specialized drone unit will wrap up its experimentation following two major exercises in Germany this month and next, then “deliver what it learned there, together with the past year’s findings, to the Army to inform force design and future experimentation.”

A third official, who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity to detail internal moves, noted the expectation was always that the exercises would be a “culminating event” for the drone battalion and that its future would then be reevaluated. During George’s tenure, most expected the unit to continue its work in drone warfare, the official said.

“The unit was tasked to study and absorb lessons from dedicated unmanned systems forces, including those developed by the Ukrainian armed forces, and to provide that feedback to the Army in support of the Department’s direction to accelerate U.S. military drone dominance,” the Army said in a statement.

The Army had previously prioritized efforts to use drones

Integrating drones into the Army's tactics was a major focus for LaNeve's predecessor. George, alongside Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, last year rolled out what they called the Army Transformation Initiative, which pushed to add “modernized (unmanned aircraft systems) into formations.”

George, who became Army chief of staff under President Joe Biden, regularly spoke about the need to accelerate development of new drone systems and get them in the hands of regular soldiers, not just specialized units.

After George was ousted without explanation in April, LaNeve took his place. He was George's deputy and an officer whose career has seen a meteoric rise under Hegseth.

LaNeve was commanding the U.S. Eighth Army in South Korea when he called in to the Commander in Chief Ball during President Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2025 and welcomed him back to office.

In March 2025, LaNeve was transferred to the Pentagon, where he became Hegseth's top military adviser. Trump then nominated LaNeve to be the Army’s vice chief of staff last October.

In a guiding memo for the Army published Wednesday, LaNeve argued that “the next war will not look like our last” and that soldiers need to “learn, innovate, and adapt faster by pairing our human ingenuity and judgment with advanced technologies like autonomy and artificial intelligence.”

However, the memo does not mention drones and closes by arguing that “there are timeless truths in war.”

“This is the Army we must be: disciplined, lethal, and relentless — an Army that closes with and destroys the enemy, leaving no doubt about the will and power of the United States,” the document says.

Then-Hondo PD officer Skylynn Cisnero and SAPD officer Taylor Thompson were off duty on the afternoon of Jan. 6 when Village of Taos Ski Valley Department of Public Safety officers were called to the base area of the resort for reports of two drunk individuals.

Thompson was described by one witness as being “super intoxicated,” according to body camera footage obtained by KSAT Investigates.

Village of Taos Ski Valley DPS officials released nearly two hours of footage to KSAT, following a public records request.

Thompson was seen in the video having difficulty standing and leaning on a ski rack to keep his balance.

Members of ski patrol were quickly summoned by Village of Taos Ski Valley DPS to treat Thompson for a cut on his hand. He identified himself as law enforcement and that he worked for SAPD, according to the footage.

Thompson repeatedly told a responding officer that he was “good,” even as the officer pointed out that he was not good and was seen knocking over objects.

Thompson began to cry as medics treated his hand, the footage shows. The off-duty officer eventually had to be helped into a seat while medics bandaged his injury.

‘Don’t f---ing touch me!’

Cisnero, meanwhile, was seen in the video carrying a snowboard.

She quickly began to verbally abuse officers who walked up to her, the footage shows.

“So, what the f---’s the problem?” Cisnero asked shortly after being approached by an officer.

She admitted to drinking two beers and repeatedly said she and her boyfriend worked in law enforcement.

“That man (Thompson) is SAPD. Whatever the f--- y’all go through, that man goes through more than f---ing y’all,” Cisnero told an officer. “F--- you, b----. F--- you.”

Moments later, after Cisnero approached medics who were treating Thompson, an officer grabbed her and tried to move her back.

“Don’t f---ing touch me!” Cisnero yelled, according to the video. “You’re not f---ing law enforcement. No, you’re f---ing not!”

Cisnero dropped her ski helmet, swung her arm in circles and struck an officer, the footage shows.

Cisnero was then handcuffed and escorted to a patrol vehicle in the resort’s parking lot.

While being walked away from the resort, Cisnero continued to berate officers and said that Texas police “deal with more s--- than y’all,” according to the footage.

“Probably won’t be law enforcement any longer because you just got arrested,” the department’s chief told Cisnero as she was being escorted out.

“New Mexico and Texas ain’t the same s---,” Cisnero said. “I’m not f---ing white. I’m f---ing Native (American). I’m f---ing Native. This is my f---ing land.”

After being asked if she had an ID on her, Cisnero responded, “B----, I’m law enforcement. What the f--- do you mean?”

Officers eventually found a ski pass with Cisnero’s name on it, but they were unable to get her to identify herself for at least an hour-and-a-half, the footage shows.

Cisnero’s claim

Cisnero could also not recall where she and Thompson were staying, but she identified herself as a Hondo police officer as officers prepared to load her into a patrol vehicle.

Cisnero again became agitated after officers told her Thompson was going to be taken to a hospital to be treated for his hand injury, according to the footage.

Cisnero also falsely claimed that she was the daughter of then-SAPD Chief William McManus.

“I promise you that,” said Cisnero, who mistakenly referred to McManus as “McMannin.”

“You know, this is f---ing sad that I’m law enforcement, and I f---ing spend a good amount of time away from my f---ing family. Shut the f--- up!” Cisnero screamed at officers as she leaned on the back seat of the patrol vehicle.

Cisnero continued to yell at an officer as he drove her to jail. In the video, she told the officer that everyone hates police and that he needed to drive the speed limit.

After a 34-minute ride to jail, Cisnero began insulting jail staff who were attempting to do a medical check on her.

Cisnero told one female jailer that she was a “fat, f---ing ugly b----,” the footage shows.

As the officer worked on filling out reports on the arrest, jail staff informed him that Cisnero was having difficulty breathing and would need to be taken to a hospital.

The footage shows Cisnero being wheeled out of jail on a stretcher shortly before the footage ends.

Cisnero was eventually charged with battery on a peace officer, a fourth-degree felony in New Mexico, and misdemeanor concealing identity, records show.

‘What I did was horrible’

Hondo police officials confirmed Cisnero was immediately suspended after the department was notified of her out-of-state arrest. She was then terminated Jan. 12, Hondo police said.

Cisnero had worked for Hondo PD since March 2024.

When reached by phone, Cisnero told KSAT she apologized to the officers after the incident.

“What I did was horrible,” said Cisnero, who added that she had let alcohol and stress get the better of her that day but is now a different person.

Cisnero confirmed the charges against her were suspended by prosecutors, a New Mexico legal term to describe criminal cases that have been paused while a defendant completes certain conditions.

Neither charge shows up in a search of New Mexico court records.

Thompson was taken to a hospital to get his hand sewn up, ski patrol told the department’s chief in the video.

Weeks after the New Mexico incident, Thompson was arrested on an unrelated family violence case in Castroville. He has been on administrative duty since January, SAPD officials confirmed to KSAT.

SAPD suspended Thompson 15 days in late May after they determined he was intoxicated in public view during the New Mexico incident and had failed to report to a supervisor that he had contact with law enforcement.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

Moscow's forces have in recent months intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine's chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down the missiles.

Large-scale Russian missile strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer. Just over two weeks ago, a Russian attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people, and nine were killed in the city two days before that. The United Nations said last week that Kyiv was one of the hardest hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 injured.

At the same time, Ukraine has shifted the war onto Russian soil through long-range drone strikes on oil facilities that have caused fuel shortages across the country. It has also unsettled the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country’s biggest online retailer.

Zelenskyy repeats his appeals for more air defense

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for countries to send more Patriot interceptors for defense, but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Kyiv's more than four-year fight against Russia's all-out invasion.

Russia's overnight barrage also included cruise missiles and jet-powered drones that further strain air defenses, Ukraine's air force said.

Explosions boomed across Kyiv in the dark, but the air force said hits were recorded at 28 locations across the country. Emergency services said 15 people were killed in the capital, with another death in the wider Kyiv region. About 40 people were wounded, Zelenskyy said, as air raid warnings lasted until after dawn.

More than 38,000 people, including over 2,000 children, sheltered in Kyiv’s subway stations overnight, the system's operator said.

“It was a massive attack,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russia “had been preparing (it) for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, aiming to cause as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure."

The Russian Defense Ministry said it struck a Kyiv industrial site manufacturing components for Flamingo cruise missiles. Sites involved in the production and storage of drones, an ammunition depot and a logistics center were also hit, it said.

Russia is able to produce more than 200 cruise and ballistic missiles per month, Ukraine’s intelligence agency told news outlet Ukrainska Pravda in comments published Thursday. It has stockpiled more than 1,100 cruise missiles and about 130 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as hundreds of missiles of other types, the agency was quoted as saying.

It was not possible to independently verify the report, and Russian officials do not routinely answer questions about the country's arsenal.

Ukraine says it struck more Russian oil facilities

Russia and Ukraine have battered each other with drones and missiles as their armies struggle to gain the upper hand on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Tatarstan region, starting a fire, and the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in Volna, in Russia’s Krasnodar region, where there was also a blaze. Ukraine has hit both facilities in recent months as part of its campaign to disrupt Russia’s vital oil industry.

Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov confirmed there had been a “massive attack” in the region, state news agency Tass reported, citing his press service. Many of the drones targeted Nizhnekamsk’s Zakamsk economic area, disrupting production at industrial sites and damaging residential buildings, Tass quoted him as saying.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 726 drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine's biggest aerial attacks of the war.

Ukraine's neighbors are on alert

Russia’s relentless onslaught has spooked other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear spreading attacks from Moscow.

Amid the attack on Kyiv, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command activated its military aviation operations, ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance. Polish and other NATO military aircraft were deployed to monitor its airspace, Polish news agency PAP reported.

Romania’s Defense Ministry said an unidentified drone crashed and burned in an uninhabited area near the Ukrainian border. Two Spanish F-18 jets, deployed on a policing mission in Romania, were scrambled overnight to monitor a group of “air targets” near the border, the ministry said.

In addition, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were deployed to destroy a naval drone seen near a major Black Sea gas project, Romania’s acting Defense Minister Radu Miruta said.

Moldova’s Defense Ministry also said its airspace was breached by at least one drone.

Russia “is increasingly testing the resolve of NATO and its partners, violating the sovereignty of neighboring states and deliberately expanding the risks posed by its war far beyond Ukraine," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saw a broad threat to the European Union. “An escalating campaign of threats is underway, unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our Union,” she said on X.

Explosions shatter windows and screams fill the air

Russia's overnight strikes hit 12 locations across Kyiv’s Darnytskyi, Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts, damaging 30 apartment blocks, a school, a children’s hospital and a kindergarten, Zelenskyy said.

Larysa Bondaruk, 60, sat on the ground, holding her cat, Chanel, which had been rescued by firefighters. With tears in her eyes, she said her neighbor’s grandson had been trapped by the rubble and died. Her apartment was badly damaged.

“A rocket hit the roof. It was incredibly loud. Immediately, debris and doors were blown out. There were columns of smoke, columns of fire, screams, crying and despair,” she said. “Two people were killed in our building, but the rescuers responded quickly and professionally. I am grateful to them for that.”

In Solomianskyi district, the top two floors of a nine-story residential building were destroyed and fires broke out on other floors. People were also trapped in two residential buildings and a school shelter.

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AP reporters Vasilisa Stepanenko and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed.

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

Two federal investigations led Drug Enforcement Administration agents to arrest Joseph Adrian Padilla, 50, and Julian Esquivel, 20, one week apart, according to the agency.

According to a news release, both Padilla and Esquivel face the following charges:

• conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine
• possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine
• providing or possessing contraband in prison
• bribery of a public official

The U.S. Marshals Service said Padilla and Esquivel’s former positions as correctional employees helped them facilitate the drugs and other prohibited items into the facility in exchange for money.

“The introduction of dangerous drugs and contraband into a detention facility poses a serious threat to the safety and security of everyone inside,” U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas and former Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said. “We are grateful to our state and federal partners for their commitment and willingness to stand alongside the U.S. Marshals Service in confronting this issue. Together.

The service said its investigation is ongoing. More arrests are possible.

Read also:

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Several of the 300 women, and a few men, said Clancy’s story resonated with them and that they wanted to raise awareness about how the mental health system treats women. Clancy's lawyer does not dispute that she killed the children, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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The livestreamed trial has sparked massive discussions online and has brought attention to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness Clancy's attorney Kevin Reddington says she had that is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. Reddington said she also has bipolar disorder. After strangling her children, Clancy jumped from a second-story window and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Reddington says Clancy repeatedly sought help: She turned to multiple outpatient providers, tried various drugs they prescribed, called a suicide hotline, went to an emergency room, and even checked herself into a psychiatric hospital.

Prosecutors say the former labor and delivery nurse planned the Jan. 24, 2023, killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to pick up medicine for one of their children and dinner for the family. They have also questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt, and witnesses have testified that Clancy wouldn’t always take prescribed medications.

Supporters stood silently for an hour

Thursday's rally was the first time during the nearly monthlong trial that supporters have come out in such large numbers.

“Women are being dismissed, neglected and ignored when we speak up,” said April Vincent, a 52-year-old paralegal from Providence, Rhode Island. “We’re scared because nobody takes us seriously.”

The women stood silently for more than an hour ahead of Thursday's proceedings, where a chaplain called by the defense testified about visiting Clancy in the hospital after the killings.

At the sight of Reddington outside the courthouse, the crowd broke into applause.

Rally organizer Renee Kimball implored the crowd to trust that Reddington “has Lindsay’s fight.”

Toward the end of their rally, supporters formed a circle, said the Lord's Prayer, held up their arms and formed hearts with their hands. Some held flags from different countries to show that the support for Clancy was global.

Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged from 8 months to 5 years old. Researchers estimate that postpartum psychosis — which is more serious and less common than postpartum depression — afflicts 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery.

Jeanne Zaborski, a 72-year-old retired nurse from Rockland, Massachusetts, said she hopes the case raises awareness about postpartum health. She and many others at the rally said they had been following the trial almost daily.

“It's very sad,” Zaborski said. “I am a mother. I am a grandmother. I have a sister who had problems after birth and it's just very sad. I hope Lindsay gets the care she needs and deserves and other women will come together like we did today.”

Chaplain recalls one of the first things Clancy said to her

In court, Sheila Cavanaugh, a chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, testified that when she first visited Clancy after the killings, she was unconscious. By Jan. 31, 2023, Clancy was conscious and no longer connected to a ventilator, Cavanaugh said, but “her emotional state was very neutral — a flat affect.”

Cavanaugh said she “vividly remembers” one of the first things Clancy said to her.

“She said to me, as I held her hand to comfort her, ‘I’m so glad my children are safe,’” Cavanaugh said. “I replied theologically to Lindsay. I said, ‘Lindsay, your children are safe. They’re safe in heaven with God.’”

“We prayed for them,” said Cavanaugh, who saw Clancy more than 200 times and has visited her at the state mental hospital where she resides.

Cavanaugh said Clancy “alluded to hearing a voice, and the voice, according to Lindsay, told her that if she did not follow the command, neither she nor her children would be safe.”

Prosecutors questioned why Cavanaugh had not documented the disclosure about the voice in notes she made in Clancy’s hospital record.

“I’m not there to evaluate the patient; I’m there to bear witness to their suffering,” Cavanaugh said, noting that she is not medically trained and her notes aren't meant to be verbatim transcripts of conversations.

Their last visit was right before the trial started. She said Clancy “talks frequently about her children.”

“She loves them deeply,” Cavanaugh said. “She carries immense grief.”

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Associated Press journalist Leah Willingham contributed from Boston.

The couple's children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have already enrolled at British schools and will start classes in September, according to a person close to the Sussexes who was not authorized to speak publicly. The family plans to live at a private, non-royal residence outside of London, but plans to maintain their home in Montecito, California, and their vacation property in Portugal.

The Daily Telegraph first reported the story. When asked to discuss the reports by the AP at a roundtable event with U.S. veterans in Washington Wednesday night, Harry replied, "Nothing to say.”

Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California more than six years ago to earn their living through lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify. Although relations with the rest of the royal family have soured since then, Harry has recently expressed an interest in reconciliation so he could spend more time with his father, King Charles III, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer.

Charles was informed of the couple's plans on Sunday. Harry and Meghan visited the U.K. last month.

Buckingham Palace has a policy of not commenting on speculation about non-working members of the royal family. A representative for Harry and Meghan declined to comment.

According to a source close to the Sussexes, Meghan will continue heading her As Ever company from the U.K., while Harry can spend more time working with his U.K.-based charities.

Harry and Meghan have had a stormy relationship with the royal family ever since they decamped to a mansion in the exclusive Southern California enclave of Montecito.

In a series of interviews and Harry's memoir “Spare,” the couple said they left Britain to escape the restrictions of royal life and criticized palace officials for being insensitive to Meghan's mental health while alleging that at least one member of the royal family had expressed racist views when she was pregnant with their first child. Meghan describes herself as biracial.

Those tensions were exacerbated by Harry's long-running legal battle with Britain's tabloid newspapers, which he alleges illegally hacked his phones and invaded his privacy when he was younger.

The prince recently lost a lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, though he won a 2023 judgment that condemned the publisher of the Daily Mirror for phone hacking. He also reached a settlement with the publisher of the Sun, which apologized for intruding on his life and agreed to pay substantial damages.

The latest trial has left Harry facing a potential bill for millions of pounds after the court ruled he and other plaintiffs in the case were liable for the publisher's legal fees. Associated Newspapers has filed documents showing that its legal costs amounted to 34.5 million pounds ($47 million).

Harry has also been embroiled in a legal wrangle with the British government after a government committee refused to authorize police protection for the prince and his family when they are in the U.K. The prince says he and his family need armed police protection because they are at risk simply because they are members of the royal family, regardless of whether they are working royals.

After losing a court battle over the security issue last year, Harry said he hoped to rebuild relations with his family.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

Last month, Harry returned to the U.K. for a series of charity engagements. Meghan and the children joined Harry for part of the visit and they spent time with the king at his Highgrove estate in western England. It was the first time Archie and Lilibet had seen their grandfather since the late Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in 2022.

While Harry has recently met with his father, there are no signs of a warming of relations with his brother, Prince William, the heir to the throne.

Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, said the surprise announcement would make William “apoplectic.”

“In the short term, Harry will be able to deepen his rapprochement with his father," Hunt told Britain's Press Association. “And his presence back home will make it harder for his brother to duck a reconciliation."

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Pollard reported from Washington.

The Treasury and State departments announced Thursday that they are leveling new penalties against nine state-owned mining, metal and construction companies along with the leadership of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the institute is responsible for sponsoring “a vast subversive network in the United States aimed at identifying, cultivating, and radicalizing” Americans.

“Just days ago, the regime attempted to use Communist kingpin and despot Fidel Castro’s 100th birthday to reinvigorate this subversive network, ferrying a new brigade of international sympathizers to Havana to network with regime officials,” Rubio said in a statement.

“The Trump Administration will not stand by while a hostile foreign power seeks to exploit our freedoms — none of which are afforded to its people — by misleading and corrupting American citizens with lies, spy tradecraft, and other malfeasance as part of the regime’s raison d’être of exporting Marxism, racial resentment, and Communist violence across the world,” Rubio said.

Trump's Republican administration has steadily ratcheted up pressure on Havana, threatening it with potential military intervention even when mired in a conflict against Iran, while also boosting economic sanctions designed to cut off funding for the Cuban government. An oil blockade that the U.S. imposed on Cuba after the American military raid that ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whose country provided Cuba with free oil, has plunged the already economically crippled island into full-blown crisis.

Cuba accuses the US of trying to hurt the country's economy

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez rejected the sanctions in a post on his official X account, asserting that the United States and Rubio are pursuing the “deliberate aim of harming” the economy “to prevent the provision of basic services to the population.”

“In his failed obsession with Cuba, he is now targeting executives and officials from ICAP — an institution that, for over six decades, has promoted friendship, international solidarity, justice, and peace — the exact opposite of what the Secretary of State has always championed in his corrupt policy,” Rodríguez wrote.

The latest sanctions follow an operation at the Miami airport last weekend in which several American citizens returning from Cuba after participating in events marking Castro’s birthday were briefly detained, according to U.S. officials. Some of them had their cellphones and other personal electronic devices seized for inspection, the officials said.

U.S. authorities had been prepared to detain dozens of returning activists for secondary screening, but far fewer were found to meet the criteria for the enhanced questioning by Customs and Border Protection agents, the officials said.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because details of the operation have not been made public, said those detained were eventually released and allowed to enter the U.S.

The officials said anyone detained and released could still face prosecution if it is found they violated U.S. sanctions, which prohibit all transactions with Cuban government-owned entities, including restaurants, hotels and shops. The status of seized cellphones, laptops and tablets, however, was unclear.

New sanctions are the latest pressure tactic as Cuba's economy falls into crisis

The new sanctions on the leadership of ICAP target the group’s president, Fernando González Llort, who had been among five Cuban intelligence officers arrested in the U.S. in 1998 but later released in 2014. They also target its first vice president, Noemí Ramona Rabaza Fernández, and its North America director, Leima Martínez Freire.

The metals, mining and construction sector sanctions target a nickel production company, two firms that specialize in the import of heavy industrial products, a mineral resources company, the Cuban Ministry of Construction, a company that provides Cuban workers to foreign entities on the island and two enterprises that import vehicles, automotive parts and construction materials.

The Trump administration also has stepped up a campaign that portrays Cuba as a grave national security threat to the U.S. In a report released last month, the State Department accused the Cuban government of sponsoring or otherwise supporting left-wing and anti-American activism in the United States for the past six decades.

While Cuba has been falling deeper into crisis for around five years, the oil blockade by the Trump administration has thrown the nation into freefall.

The lack of fuel to provide Cubans with electricity has plunged the island into all-out blackouts. Access to public transport has effectively disappeared, shortages of things like medicine have worsened, work hours have been slashed to adapt to the outages, and tourism, the island’s economic lifeline, has evaporated.

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

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This story has been corrected to show the sanctions are on nine, not 10, companies.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada has leverage in the talks even as his province weighs restoring U.S. alcohol sales at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s urging to help secure a deal that would avert threatened 50% U.S. tariffs.

“Everybody knows the American president by now, he’s erratic, he’s irresponsible, and he’s not to be trusted. And this is the person that we were supposed to make a deal with, and we’re going to make additional concessions for it. That’s why I say you can't make a good deal with a bad person, because who’s to say it’s not going to be undone?" Kinew said.

Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said Thursday the two countries were close to finalizing an agreement after he returned to Washington to meet again with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“We’re very close. We continue to make progress,” he said, adding that Canadian officials would remain in Washington to keep working on the deal. Trump has called the emerging agreement “very fair” to both sides, while tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports have been postponed until 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Neither side has released the full terms.

Despite his criticism of Trump, Kinew said Manitoba may go along with Carney’s request as part of a “Team Canada” approach. But he urged consumers to keep buying Canadian even if U.S. products return to provincial liquor stores. Other provincial leaders, including the premiers of Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, have publicly backed the direction of Carney’s negotiation.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham said all premiers agreed during Wednesday’s call with Carney to return U.S. alcohol to store shelves, although not every premier has publicly confirmed that position.

"I think we should fight. I think Donald Trump is very weak. I think America is weaker around the world today than it was a year ago. He’s about to get slaughtered in the midterms and the cost of living is the number one issue and he’s completely out of touch with the cost of living of Americans,” Kinew said.

“We’ve got the upper hand. They are back on their heels right now. They are coming to us for a deal right now."

Restoring alcohol sales a sticking point

Kinew said he understood Carney’s request to mean that restoring U.S. alcohol sales was effectively necessary to complete the deal. The provincial bans on U.S. alcohol have been a particular irritant for the Trump administration, which has pressed Canada to remove restrictions that sharply reduced American liquor sales.

Provincial governments do not have a veto over the overall Canada-U.S. agreement, but they control measures such as liquor sales and some procurement rules that have become part of the negotiations.

Eight of Canada’s 10 provinces restrict or ban U.S. alcohol — measures imposed in retaliation for Trump’s previous tariffs on Canadian goods and amid anger over his repeated talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state.

Kinew said Carney strongly pressed premiers to restore U.S. alcohol sales while other details of the agreement were still being finalized. “I wouldn’t say that he was begging us, but what is the step before begging?” Kinew said.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is especially important. Its government-run LCBO, one of the world’s largest alcohol purchasers, sold nearly 1 billion Canadian dollars ($723 million) worth of U.S. products annually before pulling them from shelves last year.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has clashed with Trump before, has not yet commented on the emerging deal.

Kinew said Canadians should not buy American products even if they return.

“When we put the American booze back on the Liquor Mart shelves, Canadians, leave it there. Spend your money on Canadian products that are going to employ people in our country and that have an administration that respects Canada," Kinew said.

Kinew also said Manitoba could agree to remove formal restrictions on U.S. companies and products, including procurement preferences, while continuing to favor Canadian suppliers in its own purchasing.

Kinew said he preferred to keep fighting, noting the U.S. Republican president’s tendency to levy extremely high import taxes and then retreat. He mentioned what’s known as the “TACO” trade, an acronym coined by The Financial Times’ Robert Armstrong that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out."

“Do we expect that this is going to be the end of Donald Trump?," Kinew said.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, meanwhile, said Carney had answered many of her questions about the emerging agreement but stopped short of endorsing it while the province assesses the economic impact. She said Quebec could restore U.S. alcohol to shelves at the SAQ, the Quebec government corporation that controls most wine and spirits sales in the province, but stressed that the decision would be Quebec’s.

In a San Antonio St. Mary’s SAFFE Officers Facebook post, police said they took part in the animal rescue, removing 26 pug dogs from “unsanitary conditions.”

Lisa Norwood with ACS confirmed those details Thursday, adding that the seized animals also included one rabbit.

They were removed as ACS executed an animal cruelty warrant at the home on Clarence Street near McCullough Avenue.

Norwood said no one has been arrested, but the case is still under investigation.

The seizure is at least the second for ACS within the past month.

On July 23, staff members rescued 30 dogs from a home on La Charca Drive near Cerro Vista.

That happened just days after Bexar County Animal Control and sheriff’s deputies descended on a property near Interstate 35 and Kinney Road and seized 18 dogs.

“Those cases typically start off with a well-meaning person that really just wanted to help these animals, and then eventually over time they become overwhelmed,” ACS Director Jon Gary said.

The sudden influx of animals has also been taking a toll on ACS, leaving the agency with at least 56 additional mouths to feed.

“For an organization that runs at capacity at all times, it impacts us greatly,” Gary said. “Thankfully we have a lot of really strong partnerships with a lot of non-profits in the area, and so a lot of times we can reach out to them.”

The effort to help animals has the agency relying on some extra human help.

Read also:

• Bexar County reports first dog rabies case in more than a decade, health officials say

They do this in grassroots, community-led way: helping families preserve photos, documents and memories; recording oral histories; and building a digital archive and museum exhibits so these stories are accessible for education and the public.

KSAT Community Phone Bank: Community support makes a difference

To strengthen efforts to preserve, share and celebrate the stories of the whole community including African descendants across San Antonio and the Southwest, KSAT Community hosted a phone bank benefiting SAAACAM on Wednesday, August 12, 2026

The live televised “Every Story Matters” fundraiser aired 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and included interviews from CEO, Deborah Omowale Jarmon, CAO, Jeff May Jr., Archivist, Caria Spenrath, Curator and Advisor, Dr. Ron Davis and Shokare, Nakpodia, founder of DreamVoice and DreamWeek.

The KSAT Community phone bank event benefiting SAAACAM raised $6,160 thanks to generous contributions from the community. SAAACAM expresses their gratitude to everyone who donated, volunteered and helped spread the word in support of preserving local history.

All proceeds will be placed back into the community through preservation efforts, oral storytelling programs and other ongoing programs that are open to the public.

The fundraiser also supports SAAACAM’s long-term vision for a cultural center in the historic Kress building. The organization’s $72 million capital campaign aims to create a space dedicated to innovation, education, cultural enrichment and community empowerment honoring those who came before and ensuring the community’s history is not lost.

Although the phone bank has ended, SAAACAM continues to seek community support through volunteering and financial gifts. Every contribution helps sustain programs that preserve the past while creating opportunities for learning and connection today.

With traditional funding for museums and cultural organizations shrinking, community giving is increasingly critical to protect irreplaceable local history and expand access to learning opportunities.

Donations can be made through SAAACAM’s Givebutter page. From $10 to $100, every gift supports preservation, education and the long-term goal of a permanent home for these stories.

No gift is too small, and no amount of time is too little.

SAAACAM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit preserving and sharing the history and cultural heritage of African descendants in San Antonio and the Southwest. Through community-led archiving and digitized exhibits, it brings a holistic African American lens to regional history and serves as a steward of historic resources. SAAACAM is a member of leading museum and oral history associations.

KSAT Community operates in partnership with University Health and Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union. Click here to read about other KSAT Community efforts. Interested in partnering with KSAT Community? Get in touch by filling out this form.

The Reds held a 5-4 lead going into the ninth before things fell apart in the final inning. Masyn Winn and Jose Fermin scored on Myers' error, giving St. Louis a 6-5 lead. Alec Burleson's single drove in another run and a bases-loaded walk scored another to make it 8-5. Fermin came up for the second time in the inning and singled home two more runs to make it 10-5.

But it was far from over.

Cincinnati's Eugenio Suárez singled home Matt McLain and Sal Stewart drove in two more runs to make it 10-8. St. Louis reliever Riley O'Brien walked Tyler Stephenson with the bases loaded and two outs, scoring Elly De La Cruz to make it a one-run game before Matt McLain lined out to end the wild back-and-forth contest.

McLain hit his second career grand slam to cap a five-run sixth inning and put Cincinnati up 5-4.

Jordan Walker hit a three-run home run and drove in another run on a ground out to give the Cardinals an early 4-0 lead. Walker’s 26th home run was his second home run in two games. He temporarily tied Stewart for the major league lead with 94 RBI before Stewart's single in the bottom of the ninth plated two, giving him 96 on the season.

Cardinals' starter Michael McGreevy was solid through five innings, but struggled in the sixth, giving up an RBI single and leaving the game with the bases loaded. Ryan Stanek (2-3) relieved McGreevy, giving up an RBI single to JJ Bleday and the grand slam to McLain to take the loss.

Peter Strzelecki (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win for St. Louis.

Suárez drove in the 1,000th run of his career.

The Cardinals won the series 3-2, moving to 2 1/2 games behind the last wild card spot. The Reds fell to seven games out of the wild card.

Up Next

Cardinals: St. Louis kicks off a weekend series at Philadelphia on Friday. LHP Jesús Luzardo (11-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the mound for the Phillies. The Cardinals have not announced their starter.

Reds: LHP Nick Lodolo (3-2, 4.52) takes the mound Friday as Cincinnati opens a weekend series at Arizona and LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (12-4, 2.71).

Commanders of the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, believe free time to indulge in the latest entry in the “Grand Theft Auto” series — in which players commit carjackings, battle police in shootouts and attempt audacious heists — will sway some soldiers to extend their military commitments.

The Nov. 19 release of “Grand Theft Auto VI” is expected to be one of the year's biggest entertainment events. Game publisher Take-Two Interactive hasn't released sales figures for preorders, but CEO Strauss Zelnick recently called them “unprecedented and astonishing.”

A career counselor with the Army engineer battalion hatched the idea with commanders to tie a retention perk to the game's release, in part to remind soldiers of their approaching reenlistment dates, said Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, a Fort Stewart spokesperson.

“The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what soldiers are interested in,” Tomko said Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press.

Battalion commanders wrote in a memo to soldiers that those who sign reenlistment contracts by Nov. 14 would receive “a special 4 day pass.”

“This special pass is specifically designed to coincide with the highly anticipated release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI,” battalion commander Lt. Col. Ryan Hodgson wrote.

Tomko confirmed the authenticity of the July 28 memo, which was photographed and posted online.

She said at least 20 of 130 eligible soldiers have signed up for the bonus. To qualify, they must commit to serving at least two more years in uniform.

Buzz for “Grand Theft Auto VI” has been building since 2023, when its first cinematic trailer showed a return to the series’ fictional Vice City — a satirical analogue of Miami — and an expanded swath of Florida-based locales that include gator-infested swamps.

Underscoring the hype, developer Rockstar Games plans to debut gameplay video next week in an extended trailer on Netflix. The rollout was preempted when hackers leaked apparent footage online this week.

The requests for interviews, made in recent weeks, suggest that a conspiracy investigation that had mostly appeared focused on the decade-old question of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is also examining a more contemporary event — the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago that resulted in the FBI seizing top secret documents from the president's Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

The requests were for voluntary interviews and not made through subpoenas, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation with The Associated Press.

It is not clear when or if prosecutors might seek to bring charges, or for what, but investigating conduct that occurred in Florida might give the Justice Department the legal hook it needs to try to anchor a prosecution in the state.

Joe diGenova, the prosecutor brought back to the Justice Department in April to oversee the investigation, declined to comment when contacted by AP on Thursday. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump was indicted in 2023 on charges of unlawfully retaining classified documents and of obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. But the case was dismissed the following year after a Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, ruled that the prosecutor who brought the indictment, Jack Smith, had been illegally appointed.

Trump has long maintained that law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against him over the last decade, drawing a straight line between an investigation into ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign and the more recent investigations related to his retention of classified documents and his efforts to undo the 2020 election.

The Justice Department has for months conducted an investigation in Florida in hopes of proving wrongdoing by the officials involved in scrutinizing Trump.

Much of the questioning known to have occurred so far has centered on the government response to Russian interference in the 2016 election and the creation of an intelligence community assessment that documented the extent of the meddling.

It was not immediately clear why investigators want to question FBI officials in connection with the Mar-a-Lago search, but the act has long infuriated Trump, who decried it as an invasion of privacy.

In addition, congressional Republicans have long seized on accounts of tension between FBI officials and senior Justice Department leaders before the search to raise questions about whether there was an adequate justification for it, though the law enforcement dispute centered not on whether investigators had gathered sufficient evidence for a search but rather on whether there was a less dramatic and intrusive way to recover the records.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9% for its fourth loss in the five days since setting its all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 703 points, or 1.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1%.

The bond market remains the center of the action after yields charged higher through the summer. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a surprise move Wednesday that brought some temporary relief. His department said it will at least double the size of its planned purchases of longer-term Treasurys from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4.

That helped push yields down after the 10-year Treasury’s yield hit its highest level in more than a year and the 30-year yield got back to where it was in 2007. It was a big deal because high yields slow the economy by raising interest payments for people, companies and the government, and they can undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

But analysts had cautioned the effect may be short lived, given how small the purchases are relative to the overall size of the Treasury market and how they don’t fix the fundamental concerns that had driven up yields. Plus, more signals arrived quickly to keep those concerns high.

The U.S. government’s debt topped $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering record that arrived just months after the national debt first blew past the $39 trillion mark in April, because Washington continues to spend far more money than it brings in.

And on Thursday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2.4% to $93.78 as uncertainty continues about when the war with Iran will allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY” late Wednesday but provided few details.

That helped push the 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.70% from 4.65% late Wednesday. It’s almost back to its 4.71% level from late Tuesday, before the Treasury Department made its announcement.

A couple encouraging reports on the U.S. economy also helped raise longer-term Treasury yields, which move with investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation in coming years. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected, while another said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region appears to be much stronger than expected.

On Wall Street, Walmart was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 and fell 9.2% for its worst loss in four years even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on an important underlying measure of revenue growth, which slowed again. Its forecast for profit in the current quarter also fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Given its massive size, Walmart offers a look at how shoppers are doing across the United States. A surprisingly weak update on sales at U.S. retailers overall last month had raised worries that shoppers may be succumbing to pressure from high inflation and a job market that may be looking less solid.

Advance Auto Parts tumbled 24.5% for its worst loss in three years after the retailer reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit topped expectations. CEO Shane O’Kelly said that “tighter household budgets constrained spending more than we anticipated, especially during the last four weeks of the quarter.”

Spending by U.S. consumers is the main engine of the economy, and a pullback by them could exacerbate what’s already a slowdown in growth for the economy.

A pullback could also mean a double-whammy for travel companies, which would see fewer bookings when they have to pay higher prices for fuel. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell 3.4%, while United Airlines sank 3.5% and American Airlines lost 2.5%.

Helping to keep Wall Street’s losses in check was Deere, which reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 6.9% as the company said order trends indicate the agriculture equipment business looks set to accelerate after this year.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 66.82 points to 7,641.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 703.84 to 52,759.21, and the Nasdaq composite sank 263.92 to 26,067.17.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi soared 5.9% for one of the world’s biggest moves after the two tech titans that dominate its market, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, jumped. Such swings have become more common for Seoul’s market, which has borne the brunt of rising and falling worries that winning stocks in the artificial-intelligence boom may have shot too high.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Doctors Without Borders criticized the decision by Israel's military not to investigate two fatal attacks on the medical humanitarian organization's staff, and in Gaza City, a mass funeral was held for 50 people killed in Israeli airstrikes nearly three years ago but whose remains were just recovered.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Thursday. Full coverage can be found here.

Iran denounces Trump's economic threat

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected the economic threats made against his country, saying that such “failed policies” will stir more hostility among Iranians and “bring more failures.”

Araghchi's comments came a few hours after Trump threatened “crushing economic measures” against Iran. The U.S. president promised “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” but provided few details.

In a social media post, Araghchi maintained that the threats aim to divert the attention of the U.S. public from domestic financial problems, saying that U.S. “economic terrorism threatens the global economy and the national sovereignty of countries around the world.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that Iran will face the “greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world."

In a CNBC interview, Bessent threatened secondary sanctions on nations and companies that conduct business with Iran, saying it's time for U.S. allies to make a decision on where they stand.

China's government and India are major buyers of Iranian oil, though Bessent didn't call them out by name.

Doctors Without Borders condemns Israel's military

Doctors Without Borders said that the decision by Israel's military not to open a criminal investigation into two strikes that killed four people shows the country won't take responsibility for attacking civilians.

The international aid group now wants an impartial investigation into the deaths, but didn't specify who should lead the effort.

Doctors Without Borders asked Israel's military to investigate an attack on a Gaza City convoy in November 2023 and a strike on the organization's shelter in Khan Younis in February 2024. Israel’s announcement on Wednesday said that it wouldn't launch criminal investigations into the two cases, in which troops killed the organization's employees.

The decision by Israel's military shows “there is no prospect of accountability within the Israeli legal system for the killing of our staff, just as there has been no accountability for Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that cited 15 staff and 1,700 healthcare workers killed in Gaza since October 2023.

Israel denies accusations of genocide and war crimes and says it's targeting Hamas after the militant group's attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because it operates in populated areas in the tiny, overcrowded Gaza Strip.

UK and others rebuke planned West Bank settlement project

Six European countries along with Canada condemned the latest development in a contentious Israeli settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the occupied West Bank in two.

Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing issued a tender for constructing several compounds with more than 1,200 homes in total in an open tract of land east of Jerusalem. It’s the latest step in a project under consideration for more than two decades, which critics say would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.

The joint statement from the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada said international law is clear the settlement is illegal and noted “unprecedented levels of violence by settlers against civilians.”

“We urge the government of Israel to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel's international standing,” the countries wrote.

Egypt and Jordan also condemned Israel’s move.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded on Thursday by defending “the historic right of the Jewish people to reestablish their national home in the Land of Israel — including in the area in question.” Saar criticized the U.K. government for “blaming only Israel while ignoring Palestinian extremism.”

Gaza funeral for 50 killed in opening strikes of war

A mass funeral Thursday in Gaza City remembered 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the opening months of the Israel-Hamas war, but whose remains were only recently recovered from under rubble.

Dozens of mourners carried the remains, draped in Palestinian flags, through debris-strewn streets before lowering them into graves. Some held portraits and posters with photos of the deceased.

“We were able to recover them after three years of war, after three years of anguish, pain and torture. We were able to recover them, and dignify them in their final resting place. We were able to pray over them and bury them,” said Lina Karam, who lost her father and other members of her family.

The 50 bodies were from three families who were killed in airstrikes in November and December 2023.

The nearly three-year war has killed more than 73,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which was part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and international organizations. It doesn’t distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half of the toll.

US sanctions network supporting Hezbollah

The U.S. announced new sanctions Thursday against a network of people who allegedly funneled cash into Lebanon for the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The network run by Turkish businessman Yunus Alper Yilmaz uses couriers traveling on commercial flights between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE and Iran “to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars between jurisdictions, providing an avenue outside the formal financial system” to move funds to Hezbollah, the U.S. Department of Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury also redesignated Hezbollah — which was already sanctioned by the U.S. — as an Iranian proxy acting on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force rather than a stand-alone operation.

The redesignation aims to underscore that Hezbollah “operates with little to no regard for Lebanese sovereignty, the Lebanese people or the Lebanese state,” the Treasury statement said.

Turkey denies delegation had visited air base in Syria

Turkey has denied that a Turkish military delegation had visited an air base in northern Syria that was hit by Israeli airstrikes, and vowed to continue supporting Syria in its efforts to rebuild its military.

The Israeli strikes targeted the Abu Duhur base early on Tuesday, causing damage but no casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had attacked the base because Syria was “on the verge of breaching” an agreed-upon “status quo in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there.

Syrian officials have said that a Turkish delegation visited the base before the Israeli strike to review rehabilitation work underway there.

Syria's top diplomat discusses Middle East in Pakistan

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani arrived in Islamabad for talks expected to focus on regional issues, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The visit comes days after Israeli airstrikes targeted an air base in northern Syria, causing damage but no casualties.

Pakistan's officials say the country's political and military leadership remains in contact with both Iran and the United States over efforts to de-escalate tensions and push for the resumption of talks, after a 60-day deadline under a June memorandum of understanding expired. The agreement was brokered by Pakistan with help from regional countries.

Bodies of Pakistani sailors returned after Houthi attack

The bodies of two Pakistanis killed in last week’s Houthi attack on a Tanzanian-flagged commercial vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have been repatriated to Pakistan.

Six Pakistani sailors who were wounded in the attack have also safely returned to the country, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a post on X.

Thousands of employers are keeping tabs on the whereabouts, productivity and communications of workers with technology that was adopted widely during the coronavirus pandemic. A vast array of digital tools still are being used to track locations, collect data on task completion rates, and access work-issued smartphone and laptop cameras, raising concerns about how much privacy employees have relinquished, even in their own homes.

Employers have always monitored workers, but recent advances in artificial intelligence and data science enable them to create extensive data sets or “dossiers” that can be used to punish workers or attempt to predict employee behavior, said Wilneida Negrón, director of research and policy at Coworker, a nonprofit that helps workers organize to improve working conditions.

“Oftentimes, the workers with the least amount of power in the labor markets tend to be testing grounds for some of the more intrusive forms of data collection,” Negrón said.

Some of the most common workplace monitoring programs have shared names, email addresses and other personal worker data with hundreds of outside data brokers and technology companies without clearly disclosing the practice, according to an investigation by Vanderbilt University, Northeastern University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Data privacy experts and workers who say they've been closely monitored spoke with The Associated Press about what they see as the risks of employer surveillance and the steps employees can take to protect their personal information.

Team up with like-minded colleagues to advocate for yourself

Pharmacist Lannie Duong's job at a medical clinic involved meeting with patients who had chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. She reviewed their medical histories, blood work and symptoms, and adjusted their medications. She frequently enlisted interpreters to help her communicate with patients who had limited English language skills.

Duong said her employer tracked the length of her phone calls and appointments, and in performance evaluations questioned why she took so long with each patient.

“Everything was counted. How many minutes you’re on the phone. The minutiae of it was ridiculous,” Duong said. “We’re just tasked to do what feels like the impossible.”

Under what she described as unrelenting pressure, Duong felt “not trusted, not appreciated, almost completely hopeless. It was so depressing.” She eventually went on medical leave and began volunteering with other pharmacists to organize a union.

“I spoke up, hoping others would voice their concerns as well, but that didn’t really pan out,” Duong said. She says her employment was terminated after the medical leave.

Many of the employers using surveillance tools do so transparently and engage employee boards in reviewing how the tools are used, Negrón said. But there are also employers tracking, ranking and scoring employees in ways that are not transparent to workers, she said.

“Workers are going to have to come together because the forces of centralizing this kind of tracking and monitoring are moving too fast,” Negrón said.

Find out what kind of data your employer is collecting about you

As awareness about surveillance tools grows, some workers are pushing back on tools that track how long it takes to fulfill tasks, saying such monitoring contributes to injuries, and questioning what personal information is being collected and how it’s being used, said Hayley Tsukayama, director of state affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on digital privacy.

“Unfortunately, if you are on a machine that’s been issued by your workplace, you should expect that there’s some type of monitoring,” Tsukayama said.

Researching data collection and surveillance trends in your industry is a good idea, according to Negrón. Without that knowledge, workers may find themselves unprepared when confronted with information unearthed during surveillance.

While teaching a college writing class, Arianna Anaya discovered that an administrator was reading the papers her students uploaded to the school’s learning management software and the comments Anaya made on the work. The students often wrote about intimate topics, including abuse, eating disorders and family trauma.

“The school essentially used the online learning system to allow administrators and staff to read student work that was often immensely private and personal, something we were specifically told students should not know about,” Anaya said.

A colleague who printed out the comments criticized the casual tone Anaya used with students and accused her of not sticking to the course syllabus. A few months later, Anaya's teaching contract wasn't renewed, although she doesn't know the exact reason.

“It made me quite paranoid,” Anaya said. “It made me feel less safe in the world.”

Check state laws to see what's required of employers

Some states, including New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Maine, require employers to notify workers if they're being monitored. Maine's law goes further, prohibiting visual monitoring in employees' homes or personal vehicles unless that kind of observation is required for the duties of the job, said Edward Halle, a privacy and AI compliance manager.

“The question becomes, what does the law mean by ‘the duties of the job'?” Halle said. "A telehealth nurse needs a camera; the camera is the job. A productivity webcam bolted onto ordinary desk work almost certainly isn’t. Where that line falls is the first thing the Department of Labor will be asked to sort out.”

If you work in a state without a notification requirement, it's difficult to find out if an employer is using technology to monitor your performance.

To raise the issue with managers, Tsukayama suggests coordinating with a union. If that’s not an option and you’re asking managers individually, approach the topic cautiously and take a curious tone, she advised. You could say you’ve noticed something on the computer and have questions, such as “How is this information being used within the company? How might it get out of the company?” Tsukayama said.

One place to start is asking what specific employee data your organization collects, said Aiha Nguyen, director of the Labor Futures Initiative at Data & Society, a nonprofit institute studying the impacts of technology. If your manager doesn’t know, the information technology department may have answers, since the people working there often are the ones turning on the features, Nguyen said.

Some common software programs such as Microsoft Office and Zoom have tools that can be used for tracking worker productivity, but the tracking features aren’t always activated. Knowing whether those tracking features are turned on can be difficult, because they’re built into the programs, Nguyen said.

“It’s automatic. It’s considered something that employers have been able to say, ‘This is necessary for work. You have to use these tools,’” she said.

To help safeguard personal information, don't use work devices to handle family matters or sensitive personal information such as medical conditions, experts advise.

“I think most people know that," Nguyen said. "But it can become tedious to switch between phones, or people don’t really think it’s that harmful. ... You don’t want to potentially put yourself at risk.”

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Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a key benchmark for mortgage rates, rose back to 4.69% Thursday. That is nearly where it stood early Wednesday before Bessent surprised financial markets by announcing that Treasury would double the size of a bond buyback program starting next month to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion. The buybacks are intended to reduce the supply of 10-year to 30-year bonds and boost their prices. Yields on bonds fall when their prices rise.

Bessent said Thursday on CNBC that the bond repurchase program could be larger than $4 billion.

“We have a big toolkit so we'll see," Bessent said. “We believe that the yields don’t reflect the underlying fundamentals.”

Rising bond yields push up borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, and the Trump administration has set reducing interest rates as a top goal. Home purchases have slumped as mortgage rates have moved higher this year.

President Donald Trump has often demanded that the Federal Reserve lower rates, but the ongoing increases are driven primarily by financial markets. The 30-year bond yield rose to 5.23% Thursday, down only slightly from a 19-year high reached Tuesday.

Treasury's move doesn’t fix the fundamental problems spooking the bond market

Bessent also said the Trump administration would announce a new effort to reduce the government's budget deficit, possibly by Monday. He argued that the deficit will peak this year, in part because it has been driven higher by tariff refunds, a temporary factor.

While the deficit has been huge for years, overall debt topped $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering record that arrived just months after the national debt first blew past the $39 trillion mark in April. And the Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this week that the annual gap between government revenue and spending would top $2 trillion this year, a remarkable number outside of recessions.

But Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities, said reducing the deficit is mostly up to Congress, rather than the Treasury Department.

“What we are seeing is the market is still a little bit skeptical that Treasury can and will be able to backstop some of these moves,” Goldberg said.

Another factor pushing yields higher is how much debt Big Tech companies are raising to build AI data centers. Their deluge of bond offerings is giving bond investors more to choose from, which lowers prices for bonds and pushes up their yields.

Investors are skeptical of the Fed's willingness to fight inflation

Inflation also remains a threat because oil prices keep climbing on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will let tankers freely exit the Persian Gulf again. They rose again Thursday after Trump threatened Iran with “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY.” The price of Brent crude oil is near $94 per barrel, compared with roughly $72 before the start of the war.

The Fed typically combats inflation by raising its benchmark interest rate to slow borrowing and spending and cool the economy. Yet new Fed chair Kevin Warsh hasn't signaled whether the Fed will take such a step. At his most recent press conference in late July, he sowed confusion about whether he sees higher rates as the right approach.

He also suggested the Fed could soon switch the gauge it uses to monitor inflation, which it seeks to keep at 2%. Inflation has topped that level for more than five years, and was 3.7% in June, according to the Fed's preferred measure.

Mark Cabana, head of U.S. rates strategy at Bank of America Securities, said that a key reason for higher borrowing costs “is just elevated uncertainty about how the Fed is going to contain inflation” and what it will do “in case things don’t go to plan.”

Yet Warsh has underscored he doesn't want to provide such signals because he wants financial markets to set interest rates based on economic conditions, not on what it expects the Fed to do. Bessent's intervention appears to be at cross-purposes with that goal, since markets are now considering what next steps Treasury might take to contain rates.

The rise in rates has put pressure on Warsh to clarify his approach when he delivers a high-profile speech next Friday at an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“Now the ball is in the Fed’s court and the ball is really in Kevin Warsh's hands,” Cabana said. “And the market is questioning, will Warsh respond? Will he articulate a better plan?”

Warsh was appointed by Trump after his predecessor, Jerome Powell, finished his term in May. Trump relentlessly attacked Powell for not cutting rates, raising concerns that Warsh is inclined to reduce rates to placate Trump.

Shorter-term bond yields dipped after the Fed’s July 28-29 rates meeting, while longer-term yields rose. It was an unusual reaction to a Fed meeting, according to strategists at BNP Paribas, and could suggest investors believe the Fed wants to keep its benchmark rate lower rather than higher.

Treasury buyback is small compared to the size of the market

While Bessent is talking about billions of dollars in bond buybacks, the Treasury market is so large that even purchases at that scale may not have much impact. Analysts at Macquarie, an investment bank, estimate that the U.S. government will need to issue nearly $550 billion in bonds this quarter to finance its operations.

History also shows that government interventions in the bond market have limited effects. “While such measures can reduce volatility and provide temporary relief, they have not permanently lowered borrowing costs when fiscal, inflation, or supply dynamics remained unfavorable,” according to strategists at UBS Wealth Management, pointing to prior examples from Japan and the United Kingdom.

“We can only do the bare minimum,” WFP acting executive director Carl Skau said Wednesday during a visit to a nutrition center on the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu. “We’re only providing these nutrition supplies to the children that are really the worst hit.”

The reduced funds, because of cuts in international aid by donors and the redirection of resources to other humanitarian crises, meant that the WFP is unable to expand its assistance in Somalia, Skau said.

Millions of people at risk but far less aid

The WFP projects that 1.9 million children under age 5 in the country will suffer acute malnutrition this year, including nearly 500,000 who will require urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition. Overall, around 30% of the population faces critical levels of food insecurity, the U.N. has said.

“We had 10 times more resources than now,” Skau said of the 2022 hunger emergency that was caused by a prolonged drought. “We were able to step in, and we prevented a famine here in Somalia."

“We know what’s going on, we have the capacity, we have the experience of dealing with this. We just need the resources now to do it.”

The consequences of the current food shortage, which is also a result of drought, conflict and the displacement of people, are seen at the Feynuus Health Center in Mogadishu’s Kahda district. Dozens of women carrying babies waited beneath a large tree or crowded along the veranda of the corrugated-metal facility seeking help.

Inside, health workers placed children in a blue weighing sling, screened them for malnutrition, and distributed therapeutic food.

One desperate mother tells her story

Halima Mohamed Hassan, a mother of six, had walked nearly 3 kilometers (2 miles) carrying her malnourished 4-year-old child. She is pregnant, but said she hadn't eaten for two days. Her last meal was plain rice.

Health workers treated the child she brought with a special nutrient-dense food, while Hassan said that her other children were also malnourished, but she wasn't able to bring them to the center.

“I could not carry all of them,” she said.

Hassan fled the Lower Shabelle region four months ago after her husband died of malnutrition, she said. Food and water became scarce, and conflict made it increasingly dangerous for the family to stay.

She and her children walked for four nights before reaching a camp for internally displaced people on Mogadishu’s outskirts.

Hassan now shares a makeshift shelter with her widowed mother and her mother's four other children. The two women look for occasional work washing clothes in nearby neighborhoods to feed their household of 12.

A health center tries its best to help

The Feynuus center receives between 250 and 350 patients daily, mainly displaced women and children from regions outside Mogadishu, said Abdirahman Barkhad, program director of Youth Link Somalia, which operates the center.

Barkhad said that about 10 nearby health and nutrition centers had closed because of a reduction in humanitarian funding, increasing pressure on those that remain.

“We have witnessed children collapsing, because their families do not have enough food,” he said.

Mohamud Moallim Abdulle, commissioner of the Somali Disaster Management Agency, described the country’s food situation as “extremely alarming.”

He said that an estimated 1.85 million children are malnourished, while around 6 million people are affected by drought, and 2 million urgently need assistance.

They don’t know where their next meal is

Skau said that mothers he met this week in the town of Burhakaba described drought, insecurity, and also rising food prices as the main drivers of the crisis. Some had lost their crops and fled their homes. Others walked for three or four hours to reach health facilities, because aid workers couldn't reach them.

“I spoke to women with eight to 10 children,” Skau said. “They don’t know where the next meal is going to come from.”

Insecurity, with Somalia battling a 20-year-long insurgency by the al-Shabab militant group, also makes humanitarian operations more expensive. WFP must use aircraft in areas where staff and supplies can't travel safely by road, and some communities are inaccessible, Skau said.

He said that conflict in the Middle East was adding to the pressure by driving up fuel and food prices, limiting agricultural supplies, and drawing funding toward other emergencies.

After her child received some food at the center, Hassan began the walk back to the camp they live in. Her five other children were still waiting and hungry, she said, and she would have to return with them one at a time.

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

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

“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center,” Trump said, “I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.”

It's not the kind of message anyone is using in competitive midterm races.

The race to build data centers, which power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, has run aground amid frustration from voters who don't want to live near the massive warehouse campuses. Even the Senate Republicans' campaign arm warned that anger over data centers — some of which dwarf football stadiums and use more energy than small cities — could cost them a seat.

Opposition stretches across the political spectrum because of fears that the behemoths will jack up electricity bills, drain people's water wells, create unhealthy amounts of air and noise pollution and forever change a community's character — all while getting lucrative tax breaks from states competing for their business.

Trump has framed data centers as a necessary component of a top national and economic security priority: winning the AI race against China. However, he also has acknowledged concern over rising electricity bills, previously saying “it’s only fair” for the companies to shoulder their costs.

He also suggested this week that data centers need “a little public relations help.” In recent months, he has gotten tech giants to sign a voluntary pledge to shield U.S. consumers from higher utility bills from data centers, even as he pushes to streamline the process for companies and utilities to build their own power plants.

But building power plants doesn't happen overnight, and the immediate political reality for candidates across the country is far different.

“It is yet another dimension in which the White House appears tone deaf — tone deaf at best and indifferent to the interest of other Republican candidates at worst,” said James Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, Austin, a nonpartisan research organization.

Republican committee issues warning over data centers in Ohio

Statewide candidates from Nevada to Pennsylvania, both Republican and Democratic, are weaponizing data centers against their opponents, and candidates who absorb those attacks are subsequently trying to distance themselves from them.

In Ohio, a data center hot spot with closely contested races for governor and U.S. Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo Tuesday that Sen. Jon Husted is vulnerable to losing his seat because of the centers.

Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown is airing attack ads against Husted that call him the “face of data centers in Ohio” as people gather signatures for a statewide referendum to ban their construction.

The Republican memo said it's been a “sleeper issue for the entire election cycle.”

“Brown is using it because it works,” the NRSC said. “More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck. If he loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one.”

The memo suggested voters may balk at Democratic candidates who want to stop data center construction altogether in favor of a Republican candidate who only wants data centers built if a community approves it in a local vote and it pays for its own power, water and other utilities.

Most registered voters oppose building a data center in their area, according to a July Fox News poll.

Still, the issue falls behind other voter concerns, such as cost of living, as November looms. A Quinnipiac Poll conducted in June asked voters what issues were important in deciding who to vote for in U.S. House elections, and about 4 in 10 mentioned AI data centers.

Trump’s statement already put to use in Nevada race

In Nevada, Democrat Aaron Ford quickly tied Trump’s statement to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, characterizing them as being in “lockstep on data centers.”

In a statement, Ford said Trump and Lombardo are “Nevada data centers’ biggest cheerleaders” who “only care about catering to their ‘billionaire friends’ while Nevadans pay the price.”

Ford this week unveiled a policy platform in which he said he would halt new state tax breaks for data centers — he estimated them at $200 million currently — while auditing existing projects to ensure they are delivering on promises. He also said he would ensure data centers pay for their electricity needs, do not deplete Nevada’s water supply and help local governments negotiate strong benefits agreements with developers.

Texas' governor changed course and got a jab from Trump

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who last November celebrated Google’s announcement of a $40 billion investment there by calling the state “the epicenter of AI development,” is under attack from his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa, over his pursuit of data center development.

Abbott has since changed course by promising tougher action, such as removing the state’s sales tax exemption and holding up projects to review their energy usage.

Trump criticized the shift, saying “I think it's a mistake” in a recent interview with Punchbowl News.

Asked about Trump's support for data centers, Abbott's office said the governor's “top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life and ensure the integrity of our power grid and water supply.”

“Simply put, Texans must come first,” Abbott's office said.

Data centers complicated Wisconsin governor race

While Trump embraces data centers, even some of his allies are using them for political attacks. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, running for Wisconsin governor, released a TV ad this week branding his Democratic opponent as “Data Center David Crowley.”

The ad includes a clip of Crowley saying Wisconsin could become the “AI and data hub not only for the entire country, but for the entire globe.”

Crowley has said local communities must have veto authority while also calling data centers a part of the modern economy that could bring significant economic benefits to the state.

Tiffany, who Trump has endorsed, has also said positive things about data centers. In January, Tiffany called data centers “exciting new technology,” in an interview with PBS Wisconsin. And last December, he voted for a bipartisan bill known as the SPEED Act, which is designed to accelerate construction of new AI infrastructure projects like data centers. It hasn't passed the Senate.

Neither Tiffany nor Crowley support a moratorium on new data center construction.

Tiffany has called for repealing the state tax incentive for data centers, while Crowley has not. They both have called for stricter regulation.

Crowley, at an event Wednesday where he received the endorsement of the environmental group Clean Wisconsin, downplayed the attacks Tiffany has made against his data center position.

“He’s getting very good at saying one thing and doing something different,” Crowley said, pointing to Tiffany’s votes in support of the SPEED Act.

“What Congressman Tom Tiffany’s doing is lying because he’s trying to run away from his record in Congress,” Crowley said.

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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin, and Levy from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Linley Sanders contributed from Washington.

FORMATION

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• Read more from the meteorologists on the Whatever the Weather page
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“Here we go,” Alcaraz posted on his social media pages Thursday, with one picture showing him in front of the U.S. Open logo.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been sidelined since April because of a right wrist injury, forcing him to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon.

Alcaraz won his second U.S. Open title last year, beating Jannik Sinner in the final. He then won the Australian Open and his next tournament, part of his 22-3 start to this season.

But after winning his first match in the Barcelona Open, Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament because of the injury. He is still ranked No. 2 despite his absence.

Photos and videos on social media had shown Alcaraz on the practice court, so it appeared he was on the verge of returning during the hard-court swing preceding the U.S. Open before he withdrew from the Cincinnati Open. That tournament is ongoing, and during a match Wednesday night commentators speculated whether Alcaraz would attempt to come back to play a Grand Slam tournament without preparation.

The top-ranked Sinner has also been out of action, not playing since winning the Wimbledon title. He pulled out of the Cincinnati tournament with a right knee injury, saying he would focus on being ready to play in New York.

Their injuries should create more intrigue for the last Grand Slam tournament of the year than there was in 2025, when they had met in the final at both the French Open and Wimbledon, and were widely expected to do so again in New York.

Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title in the 2022 U.S. Open, a victory that at 19 made him the youngest man to hold the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings.

___

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Location: Michigan, Florida, or Texas, with a preference for candidates based in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Description

The HR Business Partner serves assigned client groups with trust and understanding of business needs, providing expertise across the full employee lifecycle. This role partners closely with leaders and employees to drive organizational effectiveness, support a high-performance culture, and deliver HR solutions that move the business forward. The HRBP operates as a proactive trusted advisor — analyzing people data to surface insights before problems arise, bringing forward solutions, and equally comfortable navigating complex employee relations matters, coaching managers, facilitating learning experiences, and leading process improvement work that raises the bar for how HR operates.

This role represents an opportunity to help shape and strengthen HR business partnership at GMG as the organization continues to build its HR infrastructure, processes, and vendor support. The HRBP will operate across both strategic and operational areas of HR, with responsibility for supporting the employee lifecycle and ensuring a high-quality experience for leaders and employees. As the HR function and its infrastructure continue to evolve, the scope and balance of responsibilities may also evolve, creating opportunities for this role to contribute to how HR work is structured, delivered, and continuously improved.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted, credible relationships with business leaders and managers within assigned client groups, serving as their primary HR partner
• Analyze people data and workforce trends to proactively identify risks, gaps, and opportunities — bringing forward solutions before issues escalate
• Support and execute employee lifecycle processes, including hiring, onboarding, employee changes, leaves of absence, and offboarding; coordinate with benefits, payroll and recruiting, and other partners to resolve employee and manager needs.
• Build and maintain SOPs for core HR processes, ensuring consistency across a distributed, multi-market workforce
• Partner with the HR Director on workforce planning and change management initiatives
• Use data, analytics, and AI-enabled tools to build a continuous picture of workforce health; translate findings into actionable recommendations without waiting to be asked
• Manage employee relations matters from intake through resolution, including investigations involving policy violations, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, conduct and workplace conflict; document findings and recommend appropriate resolutions in partnership with Director of HR.
• Advise and coach managers on performance management, corrective action, and documentation
• Coach managers on delivering effective feedback, managing performance, and building team capability
• Identify talent gaps and partner with the HR Director on succession planning and development strategies
• Partner with business leaders to understand current and forward-looking talent needs within assigned client groups — headcount planning, role definition, and team composition — translating business strategy into workforce and talent decisions
• Work directly with hiring managers to ensure talent needs within assigned client groups are well understood and supported
• Facilitate HR-related learning experiences, including manager development, policy training, and onboarding programs; partner with the HR Director to identify training needs and ensure learning solutions are aligned with company-wide priorities and standards
• Ensure consistent policy application across assigned client groups and support compliance with federal, state, and local employment regulations across multiple states

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, or equivalent work experience
• Minimum of 5 years progressive HR experience; 2 years in an HR Business Partner or other comparable consultative role is strongly preferred
• Working proficiency in Workday (or a comparable HRIS), including comfort executing transactional processes (hiring actions, leave tracking, verifications) alongside strategic work
• Demonstrated experience managing complex employee relations matters end-to-end
• Experience designing and facilitating training or learning programs for adult audiences
• Proven track record of process improvement — building SOPs, redesigning workflows, or leading structured improvement initiatives
• Working knowledge of employment law across multiple states
• Demonstrated use of AI tools to improve HR work — whether for communications, documentation, data analysis, research, or workflow automation
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to influence without authority across a distributed organization
• Comfort operating across both strategic and transactional levels of HR work, with the flexibility to shift focus as the function’s infrastructure matures

Preferred

• Experience in media, broadcasting, or a similarly distributed, multi-site environment
• Exposure to union environments and labor relations
• SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR certification
• SHRM AI & Human Intelligence (AI&HI) credential or equivalent AI-focused professional development
• Six Sigma, Lean, or formal process improvement experience
• Experience with Workday HCM modules beyond core HR (e.g., Time Off/Leave, Recruiting, Benefits)

Applicants can send resumes to careers@grahammedia.com

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

Biya arrived at the international airport in the capital, Yaoundé, aboard a flight from Geneva, Switzerland, after more than 10 weeks away.

The world’s oldest president, who has led Cameroon since 1982, began his eighth term in office in November after winning a widely disputed election in October.

Biya had left the country on June 7 for what his office described as “a brief private stay in Europe,” but it became the longest recorded absence of his presidency.

The health of the president has long been a topic of speculation as he spends significant time in Europe, including France and Switzerland, where he often spends weeks while leaving governance to key party officials and family members.

Cameroon’s constitution does not specifically prohibit a president from leaving the country for months. But without a vice president, an appointment Biya has full control over, the opposition has described the country as being run on “autopilot.”

Biya’s close collaborators were at the airport on Thursday, but he was not shown descending from the plane and held no briefings. He was seen waving to supporters from his vehicle.

The results of Biya's nearly half-century in power have been mixed. Armed insurgencies by Boko Haram in the north and separatists in the west, along with a stagnant economy, have left many young people disillusioned with the leader.

The president’s reelection last year sparked widespread protests that left at least 16 people dead, according to government figures, signaling significant tensions between the mostly young population and its aging leader.

After a 2008 constitutional amendment abolished term limits, Biya has now led Cameroon longer than most of its citizens have been alive: More than 70% of the country’s population of nearly 30 million people is below the age of 35.

In April, Cameroon’s parliament reinstated the vice president’s post, a move criticized by the opposition as a power grab because Biya can appoint and dismiss the deputy at will and determine which powers the office can exercise.

On Wednesday, four hemp retailers filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against the Texas Department of State Health Services, alleging the agency has engaged in executive overreach by classifying hemp-derived substances as illegal, which violates the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed them from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

“Thousands of small business owners built enterprises, hired workers, and invested capital relying on that law,” said David Sergi, lead counsel for the hemp industry in this case, in a news release. “DSHS does not have the constitutional authority to rewrite statutes or destroy an industry simply because it disagrees with legislative policy.” 

The complaint states the hemp industry has already undergone “catastrophic” harm due to DSHS’s regulatory decision, with over 36,000 jobs being lost due to workforce reductions, retail sales dropping by more than 50%, leading to billions of dollars in lost revenue, and inventory being stranded all over Texas. 

The lawsuit also alleges that DSHS’s decision to focus only on the hemp industry has unlawfully shut down the market while protecting the state-licensed medical marijuana program known as the Texas Compassionate Use Program or TCUP. 

In addition to the complaint, the plaintiffs are also moving for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to remove the ban on these THC products. 

“We are asking the Court to uphold the Texas Constitution, protect thousands of Texas jobs, and keep policy decisions where they belong—with the elected representatives of the people,” Sergi said. 

Earlier this month, three different members of the hemp industry sued the state of Texas for violating commerce protections with a hemp-derived THC ban.

Two hemp retailers and a distributor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Texas Department of State Health Services; Attorney General Ken Paxton; and the Galveston County criminal district attorney and sheriff, alleging that classifying hemp-derived substances as illegal violates the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed it from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The complaint states that the reinstated definitions provide no delineation between lawful hemp and unlawful marijuana; that it’s preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill’s protections for the interstate hemp market; and that these classifications impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.

“For more than seven years, Texans have built a multibillion-dollar hemp industry under laws that define these products as legal hemp. Without any change to those laws, the State now says they’re Schedule I drugs, like heroin,” said Andrea Steel, lead counsel for the hemp industry in this case, in a news release

State officials banned at the end of last month several hemp-derived THC cannabis products, including those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC variants, punishing people in possession of them with jail time and fines. However, delta-9 THC, the most commonly sold THC product in Texas, will remain legal.

Now that THC variants are classified as a schedule I drug, possession of illegal THC products will be treated as a state jail felony, which carries a punishment of 180 days to two years in prison and fines of up to $10,000, say cannabis experts.

“Our Constitution does not allow the government to jail a person under a framework no one can make sense of – our clients are asking the federal court to protect Texans from their own confused government,” Steel said.

Cannabis experts say if the ban is not removed, more than half of the THC products in stores might be removed from shelves.

“It’s a pretty big blow, and it’s recriminalizing a lot of cannabis products that have been completely legal and allowable in the state for many years, so we’re taking steps backwards toward prohibition,” Sarah Todd, media representative at Texas Cannabis Policy Center, previously told the Tribune.

The recent change stems from a Texas Supreme Court decision in May that allowed the Texas Department of State Health Services to reclassify all hemp-derived THC, except for low-dose delta-9 THC, as a Schedule 1 drug, prohibiting its possession and sale in the state. The ruling ended a 2021 injunction that paused DSHS from enforcing the new classification, which effectively allowed stores to stock different kinds of THC for the past five years.

The ban applies to all synthetically created THC forms, including delta-8, delta-10, THCP and THCA flower. The one exception will be delta-9 products with less than 0.3% THC by dry weight.

Delta-9, which naturally occurs in cannabis and is not typically synthetically derived, will remain the only THC option for Texas consumers because the federal 2018 Farm Bill legally defines hemp as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, and it does not list other cannabinoids.

This is the latest blow to the state’s hemp industry, whose year started with promises from lawmakers that hemp is here to stay but has been consumed with uncertainty over the last several months as flurries of court actions have ripped products off the shelves and then put them back on.

A statewide ban on the sale of smokeable hemp, such as flower buds and rolled joints, was supposed to go into effect on March 31, but a court ruling has paused it, so delta-9 smokeable hemp will also still be available to consumers.

Texas banned the sale of vape pens containing THC in the last legislative session.

Various lawmakers have promised to continue their crusade against hemp this upcoming legislative session, making arguments against THC that harkened back to the days of the “Just Say No” campaigns of the ’80s regarding the risks of THC usage and its effects. Members of the committee used the frying-pan-and-brain analogy as an example of how these products cause mental health problems among young people.

Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, has already confirmed he will once again file a bill to ban consumable hemp products at the next legislative session.

There are about 14,000 retail stores statewide that are licensed to sell consumable hemp, according to the Department of State Health Services.

The 20 deportees arrived at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia.

Deportees will include African nationals as well as nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah. Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh has said they could seek asylum in the West African country if they wished.

The U.S. State Department declined to answer questions about the Liberia agreement, but said that implementing the Trump administration’s immigration policies was a “top priority.” It said it was “unwavering in our commitment to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America’s border security.”

The U.S. Homeland Security Department declined to confirm Thursday's deportations “for operational security reasons” and referred additional questions to the State Department.

Third-country agreements are often shrouded in secrecy. Migrants have been deported to countries they have never been to or where they face safety risks and are left with little choice other than to return to the home countries they were fleeing from.

The Trump administration struck agreements with at least 35 countries to deport people who are from other countries, including Liberia and 13 others in Africa, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, a partnership of Refugees International and Human Rights First that relies on public records requests, news reports and other sources. More than 23,000 people have deported to 26 countries under the agreements.

The U.S. State Department previously announced that Liberia agreed to accept deportees who are not from Liberia. But a six-page agreement reached in September 2025 and posted on its website does not say how many or from which countries.

In October 2025, Liberia offered to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia of El Salvador, who was mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador. Blocked from sending him to his native country, the Trump administration has vowed to send him to a third county, including Liberia.

Abrego Garcia has said he would agree to be deported to Costa Rica, which has said it will accept him. But the government has so far declined to send him there. Abrego Garcia is fighting deportation to Liberia in a federal lawsuit in Maryland.

Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Umana, who has a pending federal criminal case in connection with the Aug. 8 crash, lied to a border officer and falsely claimed he was a U.S. citizen when he entered the country in Texas in 2007, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

Hernandez-Umana, 46, a citizen of El Salvador, is being held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to online records. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he will eventually be deported.

Immigration authorities arrested him after he was released on bail in his criminal case, where he is charged with causing the deaths of 5-month old Antonella Garcia and 27-year-old Sara Sanchez through misconduct or neglect.

According to prosecutors, Hernandez-Umana wasn’t licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard, wasn’t aware of basic safety rules and told investigators he’d borrowed his friend’s personal vessel for the New York Harbor excursion. The boat was illegally chartered and overcrowded, prosecutors said.

“Once he faces justice for his crimes, we will make sure that he is swiftly removed from our country,” Mullin said in a statement.

Hernandez-Umana's lawyer, Amy Gallicchio, declined comment.

Hernandez, who had been living in Manville, New Jersey, was not required to enter a plea at his initial court appearance in the criminal case on Aug. 10. He wiped his eyes as he arrived to the courtroom, still wearing the T-shirt, swim trunks and water shoes he’d had on during the voyage. He is due back in court on Sept. 9.

According to Coast Guard investigators, Hernandez was piloting a 21-foot Yamaha AR210 with 14 people aboard — well over its 10 person capacity — when it swamped and sank as it made a U-turn in choppy waters. The tour began around 7 p.m. and the vessel capsized more than three hours into its journey.

The infant wasn’t wearing a life preserver because the boat didn’t have any for small children, prosecutors said. Instead, Hernandez told Sanchez she needed to wear a life vest and hold the infant throughout the hourslong tour, a violation of federal regulations, prosecutors said.

The tour was organized through Zeus Luxury Rental Inc., which advertises its services on social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok. A boat chartered by the company caught fire last year during a birthday cruise on Long Island Sound.

According to his criminal complaint, Hernandez told investigators he had worked for Zeus Luxury on a freelance or contract basis since last year, starting as a limousine driver. He said that twice recently he used his personal boat, a slightly larger Yamaha AR250, but used a friend’s boat on Aug. 8 because his needed repairs, the complaint said.

Messages seeking comment were sent to a phone number and email address listed on Zeus Luxury’s website. The phone number’s voicemail was full, according to an automated recording.

___

This story has been updated to correct that Homeland Security announced the arrest Wednesday, not Monday.

TEXARKANA — When Scott Norton became president of the TexAmericas Center, he hoped the industrial park would attract employers that would bring much-needed jobs to North East Texas.

Little did he know the industrial center would sit atop one of the country’s largest and richest lithium deposits, known as the Smackover Formation, and would also become a key location for mineral production in Texas.

“[Lithium production is] a great opportunity not just for the Department of War and Red River Army Depot, but in the entire region when it comes to capital investment and job creation,” Norton said.

Lithium production in East Texas could create high-paying jobs, support local businesses and encourage cities to improve East Texas infrastructure, such as roads or public utility services. But it could also leave landowners struggling with high property values and a community dealing with infrastructure that doesn’t keep pace with rapid growth, leading to a bust that the state has seen before with the oil and gas industry.

Economists at a Texarkana lithium symposium in July warned against vying for a boom, and encouraged leaders instead to seek slow, sustainable growth.

Now, however, local officials and state lawmakers must decide how to manage the industry to ensure that landowners’ rights are respected, that the extraction process remains safe and clean, and that producing this mineral in East Texas is worth the cost.

“We can learn from Arkansas and from some of these other places, but it has to make sense economically for companies,” said Brent Elliott, an economic geologist and mineral resource specialist with the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas. “They won’t do it if there’s not some kind of incentive or clarity on the landscape, like ownership, unitization and the production procedure. And then the economics of it at the end of it.”

Next year could prove to be a crucial year for this budding industry, if lawmakers make it a priority in the 2027 legislative session.

Who will manage lithium rules and regulations?

Lithium production is a national issue with wide-reaching implications. Landowners near production facilities have a stake in the game, as do producers such as EnergyX, ExxonMobil and Chevron, local officials and state and national lawmakers.

President Donald Trump and Texas’ congressional delegation are pushing to expand domestic mineral production and reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign countries for critical minerals. Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency oversees federal regulations on mineral extraction.

In Texas, lithium mining regulation is overseen by the Texas Railroad Commission, which also oversees the state’s oil and gas production, use and waste. The agency was given rule-making authority in 2023 and established some guidelines based on the oil and gas industry, and brine production.

Industry players would like to see some clarity on important issues, such as property tax values, royalties and brine injection regulations, either from the commission or from state lawmakers.

Researchers at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas, including Elliott, plan to present lawmakers with findings on the industry, such as water rights and mineral royalties, by the end of the year to help lawmakers form decisions on this emerging industry.

“We’ll try to get to anyone who represents East Texas,” Elliott said. “Anyone who has jurisdiction over the Smackover or anybody who’s on the Natural Resources committees, both in the House and Senate, or the Energy Committees. Those folks would do well to understand the current landscape and the recommendations for making it better.”

This issue also touches on local economic development, which is why the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce hosted its first-ever lithium symposium, at which experts provided more insight on the industry to regional and state leaders. It even brought Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Texas to open the symposium.

Lithium production in Arkansas has grown exponentially over the last few years as companies pull brine from the Smackover Formation, which spans from Florida to Central Texas. Because brine production was already common in Arkansas, lithium production rules and regulations were folded into an already established framework.

Arkansas’ regulations were cited in both the symposium and multiple independent interviews with the Texas Tribune as a solid source for Texas to base its own regulations on.

“They seem to be very happy with the structures in place in Arkansas, and would like to see more structures in the state of Texas,” said Robin Hickerson, president and CEO of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.

Economic implications

Texas’ reputation as a business-friendly state could encourage lithium producers to create high-paying jobs for out-of-work oil and gas workers since both industries require similar skillsets. It could also encourage tertiary development, such as retail, restaurants and hotels, in underdeveloped areas.

Before any of that happens, though, the industry needs to hammer out some much-needed details.

Bruce Cutright is the CEO of GeoFrame, an Austin company that wants to build the largest lithium production facility in the U.S. in Mount Vernon, a town about 60 miles north of Tyler. He has been working closely with community leaders in Franklin County to get the lithium project off the ground.

Cutright said the Legislature has several matters to settle next year, including the rights and responsibilities around minerals and brine, the water byproduct of drilling.

The key question lawmakers should ask when deciding water and mineral rights is why the brine is being extracted, said Chris Alex, vice president of U.S. Upstream Asset Development for EnergyX, which is developing a lithium production facility in Texarkana. Is the brine being brought to the surface as a byproduct of oil and gas production, or is it being extracted specifically to recover lithium through direct lithium extraction?

“The state has yet to clarify this in a ruling or statute,” he said.

If the brine is produced as a byproduct of oil and gas operations, Alex said it would belong to the exploration and production company. But if a company extracts the brine specifically to produce lithium, he said state law does not clearly establish who owns those mineral rights.

Other concerns center around the impact lithium production in the area would have on property taxes as well as who ultimately would see the financial gains from mineral production.

Cutright is concerned that, without clear guidance on how property taxes will be affected by lithium production, homeowners near his site may not be able to afford a significant increase in their property valuations.

“I wouldn’t want these beautiful fifth-generation ranches to suddenly be priced out of their property,” Cutright said.

Texas currently leaves it up to landowners and producers to hash out these decisions and they’re made as part of lease agreements, Alex said.

The Mineral Interest Pooling Act, which can dictate royalties for oil and gas rights, could also guide lawmakers, Elliott said.

Environmental implications

Most of the lithium produced around the globe is extracted from salty aquifers and stored in massive evaporation ponds in the arid countries of the Southern Hemisphere. The brine that is left is processed further for lithium extraction. The lithium carbonate, which is left after that extraction process, is then shipped to countries like China to be used in battery components for clean energy technology.

The whole process can take years and can be delayed by a rainier-than-average season. It requires significant amounts of water and has led to water scarcity in countries like Chile, which sits atop the largest known reserve of lithium in the world. And in some cases, the ground and surface water have been contaminated because of lithium extraction processes.

Lithium producers in East Texas, however, are eyeing an extraction process called Direct Lithium Extraction, or DLE, that more closely resembles oil and gas production. And it could work exceptionally well at extracting lithium from the brine in the Smackover Formation thousands of feet below East Texas.

For long-time environmental advocate Neil Carman, a volunteer and former Clean Air Director for the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club, the idea of lithium production in the state is a scary one. He worries that Texas’ emerging lithium industry won’t truly be regulated in a way that protects the community.

DLE poses similar risks as those of oil and gas production. If something fails in the infrastructure, it could leak into the potable groundwater resources East Texans are currently fighting to protect, and Texas doesn’t have the best reputation for cleaning up those messes, Carman said.

He’d like to see the state outline reporting requirements for operations and a detailed plan for if something goes wrong.

Elliott sees DLE as something akin to what Texas has already done for years with the oil and gas industry. The Railroad Commission already has rules in place for brine production overall, which includes lithium.

Alex of EnergyX believes brine extraction is regulated similar to oil and gas in some ways, but with more stringent requirements in others. EnergyX maintains a strict emergency action plan with the county and has secured its site beyond Railroad Commission requirements, he said.

Cutright is happy with the state’s framework, but he’d like to see the Railroad Commission update its rules regarding reinjection. As it stands, brine pumped from the ground must be reinjected into the same formation. This will dilute the lithium brine source over time, meaning eventually the lithium extractors will have to find a new place to pump, Cutright said.

“There needs to be sort of a side decision loop in the permitting process that asks if there are other, more appropriate zones to inject the spent brine back into the subsurface,” Cutright said.

What comes next

Arkansas is using much of its framework and infrastructure from bromine production, a mineral that can be extracted from brine, which is why some experts have encouraged Texas to see what its northern neighbor is doing.

But Texas is in a position that could set the stage for real industry growth and development that even Arkansas doesn’t have, Elliott said.

“We have the advantage of developing infrastructure that would be better suited for future development without having the previous stuff,” said Elliott.

It could take some time, though. Lithium may have been a priority for lawmakers going into 2027 before state residents began to worry about data centers. Now that data centers and most especially, water and energy usage, are top of mind for many voters, Elliott said he isn’t sure how this new industry will be perceived.

“It was probably higher on the priority list before,” he said. “The data center issues have really kind of moved to the forefront. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for lithium.”

Meanwhile, in East Texas, companies are setting up test sites and figuring out exactly what the deep-water aquifer has to offer. Texarkana is bracing for investment, as are communities across the region.

GeoFrame’s ground breaking was pushed back from its original goal of 2026 due to financing and project changes, but Cutright is excited for its launch.

The site would produce more than 83,000 metric tons — about the weight of 16,000 large elephants — of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually. This would put a sizable dent in the U.S. domestic needs, if successful.

“Texas is blessed with some of the highest lithium concentrations in the Smackover Formation,” he said. “The part of Texas where we’re working, Franklin County, and that area — that’s really the bullseye for the highest concentrations.”

In June, KSAT reported about the plans to revitalize the historic district known as Project DC.

Stakeholders have purchased properties with the goal of creating affordable housing, businesses and using the future VIA Silver line to connect workers, but they must first deal with unhoused people that have been in the area for years.

The San Antonio Housing Trust approved a 28-month Homeless Response Action Plan focused on the area, where more than 160 people experiencing homelessness are sleeping near abandoned buildings.

Nearly 40 nonprofits and other organizations have started working to connect people with housing, medical care and legal assistance.

Corazón Ministries is one of the groups involved. The organization said it has helped house 35 people.

During the first six months of the plan, participating groups will focus on building relationships, earning the trust of people experiencing homelessness and identifying their needs. The next phase will focus on finding permanent housing and providing long-term support.

The first two years of the plan could cost more than $12 million. Expenses are expected to decrease as people leave the program.

People who live and own businesses near Cattleman Square said they are glad people are receiving help, but some remain skeptical about whether the plan will work.

“You can’t help everybody, but you can try to help the majority of the people who are there,” said Diana Avila, a West Side resident. “I’ve seen families who are homeless.”

Ralph Gauna said he has seen “a lot of promises” and hopes this plan will help the entire neighborhood.

Jennifer Villegas, owner of Cafe Don Juan, said the business is close to a shelter that provides services for people experiencing homelessness.

“The homeless population will gravitate to that area, so it will be a little hard to say, ‘Get them out of the area’ because the resources are readily available,” Villegas said.

Cafe Don Juan has been in business for five decades and borders the Cattleman Square district. Villegas said she believes a nightlife scene could benefit her business.

She also said she did not know about or attended community meetings in June focused on reshaping the district.

A draft of the Project D.C. master plan is expected in October. The final plan may be available by January.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• ‘Project DC’ aims to revitalize neglected district west of downtown

Nguyen Thi Quynh Tam, 24, said she was raped on July 5 and pressured by the man’s family to accept money and not go to police. She said the police also initially urged her to settle the matter privately.

The AP does not usually identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, except if they come forward publicly about the abuse. Tam's candor is unusual for Vietnam, where sexual violence is rarely discussed publicly, but she said she wanted to speak out to help protect other women.

“I’m doing this not just for me. But for everybody else that has been harmed,” said Tam.

Tam’s account was documented in interviews, her police complaint and communications with U.S. and Vietnamese officials. After she sought help from U.S. officials and a U.S. lawmaker, officials confirmed Thursday that they had charged the 23-year-old man.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said authorities had initiated legal proceedings “in accordance with Vietnamese law.” She did not respond to questions about alleged police pressure to settle the case.

The man charged in the case did not respond to AP queries sent via social media.

Tam, whose family moved to the United States when she was 5 years old, returned to Vietnam in May for a banking internship, hoping to reconnect with her family’s homeland. She joined a group of acquaintances on a July 4 trip to a resort in Phu Tho, near Hanoi.

The group stayed up late and when she went to bed, Tam found herself locked out of the room where she expected to sleep. She found another bedroom and fell asleep with the door unlocked, then awoke to the 23-year-old man kissing her neck.

Her complaint says Tam told him not to touch her, but he persisted and climbed on top of her. She pushed and punched him and shouted, “No!” But he pinned both her arms above her head and raped her.

Later that night, she messaged her boyfriend in the U.S. that she had been raped. The AP has seen the messages.

Afterward, she said she blamed herself and struggled mentally. Others in the group they traveled with told her the man was from a wealthy, politically-connected family and she was unsure what to do.

Tam said the man apologized twice on July 9, in a note and during a phone call. The AP has heard a recording of the call and seen the note.

On July 11, Tam and friends of her family met with the man's father in an encounter suggested by members of the group she traveled with. She said he asked how much money she wanted for not involving the police. He called five days later, again offering compensation, she said.

In an email to the The Associated Press, the father said the two had been “intimate,” but he declined to comment further. He said his family had “no intention” of pressuring Tam to drop the case.

Tam said that after she reported the incident to police on July 21, they took her back to the room where she said she was raped and asked her to reenact the assault, leaving her distraught.

“A part of me is gone. And it’s in that room,” she said.

The next day, she said, police urged her to meet with the 23-year-old and to sign a statement saying she had refused a rape kit and a lawyer. She refused. The police again asked her to settle while she was getting mental health care at a Hanoi hospital, she said.

Tam, who is from Houston, Texas, said she got little help at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, where she was told she could report the matter to Vietnamese police, or return home. She said she was discouraged when they cited a previous sexual assault case that dragged on for over a year before being dropped.

After Tam's father contacted their senator, Ted Cruz, the embassy called her to apologize. It told Cruz’s office it had supported Tam and helped her contact authorities. Her father called that “inaccurate,” according to a July 29 email exchange.

The State Department said it was aware of her case, but couldn't comment further because of legal and privacy reasons. It said American “safety and security” was its top priority.

• LOW-100s TODAY: Highs near 102°, heat index peaking near 105°
• BRUTAL STRETCH AHEAD: Rain-free, triple digit streak continues through next week
• ENERGY DEMAND: While demand will be high, ERCOT showing plenty of supply

FORECAST

STREAKS TO WATCH

We have now logged 26 straight days without measurable rainfall at San Antonio Int’l, with 3 days in a row at 100° or above. Both these streaks are forecast to continue through at least next week. Today’s high should reach around 102°. Slightly higher humidity today will push heat indices to near 105°. Those east of San Antonio will experience higher heat index values, with a Heat Advisory now posted for these areas.

ENERGY DEMAND

While this stretch will be brutal for much of Texas, ERCOT demand should be able to cover supply. We’ll keep you updated should anything change.

LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

If you haven’t heard, we have a local team in the LLWS. Boerne plays Friday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Temperatures will be warm, but not near as hot as what we’re dealing with in Texas. Good luck Boerne!

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 Texas Department of Transportation is moving forward with improvements along Loop 410, San Pedro Avenue and U.S. Highway 281 on the North Side.

The project covers 4.3 miles of Loop 410 between West Avenue and Broadway and 2.7 miles of U.S. Highway 281 between Loop 410 and East Nakoma Drive.

The work will affect areas within San Antonio and Castle Hills near the airport.

TxDOT said the project addresses safety and operational concerns in a corridor that experiences heavy traffic and a high number of crashes.

Between 2014 and 2018, the project area averaged 3.7 crashes per day — a rate higher than the statewide average for both interstates and U.S. highways. Officials said the work will improve congestion and vehicles weaving in and out of traffic.

Without improvements, morning commutes in the corridor could double by 2045, while evening commutes could take up to four times longer than they do today, according to TxDOT.

The improvements include removing seven ramps and replacing them with new access points. Several intersections also will be improved to help traffic flow and increase safety.

The project follows a multiyear planning process that included a feasibility study and public input.

TxDOT will hold a stakeholder open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 27 to discuss the planned improvements. The meeting will include information about the project, details about the proposed work, construction timelines and opportunities for public involvement.

Residents can subscribe to TxDOT email updates through the project webpage or submit questions to SATINFO@txdot.gov.

In one crash, a bus and vehicle collided as the bus was making a turn near the intersection of Babcock Road and Eckhert Road. A district spokesperson said 47 Rhodes Elementary School students were on board at the time of the crash.

Another Northside ISD school bus was dispatched to the scene to transfer the uninjured students to class, which is less than a mile from the scene.

The second incident was a minor crash in the Interstate 10-La Cantera area. The district said a Brandeis High School student, who was not hurt, was on board at the time of the crash.

More local news coverage on KSAT:

• SA City Council votes unanimously to change César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard
• Keith Urban headlines San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s first round of performers for 2027

The Bruins are to play two games in Munich, while the Oilers will play two matches in Leon Draisaitl’s native city of Cologne during the 2027-28 NHL season. The opponents have yet to be determined.

“These events represent an important step in our commitment to grow the game in Germany. By bringing more NHL games to one of Europe’s most dynamic hockey markets, we hope to continue to deepen engagement amongst our fans, partners and local communities, while at the same time creating a significant opportunity to grow the game throughout the country,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators were already slated to play two games in Düsseldorf in December. Those Global Series games are the second and third regular-season games the league has staged in Germany after the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin in 2011.

More are to follow with the NHL and NHLPA committed to bringing regular-season games to Germany for at least the next three seasons.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

The petition with the hashtag InfantinOut also calls for FIFA "to be rebuilt so that the current debacle can never happen again.”

“The shameful attempt by one individual — the FIFA President himself — to sell off the World Cup to private investors exposed a betrayal football will never forget,” the petition said about Infantino's plan for a commercial spinoff, which he dropped amid a furious backlash.

The fan groups include Football Supporters Europe, Football Supporters Africa and, in North America, the Independent Supporters Council, plus about 40 national fan groups worldwide.

Infantino has resisted calls to leave office despite European soccer body UEFA saying it has no confidence in him. He has also been criticized by the leadership of North America’s CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation.

Some of FIFA's 211 member federations are supporting Infantino, including 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco as well as Qatar, where he lived before the emirate hosted the 2022 World Cup, and Lebanon, which gave him citizenship this year. Saudi Arabia, the 2034 host, has not publicly backed Infantino despite his close political ties to the kingdom.

“Gianni Infantino has demonstrated a profound failure of leadership, incompatible with democratic governance,” the fan petition states. “The concentration of power around the FIFA Presidency, combined with opaque decision-making, personality cult clientelism, and zero accountability has destroyed any remaining trust in the world governing body."

“For the credibility of FIFA — and for the future of the game — he must resign,” the petition adds.

FIFA was approached for comment about the petition.

Fan anger at World Cup ticket prices

The petition also cites Infantino’s past support for projects that outraged fans, including the failed European Super League project, pushing to hold World Cups every two years that was resisted and the “extortionate ticketing policy at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

FIFA and Infantino did not consult with fan groups before setting record ticket prices for the 104-game tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, that provoked anger and led to some tickets being sold for $60 to the most loyal fans of each of the 48 teams.

Football Supporters Europe is the official liaison for fans with UEFA and advises on ticket prices for European Championships and club cup finals like the Champions League.

___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Officers responded to the scene around 8:45 a.m. Thursday in the 9500 block of Interstate 35 southbound, which is located near Whirlwind Drive.

With the state of the decomposition, officers said it’s unclear whether foul play was involved in the man’s death.

The death may have resulted from a drug overdose or natural causes, SAPD said.

Police noted that the abandoned motel is a “haven” for people experiencing homelessness.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the man’s cause and manner of death.

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

Read also:

• Man stabbed multiple times at North Side convenience store, police say

To compete in the increasingly commercialized world of college sports, programs of its size might spend more than $40 million a year on talent acquisition, revenue sharing and other costs, according to experts. But just five of Louisville's 23 sports generate any revenue, according to the athletic department. Only football and men’s basketball turn profits.

Louisville, like a growing number of major conferences ′ public universities, is trying to narrow that spending gap and its supporters are trying to help by creating a new organization to oversee everything from third-party multimedia deals to hospitality packages.

This spring, Louisville launched Cardinal Ventures, a nonprofit designed to help the athletic department leverage its brand to generate new revenue streams, all to keep pace with the multibillion-dollar market around compensating athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness.

“We live in a highly, highly competitive environment and industry,” Heird said. “And if there’s anything that anybody can do to try to create even the smallest sort of competitive advantage, then they’re gonna look to do that.”

The University of Kentucky also has a revenue-raising nonprofit. The University of North Carolina is actively discussing a limited liability company. So, too, is Louisiana State University.

There’s “feverish” interest from higher education in these offshoots, according to Clay Grayson, whose South Carolina law firm designed Clemson University’s in-house venture. There’s also scrutiny from Congress. Widespread privatization could further transform universities into profit-driven businesses resembling professional sports franchises, weaning them off fatigued donors and opening the door to private capital.

“Governmental universities don’t do commercial very well,” Grayson said. “Those nonprofits are the ones that kind of can get out into that space.”

Record high gifts underscore the spending spree. Virginia Tech touted an “unprecedented” $75 million commitment intended to “ensure a strong start” for its nonprofit Hokie Ventures. Michigan State bolstered its athletic department with a $401 million contribution that included an investment in its own Spartan Ventures.

Louisville’s Heird said he frequently finds himself discussing these new organizations with peers as they all look to boost their bottom lines.

At his school, he has found some “low-hanging fruit” with concerts. Louisville’s 60,000-seat football stadium largely sits dark outside of home games.

Country music star Zach Bryan recently lit up the field. The rapper Ludacris headlines an upcoming hip-hop billing. Planning is already underway for next year’s shows — each of which could bring seven-figure profits for the hosts.

Athletic directors seek flexibility, control and a ‘commercial engine’

These new efforts may not provide a “silver bullet,” but they do offer new revenue and something many athletic directors may value even more — more control.

The nonprofits and LLCs offer greater flexibility to crack the financing puzzle than the previous system. Bureaucracy can drag decision-making out for months. Key components of the fan experience — tickets, parking, merchandise, concessions— are often outsourced to vendors they don’t fully run.

“There is an unstoppable train that is college sports," said Jason Belzer, a Sequence Equity partner who advises schools on NIL deals. "The reality is that you need to create new platforms and paradigms to be able to successfully operate a business that no longer really sits with the original mission of college athletics -- at least at the higher levels.”

Everything is on the table for Syracuse University. Athletic director Bryan Blair sees an opportunity to corner New York's college sports market. It's the state's only Power Four conference school. And all five ticketed sports play under a 50,000-seat dome that brings what he called a “big state school feel."

The question is how to build a “commercial engine,” Blair said, whether it exists within his department or outside it.

“We’re trying to educate young people, give them a great experience. We’re trying win on whatever day of the week it is for whatever competition it is. We’re trying to be great stewards and ambassadors for our university,” Blair said. “But to do a lot of those things requires more revenue than ever before.”

Nonprofits join growing number of affiliates

Commercial affiliates aren't new to higher education. Some universities use them to monetize drug patents or manage copyright.

Take the University of Kentucky, believed to be the first school to convert its athletic department into a limited-liability holding company. Trustees already managed separate health systems through a not-for-profit that was primed to take ownership of its athletics offshoot.

Athletic director J Batt, who recently joined the Wildcats from Michigan State, expects these formations will become the norm rather than an exception. “And everybody will do the one that’s right for your campus,” he added.

Grayson, the legal architect behind many such models, said he mostly hears from members of the Power Four. Those 67 schools tend to be the only ones with large, competitive enough programs to spend beyond the revenue-sharing cap of $21.3 million this year. His firm has helped create affiliated entities at an estimated one in seven schools competing in the Southeastern Conference, the Big Ten, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12.

His model strays from the traditional nonprofit. He proposes smaller, seven-person boards in order to expedite decision-making. Some of the athletic ancillaries even own for-profits that handle taxable activities such as stadium concerts.

Another big difference: they’re not registered to fundraise because their focus is programmatic revenue. He recommends aligning these new ventures with existing fundraising organizations — like “two pedals of a bicycle.”

“If you get them moving in sync, you’ve got a powerful, powerful motor," he said.

Questions about charitable purpose and donor fatigue

It remains to be seen whether these new entities will alleviate donor pressure to bankroll costly football programs. Moreover, they raise the same question that murky NIL collectives did: what is the charitable purpose of an institution whose main goal is to generate more revenue for athletics?

The Internal Revenue Service decided many nonprofit NIL collectives were erroneously given charitable status. They served players, not the public good, so their activities were likely not exempt from taxes.

These affiliates are similar, in the view of an NIL tax consultant who previously worked at the IRS. Thad Madden, who studied NIL compliance issues for the agency, said he doesn't see any “charitable connotation."

“It's to serve the financial interest of the athletes so that they make the most possible money with the goal of putting the best team on the field,” Madden said.

That financial interest has fatigued donors, according to consultants who advise schools on issues of NIL. They're fielding more athletics solicitations even as universities continue fundraising for student scholarships, research projects and other functions.

It used to be that development officers could leverage donor interest in athletics to direct some funds towards academics. That's not so nowadays, according to University of Pennsylvania professor Karen Weaver, a former athletic administrator who studies the evolving college sports landscape.

“Athletics doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem," Weaver said. "So, whatever dollar they bring in is gonna be spent on trying to get an advantage in athletics.”

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The announcement of his contract extension ahead of Verstappen’s home Dutch Grand Prix this weekend ends speculation that he could seek a blockbuster move to another team or quit the sport.

It comes despite Red Bull struggling to match the pace of leading team Mercedes this season, and Verstappen's own frustration with how much the 2026 cars rely on electrical power.

“After the first few races (this year), I said to Laurent (Mekies, Red Bull team principal): ‘Don’t come to me with any kind of questions about the future because I don’t even know if I want to stay.’ Honestly, we always kept it very open,” Verstappen said.

He added that talks with F1 and governing body the FIA had persuaded him that “we are slowly working towards something that becomes better and better” with the current cars, while the new contract until 2030 could cover a potential — but not confirmed — return to simpler V8 engines.

“Even if I’m not entirely happy with how the package is, I still love racing, this is still the pinnacle of motorsport, so I still want to be here,” he added.

Asked whether he’d spoken with other teams, he said: “I think I was closer to retiring than changing team.”

The Verstappen-Red Bull pairing could set an F1 record

Seeing out the contract in full would take Verstappen to 15 seasons with Red Bull. It would be the longest-running driver-team pairing in F1 history. It comes with strong support for team principal Mekies after he replaced the team's founding boss Christian Horner last year.

In return, Mekies laid out how the team is built around Verstappen.

“He’s a lot more than the fastest driver in the world for us,” Mekies said. “He’s the central point of the team. He’s one we always refer to for all the strategic decisions we are making, and to know that he’s going to be with us in order to build that next winning cycle is phenomenal.”

Verstappen, already considered one of F1’s all-time greats at the age of 28, has yet to win a race this season. The 71-time race winner hasn’t had a winless season since his rookie year in 2015.

Why there was speculation Verstappen might move

Verstappen’s previous contract ran through 2028 but reportedly included performance-related clauses which could have potentially allowed him to leave earlier and which fueled speculation he might seek to move.

Red Bull backed Verstappen’s career from childhood and brought him into F1 at the age of 17 in 2015 at its second team, then called Toro Rosso. That made him the youngest driver in series history, a record he still holds.

Still, there had been signs of tension in recent years amid the departures of a series of key staff including Horner last year and car design great Adrian Newey.

Verstappen also raised safety concerns this season after two separate faults with the Red Bull car’s rear wing hurled him into high-speed crashes.

Verstappen had been linked with a move to McLaren after reports of a meeting in June between his representatives and McLaren management. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said at the time the team didn't have an opening for him and would stick with defending champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who said Thursday he hadn't been worried for his seat.

Mercedes had also signaled interest in the past.

“Drivers talk with different teams, teams talk with different drivers. Everyone has to just see what their cards are," Mercedes' George Russell said Thursday. "My seat never felt under threat, and I felt 100% security with Toto (Wolff, team principal) and the team. That obviously now continues.”

One driver who had been considered a potential replacement for Verstappen at Red Bull, Carlos Sainz Jr., signed a new contract on Wednesday with Williams.

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The injury happened Wednesday, according to the district. Crandall is located approximately 25 miles southeast of Dallas.

“Our thoughts are with the student and the student’s family. We ask our community to respect their privacy at this time,” Crandall ISD posted on Facebook.

The Crandall ISD case is the second incident a Texas high school football player has fallen ill during practice this school year.

Lake Travis High School football player Odin Hensley suffered a medical emergency during practice Aug. 10 and was later airlifted to a hospital. He died two days later.

After careful consideration, Lake Travis announced Wednesday it will cancel its season opener against Dripping Springs.

Crandall ISD has not said when additional information about the injured student may be released. The district has yet to release details about the student’s condition or the nature of his injury.

Read also:

• Lake Travis football coach says team ‘heartbroken’ after player’s death

Bodeen died Monday after a struggle with cancer and complications from a stroke, his daughter, Ingrid, said Thursday by telephone from Taiwan.

Bodeen, who spoke fluent Mandarin with a proud Taiwan accent, spent much of his career detailing China's rise to an economic, political and military superpower — and the accompanying friction from what critics have long called Beijing’s heavy-handed efforts to establish dominance in Asia and beyond.

“Chris was a reporter who would go anywhere and do anything for the story,” said Charles Hutzler, AP's former bureau chief in Beijing. After a huge quake flattened a swath of Sichuan province in 2008, Bodeen composed his account from one devastated town sentence by sentence over text messages because of damaged telecommunications networks. "It was one of the first eyewitness reports the AP and the world received about one of the worst earthquakes in decades,” Hutzler recalled.

He was an expert on politics and Chinese military issues

From AP bureaus in Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei, Bodeen was for years the news agency's go-to person on Chinese politics and military issues, able to quickly determine the newsworthiness of the government's often abstruse statements.

“A chat with Chris would inevitably turn into a remarkable history lesson," said Emily Wang Fujiyama, former Greater China news director. “He had astounding knowledge of the region and would be writing about China’s military presence in the South China Sea, pivot to Taiwan’s intricate politics, and just as deftly write about the political sensitivities of Tibet, Mongolia and China.”

Bodeen was born in Missouri on Sept. 9, 1970, but he spent parts of his childhood in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. His father was a foreign service officer and his mother a former diplomat, his daughter, Ingrid, said. Friends and colleagues remembered his love of the Boston Red Sox, esoteric punk rock -- and his contagious enthusiasm for the job of journalism.

"He was the blondest, palest person you’ll ever meet” yet also spoke pitch-perfect Chinese, said Ted Anthony, AP’s former China news editor and news director for Asia. “So when the earthquake in Sichuan happened in 2008, he went out there, put on one of his ever-present ballcaps to cover his hair, and slouched down. He passed as Chinese, started interviewing people and sailed under the scrutiny of the authorities.”

He was 'always ready for adventure’

Bodeen joined the AP in 1996, in Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island China claims as its own, before working as an editor on the agency’s international desk in New York and then joining the AP bureau in Beijing as a correspondent, in 2000. He majored in history and Asian studies at Tufts University, graduating in 1993.

“Chris Bodeen was always ready for adventure. Hiding in the hills of Hainan Island, China, to try to report on the return of an American Air Force plane forced down in 2001, he was the best colleague to be with,” said Raf Wober, a video journalist in the AP's Hong Kong bureau.

In a 2017 story on efforts to burnish the image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Bodeen described state broadcaster China Central Television leading its evening national news bulletin “with more than four minutes of uninterrupted clapping for Xi as he met with adoring citizens,” and a Russian translator who “was so engrossed with reading a recent speech by Xi, Xinhua (the official news agency) said, that he skipped lunch and dinner just to finish studying it.”

While much of this might have seemed amusing to outsiders, Bodeen was careful to note that “the domination of (Xi’s) image in official propaganda evokes, for some, the painful memories of the upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s, when Mao (Zedong) was accorded the status of a near deity.”

Julie Pace, AP's executive editor, remembered Bodeen as not only an effective China correspondent but as a fellow journalist whose knowledge elevated those around him.

“Chris cared deeply about his work and the value of on-the-ground reporting in such an important region of the world," she said. "His expertise informed AP’s audiences for so many years, but also helped lift up so many colleagues.”

Passion for family and work was his hallmark

Bodeen was deeply proud of his two daughters and loved showing off their artwork and achievements — and creative Halloween costumes — to colleagues. “Every parent thinks their kids are the best, but, hand to God, these girls are both adorable and seriously tough cookies,” he wrote of his children.

“He truly, passionately loved what he did, as much as he loved being a dad," Ingrid Bodeen said. She recalled that when her father spent long stints reporting from Afghanistan during her childhood, “he would always have my mom fax over my spelling lists and homework so we could work on them together. He never missed a spelling test week.”

Bodeen was also beloved by colleagues for his sharp sense of humor, his knowledge of good local food and an encyclopedic knowledge of movie and TV comedies from the ’70s and ’80s.

Kanis Leung, an AP reporter in Hong Kong, said that Bodeen once told her about an old correspondent's description of news reporting as “the art of shoving 50 pounds of oatmeal into a 10-pound sack."

“Except,” Bodeen told Leung, "he didn’t say oatmeal.”

Bodeen is survived by his wife, Yen Ling, daughters Ingrid, 26, and Naomi, 22, his parents and a sister.

Country music star Keith Urban, who’s performed at the San Antonio rodeo several times in the past, is the headliner, according to a news release.

Urban most recently appeared in the 2025, 2023, and 2020 editions of the rodeo.

Below is a list of the four artists and their performance dates:

• Flatland Cavalry: Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
• Turnpike Troubadours: Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
• BlackHawk: Sunday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
• Keith Urban: Saturday, Feb. 20 at noon and 7:30 p.m.

The San Antonio rodeo takes place from Feb. 11 through Feb. 28, 2027, at the Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum fairgrounds.

Tickets are currently available on the rodeo’s website and Ticketmaster.

Read also:

• Jonas Brothers announce San Antonio concert date as part of new 45-city North American tour
• San Antonio Zoo named one of best zoos in world by Condé Nast Traveler

Walmart’s second quarter fanned anxiety about the financial well-being of low-income shoppers who are spending cautiously as prices rise at the gas pump and everywhere else.

Company shares tumbled more than 8% Thursday and helped drag the U.S. stock market lower as well.

Walmart’s comparable sales in the U.S., which measure sales at stores open at least a year along with online sales tied to those locations, rose 2.6% in the second quarter. That is down from 4.1% in the first quarter.

Excluding the wellness category that includes Walmart’s pharmacies, comparable sales increased 3.4% in the second quarter. Sales were hit by federal legislation that requires pharmacies to dispense some high-cost Medicare drugs at capped prices, the retailer said. That was still below Wall Street projections of a 3.8% increase, according to FactSet.

Still, Walmart’s quarterly profit, boosted by a $2.9 billion tariff refund, topped expectations, and so did revenue. Walmart says it continues to take market share.

Walmart is using the U.S. tariff refunds to temporarily lower prices on 11,000 items, it said Thursday, particularly on groceries and general merchandise.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this year that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when he imposed double-digit import taxes, meaning U.S. companies were owed refunds from the government.

Yet Walmart is trying to contain prices as it is squeezed by the same pressures hammering the American consumer, namely rising energy costs due to fighting in Iran. The company expects to book an additional $2 billion in incremental fuel costs this year.

Slowing comparable sales, particularly in Walmart stores, also reflect a strategic shift toward e-commerce, Walmart+ memberships and advertising. Walmart’s domestic e-commerce business, which has become a growth engine for the retailer, rose 24%.

U.S. e-commerce now represents 23% in the overall U.S business., Walmart said, double the share five years ago.

“As these businesses scale, they become a more meaningful part of our mix, and they’re changing the shape of our business,” CEO John Furner said Thursday.

Walmart is considered a barometer of consumer spending given its vast customer base. More than 150 million customers are on its website or in its stores every week, according to Walmart.

Walmart’s trajectory may draw even more attention after U.S. data released Friday showed retail sales were surprisingly weak in July. On the same day, a new read on consumers from the University of Michigan revealed growing pessimism about the economy.

Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said Friday that when gasoline prices rise above $4, the company can feel it.

“There’s a psychological impact to that ... that there are choices that consumers are making,” Rainey said. “June was a little more obvious as we look at the quarter in terms of customers making trade-offs. And it’s why we have leaned so heavily into lower prices.”

The price of a gallon of gasoline ticked higher again overnight, according to AAA, reaching $4.10.

With prices higher, Walmart continues to capture a larger share of wealthier consumers. The biggest gains in market share for Walmart are coming from households with annual incomes over $100,000, the retailer has said.

Walmart’s quarterly net income was $6.37 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the three-month period ended July 31. Adjusted per-share results were 81 cents, easily topping the 74 cents Wall Street had expected, according to FactSet.

Sales rose 5.9% to $187.94 billion. Analysts were predicting $186.62 billion, according to FactSet.

For the third quarter, Walmart expects earnings per share of 62 cents to 64 cents. It projects sales to be up 3% to 3.75%, putting sales in a range of $184.9 billion to $186.23 billion.

For the full year, Walmart now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $2.80 to $2.87, while sales should be up anywhere from 4% to 5%. That would mean a forecast for sales in the range of $741.7 billion to $748.8 billion, according to FactSet.

Analysts expected $2.90 per share and sales of $752.06 billion for the year, according to FactSet.

An analysis by The Associated Press and Reporter Brasil of all National Mining Agency records through June shows that rare earth exploration applications have surged, with more than 86% filed in the past three years, including 268 in the first half of 2026.

The interest is already raising environmental concerns for the Amazon and other areas.

Here are takeaways from the story:

The US and others are seeking alternatives to China

Rare earth minerals are a group of chemicals essential in digital and defense technologies, used in electronics, magnets and batteries. They are also used in wind turbines and electric vehicle motors, critical to the transition away from fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal that cause global warming. The International Energy Agency estimated in 2022 that demand for rare earths could increase at least threefold by 2040.

China has nearly half of the world’s reserves and dominates global processing. Brazil has the second-largest reserves and is becoming increasingly attractive to investors seeking alternatives to China after Beijing restricted exports last year.

By reviewing all National Mining Agency records in Brazil through June, the AP-Reporter Brasil analysis found that foreign investors are driving the growing interest in rare earth exploration, accounting for more than four in 10 applications.

Australian and U.S. firms dominate the interest. Among recent deals was the acquisition of Serra Verde, Brazil’s only commercial rare earth producer, by a U.S.-backed company.

Chinese firms had not filed any rare earth exploration applications in Brazil as of June, but they are positioning themselves in the sector. Last year, state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group acquired tin producer Mineracao Taboca and announced plans to assess rare earth potential at its Amazon mine. Separately, Shenghe Resources signed an agreement with Brazilian partners WEG Mineracao and Fenrir do Brasil to pursue rare earth projects, including one in Minas Gerais.

New mining push could impact communities and ecosystems

At least a quarter of the applications overlap with or are within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of protected areas and Indigenous territories, including in the Amazon, according to the Energy Transition Observatory, a collaboration among researchers and Reporter Brasil. Experts say mining projects within this buffer zone can cause environmental damage.

Depending on what is mined, toxic chemicals can be released and radioactive waste generated. Other potential impacts include deforestation and polluted water seeping into rivers and lakes, which can poison fish populations, as well as air pollution and noise.

In Goias state, in central Brazil, a small Afro-Brazilian community overlaps with mining claims by the Canadian firm Aclara Resources, which last year secured $5 million in project development financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

Aclara in a statement said its project initially overlapped with the community’s territory, but “no mining activities will take place there.” Still, residents fear operations that could start as early as 2028 could affect local springs and wildlife.

Brazil is considering safeguards around foreign influence

“The challenge today is that China dominates processing and refining,” said Brazilian lawmaker Zé Silva, author of pending legislation that would establish a federal policy on critical minerals and rare earths, set investment priorities and create a national council to monitor significant foreign influence in the sector. “Under our proposal, companies are welcome to invest, but they must transfer technology to Brazil, including processing capacity.”

On Monday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the Senate would move forward with the proposed law, to defend national interests.

“We will not allow anyone from outside to come here and exploit our mineral resources, because we want their processing and transformation to happen here,” Lula said.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Officers responded to the stabbing just after 9:30 p.m. at a 7-Eleven in the 900 block of Fredericksburg Road.

According to an SAPD preliminary report released Thursday, officers found the victim with multiple stab wounds to his “upper torso area and upper extremities.”

The victim was taken to a local hospital for further treatment, the report states.

Police believe the two men know each other. According to the report, both men entered the convenience store. As they left the store, the men began arguing.

While it is unclear what the argument was about, authorities said the 39-year-old suspect then stabbed the victim multiple times.

The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, police said.

SAPD said its investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• Man randomly shot while riding bike on Southwest Side, SAPD says

The most significant impact in the San Antonio area was at North East ISD, where 30 campuses lost the free meals program.

As some San Antonio families adjust to the changes, nutrition experts say packing an affordable lunch at home does not have to mean sacrificing healthy options.

Luis Ricardo Crompton, a nutrition education coordinator with the San Antonio Food Bank, demonstrated a few lunch options that combine affordable ingredients with lean protein and vegetables.

One option is a three-bean salad made with three types of beans.

Crompton said beans can provide a source of lean protein while helping families cut back on foods high in saturated fat.

For children who are not fans of beans, Crompton suggested a vegetable wrap made with celery, onions, and carrots, along with Swiss or mozzarella cheese and low-sodium smoked turkey.

The ingredients can also be relatively inexpensive, he said.

Tortillas can cost about $2 to $3, while vegetables such as celery and carrots can be purchased for about $1 to $1.50. Cheese can cost about $2 to $3, depending on the brand.

Crompton recommended store brands, including H-E-B products, as another way to keep grocery costs down.

Families can also save money by making some foods at home. Crompton demonstrated homemade hummus as well as a chocolate mousse made with avocados, bananas, almond milk and honey.

He estimated the ingredients for the dessert at about $2 to $3.

For families trying to stretch their grocery budgets, Crompton said choosing inexpensive staples and preparing food at home can make it easier to put together nutritious school lunches without spending a lot.

Crompton offers nutrition education to students and families through the San Antonio Food Bank’s Culinary Health Education for Families program.

Noah Lopez, who attends Memorial High School in Port Arthur ISD, told KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, that the punishment happened less than a month after he joined the team.

Noah said he had missed school because he did not have a ride after his mother was seriously injured in a crash. He also said he wore the wrong color football pants to practice. According to Noah, the coach was also upset because he did not have Noah’s phone number.

“It just really hurt real bad,” Noah said. “I was running across the room, going in circles, and everybody was just laughing. And I was like, dang, like, come on bro, it’s already embarrassing, I’m getting hit.”

Noah’s father told KPRC that neither he nor Noah’s mother gave permission for the paddling.

“The way they did it, you know, it was like an assault,” Henry Lopez, Noah’s dad, told KPRC. “You know, they didn’t let me know. I don’t even whoop with my son.”

The Texas Education Agency said it has a zero-tolerance policy toward misconduct that threatens student safety. The agency also said parents can report school safety concerns to the TEA.

Port Arthur ISD said, in part, that district policy does not require a parent to provide advance written consent before corporal punishment may be administered.

According to the Education Code, parents or guardians must sign a written statement and send it to the board of trustees of their district to prohibit the use of corporal punishment on their children.

It is not yet clear whether the family has filed a formal complaint with the district or the state. Parents with safety concerns may report them to the Texas Education Agency.

Also on KSAT.com:

• Lake Travis football coach says team ‘heartbroken’ after player’s death

According to a Spurs Sports & Entertainment news release, Gunn Family Coyote Dog Park reopens Friday.

The reopening comes more than five weeks after the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in the area July 15. Damage forced the park to close for repairs.

Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which manages the 7.5-acre facility, worked alongside Bexar County and local partners to restore the park, the release states.

The free public space draws approximately 50,000 visitors a year and features a dog agility course, walking trails, seating areas, dog-wash stations and play mounds.

Friday’s reopening celebration kicks off at 8 a.m. at 15915 Old Fredericksburg Road. Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody will join representatives from Spurs Sports & Entertainment and Gunn Auto Group for brief remarks at approximately 8:05 a.m.

Giveaways, free coffee and pup cups will be available while supplies last. Admission is free.

Read also:

• NIOSA organizers announce layoffs, ‘reset’ ahead of event’s redesign

Officers were dispatched to the scene just after midnight Sunday in the 5100 block of Crestway Road.

Upon arrival, officers located a deceased man, police said. Witnesses reported that he was assaulted in the area.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Michael Allen Berry, 62.

At this time, it is unclear what led up to Berry’s death. However, the medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, no suspect information is available and no arrests have been made.

Officials said Berry died from cardiac air embolism due to sharp injuries to his neck.

Additional information was not immediately available. The investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• 2 children seriously injured after three-vehicle crash on US Highway 281, police say

The Ervebo vaccine is licensed for use against Ebola virus, one of the viruses that cause Ebola disease, but not for Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak which has so far killed 2,476 people out of the 5,208 confirmed cases

WHO said in a statement that while it’s not known whether Ervebo may protect against the Bundibugyo virus, “early laboratory and animal data suggest it may provide some protection.”

The allocation includes 20,000 doses for a Phase 3 clinical trial to understand the impact of the vaccine on the Bundibugyo virus, the agency said. The remaining 50,000 doses will be used for front-line and health workers as recommended by WHO experts.

The outbreak raging in six provinces in eastern Congo has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other Ebola outbreak in history, and is spreading about three times faster compared to the 2014-2016 outbreak across West Africa — the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, which includes WHO and other partners, said the doses will be released immediately following a request from Congo’s government.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the approval “an important example of global solidarity in action.” He said the agency and its partners remain committed to supporting strengthened surveillance, rapid detection, quality care, community engagement and vaccination efforts to bring the outbreak under control.

The lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus has been a major issue for responders. Most new cases have been reported outside of the people being monitored, showing the virus continues to spread faster than efforts to track it. That has been a key contributor to the recorded deaths.

The case fatality rate so far is 47.5% although it is far worse in some places where response efforts are more challenging, such as in North Kivu province where the fatality rate is up to 70%.

Experts believe the virus began spreading from the mining town of Mongbwalu as early as February, months before authorities declared the outbreak on May 15.

In a news release, the Conservation Society of San Antonio said it is reenvisioning NIOSA for future success, streamlining operations and reducing staff to support the redesign.

Betty Bueché, president of the Conservation Society, said two people were laid off: one full-time NIOSA manager and one part-time bookkeeper. Three employees remain on staff.

“There is a financial situation,” Bueché told KSAT in an interview on Wednesday. “We need to retool this so that we can make sure that we have proceeds. We’re being very cautious about this.”

Bueché said that “the city has been working toward the moment when they can redevelop La Villita for public benefit.”

“As a result of that, we no longer have available for NIOSA the use of the Villita Assembly Hall,” she said. ”We will not have Maverick Plaza if their construction continues.”

The Conservation Society’s loss of two major spaces within La Villita for NIOSA results in a 43% loss of space, according to Bueché.

The society said the goal is to build a stronger NIOSA for the future, while honoring the volunteers and workers who helped make it a San Antonio tradition.

“Unfortunately, aligning our resources with this new direction means saying goodbye to some of our valued team members through a staff reduction,” Bueché said in the Wednesday release. “We are immensely grateful to those who have helped sustain this event and appreciate the thousands of volunteers who are committed to making A Night In Old San Antonio even better.”

For more than 70 years, the release states the Fiesta event has helped raise millions of dollars to support the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic structures in the community.

Read also:

• Could San Antonio’s budget increase Fiesta costs?

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims dropped to 206,000 last week from a revised 212,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, ticked up to 204,000 last week from 199,750.

Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a harbinger for where the job market is headed. For the past year, claims have been at a historically low range of around 200,000 to 230,000 a week.

“The labor market has yet to show any sign of wear and tear from the surge in oil prices since the start of the war with Iran and the global energy supply shock,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary.

The number of people collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Aug. 8 rose to 1.8 million from 1.78 million the week before.

The U.S. unemployment rate is low at 4.1%, partly because the economy has proved resilient in the face of higher energy prices. But it’s also because President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and the ongoing retirement of baby boomers mean that fewer people are competing for jobs: More than 1.3 million people have dropped out of the U.S. labor force over the past year.

The job market is tough for those looking for their first job and for those who lost their jobs and are looking for new work. At the same time, companies, remembering the worker shortages that followed the end of COVID-19 lockups, are still reluctant to let go of staff; but they aren’t eager to take on new workers. Economists regularly refer to a “no hire, no fire″ job market.

In July, companies, government agencies and nonprofits together cut 23,000 jobs. So far this year, employers are adding 61,000 jobs a month. That is an improvement on the 9,700 they averaged last year — the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. The lingering effects of high interest rates and Trump’s erratic trade policies discouraged companies from hiring in 2025.

Hiring this year remains well below the 166,00 monthly jobs created, on average, in 2023 and 2024, let alone the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed pandemic lockdowns.

Fletcher spoke to The Associated Press in an interview after a visit to the southern city of Kherson, where he witnessed how communities there are coping while living under the constant threat of Russian drones. Fletcher described the visit to Kherson, split by the Dnipro River, which acts as an active front line, as “quite chilling."

Russian forces occupy the eastern bank, while Ukrainian forces hold the western bank. From across the water, surveillance and exploding drones routinely hunt and attack civilians, vehicles and public transit.

“It really gives us an insight into the dangers ahead of us,” he said.

The threat is also making it harder for humanitarian organizations to reach people who need assistance.

Fletcher spoke after attending a commemoration for two humanitarian workers who had died while doing their jobs.

“Drones are a real threat to not just civilians but the humanitarians who are here to protect them,” Fletcher said.

He said that aid workers are protected under international humanitarian law and yet marked humanitarian vehicles have still been hit. “So that does restrict what we can do," he said.

Local organizations are particularly exposed. More than two-thirds of operations funded through Ukraine's humanitarian fund are carried out by local organizations, according to Fletcher.

“They’re the ones who are saying most loudly to us, we’re not protected,” he said.

Fletcher said the U.N. needs more than $2 billion for its prioritized humanitarian response in Ukraine this year, with winter among his biggest concerns. Damage to civilian infrastructure, including electricity, water and gas systems, could once again leave millions vulnerable during the harsh winter months, raising fears of a repeat of last winter’s severe conditions.

The U.N. has sharply narrowed its humanitarian priorities all over the world as donor funding has fallen. Fletcher said the organization initially identified 87 million people facing the most severe humanitarian needs, but that figure has since risen to about 92 million with the onslaught of Ebola in Africa, the earthquake in Venezuela and other conflicts.

The U.N. is seeking $23 billion to provide life-saving assistance to those people and had raised about $11 billion, said Fletcher.

Ukraine is relatively well funded compared with many other crises, he added, with roughly 70%–75% of its hyper-prioritized funding requirement covered. But even full funding of the humanitarian plan would address only part of Ukraine’s needs.

Fletcher also admitted that raising money for humanitarian operations has become more difficult as governments have increasingly redirected spending toward defense and domestic priorities.

“We’re in a more transactional world, I would say a more selfish world,” he said.

Fletcher said the U.N. now has to demonstrate that it is using limited taxpayer money efficiently and strategically.

“We have to show governments that we are spending their taxpayers’ money sensibly, wisely, in a prioritized way,” he said.

In a stark new assessment released on Wednesday, the U.N. warned that 907 aid workers were victims of violence last year and over 1,000 have been killed in three years. Fletcher said he could not reassure colleagues that those responsible would be held accountable based on how the international community has reacted.

He said accountability should extend beyond identifying the person who physically carried out an attack.

“I want to see investigations into the people who fired the weapon or flew the drone,” he said.

In a news release Wednesday, city health officials said a Husky mix tested positive for rabies Aug. 18.

The dog’s owner said it killed a baby skunk in late July near the family’s home on the far West Side, inside Loop 1604. The incident was not reported, ACS said.

Several weeks later, the dog began showing “concerning behavioral and neurological symptoms,” according to the release. Rabies treatment was offered to people and pets who may have been exposed.

Health officials said San Antonio and Bexar County are experiencing an outbreak of rabies among wild animals. The county reported 22 rabies cases in wildlife in June and July 2026, compared with two to three cases reported during the same period in 2024 and 2025.

Officials recommend these rabies precautions:

• Keep dogs, cats and other pets up to date on their rabies vaccinations.
• Do not allow dogs to roam freely, which is illegal.
• Never feed, touch or handle wildlife or unknown animals.
• Report animal encounters to 311. Bexar County residents can call Animal Control at 210-335-9000.
• Confine a pet that may have encountered wildlife to prevent additional contact with people or other animals.
• If a potentially rabid animal is inside a home or building, try to confine it only if that can be done safely and without direct contact.
• If you are bitten, scratched or exposed, wash the area with soap and water and contact a healthcare provider immediately.
• Call 311 or use the 311 app to request safe removal of dead animals.

Health officials say the rabies vaccination is the best protection. City and state law require dogs and cats to stay current on their rabies shots.

San Antonio Animal Care Services will offer free vaccinations to the first 100 pets Saturday, Aug. 22, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Monterrey Park, 5919 West Commerce St.

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The decision marks a milestone in Evergrande's saga after it defaulted on more than $300 billion in liabilities when Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate industry in 2020. That triggered a crunch among many developers and brought on a downturn in the property market that has weighed on the broader economy ever since.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court said Thursday it convicted 67-year-old Hui, who founded Evergrande, of engaging in large-scale financial fraud in inflating the group’s assets and concealing its liabilities.

In a statement, the court said Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, abused his position in orchestrating fraud and misappropriating company assets.

Evergrande group was fined 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) and Evergrande Real Estate Group was fined 7 billion yuan ($1.04 billion), the court said.

“The amount involved is exceptionally large, the circumstances are particularly egregious, and extraordinarily heavy economic losses have been caused,” the statement said. “The harm to society is extremely serious. Therefore, severe punishment should be given in accordance with the law.”

Hui’s sons, Xu Tenghe and Xu Zhijian, were also sentenced alongside senior Evergrande executives and others linked to the group on charges including illegally taking public deposits, fundraising fraud and the illegal use of funds, China's official Xinhua News Agency said. A total of more than 50 individuals got prison terms of between 22 months and 18 years, it said without providing a breakdown of sentencing details.

A photo of Hui's courtroom appearance released by the Shenzhen court on Thursday showed an aged Hui, who used to be a high-profile figure but had long been out of public view, wearing a navy blue shirt standing between two uniformed officers behind a sign that read “defendant” in Chinese.

Hui pleaded guilty in April to various charges including illegal absorption of public deposits, fraud and bribery after he was detained in China.

China Evergrande was founded in 1996 as China's housing boom was taking off. It defaulted on its debts in 2021 and was ordered to liquidate its assets. The broader downturn in China's massive property sector that ensued has pulled home prices down 20% or more since 2021.

Authorities in Hong Kong and mainland China earlier said their investigations found Evergrande had manipulated its financial data using tactics such as prematurely booking revenue from property sales before completion and delivery of the apartments to buyers. Revenues were overstated by roughly $80 billion over 2019 and 2020, they said.

Hui was fined 47 million yuan ($6.5 million) in 2024 and banned from China's securities markets for life by the China Securities Regulatory Commission over inflating company financial results, among other issues.

Once reported to be China’s richest man, Hui used to own the football club Guangzhou Evergrande. At one point, he and his companies were involved in investing in and building theme parks and electric vehicles.

His story was one of rags-to-riches. Born in 1958 into a rural family in central China's Henan province, he worked in the steel industry in the 1980s before establishing Evergrande, which then prospered during China's housing market boom. He was one of many businessmen who have also gained political influence by joining a major advisory organization, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

___

Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches of about 10 short-range ballistic missiles happened from North Korea’s capital region around 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Thursday. The military said the missiles flew about 300 kilometers (185 miles) each toward North Korea’s eastern waters.

The military said South Korea has bolstered its surveillance posture and was closely coordinating information on the launches with the U.S. and Japan. South Korea’s presidential national security council issued a statement urging North Korea to halt ballistic missile launches.

The Japanese prime minister's office had earlier said that it detected a suspected missile launch.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, just before they began Monday. Trump cited what he said was a good relationship with Kim and South Korea’s refusal to support him over the war in Iran.

On Wednesday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries confirmed they shortened the 11-day drills by shortening their duration by about half and canceling some field training exercises. The reduction of the exercises raised worries about the allies’ joint defense posture.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismissed Trump’s overture later Wednesday, saying “the provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced.”

“If the U.S. calculates that it can propagate its recent measure as the one of so-called good faith, they will not get the desired answer,” she said in a statement.

She denied Trump’s claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation.

Kim Yo Jong still refrained from the typical North Korean reaction of fiery rhetoric and said personal relations between her brother and Trump are “still excellent.” That signals North Korea would want to wait for Trump to make bigger concessions before returning to talks.

When asked by reporters Wednesday if he would be meeting with Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said that “Yeah, I will be.” He wouldn’t answer a question about whether he is exchanging letters with Kim but said he gets along with him.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the main military exercises conducted by the U.S. and South Korea annually to enhance their ability to cope with potential North Korean aggression. Washington and Seoul say their drills are defensive in nature, but North Korea calls them an invasion rehearsal and often reacts with weapons tests.

Before this month's drills started, North Korea accused the U.S. and South Korea of plotting more provocative exercises this summer and vowed to respond with "a new level of a deterrent.” Days before the drills' start, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea in its first such launches since late June.

Trump's earlier diplomacy with Kim Jong Un collapsed in 2019 due to disputes over how much sanctions relief North Korea should be given in return for dismantling its main nuclear complex, a limited denuclearization step. Kim has since shunned any talks with the U.S., pushed to modernize weapons arsenals and expanded cooperation with Russia.

Kim has said he won’t place his nuclear program back on the negotiating table. Experts say Kim has more leverage than when he first held talks with Trump in 2018 and 2019. They say Kim likely hopes to eventually win international recognition as a nuclear state and extensive sanctions relief in exchange for only limited steps toward denuclearization.

__

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

In Waldorf, in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, a woman was struck by a falling tree and fatally injured, the German news agency dpa reported Thursday. Another woman suffered serious injuries in the accident, police said.

The women, 58 and 47, were walking together when a storm rolled in and they sought shelter under a covered seating area. Both women were struck when a tree was uprooted and fell onto the seating area. The 58-year-old died at the scene, a police spokesperson said. The 47-year-old was taken to a hospital.

A tornado struck the town of Fürstenwalde, 78 kilometers (49 miles) southeast of Berlin. Roofs were torn off and several cars were damaged by falling trees, and one person was injured, according to dpa.

In Höhr-Grenzhausen in the Westerwald district in western Germany, a storm tore walls from buildings. At least two homes were affected, according to dpa. Falling pieces of building facades and flying debris caused additional damage, and several trees were uprooted. A widespread power outage also hit the area, while strong gusts of wind overturned a truck on the A61 highway.

There were also numerous weather-related emergency calls overnight in Hesse, Thuringia and Bavaria.

A village festival in Kronach, Bavaria, was partially evacuated due to severe storms. About 3,500 guests had to leave the outdoor area of the festival grounds late Wednesday evening, local police said. They were able to continue celebrating inside the beer halls.

In Wetzlar, in Hesse, the storm damaged about 60 houses, according to the fire department. In some cases, pieces of roofing were blown as far as 100 meters (110 yards) away, dpa reported.

The German Weather Service warned that further severe storms could occur later in the day, particularly in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in southern Germany.

While the storms in Germany were accompanied by cooler temperatures, high temperatures continued to be recorded in southeastern Europe, and fires raged in some parts of the region.

Firefighters are battling wildfires in the Balkans

In Serbia, a Russian firefighting plane joined efforts in Serbia on Thursday to fight wildfires that devastated a nature reserve in the northeast as the Balkan country faces a fresh heat wave in the coming days.

The Il-76 plane landed in Serbia on Wednesday evening, also illustrating continued friendly relations between the two countries despite Belgrade’s proclaimed intention to join the European Union.

The fire in Deliblatska Pescara, or Deliblato Sands, first erupted a month ago, but was under control until early August when it started spreading swiftly, engulfing thousands of acres of pine forests and shrubbery.

Several other big fires also have been raging in other parts of the country, as well as throughout the region in the past weeks. An extremely hot and dry summer this year has fueled wildfires throughout Europe, from Belgium to Greece.

Croatian firefighters from the popular tourism hot spot of Dubrovnik on Thursday joined a struggle to contain a fire across the border in Bosnia to prevent it from spreading toward the medieval walled city that is a UNESCO protected heritage site.

“It was a hard night,” regional firefighting unit commander Stjepan Simović told the Hina news agency. "The fire is huge and in an inaccessible terrain, so we have to be vigilant.”

___

Gec reported from Belgrade, Serbia.

Scott Williams, marketing manager for the San Antonio Public Library, said the library’s back-to-school resources are designed for anyone looking to learn something new.

“It’s the best tool you can have to connect you to so many resources that are your best friend when you’re a student,” Williams said.

Library card holders can now check out free Wi-Fi hotspots at 10 SAPL locations: Bazan, Collins Garden, Cortez, Forest Hills, Las Palmas, Memorial, Mission, Pan American, Schaefer and Westfall.

The hotspots work like a book. Families check one out, take it home and keep it for up to three weeks.

“The hotspot has to be returned to the location where you checked it out, but if nobody’s waiting in line behind you for that device, you can check it out again for another three-week period,” Williams said.

The hotspot checkout option is part of a pilot program focused on areas of San Antonio identified through equity and broadband internet needs.

Williams said more than 60% of the available hotspots have already been checked out, and demand continues to grow.

The library also offers free homework help around the clock from professional tutors. Through Brain Fuse, the service is available for students from kindergarten through graduate school and can be accessed in both English and Spanish.

“You can access it from anywhere that you have an internet connection,” Williams said.

For students or adults preparing for exams, SAPL also offers access to LearningExpressHub.com, which includes preparation materials for a wide range of tests. Resources include nursing and health care exams, firefighter and law enforcement exams, and common college entrance exams such as the ACT and SAT.

“Time is such a constraint for people, especially if you’re looking for a new career,” Williams said. “You’re probably already working a job, maybe two jobs. You don’t have a lot of time. So in those precious moments that you have, the library is there in person and online 24/7 to help you make the next move in your life.”

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• Free admission opportunities available at downtown Briscoe Western Art Museum

Since 1926, Little Flower School has helped PreK3-8th grade students grow academically and personally through strong relationships, education, and a supportive school community. They’re known for their small class size & preparing children for the future. We find out how they’re celebrating a century in San Antonio.

Crepeccino Café & Crêperie is a locally owned shop serving handcrafted sweet and savory crêpes, specialty coffee, brunch, and desserts in a warm, European-inspired setting. Known for its fresh ingredients and welcoming atmosphere, Crepeccino offers guests an all-day dining experience perfect for any occasion. We check out their new location near Alamo Ranch.

Being fooled has never been so fun. We get a sneak peek at Magician Max Zawacki’s show happening right now at The Magic Saloon. In this special performance he plays a twist on 3-car Monty with Jada & spoiler alert - he fools her every time.

Have you been hurt at work? If you don’t file workers’ comp correctly, you might not get the compensation you deserve. Espinoza & Brock Work Injury Attorneys tell us about the biggest mistakes people make & how they can help protect your rights.

With universities competing to pay athletes millions of dollars, some states now are propping up their strained sports budgets in ways not previously seen. The state dollars aren’t going directly to star athletes. But by funding facilities and administrative costs normally borne by the schools, states are freeing universities to use their own dollars for other purposes.

The athletics program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for the first time, is receiving $3 million earmarked from state sports betting taxes. Wisconsin lawmakers approved $15 million for athletic costs at the University of Wisconsin. And Connecticut and Louisiana also are using tax dollars to support college athletics. Even more states have considered it.

Sports business analysts see an emerging trend.

“Once one state provides that kind of assistance, schools in competing states can argue that they are being placed at a competitive disadvantage, which could create additional pressure on legislatures to respond,” said Daniel McIntosh, faculty director of the sports business program at Arizona State University.

Legal cases have accelerated spending on college athletes

NCAA rules long barred college athletes from getting paid by schools and boosters. But under pressure from lawsuits and states, the NCAA cleared the way in 2021 for athletes to receive money from private entities for the use of their name, image or likeness (NIL). Then a legal settlement last year allowed higher education institutions to directly pay athletes a total of about $20.5 million annually — on top of any scholarships and other NIL deals they receive.

That cap rose to $21.3 million for this school year, and is set to rise again the following year.

Many mid-level programs cannot afford that much. But almost all NCAA Division I athletic programs are trying to generate more money to pay athletes in a bid to remain competitive with their peers. At the same time, schools have been incurring greater costs for facilities, coaches’ salaries and travel amid conference realignments that discarded old geographic-based rivalries.

Over the past four years, athletic operating expenses at public Division I institutions shot up by nearly a third — notably outpacing revenue and running up deficits, according to an Associated Press analysis using the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database.

Federal legislation could drive athletic costs even higher

The Protect College Sports Act, pending in the U.S. Senate, has been promoted as a way to put guardrails on college sports spending. But it could potentially allow even greater spending by schools.

The latest version would allow institutions to pay up to an additional $27.5 million annually to retain players on their rosters, pushing the overall athlete payment cap close to $50 million. The higher ceiling could reduce the demand for third-party NIL deals.

But the legislation contains no provision restraining increases in state and institutional funding for athletics, said Amy Privette Perko, CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

“Without some restraint on the underlying spending competition, additional public funding could simply finance the next stage of the arms race,” McIntosh said.

States are routing money to schools in creative ways

When North Carolina launched online sports wagering in 2024, it earmarked part of the tax revenue for athletic departments at 13 public universities. But the two largest institutions — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University — were excluded.

That changed in July under a new state budget that raises the sports betting tax. Those two schools now are projected to receive $3 million each this year and $5.8 million next year.

In the meantime, Louisiana also hiked its sports wagering tax and earmarked about $2.2 million to each of its 11 public universities in conferences with Division I football programs.

Seeking to drum up athletic revenue, Connecticut lawmakers authorized the University of Connecticut to issue vouchers for state tax credits equal to half the amount of donations, sponsorships and licensing endorsements. The program generated $1.7 million in its first four months, according to a university report.

New Jersey’s new budget allots $5 million for “events attraction and marketing” at Rutgers’ flagship campus. A university spokesperson declined to say if the money would be used for athletic programs.

Though not providing new state money, the governing board for Florida’s universities last year authorized institutions to transfer up to $22.5 million to athletics. Florida State University did so almost immediately, and other schools have since followed.

Lawmaker says a bad football team is bad for the state

The Wisconsin budget provides $14.6 million for athletic facility debt payments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and $200,000 each for the Milwaukee and Green Bay campuses.

“None of that state funds technically would go toward student athletes,” said Republican state Rep. Alex Dallman, who sponsored the legislation.

But with the state covering facility debt, the university could use its own funds “for other things, such as NIL, or just trying to compete,” said Dallman, who typically attends a couple Wisconsin football games each year.

“Having a bad football team, having uncompetitive college sports in general, would not be beneficial to our state, both culturally or economically,” Dallman said. “So we decided as a state we’d help out.”

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement the cities put forward “incredibly strong bids," and he promised the convention would be an “inspiring celebration of our party's future nominee.”

A final decision is expected to be made later this year by party leaders. Republicans have already chosen Houston for the site of their 2028 convention.

The Democratic convention, scheduled for Aug. 7-10, 2028, traditionally gives the party a chance to formally introduce its nominee to the country, rally the base and kick-start the most intense period of campaigning ahead of the general election.

The party didn't specify why Atlanta and Chicago, which was the site of the 2024 convention, were eliminated. Officials visited all five cities in April and May, considering logistical and fundraising capacity among other factors.

The three finalists are liberal strongholds surrounded by the type of suburban areas that have become increasingly important to the party in recent elections. They also provide access to fundraising and key demographic and interest groups, like labor unions.

While Colorado and Massachusetts have gone Democratic in recent presidential elections, Pennsylvania has been among the biggest battlegrounds. Trump, a Republican, won Pennsylvania in 2024.

Philadelphia last hosted the convention in 2016, Denver in 2008 and Boston in 2004.

Before the presidential primary gets into gear, Democrats are looking at this year's midterm elections as an opportunity to flip the narrowly divided Republican-led House and maybe take back control of the Senate.

Democrats face fundraising disadvantages compared with Republicans, along with financial debt, and Martin has confronted criticism over his stewardship of the party.

During a recent DNC meeting in Texas, Martin downplayed the critics and called for the party to unite as it tries to win the midterms and look ahead to 2028 and the end of Trump's second term.

But on television, Texans have only seen one of them.

Talarico, an Austin state representative, has spent over $25 million on advertising since the general election began in late May, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact — with nearly $10.7 million deployed on broadcast and an additional $8.4 million on streaming devices. (The rest has gone to a combination of cable, digital, radio and satellite.)

Texans turning on their TVs this summer have seen Talarico talk about the importance of loving God and neighbor in a spot featuring his grandfather. They’ve seen the Democrat lamenting high costs in a grocery store and while driving a truck, and heard about his record in a World Cup-themed Spanish language ad.

Over that same time period, the Paxton campaign has spent $119,000 — nearly all of it on digital advertising — meaning that Talarico has essentially had the airwaves to himself. Over that time, he’s built a narrow polling lead, pulling ahead in numerous surveys within the margin of error.

In television interviews, Paxton has noted this disparity and appealed to donors for help. On Fox News recently, the Republican nominee laid out his timeline for campaign spending, saying he expects that litigating Talarico’s record will cement the Democrat’s loss — but that he needs resources to do it.

“As we’re raising money, we’re working our way back into October, which is where we can spend money, and we’re trying to work our way back to September,” Paxton said. “But we need help now, because James Talarico’s been spending $3 or $4 million a week on TV for the last month. So, I want to compete.”

The Paxton campaign has also touted that while he was outraised by Talarico in the second quarter, Paxton still raised more money — over $9 million — than any non-incumbent GOP Senate candidate in the country. And Paxton has noted that the expensive primary runoff left his coffers more depleted than those of Talarico, who could afford to spend the spring stockpiling his war chest after winning his March primary.

Conventional election wisdom states that most voters don’t start paying attention until after Labor Day, and that Republicans can still win while being outspent on ads — which Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, did in both his narrow victory in 2018 and comfortable win in 2024. Republican strategists expect the cavalry to come for Paxton, with well-heeled outside players helping narrow the spending gap.

But as September approaches, they’re eyeing the calendar.

“I do think Paxton needs to define Talarico, and he needs to do it soon,” John Wittman, an unaffiliated Republican consultant and former adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott, said in an interview. “We’re about three months out from Election Day. So it’s important for Republicans to combat this Democrat aggression, that they do start to spend and start to define Talarico for the crazy liberal he is.”

Republican strategists caution that Democrats’ polling is typically strongest in the summer, and that they expect those numbers to shift once Paxton or his allies begin attacking Talarico on television. A Republican group called Protecting America’s Future, seeded by longtime Paxton ally and West Texas billionaire Tim Dunn, became the first GOP group to run an anti-Talarico ad, attacking him in two spots on China policy and crime in a $120,000 ad spend airing mostly in the Corpus Christi media market this week.

By comparison, Talarico’s campaign has spent over $7.3 million on ads over the past couple weeks, over 36 times the amount dropped by Republicans.

In 2024, when Cruz beat Democrat Colin Allred by an 8.5-point margin, he was also outspent over the summer — though Cruz was spending more on a week-by-week basis than Paxton is now. Cruz started spending six figures a week on advertising in late July 2024, according to AdImpact data, and ramped up to a weekly seven-figure spend by late September. When combined with outside spending, Republicans were dropping at least $2 million on ads each week by the end of August two years ago.

Paxton, by contrast, has spent no more than $20,000 on ads in any week of the general election thus far. AdImpact has tracked over $72,000 in Republican spending this week, the party’s high-water mark since the runoff.

In total, Democrats outspent Republicans by a margin of $119.7 million to $82.6 million in Texas’ 2024 Senate race after the primaries. Cruz’s campaign was aided by tens of millions in outside ad support and coordinated spending, the bulk of which did not come until late September.

And Cruz, of course, was an incumbent senator who had six years to build his war chest, while this is Paxton’s first federal race.

“GOP donors need to get off their asses”

Beyond Paxton’s campaign itself, well-heeled groups including Senate Leadership Fund, the national PAC aligned with Senate GOP leadership, and MAGA Inc., the massive campaign super PAC aligned with Trump, could even the field in Texas — though both groups are operating with a national map bigger than Texas. The question animating Republicans in Texas remains: When will the money come?

Paxton has acknowledged that Talarico’s superior spending has affected the standing of the race. Polls have put the race essentially tied, with Talarico narrowly leading in recent polls that put him within the margin of error — an unprecedented situation for the top-of-the-ticket race in Texas since Republicans solidified control of the state.

“He’s got money,” Paxton told GOP radio host Dana Loesch. “He’s been on TV for about four or five weeks. And it’s helped him a little bit in the polls — that’s why the polls have gotten closer.”

But the current lack of future ad reservations — from Paxton or allies — has some Republicans offering warnings to the outside groups that have yet to spend money. After the Paxton interview, Loesch, whose show is broadcast from Dallas, told her listeners that Republican groups were “leaving you to hang” and questioned, “Where’s the GOP in this race?”

“This is a winnable race,” Loesch said. “All these big money GOP donors need to get off their asses and make a decision. Because I guaran-damn-tee you, if their inaction results in us having somebody like James Talarico, dear God in heaven, my rage will be limitless.”

Karl Rove, a longtime Republican strategist who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the primary against Paxton, put it even more starkly. Rove said Texas is a Republican state, but that the disparate fundraising dynamics have made the race unusual.

“He’s not going to change as a fundraiser,” Rove said on Fox, referring to Paxton’s past performances. “So this is going to be one that is going to depend mightily upon the decision of President Trump to spend or not spend the half a billion plus dollars that he has in his two super PACs — MAGA Inc. and Never Surrender. If he does spend, then he can sort of even it up. If he doesn’t spend, this could be a really bad night for Republicans in Texas.”

Texas Bullpen reported that MAGA Inc. fielded a message testing poll in Texas with possible attacks against Talarico this month, portending potential future spending.

In the Fox News interview, Paxton said Republican leadership is “planning on spending money here, is my understanding,” but he noted that he can’t coordinate with them.

“We haven’t yet, but we’re very hopeful that that’s coming soon,” Paxton told Loesch when she asked if he was getting adequate funding from GOP groups. “We’ve been told September.”

Across the Republican spending landscape, Texas stands out for the lack of future TV ad reservations. GOP candidates and their allies have booked at least $10 million from Sept. 1 onward in eight battleground states, according to AdImpact. In the five other competitive states where Republicans are playing defense — Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio — the GOP has outspent Democrats in its fall bookings.

Democrats have not booked any ad reservations in Texas past Sept. 1 either. That includes Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, which has bought ad time in other battleground states.

A few factors could explain why both parties are waiting to get involved in Texas.

In smaller states with fewer media markets, ad rates can rise quickly, especially when there are competitive governor and House races also competing for airtime. In those cases, early reservations can be critical. Meanwhile, Texas has 20 different media markets, placing less pressure on outside groups to commit money early and lock in rates, one national GOP strategist told the Tribune. That’s why campaigns and groups often buy ad time on a week-to-week basis here.

Super PACs can also make a difference. But on that front, Democrats also had an advantage at last count.

Lone Star Liberty PAC, the pro-Paxton super PAC that dropped $5.7 million throughout the primary, has yet to spend any money on television since the runoff. That’s expected to change at some point, but the group went into July with major reloading to do after an expensive second quarter taken up by the primary runoff. The PAC only had $35,000 in its war chest at the end of June, according to federal records.

Meanwhile, Lone Star Rising PAC, which supports Talarico, had nearly $12.7 million on hand.

Outside of the Senate race, Republicans’ cash advantage in other statewide contests — especially the governor’s race — could serve to benefit Paxton as well, when an expected deluge of pro-Republican, anti-Democrat messaging hits the airwaves this fall.

The next round of federal campaign fundraising data will not be available until mid-October, just before early voting begins.

The military said it would not probe three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. It said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct in Gaza and made decisions on the five cases.

Chef José Andrés, founder of U.S.-based World Central Kitchen, condemned the decision on X as “wrong and painful.”

The investigations involve killings that drew a heavy international outcry. Hind was trapped in a vehicle with her slain relatives, pleading for help by phone before she too was killed in February 2024. After the shooting of the 15 medics in March 2025, troops bulldozed their bodies into a mass grave.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 people, including tens of thousands of women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Rights groups and U.N. commissions have said the campaign amounts to genocide and that Israeli forces have committed a litany of war crimes, including indiscriminate use of force and deliberate killings of civilians.

Israel denies accusations of genocide and war crimes and says it is targeting Hamas after its October 2023 attack on southern Israel. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group operates in populated areas in the tiny, overcrowded strip.

Israeli officials contend the country's justice system can address any violations by its troops, but rights groups say soldiers are almost never held accountable.

Wednesday's statement did not mention many other high-profile killings that Israel has pledged to investigate, such as its strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists in August 2025, including Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news organizations.

The 5-year-old was the last alive in a stranded car

Hind's grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, told the AP by phone that the Israeli investigation into her killing is not enough.

“An international investigation is required to uncover the truth and hold all those responsible accountable,” she said. “We call for justice, not only for Hind, but for all Gaza children.”

The military in Wednesday's statement admitted to firing at the car carrying the 5-year-old, four of her cousins and her aunt and uncle as they fled an Israeli invasion of Gaza City.

As gunfire sprayed around them, the girl's cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic center, telling staff there her family had been killed. Seconds later, more gunshots were heard, and Layan’s screaming stopped, according to the Red Crescent recording of the call.

Palestinian paramedics dispatched an ambulance to rescue Hind and stayed on the line with her until contact was lost. Hind, her five relatives and two medics from the ambulance were found dead 12 days later.

The military admitted Wednesday that troops had fired toward that ambulance, killing the two medics.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, director of the Belgium-based Hind Rajab foundation, told Al-Jazeera he considered the military investigations a “charade meant to whitewash the culprits instead of convicting them.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent also insists on an international investigation, according to Raed al-Nims, a spokesman for the organization in Gaza. “Israeli measures are not enough,” he told the AP.

A movie docudrama about Hind's death, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” won international awards and was nominated for an Oscar.

The 15 medics had been trying to reach casualties

In the killing of the paramedics, Israeli troops fired on an ambulance driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah, then fired on other emergency vehicles that came looking for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings. Fifteen medics and emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Gaza's Civil Defense were killed.

Troops then bulldozed over the bodies and vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The Israeli military initially said it opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” on troops without headlights or emergency signals. But it backtracked after the footage emerged, showing the teams driving slowly with their emergency lights flashing and logos visible. A deputy commander was directed to step down over the killings.

“We are not obligated to prove the truth because it is already proven to the whole world,” Eid Azizi, a Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson, told the AP in a phone call. “We shouldn’t have reached this point if they respected and followed international humanitarian law.”

Israel will not criminally probe World Central Kitchen strike

The military said it had decided against a criminal investigation into April 2024 airstrikes that hit a convoy of World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven staffers.

The aid group, which distributes food in Gaza, said at the time it had coordinated with the military over the convoy's movement. The vehicles, which had the group’s logo on their roofs visible from the air, were left incinerated and mangled.

Wednesday's military statement said individuals in the vehicles were mistakenly identified as armed Hamas operatives. But it concluded that the commanders' decisions "did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.” At the time, two officers were removed from their positions and three others reprimanded.

World Central Kitchen responded in a statement saying the military’s account of the strike was untrue, “conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame.” It called for an independent investigation.

Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong expressed “outrage” at the outcome Thursday, saying the removals and reprimands of officers weren't sufficient accountability for the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom. Wong said unanswered questions remained and her government would continue to pursue the matter.

The military also decided not to take criminal action over the killings of four staffers from Doctors Without Borders in two separate instances in November 2023 and February 2024.

What happens next?

Military investigators will now take up the probes and present their findings to military prosecutors. The military advocate general can then decide to keep investigating, indict any soldiers involved or decline to charge them.

Any action will take a long time, if it comes at all, said Tal Steiner, head of the Israeli rights group HaMoked.

Indictments are very uncommon and convictions even more so, she said, recalling only one soldier who had spent time behind bars since Oct. 7, 2023, for alleged abuse of Palestinian prisoners. That soldier was imprisoned for seven months under a June 2025 plea bargain.

“It’s very rare that soldiers accused of harming Palestinians even go to court ... and even rarer that they get a severe punishment,” Steiner said.

Just 0.17% of all military investigations launched during three Gaza operations from 2014 to 2022 led to prosecution, according to an analysis by Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

The war's toll keeps growing

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and abducted 251 others.

Israeli strikes have continued in Gaza since a ceasefire deal came into effect in October, killing at least 1,270 people, according to the 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 constitute about half of the dead. ___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Erin Cunningham in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Meanwhile, France announced it will expel two Iranian diplomats in response to the expulsion of French diplomats from the Islamic Republic this week. And the Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator landed in neighboring Iraq for a three-day visit.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage can be found here.

Israel's military plans criminal investigation into Gaza attacks

The Israeli military said it would investigate the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family members in February 2024, and the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in March 2025. Both drew international attention.

The announcement followed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza. The military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.

Rajab was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle that also was carrying her aunt, uncle and four cousins as they tried to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive.

The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then bulldozed over the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. Troops first shot at an ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor.

Australian official angered by move not to probe aid worker’s death

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed “outrage” on Thursday at Israel’s decision not to pursue criminal charges over strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian woman Zomi Frankcom.

Wong said her government was informed of the decision moments before it was announced, leaving officials no time to inform Frankcom’s family before it became public.

“There are still many unanswered questions,” Wong said.

They included why the convoy was struck three times in a humanitarian fire control zone and why a senior brigade officer involved in the strikes was a signatory to a letter urging the restriction of aid to Gaza, Wong added. Australia had yet to receive drone recordings from the attack, despite seeking them multiple times, she said.

“The Australian government does not believe that the removal of two officers from their positions and three officers being reprimanded is sufficient accountability for the deaths of seven people, including an Australian citizen,” Wong said.

The minister hours earlier summoned Israel’s envoy to Canberra Hillel Newman for a meeting. However, she wouldn’t expel the ambassador, she said, citing a need to continue engaging diplomatically with Israel.

Newman told reporters after the meeting that he was “very sorry” for Frankcom’s family, but did not apologize for her killing.

“One cannot attack findings of a court if the findings are not suitable to one’s political agenda,” Newman said. He added that the finding of no criminal liability came “after two years of independent research.”

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 10 as ceasefire is in doubt

At least 10 people were killed Wednesday in two airstrikes in Gaza, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The attacks cast further doubt on whether new U.S. efforts can advance a tenuous ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

Just two days after U.S. negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in Gaza, Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn, two witnesses and a Hamas official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.

— Samy Magdy and Wafaa Shurafa

Iran's parliament speaker and top negotiator visits Iraq

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf arrived in Iraq for a three-day visit where he will meet with Iraqi officials and leaders of an Iran-backed political coalition.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched drone attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic targets both within Iraq and abroad, piling pressure on Baghdad, which for years has delicately tried to maintain strong ties with both Washington and Tehran.

Qalibaf praised the country’s Tehran-backed militias, which he called the “resistance in Iraq," describing them as a “key component of the country’s national power.”

His comments came even as the Iraqi government has been trying to disarm the militias that have long operated on their own even though they were nominally under state command.

Iraq is asking Iran to grant special status to Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz because the country has been affected greatly by Iran's war with the U.S. and needs to guard its economic interests, according to a statement from Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi.

Iraq relies on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of its oil is exported through the strait. Since the war erupted and Iran asserted control over the strait, halting most shipping traffic, Iraq has turned to alternate routes, including sending oil over land to Syria, which is less efficient and more expensive.

France and Iran expel diplomats

France announced it will expel two staff members of the Iranian Embassy in France, in response to what the French Foreign Ministry described as an assault by Iranian security forces against two French diplomatic staff in the Islamic Republic last month.

Iran accused the French pair of taking part in a secret meeting with “suspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference,” Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The French diplomats were expelled on Monday.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot slammed the Iranian authorities for not investigating what he called a “premeditated and deliberate attack.” He called the allegations fabricated and said the two Iranians will leave Paris in the coming days.

___

Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Last year, they added former O’Connor superstar and two-time NCAA volleyball national champion coach Dominique Gonzalez-Tomlin. Coach “Dom” got her rings from Penn State and used what she learned from the game to give back to the Warriors.

Coach Dom graduated from O’Connor in 2011. She was the libero at Penn State. While she was there, she won two NCAA volleyball championships.

“This is what’s going to help you be successful,” said Gonzalez-Tomlin. “Showing up on time, being disciplined, hard work. Whether you feel like being in the gym or not, you show up and do it anyways.”

“The experience having coached at a high level, in college and obviously winning two national championships as a player,” said Cornerstone head volleyball coach Mike Carter. “She has an experience that I can’t bring to the table that she’s able to share with them.”

Carter knew Gonzalez-Tomlin decades before she joined his coaching staff.

“I was fortunate to coach Dom as a 9-year-old and again as an 18-year-old. I got to go see her win a national championship in Seattle,” Carter said. “I’ve been around her mom for 30 years, who is also a national champion.”

Gonzalez-Tomlin said coaching in San Antonio is a privilege in itself. When she got the call to coach at Cornerstone, her decision was based on more than volleyball. She wanted to impact as many kids as possible.

Cornerstone is an independent school with students from elementary through high school.

“Eleven all the way to 18 and that’s such a big gap and such a big time for them that’s like changes happening in their life,” she said. “How can you continue to transfer that from 11 to 18?”

The Cornerstone Warriors just returned to the Alamo City from a tournament in Hawaii. Their next match is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20, in Plano, Texas, where they will face Prestonwood Christian Volleyball. First serve is set for 5 p.m.

Read also:

• Harlan football enters season with Matthew McKinney taking over as head coach

UTSA said the attempted attack was stopped before reaching its core systems. The university has not said student or university data was stolen, and officials have emphasized that the investigation and security response are ongoing.

The attempted attack has disrupted some online services and forced the university to adjust several deadlines as it works to restore systems and prepare for the delayed start of the fall semester.

But cybersecurity experts say the attempted breach also illustrates a much larger problem facing universities and other large organizations: attackers do not necessarily need days or weeks to find a target.

They may need only minutes.

Richard Hummel, vice president of threat Intelligence at SecurityScorecard, has spent nearly two decades working in cybersecurity, including threat intelligence involving nation-state actors, cybercriminals and other malicious groups.

His team monitors cybercriminal activity worldwide, including claims made on hacker forums, messaging platforms and social media.

When an attacker claims to have breached an organization, Hummel said security researchers initially treat that claim as an allegation. Researchers then look for evidence confirming whether the breach actually occurred.

That can include public disclosures from an organization, evidence that stolen data is being sold or confirmation from other sources.

Hummel said the speed at which attackers scan for vulnerable systems is a separate and increasingly urgent concern. But he said the basic lesson remains the same.

“The moment a device comes online, has a public IP address, it’s available for anything out there to scan,” Hummel said.

For organizations, that means cybersecurity defenses must be in place before a system connects to the internet — not after an attack begins.

Universities face unique challenges

Universities face a particularly complicated cybersecurity environment. Thousands of students, faculty and staff may connect personal computers, phones, tablets and other devices to university networks. Unlike a traditional corporate environment, a university has less control over many of those devices.

That creates more potential entry points for attackers. Hummel said the university’s ability to stop the attempted breach before it reached its most critical systems is an important distinction.

“The fact that they were able to catch this and stop this before it hit critical systems speaks to the fact that they’re doing a lot of the right steps,” he said.

He pointed to network isolation, permissions and other security controls as potential reasons an organization can prevent an intrusion from spreading.

UTSA has not publicly detailed the specific techniques it used to stop the attempted attack.

AI lowering the barrier to entry

Cyberattacks have traditionally required a certain level of technical knowledge. An attacker might have needed to understand networking, identify a target’s systems, conduct reconnaissance and create or modify tools to exploit a vulnerability.

Hummel said artificial intelligence is changing that equation. Cybercriminals have increasingly used automated tools and AI agents to help determine how to attack a target, he said. Some systems can help users move from identifying a target to selecting potential attack methods.

Hummel said unrestricted AI models could make that process even easier.

“There is zero barrier to entry anymore,” he said. “If you have a computer and you have the internet, you have the capability.”

That does not mean every internet user is capable of successfully breaching a major university, but Hummel said the tools have lowered the technical knowledge needed to attempt malicious activity.

What attackers want

So what are attackers after? For many cybercriminals, the answer is money.

Hummel said criminal groups can operate much like businesses, with different participants specializing in areas such as stealing information, hosting infrastructure, moving money or distributing spam.

Ransomware groups, for example, may steal data and encrypt systems before demanding payment.

Some groups use multiple forms of extortion, threatening to keep systems locked, publish stolen information or launch additional attacks if victims refuse to pay. The common factor, Hummel said, is that large organizations have to prepare for multiple types of threats.

Hummel said organizations need to identify the systems they absolutely cannot afford to lose and make sure those systems are protected and capable of continuing to operate even during an attack.

How to protect yourself

Hummel recommends people learn what common cyberattacks look like.

Phishing emails, fraudulent password resets and unexpected multifactor authentication requests can all be used to trick people into giving attackers access. He added that people should not assume they are too smart or too careful to become victims.

Think about which accounts would cause the greatest problems if they were compromised, he said. That could include email, banking, credit cards and other financial accounts.

Using unique passwords, a password manager and multifactor authentication can reduce the risk that one compromised password will provide access to multiple accounts.

For now, the attempted breach at UTSA is still being investigated, and the university has not indicated that its core systems were compromised.

But Hummel said institutions should view incidents like this as a reminder that cyberattacks are no longer unusual events reserved for the largest technology companies.

Read also:

• Students share mixed reactions as UTSA’s fall semester delayed amid attempted data security breach

“I don’t think we’ve played great,” the two-time reigning NL manager of the year said Wednesday. “We haven’t really jelled. We haven’t really come together."

The Brewers’ results tell a different story.

Milwaukee appears well on its way to earning its eighth playoff berth in the last nine seasons as it chases a fourth consecutive NL Central title. The Brewers won three of four from the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers last weekend and trounced Seattle 22-0 on Tuesday before their four-game winning streak ended with a 7-5 loss to the Mariners on Wednesday.

“There’s so much that I see that needs to improve, yet you look up and everybody’s saying, ‘Wow, I love the way you play,’ “ Murphy said before Wednesday's game. “And I look funny and I look behind me, and I see if they’re talking to someone else. Really? Maybe I’m too critical. Maybe I’m missing something. I don’t know. I do trust the team.”

They’ve been rewarding that trust.

Surviving a 17-day grind

The Brewers just completed a 17-day run that included no days off, one complete West Coast trip and part of another. They went 10-7 during that stretch.

After losing three straight games at San Diego last week, the Brewers responded by winning a series with the Dodgers, who swept them out of the NL Championship Series last year. After finally getting a day off Monday, the Brewers delivered their 22-0 blowout of Seattle that matched the most one-sided shutout in modern MLB history.

“I think it says we’re a good baseball team,” first baseman Jake Bauers said. “I think in tough times it can be easy to lose sight of that, but we have the right people around to bounce back when things get tough, and we have the right people around to continue to play winning baseball.”

Milwaukee has needed to stay hot to remain ahead of the Chicago Cubs, who have won 11 of their last 16 games and are 4 1/2 behind Milwaukee in the NL Central standings. The Brewers and Cubs face off in a four-game series Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at Wrigley Field before meeting again for three games in Milwaukee from Sept. 7-9.

During that grueling 17-day run, the Brewers encountered some criticism for their inability to acquire two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. The Brewers made a strong push to land Skubal, only to see the Detroit Tigers send him to the Dodgers instead.

Having NL Cy Young Award front-runner Jacob Misiorowski and Skubal fronting a starting rotation in a playoff series would have given the Brewers perhaps their best shot at making the postseason breakthrough that has eluded them during the franchise’s longest run of sustained success. The Brewers haven’t reached a World Series since 1982 and have never won it all.

Continuing to win without adding Skubal

Logan Henderson, an outstanding rookie pitcher the Brewers chose to keep rather than including in a trade last month, outdueled Skubal in Sunday’s series finale at Los Angeles. The 6-2 victory improved Henderson’s record to 7-2 with a 2.70 ERA.

The Brewers pivoted after the Skubal trade by acquiring former St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Dustin May, who is seeking to become the latest in a growing list of starting pitchers to improve after joining the Brewers. Left-hander Kyle Harrison, who also is thriving in his first year in Milwaukee, attributes that trend to Milwaukee’s pitching coaching staff of Chris Hook, Jim Henderson and Juan Sandoval.

“They’re so good at just knowing who you are as an individual and knowing what you need,” Harrison said. “Shoot, yeah, they’ve been doing it for a while now, too, so it’s pretty cool to have those guys you can trust and rely on.”

The Brewers believe they have the makings of a quality playoff rotation with Misiorowski, Henderson, Harrison and May. Milwaukee has withstood injuries that knocked two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff out for the season and prevented Quinn Priester from pitching at all this year.

Milwaukee’s lineup has produced the fewest homers in the big leagues, yet the Brewers remain among the top five teams in scoring. Bauers’ breakthrough season has helped the Brewers overcome down years from 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich and three-time All-Star William Contreras.

Without naming names, Murphy said: “I watch some of our leaders that might not be getting the results, but the way they handle everybody else is pretty impressive.” Murphy added that might be one of the keys to this team’s success.

Another is simply the ability to continue competing even when things aren’t going smoothly.

“Maybe that’s the secret,” Murphy said. “Maybe this team still plays well enough to be close when they’re not at their best.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

May Doi, 93, was found dead Monday after she was reported missing, police said. Neighbors think she was escaping floodwaters in her home and trying to get to a nearby shelter, said ʻĀina Akamu, a former student of Doi's who is now a vice principal at a local school.

She taught for so long at Naalehu Elementary on the island's southern tip that “Mrs. Doi was my dad's kindergarten teacher,” Akamu said Wednesday.

“She taught grandkids of her students,” he said. “She was a fixture in this community.”

Akamu often saw her taking walks around the small, rural, sugar plantation-era town: “She was so strong.”

He recalled how everyone looked forward to having Mrs. Doi as a teacher because she sometimes allowed students to have sleepovers in her classroom. Her deceased husband was a math teacher, Akamu said.

The body of a man in his 60s was located by residents in a pasture on Tuesday, a day after police were asked to conduct a welfare check, police said. Authorities said it was the second death attributed to the storm and have not yet released his identity.

Residents were struggling to clean up after Hurricane Lala tore roofs off houses, uprooted trees, covered roads in mud and rock and left many households without electricity for days. On top of all that, forecasters warned of the likelihood of another tropical cyclone forming southeast of the islands.

‘We just ask the ancestors to protect us’

Akamu also lamented the destruction of two cemeteries, including one where Akamu’s ancestors have been buried since 1850. Caskets were sticking out of the ground through the town, home to about 800 people, and headstones littered the roadway, he said.

“Our graveyard is now scattered all over the community and how do we heal from that?” he said.

He worries crews working to clear roads could inadvertently run over remains.

“Don't clear the road, my grandma could be in there,” he said. "That's what makes me most emotional, it's like you lost them again."

Akamu was trying to focus on helping his community recover by setting up a hub where residents can get donated items. They are in most need of generators, gasoline and propane, he said.

“We just ask the ancestors to protect us,” Akamu said of the threat of an another storm.

Now well west of Hawaii's main islands, Lala has reached major Category 3 strength with top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) on Wednesday in what the National Hurricane Center called the first major hurricane of 2026 in the Central Pacific Ocean. But Hawaii residents were put on notice for another storm system, located far to the east-southeast.

The hurricane center said conditions appeared conducive for a tropical depression to form within days.

It's too early to tell the exact location or potential wind, rain and storm surge impacts. However, “interests in the Hawaiian Islands should closely monitor the progress of this system,” the hurricane center said, adding it could be a hurricane when it moves near or over the islands by the weekend.

Power repairs could take weeks

Work continued to clear away tons of mud and debris left behind by a torrent of water that inundated buildings, some of whose roofs were sheared off by the winds. Dozens of homes were washed from foundations, bridges were damaged and a collapsed section of a two-lane road had cut off access to the community of Pahala.

The U.S. Department of Transportation approved an initial $6 million in emergency relief to help repair transportation infrastructure damaged by Lala, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said.

The heaviest recorded rainfall, 43.54 inches (1.1 meters), occurred in Laupahoehoe on the northeast coast of the Big Island, the National Weather Service said.

About 17,000 customers on the Big Island remained without power on Wednesday, the Hawaiian Electric utility said. Some customers on the islands of Oahu and Maui were still in the dark. Repairs in the heavily damaged areas of the Big Island, including the southern end, could take at least two weeks, the utility said.

Lala was moving to the northwest at 10 mph (17 kph) and was expected to turn toward the north early Thursday. It was bearing down on a remote area at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Hurricane warnings were posted for portions of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from Lisianski Island to Maro Reef.

The weather service said the storm was forecast to veer east of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The population in one of the most remote places on Earth consists entirely of a few dozen U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff, volunteers and contractors. Forecasters said there were no tropical-related advisories for the Midway Atoll and any impact might include some elevated surf with a limited amount of rain.

___

Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia.

The city has been working to close a projected $158 million budget deficit over the next two years. City’s staff’s plan to fill in the gap involves a mix of $90 million worth of cuts and funding shifts, a pair of tax hikes, and increasing fees.

Not everyone’s on board with the plan, though, and city staff presented a pair of very different alternatives for council members: keep the tax rate flat for the next two years by cutting out another $75 million, or front-loading the tax increases next year.

The latter, which would more than double the size of the proposed FY 2027 tax increase while staving off less than half of the proposed cuts, got little support.

More attention and frustration were focused on the cut-heavy plan, which would affect police and fire overtime, library hours, and parks programming among numerous other areas. Altogether, it would cost another 171 positions on top of the 101 already on the chopping block.

Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) retained their anti-tax increase stances during the council discussion, though the rest of the council appeared less convinced.

“These are real cuts, man. These are real things for people’s lives that they rely upon,” said Councilman Ric Galvan (D6).

“I’m really, really exhausted at this like high ground that certain folk are taking where it’s, ‘I cannot fathom that we would increase property taxes for people,’ like, ‘I can’t fathom that we would consider this,’” said Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2).

“That is ridiculous, because the alternative is that we’re — you can fathom that we’re going to cut 171 additional people, and that we’re going to cut all of these programs that my constituents rely on. You can fathom that.”

The current budget proposal calls for raising the tax rate in FY 2027 to 56.288 cents per $100 worth of valuation. That amounts to a 3.9% increase that would cost the average homestead an extra $49 on their tax bill than if the rate stayed the same.

The city’s plan to close the deficit anticipates a second increase for FY 2028.

Whyte said the council needed to “do the hard work and make the tough decisions” to cut the budget and framed a tax increase as one cost of many.

“It’s a couple bucks here and there on property taxes. It’s another $3 a year on the environmental fee that’s going on the CPS bill, right? It’s SAWS next. Then you’re going to want to raise property taxes to get a bigger bond, right? We’ve already heard that. So it’s not — it all adds up,” he said.

While City Manager Erik Walsh said staff tried to stay away from mandated services and council priorities when coming up with the possible additional cuts, Alderete Gavito requested other options that “mostly cut the fat internally.”

“I think it’s interesting that y’all put up these line items that really impact residents and start riling us up against each other,” she said.

Walsh denied tying to “pit” council members against each other and said “we are a rather lean organization administratively, and we are not going to be able to solve our issue with administrative cuts, period.”

Ultimately, the city appeared ready to move ahead with the original budget proposal as its guide — at least generally.

“I think that the council is interested in maybe some additional reductions that we’ll work on. They’re looking for different scenarios in terms of the proposed property tax rate,” Walsh said.

The city is hosting a series of budget halls Aug. 17-25. You can see the list here.

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• NO RECORDS, BUT ABOVE AVERAGE: 100°-102° will be the norm
• HOW LONG?: Triple digits will hold through at least next week
• EL NINO UPDATE: ‘Very strong’ El Nino this winter almost a certainty

FORECAST

SAME SONG, SECOND VERSE

The last two days have given highs at 100°. Today will be no different, with some places a degree or two warmer. It’s possible that temperatures may even climb to around 102° in San Antonio by the weekend. It’ll be steadily hot into next week.

HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO LAST?

This hot streak shows few signs of letting up. As of now, triple digits appear to be a good bet through the end of next week. If you look long-range, there are some indications that the heat high may weaken a bit by the end of the month. Unfortunately, this far out, there’s no guarantee that’ll be the case. We’ll keep you posted.

‘VERY STRONG’ EL NINO IS LIKELY

Farther down the line, we do expect El Nino to have impacts on South Texas this winter. The odds of a ‘very strong’ El Nino have now increased to more than 90%. El Nino winters typically bring a more active pattern to the area.

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 order comes a day after Minnesota leaders sued Abbott to force the extradition of 52-year-old Christian Castro, who faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, having also been accused of lying about the circumstance leading up to the shooting.

The federal lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Texas, is the latest step in a monthslong effort by Minnesota officials to take custody of Castro.

Federal law requires states to cooperate on extradition requests, according to the lawsuit.  

“Abbott’s refusal to extradite Castro is unconstitutional and violates federal law and Texas law,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. “I will not stand for that, so I’m taking Abbott to court.”

Wednesday’s order from U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez requires Abbott to file a response to Minnesota’s request for a restraining order by Aug. 24. A hearing on the order was also scheduled for Aug. 25. Castro could be released on Aug. 26 if the order is not granted, Minnesota’s request warned.

Abbott’s office initially declined to comment on “pending extradition matters.” But when asked about the lawsuit during an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, the governor was dismissive. 

“While they’re making demands, I got a demand of my own and that is: It’s time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs,” Abbott said. “I will not respond to them at all until they step up and do what’s right, and they acknowledge their fault in the fraud that took place, and they fully repay the United States of America for the fraud they committed.”  

The Trump administration also justified Operation Metro Surge, a major immigration enforcement crackdown that began in Minnesota in late 2025, by connecting it to a welfare fraud scandal in the state’s social programs. The operation led to several shootings by immigration agents, including two that killed U.S. citizens. 

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced the charges against Castro on May 18, about four months after he allegedly fired into an occupied home during Operation Metro Surge and hit Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg. Castro told federal investigators that Sosa-Celis and another man had attacked him with a shovel and a broom, but surveillance camera footage contradicted the ICE agent’s account, according to court documents. 

The Texas Rangers helped arrest Castro in Cameron County in late May, prompting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to send the extradition request to his Texas counterpart.

Abbott has on average signed a rendition warrant agreeing to Minnesota’s requests in around 30 days but has not done so in this case, Minnesota officials said.

Last week, Ellison sent a letter asking Abbott to sign the legal document for Castro’s extradition by Monday afternoon or face legal action.

“The duty to extradite is ministerial and non-discretionary,” Ellison added in the letter. “Federal courts have the power to enforce a governor’s duty to extradite a fugitive, and a governor ‘has no power to refuse to extradite a fugitive based on the merits of the fugitive’s case.’”

In Tuesday’s lawsuit, the Minnesota attorney general called the decision to not sign the paperwork in Castro’s case “unusual and inconsistent” with typically prompt cooperation between the two states. Ellison said Abbott’s office complied with extradition requests from Minnesota for several other unrelated defendants — including a person with the same charge as Castro — in recent months.

The need for action is growing, the lawsuit said, because Texas cannot hold someone awaiting extradition for longer than 90 days. The lawsuit also named Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino to prevent the South Texas sheriff’s office from releasing Castro before he is turned over to Minnesota’s custody. 

“If Defendants are permitted to release Castro from custody before turning him over to agents of Minnesota for extradition, there is a substantial risk that Castro will flee and avoid prosecution in Minnesota,” the lawsuit said.

Trevino didn’t immediately respond to a comment request.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, blasted Abbott’s refusal to act on Castro’s case. 

“Abbott is more interested in burnishing his well-known anti-immigrant credentials than following the law,” he said Wednesday. 

Doggett also was part of a letter state congressional Democrats sent to the governor last week urging his “swift review and signature on the extradition paperwork.”

This was not the first time Minnesota officials have filed a legal challenge related to their efforts to prosecute the shooting of Sosa-Celis. 

In March, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the state of Minnesota sued the federal government for access to evidence related to Sosa-Celis’ case as well as the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in January. 

In addition, when Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare launched an investigation into the July fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent in Houston, he said he contacted Hennepin County prosecutors. 

“No one is more familiar with these kinds of situations than them,” Teare said last month.

KSAT followed through on Anthony Carlisle’s concerns about the project after he reached out in the comments of a previous story about VIA Metropolitan Transit’s Green Line.

Carlisle said that while he is excited for the rapid bus service, he did not expect the scale of disruption that the project has caused.

“We never expected to have work crews showing up at 5 o’clock in the morning working,” Carlisle said. “We certainly didn’t expect work crews to stay past 10 o’clock at night.”

The noise and inconsistent schedule have been difficult to manage for people who live in his community, Carlisle said, while neighbors juggle working from home, taking children to school and running their businesses.

Carlisle described crews as “inconsiderate,” and said they have used profanities toward him and his husband and at one point placed a portable restroom “basically outside our front door.”

Carlisle said he tried to bring his concerns to VIA but did not receive a response.

“There is generally a lack of engagement and communication from VIA,” he said.

In an email to KSAT, VIA said some overnight work is done to prevent impacts to traffic and is allowed under city ordinance. VIA also said it is “committed to working with businesses and property owners.”

According to its website, current construction projects on that stretch of the Green Line are expected to be completed by December. The entire project is slated to be complete in April 2028.

Carlisle said he is concerned about whether that timeline is realistic.

“I’m just really concerned about how long this is going to take to actually complete,” he said. “In our opinion, we’ve only seen very little progress in the past seven months.”

A spokesperson for VIA also said not all projects in the Green Line corridor are theirs, and may be managed by other utilities or city departments. Read VIA’s full statement below:

“The City of San Antonio (COSA) permits construction during designated hours under its ordinances, and VIA is adhering to those hours. Activity observed outside that window involves crews removing barriers and traffic control devices. This is done overnight, in accordance with COSA ordinances, specifically to avoid disrupting daytime traffic and to protect the safety of both workers and motorists.

“VIA understands that construction along the corridor can be disruptive and takes concerns seriously. When issues are brought to our attention, our teams work to address them as quickly as possible. Construction staging and traffic control measures follow established agreements, and VIA remains committed to working with affected property and business owners to minimize impacts wherever we can. Anyone with questions or concerns about the Green Line is encouraged to call 210-362-2590, email keepsamoving@viainfo.net or visit VIA’s ART Project Office located at 7067 San Pedro Ave.”

VIA Metropolitan Transit

Read also:

• When will San Pedro construction be complete? Here’s what VIA says about progress on the Green Line.
• VIA Metropolitan Transit sees resurgence in San Antonio ridership as agency improves bus routes

The Panthers are coming off back-to-back playoff appearances and an undefeated run (6-0) to a district championship in 2025. Last season, they advanced to the third round of the playoffs and are looking to build off that success.

Medina Valley has 10 starters returning from last year’s squad that went 10-3, with six of those returners on defense. This season, the Panthers are looking to make even more noise.

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football predicts the Panthers will win the 14-5A-DI championship ahead of John Jay.

Led by head coach Andrew Britt, the Panthers will open the season against the Churchill Chargers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, at Comalander Stadium.

Read also:

• Harlan football enters season with Matthew McKinney taking over as head coach

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The stunning developments came a day after Ukraine’s recently fired defense minister demanded national elections, despite Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion.

Although Zelenskyy was not implicated in the graft investigation, it threatened to pull him into another political crisis and provide another test of his resilience.

Investigators gave few details of the probe. It has identified a group of people alleged to have laundered 150 million hryvnias ($3.4 million) to pay bail for a defendant in a major graft case last year, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said.

That case, involving the state-owned nuclear power company, brought the resignations of Ukraine’s justice and energy ministers.

The latest suspects include a former lawmaker, the chairperson of a state bank’s board and the head of the bank’s supervisory board, as well as a deputy head of the presidential office, the agency said.

Zelenskyy made no public comment on the investigation but issued a decree dismissing Iryna Mudra as deputy head of the Office of the President. Investigators have not named her as a suspect.

Investigators searched Mudra’s office Wednesday, said lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko.

Zelenskyy remains dogged by high-level graft investigations, although he has never been named as a suspect even as the probes have engulfed officials close to him. Last year, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned and later was named as a suspect in a major graft probe involving a luxury construction project in the biggest threat to Zelenskyy’s government since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The European Union has identified deep-seated corruption as one of the major hurdles to Ukraine's desired membership in the bloc.

Zelenskyy's former aide wants a wartime election

Zelenskyy is already under pressure over his firing last month of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the longest-standing members of his team and a close ally since helping him win the 2019 presidential election.

Zelenskyy, seeking to reconcile tensions between the Defense Ministry's young and tech-savvy innovators and Ukraine's seasoned, Soviet-trained battlefield leaders, risked angering both sides by reshuffling his wartime leadership. He ousted both Fedorov, whose changes to military procurement aimed to stamp out corruption, and commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.

That sparked sustained street protests supporting Fedorov. For Zelenskyy, it was the second time in a year that a move triggered a strong public backlash, after he tried to curb the powers of anti-corruption agencies in 2025.

Fedorov, in an address posted to YouTube late Tuesday, called for elections — appearing to directly confront Zelenskyy, whose term expired in 2024. Ukraine's constitution prohibits such a vote under martial law.

“We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war,” Fedorov said.

He said Ukraine faces a crisis in how it is governed, arguing the current system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had weakened Ukraine’s ability to fight.

Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately comment on Fedorov’s address. It was not immediately clear whether Fedorov's appeal would resonate with Ukrainians.

Also on Wednesday, lawmakers approved Zelenskyy's candidate, Maj. Gen. Yevhenii Khmara, as the new defense minister, a move that effectively closes the door to Fedorov’s return to the post, which he has sought, anytime soon.

Lawmakers also gave their consent for Andrii Sybiha to stay on as foreign minister after serving in an interim role.

Political disarray follows Ukrainian wartime successes

The political disarray follows recent successes for Ukraine in the war. Using innovative drone technology, it has repeatedly hit Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages. It has also shocked the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, and stalled front-line advances by Moscow's bigger army.

But Zelenskyy has been unable to get traction in U.S.-led peace efforts, and Ukraine is at the mercy of Russia's ballistic missiles because more U.S.-made Patriot interceptors aren't available due to low international stockpiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has balked at negotiating a peace deal directly with Zelenskyy.

In its latest attack, a Ukrainian drone hit an oil refinery in Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan, its Gov. Radiy Khabirov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. There are three oil refineries in Ufa, and all have been attacked.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 453 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, as well as Russian-held Crimea and the Black Sea.

It said Russian forces on Tuesday hit a bulk carrier in the Black Sea, southeast of Odesa, that was carrying military equipment. On Wednesday, the Russian military struck what it said were fuel and lubricant storage tanks for the Ukrainian armed forces in the southern port of Chornomorsk.

A Russian drone struck a minibus in Kherson in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing four people, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration, adding that four women were wounded. Another Russian drone struck a civilian car in the regional capital, killing a woman, he said.

Amid the fighting, Russia and Ukraine swapped 103 prisoners of war, according to Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

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

Graham, a political novice, was asked whether the U.S. has a national security interest in Taiwan and the South China Sea — a longstanding contention of both Democratic and Republican administrations. She struggled to answer before admitting, “National security is not my thing.”

“I’m not that informed on national security,” she added.

Her rival in next week's runoff for the GOP nomination, Rep. Ralph Norman, suggested the answer showed Graham was unqualified for the role.

“By her choice, she’s running for the United States Senate. It’s a six-year term,” Norman said. “You need to get fully versed in what issues you’re going to be dealing with. This isn’t a get training on the job, you can’t do that.”

It was a moment that drew a stark contrast to Graham’s brother, Lindsey, who died unexpectedly on July 11. It also gave Norman, an established conservative politician, a fresh avenue of attack as he tries to overcome President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Graham in her first campaign. The Republican president is set to visit South Carolina on Friday to campaign for her.

During his decades in the Senate, Lindsey Graham was known for his foreign policy involvement, making countless foreign trips, sometimes as part of a group of U.S. lawmakers meeting with international leaders and observing contentious areas firsthand.

There were multiple trips to Taiwan, including in 2022, when he led a delegation for a two-day visit that included meetings with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the island’s defense minister.

Darline Graham had been asked, “Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States and if so, why or how?”

Graham avoided a direct response and instead mentioned her brother's wealth of experience and her desire to lead differently.

“My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military,” said Graham, who often read from a legal pad on which she had notes, its pages draped over the front of her lectern. “My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here; national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”

Candidates were not allowed to bring notes into the debate, but Graham spent several minutes before the broadcast began copiously writing on her legal pad. Norman wrote down a few things but not as extensively.

As interim senator, Graham is surrounded by many of her brother's Capitol Hill staff, many of whom worked with him for years on issues foreign and domestic. She's repeatedly thanked them for getting her up to speed on legislative issues and has pointed to her several weeks on the job as a productive time in which she's gotten legislation passed, including a Russia sanctions bill named for her brother.

In the wake of her brother’s death, Graham has been asked multiple times about how she would either further or shift away from his intense focus on national security, an attitude that was at the essence of his Senate portfolio.

Asked after the debate by reporters if she wanted another crack at her answer to moderators' question, she doubled down, saying she was more focused on South Carolinians' everyday concerns.

“They’re worried about their pocketbooks more than they’re worried about the South China Sea, quite honestly,” Graham said. “So that’s going to be my biggest focus.”

Graham added that she had spoken multiple times during the debate about the overall national security threat posed by China.

“I realize national security is very important,” Graham said. “I probably said 10 times up there tonight how bad China is, how they’re a national threat to us.”

Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, Graham acknowledged her flub but said that she had spoken with voters since the debate who said they appreciated her honesty in expressing her lack of foreign policy expertise.

“I tripped up on one question last night regarding Taiwan, but you know, I’ve said many times, I’m not a politician, certainly not a career politician. I don’t speak politician,” Graham said. “You know, I was just honest, and I think that’s kind of a foreign concept.”

Taiwan has often been a flashpoint for aggression from China and international efforts to support its right to self-rule. The U.S. maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity over whether it would defend Taiwan militarily if the mainland invaded, but has committed to bolstering the island's defense for generations.

Claimed by China as part of its territory, Taiwan sits along a South China Sea global trade route, virtually all of which China claims despite a 2016 arbitration ruling based on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims.

During a visit to Manila this week, Adm. Frank Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, said that American special operations forces are ready to step up warfighting-readiness exercises with counterparts in the Philippines and other countries in Asia to further strengthen a security alliance and help deter a major conflict in the region.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

Just two days after U.S. negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in the Gaza Strip, at least 10 people were killed Wednesday in two strikes, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn Wednesday, two witnesses and a Hamas official said.

Israel's military said one of the strikes on Wednesday, in the area of Nuseirat refugee camp, struck a Hamas commander who had participated in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 abducted. A second strike in the Tuffah area of Gaza City struck four Hamas militants gathering in a police station, the military said, claiming they were planning to carry out attacks against Israeli troops.

Israel's military said a strike the day before targeted a meeting of four Hamas commanders and additional militants.

The commanders killed included Muhammad Hamdi Ahmad Al-Masri, Muhammad Attar and Muhammad Fathi Hussein Nasser, all accused of carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli troops, and Samed Samir Harb Abu Habal, who infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, according to a statement from Israel's military.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the Wednesday Gaza City strike on the police station killed eight police officers and a 13-year-old girl. Two officers were women, it said. One person was killed in Nuseirat. On Tuesday evening, an Israeli strike on a busy seaside cafe killed seven Palestinians, including a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Jared Kushner, a U.S. negotiator and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, held a marathon meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, in which he asked Israel's leader to draw down attacks on Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists.

Also on Wednesday, Israel's military said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza and would launch criminal investigations into the 2024 killings of a 5-year-old girl and her family, as well as of 15 Palestinian paramedics in 2025.

At least 17 killed in Israeli strikes

The deadly strikes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday exacted more casualties even as a ceasefire that’s been in place since October has significantly diminished the fighting in the tiny enclave where more than 2 million Palestinians live. Since the ceasefire, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,273 people, according to health officials in Gaza.

The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 73,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which was part of the recently dissolved Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and international organizations. It doesn't distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half of the toll.

In the early hours of Wednesday, at least 15 Israeli troops entered the Muwasi coastal area, west of the city of Khan Younis, two residents and a Hamas official said.

Accompanied by armed men, the troops stormed the tent of Sabri Abdel-All, a colonel for the Hamas-led Blue Police in Khan Younis. They also detained another resident identified as Nashat Ezzat Zaarab, they said.

The two residents and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.

Latest ceasefire negotiations offer few concrete commitments

On the diplomatic front, the ceasefire also appears stalled. Trump's initial ceasefire plan laid out a broad vision for ending Hamas’ rule in Gaza and rebuilding the territory, much of which was reduced to rubble during the war.

But since last fall, major sticking points have emerged on the conditions of Hamas' disarmament and Israel's withdrawal — and which should come first.

Earlier this month, Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm. But Hamas said it would begin to disarm if Israel halts strikes and withdraws, adding that laying down its heavy weapons would come later and be contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state — something Israel’s government rejects.

Netanyahu also pushed back on the deal, saying Israel won't withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed.

After Wednesday's strikes, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem lashed out at the Board of Peace — the body Trump established to oversee the ceasefire — saying it has provided a "cover” for Israel to escalate its attacks in Gaza instead of pressuring it to abide by the ceasefire agreement.

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Associated Press journalists Julia Frankel and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Jerusalem; Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Wednesday night in her country’s first reaction to Trump’s moves to drastically cut back the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills.

“We think it’s not worth making comments on that and we have no interest in it at all,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. “The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced.”

She also cited a series of other military drills carried out by the U.S. and South Korea earlier this year and South Korea’s push to introduce nuclear-powered submarines.

Kim Yo Jong denied that there are any communications between Trump and Kim. Earlier this week, pressed by reporters on whether he had a conversation with Kim Jong Un, Trump said that Kim had responded to his request for a conversation.

Kim Yo Jong's statement did not contain North Korea’s typically harsh rhetoric. She briefly said relations between her brother and Trump are “still excellent," mentioning her brother’s past comments that he still has “good memories” of Trump. This suggests North Korea may be trying to manage relations with Trump, while seeking bigger concessions to restart talks.

When asked by reporters Wednesday if he will meet with Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said that “Yeah, I will be.” He wouldn’t answer a question about whether he is exchanging letters with Kim but said he gets along with him.

US and South Korea confirm drastic slashing of drills

Kim Yo Jong's statement came hours after the South Korean and U.S. militaries confirmed they were scaling back their 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises. Trump earlier ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the exercises, citing what he said was a good relationship with Kim and South Korea’s refusal to support him over Iran.

South Korean officials said Trump’s announcement came without prior notice, baffling many people in the Asian country and raising concerns about joint defense readiness.

South Korea’s military said the allies agreed to adjust the duration and scale of the exercises at the request of the U.S. It said the ongoing drills would end Friday, not Aug. 27 as initially planned. It added that the allies also agreed to downsize some joint field training exercises.

The Pentagon said that it was “continuing training that enhances tactical capability” but certain events have been canceled or converted to simulations. “These adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives. There will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives,” a Pentagon statement said.

Ulchi Freedom Shield is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise meant to hone the allies’ ability to deal with potential North Korean aggression. The two countries usually hold a set of field training exercises during the command post exercise period.

The drills are a central pillar of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, which dates to the 1950-53 Korean War. But they also are a long-running source of animosities with North Korea, which has denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion and responded with provocative missile tests. Days before this month's drills began, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea.

This month's drills were initially supposed to be held in two phases in simulation of North Korean attacks — the first part until this Friday on defensive operations and the second part until Aug. 27 on counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to counteroffensive drills, according to South Korean media.

Prospects for Trump-Kim summit unclear

Earlier Wednesday, North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, published a commentary slamming the U.S.-South Korean military drills as “frantic” and “extremely dangerous” and vowing to completely frustrate its rivals’ hostilities.

Many experts said Kim, now emboldened by his advancing nuclear program and expanding military cooperation with Russia, won't likely embrace Trump's overture and return to talks anytime soon unless he's promised bigger concessions. Kim suggested last year that he could only return to talks if the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for diplomacy.

Trump claimed Wednesday that North Korea has 57 nuclear weapons. Some experts put the size of the North’s arsenal at more than 100 warheads.

South Korea’s intelligence service estimated last year that North Korea sent about 15,000 troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said North Korea was preparing to send more troops to Russia. But in her Wednesday statement, Kim Yo Jong flatly denied that, calling it “an ungrounded farce."

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung hailed Trump's decision, saying in his X message Wednesday that he hopes it would lead to reopening dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang and promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee is a liberal who wants better ties with North Korea.

South Korea's main opposition conservative party earlier accused Lee's government of prioritizing the resumption of Kim-Trump diplomacy over security concerns caused by Trump's move.

Trump and Kim met three times from 2018-2019 but their high-stakes diplomacy eventually fell apart over wrangling over a North Korean demand for extensive sanctions relief in return for limited denuclearization steps.

Trump's move may focus on South Korea over Iran

In his social media post, Trump said the drills are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House. Trump said he asked Lee if South Korea would join the U.S. in the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”

At separate parliamentary hearings Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said neither South Korean nor U.S. officials were informed of Trump's move before his social media post. Cho said the alliance remains strong, while Ahn said South Korean and U.S. defense officials were maintaining close consultations.

Some experts say Trump's cut of the drills was more likely designed to apply pressure on South Korea to give him substantial support over the Iran war than to reach out to North Korea.

“Trump's message is that if you don’t cooperate with us on Iran, we’re not cooperating with you” on the drills either, said Yang Uk, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “It's like he's asking South Korea to show it's helping him over Iran” by taking steps like sending warships or reinforcing missile defenses in some areas.

South Korean officials said South Korea and the U.S. are closely discussing practical and military contributions that South Korea can make to help restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

It wasn't the first time that the U.S. and South Korea have scaled back or canceled their drills.

In 2018, Trump abruptly announced the cancellation of a major war game with South Korea, after his first summit with Kim. The U.S. and South Korea have since canceled or reduced other joint drills to support diplomacy with North Korea and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

___

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said crews were working nonstop to fix the outages, but 75,000 customers still lacked electricity by late afternoon, mostly in Lake County next to the Illinois border.

They included more than 20,000 customers in Gary, where residents lined up again at community centers for hot meals and a place to charge phones.

The latest news for Gary wasn't good: Full restoration is not expected there until Aug. 25, NIPSCO said.

Roughly 300 poles and 44 power transmission poles need to be repaired or replaced in Gary as a result of the storm, which carried winds of 99 mph (159 kilometers per hour), said Melody Birmingham, an executive at NIPSCO's parent company.

Birmingham acknowledged the “real burden” of losing perishable food and people living for days without air conditioning after a “historic storm” that initially left 300,000 customers in the dark.

“These aren't simple repairs,” Birmingham said at a news conference. “These are systems that are being rebuilt.”

Utility says low-income residents are not ignored

Jeremy Spurrier, 51, said he's fortunate to have a generator at his Portage home, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. But the generator is expensive — it goes through about $75 of gas a day — and Spurrier said his family is relying on nonperishable food like soup. He drives to Illinois to get ice to chill his insulin.

"If I run out of ice, that’s several hundred dollars of insulin just ruined,” he said.

Gary, a majority-Black city, has been especially hit hard, with some residents voicing frustration that they're being ignored. Birmingham denied that low-income residents were being overlooked and blamed posts on social media.

“We have areas that are probably affluent where we still have customers out as well. ... This has nothing to do with race or any type of division,” said Birmingham, who is Black. “It's really a matter of where the storm hit.”

Gary Mayor Eddie Melton acknowledged that locals were “frustrated and exhausted” but said more than 600 linemen were working to restore power in the city.

"I want to reiterate this is clearly not just a Gary situation. It is a northwest Indiana situation,” Melton said.

No storm damage — but no power

A 4-year-old boy, three men and three women were among those who had died since the storms began Aug. 11, said Liz Woods, a spokesperson for the state Department of Homeland Security.

In Whiting, Myra Carden, 74, said her home wasn’t damaged by the storm — “not even a chair was blown over in the yard.” But she was in her second blackout Wednesday.

Carden, her son and three dogs lost power for more than two days last week. Then the electricity went out again Tuesday.

“More than once I have put in an outage report,” she said. ”All I get back is, ‘You already put in a report.’ Well, what do you want me to do? ... This doesn’t make sense. Of course I’m not a lineman; I’m a paralegal.”

Carden uses a generator to keep the refrigerator humming but only when someone’s home to monitor it.

“We have a deep freeze in the garage packed full with beef and chicken. I’m sure everything will be thrown away,” she said.

The color — displayed on bandanas, pins, shirts and dresses — has become the symbol of a grassroots movement dedicated to blocking the buildout of 765-kilovolt transmission lines across the state. A coalition of those groups gathered on the steps of the Capitol building in the morning as testimony got underway for the House Committee on State Affairs’ interim meeting dedicated to the backlash against the transmission lines and data centers.

At the protest and nine-hour hearing that followed, lawmakers heard a variety of recommendations, including from local officials arguing for more local control of data center proposals and more time to reform the process behind approving transmission lines across Texas. Though discussed in separate hearings, landowners and protesters said the issues are connected.

“Data centers need energy … and the fact that there have been so many proposed throughout the state, I think these issues go hand in hand,” said Jada Jo Smith, founder and president of Hill Country Preservation Coalition, the grassroots organization that organized Wednesday’s protest.

The bipartisan coalition made up of Republican legislators, Democratic statewide candidates, landowners from rural Texas and environmentalists is starting to break through on both fronts.

Following a July Senate Business and Commerce Committee interim hearing on both topics, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and committee chair Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, called on the Public Utility Commission to scrap the 765 kv project entirely. Days later, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a pause on approvals for data centers to connect to the electric grid until an audit of data centers seeking to connect was completed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state grid operator.

While neither action spells an end to the debate around either issue — nor a halt to the transmission plans altogether — activists said they believe the tide has turned in their favor.

Mia Sarot, founder of the Hill Country Land and Legacy Alliance, sported a yellow button and bandana tied to her wrist as she spoke to the crowd of 40 people outside the Capitol, lamenting the need for the groups to have organized in the first place while celebrating their impact on the policy decisions made by state officials.

“Yellow means we’re paying attention,” Sarot said. “It isn’t a threat, it isn’t a political party, it doesn’t belong to any one organization and you don’t need anyone’s permission to wear it. It simply says, ‘I’m here, I’m paying attention, I’m asking questions and I’m participating.”

Inside the Capitol, lawmakers on the legislative panel spent hours deliberating the transmission lines, particularly three first-of-their-kind 765-kilovolt lines that would slice through tens of thousands of acres of private property.

For months, landowners have questioned the 180-day administrative window regulators have to approve or reject the proposal, arguing it was not enough time for residents to contest the plans. Most pleaded with lawmakers to halt the plan entirely and give lawmakers more time to reform the administrative process.

Lawmakers appeared receptive.

“When (the transmission plan) was brought to me, the 180 days was suggested, and it was suggested based on the Permian Basin Reliability Plan,” said state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo. “Not y’all deciding that we’ve got to run lines all the way across the state. So that’s where the 180 days came from, and I agree. I think we need to relook at that.”

State Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, questioned transmission service providers, such as Oncor and AEP, about whether the proposed routes were the correct solution. He said most of the opposition stemmed from issues with the routes.

“We’re talking about really a routing issue, and I think everybody in this room is upset about the routes,” King said. “When we’re figuring out if we’re not going to do … 765s, what’s the alternative for transmission?”

Representatives from Oncor, AEP and CPS Energy, which would be tasked with deploying the build-out of the lines, said that if approved, they would work with landowners whose properties are along the proposed routes to make modifications and diminish the impact to the land.

And while they were receptive to a delay, they said that decision would come with a number of ramifications, including disrupting construction schedules already in discussion and the ability to secure necessary equipment on time. Adrian Rodriguez, chief operating officer and president of AEP Texas, said they buy themselves a slot for when equipment becomes available, adding that losing that place in line could result in higher costs.

“If we lose our place in those lines, given the 765 kV transmission line build that is occurring in other grids in this country, there is a high demand for these slots,” he said. “We have the potential to lose those slots, or that equipment could then be utilized for another part of the country … with the current demand that the country is facing for transmission build, those would likely be at a higher cost than we were able to originally procure those.”

Industry leaders rejected the notion that only data centers would benefit from the transmission lines, and that several industries could suffer if regulators decide to halt the proposal.

“We are concerned that putting a halt to these projects will not only affect oil and gas operations, but it’s going to affect new generation currently being built and threaten many planned projects,” said Walt Baum, president of Powering Texans. “We do support future changes to transmission planning to improve transparency and address specific siting and landowner concerns that y’all have heard about today.”

Katie Coleman, representing the Texas Association of Manufacturers, said transmission needs for the business community have not been met for 10 years, and further delays could hinder growth.

“This is not about data centers,” Coleman said. “It is about our planning process systematically under-planning for industrial growth for more than 10 years. We are in a catch-up phase because of extreme restrictions that were put on forecasting of industrial growth.”

The testimony on data centers, which lawmakers cut short to allow time for the transmission line discussion, lasted six hours.

Also at the meeting, ERCOT officials reported on how they intend to carry out Abbott’s ordered audit of data centers, a process CEO Pablo Vegas said he expects to go through in about December.

Abbott ordered ERCOT and the PUC to ensure data center developers provide information on tax breaks they will receive; power use and generation; water use and cooling operations; efforts to reduce impacts on local communities; and ownership of the facility. Any projects that fail should be denied connection to the grid, the governor said.

The audit has scrambled the grid operator’s efforts to organize the queue of facilities seeking energization, roughly 90% of which are data centers. Prior to Abbott’s request, ERCOT expected to complete its study by April, when the first batch of data centers would receive approval to connect to the grid.

Vegas said they hope to not delay the entire schedule for connecting projects, but they hadn’t yet determined exactly how long the overall process delay would be. Vegas acknowledged that some of the roughly 250 projects eligible for the first batch of approvals may drop out because of the new timeline.

ERCOT is also surveying all data centers with an electricity demand of 25 megawatts or greater on their impact on the community, as directed by Abbott, Vegas said. PUC Chairman Thomas Gleeson equated it to “a fact-finding mission.”

Regulators have already been working through a new way to decide how much of the cost of building new transmission lines needs to be paid for by individuals and how much needs to be paid for by companies such as data centers. Experts said they believe the new system will lower the burden on residential consumers relative to the industrial groups.

Costs for new infrastructure have long been shared because it provides an arguable public benefit, Vegas said. Economic and population growth also contribute to transmission needs.

“Well, it seems like the citizens don’t have a choice in this,” said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. “Data centers are being pushed upon them, and they don’t have a choice to say no. But they’ve got to pay. I think that’s unfair. It’s undemocratic.”

Representatives on the committee also mulled potential regulation for the data center industry they’d like to pass in the 2027 session.

Several county officials testified that they need additional authority to manage the buildout of data centers in unincorporated areas of counties. In Texas, counties typically don’t have the power to block development — unlike city officials who wield zoning authority — and a majority of the hundreds of data centers planned for the state are set to be built in unincorporated areas.

King expressed some trepidation that giving counties more authority over data center projects could result in overriding private citizens’ rights.

“I hear a lot about local control and giving the counties or the local elected officials more control over this, but a lot of the ideas that are proposed to me kind of erode private property rights,” King said.

“The intersection is the fundamental issue we’re talking about is it not?” Leon County Commissioner Kyle Workman responded. “I think as a public policy matter, the state of Texas and local communities should be able to work together to establish that line.”

The committee did appear committed to repeal the state sales tax exemption for data centers, which has ballooned in recent years as more data centers are built and apply for the tax break. The exemption totaled an estimated $5.4 million in value during its first year of existence in 2014. In 2026, the Comptroller’s Office estimated the state is forgoing $1.3 billion in uncollected sales taxes.

“It’s a huge number,” said Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth. “I passed the bill to get it done. I’m going to probably carry the one to repeal it. Realistically, that’s going to go away.”

Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, reiterated a call he made earlier this year for the governor to call a special session to address the issues surrounding data centers immediately.

Still, Abbott’s order for ERCOT to audit the data centers in the electric grid connection pipeline represents the strongest action to date that state officials have taken to slow the buildout of data centers in Texas.

Activists have also been skeptical of the audits, urging the governor instead to call a special session of the Legislature to allow their senators and representatives to quickly pass new regulations for the rapidly expanding industry. They also say a special session is needed to rework the approval process for transmission lines, which was shortened in 2023 by the Legislature.

After the protest concluded in the morning, the activists gathered for a photo.

“Special session on three,” Smith said to the other activists gathered in front of the camera. “One, two, three: special session!”

Staff reporter Emily Foxhall contributed to this report.

Disclosure: CPS Energy and Oncor 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.

According to a Department of Justice news release, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced guilty verdicts for Joshua Allen and Michael Cox. Allen and Cox were convicted on the following charges:

• Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
• Conspiracy to commit money laundering
• Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments
• Securities fraud

“In the midst of this Ponzi scheme, Allen and Cox collected a handsome fee by telling various egregious lies, even using their self-proclaimed faith and reputation in their community to con the investors they victimized,” Simmons said in the DOJ news release. “This case shows that within the Western District of Texas and across the Department of Justice, we are resolved to prosecute cases like these where individuals have preyed on the innocence and trusting nature of everyday Americans as Michael Cox and Joshua Allen did here.”

Allen and Cox jointly owned and operated four investment companies, evidence presented during their joint trial showed.

Former San Antonio financial advisor Brooklynn Chandler Willy, who pleaded guilty on 10 charges in connection with the scheme in March, worked with Allen and Cox — and others — to solicit victims to invest in their companies.

The trio, the DOJ said, “conspired to mislead the victims concerning the security of the investments and concealed their high commissions.” Altogether, officials said hundreds of victims lost millions of dollars.

Allen and Cox now each face up to 70 years in prison. Their sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.

Meanwhile, Willy pleaded guilty in March on the following charges:

• Six counts of wire fraud
• One count of wire fraud conspiracy
• One count of money laundering conspiracy
• One count of engaging in monetary transactions associated with the scheme
• One count of aggravated identity theft

Investigators said Willy faces up to 20 years each in federal prison on the wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges. Additionally, she could face additional time in prison for the engagement with monetary transactions (up to 10 years in prison) and aggravated identity theft (mandatory minimum of two years) charges.

The aggravated identity theft charge, according to the DOJ, would run concurrently with any other punishment.

Willy is set to receive her prison sentence on Dec. 14.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Former San Antonio financial advisor takes guilty plea in Ponzi scheme, DOJ says

On Tuesday, Moodini somehow broke free and wanted to see up close the place that seemed so interesting to him.

Who knew, it would be the Walmart on Southeast Military Drive near Roosevelt Avenue.

“He decided he needed to make a Walmart run that morning and spent quite a bit of time just running around the parking lot trotting around,” said Lisa Norwood, public relations manager for ACS.

Norwood said the San Antonio Police Department officers initially arrived at the store and were able to gently coerce the calf to a green space next to the store.

Norwood said Moodini was not ready to go back home just yet.

“He decided, ‘Hey, maybe too many people and decided to book it over to an underground drainage tunnel and walked for some ways.’”

The green space where the tunnel is located is gated off with a metal fence, and Norwood said officers needed permission to enter.

She said officers were hot on his tail, so he lay down inside the underground tunnel.

“A couple of our officers had to go in to see if they could get the calf safely,” she said.

Norwood said that after Moodini rested for a minute, the officers coaxed him back out into the open air.

She said in all, the whole ordeal lasted about an hour and a half, and Moodini was put into a trailer and taken to the livestock area at ACS.

Moodini’s owner was identified and claimed the calf Wednesday.

Norwood said the owner was reminded of the law and that Moodini is safer at home.

“It is against the law for livestock to roam,” Norwood said. ”Just like it’s against the law for dogs to be out running around, it’s really important when you consider the size of cattle.”

She said the owner will be cited, but said she is glad Moodini’s tale of adventure had a happy ending.

“It’s one of those things that all’s well that ends well,” Norwood said.

Read also:

• Bull calf leads ACS officers on chase through Walmart parking lot, underground drainage tunnel

Scout was donated to the district through the Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal Memorial Foundation, honoring the 8-year-old AHISD student who died in the 2025 flood at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas.

Scout serves at Alamo Heights Junior School with counselor Lisa Taggart, his handler. Together, they work with students experiencing anxiety or stress.

“Scout and I are a team. We come together to work every day. We counsel as a team,” Taggart said.

Taggart said Scout can help students feel more comfortable opening up during counseling.

“Scout and dogs in general just really help lower those barriers that people might bring into counseling or therapy,” she said.

Kellyanne Lytal’s Girl Scout Troop 5116 helped make Scout’s role possible.

The troop donated $500 from cookie sales to the foundation honoring their friend’s legacy.

At Kellyanne Park in Alamo Heights, troop members met Scout, who is named after their tight-knit group.

“Kellyanne wanted a dog so bad,” Kellyanne’s mother, Malorie Lytal, said. “I feel like this is a way that I can get her a dog from heaven and have it with the purpose behind her foundation — with Scout spreading kindness.”

Taggart and Scout spent 100 hours training together and are now prepared to help students manage difficult emotions.

The Girl Scouts said Scout will continue Kellyanne’s legacy by loving and helping others.

“He’s just going to love people all the way,” one troop member said.

Another added, “I think he’s going to help people a lot.”

“There are just so many ways we can spread kindness and honor her memory,” Malorie Lytal said.

Read also:

• New Alamo Heights park named in honor of Kellyanne Lytal who died in Hill Country floods
• Alamo Heights playground named in honor of Camp Mystic camper who died in Hill Country floods
• Parents of girl killed in July 4 floods share story of grief, unexpected friendship with ex-Navy SEAL

The State Department announced Tuesday that it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions or come into contact with the U.S. financial system.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the move “very unfortunate” when asked about the sanctions by a reporter. “Japan will respond as we continue to maintain communication with related countries including the United States,” she added.

The Trump administration has now slapped sanctions on nine of the ICC's 18 judges, both of its deputy prosecutors, its former chief prosecutor and one other prosecution office staffer, the court said. The U.S. accuses the court of overstepping its mandate by investigating and seeking to prosecute senior military and political officials from countries, such as Israel and the United States, that are not members of the court.

In a statement, the court said that when “judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk.” It said the court “will continue to fully discharge its mandate with independence and impartiality.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday branded the ICC “a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate.”

The move came weeks after Rubio announced that the U.S. was launching a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty.”

Rubio said he will pressure the court’s 125 member states to withdraw from the institution, sanction organizations that work with the court and ban staff from traveling to the United States.

Since then, Venezuela and Chad have announced they plan to leave the court, bringing the number of countries to pull out of the court in the past year to five. It takes a year for a country's decision to quit the court to be formalized.

The sanctions can impact the daily lives of court officials. They prevent the ICC officials and their families from entering the United States, block their access to even basic financial services making even going to a grocery store difficult.

Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, who was sanctioned last year, lost access to her credit cards, and Amazon’s Alexa stopped responding to her. “Your whole world is restricted,” she told The Associated Press after she was targeted.

The court's oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, called the sanctions an “escalation” that “risks undermining ongoing investigations and impeding global efforts” to ensure justice reaches victims of global atrocities.

While Japan calls its alliance with the United States the cornerstone of its postwar foreign and security policies, Tokyo has had difficulty managing the relationship under Trump’s trade and security policies. Takaichi has been portrayed as weak for avoiding any criticism of Trump as her administration navigates weakened U.S. commitment in the region and deteriorating ties with China.

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Japanese opposition Democratic Party for the People, wrote on X that Trump’s sanctions were “outrageous and intolerable.” He urged Takaichi’s government to show its support for the ICC and reach out to the U.S. government to “have it retract this unjust sanction.”

ICC host nation the Netherlands and European powerhouse Germany both threw their weight behind the court.

German foreign office spokesman Martin Giese told reporters in Berlin that the ICC is “fulfilling its mission exactly as intended,” by holding to account perpetrators of grave crimes. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said he had invited Akane for talks “to discuss our continued support.”

Balkees Jarrah, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, called the sanctions “the latest example of the Trump administration’s utter contempt for international law and a naked attempt to shield American and Israeli officials implicated in serious crimes from justice.”

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration in a New York court last week to challenge its campaign against the ICC.

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Associated Press journalists Matthew Lee in Washington, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

Maj. Gen. Adel Issa is the first military officer to be turned over by Lebanon since Assad’s fall in late 2024.

Lebanon’s judicial authorities decided on Tuesday to deliver Issa to Syria, after questioning him over crimes he allegedly committed during the country’s conflict.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said it had asked authorities in Lebanon to hand over Issa to Syria over alleged crimes including intentional killing of more than two persons, the crime of torture resulting in death, and acts of aggression aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian strife.

The ministry added that Issa was the commander of the Syrian army’s 17th Division and the commander of ground forces in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour until 2016. The ministry posted a photo of Issa wearing a prison uniform.

Officials in Beirut said on Tuesday that Issa was turned over to Syria in accordance with a 1951 agreement between the countries that calls for delivering suspected criminals to face justice.

After Syrian fighters opposed to Assad marched into Damascus to end the Assad family’s five-decade rule in December 2024, a number of military and security officers fled to Lebanon, where some remain.

Dozens of other former members of his security agencies accused of atrocities have been arrested and put on trial in Syria.

Last week, a Syrian court sentenced Assad and his younger brother Maher to death in absentia while their maternal cousin, Brig. Gen. Atef Najib, became the most senior security official to be sentenced to death while in custody. The Assad brothers fled to Russia during the ouster.

Issa was detained on Aug. 8 when he went to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut for some paperwork. Embassy officials contacted Lebanon’s prosecutor’s office to tell them that Issa was wanted in Syria.

Issa had fled to Lebanon by crossing illegally after Assad’s fall, the officials said.

Syria’s conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 before turning into a civil war, left 500,000 people dead and over 1 million wounded.