Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth celebrated the U.S. military’s strength, even as a new analysis shows it could take three years for defense contractors to replenish the key weapons systems used in the Iran war. Trump also praised his administration’s work to stamp out fraud, saying his administration is “bringing our country back to honesty.”

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Trump says he opposes Russia or China retrieving Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile

“That would not make me comfortable,” the president said.

The two countries have the closest relations with Tehran. Nuclear analysts have said either country could serve as a potentially acceptable third party to the Iranian Republic to take possession of the enriched uranium, which could be used to make a nuclear weapon, as part of a potential deal with the U.S. to end the war.

But Trump seemed to shut down that possibility Wednesday.

Under a 2015 deal negotiated by President Barack Obama, Russia took a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that Iran had at the time.

Trump spends 5 minutes talking about Reflecting Pool project

The president elaborated on the project with painstaking detail. He introduced his lengthy tangent as “a slightly smaller subject,” then walked through work on the 2,400-foot pool between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, saying it’ll be done by July 4.

“We cleaned it. We fumigated it. We had 10 major truck – dumpsters of garbage taken out. Can you believe it?” Trump said, blaming his Democratic predecessors for the “disgusting” conditions and disrepair.

“We made the surface as good as it can be,” Trump said. “And we’re now covering it with the most beautiful blue, very thick – you can think of it as a very sophisticated form of rubber. No leaks. No problems. And it’s beautiful. It’s called American flag blue.”

Trump at one point justified his intense oversight: “I’ve built hundreds of pools,” he said, later adding, “It’s not as simple as people think.”

Trump says deal on Iran has ‘got to be perfect’

Saying “I’m not sure we should make the deal” on Iran if additional countries don’t join the Abraham Accords — the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing relations with Israel — Trump said he’s “requesting strongly” that others, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar sign on.

But asked by reporters at the Cabinet meeting if an Iran deal were contingent on that act, Trump added, “I don’t want to say that.”

Trump also said that, while he felt a “good deal” with Iran could be achieved now, he preferred “a great deal,” and then said the agreement must be even better than that.

“It’s got to be perfect,” Trump said. “I didn’t do this to get a crummy agreement.”

Trump defends New Jersey detention center where protesters and federal officers have clashed

“We run the finest facilities anywhere in the world — of their type — but we have some horrible killers,” Trump said Wednesday when asked about an immigration detention center where some detainees have been on a hunger strike to protest conditions.

Recent protests at the center have drawn elected Democrats including Sen. Andy Kim, who said officers shot pepper spray at him and others this week.

Asked by Trump to weigh in, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Kim “probably shouldn’t have been there.”

“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want,” Mullin said of the detainees. “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

Trump says ‘Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up’

The president made the comment Wednesday after being asked whether he would accept a deal allowing Iran and Oman to share control the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at his Cabinet meeting, he said the strait must be open to everyone and that no one can control it, though he said the U.S. will “watch over it.”

After issuing the threat to Oman, Trump added: “They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

Bessent channels Biden era and calls higher inflation ‘transitory’

Bessent just dropped a “T” word to describe inflation — echoing past remarks by two of Trump’s favorite targets, former President Joe Biden and former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, that higher prices would soon fade.

“In terms of prices, I believe the prices are transitory,” Bessent said. “Oil will be lower than preconflict levels when this ends.”

He was repeating an administration talking point that energy prices will plummet once the Iran war comes to a close. But his remarks contained a degree of irony.

Powell’s past use of “transitory” and Biden’s use of “temporary” came to haunt them. That’s because inflation remained persistently high as the economy emerged from the pandemic and was slower to ease than the public expected. The words formed the basis of attacks by Republicans and helped return Trump to the White House.

Bessent says Trump Accounts app coming Thursday

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during the Cabinet meeting that the app would launch “on all major platforms.”

A provision of Trump’s tax legislation, Trump Accounts are meant to give $1,000 to every newborn, so long as their parents open an account. That money is then invested in the stock market by private firms, and the child can access the money when they turn 18.

Calling it a “great symbol of the 250th anniversary,” Bessent said that “nearly 6 million kids” had been signed up for the accounts, which officially launch July 4.

Trump says World War II Memorial fountain is next in line for renovation

The president said his administration will turn to the war memorial after finishing an overhaul of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“Now we’re looking at the World War II fountain, because that’s also in pretty bad shape on the bottom,” Trump said Wednesday at his Cabinet meeting. “We’re going to duplicate it, I think with the — maybe with a slightly different color. Actually, we’ll go with a lighter color.”

Trump ordered the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to be resurfaced in what he calls “American flag blue” after he said a friend complained about the condition of the pool.

The World War II Memorial sits at the east end of the reflecting pool, featuring stone pillars and arches surrounding an oval fountain.

Trump said he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum “have a lot of fun” with the renovations.

Trump says anti-fraud work is ‘bringing our country back to honesty’

The president devoted a long stretch of his Cabinet meeting to a recap of the vice president’s anti-fraud task force, which officials see as a winning issue ahead of midterm elections.

Vance highlighted efforts to stop fraud and misuse in social programs from Medicare and Medicaid to federal student aid. Vance said officials have found tens of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare fraud, adding that “we’re going to find a lot more.”

Trump congratulated officials on the effort, saying it’s a “tremendous amount of money.”

Rubio: No Ebola patients allowed in the US

The Trump administration “cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States” amid the ongoing outbreak overseas, Rubio said in the Cabinet meeting.

Rubio said the State Department and other agencies are working “very, very hard to contain this crisis to the countries where it’s currently located, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

The comments come as the Trump administration has said it is setting up a facility in Kenya where Americans exposed to Ebola can be sent for quarantine and treatment.

Rubio says having ‘failed state’ Cuba so close to the US is a ‘national security threat’

The secretary of state said “Cuba’s in a lot of trouble” and being run by “incompetent communists.”

He didn’t offer any details on U.S. actions related to the island, including a possible intervention, which Trump has hinted might be coming.

But Rubio said of Cuba: “Having a failed state 90 miles from our shores is a threat to the national security of the United States.”

Rubio says ‘diplomacy is always the first option’ on Iran

Asked to give an update on negotiations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he felt “there’s been some progress” on discussions with Iran and said the “next few hours and days” would yield more information.

Seated at Trump’s right hand, the country’s chief diplomat stressed that, while the president has “other options” if talks don’t yield the U.S.’ desired outcome, Rubio added, “We prefer the negotiated, diplomatic route, and we’re going to give it every chance to succeed.”

Trump said Rubio had been “all over the place” in recent days. The secretary of state returned to the U.S. last night after a five-day trip that included stops in Sweden and India.

Zelenskyy asks Trump for more US air defense help against Russian missile attacks, Kyiv says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written to Trump and Congress asking for more American-made air defense ammunition to counter intensifying Russian ballistic missile attacks, Kyiv said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers have backed a bill to draft bank employees to fight against Ukraine’s long-range drones that strike deep inside Russia — with trained bank staff shooting down the unmanned aircraft.

As aerial attacks by both sides escalate in the more than four-year war, Anne Keast-Butler, head of U.K.’s intelligence agency GCHQ, asserted that Russian President Vladimir “Putin is going backwards on the battlefield,” and new data shows “almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began.”

Zelenskyy’s letter, obtained by The Associated Press, says deliveries of Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defense systems are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts U.S. stocks.

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Trump, looking to move his Cabinet meeting along, suggests not all officials will speak

The president said he’d limit speaking roles in the Cabinet meeting to Vance, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Kelly Loeffler, small business administrator.

“And maybe, if you have some questions, we’ll go to others,” he told reporters.

“But everybody around here has got a lot to say,” Trump said. “But we did that once, and it lasted for like four or five hours. It was a little much.”

Trump’s Cabinet meetings often feature top officials spending long periods of time praising him. That’s led to marathon sessions, though not quite as long as he suggested.

Last summer, one such meeting exceeded three hours.

Trump says his fraud task force will save Social Security. The numbers say otherwise

The U.S. president said at his Cabinet meeting that Social Security payments will be rescued by the crackdown on fraud by a task force led by Vice President JD Vance — a claim undermined by the numbers for the social insurance program.

“I think we have a chance to save Social Security without doing anything to it,” Trump said. “We’re going to make our Social Security so strong.”

The government said last year that Social Security’s trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034. That’s because the cost of the benefits for an aging population are exceeding payroll tax revenues.

There is no sign that stopping improper payments would be sufficient to close the gap, as the government estimated they were 3.8% of Social Security expenditures in fiscal 2025.

Despite Social Security’s deteriorating finances under his watch, Trump said it “would be bankrupt” if Democrats were in power.

Trump doubles down that midterms don’t affect his Iran strategy

The president suggested that Iranian leaders think upcoming U.S. elections give them leverage over Trump because of his lagging approval ratings. If so, they’re flat wrong, Trump said.

“They thought they were gonna out-wait me. You know, ’We’ll out-wait him. He’s got the midterms,” Trump said. “I don’t care about the midterms.”

The president alluded to his preferred Texas GOP Senate nominee, Ken Paxton, trouncing Sen. John Cornyn.

“That was the prelude to the midterms,” the president insisted.

To be clear, Trump’s hold over the GOP is unquestioned at this point. But that doesn’t seamlessly translate to November victories – and even many Republicans are nervous that Trump’s standing and GOP nominees like Paxton will drag the party down in the fall as Democrats try to flip control of Capitol Hill.

Trump mixes up U.S. military operations, saying Venezuela when he meant Iran

Early in his Cabinet meeting, the president was trying to downplay the war in Iran, saying, “I don’t call it a war. I call it a conflict.”

“Despite the conflict with Venezuela, who no longer has a navy, no longer has an air force, no longer has a lot of people that were leading the country into very bad places,” Trump said, mixing up that South American country with Iran.

U.S. forces ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to face drug charges. before the U.S. and Israel began airstrikes on Iran.

He later added of Iran and talks about the ongoing ceasefire, “They’re negotiating on fumes,” but also renewed threats to renew major U.S. attacks, “Maybe we have to go back and finish it, maybe we don’t.”

Trump Cabinet meeting begins

It’s the first meeting of the president’s Cabinet since Tulsi Gabbard announced that she would step down as director of national intelligence, effective June 30, due to her husband’s health.

Gabbard is the fourth Cabinet member to depart during Trump’s second term, all of them women.

The meeting also comes at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, just days after Trump insisted that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement but with the negotiations still in a state of flux.

Alabama asks Supreme Court to allow use of congressional map ruled racially biased

Alabama on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections, despite a court ruling that the redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against Black people.

The state’s Republican leadership filed an emergency appeal with the justices a day after a three-judge court refused to let the state use a map it adopted three years ago that has a majority Black population in just one of its seven congressional districts.

The judges instead required Alabama to continue using a court-ordered map put in place for the 2024 elections that includes two districts where Black residents comprise a majority or close to it.

The appeal is the latest development in the fallout from last month’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

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South Africa rejects Trump’s claim that Afrikaners need US refuge

The South African government and advocacy groups for its Afrikaner white minority on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s position that there’s a humanitarian emergency affecting white people in the country.

The argument served as the administration’s rationale for raising the U.S. refugee cap, but only for white Afrikaners. The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the U.S. as refugees this year, while blocking refugees from other countries.

Trump blamed the government for “recent increases in the incitement of racially motivated violence,” without providing details that could be fact-checked. AfriForum, a lobbying organization for Afrikaners with more than 300,000 members, said it “does not have information” regarding the assertion of an emergency refugee situation.

Advocates say Trump’s decision has stranded people fleeing war and strife around the world.

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Kenya says protecting its own citizens from Ebola is ‘paramount’

Kenya’s health minister has confirmed discussions with the United States and other international partners amid growing public concern about Ebola.

Aden Duale’s statement Wednesday did not confirm, however, that the talks involve the U.S. establishing Ebola treatment facility in Nairobi.

“The Government of Kenya notes ongoing discussions with the US government and other global partners regarding international collaboration on strengthening preparedness and response mechanisms for Ebola Virus Disease and other emerging public health threats,” Duale said.

“Any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the government’s responsibility to safeguard the health and welfare of Kenyans,” said Duale. “Protection of Kenyan citizens, frontline health workers and communities remains paramount.”

▶ See AP Photos of Ebola’s impact in Congo and Uganda

Trump administration to send Americans exposed to Ebola to Kenya

The new facility is meant to help American patients who have been exposed to Ebola avoid an hourslong medical evacuation to the U.S., an administration official said Wednesday.

The quarantine and treatment center being set up by the Departments of Defense, State and Health and Human Services will be designed for Ebola patients who need to get out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and receive care quickly, said the official who requested anonymity to share the administration’s plans.

It wasn’t immediately clear where in Kenya the new facility will be built, or whether the Kenyan government has signed off on the plan.

▶ Read more about developments with the Ebola outbreak

Epidemiologist calls suicide rate in ICE detention ‘profoundly wrong.’ Homeland Security calls them ‘extremely rare’

Nine of the 10 who killed themselves were Hispanic men. One was a Chinese citizen. The deaths have revealed holes in treatment and oversight across the Immigration and Customs Enforcement system, where the detained population has spiked by 50% to 60,000 during Trump’s second term, AP found.

“Something is going profoundly wrong from any kind of public health or mental health perspective,” said Dr. Sanjay Basu, a University of California-San Francisco epidemiologist who co-wrote a study documenting the increase in mortality and suicide rates among ICE detainees. “This is one of those alarming, sudden increases.”

But Department of Homeland Security acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis said suicide deaths in ICE custody remain “extremely rare.”

Bis said detention staff follow protocols to protect detainees who show signs of self-harming and that ICE requires annual suicide prevention training. She said detainees receive comprehensive healthcare, including mental health services.

ICE detainees are dying by suicide at an ‘alarming’ rate, an AP investigation finds

Detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are taking their own lives at a pace unprecedented in the agency’s two-decade history, highlighting what experts call failures in care and oversight, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

At least 10 detainees have died by suicide since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and ordered ICE to increase arrests and deportations, the investigation found. There have been seven such deaths since October, already the most in a fiscal year. ICE typically has recorded just one or no annual suicides.

The increased pace exceeds the growth in ICE’s detainee population, where suicides account for nearly 20% of the 51 people who have died in ICE custody since January 2025.

▶ Read the AP investigation

US workers would need 200 years of labor to match their CEO’s annual compensation, AP survey finds

As Trump touts his economic stewardship, The Associated Press’ annual CEO compensation survey shows typical CEO compensation rose nearly 6% in 2025 to $17.7 million, as company boards rewarded top executives for bigger profits and higher stock prices, and gave them incentives to stick around and make even more money for shareholders.

The median employee at companies in the S&P 500, meanwhile, earned $89,744, reflecting a 4.7% increase year over year. While that gain outpaced the rate of inflation in 2025, many workers were still feeling pinched by the accumulation of higher prices over the past few years and had to cut corners to make ends meet and run up credit card debt to pay for everyday necessities.

The survey uses data analyzed for The AP by Equilar.

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Trump’s new green card policy sparks confusion

Trump’s new policy requiring green card seekers to apply from their home countries instead of in the U.S. has left many immigrants and attorneys confused and concerned.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the change Friday, affecting hundreds of thousands of applicants each year. But there are apparent exceptions. The agency indicated to The Associated Press that people who provide an “economic benefit” or “national interest” could likely remain in the United States while applying.

For more than half a century, foreign nationals with legal status — including people married to U.S. citizens, holders of work and student visas, and refugees and political asylum-seekers, among others — have been able to remain with their families and at their jobs while completing the process for permanent residency. That has suddenly changed as the Republican administration pivots to targeting legal pathways after focusing mostly on migrants in the U.S. illegally.

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It could take at least 3 years to replenish key US weapons used in Iran war

An analysis of stockpiles of three key weapons systems used heavily in the Iran war is adding to concerns that American forces would have limited firepower in any future conflict with China.

Tomahawk cruise missiles strike targets deep inside enemy territory. Patriot and THAAD interceptors defend against incoming missiles and drones.

“The depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in its report released Wednesday, which factors in Trump’s historic defense budget proposal of $1.5 trillion for 2027. “The problem today isn’t money; it’s time.”

China has a stated goal of being able to take Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, and Chinese President Xi Jinping warned this month that if Washington mishandles its relations with the self-governing island, it could provoke open conflict.

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Congress could get a record number of new faces next year

It’s starting to look like an exodus.

Out of 535 voting members of Congress, 73 will not return to their seats next term — the most at this point in the calendar since President Barack Obama’s administration, according to an Associated Press analysis of congressional turnover going back to 2013.

Some are seeking other offices. Others are retiring after decades of service. A few are departing instead of running in unfamiliar territory after an unusual flurry of redistricting. Around two-thirds of the outgoing members in both houses are Republicans.

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A UFC fighting cage rises on the White House lawn

Yet another White House construction project is underway. Crews are erecting a temporary octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn for next month’s UFC bout, timed to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary — and President Donald Trump ’s 80th birthday.

Online renderings depict what the completed, wire-mesh-fence-ringed fight space is expected to look like ahead of the June 14 event, ringed by a red, white and blue stage under a towering arch featuring stars and stripes patterns and two large screens carrying the action live. Thousands of temporary seats will surround the cage and stage, including ringside space for a full marching band.

“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” Trump said recently. “That’s gonna be something.”

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Trump congratulates Paxton on Texas GOP Senate primary win

In a social media post, Trump congratulated Paxton on a “tremendous win” and promised that “I will do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken. Texas, this will be FUN!

Trump also congratulated Cornyn “for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career.”

In his endorsement of Paxton, Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”

But Trump said Wednesday that, “John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common-sense Senator.”

Biden sues Justice Department to stop release of audio and transcripts tied to special counsel probe

Joe Biden sued the Justice Department on Tuesday in an effort to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of the former president’s interview with a ghostwriter that were obtained by the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents.

Biden’s lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in Washington’s federal court that the Justice Department plans to release the files to Congress and a conservative group, the Heritage Foundation, after the department had previously argued that they were exempt from disclosure under the public records law.

Biden’s lawyers argued that the disclosure would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privacy.”

“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” his attorneys wrote. “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”

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Trump administration proposes NDAs for federal employees to stop media leaks

The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, part of a continuing crackdown on leaks to the media.

A proposed notice, announced Tuesday on the Office of Personnel Management website, is expected to be officially published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, seeking comment on a draft NDA to be used by federal agencies for “both new and existing employees.”

“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard nonpublic, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.

The proposed notice seeks comment on several questions, including whether the NDA should cover only unclassified information and what appropriate actions, if any, agencies should consider for new or current employees who choose not to sign the agreement.

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Trump is getting the Republican Party that he wants. But can he win in the midterms?

Trump is on a winning streak in Republican primaries, but his tightening grip on his party could make it harder to win in the November midterms, when Republicans face a broader electorate that has soured on the president’s second term and the economy.

The risk is compounded, Republican operatives say, by how cavalier the billionaire president has been in addressing Americans’ financial worries, which have been exacerbated by Trump’s trade roller coaster and his ongoing war against Iran.

Republican strategist David Urban, a Trump ally, acknowledged the president’s approach is making things harder for his party.

“It’s going to be a tough fall unless things dramatically change,” Urban said.

He warned that Trump cannot afford a haphazard exit from the war with Iran to resolve a conflict that has created a chokehold on global oil supplies and driven gas prices higher for Americans.

“I think the president wants to help,” he said, but “you do not want to give the Iranians a win just because of the midterms.”

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Paxton dominates Cornyn in Texas US Senate runoff, the latest sign of Trump’s hold on GOP

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, easily defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the latest contest where Trump sought to oust an incumbent he saw as insufficiently loyal.

Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.” Paxton’s victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn — who was first elected to the Senate in 2002 — the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.

Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton’s election night party when the race was called, and he took the stage to supporters chanting his name. He quickly gave credit to Trump.

“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen,” Paxton said. “President Trump is the leader of our party, and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”

▶ Read more

Trump gathers Cabinet as he looks to seal deal to end war that some backers worry will embolden Iran

President Donald Trump will meet with his Cabinet on Wednesday at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, just days after insisting that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement but with the negotiations still in a state of flux.

As he prepares to huddle with his top aides, Trump is projecting confidence that he’s closing in on a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that’s been politically unpopular for Republicans.

But as things stand, Trump also risks finding closure to his war of choice comes with an unsatisfactory ending.

The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran’s hard-line leaders will emerge from the conflict battered but emboldened.

▶ Read more

The 39-year-old Djokovic was pushed by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer — who is 15 years younger than him — for more than 3½ hours before he reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory.

For the fourth straight day of this year’s tournament, the temperature rose beyond 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).

When Djokovic won a key point early in the fourth set with a forehand that he whipped around the net post from far off the court, the 24-time Grand Slam champion waved his arms toward the crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Djokovic wasted a chance to close the match out earlier when he missed a backhand long in the third-set tiebreaker then required four more match points in his final service game before a forehand from Royer finally landed in the net to conclude a long rally.

Before arriving in Paris, Royer had earned only one tour-level win across 11 tournaments he played this season.

Djokovic came to Roland Garros with questions over his form after getting beat in his only clay-court match before the tournament. He lost to Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open after two months out due to a right shoulder injury.

But Djokovic is playing himself back into form after coming back from a set down to beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, another Frenchman, in a first-round match that lasted nearly three hours.

Djokovic improved to 14-0 in his career against Frenchmen at Roland Garros and reached the third round in Paris for a 21st straight year. He raised the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

One duo of Djokovic fans inside the main stadium held up a sign with a goat on it — for “Greatest of All Time” — that read “39 is the new 29.”

Up next for Djokovic is potentially a bigger test against either 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca or the 20-year-old Prizmic, who were playing later. Fonseca has been touted as a future Grand Slam contender, while Djokovic himself pointed to big things ahead for Prizmic after their meeting in Rome.

Later, second-seeded Alexander Zverev was playing Tomas Machac in the night session.

Ukraine gets 3 wins

Elena Rybakina, this year’s Australian Open winner, was beaten by Ukrainian opponent Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Also advancing were in-form Ukrainians Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, who are coming off trophies at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, respectively.

The seventh-seeded Svitolina beat Kaitlin Quevedo 6-0, 6-4 to extend her winning streak to eight matches. The 15th-seeded Kostyuk beat Katie Volynets 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 to extend her winning streak to 13 matches.

Swiatek improves Paris record to 42-3

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek improved her career record at Roland Garros to 42-3 by eliminating 35th-ranked Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3.

Swiatek won Roland Garros in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Swiatek next faces Magda Linette in the first all-Polish meeting at Roland Garros in the professional era (since 1968). Linette eliminated 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

Also, 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic beat American opponent Caty McNally 6-4, 6-0.

___

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

Authorities said there was no hope of finding more survivors of Tuesday's tank implosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, which also injured nine other people, including a responding firefighter. But before any bodies can be recovered, crews on Wednesday must first stabilize the tank, which was at risk of collapsing further and leaking more of the caustic liquid.

The implosion caused the huge circular tank to buckle and collapse on one side, and officials said they would only work during daylight because of the dangers. While the cause remains unknown, authorities said there was no threat to the community, a Columbia River city of about 40,000 people with long ties to the Washington and Oregon paper and lumber industries.

It was the second notable issue with a chemical in days on the West Coast, following the evacuation of thousands of Southern California residents due to an overheated tank an aerospace plant before those orders were lifted Tuesday night.

The paper mill tank was holding about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of a liquid made of mostly sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. Known as white liquor, it is used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.

The sprawling plant, which employs about 1,000 people, makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, and cartons. It sits along the river next to other timber, paper and chemical businesses.

Paper mill worker was always there to help, friend says

Authorities haven't released the names of the person whose death was confirmed or of those missing, but some names began trickling out.

Todd Cornwell said his friend, Gilbert Bernal, was an electrician at the plant and was the first confirmed death. They knew each other through church and were in the same Bible study group, he said.

“We actually had our group last night and instead of doing Bible study, we talked about him,” Cornwell said. “He was always there willing to help in whatever needed to be done. When the local church school started flooding, he was one of the people there.”

Brian Williquette, a chemical supplier for the region’s mills, was at the plant Tuesday morning when he heard an alarm over the intercom and first wondered if it was drill. He was able to get out safely and didn’t see any of the damage.

“It’s just unfathomable,” he said at a community vigil Tuesday. “There’s not anybody that lives here that doesn’t know somebody at a paper mill.”

Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident, said she has friends at the plant who remained unaccounted for. She said people called and texted each other all day trying to figure out what happened.

“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”

The cause of the implosion remained unclear.

Authorities press for answers about the rupture

Nippon Paper Group in a statement said Wednesday that it was offering its “deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families.”

Scott Goldstein, a fire chief with Cowlitz County, said Tuesday night that the tank still held about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of the volatile liquid.

“We don’t know until we know, hopefully tomorrow, how we can stabilize the tank. Do we remove the product first? Do we stabilize the tank first or the vice versa?” Goldstein said.

Hours after the disaster, officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort.

Some of those who were injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said.

Following the tank's rupture, the liquid spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson.

“I know there’s a lot of questions about how all of this happened and I want to assure you that we will all continue to pressure to get answers to those questions,” Murray said.

The mill faced complaints and fines

Safety complaints were filed against Nippon Dynawave in March and May. The state’s labor and industries department said on X that both were unrelated to the current situation. One was an anonymous complaint about a valve on a tank, according to the department, which noted that it was not the tank that imploded.

Nippon Dynawave, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, has been fined $3,400 for three separate health and safety violations found by Washington Department of Labor and Industries inspectors since the start of 2021, according to the department’s online database.

Just over 40 people died between January 2021 and mid-October 2023 as a result of hazardous chemical incidents in the U.S., according to a paper released by a network of environmental justice organizations in late 2023.

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Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle, Kathy McCormack in Concord New Hampshire, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war, Trump expressed confidence that a deal is near. Over the weekend, he even declared that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement, but the negotiations were still in flux.

The president is looking for a settlement that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that's been politically unpopular for Republicans.

But as things stand, Trump also risks finding that closure to his war of choice comes with an unsatisfactory ending.

The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the Republican president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran's hard-line leaders will emerge from the conflict battered but emboldened. It all comes to a head just as the midterm elections to determine control of Congress come into focus and as Republicans worry that rising costs and fuel prices are darkening the American electorate's mood.

But Trump on Wednesday dismissed the idea that the upcoming elections would carry any weight in shaping his Iran strategy.

“They thought they were gonna outwait me. You know, 'We’ll outwait him. He’s got the midterms,'” Trump said. “I don’t care about the midterms.”

Trump acknowledged there's still work to do, but he spoke with a measure of certainty that the two sides would get there.

“They want very much to make a deal,” Trump said. “So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

Talks were further complicated after U.S. forces carried out what the Pentagon called “defensive” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran on Monday. The U.S. said it acted with “restraint” in light of the weekslong ceasefire, while Iran decried the action as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability.”

Some Trump backers are skeptical

While Trump insists a deal is within reach, there appears to be daylight between the U.S. and Iran on several key issues. The president is also facing scrutiny from Republican allies, including Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas, who have said the terms seem too favorable to Tehran.

They're balking at aspects of the deal that have emerged publicly that they say too closely resemble the nuclear agreement reached with Iran by Democratic President Barack Obama, which Trump scrapped during his first term.

Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — a key Trump demand — in return for sanctions relief. That's according to two regional officials and one senior Trump administration official, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

One regional official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up the uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period. Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, the official said.

Trump said that he “wouldn’t be comfortable” with either Russia or China taking Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The two countries have the closest relations with Tehran, and nuclear analysts have said they could be a potential acceptable third party to the Iranian Republic to take possession of the enriched uranium as part of a potential deal.

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium.

How Trump's plan affects Israel's war in Lebanon

Another key issue unresolved is whether the ceasefire will also cover Israel’s operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon. Iran has insisted that Lebanon must be covered by any ceasefire agreement negotiated with the United States.

The administration appears to leave some wiggle room on the Lebanon question. The emerging memorandum of understanding calls for a ceasefire between the U.S. and its allies against Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah, but also underscores Israel's right to act against imminent threats and in self-defense.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that the Israeli military is “deepening its operation” in Lebanon. Overnight, Israel's military clashed with the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group along a strategic river in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops pushed farther north.

Jonathan Conricus, a former spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said Israel expects that Iran would quickly move to direct any sanctions relief to restore its military capability and boost proxy groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.

“We’re not done fighting, because the Iranian regime isn’t done,” said Conricus, who is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.

‘Stunned silence’ as Trump ties Abraham Accords to Iran deal

Trump on Wednesday also reinforced his call for a deal to end the Iran war to include a requirement for several additional countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing diplomatic and economic relations with Israel.

“We’re, you know, requesting strongly that they join,” Trump said.

Trump’s optimism that the other Middle Eastern and majority-Muslim countries could soon sign on to the accords might be overly ambitious.

For example, Saudi Arabia, the most significant power in the Arab world and long seen as the biggest prize for the normalization effort, has insisted that establishing a guaranteed path to a Palestinian state remains a precondition. It's something that Israel vehemently opposes.

Trump pushed for the Abraham Accords during a call with leaders of Mideast allies over the weekend.

Barbara Leaf, a retired U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and senior State Department official during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, said officials from Gulf countries who were on the call told her that Trump's pitch was greeted by “stunned silence.” A person familiar with the call disputed that characterization and said that some regional allies responded positively to the president’s call to join the accords. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity about the private conversation.

Leaf, a distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that Middle Eastern allies of the United States recognize that Iran will likely use any money from sanctions relief to bolster its military capabilities. Still, they have been supportive of Trump’s efforts to end the conflict.

“They see no other way out,” Leaf said of American allies in the region. “And they see no other way out because of many of these early mistakes that the president and the administration made in conducting the war.”

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AP writers Matthew Lee, Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Monique Verdieux, 56, fled to the highway after watching armed men burning houses in her neighborhood. Her family scattered in different directions and she said she's not sure where they are.

“I am now sleeping in the street,” Verdieux said, noting it was unsafe to return.

Gangs have overtaken more than 70% of Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his home. That number was as high as 90% but has dropped. Police say they have expanded their activities — including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape — into the countryside. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

In a statement released Monday, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders announced the evacuation of its hospital in Cité Soleil following intense clashes in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood on Sunday. The organization, known by its French acronym MSF, reported treating over 40 gunshot victims within 12 hours while providing temporary shelter to 800 people fleeing the violence. One of those injured was a security guard who was hit by a stray bullet in the hospital's grounds.

“We managed to evacuate him and his condition is now stable,” said Davina Hayles, MSF’s head of mission in Haiti. “But it is unthinkable that our teams and civilians should become victims of these clashes.”

For the past two weeks, Haitian rum maker Barbancourt and two of the nation's largest bottlers have also warned about deteriorating security conditions near Port-au-Prince's Toussaint Louverture International Airport, where operations are now severely restricted.

In a statement released on Sunday, the companies said that the government's response to the crisis has been “largely insufficient,” and noted that the poor state of the roads leading to the airport makes it difficult for Haitian security forces to patrol the area. The companies are among Haiti’s main fiscal contributors.

“You cannot secure an airport if you allow the roads around it to degrade,” the statement read.

In April, the first foreign troops linked to a U.N. force arrived in Haiti to help quell ongoing violence.

The U.N. Security Council in late September approved a plan to authorize a 5,550-member force, which has not fully arrived in the island nation. An unknown number of troops from Chad have so far been deployed.

A report published earlier this year by the International Organization for Migration found that gang violence has displaced more than 1.4 million people in Haiti, with approximately 200,000 of them now living in crowded and underfunded sites in the nation's capital.

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This story was first published on May. 12, 2026. It was updated on May. 27, 2026 to correct the spelling of Jovenel Moïse.

——

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

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This story clarifies that gangs control 70% of Port-au-Prince, down from 90% previously.

Roselaine Jean-Pierre, 67, was among two dozen people who gathered at an intersection in Cite Soleil holding tree branches and demanding that police intervene in the area, even as gunshots were ringing nearby.

“I did not do anything to deserve this,” said Jean-Pierre, who fled her home on Sunday, and is now sleeping in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Some of the protesters said they saw people getting killed over the weekend in Cite Soleil, where burned cars and dead cows could also be observed. Haitian authorities have not released any information on casualties.

“I know of seven people that have been killed and also people that have been shot,” said Michel-Ange Toussaint, who had returned briefly to her home in Cite Soleil to gather some clothes.

She said the attacks on civilians began Sunday around 6 p.m., prompting many people to flee the area in search of safety. “It is our good feet that saved us,” Toussaint said.

Gangs have overtaken Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his home. Police say they control about 70% of the capital — down from 90% — and have expanded their activities — including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape — into the countryside. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

In a statement released Monday, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders announced the evacuation of its hospital in Cite Soleil following the intense clashes Sunday.

The Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine, another hospital that operates in Cite Soleil, said on Tuesday that it had also suspended operations due to the outbreak of violence that began Sunday, and had to evacuate all of its hospitalized patients, including 11 newborns.

In April, the first foreign troops linked to a U.N. force arrived in Haiti to help quell ongoing violence.

The U.N. Security Council in late September approved a plan to authorize a 5,550-member force, which has not fully arrived in the island nation. An unknown number of troops from Chad have so far been deployed.

A report published earlier this year by the International Organization for Migration found that gang violence has displaced more than 1.4 million people in Haiti, with approximately 200,000 of them now living in crowded and underfunded sites in the nation’s capital.

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This story was first published on May. 12, 2026. It was updated on May. 27, 2026 to correct the spelling of Jovenel Moïse

___

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

The warning comes a day after Israeli troops clashed with the Iran-backed Hezbollah along a strategic river in southern Lebanon, with Israeli forces pushing farther north, days ahead of talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli delegations.

Wednesday's warning is the first that orders the Lebanese to relocate from the south since a ceasefire went into effect on April 17 and follows an escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Israeli Israeli troops have crossed the Litani River, edging closer to the southern city of Nabatiyeh. Israel and Hezbollah have had near-daily exchanges lately, though Israel has not struck Beirut or areas near the capital since the truce started.

The war started on March 2 after Hezbollah fired rockets towards northern Israel in solidarity with Iran. Over one million people in Lebanon have since been displaced, and over 3,200 people killed in Israeli strikes according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Earlier, the Israeli military had called on the residents of southern cities of Nabatiyeh and the city of Tyre along the Mediterranean coast to leave and stay away from it, saying there were Hezbollah members and military posts there.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks on both Israeli troops in Lebanon and northern Israeli border villages.

Also, amid a surge in Hezbollah's exploding drone attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli military will expand the scope of its attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has vowed to fight until the war ends in Lebanon and Israel withdraws its troops that operate across large swaths of the country's south. The Iran-backed group has dismissed Lebanon's direct talks with Israel and has backed Iran's talks with Washington to their war. Among Tehran's conditions is ending the war in Lebanon as well.

Authorities justified the outage as a military imperative after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Their decision to lift some restrictions this week came as negotiators appeared to be closing in on a more permanent truce. But many Iranians feared access could be cut off again at a moment's notice.

Internet tracking company Netblocks said Iran’s connectivity, which measures the ability of devices to connect to the internet, is at around 86% of capacity from before the cutoff. Internet analysis firm Kentik said internet traffic, which measures the amount of data transferred and is a good illustration of usage, was at around 40%.

Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity analyst, said there were still widespread disruptions. “It's too early to say the shutdown is over,” he wrote on X.

An unprecedented shutdown

Iran’s roughly 90 million people have been cut off from the internet for most of 2026, one of the world’s longest and strictest national shutdowns. Young people with online careers saw their incomes evaporate. Job losses and the closure of online businesses added to the war's steep economic costs.

The cutoff made it difficult for Iranian families to communicate through months of unrest and war. At some points, phone lines were also cut off, though they were later restored.

A woman living in Tehran said that for months she was barely able to speak to her sons living abroad. She couldn't believe authorities had restored access, saying she had assumed they would find some justification to prolong the outage.

A taxi driver said service was restored but weak. He expressed hope it would improve so he could use messaging apps with family and friends. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Prices spiked during the shutdown, with residents in Tehran at times paying around $7.50 per gigabyte. Prices are back down to around $2.25 for 30 gigabytes, roughly where they were before the protests.

Even then, Iran tightly controlled access to popular social media sites, leading many to rely on virtual private networks, or VPNs. The cost of those workarounds soared during the shutdown, making them unaffordable for many as the economy was battered.

A slow return to service

Businesses have started reappearing online, announcing their return with posts on sites like Instagram and Telegram.

A gamer and tech influencer in the central city of Isfahan said the shutdown had caused him to lose a lot of his audience on YouTube and Instagram, where he had spent years building up a large following.

“All my views and interactions are way down. I’ve been erased from the algorithm,” he said in a voice note sent by WhatsApp, adding that his internet connection was still slower than before the shutdown.

“The situation is such that many content producers have had their income reduced to zero, have moved on to other jobs, or have been forced to sell their equipment to survive,” he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Iran claimed the shutdown was a wartime necessity

Iranian authorities first shut down the internet in January during mass anti-government protests that were eventually stamped out in a violent crackdown. Thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands detained.

That cutoff was just starting to ease when the government imposed a complete internet blackout after the start of the war, when U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials.

The government faced criticism for the prolonged shutdown, which caused even more harm to an economy devastated by inflation, strikes on key industries and a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports.

The internet cutoff cost an estimated $30-40 million daily, with indirect losses likely twice that much, a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Afshin Kolahi, told a local newspaper last month. About 10 million people have jobs that depend on internet connectivity, according to Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi.

Iranians still had access to a national net, but that has a far narrower reach, and users complained of poor service and heavy censorship. Senior government officials are given SIM cards granting them access to the global internet. Under pressure, the government expanded access to the SIM cards to some professions during the shutdown.

A Tornado Warning was issued for the area Tuesday night, but as of Wednesday morning, a tornado has not been confirmed.

The National Weather Service said it is conducting surveys on Wednesday in Guadalupe County and potentially east Bexar County to determine if the damage in Kirby was caused by straight-line winds or a tornado.

However, the storm left behind damage to trees, vehicles and homes near Gordoon Cooper Drive and Crest Lane.

>>KSAT crews, viewers capture stalled and submerged vehicles, lightning strikes in San Antonio

KSAT cameras caught one tree in front of a home split into three, with its branches falling on a woman’s car.

One neighbor told KSAT that a carport collapsed, and a large metal piece from it traveled four houses down the street.

>>Watching a few more storms south of SA this morning, plus updated rainfall totals

According to KSAT Weather Authority meteorologist Justin Horne, totals from Tuesday night’s storms averaged between 1-2 inches.

KSAT has reached out to the City of Kirby to ask if they’ve received any reports of injuries or rescues.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

We want to see what the weather looks like in your neighborhood. Share photos and videos with us using KSAT Connect for a chance to be featured on air and online.

Timothy Hudson was initially arrested and charged as a juvenile, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres ruled in February that the 16-year-old could live with an uncle and be electronically monitored. But after the case was transferred to adult court, prosecutors wanted Hudson in custody.

Minors are rarely prosecuted in federal court, and this case landed there because Kepner apparently died in international waters, outside any state’s jurisdiction.

The judge ended Wednesday morning's hearing without making a final decision, saying he wanted to speak with the U.S. Marshals Service about the logistics of detaining Hudson in central Florida, closer to his family, rather than South Florida, where the trial is taking place.

It's unknown when Torres will announce his decision. In the meantime, Hudson walked out of the courthouse after the hearing, rather than being immediately taken into custody.

Hudson has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. His federal public defenders have declined to comment on the charges.

Hudson's stepsister, Anna Kepner, had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family, including Hudson. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with Hudson and another teen, a criminal complaint said.

The cause of Kepner's Nov. 6 death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Lopez argued Wednesday that the crimes Hudson is accused of are so serious that the court shouldn’t risk another violet attack. An autopsy determined that Kepner had been pinned down and violently raped, the prosecutors said. She also noted that it likely took 3-5 minutes for Hudson to strangle Kepner until she was dead.

“I believe there is clear and convincing evidence that this defendant is a danger to the community,” Lopez said.

The prosecutor also argued that Hudson was a much greater flight risk because he now faces a possible life sentence if convicted of the adult charges. As a juvenile, he would have been released at age 21, regardless of what counts he was found delinquent on.

Evan Kuhl, with the Federal Public Defender’s office, told the judge that Hudson has abided by the conditions of his release for months without issue.

The judge acknowledged that an adult facing these charges would almost certainly be detained until trial, but he still needed to consider the reality of Hudson's age, despite the adult charges. While the judge said he agreed with the defense that Hudson was a low flight risk, he still hadn't decided whether the teen posed a threat to the community if certain pre-trial restrictions remained in place.

Kepner's father, Christopher Kepner, previously released a statement, saying the family was placing “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity.”

“The situation is deeply painful and complex for the entire family,” Kepner said.

Anna Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”

The state's Republican leadership filed an emergency appeal with the justices a day after a three-judge court refused to let the state use a map it adopted three years ago that has a majority Black population in just one of its seven congressional districts.

The judges instead required Alabama to continue using a court-ordered map that was put in place for the 2024 elections that includes two districts where Black residents comprise a majority or close to it.

Attorney General Steve Marshall told the court that the state did not intentionally discriminate against Black residents and should be allowed to hold elections this year under a map chosen by lawmakers, not judges.

The appeal is the latest development in the fallout from last month's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

The redistricting frenzy is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the November elections.

The Alabama cases stretches back several years. The three-judge panel in 2023 ruled that a map drawn by Republican state lawmakers intentionally diluted the voting power of Black citizens. The court said the state, which is about 27% Black, should have two districts where Black voters are the majority or close to it. The court-selected map was used in 2024.

After the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Louisiana case, Alabama officials moved to implement the 2023 state-drawn map. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority agreed to lift the injunction that had blocked the map’s use and sent the case back to the three-judge panel for reconsideration in light of the Louisiana ruling.

In the meantime, voters cast ballots in Alabama’s May 19 primaries, and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey set new special primaries for Aug. 11 in four congressional districts affected by the map switch.

Upon further review, the judicial panel said it was standing behind its initial finding that there was “undisputed evidence” of intentional racial discrimination, a holding that was independent of and unaffected by the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act.

It said the special congressional primaries should instead proceed under the previous court-approved districts.

The use of the court-ordered map led to the 2024 election of U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. State Republicans are seeking to use a map that would give the GOP an opportunity to reclaim the south Alabama seat.

The state is asking for Supreme Court action by Monday as it makes preparations for the special vote in August.

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This story has been corrected to show the Alabama primaries were May 19, not May 11.

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Associated Press writer Kim Chandler contributed to this report from Montgomery, Ala.

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

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees college sports, briefed The Associated Press on details of the bill they crafted in hopes it can get the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate.

“This is a stability bill, not just an NIL bill,” Cruz said, referencing the name, image and likeness payments that have led to football rosters with $30 million payrolls and reshaped the industry.

Cantwell said she and Cruz teamed on the legislation "because he and I really do believe the college sports system is in a bit of chaos.”

The bill looks very much like a “best of” pair of legislative proposals — one called SCORE, another called SAFE — that have gone nowhere over the past several months. It contains two elements the NCAA has supported: a limited antitrust exemption and a clause that would preempt much of the patchwork of state laws currently regulating NIL.

College sports has been looking to Washington for help as it grapples with rising costs of paying players and an out-of-control transfer portal that have threatened smaller sports, many involving women, that make up the backbone of the U.S. Olympic pipeline.

This bill, called the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), would offer what Cruz and Cantwell said was very “targeted” antitrust protection — which was part of the largely Republican-backed SCORE Act that many Democrats opposed. That would be in exchange for what Cruz said would be “public-facing protections" for athletes in 10 areas, including guarantees for health insurance and scholarships and more stringent regulations for NIL deals from third parties.

“I think it's better predictability,” Cantwell said. “Why did we do it? Because when you've got thousands of athletes being cut, hundreds of programs being cut, the risk to the whole infrastructure was too high to not try to get better predictability.”

The bill would limit players to one unrestricted transfer over the course of their college careers — a widely supported idea across the country — and would adopt something close to the five-year eligibility period that the NCAA appears ready to enact next month.

The bill also tries to regulate coaching movement. Kiffin's sudden move to LSU from rival Mississippi while the Rebels were preparing for the College Football Playoff last season put a fine point on an issue that has only gotten worse in an era where teams spend millions to fill out rapidly shifting football rosters: Schools have less patience (and more money) to devote to hiring coaches for a quick fix.

Under terms of the bill, midseason coaching changes would be prohibited.

“It's not fair or right to poach a coach in the middle of the season while the team is still competing," Cruz said. "There’s a reason the NFL has a rule that you can’t do that. Obviously, NFL teams hire coaches away from each other but they don’t do so in the middle of the season.”

The bill would rework the Sports Broadcasting Act to allow conferences to pool their TV rights — a move proponents have said could add billions of dollars to the ecosystem in a conclusion the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences believe is inaccurate.

The senators said leagues wouldn't be required to join the media pooling but those that do would have to use a percentage of any increase from that to support women's and Olympic sports. That alone could be a dealbreaker for the SEC.

“If you do nothing, then obviously, all these other women's and Olympic sports and less revenue-driven activities are going to suffer,” Cantwell said. “I've heard directly from my institutions, they say they're counting on this. Not creating this stability now would be a missed opportunity.”

The SCORE Act, which garnered little support from Democrats, was on the House schedule last week but was abruptly pulled off when the Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP came out against it.

But even if it had squeaked by in the razor-tight House, it had virtually no chance of passing as written in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a possible filibuster.

“The Congressional Black Caucus and I have the same objective: stop the ‘SEC SCORE Act,’” said Cantwell, referencing the SEC as one of dozens of conferences who have supported that bill.

Some Democrats were reluctant to support a bill, like SCORE, that prohibited college athletes from being classified as employees of their schools. The new bill takes what Cantwell said was a “neutral” stance on the issue of employment.

“Senator Cruz and I have been very concerned about producing a bill that's not just about the 1% of athletes who go on and have a professional career," she said. "We took care of the entire ecosystem and have opportunities for athletes to continue to have that collegiate experience.”

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced Wednesday that it has acquired the property, which will become Silver Lake State Park. The former Silver Lake Ranch, where sheep and cattle grazed, features steep canyons and rolling hills located around 150 miles west of San Antonio, between Rocksprings and Uvalde in Kinney and Edwards counties.

It will be larger than any state park other than Big Bend Ranch State Park, which covers more than 300,000 acres. An opening date has not yet been set.

“The opportunities to explore nature’s wonders are truly bigger in Texas,” Gov. Greg

Abbott said in a press release. “… This future state park will grant generations of Texans with a deeper understanding of the land that helps make our state the natural envy of the world.”

It’s the first land purchase made with the $1 billion Centennial Parks Conservation Fund approved by the Legislature to expand and create parks and approved by voters in 2023. The fund has already been used to develop the new 3,118-acre Post Oak Ridge State Park in Lampasas, which opened earlier this year, and expand Enchanted Rock State Natural Area by adding 3,073 acres to the 1,685-acre park.

Silver Lake Ranch was partially owned by the Moody Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in Texas that’s been around for more than 80 years. The foundation gifted its portion, totalling nearly 88% of the ranch, to TPWD. The agency purchased the remainder of the property for $11.85 million using funds from the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund and the tax from the sale of sporting goods.

“The Moody Foundation is proud to help preserve this remarkable stretch of Texas Hill Country and make it accessible for generations to come,” said Ross Moody, who has served as a Moody Foundation trustee since 1986. “Silver Lake Ranch represents the natural beauty, history and spirit of our state, and we are honored to make this gift to Texas Parks and Wildlife to ensure it remains protected and enjoyed by all Texans for years ahead.”

According to a 2022 report by Environment Texas, Texas lags behind most others states in state parkland: The state ranks 35th in the nation for state park acreage per capita, with about 636,000 acres of parkland for a population of over 29 million as of 2019. The report suggests that Texas needs to add 1.4 million acres of state parks by 2030 to meet the needs of its residents.

TPWD plans to expand park coverage statewide. Park planners have told the Tribune that land acquisitions must check a lot of boxes, one of them is to be located within the Texas Triangle formed by Houston, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth.

The new park has limestone cliffs rising above rolling hills covered in live oak and juniper, with miles of river frontage along the West Nueces River, along with spring-fed Silver Lake and two water holes. Several creeks cross the property including Sycamore Creek, Lost Creek and North Spring Creek.

It’s home to white-tailed deer, turkey, javelina and dove. The greenthroat darter fish can be found in Silver Lake, and portions of the property have been identified as potential habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler.

TPWD staff plan to develop the park in phases. Once a plan is developed, TPWD will share it with the public and solicit feedback. During the planning process, the agency will offer guided tours and limited day use via existing ranch roads.

“This is an exciting addition to our state park system,” said David Yoskowitz, TPWD’s executive director, who thanked the Moody Foundation for the donation. “Silver Lake is sure to become a destination for park visitors and be the backdrop of memories made for generations to come.”

Disclosure: Texas Parks And Wildlife Department has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The weapons systems are Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are used to strike targets deep inside enemy territory, and Patriot and THAAD interceptors that defend against incoming missiles and drones.

“The United States has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war, but the depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in its new report, provided to The Associated Press. “The time needed to rebuild those inventories has thus become a major concern.”

China has a stated goal of ensuring its military is capable of taking Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, which experts see as more aspirational than a hard deadline. But Chinese President Xi Jinping warned this month that if Washington mishandles its relations with the self-governing island, the U.S. and China could end up clashing or even in open conflict.

Trump administration is boosting funding, but production takes time

The analysis by the Washington think tank factors in the Republican Trump administration's historic $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal for 2027, which significantly accelerates spending on high-end munitions that began under the Democratic Biden administration. While there's bipartisan agreement in Congress to boost inventories, “the problem today isn’t money; it’s time,” the report said.

“It takes time to expand production capacity and to build these complex systems,” the report said, adding that the window of vulnerability will last “for several years until inventories return to their previous levels and another several years before they get to the levels that war planners desire.”

Although munitions inventories are classified, CSIS said sufficient public information exists in Pentagon budget materials to estimate production timelines.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have insisted the U.S. is capable of fighting any war. They have pushed defense contractors to speed up munitions production, with Hegseth telling lawmakers last month that military spending under Trump will help manufacturers double or even triple their capacities.

During Trump’s Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Hegseth lauded the president’s efforts to expand the nation’s defense manufacturing sector, with private contractors investing in new plants and production lines “so that we’re getting weapons faster than ever.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing.”

“We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests,” Parnell said.

Some military experts have pushed back. Pentagon officials “knew the reality of our military stockpiles and hopefully told someone, ‘Hey, if we go to this fight, even in the most conservative estimates, we are drawing down our stockpiles to a critical level,’” said Virginia Burger, a senior defense policy analyst at the Project On Government Oversight watchdog group and a former Marine officer.

Concerns about diminished stockpiles were a theme at recent congressional hearings. For Democrats, the munitions supply is a damning metric against the Iran war, which Trump launched without lawmakers' approval. Some Republicans argue that the problem stems from the U.S. sending Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022, although several American allies use those systems.

The roots of the predicament can be traced to the end of the Cold War, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and senior adviser at CSIS who co-authored the study with research associate Chris H. Park.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the U.S. assumed future wars would be short and regional with little need for large numbers of such high-end weapons, Cancian said in an interview. The Pentagon ordered relatively low numbers, assuming the military would not need many of them. Military contractors responded in kind, relying on a relatively small manufacturing footprint to build them.

Russia’s war with Ukraine showed that wars could be protracted and require deep inventories of advanced weapons, Cancian said. At the same time, U.S. military strategists were war-gaming possible conflicts in the western Pacific.

“The thinking started to change, but it just takes time to build inventories,” Cancian said, adding that part of the challenge is bringing up to speed a complicated web of supply chains and subcontractors that produce very novel components.

President Joe Biden's administration should get some credit for starting conversations with the defense industry, putting money into the industrial base and ramping up production, said Cancian, who oversaw acquisitions of military hardware at the Office of Management and Budget under Presidents George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat.

“A lot of people in the Trump administration are inclined to say that everything was terrible until they arrived, and that’s not true,” Cancian said. “Now, it is true that the Trump administration really increased funding.”

How long it will take to rebuild key stockpiles

The U.S. fired 1,000-plus Tomahawk missiles at Iran, and it could take until late 2030 to fully replenish the prewar inventory, CSIS estimates show.

Fewer than 200 Tomahawks are made a year because of small orders in the past, the report says. However, manufacturer Raytheon has a goal of ramping up capacity to more than 1,000 per year.

RTX, Raytheon's parent company, declined to comment on the CSIS findings because it had not yet seen the report. But RTX pointed to investments of several billion dollars to boost production, including expanding facilities in Alabama and Arizona.

For in-demand air defense systems, replacing as many as 290 THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, interceptors that shot down incoming Iranian drones and missiles could take until the end of 2029, CSIS estimates. Replenishing more than 1,000 Patriot interceptors should wrap up in mid-2029.

Lockheed Martin is significantly boosting production of rounds for both systems, while deliveries of THAADs “were apparently re-sequenced to prioritize U.S. needs over those of allies and partners,” CSIS noted.

"Patriot deliveries pose a dilemma for the United States because of the need to replenish its own inventories, help Ukraine defend against Russian missile attacks, and meet the needs of 17 other countries that use the interceptor," the report said.

Lockheed Martin said in a statement that it's investing $9 billion through 2030 and “is already delivering tangible results to meet heightened munitions demand, including a new facility in Alabama announced last week along with more than 20 others across the United States.”

In the meantime, CSIS said a potential conflict with China is “not all bleak,” with the U.S. military recently displaying its capabilities against Iran, Venezuela and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“China is deeply aware that it has no recent combat experience and that it performed poorly in its last war — against Vietnam in 1979," the report said. "That difference in experience may preserve deterrence until munitions inventories are restored.”

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% below its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:56 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices will remove a big drag on their profits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings climbed 5.7%, and United Airlines rallied 7.3%. Delta Air Lines rose 3.7% and is on track to set an all-time high.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.1% to $95.48 after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold despite the U.S. military launching what it called “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell even more, 4.2%, to $89.69 on hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf for deliveries again.

Stocks have been able to run to records despite the painful inflation and uncertainty caused by high oil prices largely because companies have reported surprisingly strong profits for the start of 2026, and the forecast is for them to continue.

Bath & Body Works rallied 11.2%, and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed 11.8% after both reported bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That's even as U.S. consumers continue to say they're feeling discouraged about the economy and inflation.

Lululemon Athletica rose 3.6% after reaching a deal with its founder, Chip Wilson, where it will add a former chief marketing officer of ESPN and a former co-CEO of On to its board of directors.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Dick's Sporting Goods, which dropped 4.9% despite delivering a profit for the latest quarter that edged past expectations. Analysts pointed to how much profit it wrung out of each $1 in revenue, which some called a bit weak.

Oil-and-gas stocks also sank, hurt by the dropping prices for crude. Exxon Mobil fell 1.4%, and Chevron slipped 0.8%. Halliburton dropped 3% to bring its gain for the year so far back toward 40%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after falling oil prices took pressure off inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.48% from 4.50% late Tuesday and from 4.67% roughly a week ago.

It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. South Korea's Kospi was one of the world's best performers and jumped 2.3% after SK Hynix, which is a big beneficiary of the artificial-intelligence boom, soared 9.3%.

A day before, Micron Technology surged to become the latest Big Tech company to be worth more than $1 trillion on AI excitement. Its stock has more than tripled already in 2026, and analysts at UBS said Tuesday it could soar even more because of how fundamentally AI has improved demand for computer memory.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The quarantine and treatment center being set up by the Departments of Defense, State and Health and Human Services will be designed for Ebola patients who need to get out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and receive care quickly, said the official who requested anonymity to share the administration’s plans. The person said the plan would help patients avoid an hours-long medical evacuation to the U.S.

It wasn’t immediately clear where in Kenya the new facility will be built or whether the Kenyan government has signed off on the plan.

The official said the facility will be able to care for the full spectrum of Ebola, a rare but severe disease that is often fatal in people. But they said people may be transported elsewhere for more advanced care as appropriate.

Kenya’s health minister confirmed officials there were talking with the U.S. about “preparedness and response mechanisms for Ebola,” but didn’t address whether the country would establish a treatment facility for Americans.

“Any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the government’s responsibility to safeguard the health and welfare of Kenyans,” Health Minister Aden Duale said in a statement.

For decades, medical experts have suggested moving patients suffering from Ebola and similar illnesses as little as possible in case their condition worsens, said Dr. Ali Khan, the public health college dean at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. But, he added, the quality of care must be equivalent to what someone would receive in American facilities.

“You’ve got to make sure the patient gets the best quality care and you need to ensure excellent infection control,” said Khan, who earlier in his career led international responses to Ebola and other outbreaks for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During a massive Ebola outbreak in west Africa in 2014 and 2015, more than a half dozen infected Americans were brought back to the United States. That experience prompted the establishment of a U.S. network of quarantine and isolation facilities across the country.

But during that earlier outbreak, Donald Trump — then a businessman and reality TV star — repeatedly criticized then-President Barack Obama for bringing infected Americans home for care.

“The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great — but must suffer the consequences!” he wrote in a 2014 tweet.

He also suggested a plan similar to the one described to the AP by the administration official: “Treat them, at the highest level, over there,” Trump wrote in July 2014.

During a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department and other agencies were working “very, very hard to contain this crisis to the countries where it’s currently located, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

“We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” he said.

Earlier this month, an American doctor working in Congo tested positive for Ebola and was sent to Germany for medical care. Serge, a Christian missionary organization, identified him as Dr. Peter Stafford. Stafford’s wife and four children did not have symptoms but also were flown to Germany and placed in isolation at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital.

On Wednesday, the hospital said the patient was in stable condition.

“The viral load measured in the patient has dropped very, very rapidly over the course of the week," likely thanks to antiviral therapy, Dr. Leif Erik Sander, director of the hospital’s infectious diseases department, told reporters.

Sander said the doctor's relatives are not showing any symptoms.

Another American medical missionary, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, was transported to the Czech Republic for isolation after he was exposed to Ebola, though he did not have any symptoms, according to the missionary organization.

Health authorities in Congo have been struggling to contain the outbreak that the World Health Organization has said is outpacing them.

The number of suspected Ebola cases in eastern Congo is nearing 1,000, with at least 220 suspected deaths. Congo’s health ministry on Tuesday said 101 cases have been confirmed and that it is looking into over 3,000 possible contacts.

Challenges include the threat of armed groups in eastern Congo, a large number of displaced people and poor infrastructure.

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AP journalists Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi and Kerstin Sopke in Berlin contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The arrests took place at the Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires, the Argentine Federal Police confirmed in a statement Monday.

The two detainees, who were not identified, remained in custody awaiting extradition proceedings requested by the United States.

According to local police, the two Chilean citizens were part of a crime ring that targeted the homes of prominent athletes in the U.S. and Argentina, including NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and former tennis player Juan Martín Del Potro.

Targets also included the homes of NBA players Luka Doncic and Mike Conley Jr.

In 2024, the NFL issued a security alert to teams and the players’ union following the burglaries involving the homes of Mahomes and Kelce.

According to the FBI, organized crime groups from South America used publicly available information and social media to track athletes’ habits and travel. The groups used technology allowing them to bypass alarm systems, block wireless internet connections and disable devices, cover security cameras and hide their identities.

Jewelry, millions of dollars in cash, trophies and medals were among items stolen from residences while the athletes were out of town.

In February, seven Chilean citizens were charged in a federal court in Florida with conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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

Kenneth Iwamasa, 60, is set to be sentenced Wednesday in the Los Angeles federal courtroom of Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who has sentenced four of his co-defendants in the past year. The hearing began with family members of both Perry and Iwamasa in court.

He was the first of them to reach a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. Wednesday will be his first court appearance since the case became public knowledge.

Iwamasa became the most important witness for the prosecution. They are asking Garnett to sentence him to three years and five months in prison, significantly less than what he might have faced without cooperating, but still more than all but one of his co-defendants.

Iwamasa’s lawyers said in a court filing that he was an employee doing his employer's bidding and had a “particular vulnerability” in his relationship to Perry. “In short, he could not ‘simply say no.’ That inability had tragic consequences.”

Perry's family members, some of whom may speak in court, made it clear in letters to the judge that there is no one they blame for his death more than Iwamasa — a longtime friend they thought would help the actor maintain sobriety but instead indulged the worst impulses of a lifelong addict.

“Mathew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job — by far — was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction,” wrote Perry's mother, Suzanne Morrison. “We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”

Perry had hired Iwamasa in 2022, and he was paying him $150,000 a year to live at his Los Angeles home and act as his assistant.

The actor had been taking the surgical anesthetic ketamine legally for depression, an increasingly common off-label use. But he wanted more than his doctor would give him.

According to Iwamasa's plea agreement, he bought off-the-books ketamine from another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, who taught him how to inject it. Plasencia was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in July.

Iwamasa also began buying ketamine from Perry acquaintance Erik Fleming, who was getting it from a street dealer. Fleming was sentenced to two years in prison two weeks ago.

The dealer, Jasveen Sangha, dubbed “The Ketamine Queen,” was sentenced to 15 years on April 8.

In the final days of Perry's life, Iwamasa was injecting him six to eight times per day. On Oct. 23, 2023, he shot the 54-year-old actor full of a large dose and left to run errands. He returned to find Perry dead in the Jacuzzi. The LA County Medical Examiner found that ketamine was the primary cause of death. Drowning was a secondary cause.

At first, Iwamasa lied to police, omitting ketamine from the list of medications Perry was using, and saying nothing about his injections. But when investigators served a search warrant in January of 2024, he began coming clean.

Perry became one of the biggest stars of his generation along with Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow on “Friends,” NBC’s megahit sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.

The crash happened around 4 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 10 at Woodlawn Avenue, which is located near Fredericksburg Road.

As of 7:30 a.m., according to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the lanes have since reopened.

San Antonio police said the woman was walking across the interstate when she was struck by the vehicle. VIA Metropolitan Transit later confirmed with KSAT that it was a VIAtrans van that hit the woman.

According to a VIA spokesperson, no passengers were aboard the van when the incident happened.

The driver of the van remained on the scene and contacted EMS officials for assistance, SAPD said.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the woman’s identity, as well as her cause and manner of death.

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

Read also:

• KSAT crews, viewers capture stalled and submerged vehicles, lightning strikes in San Antonio
• Woman who uses wheelchair stabs brother in altercation on East Side, SAPD says

On Wednesday he added minority investor in the Cleveland Guardians to his resumé.

The Guardians announced before their game against the Washington Nationals that the Kansas City Chiefs tight end has purchased a minority share in the franchise.

The Cleveland Heights native bought a small share of David Blitzer's 35% stake. Blitzer can become the controlling owner after the 2027 season or he can wait to exercise that option later.

“The opportunity came across my desk and I just couldn’t say no,” Kelce said on the “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Jason Kelce. “These guys (Blitzer and majority owner Paul Dolan) gave me the opportunity to show my Cleveland love and plant my roots in Cleveland forever, no matter what. It’s an awesome feeling knowing that a childhood kid that grew up on the east side is now part owner of his favorite baseball team.”

Kelce lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Cleveland Heights High School. He was a Cleveland Plain Dealer baseball player of the week after going 14 for 22 with two home runs and 12 RBIs during one stretch in May 2008, his senior year. He also played on a collegiate summer team in 2010 while attending the University of Cincinnati.

“Travis Kelce knows what it takes to win at the highest levels and he’s exemplified that throughout his playing career and in the way he shows up as a community leader and businessman,” Dolan and Blitzer said in a joint statement. “He cares deeply for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio and is committed to supporting our mission of building out a world-class organization that helps uplift the communities we serve. It’s great to welcome Travis home and we know he’ll make a lasting impact here."

Kelce was wearing a Guardians' City Connect jersey during the podcast and recounted going to games growing up. The brothers said their favorite players during childhood were Albert Belle and Jim Thome.

“There’s so many countless memories of the 1990s and then early 2000s where it’s in me to always root for the Guards and always wanted to be a part of them from,” he said. “It’s a dream come true for a Cleveland kid. Any Cleveland kid would be through the roof right now, and I’m happy to be the honorable one to get to do it for us.”

Kelce and Swift were in Cleveland last weekend and attended Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Cavaliers and New York Knicks.

Kelce's first act as part of the Guardians will be to throw a first pitch on June 14 against the Detroit Tigers. He tried to throw the first pitch during Cleveland's 2023 home opener against Seattle but ended up throwing a ball that spiked near the plate and skipped to the backstop.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was mostly thrilled to hear about Kelce joining the organization. Vogt is a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan and hasn’t forgiven Kelce for the Super Bowl wins over his favorite football team.

“I’m still a little bit bitter because the Chiefs beat the Niners twice in the Super Bowl,” Vogt said before the series finale against the Nationals. “But outside of that, it’s pretty cool to have Kelce on board.”

Kelce becomes the second member of the Chiefs to have a stake in a baseball team. Patrick Mahomes has a share in the Kansas City Royals and tweeted a video of Kelce's first pitch in congratulating him.

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AP freelance writer Tom Withers contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Anne Keast-Butler, director of the communications intelligence agency GCHQ, also said Britain and its allies are in “a space between peace and war” as Russia increases its “daily hybrid activity” against the West — even as Russian combat deaths in Ukraine approach 500,000.

She said the West risks losing the conflict in cyberspace against Russia and other adversaries unless citizens, companies and governments treat cybersecurity with much greater urgency.

“I’ve spent three decades working in national security, and the risk of miscalculation is as high as I’ve ever seen it,” Keast-Butler said in a speech at a World War II code-breaking center near London.

She said that “tech companies are releasing AI-driven innovations at a remarkable pace, with untold consequences, as algorithms are weaponized often just below the threshold of traditional warfare.

“AI is an unstoppable force with great opportunity,” she added. “But it is also a force with risks.”

Keast-Butler singled out Russia as a threat, accusing Moscow of “relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust” in Britain and Europe, as well as stealing technology and plotting sabotage and assassination attempts.

“Russia is scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the U.K. and Europe, stretching from the seabed to cyberspace,” she told an audience of computing experts, diplomats, journalists and senior officials.

“One area in sharp focus for us is protecting the data and energy flowing through the critical cables and pipelines in and around British waters,” she added. “We do this by exposing Russia’s intent, motive and underwater capabilities.”

At the same time, she said Russian troops are “going backwards on the battlefield,” with new intelligence suggesting “almost half a million Russian soldiers” have been killed since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The speech is the latest in a string of warnings from Western spies and intelligence experts that Russia is stepping up hostile activity in a “gray zone” that falls just below the threshold of war.

In recent months, authorities in countries including Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway have alleged that hackers linked to Russia targeted their critical infrastructure, including power plants and dams.

The head of the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre, Richard Horne, warned last month that hostile states including Russia, China and Iran are behind the most serious cyberattacks the country faces. He said such attacks could increase dramatically if Britain becomes involved in an international conflict.

Keast-Butler said rapid advances in artificial intelligence mean that “the ground beneath our feet is shifting” and there is a “narrowing window for the U.K. and allies to stay ahead” of countries such as China, a science and technology “superpower.”

She argued that there must be an effort “from boardrooms to living rooms” to make cybersecurity “10 times more urgent.”

The spy chief said that GCHQ is developing a plan to “hardwire cutting-edge agentic AI into machine-speed cyber defense.” Harnessed responsibly, she said, AI can help spies “enhance algorithms, translate foreign languages, and find needles in haystacks quicker than ever before.”

Keast-Butler also stressed the importance of international partnerships as U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and disregard for longtime allies strain the relationship between London and Washington.

She said the U.K.-U.S. intelligence partnership is “fundamental for the security of both our nations.”

GCHQ, short for Government Communications Headquarters, is the U.K.’s electronic and cyberintelligence agency. It works alongside the domestic security service MI5 and the foreign intelligence agency MI6.

Keast-Butler, the first woman to head the agency, delivered the GCHQ director’s annual lecture speech at the agency’s World War II headquarters of Bletchley Park, a manor house 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of London where hundreds of mathematicians, cryptographers, crossword puzzlers, chess masters and other experts worked to crack Nazi Germany’s supposedly unbreakable secret codes.

Their work both shortened the war and hastened the birth of modern computing.

In a survey of 500 registered Latino voters, the Latino civil rights organization UnidosUS found that two-thirds disapprove of Trump’s job performance, the same share that said they did not feel Trump and congressional Republicans were “focusing enough on improving the economy for people like you.” Nearly half of voters cited cost of living and inflation as a top issue shaping their view of Trump — more than any other issue, with immigration enforcement in cities also ranking high in the list.

“The economic priorities dominate,” said Clarissa Martínez De Castro, vice president of the group’s Latino Vote Initiative. “Some people call it ‘buyer’s remorse,’ other people ‘do over.’”

The poll is the latest to cast doubt on the durability of Latino support for Trump and the Republican Party in a state he won by a wide margin two years ago, in large part due to Latino voters who swung to the right. Trump captured an estimated 55% of the voter bloc, which set a new high-water mark for Texas Republicans who had spent years losing Hispanic voters by double digits.

Democrats have found hope they might win a statewide election for the first time since 1994 thanks to other surveys that have also measured Latino voters’ eroding support for the GOP. Additionally, a Democratic union machinist rode a surge in Latino support to flip a Texas Senate seat in a January special election for a district that Trump carried by more than 17 points two years ago.

Pollsters conducted the UnidosUS survey between April 27 and May 14 over the phone, text invites and online panels in English and Spanish, depending on the participant’s preference. Roughly 40% of the state’s population is Hispanic.

Of the 500 voters surveyed, 300 live in one of five of the state’s top battleground congressional districts — the 15th and 23rd Districts, which Democrats hope to flip from GOP control, and the Democratic-controlled 28th, 34th and 35th Districts, which Republicans are targeting after redrawing their boundaries to make it easier for a GOP candidate to win.

In those districts, a slight majority of respondents said they planned to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress, while 27% said they’d support a Republican and the rest were undecided, according to the poll. U.S. Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico led his recently cemented GOP opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, by a more than 2-to-1 margin, as did Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa over Gov. Greg Abbott.

Still, De Castro said Democrats should not “rest on their laurels” just yet.

“The reality is that Democrats are still underperforming the levels of support that they would need from Latinos to be successful,” she said.

The median employee at companies in the S&P 500 earned $89,744, reflecting a 4.7% increase year over year. While that gain outpaced the rate of inflation in 2025, many workers were still feeling pinched by the accumulation of higher prices over the past few years and had to cut corners to make ends meet and run up credit card debt to pay for everyday necessities.

The Associated Press’ CEO compensation survey, which uses data analyzed for The AP by Equilar, included pay data for 337 executives at S&P 500 companies who have served at least two full consecutive fiscal years at their companies, which filed proxy statements between Jan. 1 and April 30.

Here's a look at some highlights from the survey.

The pay gap

At half the companies in AP’s survey it would take the worker at the middle of the company’s pay scale 200 years to make what the CEO did in one, up from 192 years in last year's survey. Companies have been required to disclose this so-called pay ratio since 2018.

While the biggest gaps occur at companies where the CEO received compensation loaded with one-time awards of stock, the pay ratio also tends to be highest at companies in industries where wages are typically low. For instance, at Coca-Cola, its CEO earned nearly 1,739 times the median pay of $17,947 for its workers. The CEO at the retailer TJX Cos. makes about 1,774 times what a worker making the company’s median pay does.

Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project at the progressive Institute for Policy Studies, noted in an email that there are ballot initiative campaigns in San Francisco and Los Angeles to raise taxes on companies with sizable gaps between CEO and worker pay.

“At a time when working families are struggling with rising costs, it’s obscene to see CEO pay continuing to skyrocket,” Anderson wrote.

Overall, wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers in the U.S. rose 3.4% through 2025, according to the Labor Department. The average worker in the U.S. makes $67,000 a year. That figure rises to $96,000 when benefits such as health care and other insurance are included.

The nature of CEO pay

While many people may think of a pay package as consisting of salary, bonus and some perks, those components make up only a small percentage of pay for the modern CEO.

Many companies have heeded calls from shareholders to tie CEO compensation more closely to performance. As a result, a large proportion of pay packages consist of stock awards, which the CEO often can’t cash in for years, if at all, unless the company meets certain targets, typically a higher stock price or market value or improved operating profits. And if the CEO delivers on those metrics, companies often give them one-time rewards as incentives to stay on and not look for a bigger payday elsewhere.

Shareholders can weigh in on a CEO's pay package through “say on pay” votes at a company's annual meeting. But the votes are non-binding and most pay plans pass with overwhelming support. The average “yes” vote at companies in this year's survey was around 90%.

Big rewards, lofty goals

As CEO pay has grown significantly over the past few decades, criticism of the lofty payouts has largely come from worker advocates and certain members of Congress.

Elon Musk's pay package is so extraordinary that even the pope weighed in.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla, received compensation valued at $132.3 billion, all in the form of stock awards. To actually get the shares, Musk must meet ambitious targets over the next 10 years for the company's market value and Tesla's electric vehicles, as well as his futuristic goals of developing a fleet of robotaxis and an army of humanoid robots.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shankh Mitra of Welltower received the second-largest compensation package in the survey at $821.1 million, the bulk of it in stock awards. Since October 2020, when he became CEO of the healthcare real estate investment trust, and October 2025, Welltower's stock price tripled. Mitra can only receive the full compensation, beyond a $110,000 annual salary, after a 10-year period.

CEO Hock Tan's pay package at Broadcom, valued at $205.3 million, covers the years 2028-2030 — companies assign a value at the time the package is awarded — and is tied to Tan's ability to greatly increase the revenue Broadcom generates from artificial intelligence, making it one of the few companies at this time to use AI as a benchmark in its compensation plans.

“Use of AI considerations or metrics in incentive plans has not yet taken hold as a majority practice,” said Kelly Malafis, founding partner at Compensation Advisory Partners, in an email, although she expects that could change going forward.

David Zaslav was at the center of a takeover battle that ended with him selling Warner Bros. to Paramount Skydance for $31 a share, up from $12.54 before reports of Paramount’s interest in a deal came out. For negotiating the deal at a premium and also exceeding certain financial and strategic goals, Warner gave Zaslav a pay package valued at $165 million, fourth largest in the survey. Since becoming CEO in 2007, Zaslav's compensation has totaled $1.1 billion, according to Equilar.

Big payouts for bankers

CEOs of three the nation's biggest banks got rewarded for yearslong efforts to retool their companies and revive a stagnant stock price.

Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon's pay package totaled almost $119 million — including stock valued at $80 million he can receive after five years. Goldman's board pointed to the 57% gain in the company's shares, as well as a hefty increase in its earnings per share. Solomon also sold off the company's Apple Card portfolio after an unsuccessful effort to expand Goldman's consumer-focused business.

Jane Fraser of Citigroup received a pay package valued at $95.8 million — tops among the 27 women CEOs in this year's survey and the highest-ever for a woman CEO in the survey's history. Fraser received a one-time award valued at $25 million in restricted stock and options after being elected Citi's chairman. She also got a one-time award for overseeing a wholesale reorganization of Citi into a leaner company, including laying off thousands of workers.

Overall, the median compensation for women CEOs in the survey fell 2.6% to $18.1 million, compared to a 6.4% increase for their male counterparts to $17.7 billion.

Wells Fargo gave CEO Charles Scharf a pay package worth $94.5 million after his yearslong effort to lead the bank back from a scandal involving fake bank accounts that landed Wells under federal supervision. And new scandals emerged along the way. The Federal Reserve finally let Wells leave the penalty box last year.

Other notables

In his last year as CEO of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett received compensation worth $389,488 — down 4% from the year prior.

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg's compensation was valued at $25.1 million and almost all of it involved costs for the company to provide security for him and his family, as well as the use of corporate aircraft.

Jensen Huang of Nvidia, the most valuable publicly traded company, got a pay package valued at $36.3 million. He didn't make the AP survey because Nvidia filed its proxy after April 30.

__

Editors Dorothea Degen and Paul Harloff, and reporters Bernard Condon, Matt Ott, Alex Veiga, Ken Sweet and Chris Rugaber contributed.

Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers have backed a draft bill to have bank employees join the fight against Ukraine’s long-range drones that strike deep inside Russia — with trained bank staff shooting down the unmanned aircraft.

The steps came after a recent escalation in aerial attacks by both sides in the more than four-year war that followed Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor. Neither side has been able to make much progress on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line.

Also on Wednesday, Anne Keast-Butler, head of U.K.’s intelligence agency GCHQ, asserted that Russian President Vladimir “Putin is going backwards on the battlefield." New data shows that "almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began,” she added.

Ukraine has pounded Russian targets, especially oil facilities and manufacturing plants, with its domestically produced drones. At the same time, the Russian military has intensified its aerial attacks, firing almost 90 missiles as well as hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend in an effort to overwhelm air defenses.

Zelenskyy seeks more Patriot defense systems

The Ukrainian leader urged Trump and Congress in a letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, to supply more Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defense systems, warning that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts U.S. stocks.

Ukraine has raised its drone interception rate to more than 90%, the letter says, and Ukrainian specialists have helped countries in the Middle East — specifically the Gulf Arab region — strengthen air defenses. They have also helped at American military bases in the Mideast, the letter says.

But Ukraine cannot yet produce its own anti-missile defense systems, Zelenskyy said, and for that relies “almost exclusively on the United States.”

“For us — for a nation fighting for its survival — there is hardly anything more painful to see than Patriot batteries with no missiles loaded,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Deliveries, he says, are “no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”

Washington did not immediately comment on the letter.

The U.S. weapons that European nations and Canada buy to donate to Ukraine are a vital component of the country’s air defenses, but only a few NATO allies are investing significant sums in the arrangement, alliance officials say.

Russia wants bank employees to join the fight against Ukrainian drones

The ambitious plan approved by the country’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday envisages banks installing electronic jamming systems on their premises while selected employees would be trained to shoot down incoming drones.

And with banks in almost every town, their incorporation into Russia's air defenses could help expand its cover.

The bill, which state news agency Interfax said was first presented last August and later expanded in scope, must still be approved by the upper house Federation Council and signed by Putin before coming into force.

Russia is finding it hard to protect its large land mass from a growing number of attacks by increasingly sophisticated Ukrainian long-range drones. Smaller drones are also holding back Russian troops along the front line, Western analysts and officials say.

As the intensity and depth of Ukrainian drone attacks have increased, Russian authorities have encouraged businesses to contribute to protective measures against aerial strikes.

Russian banks are not known to have been a prime target for Ukrainian drones in the war that followed Moscow’s 2022 invasion. The plan encompasses Russia’s central bank and other top institutions, including majority state-owned Sberbank.

With little details included in the bill, it has raised questions about how such a project would work. The widespread installation of equipment and training of staff in how to use it would require a huge organizational effort.

With Putin keen to shield Russians from the war, the plan could work against his efforts by involving regular citizens in it and making the consequences of the invasion more visible.

Russia's need for drone help suggests its defense are failing, analyst says

The proposed measure reflects growing problems for Russia against Ukraine’s increasingly sophisticated drones, according to Thomas Withington, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

The draft bill “seems to indicate that … military-level drone defense capabilities in Russia are failing, because if they were working you wouldn’t need to do that,” Withington told The Associated Press.

“This situation is not improving for Russia,” he said, noting that Moscow is battling to keep up with Ukrainian drone innovations.

The measure seeks to “try and offload some of the burden of drone protection to the non-military, non-law enforcement sectors,” which are under strain, he said.

The bill says bank employees may jam or intercept drone control signals, and damage or destroy uncrewed aerial, underwater and ground vehicles threatening their facilities, without waiting for a response from security services.

“Jamming will be used to make it more difficult for (the drones) to target and attack the relevant targets,” Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, told Russian media outlet RBK. “Plus, we’ll also use means to shoot down these drones, thereby protecting the relevant targets.”

Each organization would determine which employees would be trained to deploy the measures.

___

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

But Trump's tightening grip on his party could make it harder to win in the November midterms, when Republicans face a broader electorate that has soured on the president's second term and the economy.

The risk is compounded, Republican operatives say, by how cavalier the billionaire president has been in addressing Americans’ financial worries, which have been exacerbated by Trump's trade roller coaster and his ongoing war against Iran.

Republican strategist David Urban, a Trump ally, acknowledged the president’s approach is making things harder for his party.

“It’s going to be a tough fall unless things dramatically change,” Urban said.

He warned that Trump cannot afford a haphazard exit from the war with Iran to resolve a conflict that has created a chokehold on global oil supplies and driven gas prices higher for Americans.

“I think the president wants to help,” he said, but “you do not want to give the Iranians a win just because of the midterms.”

Trump revealed no second thoughts after Paxton trounced Cornyn on Tuesday night. Although Senate Republican leadership feared Paxton would be the more vulnerable nominee, the president insisted he will “become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all.”

“I will do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken. Texas, this will be FUN!” Trump wrote on social media, previewing plans that suggest he believes Paxton could use an extra boost to get through the general election.

Trump brushes off economic troubles

Not only are prices higher after Trump’s tariffs and his Iran war, but the president has repeatedly described affordability concerns as a “hoax.”

Trump mused that increases in gas prices — up more than 50% in the U.S. since Trump and Israel launched attacks on Iran — amount to “peanuts.” He said he does not consider Americans’ personal finances “even a little bit” when mulling options in Iran, insisting that preventing the country from obtaining nuclear weapons is his only priority.

All of that comes as Trump badgers Congress to spend $1 billion on his White House ballroom project and allocate $1.8 billion to pay restitution to people who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes — potentially including those who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

It’s a cascade that Republicans in every battleground House district, Senate election or statewide contest will have to navigate in the fall.

“You keep the House and Senate by having a message, by dealing with the issues voters are clearly complaining about,” said Republican strategist Rick Tyler, a Trump critic. “The administration has utterly failed to do this.”

It has been more than two weeks since the Republican National Committee distributed talking points to surrogates that mention the economy, according to messaging documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The only talking points sent out last week focused on defending Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.”

“Democrats and the fake-news media are deliberately ignoring the fact that this fund is not limited to Republicans or Trump supporters,” said the message on May 23.

Two weeks earlier, the RNC encouraged surrogates to praise the president and his party for “delivering lower costs.”

The messaging ignored the exploding cost of gas, but noted that the price of eggs, school supplies and butter was down significantly over last year.

“President Trump promised to lower prices, and he is doing just that,” the talking points said.

Democrats see opportunity in Trump’s struggles

Republicans began Trump’s second presidency with a 220-215 advantage in the House. They’ve boosted their chances to hold the majority by redrawing congressional maps in several Republican-run states. But Democrats are still confident they can flip enough seats to reclaim a majority.

Republicans have a more significant 53-47 advantage in the Senate. However, leaders of both parties agree that control of the chamber is in play. Some Republicans blame Trump for backing candidates like Paxton, who has faced years of scandals and could prove more vulnerable against Democratic nominee James Talarico.

Trump hails Paxton as a “true MAGA warrior.” But the state attorney general also carries the weight of a yearslong criminal securities fraud case and disclosure of marital infidelity. He was indicted and impeached, but survived efforts to remove him from office and was reelected twice during the investigation, However, he ultimately agreed to pay $300,000 in restitution to avoid a felony trial.

Paxton's baggage was enough that Senate Republicans' campaign arm, which backed Cornyn, accused him of “repulsive and disgusting” behavior and quoted his ex-wife saying she filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.”

Viet Shelton, a spokesman for House Democrats’ campaign committee, pointed to Trump’s redistricting push as proof he understands his party’s troubles in the House.

“They’ve given up on trying to win over voters fair and square, so they’re resorting to rigging the midterms through illegal gerrymanders and voter suppression,” Shelton said.

Democratic advisers said Trump’s struggles have shifted the dynamics in multiple races. Their list of Republican-held House targets now includes many districts that Trump carried by double digits. In special elections and odd-year elections since Trump’s second inauguration, Democrats have consistently outperformed their 2024 results.

Voters can expect to see clips of Trump's comments on the economy featured in Democratic advertising this fall. However, party operatives said the broader strategy is to acknowledge the president's appeal as a populist but argue that he and his Republican loyalists have failed to deliver.

In U.S. House districts in Iowa, for example, that means emphasizing how tariffs have affected the farm economy and how the war in Iran has increased the prices of diesel fuel and fertilizer. In the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, that means talking about how Trump’s immigration crackdown has roiled the local economy in Latino communities.

Republicans are frustrated behind closed doors

Republican strategists are worried by Trump’s lack of focus on the economy — and the lack of transparency from Trump’s team about how it plans to deploy its massive campaign accounts.

The pro-Trump super PAC known as MAGA Inc. held more than $356 million at the end of April. Yet many Republican strategists say they’ve received no clear indication of how, where and when Trump’s team plans to spend the money, according to several operatives who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

They see one bright spot in James Blair, Trump's political general, leaving the White House to focus on the midterms.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the president’s strategy and confidence about the midterms.

Perhaps underscoring Republicans’ conundrum, Trump remains a fundraising juggernaut. He helped House Republicans rake in $36.8 million in a single fundraising dinner last month, a committee record.

Mike Marinella, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Trump “puts House Republicans in the strongest possible position to defy history and win in November.”

Of course, a candidate must win the Republican nomination to even be around for the fall campaign.

“The president has chosen to be aggressive in endorsing candidates he believes are the best advocates for his agenda and have been loyal to him,” Republican campaign veteran Chip Lake said.

Lake is leading an independent expenditure effort on behalf of Georgia Republican Burt Jones, the Trump-endorsed candidate in a June 16 primary runoff for governor.

“It’s difficult, if not impossible, to win a primary in today’s environment if the president is working against you,” Lake said. And whatever the general election consequences, he added, independents and moderates “make up a very tiny, even minuscule portion of Republican primaries.”

___ Barrow reported from Atlanta. Peoples reported from New York.

Crews were dispatched to the explosion around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at a home in The Overlook at Bear Creek subdivision, which is located around nine miles south of Fredericksburg off U.S. Highway 87.

Upon arrival, the crews found that the home was “fully involved in fire,” Fredericksburg Fire/EMS said. One of the two people injured was airlifted to a San Antonio area hospital for treatment.

There are no road closures at this time. However, officials said that people should avoid the area to allow first responders to access the scene safely.

“This appears to be an isolated incident, with no further damage to the surrounding community,” Fredericksburg Fire/EMS said.

No further evacuations are expected to happen following the explosion, authorities said.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Fredericksburg and the Gillespie County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Several other agencies also responded to the scene, including the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department, Willow City Volunteer Fire & Rescue, and others.

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

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Pilgrims in Mina, Saudi Arabia, chanted “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”) while throwing pebbles in a ritual seen as a symbolic stoning of the devil. The act is also seen as a symbol of rejecting evil and a commemoration of the Prophet Ibrahim’s rejection of temptation when the devil tried to dissuade him from submitting to God’s will.

Large crowds of pilgrims moved through the sprawling Jamarat complex after arriving from Muzdalifah, where they collected pebbles overnight following a day of worship and prayer at Arafat on Tuesday.

Aamar Shakur, a pilgrim from Pakistan, said he saw the pebble throwing as a symbol of confronting personal struggles in which he was “throwing the stone to my own devil.”

The last days of the Hajj in Saudi Arabia coincide with Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” which marks the willingness of Ibrahim, known as Abraham to Christians and Jews, to sacrifice his son. During the holiday, Muslims typically slaughter sheep or cattle and distribute some of the meat to poor people.

The Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able. Performed over several days, the Hajj can be a deeply moving spiritual experience and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness.

A joyous occasion subdued for some

The physically demanding Hajj has been held this year in intense heat, which appeared to take a toll on some as they moved between holy sites. Medical teams stationed across Mina were seen treating several pilgrims.

Many poured water over their heads and faces to cool themselves under the scorching sun, while others carried umbrellas. Some pushed elderly relatives and loved ones in wheelchairs through the crowds toward the pillars so they could complete the ritual.

The Hajj brings together large numbers of Muslims of diverse races, ethnicities, languages and socioeconomic classes, creating a sense of unity for many.

More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived from abroad, a Saudi official said Friday.

This year's Hajj takes place against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related uncertainty throughout the region.

Eid al-Adha is a typically a joyous occasion, marked with communal prayers, food and festive gatherings with loved ones. In some places, though, conflicts and economic pressures, are dampening festivities for many.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, Muslim worshippers have joined communal prayers in the mosques and streets.

Lebanon is observing Eid al-Adha amid an ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. Many of the displaced people in the country are sheltering in tented settlements or public schools repurposed as shelters, a far cry from the normalcy of spending the occasion among friends and family in their hometowns.

“There is no Eid for us. We are displaced, forced to leave our land, our homes, our livelihoods, while our memories are being destroyed,” said Rabee Khreis, who fled the village of Khiyam where intense fighting has taken place.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict appeared more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war.

‘Only for the people who lost no one’

In the Gaza Strip, where the Israel-Hamas war that began in October, 2023, has devastated the territory and its people, Palestinians are observing a subdued Eid al-Adha under a fragile ceasefire and rampant suffering and displacement.

“This is not Eid... we’re dead,” said Mahmoud Saqer, a displaced man from Khan Younis.

In Khan Younis and Gaza City, amid destroyed buildings, worshippers gathered for Eid prayers with few signs of celebration as the typical joy of Eid eluded many.

“There’s no Eid. My children were killed,” said Ayda Al-Banna, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who prayed Eid prayers with her granddaughter. “Eid is only for the people who lost no one.”

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 72,803 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, caused widespread destruction and displaced most of the territory’s residents. 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.

Israel launched the offensive after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage in an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. While the heaviest fighting has mostly subsided since a fragile ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce. Hamas and Israel have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

___

Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida. Associated Press journalists Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Ali Sharafeddine in Beirut, and Andi Jatmiko in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The victory could provide a model for similar campaigns gaining traction in states including California and Illinois, where labor organizers are increasingly targeting app-based industries as drivers also grapple with the rapid expansion of self-driving technology.

As drivers waved signs and chanted with the gold dome of the Massachusetts State House providing a backdrop, labor leaders described Friday's certification as the largest private-sector organizing win since Ford autoworkers unionized in 1941.

Jean Fredo, who has driven for Uber for more than seven years, said he hopes the union will bring better pay, stronger protections against sudden deactivations and more stability for drivers.

“With the union, it will not feel like we’re working for nothing,” he said in French through a translator. “Now the money will not only stay in the billionaire’s pockets. The money will actually come to the workers who work very hard.”

Uber and Lyft said they planned to work with the new bargaining framework as negotiations move forward. Uber said it would work with the union and regulators while preserving “driver flexibility and hard-won benefits,” while Lyft said it was committed to “engaging in good faith” and “helping drivers succeed while keeping rideshare affordable and dependable for everyone who counts on it.”

The certification became possible after the state’s voters approved a 2024 ballot measure creating a first-in-the-nation framework allowing ride-hailing drivers to unionize and bargain collectively while remaining independent contractors — a model some business groups and legal scholars argue could face antitrust challenges under federal law. Organizers say the union will ultimately represent nearly 70,000 drivers statewide.

Drivers hope for relief on wages, deactivations

“Without the support of the drivers, we wouldn’t be here,” Victoria Acosta, a mother who drives for both Uber and Lyft, said in Spanish through a translator. She said she hopes the victory inspires drivers in other states.

Uber and Lyft drivers are generally classified as independent contractors rather than employees, meaning they are not covered by many traditional labor protections under federal law. Drivers typically use their own vehicles, pay for expenses such as gas and maintenance themselves and can choose when and how long they work through the apps.

Fredo said when he started driving for Uber he appreciated the flexibility and the ability to make his own schedule while still being present for his family. But over time, he said, he found himself working longer hours while earning less as gas and maintenance costs climbed.

Drivers can also lose access to the apps with little warning, he said.

“I live with stress — always scared to lose my app. This is not a way to live," said Fredo, who helped sign up hundreds of other drivers at airports and gathering spots around the Boston area.

“This is my family,” he said, holding up a photo of his four children. “I’m fighting for a better life for them — just like everyone else is fighting for their families. My dream is to save and send my kids to college, and I believe we will get there.”

A labor fight shadowed by automation fears

Supporters say rising vehicle costs, fluctuating pay and opaque app algorithms have fueled frustration among drivers who pay many work expenses themselves. Uber and Lyft have argued that drivers value the flexibility of app-based work and have opposed efforts that could reclassify workers or alter the industry’s business model.

Massachusetts regulators are considering new ride-hailing rules involving safety standards and driver oversight. Days before the union certification, Uber warned in a blog post that some of the proposals could raise costs and reduce flexibility for drivers, while supporters said the changes are intended to strengthen safety and accountability.

The organizing effort has also unfolded alongside the rapid expansion of autonomous vehicle technology. Massachusetts still requires a licensed human operator inside autonomous vehicles tested on public roads.

Waymo has expanded driverless taxi operations in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, heightening anxiety among some ride-hailing drivers about the future of their jobs.

Autumn Weintraub, executive director of the App Drivers Union, said drivers across the country regularly communicate with one another about changing conditions in the industry, including the expansion of autonomous vehicles.

“Drivers now have an official organization and can speak with one voice about what’s happening in this industry,” Weintraub said. “We cannot let billions of dollars leave Massachusetts and go to Silicon Valley. That money feeds people’s families, that money pays the rent."

___

This story was first published on May 26, 2026. It was updated on May 27, 2026, to correct a quote’s attribution to the union's executive director, Autumn Weintraub, not spokesperson Julie Blust.

Eight Democratic candidates announced their candidacies for Bexar County District Attorney. The two left standing, Jane Davis and Luz Elena Chapa, went toe-to-toe in the May 26 runoff election.

Elena Chapa (50.8% of the vote) is the projected winner in a tight race. Elena Chapa will likely advance to the November election, when she will face Ashley Foster, the lone Republican in the race.

Davis, who is currently the chief of the juvenile sections at the Bexar County DA’s Office, has nearly three decades of experience as a prosecutor. Elena Chapa previously served as a judge for the Fourth Court of Appeals.

Watch KSAT’s preview of the race below:

During the March primary, Elena Chapa earned the most votes (24%) while Davis checked in with 18% of the vote. Both women were seeking to replace Joe Gonzales, the current Bexar County DA who announced he will not seek reelection in June 2025.

Though Gonzales is not running for office, he garnered attention weeks after the March 3 primary when he appeared at a forum where Elena Chapa was in attendance.

Gonzales, who publicly endorsed Davis in the race, defended the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office against Elena Chapa.

“It offends me when you attack our people for working hard,” Gonzales told Elena Chapa in a video obtained by KSAT.

Elena Chapa sent KSAT the following statement on March 21:

“Today, I felt compelled to not only stand up for myself and my daughters, but also for every woman in Bexar County who has felt powerless and voiceless in our justice system,” Elena Chapa said at the time.

In separate May interviews leading up to the runoff, Elena Chapa and Davis outlined their visions to address the thousands of backlogged cases at the DA’s office.

“With respect to the thousands and thousands of cases backlogged in the family violence division, too many victims have gone unheard and unseen,” Elena Chapa told KSAT. “We need to dismantle the intake process and how we are looking at cases when we are accepting them. And that also entails collaboratively working with local law enforcement to making sure we are bringing strong cases and we’re going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

“I’m the chief of the juvenile unit. We don’t have a backlog, and we have great morale in the juvenile unit at the DA’s office,” Davis told KSAT. “I think it’s important that I bring that expertise into every section of the office.”

Jason Wolff, the nephew of former San Antonio Mayor and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, is running as an Independent.

If he receives enough signatures, Wolff’s name will appear on the November ballot.

Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2026 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.

Find election results on the Vote 2026 page.

Troopers responded to the crash just before 11 p.m. on May 22 along Schuenemann Road, which is located north of Old Luling Road.

The motorcyclist, identified as 20-year-old Aden Kyle Waters, was pronounced dead at the scene, DPS said.

Waters was riding a white Kawasaki motorcycle southbound on Schuenemann Road when he traveled off the road, overcorrected a turn and crashed into a fence, troopers said.

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

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O'Hara, who led local police during the recent federal immigration crackdown in the city, was under investigation on accusations that he was engaging in intimate relationships with city employees.

While those allegations were never substantiated, Frey said investigators found that O'Hara had interfered with the probe. He is accused of deleting a contact card from his city-issued cell phone in an attempt to shield evidence and telling another city employee about the investigation after he was instructed to keep it quiet, according to a written reprimand obtained by The Associated Press.

The mayor told O'Hara he would be disciplined, which could include his termination. He chose to resign instead, Frey said.

“It was an extremely painful decision, obviously, but I concluded that that was necessary to maintain public trust, and this was the right way to move forward as a city,” Frey said.

“Trust is not secondary to the job. It is the job,” he added.

The city still has 17 open complaints against O'Hara — separate from the investigation that resulted in disciplinary action — and will continue investigating, mayor's office spokesperson Jennifer Lor said. Lor could not comment on the nature of those complaints.

O'Hara did not immediately respond to a LinkedIn message seeking comment.

O'Hara became the chief in 2022 as the department was at the center of a nationwide reckoning over racism and brutality in policing. Two years prior, Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white officer in Minneapolis, igniting global Black Lives Matter protests and calls to defund the police.

Last year, Minneapolis entered an agreement with the federal government to overhaul its police training and use-of-force policies in the wake Floyd's murder. The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump canceled the agreement months later.

O'Hara oversaw the law enforcement response to the deadly Annunciation Catholic School shooting last August.

He criticized immigration enforcement tactics in December after a federal agent kneeled on a woman's back during an arrest and then tried to drag her to a car. Minneapolis police faced scrutiny from all sides during Trump's immigration crackdown by people who thought the officers were helping or hindering federal agents and protests.

Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell has stepped in to lead the department during the search for a new chief, Frey said.

The argument served as the administration's rationale for raising the U.S. refugee cap, but only for white Afrikaners. The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the U.S. as refugees this year, increasing its annual quota, but blocking people from other countries from entering through the program.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was increasing the refugee cap for white South Africans because of “an unforeseen emergency refugee situation.” He blamed the South African government for “recent increases in the incitement of racially motivated violence,” but gave no specific information.

South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said accusations of systemic persecution of Afrikaners were unfounded and that some beneficiaries of the refugee program have chosen to return to South Africa.

Around 6,000 South Africans have moved to the U.S. since the Afrikaner program started last year, according to the U.S. government.

Afrikaner trade union Solidariteit said refugee status isn't a viable solution for Afrikaners, who should thrive in South Africa instead. Spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said the organization didn't know about any "unforeseen emergency refugee situation" for Afrikaners but respected the autonomy of U.S. refugee policy.

The union “is in no way aware of anything that the Trump administration could be referring to,” Kleynhans said.

AfriForum, a lobbying organization for the country’s white Afrikaner minority with more than 300,000 members, said it “does not have information” regarding the specific assertion that there's an emergency refugee situation.

The organization’s CEO, Kallie Kriel, said the group’s focus is “fighting to create the circumstances in South Africa where there is no need for Afrikaners to leave.”

Trump suspended the U.S. refugee program on his first day in office and has turned it into a vehicle to allow Afrikaners — white South Africans descended mainly from Dutch settlers — into the United States. Advocates say the decision to focus a decades-old program on one group has left people around the world fleeing war and strife stranded and with few options.

Refugee groups have questioned why white South Africans are being prioritized ahead of people from countries facing war and natural disasters. Vetting for refugee status in the U.S. often takes years.

The Trump administration’s preference for white Afrikaner refugee admissions raises questions about selective humanitarianism, inconsistent refugee protection and favoring privileged groups while ignoring others experiencing severe hardships, according to Bryony Fox, a social justice researcher at South Africa's Stellenbosch University.

“This risks politicizing refugee protection in a way that may ultimately weaken the legitimacy and universality of the refugee regime itself,” she said.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The trio will bring their “Taking the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour” to the Majestic Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18.

The tour celebrates two decades of “Taking the Long Way,” the studio album that topped the Billboard 200 chart and earned The Chicks five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

For the first time, The Chicks — Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer — will perform the album in its entirety before closing each night with fan-favorite hits.

Fans can receive early access through The Chicks Artist Presale, which begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3.

To participate, fans must sign up at signup.livenation.com/thechicks by Sunday, May 31, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

No presale code is needed; access is tied to each fan’s account.

General on-sale begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 4, at thechicks.com/tour.

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He wasn't the best player on the floor Tuesday night.

That was not the only reason why the Spurs fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the West finals — there were many — but it was certainly among them. Wembanyama, who has had 41-point and 33-point outings in winning efforts during the series, never seemed to get fully rolling, and the Spurs lost 127-114.

Now down 3-2 in the series, they'll try to extend the matchup — and save their season — in Game 6 at San Antonio on Thursday night.

Wembanyama scored 20 points, his lowest of the series, and only a 12-for-12 effort from the foul line helped him get there in Game 5. He was 4 for 15 from the floor, missing all five of his 3-point tries, never seeming to get into any sort of rhythm.

“He’s got to take more than 15 shots, even with the free throws,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said in his postgame news conference. “He’s going to have to score more than 20 points, for sure. ... OKC did a good job. We’ve got to do a better job.”

Wembanyama did not speak with reporters after the game.

The first halves have told much of the story. In San Antonio's two wins in this series, Wembanyama has gone 7 for 15 and 6 for 11 from the field. In the three losses, his halftime shot numbers — 2 for 4, 2 for 5 and 2 for 6, the last of those what he did in the first two quarters on Tuesday.

Wembanyama offered an impassioned speech to teammates during a timeout barely two minutes into the third quarter, after the Thunder opened an 18-point lead. And it worked — to a point. Oklahoma City scored again to get the lead up to 20, but the Spurs closed within eight later in the third.

It seemed like there was hope. But the Spurs didn't get any closer. The deficit was 10 going into the fourth, the Spurs scored only two points in the first 4:02 of the final quarter, and whatever momentum that seemed like it was building after Wembanyama's timeout speech appeared to be gone.

And on a night in which the Thunder just kept throwing different bodies — Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and more — along with different looks at Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French star just didn't have enough answers.

“It's a team defense,” Thunder guard Jared McCain said. “We talked about it. We made adjustments to it. We know that when he gets going, their whole team gets going."

Obviously, the Spurs know what's coming from the Thunder on Thursday — more of the same. San Antonio has two days to figure out how to counter.

“I think they sent so many bodies towards him, it’s hard at times,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “I think he just wants to make the right play and wants to win. ... He’s our best player. We need him to be aggressive. I feel like him being aggressive opens up shots for other guys.”

___

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

Coventry’s reassurance to the annual meeting of Summer Games sports bodies came after she warned in February of “uncomfortable” talks ahead to make future Olympic hosting more efficient.

The International Olympic Committee aims to finalize within months the list of sports on the Brisbane program that Coventry previously told their leaders will be fewer than the 36 being played at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“There is a path (back), it’s not just an end,” the IOC president told The Associated Press on Wednesday on the sidelines of the assembly of the summer sports group known as ASOIF.

Brisbane also could have fewer than the 353 medal events being competed for at Los Angeles.

“I know that not everyone will be happy,” Coventry acknowledged to ASOIF members Wednesday, adding "the goal is not to destroy any sport.”

Coventry also met Tuesday with ASOIF members and assured them “we don’t have specific numbers” as targets for the sports and events program for Brisbane.

The most important metric shapes to be the number of venues needed as the IOC looks to manage costs for hosts.

“The cost and complexity comes when you start adding additional venues for single purpose events,” Coventry told the AP. “That’s where we need to look and say: ‘How could we change that?’”

A major step toward streamlining the program for Brisbane and beyond is a June 24 meeting of the full IOC membership in Lausanne that should agree a process for evaluating sports and events.

A list of sports at Brisbane could be confirmed in December, with a longer timeline into 2029 to confirm the detailed program of medal events.

The 36 sports in Los Angeles is up from just 26 at the 2012 London Olympics, and ASOIF president Ingmar de Vos later acknowledged “It has grown too much and needs to be brought back into proportion.”

Sports at risk?

Modern pentathlon has long been seen as vulnerable to losing its historic Olympic status, while canoe slalom has a very specific venue demand. Sports added to the LA program — including flag football, lacrosse and squash — will be competing for their place in Brisbane before having their showcase in 2028.

The 2036 Olympics hosting contest was paused by Coventry last year in the first big decision of her new presidency. Qatar is widely seen as a strong contender for a project likely to be spread in the Middle East region, which has been targeted during the conflict between the United States and Israel against Iran.

Los Angeles update

Organizing committee officials overseeing sports and venues came to Lausanne to update federation leaders ahead of a big week in Los Angeles.

Incumbent LA mayor Karen Bass is trying to secure another term until beyond the Olympics, and there is the annual in-person visit by the IOC panel — known as “cocom” for coordination commission — overseeing games preparations.

“Certainly we are paying attention to it,” Shana Ferguson, LA 2028’s head of sport and games delivery, told the AP about Tuesday's primary election.

One big reveal will be announcing where cycling road races will finish — always a key Olympic event to showcase the city. Paris set a high bar with finish lines framed beneath the Eiffel Tower.

“We are ready — buckle up,” Ferguson said.

Shares of LA revenues

ASOIF members are anxious to learn what the IOC will give them as a collective share of Los Angeles Olympics revenues worth several billions of dollars.

With IOC president Coventry sitting in the front row, ASOIF president Ingmar de Vos called for “fair and sustainable models” to recognize his members’ work and value at the Summer Games.

The IOC paid $590 million from Paris Olympics revenues which was a 9% collective rise on $540 million from the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

ASOIF members agree their formula to distribute it, with track and field’s World Athletics typically paid the most. That was $39.6 million for Paris, a slight raise from Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“We are increasingly being asked to do more with the same resources,” De Vos cautioned, later noting ASOIF has “three more mouths to feed,” with the governing bodies of skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing now eligible for a revenue share.

De Vos, the International Equestrian Federation president, suggested each Olympic sport could make cost efficiencies and it was "for the IOC also to look into its own operations.”

___

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Jared McCain — getting the call with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both sidelined — scored 20 in his first playoff start for the defending NBA champion Thunder, who lead the Western Conference finals 3-2.

Chet Holmgren had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, while Isaiah Hartenstein had a 12-point, 15-rebound night.

The Thunder, who were held to 82 points in a Game 4 loss two days earlier, had 82 points on Tuesday before the third quarter was 3 1/2 minutes old.

“We obviously played a lot better, in terms of our process and then also the outcome,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It's a playoff series. If you look at any playoff series that goes to six games, at least, there's going to be some tough games. We had a tough game the other night. This team does a great job of just coming back in the next day in a very neutral way, taking whatever the lessons are, applying them forward and getting into the next opportunity.”

Stephon Castle scored 24 points for San Antonio, which got 22 points from Julian Champagnie and 20 points from Victor Wembanyama — who was held to 4-of-15 shooting.

Keldon Johnson scored 15 off the bench for San Antonio, which missed 29 of its 41 3-point tries.

“It just felt like it was a little bit of everything in terms of we did not put ourselves in position enough to be successful on each possession,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And so, to beat a team of this caliber, in their building, with the stakes, we'll need to be a lot better to give yourself a chance.”

Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio. If there's a Game 7, it'll be back in Oklahoma City on Saturday — and while this series winds down, the New York Knicks are waiting to see who emerges.

The Knicks will visit either the Thunder or Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3.

Oklahoma City scored 40 points in the second quarter to take control and kept the lead the rest of the way.

“We just played to who we were tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

It took nearly 10 minutes for the first free throws to be awarded. But when the parade to the foul line started, it didn't stop.

The teams combined to make 29 free throws in the second quarter alone, the most in the second quarter of any NBA game since the bubble playoffs nearly six years ago. It wasn't a one-sided thing — the Spurs were 15 for 17 in the quarter, the Thunder 14 for 14.

Oklahoma City went up by 20 in the third, before San Antonio closed within eight. The Spurs might have had some chances to cut even further into the deficit, but were fuming — and rightly so, it seemed — over some missed calls in the final minute of the quarter.

A tip-in try by San Antonio's Luke Kornet with about 56 seconds left was knocked off the rim by Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace and should have been goaltending. And on the next Spurs' possession, an out-of-bounds call that should have gone their way — replays showed the ball went out off of Holmgren — did not. Johnson tried to challenge the call, got ignored, then got a technical foul for arguing.

“They just said they didn't see me,” Johnson said.

After all that, Oklahoma City's lead was 101-91 going into the fourth. The Thunder kept a double-digit lead for all but 25 seconds of the final quarter — a huge turnaround from a 21-point loss in San Antonio on Sunday.

“We definitely got better from the last game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

___

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

SAPD took Angie Morales, 21, into custody Monday and charged her with the capital murder of multiple persons, jail and court records show. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT, Morales — who was 17 at the time of July 29, 2022, shootings — is accused of being a “party” in the killing of Gregorio Ricardo Cordova-Mejia, 19, and Angel Ray Garcia, 15.

The arrest affidavit does not directly accuse her of pulling the trigger, but police say she helped set the teens up to be robbed by luring them to the apartments.

Officers were dispatched on a shots fired call just before 3 a.m. on July 29, 2022, to the Union Pines Apartments in the 1700 block of Pleasanton Road. According to a 911 call, shots rang out near Building 28 at the complex.

Upon arrival at the complex, officers found Cordova-Mejia and Garcia’s bodies and 9 mm shell casings at the scene. Cordova-Mejia was discovered near a breezeway on the ground while Garcia “was found upstairs” of Building 28, the affidavit states.

Autopsies conducted by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office showed both teenagers died of multiple gunshot wounds. Their deaths were ruled homicides.

Morales’ alleged plan

In the affidavit, an SAPD detective wrote that a “confidential informant” came forward with information that tied Morales to the double-murder.

According to the informant, Morales used an Instagram account to communicate with and lure Cordova-Mejia and Garcia to the Union Pines Apartments. There, the informant said the teenagers would be robbed and subsequently killed by people Angie colluded with, according to the affidavit.

The original detective on the case tried to interview Morales, but she said she knew nothing about the shooting deaths of Cordova-Mejia and Garcia, the affidavit stated.

Morales is the first arrest in the case.

Although an SAPD spokeswoman said they could not confirm other suspects, the affidavit mentions Morales “acted in concert with multiple other suspects,” and even names one.

Since that person has not yet been arrested, KSAT won’t name them.

Social media trails

Investigators said they reviewed data from Cordova-Mejia’s phone, which showed he communicated with Morales’ Instagram account in the minutes leading up to his death.

While Morales told Cordova-Mejia the address and a specific building number, documents show she didn’t give him an apartment number.

In her last message to Cordova-Mejia, Morales told him to “wait” and that she was “stepping out.” Minutes later, police said shots rang out.

Detectives obtained a search warrant tied to the Instagram account, and police say the name and birthday listed on the account matched Morales.

A phone number associated with the account also matched the number the informant had given, SAPD said. Call records placed the phone using the number “in the area of the murder, at the time it occurred.”

A Bexar County judge set Morales’ bond at $250,000, Bexar County court records show. It is unclear when she will make her next court appearance.

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The measure, which goes against World Health Organization guidance, underscored growing fears of contagion in this East African country that, like Congo, has experience responding to Ebola outbreaks but is faced with a type this time, Bundibugyo, with no approved medicines or vaccines.

A local Ebola task force made the decision to close the border after a rise in Ugandan health workers exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who crossed before the outbreak was declared on May 15.

Travel across the Congo border will be authorized only in emergency cases, including for the outbreak response, cargo or security reasons, Dr. Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, told journalists. Any people entering from Congo under emergency circumstances will be taken into mandatory self-isolation for 21 days.

Congo says over 100 cases have been confirmed

Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever. The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids. Experts say healthcare workers and family members caring for patients face the highest risk.

The number of suspected cases in eastern Congo is nearing 1,000, with at least 220 suspected deaths. Congo’s health ministry on Tuesday said 101 cases have been confirmed, and they are looking into over 3,000 possible contacts.

The WHO, while declaring this outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, discouraged border closures while acknowledging that neighboring countries are at high risk of contagion.

Closures "push the movement of people and goods to informal border crossings that are not monitored, thus increasing the chances of the spread of disease," the U.N. agency said.

The border between Uganda and Congo is several hundred miles long and crossed by numerous footpaths beyond formal border posts. Many people come and go in the course of a day to visit families or to trade.

Health authorities in Congo are struggling to contain the outbreak that the WHO has said is outpacing them, after the rare type of Ebola was confirmed weeks late as tests were carried out for a more common type.

Challenges include the threat from armed groups in eastern Congo, a large number of displaced people and poor infrastructure.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called for a ceasefire in the region to allow safe access for responders and others, saying on social media that “attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible.”

Responders in Congo have said they are underprepared and underprotected for this outbreak, while conflict-traumatized residents long wary of outsiders have attacked a number of clinics and hurled stones and abuse at volunteers trying to make people aware of the virus and its risks.

The WHO has said infected people or those have been in contact should not undertake international travel unless it’s a medical evacuation. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said it is planning to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them to the United States.

Uganda is concerned about exposed health workers

Uganda has reported seven cases of Ebola, including the first case of a 59-year-old man who died in Kampala, the capital, on May 14. While the Ebola case load is not spiking, the number of locals exposed to infection via health workers has been rising.

“They have families, and so the number has been increasing,” Atwine, the health official, said of health workers.

She also said she was dismayed to see some Ugandans forming crowds to celebrate Arsenal as British Premier League champions. The team has a large following in Uganda.

“I don't understand,” Atwine said, urging people to be vigilant, avoid shaking hands and use sanitizer.

Congo has had 17 Ebola outbreaks. Health experts say aid cuts last year by the United States and other rich nations are devastating for eastern Congo because of the region’s unique problems.

Aid groups fighting this outbreak say they don’t have the equipment they need such as face shields and suits to protect health workers from infection, testing kits and body bags needed to safely bury victims.

The seven villagers entered the cave in Xaisomboun province on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding that blocked the exit, according to Lao and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.

Thai rescuer Chakkit Taengtang posted video of himself in the cave saying divers were delivering food and water to the five and planning to extract them as soon as possible.

All of the villagers are men, according to a Facebook post by the Lao group Rescue Volunteer for People.

“I’m still shaking. Our team made it happen,” Bounkham Luanglath, a member of the Lao rescue team, said in a voice message to The Associated Press. He said the search for the missing would continue.

A video posted by the rescue group appeared to show the moment divers emerged from the water and discovered the trapped men. In the footage, the men are wearing headlamps and sitting on a rock surrounded by floodwater.

Other videos showed rescuers inside and outside the cave cheering, jumping and hugging each other in joy after the discovery.

Another villager who went into the cave with the seven was able to escape when the flooding began, and he raised the alarm about the trapped men.

Rescue workers from neighboring Thailand arrived at the site over the weekend. Those helping out included several divers who took part in the complicated 2018 rescue in northern Thailand of 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach who were trapped for more than two weeks in a cave.

Miiko Paasi, a Thai-based Finnish diving instructor who participated in the rescue of the schoolboys and joined the search effort in Laos, said in a social media post that the men were “healthy and in good spirits,” but he warned that the extraction would not be easy.

The cave is in a rugged, remote area in Xaisomboun province’s Longcheng district, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane. Rescuers have detailed on social media the challenging mountainous terrain and heavy rain that has hampered their work.

Videos shared online by Thai rescuers showed that reaching the cave’s entrance requires a steep hike of roughly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). The entrance is also steep and rocky and barely wide enough for a single person.

It's not clear why the villagers went into the cave. Bounkham has said that the cave was frequented by local residents looking for gold, despite repeated warnings about safety.

___

Associated Press journalists Tian Macleod Ji and Haruka Nuga in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Hamas said in a statement that Mohammed Odeh died Tuesday along with his wife and two of his children in an airstrike. It came after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the Israeli military had targeted and killed Odeh.

At least five people — including Odeh and his family members — were killed and 12 injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market in Gaza City, local hospitals said. The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.

Thousands of people gathered Wednesday for the joint funeral of Odeh's family in Gaza City. Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air. Some carried posters with Odeh's poster emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas' military wing.

Hamas condemned the strike, and said Odeh had been active with the group for more than three decades and was part of the first generation that helped establish the movement’s military and armed wing.

Katz called him “one of the architects” of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered over two years of war in Gaza and said it was the fourth time Israel has killed the head of Hamas’ military wing since that massacre. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the previous head, was killed on May 16.

Katz said that Israel would continue to target Hamas leaders involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. “We pledged that Hamas will not hold civilian or military rule,” he wrote on X.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is preparing for elections in the fall, also threatened that Israel will target everyone involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

A grim Eid in Gaza

The attack came as Muslims prepared for Eid al-Adha, normally a joyous time of family gatherings and large meals.

The holiday once again is subdued this year in Gaza, where the vast majority of people remain displaced and live in tents or temporary shelters after a devastating war. Around 90% of Gaza’s more than 2 million people have lost their homes, according to U.N. estimates, with most of them now sheltering in huge tent camps with rat infestations and pools of sewage. They are dependent on aid to survive.

Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” is an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims across the globe. The four-day holiday, which begins during the Hajj pilgrimage, also is known for being a joyous occasion during which families gather, and children are given new clothes and gifts.

“This is not Eid ... we’re dead,” said Mahmoud Saqer, a displaced man from Khan Younis, who described people as being distressed by the ongoing human suffering and killings in the territory.

In Khan Younis and Gaza City, amid destroyed buildings, including a ruined mosque, people gathered for Eid prayers with few signs of celebration beyond a few clusters of balloons lining one street. Tahrir al-Khatib said the joy that accompanies Eid has been silenced in Gaza.

“There’s no Eid. My children were killed. Eid is only for the people who lost no one,” said Ayda Al-Banna, a displaced women from Gaza City, who prayed Eid prayers with her granddaughter.

Fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza

A ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October remains fragile. Israeli attacks have killed more than 880 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says its attacks are in response to violations by Hamas or threats to its soldiers, but Palestinian health officials say scores of civilians have been among the dead. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during this period in Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks in October 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says over 72,803 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas government, does not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. ___

Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Fatma Khaled contributed from Cairo.

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The search of the office in central Madrid is another blow to the party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose Socialists have been hammered by a series of corruption scandals to his some of its leader's closest confidants, his wife and brother and the previous Socialist to hold his office.

“We respect the justice system, we will collaborate with the courts and there is the commitment in the Socialist Party that if there are new episodes of improper behavior, we will act with the same firmness we always have,” Sánchez told a news conference in Rome.

Sánchez, who has been Spain's leader since 2018 and is a major critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, has not been directly named in any investigation.

A court statement issued on Wednesday said that judge Santiago Pedraz ordered the Civil Guard to “confiscate diverse documentation and electronic archives in an investigation of a ring designed to destabilize judicial processes that were affecting the ruling party.”

The searches were strictly limited to that case, and not a wholesale raid of the offices, the police said.

The case against started in 2025 when audio recordings appeared in Spanish media of then party member Leire Díez apparently involved in attempts to discredit a member of the Civil Guard’s anti-corruption unit. Further reports linked Díez to alleged attempts to influence the work of state prosecutors. The judge's probe is targeted on seeing if she received payments to allegedly carry out these efforts.

The Socialist party said she was acting on her own. Diez, who has left the party, has denied wrongdoing.

The judge said that in addition to Díez, he is now also probing the alleged involvement of former Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerdán — who is already under investigation in a separate corruption case — as well as a former member of the regional government of Andalusia, a police officer, a business owner and two lawyers. The judge is investigating them on suspicions of bribery, making false testimony, forging commercial documents, influence peddling, and corruption.

Legal woes mount

The searches add to a growing list of legal cases that are hounding Spain's Socialists.

A separate court said last week it was investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in connection with a government airline bailout. Zapatero, who was in power from 2004-2011 and is a major backer of Sánchez, has denied any wrongdoing.

Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos, who held two ministerial posts under Sánchez, were placed under investigation in 2025 on allegations they played a part in a kickback ring that started during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they have denied.

Ábalos has been tried for one case of alleged corruption along with two other cohorts. A verdict is expected to come soon.

Ábalos and Cerdán were early Sánchez supporters inside the party and both rose to be the party’s No. 3 ranked official before they were forced out of the party when their scandals broke.

Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, has been charged by an investigative judge for inappropriately using her position to be named to an academic post at a university, while his brother, David Sánchez, and other local officials in Badajoz have been charged with having created a civil service post for him to occupy unrightfully. Gómez and David Sánchez, whose trial starts on Thursday, deny any wrongdoing.

Cases ‘do nothing to stain the work of government ’

Sánchez has called the cases against his family a “smear campaign.” But the corruption case against his former cohorts led him to ask the nation for “forgiveness.”

His minority government depends on the support of a junior coalition partner, which for now has stuck with it despite the judicial actions.

The search of his party's offices came while Sánchez was in the Vatican for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, who is set to visit Spain from June 6-12. The prime minister said he delayed his news conference so that he could be informed of the searches before speaking to reporters.

The leader of Spain’s leading opposition party, conservative Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for snap elections. “There is no other solution other than immediately letting the Spanish people voice their opinion,” the Popular Party leader said.

Sánchez brushed off calling early elections, which will have to take place next year at the latest.

While acknowledging the “seriousness” of the events in Madrid, Sánchez insisted that the cases of corruption “do nothing to stain the work of this government that, with progressive parties, is working for a social and economic transformation.”

Paxton jumped out to an early lead, and the Associated Press called the race within an hour of polling places closing.

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Background

In what was certain to be one of the country’s most closely watched races, two Texas heavyweights vied to become the lone Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.

Following an extensive career in the Texas Legislature, Ken Paxton was elected as Texas Attorney General in 2014 before announcing his U.S. Senate bid in April 2025. John Cornyn, the incumbent, was first elected to the seat in 2002.

When Paxton announced his run for U.S. Senate, Paxton told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that it was “time for a change in Texas.”

Neither Cornyn nor Paxton blinked as they entered the primary field with six other Republican candidates. Both men were working to earn the endorsement of President Donald Trump, but Trump did not publicly back either candidate ahead of the March primary.

As expected, Cornyn and Paxton emerged as the top two vote-getters in the primary. However, Cornyn only secured 42% of the vote compared to Paxton’s 41%.

The candidates continued their campaigns throughout April and May without word of an endorsement from the commander in chief. Seven days before the May 26 runoff, Trump officially endorsed Paxton.

The winner between Cornyn and Paxton will face Democratic nominee James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative and former San Antonio teacher who won his primary bid against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Talarico launched his campaign last September. He previously told KSAT that his experience as a public school teacher on San Antonio’s West Side shaped his views for his campaign.

According to his campaign website, Talarico is pushing for economic equality, specifically the gap between billionaires and Americans struggling to make ends meet.

U.S. senators are elected for six-year terms.

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Voters in Texas made some big decisions in some closely watched races in the May 26 runoff election, deciding who will be the Republican nominee to face Democrat James Talarico for the United States Senate. They also determined who the nominees are in both parties, battling it out for a newly drawn United States congressional district.

In the view of many, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s campaign received a major boost on May 19 when President Donald Trump gave him his highly coveted endorsement.

Seven days later, Texas Republicans backed Paxton in droves. Paxton earned 63.8% of the vote while Sen. John Cornyn, the incumbent, mustered only 38.2% of the vote.

Cornyn narrowly beat Paxton by a single percentage point in the March primary election, 42% to 41%, but Cornyn did not get the necessary 50% plus one needed to win the nomination outright.

The long-time senator, who was first elected in 2002, has gone to great lengths to highlight his efforts to support Trump’s agenda. Recently, he reintroduced a bill to create Interstate 47 in honor of the president. It didn’t work. Trump went with his long-time MAGA ally Paxton.

Republicans hope conservative voters coalesce behind Paxton and show up at the polls in November to defeat Talarico, who won his primary outright in March. No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas in more than 30 years. Republicans are hoping that streak continues in 2026.

The newly drawn U.S. Congressional District 35 now has its candidates who will vie for the seat in November. Greg Casar, who represents the current version of the district, was drawn out of it when the Texas Legislature redrew the congressional map last year in a special session. He will seek re-election in District 37, which is represented by long-time lawmaker Lloyd Doggett, who is retiring.

In March, Republicans John Lujan and Carlos De La Cruz were the top two vote-getters among 11 candidates who appeared on the ballot.

During the May 26 runoff, however, De La Cruz (57.6% of the vote; 18,827 votes total) earned nearly 5,000 more votes than Lujan (42.4% of the vote; 13,837 votes total) and secured the runoff victory.

Lujan, the state representative for District 118, previously earned the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott. De La Cruz, a retired Air Force veteran, was endorsed by President Trump.

The Democratic race has received a lot more attention in the last few weeks, as many Democrats, from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to Senate nominee James Talarico, have condemned a series of antisemitic comments from candidate Maureen Galindo. Johnny Garcia, himself, has denounced the comments, and the two have sparred over allegations of antisemitism.

At the ballot box on May 26, most Democratic voters threw their support behind Garcia, who earned 63.8% of the vote. Galindo garnered 36.2% of the vote.

De La Cruz and Garcia will now represent their respective parties in November.

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Steyer — a former hedge fund manager turned liberal activist — has spent or booked more than $195 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio with the tally still growing, according to data compiled by advertising tracker AdImpact.

His torrent of ads has opened the one-time presidential candidate to criticism that he is trying to buy the governor's chair, and his ad total represents more than 20 times the amount spent by his nearest rival, fellow Democrat Xavier Becerra, as the two duel for a spot in the November election.

Nationally, his spending is unparalleled — no one is even close.

In Georgia, Republican health care executive Rick Jackson has spent about $83 million on advertising in his primary race for governor, which is headed for a June runoff, ranking him second. The third place spot is held by his Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement and has spent nearly $31 million on ads, according to AdImpact.

Following Jones was Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, who spent over $28 million on advertising in a failed bid for U.S. Senate.

Trying to ‘buy the governor’s office?’

Katie Porter, a former U.S. House member who is among seven established Democrats in the California race, has repeatedly criticized Steyer for dipping into his personal fortune to keep ads in front of voters with scant competition from rivals.

“She isn’t spending hundreds of millions of dollars of personal wealth trying to buy the governor’s office,” her campaign wrote in an email to supporters.

In raw numbers, Steyer's ad blitz has eclipsed the 2010 record set by Republican Meg Whitman, who spent $178.5 million in total on a losing bid for governor, much of it her own money. At the time, it was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation’s history. When adjusted for inflation, however, Whitman still holds the state record, but that represented spending for the full election, not just the primary.

A crowded field with no clear leader

Steyer's record-level output has lifted him into contention in the crowded race, but he's not breaking away from the field. He's among a leading group of several candidates — including Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton — as the campaign heads toward a June 2 primary. Mail voting started earlier this month.

Still, Steyer's cash advantage is giving him a publicity edge as the contest enters its crucial final days. He's maintained a steady flow of advertising and online posts questioning Becerra's credentials and record, with Becerra, a former state attorney general and Biden administration health secretary, lacking the funds to reply in kind.

One Becerra ad sought to connect with voters who might be getting bleary-eyed from the cascade of Steyer advertising. It used tranquil scenes of Joshua trees, waves curling on a beach and soaring redwoods, with a gentle prod: “You can stop the endless Tom Steyer ads. Vote Xavier Becerra.”

Steyer’s financial edge has allowed him to stretch the boundaries of his campaign far beyond traditional TV and radio ads, with steady posts on online platforms like YouTube and Instagram. The New York Times reported that his campaign paid a progressive Texas influencer $100,000 to help Steyer win the election. The Sacramento Bee reported that Becerra, too, had hired an influencer.

In a statement, Steyer spokesperson Kevin Liao did not directly address the campaign's spending but pointed to millions of dollars pumped into ads by independent groups backed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., real estate agents and others seeking to defeat the billionaire, who has promised to “break up the electric monopolies in California.”

Many voters have been slow to vote in a race without a star candidate and no clear leader. More than 50 names will be on the ballot. California uses a “top two” primary system that puts all candidates on one ballot, with only the top two vote-getters advancing to November, regardless of party.

“In a race this close, it all matters,” said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta.

Money doesn't always make the difference

History shows that money doesn’t always translate into votes.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent over $100 million in 2022 in his bid to become Los Angeles mayor, much of it his own money, but he was handily defeated by Mayor Karen Bass, who spent a fraction of Caruso’s total. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 presidential bid before dropping out. And Steyer’s money was unable to lift him into contention in the 2020 presidential contest, from which he dropped out early in the year after a poor finish in the South Carolina primary.

Democratic San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan's campaign for governor was supported by independent committees bankrolled by millions of dollars from tech leaders and venture capitalists, yet he failed to gain traction in the race.

Steyer has never held elected office.

In a 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Steyer was asked what he would say to people who think he’s trying to buy the presidency.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steyer said at the time, before adding, “I’m never going to apologize for succeeding in business. That’s America, right?”

The contest is unfolding as California struggles with a long-running homeless crisis, wildfire insurance shortages, projected budget shortfalls and housing costs that are out of reach for many working-class families. Voters, meanwhile, are saddled with growing everyday bills for groceries, utilities and gas.

The AdImpact data does not include ads on some popular streaming services, like Hulu and YouTube, or mail advertising.

During his career, Newhouse served as president of The Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey, and head of Advance Publications' newspaper group, which he navigated into the internet age.

“You reveled in his company. He filled you with energy and humor when you felt doubtful and weak,” Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue and Conde Nast's chief content officer, said in an obituary released Tuesday night by the Newhouse family.

Newhouse, who lived in New York, spent nearly 50 years overseeing the 35 newspapers of Advance Publications, the media business started by his late father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., in 1922. His older brother, S.I. Newhouse Jr., was chairman of the company and oversaw Conde Nast magazines. He died in 2017.

Louis D. Boccardi, retired president and CEO of the AP, said Newhouse was an extraordinary chairman for the cooperative.

“His voice was never the loudest in the room, but it was often the wisest,” Boccardi said. Newhouse was instinctively private, but behind that, Boccardi said, was a generous man, at home anywhere and curious about everything.

“He could come across as self-effacing and deferential, but in Don's skilled hands those were qualities that made him an enormously strong and effective leader,” Boccardi said.

A man who didn't chase the spotlight

Newhouse, born in 1929, was known for staying out of the public eye. A reporter once asked him to list the biggest chances he took in his career. The answer: “Inviting your questions.”

The usually reserved Newhouse did step into the spotlight when he took on the role of chairman of the Newspaper Association of America from 1993 to 1994 and then chairman of the AP board of directors from 1997 to 2002. He had served on the AP board for nine years before becoming its chairman.

“My dad believed in the journalistic mission of the AP,” said Michael Newhouse, Donald E. Newhouse's son. He added that his dad and the publication's then-CEO would travel around the world to meet AP journalists.

“He was a smart and shrewd businessman but as thoughtful and kind a man as you'll find. Being in his presence was always a joy,” said Doug Clifton, editor of one of Newhouse's papers, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, from 1999 to 2007.

Newhouse attended Syracuse University but never graduated, heading into the family's newspaper business instead. In 2016 he finally received a degree from the school and gave its commencement address.

Newhouse would regularly visit his newspapers but left the ultimate authority of running them to his publishers.

“Each of our newspapers operates independently, with publishers who are strong, who set policy for their individual organizations and who have the authority and responsibility of carrying out the policies they set,” he said in 1993 when taking over as chairman of the newspaper association.

Newhouse was known for spending money to make sure that papers got the best stories. Jim Willse, editor of The Star-Ledger from 1995 until 2010, said they “added staff, modernized the design, took on investigations and other major projects.”

Newhouse's philosophy of spending money to produce quality coverage and a hands-off approach toward his editors led to many successes. From 2001 to 2012, Advance’s newspaper group was awarded a dozen Pulitzers.

Many of those newspapers were able to thrive and remain profitable because they dominated their market, but Newhouse said he was very much aware of what he called the “dramatically changing media landscape” and how people get their news.

“The 15th-century revolution was epitomized by the printing of the Gutenberg Bible; ours by Ted Turner's cable news network and by web-based news sites — news in real time from anywhere to everywhere,” he said in 2004 at the rededication of a communications school named after his father at Syracuse University.

Three years later, he told one of his papers, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York, that newspapers can survive “by producing content that is relevant, interesting, accurate and entertaining for newspapers and the internet.”

He steered through financial struggles

Yet the papers did ultimately struggle financially.

Advance was known in the industry for a pledge that employees who weren't in a union would have jobs regardless of economic downturns or technological advances. In 2009, the company announced that the pledge would be withdrawn.

The company also moved away from daily publishing of several papers. In 2012, it announced that the Post-Standard; The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and the Birmingham News, the Press-Register of Mobile and The Huntsville Times, all in Alabama, would cease daily publication and would only offer print editions on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Those changes were accompanied by hundreds of layoffs.

“His conservative approach left both the papers and its employees somewhat unprepared for the realities of the internet,” said Thomas Maier, who wrote a 1994 biography of the family.

Newhouse's eldest son, Steven, spearheaded the company's growth on the internet and on mobile devices. Steven Newhouse is currently co-president of Advance Publications.

“My dad spent his life in the newspaper business and was devoted to it, built it up and enjoyed many good years. When it became more challenging, he was first in line to work through, finding solutions to keep the local journalism franchise going,” he said.

While Newhouse was dedicated to Advance, his true passion was his family. His daughter, Katherine Mele, said his favorite pastime was 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) walks with them.

In addition to his children, Newhouse is also survived by his grandchildren. His wife, Susan, died in 2015.

___

Mayerowitz is a former Associated Press journalist. AP reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Find election results by clicking the links below, or use the drop-down menu above to find the specific election you’re interested in.

• Key races
• U.S. Senate: John Cornyn, Ken Paxton
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• Area local races

Texas voters settled unfinished business from the March primary on May 26 when they decided either who will be on the ballot for the November general election or who will take office next year.

The contests where no candidate received 50% plus one of the vote will be on the Tuesday, May 26 runoff election ballot.

The Bexar County Democratic sample ballot can be seen below:

The Bexar County Republican sample ballot can be seen below:

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Plus, we get a sample of the menu at the San Antonio staple, Cappy’s Restaurant. The restaurant has been serving their signature “Mustang Chicken” and craft cocktails that keep locals coming back.

If your socks aren’t cutting it, we are excited to share more from Stzy. The local brand is combining movement with comfort all while giving back to the community.

Ready to hit the road in style? GMC truck month is underway and we are taking you to South San Buick GMC for all the deals.

It’s a packed show full of Spurs spirit, community, and helpful information you won’t want to miss.

Not even close.

Before the tournament even begins, Curaçao has already crafted a story like none other in World Cup history. A tiny island country — autonomous territory, if you prefer — of about 156,000 residents in the Caribbean is now the smallest, both in terms of population and land mass, to make it to soccer’s biggest stage. And if that wasn’t enough, it's doing so under a coach in Dick Advocaat who, at 78, is about to become the oldest the tournament has ever seen.

They know what the world is probably thinking: Their country is too small, their coach is too old, they don’t have a chance.

They heard all that through the qualifying process as well — and here they are.

“We have made history,” Curaçao defender Sherel Floranus said. “We are writing our own history, for this island.”

The way they see it, they’ve already won.

They rolled through qualifying, going 4-0-0 against Haiti, Saint Lucia, Aruba and Barbados in their opening round, then going 3-0-3 against Jamaica, Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago in the next round to grab their spot — one of three that were available for 32 teams who went to qualifying from North America, Central American and the Caribbean.

Just how small is Curaçao? Its first World Cup stop — a June 14 match against Germany in Houston — is to a city with 15 times as many people as the island. The stadium in Houston could hold about one-half of Curaçao’s entire population.

It has been a perfect storm to get here. First, the three host nations for this World Cup — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — were exempt from qualifying and already were in the tournament field. And this inaugural edition of an expanded 48-team tournament made it inevitable that there would be some surprise teams getting to the World Cup.

Like, for example, Curaçao. Surprise! With odds of +250000 at some sportsbooks, Curaçao is the longest of long shots in the field. And on the island, they do understand the reality of what that means.

“We know there is a big chance that we don’t win the World Cup, but that we (made it) there ... for Curaçao, a very, very, very good moment,” said Remko Bicentini, a former pro player and Curaçao’s former national team head coach. “We are proud of that.

“It is a party for the whole Curaçao. It’s a big level and all the players ... we worked years, for years, for years, very hard to become where we now are.”

Curaçao’s sports history is sometimes masked by its Dutch ties

The island was part of the Netherlands Antilles until October 2010, when it became a more autonomous “constituent country” of the Netherlands. The Dutch monarchy still reigns, the citizens remain Dutch nationals and the Netherlands government oversees defense and foreign affairs. And this week, Curaçao’s World Cup preparations are happening in the Netherlands — a nine-hour direct flight away, but a place where the team was greeted with “welcome home” signage.

The sense is clearly that the results at the tournament won't mean much. Winning a match would be magical. Tying one would be cause for celebration. Just being there, for those from Curaçao, is a victory in itself.

“I always saw other countries play the World Cup,” said Michael Stokkel, a policeman. “I was a fan of Brazil, but now I will be a fan of my own country. It’s an incredible feeling.”

He’s going to the World Cup, but by himself. It's just too expensive to bring others, he said.

It's not unheard of for athletes from Curaçao to compete on the international stage. The rare part here is that they're doing it actually as “Curaçao.” There have been unsuccessful attempts for the nation to be recognized as its own Olympic team; athletes compete in the Summer Games either for the Netherlands or independent athletes. At the World Baseball Classic earlier this year, players played for the Netherlands.

Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves, a native of Willemstad — the island's capital and biggest city — said his nation getting to the World Cup is "history for the guys and the accomplishment is super special for Curaçao.”

“Soccer has always been a sport we play but never made it to the World Cup," said Albies, one of three Curaçao natives currently on a Major League Baseball roster. "So, to be able to do it is very, very, very special.”

The Dutch are a World Cup contender with their own national team. Curaçao, which will have its base camp at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, when it shifts its full operation to the U.S. in the coming days, is simply savoring its moment.

“I think it’s been amazing for the whole island,” said Tahith Chong, one of the national team’s top players. “Just seeing how the island has lived with it and just knowing, I think that a lot of people don’t know about Curaçao. It loves football and it’s quite big here. So, to be present this year at the World Cup is obviously something amazing for the island.”

‘So the world knows who we are’

The hope, politically, is that the team will be a unifying force.

At 171 square miles, Curaçao has roughly as much land mass as New Orleans. There are at least 125 U.S. cities with larger populations than the entire island. Its population is about the same as Hollywood — no, not the one in California, but the city in Florida that sits between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Curaçao’s Prime Minister, Gilmar Pisas, sees this World Cup as an opportunity. The team known as the Blue Wave — a nod to the shimmering turquoise water that surrounds the island — and blue is a theme for everything in the country, right down to the Blue Curaçao liquor that is popular around the world (even though it has an orange flavor).

For the next few weeks, Pisas wants the nation to be Blue Nation as well.

“We will become part of something larger than ourselves, something that, despite our differences, brings us together,” Pisas said. “We share a single anthem and a single flag ... rather than being divided into separate camps. We are, finally, truly united. It is a project dedicated to the construction of a nation. It acknowledges that your people, and you yourself, are an integral part of this collective mission — the ‘Blue Nation.’”

This will not require Brenton Balentien to change much about his regular day-to-day routine.

If you see a bald, bearded, muscular man with his head and face painted blue for Curaçao games, you’ve likely found Balentien — simply known around the island as “Blue Face.” He’s a longtime soccer fan who took notice of how fans in Brazil, Colombia and other places would show up at matches in wigs and elaborate costumes.

“I said, ‘Curaçao needs that,’” Balentien said. “Curaçao is a very passive island. We watch the games and clap, sure, but we’re not the kind of fans who go out there and scream for the full 90 minutes. And I said, ‘No, we have to change that.’”

So, in 2015, Blue Face — someone who began chanting in largely empty stadiums and now has a huge following — was born. He applies the paint himself before every match. He’s basically a national mascot; a bartender, influencer and event organizer in real life, a soccer superfan when the paint comes out. He’s become a motivational speaker, someone whose home overlooking Willemstad has Curaçao’s flag waving in the wind and whose car has two more flags attached to that.

“We do this for this island,” Balentien said, “so the world knows who we are.”

The underdogs hope to be ‘giants in the World Cup’

If the world doesn’t know yet, they’ll see soon enough.

Curaçao, currently ranked No. 82 in FIFA’s global rankings, opens World Cup play against global power and 10th-ranked Germany. It then plays No. 23 Ecuador in Kansas City on June 20 and finishes group stage play against No. 34 Ivory Coast on June 25 in Philadelphia.

It will be underdogs in all three matches, barring something very unusual.

No problem. The Blue Wave is coming, the pressure is off and confidence is high.

“For us, this is the biggest World Cup because our flag will be there in America,” said Ricardo Martinez, a radio broadcaster who calls the matches. “Germany, watch out. Curaçao is coming. We are small — but giants in the World Cup.”

___

AP Sports Writer Charles Odum in Atlanta contributed to this story. Reynolds reported from Boca Raton, Florida.

___

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

The Democrats were forced into an unusual race between predecessor and successor after Republicans redrew Texas’ district map to boost GOP chances to maintain congressional control. 

The 32nd District, which Johnson currently represents and Allred previously represented, is now solidly Republican, pushing Johnson into the left-leaning 33rd District that Kamala Harris would have won by more than 30 points — had its boundaries existed in 2024.

District 33 contains about a third of the residents from the candidates’ former congressional district and is currently represented by Rep. Marc Veasey, who decided not to seek reelection. 

Allred, a civil rights lawyer and former professional football player, first served in Congress from 2019 to 2025 after unseating 11-term Republican Pete Sessions. He left his seat to run for Senate against Ted Cruz and lost decisively in the 2024 midterms. 

In July 2025, Allred launched another bid for Senate, but dropped out and pivoted to a congressional run after the September entry of state Rep. James Talarico and an unexpected bid from Rep. Jasmine Crockett. He said his change, which came on the last day for candidates to file, was to avoid a Democratic runoff and maximize their chances of winning in November. 

He finished ahead of Johnson in the March 3 primary by about 11 points. The nearly three months leading up to the runoff grew prickly between the two candidates, who each found campaign fodder in the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. 

Allred blasted Johnson’s previous investments in Palantir, a technology company that has worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Johnson criticized Allred’s congressional voting record, which included support for immigration-related bills where he broke from his party, including one denouncing the Biden administration’s handling of the border. 

Allred has called to abolish ICE amid the Trump administration’s mass deportations and immigration crackdown, shifting its responsibilities to other federal agencies like the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency and Customs and Border Protection. 

He was also the only Democrat in Texas who was supported by an AI super PAC. Jobs and Democracy PAC, which focuses on AI regulation, spent almost $400,000 on his behalf. One of Allred’s priorities is export controls on computer chips and semiconductor technology to increase AI innovation. 

The candidates split support from big-name Democrats. Rep. Jasmine Crockett endorsed Allred at the end of April, while Johnson was backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Allred will face Patrick Gillespie, who defeated John Sims in the Republican runoff, in November in the left-leaning district.

The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. After a long run at a convention center in suburban Maryland, the bee returns to the nation's capital this year at Constitution Hall, a few blocks from the White House.

Another change for this year: ESPN NFL analyst and recent “Celebrity Jeopardy!” champion Mina Kimes has joined the bee as its television host.

This is the 98th bee; it was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s champion will be the 111th, because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in 2019.

Thirty of the past 36 champions have been of Indian heritage, including last year’s winner, Faizan Zaki.

How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company.

Wednesday's quarterfinals will stream on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the semifinals can be watched on those platforms from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tape-delayed semifinals will be broadcast on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The finals will be broadcast Thursday on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The semifinals and finals will also air or be streamed on these Scripps-owned channels or services: ION Plus, Bounce, Grit, Laff, The Spot, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Scripps News and Scripps Sports Network.

What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country. In order to compete, spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than 15.

Competitors must get through two preliminary rounds, where they are quizzed on words from a list provided in advance. There is one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round.

Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test, with the top 100 or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The words for the test, and for all subsequent rounds, are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary.

Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals, spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions.

About a dozen spellers advance to the finals. When only two remain, Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a “spell-off” to determine the champion.

Who is competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

This year's bee has 247 spellers representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and five other countries: The Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates. After the preliminary rounds, 167 were left, and that field was cut to 95 quarterfinalists after a written spelling and vocabulary test.

The top returning finisher from 2025 is Sarv Dharavane of Dunwoody, Georgia, who finished third last year as an 11-year-old fifth-grader and got a perfect score on the written test. Even if he falls short this year, he has two years of eligibility left.

Three other potential contenders had perfect test scores:

— Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, who finished third in 2024. He has dominated the bee circuit in the past year, winning the South Asian Spelling Bee, the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee and the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee.

— Oliver Halkett, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Los Angeles who finished in a tie for seventh last year.

— Esha Marupudi, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Chandler, Arizona, who also tied for seventh last year.

What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion?

The winner receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Here are the prize payouts:

— First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, a custom trophy and commemorative medal, and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air Lines.

— Second place: $25,000.

— Third place: $15,000.

— Fourth place: $10,000.

— Fifth place: $5,000.

— Sixth place: $2,500.

— All other finalists: $2,000.

___

Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn tried for more than a year to show Donald Trump and Texas Republicans that he and the president were on the same team.

Cornyn posted a photo of himself reading Trump's “The Art of the Deal.” He proposed legislation to rename a stretch of interstate in Trump's honor. Perhaps most glaringly, the Senate institutionalist who long supported the filibuster reversed his position in a failed effort to advance voting restrictions that are a priority for the president.

None of it worked. On Tuesday, Cornyn became the latest in a line of Republicans who lost their primaries after falling out of favor with a president with little tolerance for dissent and a seemingly insatiable appetite for retribution. The four-term senator lost by double digits to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed last week as “a true MAGA Warrior.”

Cornyn, on the other hand, “was VERY disloyal to me,” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump's intervention in the Texas runoff came after weeks of successfully backing primary challengers in Indiana, Louisiana and Kentucky as revenge against incumbents who broke with his agenda.

Cornyn’s attempt to avoid the same fate made even some of his supporters wince.

“You look at the positions he took to please the president and the groveling and whatever,” said former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican and Trump critic who didn't seek reelection during the president's first midterm in 2018. “It was rather painful to watch.”

Trump took an uncommonly equanimous approach to Tuesday’s results the following morning.

“Congratulations to Ken Paxton on such a tremendous win, and to John Cornyn for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career,” he wrote on social media. “John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all.”

Cornyn started early with ad touting pro-Trump voting record

Cornyn's loss wasn't for a lack of political gymnastics and astronomical campaign spending.

His campaign began running an advertisement last summer — part of an astounding nearly-$100-million air war by the senator and allied groups — with Cornyn looking into the camera and saying, “I voted with President Trump 99% of the time.”

On Cornyn's campaign homepage, Trump and Cornyn stand side-by-side with thumbs pointed upward in an image aimed at projecting solidarity. Deeper in the website, the category titled “The Trump-Cornyn Record” notes the senator's role securing votes for Trump's signature 2017 tax cut bill.

Cornyn has also been championing provisions in Trump's signature tax-and-spending legislation to finance work on the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The senator had dismissed the project as “naive” during Trump's 2016 campaign. But in January, he stood along a section of completed wall in Texas' Rio Grande Valley touting the measure's $11 billion for Texas contractors' work at “the direction of the president of the United States, to whom I am very grateful.”

Cornyn's 2023 dismissal of Trump's return glares in background

Cornyn's praise for his party's leader and president were not unusual, but they clash with a statement Cornyn made in May 2023, when Trump was mounting his presidential comeback campaign.

“Trump’s time has passed him by,” he told reporters. “I don’t think President Trump understands that when you run in a general election, you have to appeal to voters beyond your base.”

Trump would go on to easily win the nomination and carry every battleground state in the general election.

Cornyn would hew closely to the president for the first 16 months of his second administration, hoping at the outside chance of his endorsement or to keeping him from weighing in at all.

But Trump did not forget the past slights.

“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” he wrote on social media while endorsing Paxton.

Smaller gestures, and one big one

Cornyn has playfully worked to promote Trump fandom, last year posting a picture on social media of himself thoughtfully peering into the pages of Trump's 1987 memoir and business advice book, “The Art of the Deal.”

In a more obvious gesture, he proposed designating a section of a U.S. highway from the Texas Gulf Coast to Montana as “Interstate 47,” to honor a 47th president with a well-documented love of naming things after himself. In a news release about the proposal, filed just over two weeks before Tuesday's runoff, Cornyn said it would be known as the “Trump Interstate.”

The more tectonic shift occurred in March, after Trump had teased a possible endorsement of either Cornyn or Paxton in the runoff.

Paxton swiftly said he would consider dropping his candidacy if the Republican-controlled Senate lifted the filibuster and passed the SAVE America Act, a series of voting restrictions that Trump has described as an essential part of his agenda.

The following week, Cornyn wrote an op-ed in the New York Post — Trump's favorite hometown newspaper — backing away from his previous support of the filibuster. He vowed to “support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to get the bill “through the Senate and on the president's desk for his signature.”

Flake watched with unease.

“I know John and his long-held positions on the filibuster and the Senate’s institutions,” he said. “No office is worth that.”

___

Bedayn reported from San Antonio. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

Joseph Anthony Aguilar, 18, was taken into custody after investigators linked him to the scheme, officers said. A female suspect remains at large, according to police.

In one of the cases, police said a male victim was pistol-whipped and robbed after being lured to meet someone in person through an online platform.

In the second case, a teenage boy was shot at least three times and robbed on Monday morning after arriving at a location on Villa Drive — near the 1000 block of Pat Booker Road — to meet a girl he had connected with online, investigators said.

The wounded teen made his way to a nearby coffee shop, On The Grind, where bystanders found him and called 911, police said. He was later taken to a hospital and is continuing treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, authorities stated.

Investigators believe both suspects resided at the Villa Mesa Apartments in Universal City.

Aguilar is facing two aggravated robbery charges, Bexar County jail records show.

Advocacy groups focused on online safety are urging parents and guardians to talk with their children about the dangers of online lures and to report suspicious activity to local law enforcement.

More crime coverage on KSAT:

• Fort Hood: 1 dead, 2 injured after shooting at recreational area
• Guadalupe County sheriff hopes posting videos of arrests to social media will help deter sex crimes

Texas voters settled unfinished business from the March Primary on May 26, when they decided who would be on the ballot for the November general election or who would take office next year.

The marquee matchup on that ballot was the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate between incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

On Election Day, Paxton secured the Republican nomination, easily defeating Cornyn, the Associated Press projects.

Paxton will face Democratic nominee James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative and former San Antonio teacher who won his primary bid against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Another seat both parties had their eyes on is the newly-drawn Congressional District 35. Republicans and Democrats both want this seat formerly held by Greg Casar, who was drawn out of the district in last year’s redistricting. Casar will seek re-election in District 37.

On the Republican side, Carlos De La Cruz defeated John Lujan with 58% of the vote on May 26. De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran and brother to U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (District 15), was endorsed by President Donald Trump.

On the Democratic side, Johnny Garcia defeated Maureen Galindo with 64% of the vote.

Garcia is a now-former spokesperson for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

In Bexar County, the race for the Democratic spot on the ballot for District Attorney is down from eight to two: Luz Elena Chapa and Jane Davis.

That race is too close to call as of 5 a.m. Wednesday, May 27.

The winner of this runoff will face Republican Ashley Foster in November, along with any independent candidate who makes it onto the ballot. The winner of that contest will take over from outgoing District Attorney Joe Gonzales, who is not seeking re-election after two tumultuous terms in office. Gonzales has endorsed Jane Davis as his successor.

Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2026 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.

Find election results on the Vote 2026 page.

“Leaving the training ground and walking to my car with a box full of bobbleheads to take home to my kids,” the 38-year-old defender recalled, “my WhatsApp started to go a little bit crazy.”

Ream was among 26 players who received a video in a group chat from Sam Zapata, the U.S. national team administrative manager, informing those selected for the World Cup roster.

“Guys, if you are watching that video, it is because you are in,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino told them. “I am so excited to communicate that you are going to be on the roster for the World Cup 2026, in the World Cup that you are going to host.”

“It made me stop on my tracks,” said Ream, hoping to become the oldest U.S. player to appear in soccer's top tournament.

Midfielders Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter, sons of a former captain and an ex-coach, were picked by along with forward Alejandro Zendejas.

Midfielders Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann were left off.

Holding American jerseys with wavy red and white stripes, players were introduced Tuesday at a made-for-TV event on the roof of the South Street Seaport’s Pier 17 with the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. They were announced in the numerical order of jersey numbers assigned by equipment manager Kyle Robertson, taking seniority into account. All were on hand except for defender Chris Richards, in Germany with Crystal Palace for Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final.

“We want this so bad,” said forward Christian Pulisic, the biggest American star. “If you're not a little bit nervous, you don’t feel a little, you don’t care. So, we care so much.”

Defender Sergiño Dest, midfielder Tyler Adams and forward Haji Wright were added after missing March friendlies because of injuries. Zendejas was bypassed for the March roster after a knee injury last fall.

A few minutes after the Friday video arrived, emails were sent to all 55 players on the preliminary roster informing them of their fate. Pochettino didn't give explanations to those omitted, comparing the rejection with how he felt when Tottenham executive chairman Daniel Levy fired him as manager in 2019 and then asked to speak.

“What do you want to talk about (with) me?” Pochettino said. “I don't want to hear nothing.”

Luna missed the March matches because of a knee injury after playing in 17 of 18 international games last year.

“It’s painful because I really know what it means to be out of the roster,” said Pochettino, who failed to make Argentina's roster as a defender in 1994 and 1998, then was chosen in 2002.

“During two weeks I didn’t sleep," the coach said. "And today still I cannot enjoy the 26 guys that are in front of me because I am thinking in players that are out.”

Final rosters are submitted to FIFA on June 1 and injuries could cause a change until one day before the U.S. opener against Paraguay on June 12.

“Things can happen. They need to be ready because maybe we can call,” Pochettino said.

Reyna, a son of former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, nearly was sent home from the 2022 World Cup by then-coach Gregg Berhalter for lack of hustle and made just four starts this season for Borussia Mönchengladbach — none since Dec. 19.

“I don’t say that he’s going to play the game, but he can help,” Pochettino said. “He can help because he’s a different player, different talent, and I think in all the roster you need to have a player like him.”

Sebastian Berhalter, a 25-year-old son of the former coach, made his national team debut last June and became the Americans' best corner-kick taker.

Players dropped who had been on the March roster included goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, Tessmann and fellow midfielder Aidan Morris. Two players were sidelined by recent injuries: midfielder Johnny Cardoso (right ankle surgery) and forward Patrick Agyemang (torn right Achilles). Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is recovering from a torn Achilles in October.

Who is back from 2022?

Half the roster returns from the last World Cup: goalkeeper Matt Turner; Dest, Ream and fellow defenders Antonee Robinson and Joe Scally; Adams and fellow midfielders Weston McKennie, Reyna and Cristian Roldan; and Pulisic and Wright at forward with Brenden Aaronson and Tim Weah.

Richards and Miles Robinson were picked after injuries sidelined them ahead of the 2022 tournament.

Richards is a health concern after tearing two left ankle ligaments on May 17. Pochettino said he won't know Richards' status until he arrives in the U.S. for training because clubs “hide things.”

“Was really, really tough to have the real information to make our best decision,” Pochettino said. “How selfish, no, is the people in soccer or in football?”

Among the final cuts four years ago, Ricardo Pepi made it this time.

Players from 2022 left off included goalkeepers Ethan Horvath and Sean Johnson; Carter-Vickers and fellow defenders Aaron Long, Shaq Moore, DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman; midfielders Kellyn Acosta, Luca de la Torre and Yunus Musah; and forwards Jesús Ferreira, Jordan Morris and Josh Sargent.

This year's average age of 26 years, 332 days as of the U.S. opener is up from 25-216 four years ago and the fifth-youngest for an American World Cup roster.

Where are players from?

Just eight players were taken from Major League Soccer, the fewest since four in 2010. Five players are based in England, three each in Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1, two apiece in Italy’s Serie A and the Dutch Eredivisie, and one each in Mexico, Scotland and Spain.

Pulisic ended his AC Milan season scoreless in 19 games since Dec. 28 and has gone eight U.S. matches without a goal since November 2024.

Pochettino's three strikers finished their club seasons in form, combining for 56 goals: Folarin Balogun and Pepi scored 19 each and Wright 18.

For the first time since 1990, no American goalkeepers are from European clubs.

Ream will be 38 years, 250 days on the day the U.S. plays its opener, older than defender Fernando Clavijo when the U.S. was knocked out by Brazil in 1994.

Defender Alex Freeman, a son of former Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, is the youngest American this year at 21.

No. 3 goalkeeper Chris Brady is the first player on the U.S. World Cup roster with no international experience since backup goalkeeper Juergen Sommer in 1994.

___

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

Lloyd wasn't sure what to tell them, but she knew the confusing new policy would slow down applications.

“It has a chilling effect because we have some cases that we were going to proceed and I can tell already, we should wait and see what’s going on," she said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday that foreigners in the U.S. who want a green card will need to leave and apply in their home country, barring some unspecified exceptions.

The announcement, which potentially affects hundreds of thousands of green card applicants a year, was the latest immigration policy unveiled by Trump's Republican administration to stun and confound lawyers, advocates and immigrants. It's also part of a pivot by the administration to target legal pathways to immigration, after focusing since last year mostly on migrants in the U.S. illegally.

“This is simply an attempt to try to limit and scare people away from the legal immigration process,” immigration attorney Charles Kuck said, adding that he expected legal action against the change. “This is a scare tactic.”

As worried immigrants and their employers flood immigration law offices with questions, it's unclear what the effect will be, what exceptions might be allowed and how the policy will play out on the ground.

Some green card seekers were already facing questions about why they should be allowed to apply from the U.S.

A confusing rollout for the new policy

For more than half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to apply for and complete the process for permanent residence in the United States — including people married to U.S. citizens, holders of work and student visas, and refugees and political asylum-seekers, among others.

That appeared to change suddenly on Friday, when USCIS announced the shift on its website.

“From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances," the agency said. In response to questions by The Associated Press, USCIS said only people who provide an “economic benefit” or “national interest” could likely apply from the U.S.

It said nonimmigrants, such as students or temporary workers, are in the U.S. temporarily and should leave when that time is up.

USCIS also issued a more detailed policy memo designed as guidance for its staffers who decide these cases. Immigration experts who were trying to decipher the news said the memo was more nuanced, leading to confusion over what the change actually entailed.

One immigration law firm, Boundless Immigration, in a blog post on its website stating its interpretation of the policy, said officers were being instructed to “apply existing discretionary standards more rigorously” but surmised that the policy doesn't completely stop the adjustment of status process for “eligible applicants” depending on the category of visa they have.

The company cited previous policy memos about citizenship acquisition that had not prompted harsher steps in practice.

Immigration firms and advocates left guessing who'll be impacted

Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the guidance may be targeting people who overstayed their visas, such as the parent of a U.S. citizen who remained after a visa expired, an employee of a company who transferred to the U.S. or people in the country on visas specific to clergy and other religious workers.

“It seems like maybe who they’re targeting is potentially those whose period of stay lapsed while they were here,” she said.

Kevin Miner, a partner with the immigration law firm Fragomen, said he expected that people on employment-based visas, like H-1Bs, would be exempt. Known as dual-intent, these visas allow people on nonimmigrant visas in the U.S. to seek a green card. Those dual-intent visas were specifically mentioned in the memo as areas of possible exception.

“Those probably are cases that will continue to precede business as usual and that we won’t see a significant impact,” said Miner, who said the announcement Friday took people by surprise.

Matthew Soerens, the U.S. director of church mobilization for World Relief, an organization that helps resettle refugees in the U.S., said language in the memo referring to cases in which immigrants have to adjust their status in the U.S. gives the organization “hope” and “expectation” that the guidance doesn't apply to refugees.

Refugees are people who are fleeing their homeland who meet a specific set of criteria to be admitted to the U.S. after lengthy vetting. They are required to do that green card processing a year after arriving in the U.S. and can't go home because of the risks they'd face there, Soerens said.

Trump's administration has slashed the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. this year and limited them to white South Africans.

People who entered the country under humanitarian parole, which allows presidents to admit people for humanitarian reasons and which President Joe Biden's Democratic administration expanded dramatically, could also be impacted, Soerens said.

Many of those people might have already had family in the U.S. or they married a U.S. citizen — both of which potentially give them pathways to apply for a green card that could now be complicated.

All of these nuances make it difficult to provide general legal advice to people, said Dalal-Dheini.

“It’s going to be a very case by case specific thing," she said.

Immigrants facing questions about their applications, group says

The American Immigration Lawyers Association said several people in green card interviews under the new guidance faced questions Tuesday that haven’t previously been asked of applicants.

One person who was applying to get a green card based off their marriage to a U.S. citizen was asked why they applied to adjust their status in the U.S. instead of going back to their home country and applying at the embassy there. They were asked if there were any factors that would prevent them from applying back at their home country and if they still had family there.

Another person was asked to file a form demonstrating why they should be allowed to apply from the U.S. and were told evidence should prove they wouldn't be a financial burden or a “public charge” on the U.S. and could include their 2025 tax return, a letter from an employer stating their salary and bank statements.

Lloyd, the immigration attorney, said she has sent emails to her corporate and noncorporate clients telling them that she is monitoring the situation and she will reach out to them as soon as she has more guidance and practical applications.

She said she thinks the policy will deter some companies from pursuing green cards for their clients.

“I don’t want everybody to panic,” she said. “My advice to them is wait and see.”

Crews are erecting an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn that will host next month's UFC bout, helping mark the nation's 250th anniversary — and President Donald Trump 's 80th birthday.

Online renderings depict what the completed, wire-mesh-fence-ringed fight space is expected to look like ahead of the June 14 event. It will be ringed by a red, white and blue stage under a towering arch featuring stars and stripes patterns and two large screens carrying the action live.

The cage and stage will themselves be surrounded by thousands of temporary seats, including ringside space for a full marching band that can set the entire scene to blaring music.

The project is part of a series of events celebrating the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence's signing on July 4, 1776. Other planned functions include an IndyCar race that will pass by the White House and the Great American State Fair taking place on the National Mall.

Trump has said that the finished UFC project will feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House.” Additional large screens broadcasting the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC has said it plans to issue as many as 85,000 free tickets to accommodate spectators at both locations.

“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” Trump said recently of demand to attend the UFC fight, adding, “That's gonna be something.”

The card has been panned by fans online as underwhelming, featuring just two championship fights. Brazil’s Alex Pereira will meet France’s Ciryl Gane for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Then Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts.

The octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom Trump is leading.

The president's other efforts to leave his mark include tearing up part of the Rose Garden to make room for a patio space reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, affixing partisan plaques to the wall of the colonnade for a Presidential Walk of Fame, redoing the bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom and renovating the Palm Room, placing new flag poles on the north and south lawns and demolishing the entire East Wing for a sprawling ballroom.

The president also wants to repaint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building beside the White House and build a 250-foot arch at the nearby Lincoln Memorial — the same monument where weigh-ins for the upcoming UFC fight are scheduled to take place, bout organizers say.

Jared McCain — getting the call with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both sidelined — scored 20 in his first playoff start for the defending NBA champion Thunder, who lead the Western Conference finals 3-2.

Chet Holmgren scored 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, while Isaiah Hartenstein had a 12-point, 15-rebound night in Oklahoma City.

Stephon Castle scored 24 points for San Antonio, which got 22 points from Julian Champagnie and 20 points from Victor Wembanyama — who was held to 4-of-15 shooting.

Keldon Johnson scored 15 off the bench for San Antonio, which missed 29 of its 41 3-point tries.

Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio. If there’s a Game 7, it’ll be back in Oklahoma City on Saturday — and while this series winds down, the New York Knicks are waiting to see who emerges.

The Knicks will play the Thunder-Spurs winner in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3, with that series starting in the Western Conference city.

Oklahoma City scored 40 points in the second quarter to take control and kept the lead the rest of the way.

“We just played to who we were tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

It took nearly 10 minutes for the first free throws to be awarded. But when the parade to the foul line started, it didn’t stop.

The teams combined to make 29 free throws in the second quarter alone, the most in the second quarter of any NBA game since the bubble playoffs nearly six years ago. It wasn’t a one-sided thing — the Spurs were 15 for 17 in the quarter, the Thunder 14 for 14.

Oklahoma City went up by 20 in the third, before San Antonio closed within eight. The Spurs might have had some chances to cut even further into the deficit, but were fuming — and rightly so, it seemed — over some missed calls in the final minute of the quarter.

A tip-in try by San Antonio’s Luke Kornet with about 56 seconds left was knocked off the rim by Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace and should have been goaltending. And on the next Spurs’ possession, an out-of-bounds call that should have gone their way — replays showed the ball went out off of Holmgren — did not. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson tried to challenge the call, got ignored, then got a technical foul for arguing.

After all that, Oklahoma City’s lead was 101-91 going into the fourth.

___

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

• Avoid these notorious roadways prone to flooding during heavy rain in San Antonio
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Bexar County low-water crossing status

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About the map above, via Bexarflood.org:

“Each dot on the map indicates a location of a Bexar County HALT sensor - HALT stands for High water Alert Lifesaving Technology. The sensors detect rising water and send real time information to this website: green means the road safe, yellow means the water is rising and red means the road is closed. By subscribing to alerts through this website, you can receive text or email alerts when low water crossings you choose to monitor have water over the road.

“Bexar County has installed more than 150 HALT systems in our community to warn drivers to turn around with either flashing lights or a combination of flashing lights and gates.

“The map was developed through a partnership between Bexar County, the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority. These partners monitor local weather and road conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

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Hill Country and statewide road closures

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University president Lawrence Schovanec wrote in a letter to the Texas Tech community that the school would appeal the ruling. Sorsby also has a court hearing scheduled in Lubbock County District Court next Monday on his request for a temporary injunction that would allow him to play for the Red Raiders this season.

“We believe that given the facts and the context of Brendan’s case, the NCAA’s ruling should be reversed or modified,” Schovanec wrote. “As a generation of college athletes face the legalization and rapid proliferation of sports betting in our country, gambling addiction is rising to the point of epidemic among college aged men in particular.”

Sorsby was one of the top players to enter the transfer portal after last season. At stake is the multimillion-dollar deal the Texas native signed with the Red Raiders for what was supposed to be his final season of college football.

Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he expected Tech’s appeal to the NCAA being submitted by the end of this week.

“We believe the right thing to do is to not ruin this young man’s college career for something that happened four years ago,” Hocutt said Tuesday while attending the Big 12 spring meetings in Frisco, Texas. “There’s penalties for everything that you do, and we would accept that and expect that, but at the same time, let’s help this young man who has been very vulnerable and has admitted to some wrongdoings. Let’s give him a second chance and help him.”

Schovanec said the 22-year-old Sorsby last week completed an inpatient gambling addiction treatment program and is preparing to return to campus. The quarterback can participate in offseason activities with the Red Raiders.

Schovanec noted the NCAA’s stated mission includes the lifelong well-being of athletes and to promote a “culture of care” for their mental health.

“Brendan himself has been open about his struggle with severe gambling addiction, and we believe his vulnerability deserves to be met with the full weight of this institution’s support,” Schovanec wrote. “Our foremost priority in contemplating Brendan’s future with Texas Tech is his continued health and well-being.”

Hocutt said Tech wants to help Sorsby and hopes that “the NCAA would look at it from a different lens than they traditionally have.”

In his lawsuit seeking an injunction, Sorsby acknowledged that in his first year at Indiana, he wagered between $5 and $50 on the Hoosiers football team to win and made prop bets on teammates to exceed statistical predictions. He said he did not bet on the one game in which he played. Sorsby said he never bet on a game involving Cincinnati after he transferred there in 2024, but he continued to bet on other sports.

According to Schovanec, Sorsby will receive ongoing treatment, monitoring and support at the school. He will receive outpatient clinical care, participation in group and individual therapy, mentor resources, treatment for his related anxiety disorder and active monitoring of his technological devices. He also will have a custodian to oversee his personal finances and and periodic compliance checks.

“This is not a symbolic commitment,” Schovanec wrote. “Each element reflects our conviction, and Brendan’s, that nothing matters more right now than his continued recovery. It is our duty to provide that support and that is support we are uniquely well-positioned to provide.”

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

• STORMS SOUTH OF SA: Another round of storms affecting southern counties
• RAINFALL: Totals from last night’s storms averaged 1-2″
• QUIETER PATTERN AHEAD: We’ll get a chance to dry out next few days

FORECAST

THIS MORNING

After a busy overnight, another round of storms is moving west to east across the southern part of our viewing area. This activity will stay mainly south of San Antonio. However, some light rain could briefly push into the city for a time this morning. This area of storms will push east of us by mid-morning.

THIS AFTERNOON

Skies will begin to clear around midday and we’ll see quite a bit of sun by late afternoon. Still, highs today will only reach the low-80s. It will be humid thanks to yesterday’s rainfall.

RAINFALL TOTALS/DAMAGE REPORTS

Most of the San Antonio picked up at least 1″ of rainfall overnight. Higher totals were noted across Kendall County and parts of Frio County. Thankfully, damage reports, so far, have been minimal. If you sustained any damage, make sure and upload your pictures to KSAT Connect.

QUIETER WEATHER AHEAD

Thursday and Friday will generally be dry. The Saturday night through Monday timeframe brings a chance for isolated showers and storms (30%).

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.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict appeared more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war as Tehran wants an agreement to include an end to the fighting in Lebanon.

The Litani River has been a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control despite the ceasefire that's been in place for over a month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after meeting with his defense minister and senior military officials that Israel will expand its operations in Lebanon.

“The (Israeli Defense Forces) are operating with large forces on the ground and seizing strategic areas,” he said, adding that Israel is trying to fortify an area of southern Lebanon under its control, which it says is necessary to protect residents in its northern border towns from Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks.

Israeli strike kills 12

Meanwhile, an Israeli security official said the military had called up an additional battalion to Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel's military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley area overnight, adding that it targeted storage facilities, command centers and observation points used to attack Israeli troops and residents in northern Israel.

One strike hit the eastern village of Mashghara, killing 12 people including several members of the same family, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Israel in recent days has intensified strikes in the city and province of Nabatiyeh, just north of the river. On Tuesday it warned city residents to leave.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it launched several rocket, artillery and exploding drone attacks on Israeli troops and vehicles mobilizing along the river toward the Nabatiyeh villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar al-Sharqieh. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the militant group repelled attacks along the river banks.

Elsewhere in eastern Lebanon, Israel struck an area near the Qaraoun Dam, the country's largest along the Litani River. The Litani River Authority said there was no direct damage to the dam.

Beirut, the Lebanese capital, has been spared from strikes since the start of the ceasefire, but Israel's latest moves have caused fear.

“By just saying a few words on TV, (Netanyahu) causes everyone to panic and flee their homes,” said Tony Aboud in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district. “I don’t know what’s going to happen and how long we can live like this.”

Lebanon hopes for an agreement that will see Israeli withdrawal

The Lebanese government, which came to power on a platform of reform and disarming Hezbollah and other armed groups, hopes that the direct talks with Israel — which Hezbollah opposes — will lead to a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israel says it will not withdraw until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to residents of its northern towns. Hezbollah has vowed to fight until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from Lebanon.

In recent weeks, Hezbollah has boasted that it is using new fiber-optic drones that Israeli troops have struggled to intercept, hitting both Israeli forces and northern Israeli villages.

Israel has told people there not to gather in large numbers.

“What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh,” Netanyahu said Monday.

Over 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the war, sparked when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, two days after the Iran war began.

At least 3,213 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, with over 9,700 wounded.

According to Netanyahu’s office, 23 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, the vast majority by drones.

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Associated Press writers Sam Mednick and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Koral Saaed in Herzliya, Israel, and senior video producer Malak Harb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, easily defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn, the Associated Press projects.

Paxton was out to an early lead, and the Associated Press called the race within an hour of polling places closing.

Here’s a look at how people across the Lone Star State voted.

Following an extensive career in the Texas Legislature, Paxton was elected as Texas Attorney General in 2014 before announcing his U.S. Senate bid in April 2025. Cornyn, the incumbent, was first elected to the seat in 2002.

Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton’s election night party when the race was called, and he took the stage to supporters chanting his name. He quickly gave credit to Trump.

“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen,” Paxton said. ”President Trump is the leader of our party, and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”

When Paxton announced his run for U.S. Senate, Paxton told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that it was “time for a change in Texas.”

Paxton will face Democratic nominee James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative and former San Antonio teacher who won his primary bid against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Talarico launched his campaign last September. He previously told KSAT that his experience as a public school teacher on San Antonio’s West Side shaped his views for his campaign.

According to his campaign website, Talarico is pushing for economic equality, specifically the gap between billionaires and Americans struggling to make ends meet.

U.S. senators are elected for six-year terms.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2026 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.

Find election results on the Vote 2026 page.

Camp leaders say they tell residents to wash their hands before eating — with soap for the lucky ones who have it. For the rest, the advice is to use oatmeal or sand.

“My fear is that we are here with nothing to protect ourselves. We have no protection, no water or soap, and we live near garbage," Francine Leve Janguzi, a resident of the so-called ISP camp told The Associated Press, as she opened an empty tap in a sea of tarpaulin roofs.

Supplies are being rushed to Ituri province as aid groups and healthcare workers try to stem an outbreak of the infectious disease that has been declared a global health emergency.

But front-line responders are concerned the disease might spread to the large displacement camps located near Bunia, where thousands of people are crammed into limited space, without access to basic hygiene.

“Eastern DRC’s years of conflict and displacement have left health systems on their knees, and that makes containing this outbreak all the harder,” said Heather Kerr, Congo director with the International Rescue Committee.

Almost a million people have been displaced from their homes by conflict in Ituri, according to the U.N.

That means this Ebola outbreak is “unfolding in communities already facing insecurity, displacement and fragile healthcare systems,” said Gabriela Arenas, a regional coordinator at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The majority of residents of the ISP camp — which owes its name to its proximity to the Higher Pedagogical Institute, or Institut Superieur Pedagogique in French — were forced to leave their villages in the Djugu territory following attacks by CODECO, one of the multiple armed groups which operate in the region.

“I’ve been here for eight and a half years. Now we’re hearing about Ebola,” camp resident Janguzi said. “Look at the state of where we’re sleeping. We don’t have any help whatsoever. We don’t have soap or water, yet we’re told to wash our hands regularly and be clean.”

There is no vaccine or treatment for the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, which has been spreading undetected for weeks in eastern Congo. Standard tests struggle to detect the Bundibugyo.

Over 1,000 suspected cases and at least 220 deaths had already been recorded as of Tuesday, including seven confirmed cases in Uganda. But the World Health Organization and aid groups on the ground say the outbreak is much larger.

Ebola is a highly contagious virus and can be contracted from bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare but severe and often fatal. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.

Eastern Congo has for years seen attacks by dozens of separate rebel and militant groups, some of them with links to foreign countries or the extremist Islamic State group.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are in control of parts of the region. While the Congolese government still largely controls the northeastern Ituri Province, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, that control is tenuous. The Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group linked to IS, is one of the dominant rebel groups there and responsible for violent attacks against civilian targets.

Before the outbreak, humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said in an assessment that the insecurity in Ituri had worsened recently, causing doctors and nurses to flee and leaving overwhelmed health facilities and in some parts, “catastrophic conditions.”

Gérard Maki, a community leader in the camp, told AP the disease is very frightening. "I’ve learned that there’s no cure, which is why it scares me. ... Our government should also do everything possible to find a solution to this disease.”

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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Jean-Yves Kamale contributed to this report from Kinshasa.

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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.

The space agency outlined the first phase of its moon base plans on Tuesday, awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four U.S. companies.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will provide a pair of landers to deliver moon buggies to the lunar surface, at a spot near the moon’s south pole. These so-called lunar terrain vehicles will be built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. Firefly Aerospace, which landed successfully on the moon last year, will deliver the first drones to the moon.

All this hardware is ideally supposed to arrive before the first Artemis astronauts land on the moon, planned for as early as 2028.

During April's Artemis II mission, four astronauts flew around the moon, traveling deeper into space than the Apollo moon crews did during the late 1960s and early 1970s. For next year's Artemis III, another team of astronauts will practice docking NASA's Orion capsule in orbit around Earth with the lunar landers being developed for crews by Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

NASA is targeting Artemis III for mid-2027, with a landing by two astronauts following as soon as 2028. The moon base's second phase, from 2029 into the early 2030s, will start building up the permanent infrastructure, including a power grid. As for when the base will be ready to support astronauts for extended periods in specialized permanent habitats, that's expected sometime in the 2030s, during the third phase.

“Then we'll be able to say, 'Hey, we're permanently here and we're not giving it up,'” said NASA's moon base program executive Carlos Garcia-Galan.

Garcia-Galan envisions a moon base sprawling over hundreds of square miles, with a perimeter marked by drones, dubbed MoonFall, stationed at the corners.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said these territory markers are meant to be respectful of other countries' spacecraft and equipment that might be nearby. He expects reciprocity in the matter.

The goal of the moon base is to encourage a lunar economy while conducting scientific research and laying the foundation for a Mars expedition, Isaacman stressed.

“For those waiting patiently, the grand return is close at hand and we will not slow down,” Isaacman said. “We are really just getting started.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Video posted on social media by U.S. Southern Command shows a boat speeding through water before exploding into flames. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since early September and killed at least 194 people in total. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

The Pentagon watchdog said last week that it will evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats. The six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle include a military commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.

The Pentagon inspector general’s office said the review was “self-initiated.” It will not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars.

The Trump administration says the U.S. is at war against the Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of fatal drug overdoses plaguing many American communities.

The Golden Knights limited the Avalanche's high-powered offense all series and then suffocated it Tuesday night.

That defense, aided by goals from Stone and Cole Smith, led to a 2-1 victory and an unthinkable sweep of Colorado for the Knights' third final in nine seasons.

“It's by far our best game," said Vegas coach John Tortorella, whose team was 30-1 at Caesars Sportsbook at the beginning of the series to sweep. “(Checking is) something we've been concentrating on, and I think we've gotten better and better through the rounds. But tonight's game was our best checking effort, and that's a hell of a hockey team we played over there.”

The Golden Knights will get a break while they watch to see whether Carolina or Montreal emerges from the Eastern Conference Final.

This is a crushing end for an Avalanche team that won the Presidents' Trophy and had blown through the playoffs with an 8-1 record. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to claim the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

“We ran into a buzz saw in Vegas,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I think they deserved the credit. It’s not a knock on how hard they played, but they’re a well-oiled machine right now, peaking at the right time. I look at their series and man-to-man they’re playing at the top of their game. We’ll have to regroup and reassess and reflect on our season and the series and go from there.”

With several Las Vegas Raiders players looking on, including quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza, the Golden Knights got on the scoreboard when McNabb delivered a perfect pass to Stone. Not known for elite skating ability, Stone nevertheless got behind the Avalanche, caught the puck and scored.

“I'm not winning a ton of races,” Stone said. “I think I can create angles to get into those positions. That's probably why I've had quite a few breakaways in my career.”

That was the only goal until Smith tipped in Dylan Coghlan's shot from the point with 5:45 left for a critical two-goal margin.

Carter Hart stopped 20 shots, coming within 2:03 of his first playoff shutout in six years.

Gabriel Landeskog ended that shutout, one of the few highlights of the night for the Avalanche, who went the final 14:23 of the second period without a shot on goal and more than 25 minutes with just one shot.

Hart said he thought the Golden Knights defense “100%” frustrated the Avalanche.

“I think once we scored that first goal, in the second and third period we just kind of locked it down and kept pressure on them,” Hart said. “We did a great job. We had some huge blocks tonight.”

It wasn't just this night. Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, who led the NHL with 53 goals in the regular season, failed to hit the back of the net in any of the four games. Martin Necas, who had 100 points, totaled just two in this series.

The Avalanche averaged a league-high 3.63 goals during the regular season and in the first two rounds upped that to 4.11. Against the Golden Knights? It was 1.75.

“I think you look back at the four games, there are definitely times where we found our game,” Landeskog said. “I think the problem was we found ways to lose hockey games. I think over the course of the regular season, in the first two rounds, it was the opposite. Even if we didn’t have our A-game, we were finding different ways to win hockey games, and against this good of a hockey team in the Golden Knights, they’ll make you pay for your mistakes.”

Mackenzie Blackwood, making his first start in the series, gave the Avalanche a chance to win with several dazzling saves en route to 24 saves overall. His best stop came late in the second period when he lunged to glove a power-play shot from Pavel Dorofeyev.

The journey to the final isn't quite the Cinderella story of the Golden Knights’ first team that made the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 before losing in five games to Washington, but Vegas’ voyage to this point was far from expected.

The Golden Knights faced the possibility of not making the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history when management fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who led the club to the 2023 title, with eight games left in the regular season.

In came Tortorella, who validated the controversial decision by leading Vegas to a 7-0-1 record to close the regular season and then series victories over Utah and Anaheim. Then the Golden Knights faced an Avalanche team on a roll and without any sign of slowing down.

At least until facing Vegas.

Bednar searched for answers against the Golden Knights, even changing goalies on Tuesday. The Avalanche also dealt with injuries to their top two players this series — reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar and MacKinnon, a Hart Trophy finalist.

The Golden Knights had their own injury issues, winning the first two games of the series without Stone.

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

Another nine people were injured, some severely, in the spill at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview. The cause remained unclear.

“At the moment we are not aware of any rescues that are yet to be made," Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said during a Tuesday evening news conference in which officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort.

That effort would not resume until Wednesday morning, when emergency responders planned to work on stabilizing the collapsed tank, which still had about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of a chemical brew known as “white liquor" inside, and then search for the missing, Goldstein said.

The severity of the injuries ranged from minor to critical, with some suffering burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said. Among those injured was a responding firefighter.

Officials said they would only work during daylight hours because there was a risk of the tank leaking more caustic liquid and potentially collapsing.

“We don’t know until we know, hopefully tomorrow, how we can stabilize the tank. Do we remove the product first? Do we stabilize the tank first or the vice versa?” Goldstein said.

Authorities said there was no threat to the public.

Community waits for more information

At a community vigil Tuesday night, dozens gathered at a local park to pray, light candles and embrace teary-eyed loved ones.

Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident who served on the school board, said she has friends who work at the plant and remained unaccounted for. She described the stress of the day as people called and texted each other trying to figure out what happened.

“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”

Two upset parents who said their two sons worked at the plant interjected at the end of the news conference, saying they hadn’t been contacted. While officials including Gov. Bob Ferguson, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez addressed those gathered, no one from the company spoke at the news conference.

Some people waited at the company’s visitor entrance earlier Tuesday, seeking information about loved ones. They declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter. At a nearby union hall that was serving as a family assistance center, three women shared a tearful embrace before heading inside. Others coming and going were also in tears.

Facility is central to the community

The Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility is a pulp and paper mill and liquid packaging plant along the Columbia River in Longview, a city of about 38,000 that has had a relationship with the paper and lumber industries since its founding by a Kansas City timber baron in the 1920s.

The facility, which employs about 1,000 people and dates to 1953, makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, cartons and other goods. It is located in an industrial zone shared by other timber, paper and chemical businesses, and it remains central to the community.

“The people who are responders here have friends and relatives that work on site,” Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein noted. “It is something that is impactful, and we have support networks to support the workers as well as the emergency responders.”

Officials initially reported that the tank had a capacity of 80,000 gallons (303,000 liters), but later revised that number to say it was holding about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of the "white liquor.” That's nearly enough to fill a typical Olympic-sized swimming pool one and a half times. The liquid, which consists mainly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, is used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.

Cause is not yet known

It was too early to determine the cause of the implosion, Goldstein said.

Following the tank's rupture, the white liquor spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson. The department sent a team to evaluate the impacts, Goodsell said.

“I know there’s a lot of questions about how all of this happened and I want to assure you that we will all continue to pressure to get answers to those questions,” Murray said during the Tuesday evening news conference. “This community deserves that.”

The implosion came as thousands of residents of Southern California remained evacuated Tuesday due to a damaged chemical tank at an aerospace plant. All evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday night.

Just over 40 people died between January 2021 and mid-October 2023 as a result of hazardous chemical incidents, according to a paper released by a network of environmental justice organizations in late 2023.

Previous health and safety violations

Safety complaints were filed against Nippon Dynawave on March 4 and May 6. The state’s labor and industries department said on X that both are unrelated to the current situation and remain open. The former was an anonymous complaint about a valve on an aqua ammonia clarifier tank, according to the department, which noted that “it was not the tank that imploded.” The other was opened about a sinkhole created by a drain that failed, according to the department.

Nippon Dynawave, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, has been fined a total of $3,400 for three separate health and safety violations found by Washington Department of Labor and Industries inspectors since the start of 2021, according to the department’s online database.

In one inspection, the company was cited because face coverings were not worn by every employee when required. In another, the inspector determined that an employee was exposed to the risk of falling while working on a platform more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) off the ground.

In the third incident, the department determined that equipment involved in a work-related accident — an amputated finger — was moved from its original position before the state’s investigation into the accident was complete.

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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

French is poised to face Democrat state Rep. Jon Rosenthal in the November general election. A Democrat has not held a seat on the railroad commission in decades. 

“I am deeply grateful for the support of TX Republicans across our state.  Our campaign focused on defending oil and gas, and putting America First—and that’s exactly what I will continue fighting for as we turn our attention to radical Democrat Jon Rosenthal,” he said in a social media post.

The race for the typically under-the-radar office emerged on Tuesday as one of the closest contests of the night, with French leading with early voters but Wright narrowing the gap as the Election Day vote trickled in. French declared victory before midnight, up by a margin of less that 2 percentage points.

If he wins in November, he will join the three-commissioner panel presiding over the railroad commission, a century-old regulatory institution tasked with overseeing the state’s oil and gas industry, an immense enterprise that produced nearly half of all U.S. oil last year. 

A former Tarrant County GOP chairman, French espouses some of the most extreme views among Texas Republican officials, even as the party has pivoted further to the right in recent years. Earlier this year, French called on his party to more openly embrace Islamophobia and said the U.S. should deport 100 million people, nearly a third of the country’s population and a number that suggests he wants to deport U.S. citizens.

He has drawn the ire of members of his own party for his unapologetically offensive posts on social media often using slurs to refer to people with mental disabilities and LGBTQ+ people. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called on him to resign from his county chairmanship after French posted a social media poll asking whether Jews or Muslims were a bigger threat to America.

Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, all endorsed his opponent.

The race attracted a flood of money, not typical of the down ballot contest. Donors from across the political spectrum and the private sector have helped the two Republicans fundraise more than $3 million dollars since February. The contributions showed a split across ideological lines, with big oil companies and trade groups throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars at the incumbent. French’s benefactors, in turn, were prolific conservative megadonors who have used their wealth in past elections to advance conservative causes in Texas. The Texas Freedom Fund for the Advancement of Justice, a political action committee funded by oil tycoons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, spent about a million dollars on his campaign — more than 60% of his war chest. 

At the outset of the race, French, whose campaign website says he is an energy adviser for a company in the Middle East, said the railroad commission and Wright allowed China and Islam to overtake Texas oil fields. Under the commission, he said diversity efforts ran rampant. 

Throughout the race, he accused Wright of allowing “Sharia law” within the agency, and nicknamed him “Jihadi Jim.“ 

The six-year term coincides with a period of uncertainty and instability for the Texas oil and gas industry. Oil prices have fluctuated dramatically. Energy companies have laid off thousands of workers. Wright must also shepherd its regulators amid growing concerns about industry wastewater, which could stand to disrupt production and wreak environmental damage should the state fail to find a solution. The commissioners will oversee a $593 million budget, the highest in years. 

Breaux, a former teacher and the director of the Texas Education Policy Institute, completed her victory on Tuesday after forcing Vo into a runoff in the March primary. In that election, Vo led Breaux by just 3 votes out of 9,992 cast, each garnering 38% in the four-way race.

In an emotional speech to supporters, Breaux thanked her supporters for declaring that they wanted “something different.”

Breaux was first elected to the Alief ISD Board of Trustees in 2017. Alief is a diverse community in southwest Houston and Harris County.

About half of Alief ISD lives in HD 149, making up nearly three-quarters of the House district’s population.

Breaux’s priorities include increasing teacher pay and investing in small businesses and the workforce. She has also called for local infrastructure improvements to prevent flooding and increase public safety.

At an event ahead of the March primary, Breaux said she ran because she felt the community was being “left out” of discussions in Austin with Vo as their representative.

Vo was first elected to the Texas House by just 33 votes in 2004, defeating longtime Rep. Talmadge Heflin, a Houston Republican and then-chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Since then, Vo has been considered a public school champion but has not been a vocal presence on the House floor, unlike some prominent colleagues.

In Texas Monthly’s 2021 edition of the state’s “Best and Worst” lawmakers, the magazine named him part of the “furniture,” inconsequential members who are “scarcely distinguishable from their desks, chairs, and spittoons.”

Last year, Vo spoke on the House floor against a bill prohibiting the sale of land to people and entities from certain countries, arguing he would not have been able to buy a house in Texas when he fled Vietnam.

Breaux was endorsed by the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board and the Texas AFL-CIO, as well as Houston City Council members Martha Castex-Tatum and Tiffany Thomas and state Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Missouri City Democrat who chairs the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.

She will face Republican Dave Bennett, an engineer and small business owner, in November. Although the district is relatively blue (former Vice President Kamala Harris carried the district by 11 points in 2024 while Vo was reelected by 14 points), Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed Bennett amid his pledge to spend millions to turn Harris County “dark red.”

Breaux became the second challenger to beat a Democratic incumbent this primary cycle. In Tarrant County, 27-year-old Grand Prairie City Council Member Junior Ezeonu defeated Grand Prairie Rep. Chris Turner, a former chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus who was first elected in 2008. Ezeonu won amid a surge of Democratic turnout across the state during that March primary, thanks largely to the competitive U.S. Senate contest between Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and the eventual winner, Austin state Rep. James Talarico.

Also in North Texas, two-term Dallas state Rep. Venton Jones held off auditor Amanda Richardson after she kept him to 48.7% in the March primary.

Other runoffs across the state will likely decide the look of the Texas House, given how one-sided the districts are.

In Houston’s District 131, State Board of Education member Staci Childs defeated SBOE member Lawrence Allen Jr. in the Democratic runoff to succeed Allen’s mother, retiring Rep. Alma Allen. The winner will face Republican Scott Whitmarsh in November.

In Austin, former assistant education secretary Montserrat Garibay defeated former City Council member Kathie Tovo in the Democratic runoff for District 49. She’ll face Green candidate Arshia Papari in the race to succeed Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

San Antonio ISD educator Adrian Reyna defeated scandal-ridden former Bexar County Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Ray Lopez in District 125. Reyna will face Republican Rick Martinez in November.

On the Republican side, former Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart defeated Kelly Peterson in the District 126 runoff. Abbott endorsed Stanart while Peterson was backed by retiring Rep. Sam Harless, R-Spring. Stanart will face Democrat Stefanie Bord and independent Lisa Emerson.

In a bellwether battleground in South Texas, Republican activist Gary Groves will face Democrat Julio Salinas, both of whom were elected as their party’s nominees Tuesday. Republicans hope to continue their gains among Hispanic voters and flip the seat with the retirement of Rep. Bobby Guerra, D-Mission. The 14-year veteran was reelected by 6.9 points in 2024 despite President Donald Trump carrying the district by 1.6 points — a 7-point swing from Trump’s 2020 result there.

Groves was supported by Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, a longtime kingmaker in Texas Republican politics, defeating attorney Sergio Sanchez in their runoff.

Salinas, a former staffer in the Legislature, was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. At 26, he would be the youngest state representative, and he received much of his financial support from Leaders We Deserve, a PAC to elect young progressives founded by gun control activist David Hogg. Salinas defeated Victor “Seby” Haddad, a McAllen city commissioner since 2019 who touted his local government and small business ties.

In a seat Democrats hope to flip, voters nominated educator Oziel “Ozzie” Ochoa Jr. to face Rep. Janie Lopez, R-San Benito, in District 37. Ochoa defeated law student Esmeralda “Esmi” Cantu-Castle in their runoff.

While a Tornado threat is over for San Antonio, flooding may continue until Wednesday morning commute.

>> Click here for the latest forecast

A KSAT crew captured vehicles submerged on Ninth Street near downtown San Antonio.

KSAT Weather Authority meteorologist Justin Horne captured video of a lightning strike that ignited a tank battery fire east of Pearsall on Tuesday afternoon. Watch the full video below:

KSAT Connect users also shared videos of lightning strikes and flooded areas Tuesday night.

It appeared that the minibus drove through the closed crossing barrier, officials said. A security camera showed the bus, carrying nine people, was moving when the train hit it. The collision happened during morning rush hour near Buggenhout town, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of the capital, Brussels.

The bus driver and an escort were killed along with two children aged 12 and 15, said Lisa De Wilde, spokesperson for the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office. She said the injured children were hospitalized in serious condition.

De Wilde told journalists the cause of the crash hadn't been established.

“What we do know is that the barrier was closed and the red light was on,” she said.

Federal Police spokesperson An Berger said the minibus driver appeared to have plowed through the barrier. Infrabel said the crossing was working correctly.

The train had been traveling at an estimated 120 kph (75 mph) as it approached the crossing and had “no time to brake," said Frédéric Sacré, a spokesperson for Belgian rail operator Infrabel.

“The impact was extremely violent,” Sacré told the RTBF public broadcaster.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene said the bus was toppled on its side with its front section crushed. The train was relatively unscathed.

It was believed about 100 passengers were aboard the train and that none were hurt. Rail traffic in the area was halted. Local officials stood for a minute's silence after a news conference.

In a post on social media, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he was “deeply moved by the horrific accident in Buggenhout. My thoughts go out to the affected families.”

Children played basketball and rode bicycles at a school not far from the scene.

——

Cook reported from Brussels. Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, Netherlands.

Amy Reasons Copes was arrested following a weekend “family dispute,” Cibolo Green Elementary Assistant Principal Shaunte Gomez wrote in a letter to families, that “had nothing to do with the school.”

Gomez said Reasons Copes resigned Tuesday evening and is no longer employed by the district. The district said it will cooperate with authorities.

Amy Jane Reasons Copes, 52, was booked Sunday into the Bexar County jail, records show, on a Class A misdemeanor charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member.

Former Cibolo Green principal Adam Schwab will serve as substitute principal for the final week of school, the letter said.

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

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

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

Read also:

• North East ISD names lone finalist for superintendent
• Bexar County Sheriff encourages struggling parents to ask for help after father breaks 2-month-old’s femur

Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true MAGA warrior." Paxton's victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn — who was first elected to the Senate in 2002 — the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.

Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton's election night party when the race was called, and he took the stage to supporters chanting his name. He quickly gave credit to Trump.

“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen," Paxton said. "President Trump is the leader of our party, and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”

Cornyn's loss followed primaries this month where Trump successfully backed challengers to Republican lawmakers who had displeased him in Louisiana, Kentucky and Indiana, a sign of his enduring influence among primary voters.

The candidates that Trump endorsed in those states are expected to easily win against Democratic opponents. However, the president’s decision to boost Paxton, who won Tuesday with a sliver of the Republican base who shrugged off his past scandals, may be a bigger gamble in the general election.

Democrats are hopeful that their nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, has a rare opportunity to win a statewide race in Texas — and help the party retake control of the Senate — with Paxton as his opponent.

Tuesday’s runoffs also decided Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.

‘I will be the Democrats’ No. 1 target'

In Austin on Tuesday night, Cornyn gave a short concession speech tinged with emotion to a room of only reporters.

“Tonight we’ve come up short,” Cornyn said, adding that he’d support Paxton in the general election. “I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again.”

Cornyn said in 2023 as Trump was running to return to the White House that his time “has passed him by," a statement that came back to bite him. He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.

Cornyn had the backing of Senate GOP leaders who said he would be the stronger general election candidate against Talarico, which was also the senator's argument to voters before Tuesday.

That's not lost on Paxton, who said in his speech that “without a shadow of a doubt, I will be the Democrats’ No. 1 target in November.”

Talarico's campaign hit back Tuesday night on the social platform X, highlighting what they — and some Republicans — see as Paxton's weakness, including an FBI investigation and impeachment for corruption in which he was later acquitted.

The primary was long and costly

Cornyn led Paxton in the March 3 primary but failed to win a majority. That was after Cornyn and his supporters waged a monthslong advertising campaign, mostly attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions.

The two-term attorney general was acquitted on corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial, where allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.”

It gave Cornyn fodder for an ad campaign that, along with allied groups, spent roughly $109 million between the primary and runoff elections.

Immediately after the primary, Trump promised to endorse but didn’t act until after early voting began last week.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him.

Retired Dallas-area resident David Jacobson, 70, said Trump's endorsement was a factor in his decision to back Paxton on Tuesday. While Cornyn has for the most part been a strong Trump supporter, Jacobson generally thinks most politicians have remained in office too long.

“Maybe it’s time for a change,” he said after voting.

Linda Williams said she voted for Cornyn, calling him “the lesser of two evils.” She thought Cornyn had a better chance to beat Talarico this fall.

“Because Paxton is a crook," Williams said after voting in Plano, outside Dallas.

Trump snubbed Cornyn amid retribution campaign

Trump, in his endorsement, poked at Cornyn, saying he “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”

Cornyn said Tuesday on Fox News Radio's “The Brian Kilmeade Show” that the president's ire was misplaced. He said, “grifters” are "claiming that I am opposed to the president's agenda, and I think that’s caused some confusion with the president himself. But I’ve been supportive.”

Some GOP strategists have argued that a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority. Cornyn had the support of Senate GOP leaders.

Democrats choose US House nominees

Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee defeated veteran Rep. Al Green in Texas' 18th District, dispatching a longtime House incumbent who was one of Trump's most outspoken critics. The Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew the district when it approved a new House map last year. The new map led to a runoff between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area.

Former Rep. Colin Allred beat U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson in the Dallas-area 33rd District's Democratic primary runoff. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead sought a return to the House.

Near San Antonio, Johnny Garcia won the Democratic primary for Texas’ 35th District against against Maureen Galindo, a candidate who has expressed antisemitic views. While Texas lawmakers redrew the district to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and didn't want Galindo's past comments to impede them.

Garcia will face Republican Carlos De La Cruz, who defeated John Lujan in the GOP primary.

___

This story has been corrected to show that voter David Jacobson is 70, not 71.

___

Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle contributed from Sasche, Texas.

The crisis that began Thursday had forced 50,000 people to evacuate in and around the Orange County city of Garden Grove. A crack that formed by chance on the tank relieved pressure and helped avert a catastrophic explosion, allowing most evacuees to return home over the Memorial Day weekend. Authorities announced they were lifting the final orders after the temperature on the tank remained stable for four hours without intervention from sprinklers.

“All residents will go home,” Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said during a meeting that grew raucous at times as residents questioned why the chemical was allowed in a densely populated area and urged city officials to hold the company that operates the tank accountable.

The tank contains methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable. Health officials have assured residents that no contamination or fumes were released, and that they will keep monitoring the air for several months and checking the sewer and storm drains. Exposure to the chemical can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological issues and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The tank at GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields, contains 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of the chemical.

Separately, an implosion of a chemical tank Tuesday at a pulp and paper mill in Washington state killed one worker and left nine others accounted for, with authorities saying they were working on recovery efforts. Nine others were injured.

Residents call for accountability

Angry residents spoke at the city council meeting after the crisis interrupted Memorial Day plans, graduation ceremonies and daily life in central Orange County, which is made up of a cluster of cities including Garden Grove.

Karen Nguyen, a 29-year-old Garden Grove resident, said she will be able to go home now that the evacuation order is being lifted but is concerned about what the chemical might do to her three cats, which already have health issues. She told the city council she wants stricter regulations to ensure nothing like this happens again, and she doesn’t want to see these plants in her community.

“They’re not welcome in our neighborhood,” she said.

Bobbi-Lee Smart said she was evacuated from her home in nearby Anaheim but many of her neighbors were too poor to get out. She said this never should have happened as the company had a record of violations. She demanded the city take action.

“Please shut them down, please take care of our residents," she said.

Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein pledged to hold the company accountable.

In a statement earlier Tuesday, GKN said it was working closely with authorities.

“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing, and our priority remains the safety of our neighbors and our community,” the statement said.

GKN agreed to pay state regulators more than $900,000 in 2025 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

Authorities scrambled to minimize risk

Crews at the California plant had worked to ensure two nearby tanks were neutralized and would not be affected by the compromised tank, Orange County Fire Capt. Brian Yau said.

The tank overheated because a valve on the cooling system failed that kept it at 50 degrees, (10 degrees Celsius), Covey said.

Crews sprayed water on the tank until the interior temperature stabilized to 92 F (33.3 C), down from 100 F (37.7 C) over the weekend, the fire department said earlier Tuesday. A sprinkler system was used to douse the tank, and the company said its technical specialists and firefighters removed insulation from the tank to help cool it.

Officials will remain to continue monitoring, he said.

So far testing has found no contamination, officials said.

Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong tried to reassure people returning home over the holiday weekend, saying "you should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”

Isabel Mendez, 34, said she broke out in a rash on her face and had tingling lips and a sore throat while she was getting ready to leave after an evacuation order was issued Thursday. Her symptoms disappeared a few hours later, she said. She was among the last people allowed back to her home, which is a mobile home close to the site of the leak.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District will monitor the air for several months and the EPA will be checking sewer and storm drains for spills, Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said.

The California crisis is reminiscent of a 2014 chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia when storage tanks failed. The disaster inspired a new state law requiring more inspections and registrations of aboveground storage tanks.

___

This story has been updated to correct a quote’s attribution to Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey not TJ McGovern, an interim fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles and Bellisle from Seattle. Associated Press journalists Leah Willingham in Boston; Jamie Stengle in Dallas; and Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS

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FORECAST

TIMING OF STORMS LATER TODAY

• Storms are ongoing, capable of heavy rain and lightning. Watch live radar and coverage in the video above.
• Street flooding and power outages will be possible.
• Heavy rain will peak end around midnight, however, showers and storms could linger through sunrise Wednesday. Street flooding will be a concern and the Wednesday morning commute could be affected.

WEDNESDAY

It’ll be cooler and cloudier Wednesday, with only a small 30% chance of redevelopment in the afternoon.

REST OF THE WEEK

It’ll be warmer for the rest of the week, apart from an occasional isolated storm chance.

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Avery was live from The Rock at La Cantera, while John Paul was with fans at the Frost Bank Center.

Tipoff for Game 5 is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The series is tied 2-2 after the Spurs beat the Thunder 103-82 Sunday at the Frost Bank Center.

The winner of the Spurs-Thunder series will face the New York Knicks in the 2026 NBA Finals.

More Race For Seis coverage on KSAT:

• ‘We’ve got to fly them to OKC’: Kornet prays with nuns before Game 4 blowout win over Thunder
• Where to watch Spurs game tonight in San Antonio for free
• SCHEDULE: NBA sets TV broadcasts, tipoff times for Spurs-Thunder Western Conference Finals

It turned out to be a genius move.

McCain scored 20 points — 18 of them coming in the second half — and the host Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night, a victory that put the reigning NBA champions one win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals.

“We just thought he could give us some good stuff, just based on where we are right now with a couple guys out,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He was really good. ... Great mental toughness. I never take it for granted when somebody steps into a role like that in a game like this, but certainly not surprised. He's got great moxie and confidence and he showed that tonight.”

Williams was downgraded to out by the Thunder for Game 5 about an hour before game time Tuesday. after being listed as questionable throughout the day because of his ongoing issues with a strained left hamstring.

Mitchell, who typically starts in Williams' place, was ruled out earlier by the Thunder with a strained right soleus.

And that created a moment for McCain — who delivered. He wasn't shy, either, with his 19 shot attempts in Game 5 tying Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the most on the Thunder.

“Coming into this game, I just literally wanted to play as hard as I can on the offensive end and rebound and everything else will flow," McCain said after the game on NBA TV — where he disclosed that Daigneault hinted Monday that he'd be the starter, then confirmed it to him Tuesday. “Everything else comes together.”

McCain was making the first playoff start of his career. He averaged 8.8 points in 12 playoff games off the bench for the Thunder entering Tuesday.

It's unknown how long he'll remain in the starting five. Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio, but his effort Tuesday certainly was one heck of an audition.

Williams returned for Game 1 of the West finals, scoring 26 points in 37 minutes in Oklahoma City’s 122-115 double-overtime loss. He had four points in seven first-quarter minutes in Game 2, including an alley-oop dunk with 2:12 left in the period, and hasn't played since.

Williams has now missed 58 of the Thunder’s 95 games this season, including playoffs. Of those absences, 19 were for a right wrist issue and the other 39 were related to his hamstrings — the right one costing him 30 games during the regular season, the left one now costing him nine during the playoffs.

___

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

A temperature of 35.1 degrees Celsius (95.2 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded at London's Kew Gardens, Britain's Met Office weather service said, breaking the 34.8 C (94.6 F) record set a day earlier at Kew. The provisional readings smashed the long-standing record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and matched in 1944.

London also recorded a rare “tropical night,” defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20 C (68 F).

Records also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36 C (97 F) on Monday in the country's southwest and widely remained above 20 C at night.

The national weather service, Météo-France, said a “heat dome,” with heat held in place by a high-pressure weather front, was producing temperatures more than 10 degrees Celsius above what is usual for this time of year.

Unpredictable and extreme weather is becoming more frequent as Earth warms. Experts say unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people in danger.

“We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that heat wave events such as this have been made more likely and more severe due to climate change arising from our emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases,” said Peter Thorne, director of the ICARUS Climate Research Centre, at Maynooth University, in Ireland.

“But, nevertheless, many of the records being set, particularly in the U.K. and France, are mind-bogglingly crazy,” he said.

After a long weekend that sent people in Britain flocking to beaches, pools and shady parks, London commuters sweltered on Tuesday in subway carriages without air conditioning. Trains to and from the busy Waterloo station were disrupted by a report of smoke on the tracks.

In Scotland, firefighters worked through the night to douse a grass fire that sent smoke billowing from Arthur’s Seat, the rocky hill that looms over Edinburgh.

The U.K. Health Security Agency issued an amber health alert for large parts of the country through Thursday, warning of a potential health risk, particularly among older people, at the hottest times of the day. The U.K. is used to moderate temperatures and many homes, schools and businesses do not have air conditioning.

At least four teenagers died in apparent drownings in U.K. lakes and reservoirs, and a 60-year-old man died in the sea in southwest England, authorities said.

French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said there have been reports of at least seven deaths potentially related to high temperatures, including five drownings and two deaths in sports competitions.

The early heat wave has struck before the annual summer window when lifeguards watch over bathers at popular beaches, increasing risks.

On France’s Atlantic seaboard, where magnificent beaches have powerful riptides, officials reported a rash of emergencies in the surf, with two drowning deaths on Sunday at popular resorts in the Gironde region in the southwest.

The top regional administrator, Sophie Brocas, urged beachgoers “to exercise the utmost caution.”

The unseasonable heat extended to Spain, where weather service spokesperson Rubén del Campo said: “We find ourselves with temperatures we normally see in the middle of the summer now in the month of May.”

He said Seville hit 38 C (100 F) over the weekend, while large parts of the Iberian Peninsula saw temperatures 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal.

And in Rome, temperatures were expected to reach 32 C (89.6 F) on Tuesday.

___

Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

Goodwin defeated Marcos Vélez and in November will face Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the popular GOP leader who is sitting on more than $30 million in his campaign coffers and won his own primary in March by the widest margin since he became the state’s second-highest executive 11 years ago.

“Tonight, Texans chose a politics rooted in decency, dignity, and the belief that our state belongs to all of us,” Goodwin said. “Now, we keep going, for public schools, affordable housing, accessible healthcare, clean water, and a Texas that is kinder, safer, and more hopeful.”

Goodwin and Vélez advanced to the runoff after neither secured more than 50% of the vote during the March primary. 

On the campaign trail, Goodwin pitched herself to voters as a public schools advocate who will also fight for affordability, healthcare access and water infrastructure. Vélez, meanwhile, cast himself as a blue collar union leader who has a finger on the pulse of a working class that wants a lieutenant governor focused on affordability.

Goodwin will face an uphill battle to unseat Patrick, a close ally of President Donald Trump who has steadily pushed the Texas Senate, which he presides over, ever to the right. Most of the job’s authorities are derived from the rules passed by senators at the beginning of each legislative session. 

Should Goodwin oust Patrick, the Legislature’s upper chamber would likely still be controlled by a GOP majority that would likely overhaul the position’s responsibilities and powers — shaking up power dynamics in Austin. 

Goodwin and Vélez clashed several times but perhaps most notably about Vélez’s indirect support from Texas Majority PAC, the Texas Democratic Party’s campaign arm that does not get involved in primaries as a general rule. The group is funded by George Soros.  

TMP appeared to give the steelworkers union leader more than $500,000 by donating to a PAC called Houstonians for Working Families that then contributed to Vélez via direct donations as well as a launch video that cost $25,000. TMP’s executive director, Katherine Fischer, also contributed $500, according to the most recent campaign finance reports filed with the state ahead of Tuesday’s election. 

TMP also gave $400,000 to a group called Relentless PAC, which a day later gave a $388,000 in-kind contribution to Vélez.

Goodwin knocked the group, roasting it for supporting Vélez, who in an interview with The Houston Chronicle editorial board could not name his state representative when asked by Goodwin. 

Still, a week out from election day, Goodwin outgunned Vélez financially — reporting $145,994 cash on hand to his $81,589.

The livestream took place at 7:30 p.m. on KSAT Plus and YouTube, leading up to the Nightbeat on KSAT 12 and streaming on KSAT Plus.

Arthur, Zuniga and our team of KSAT 12 reporters will bring you the latest from watch parties across the state, as well as analysis from the ‘Power Panel’ of experts.

Panelists for the livestream include:

• Demonte Alexander, CEO of Citizens Reach and a military veteran
• Kevin Wolff, former Bexar County Precinct 3 commissioner

More Vote 2026 coverage on KSAT:

• What to know about voting early in the 2026 Texas primary runoff election in Bexar County
• Texas primary runoff: Key races on the May 26 ballot
• Election Day guide: Polling locations, races and voting rules in Bexar County

Paxton was endorsed by President Donald Trump last week, and his victory showcased the president’s power over his party as he seeks to punish Republicans he sees as insufficiently loyal.

Paxton will run against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November.

Democrats also voted to choose U.S. House nominees on Tuesday at the polls.

Here is the Latest:

House Majority PAC congratulates Garcia’s win over candidate condemned for antisemitic remarks

“Mike Johnson and Republican leadership wasted millions of dollars supporting an avowed antisemite, and failed,” House Majority PAC spokesperson Katarina Flicker said in a statement. “HMP is proud to support Johnny Garcia, and we look forward to seeing the GOP dummymander backfire in November.”

A super PAC that backed Galindo, Lead Left, was accused by Democrats of being funded by Republicans.

Galindo has made several remarks that were condemned by national Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as antisemitic and unwelcome in the party.

Allred is getting his old House seat back

Allred left the House to run for U.S. Senate in 2024, when he lost a challenge to GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

He was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid on the same day Rep. Jasmine Crockett announced she was running.

He then said he would run again for the House. He defeated Rep. Julie Johnson, who had replaced him in Washington.

Trump celebrates Paxton’s win and touts his endorsement

The president posted a graphic depicting himself and Paxton on his social media platform, Truth Social, with the words “Ken Paxton wins! Endorsed by President Trump!”

Trump’s picks dominated their runoff elections. Each Trump-backed congressional candidate won their runoff with double-digit margins, continuing Trump’s winning streak with his endorsements.

Republicans’ Senate campaign arm attacks Talarico without mentioning GOP runoff candidates

“A state President Trump won by nearly 14 points isn’t going to elect James Talarico — a radical leftist who thinks God is nonbinary and that Texas should be a welcome mat for illegals,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Samantha Cantrell in a statement.

“He is the most dangerous flank of the far left. Texas isn’t swapping brisket for open borders,” she added.

Cornyn is a former chair of the NRSC. He was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Tim Scott, the current NRSC chair.

Johnny Garcia wins the Democratic primary for Texas’ 35th US House District

National Democrats stepped in to help Garcia win House nomination as the party was seeking to defeat Garcia’s rival, Maureen Galindo, who has repeatedly expressed antisemitic views.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called her comments “disgusting” and said it shouldn’t be near “our politics.” Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Suzan DelBene also weighed in.

Republicans redrew the 35th District to help the GOP win more House seats, but Democrats think they may have a chance to flip it. They worried that if Galindo won, her past comments would hurt the party.

Cruz congratulates both Paxton and Cornyn after divisive Senate runoff contest

Texas’ junior U.S. senator said Paxton “has my full support and endorsement as the Republican nominee” in a social media post. He called Paxton a “fearless conservative who spent years taking on Texas’s toughest battles as attorney general” and said he expected Paxton to prevail in the general election.

“I look forward to fighting alongside him,” Cruz wrote.

Cruz then he went on to commend Cornyn’s years of service.

“I also want to congratulate and thank my friend Senator John Cornyn for his many years of dedicated service to Texas and our country. It has been an honor to serve alongside him for over a decade.”

He then called on Texans to oppose Talarico’s Senate race, arguing the Texas Democrat “is radical, dangerous, and does not represent the values, ideas, or principles of the Lone Star State. Defeating him is critical.”

Paxton supporter: His ‘warts’ will not be an issue

Rick Swarts, a Paxton supporter who drove from his home in Austin to see the candidate, isn’t worried that the ethical and personal questions the attorney general faces will do any damage to him in the general election.

“James Talarico is such a weak candidate, any warts Paxton has will not be an issue,” Swarts said outside the ballroom where Paxton’s supporters were celebrating. “He always lands on his feet. Like Trump.”

Swarts said Talarico is so out-of-step with mainstream voters, “Beto O’Rourke is going to look like a hardcore conservative when it’s all over.” O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman, ran a competitive Senate race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.

Paxton ends his speech

The victor finished his remarks much like they began.

“Thank you for making history,” he said, before wading into the crowd to shake hands and greet supporters.

Paxton attacks Talarico as a ‘radical’ and urges Republicans to unify ahead of general election

“This campaign is not about red versus blue. It’s about so much more. My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated,” Paxton told the crowd.

“The reality is James Talarico is going to be nothing more than a Texas-faced puppet for Chuck Schumer and the national Democrats,” Paxton warned.

Paxton also predicted Talarico is “going to raise more money than any Democrat in America” and urged his followers to donate to his campaign.

“If Republicans lose this state, we lose the country,” Paxton warned.

Paxton takes the stage

“Tonight we just made history,” he told cheering supporters.

The state attorney general paid tribute to Trump for his endorsement despite the objections of Senate Republican leaders.

“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen,” Paxton said. “Instead he gave his complete and total endorsement. President Trump is the leader of our party and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”

Paxton draws Trump comparisons at victory party

Aidan Shull, in a cowboy hat and jeans, called Paxton “a really good change of pace.”

The 21-year-old Paxton supporter was attending the candidate’s watch party-turned celebration with his fiancee, Brooke Peters.

“He’s not new but he feels new. It’s very similar to Trump 2016,” he said. “He’s giving us hope for change at a time when we really need it in Washington.”

Peters credited Paxton for his long list of lawsuits as attorney general as proof he cares about people.

“He’s very strong-headed. We’ve seen what he’s done, and he’s gone after people,” the 19-year-old said. “And he’s going to keep doing that for Texas.”

Talarico wastes no time launching attacks on Paxton as ‘corrupt’

Within minutes of Paxton being declared the winner of the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate, the Democrat called him “the most corrupt politician in America” in a social media post.

“He embodies the broken system we’re running against,” Talarico wrote on X. In another post, he invited Cornyn’s supporters to vote for him.

“You have a place in our campaign,” Talarico wrote.

Cornyn says he ‘kept the faith’

“Serving others is a high purpose. And while much about politics is ugly, we choose to serve through the good, the bad and the ugly,” Cornyn said of his time in office.

He cited a speech from President Teddy Roosevelt about “fighting in the arena” and a verse from the New Testament that reads: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Cornyn says he’ll support Paxton in the general election

“Tonight we’ve come up short,” Cornyn said to the gathered reporters. “A few years ago, I had a friend of mine say, ‘You know what makes God laugh?’ he said, ‘When we make plans.’”

Cornyn thanked his campaign staff and family, and said he’s spent his career building the Republican Party in Texas and the U.S. Senate.

“I’ve always supported the Republican ticket,” he said, “and I intend to do so again.”

Club for Growth backs Paxton and attacks Talarico

The conservative organization endorsed the Texas attorney general on Tuesday night and released an advertisement arguing that Talarico is out of step with Texan culture.

“Texas is a conservative state and deserves a real conservative in the Senate. Ken Paxton has consistently stood up against Democrats and the establishment in Austin to defend the rule of law and freedoms for every Texan,” said a statement from Club for Growth PAC President David McIntosh. He argued Talarico “has spent his career promoting woke gender ideology, fighting against meat consumption, and opposing the values Texans cherish.”

The ad includes multiple videos of Talarico’s past comments on faith, activism and gender, including one clip where the state representative said he sounded “like a crazy person” and another where he said that people should “try to reduce our meat consumption” to fight climate change.

Cornyn’s unusual watch party goes quiet as race is called

The room was full of journalists and no supporters, so as the race call that Paxton won went out, the only sounds were fingers tapping at keyboards and television reporters shuffling in front of cameras to prepare to go live.

Then the murmur of those reports filled out the silence. Cornyn is expected to speak shortly.

Paxton’s supporters celebrate

Cheers rang through the ballroom as Van Halen’s “Jump” throbs through Paxton’s election night party, while the stage filled with people holding the candidate’s campaign signs.

Paxton wins Republican Senate primary runoff

The win also marks another victory for Trump, who endorsed Paxton as part of his effort to dislodge GOP officeholders he views as less than devout in their support of him.

Cornyn is now the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.

Paxton will face Talarico in November. It’s the matchup that Democrats wanted, and some in the GOP are nervous about how much it will cost to try to keep the seat in Republican hands.

Cheers at Paxton event when Texas comes on screen

A cheer erupted among the roughly 50 supporters of the Texas attorney general in the Plano hotel ballroom when the large TV screen flashed to CNN’s coverage of the Republican Texas Senate runoff.

The crowd is awaiting returns for their candidate in his challenge of four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn, snacking on tacos and drinking beer.

The mood is festive and upbeat, as Paxton staff have projected optimism, especially in light of Trump’s endorsement of Paxton a week ago.

Cowboy hats and boots, on women and men, are common, as are suits and cocktail dresses in the Dallas-Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center in the upscale shopping and dining area near Dallas where Paxton is expected to speak later.

Cornyn’s watch party isn’t typical

That’s because it’s almost exclusively journalists packed in an austere hotel meeting room in downtown Austin. There aren’t crowds of excited supporters or the pomp of champagne glasses and white tablecloths. A few small campaign signs are stuck to the walls, and a lone podium is backdropped by a screen emblazoned with the candidate’s name.

The senator is expected to enter the room to speak once the race is called. Otherwise, reporters are milling around chairs, going live on their television channels and reloading the voting results online.

Most polls are closed

Most of Texas is in the Central time zone, where polls closed at 7 p.m. local time, or 8 p.m. ET.

A far western part of the state is in the Mountain time zone, so polls there will close an hour later, at 9 p.m. ET.

Angela Paxton doesn’t endorse in Texas Senate race

The Texas state senator posted several endorsements on social media for the Republican primary runoff. But there was no mention of the U.S. Senate campaign between her husband, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

Angela Paxton was a key fixture in Ken Paxton’s previous campaigns. She stood by him throughout his Texas Senate impeachment trial in 2023 and allegations of an extramarital affair. But she’s now seeking a divorce and has cited “biblical grounds” among her reasons for the split.

Angela Paxton urged Republicans to vote in several statewide offices, including the one her husband is leaving behind.

Democrat votes for Paxton to boost Talarico’s chances

Jessica Shaw, 46, who swung out of a polling place in a brightly colored dress in the hot Austin sun, had a strategy in mind.

“I voted for Ken Paxton because I think he is most likely to lose against Talarico,” she said, because Paxton is “such a morally bankrupt person” that he’ll turn general election voters away.

It’s an argument that Cornyn has made frequently on the campaign trail, saying he’s the better contender to face Talarico. In this case, a registered Democrat agreed.

“If this strategy doesn’t work and (Paxton) wins” in the general election, said Shaw, who then raised her hands in a shrug. “Something needs to change, or I think people will move out of Texas.”

Shaw gave a parting message before loading into her Volvo: “Vote against Trump at all costs!”

Cornyn voter: Trump’s endorsement 'doesn’t have any effect'

Debbie Burdeaux strode out of the Haggard Library in Plano sporting a fresh “I voted” sticker. Her choice in the Texas Republican Senate runoff? John Cornyn.

“Because he’s done a good job for this state, and I am not a fan of Paxton,” she said.

Trump endorsed the four-term incumbent senator's opponent, Paxton, last week.

“I don’t have a problem with Trump,” she said. “But he doesn’t have any effect on my vote.”

Burdeaux, a 69-year-old retired substitute teacher and geologist, expressed what others who have voted for Cornyn have said in this precinct: a strong distaste for Paxton.

Some Republicans have said Paxton's previous scandals could discourage GOP voters from backing him in November.

“He is a disgrace,” Burdeaux said. “I want nothing to do with him.”

Trump’s endorsement is enough for this Paxton voter

Paul Olson was quick to say why he voted for Paxton: “He’s conservative and backed by Trump.”

The 72-year-old retired finance executive elaborated a little, saying, “I just think he represents more of what middle-class America needs.”

Olson said he was perturbed that Cornyn, the incumbent, had been airing ads projecting himself as a Trump devotee despite Trump’s endorsement of Paxton.

“He claims he’s got Trump’s backing, and he most certainly doesn’t,” he said.

Olson was among a steady stream of voters arriving over the noon hour at the Haggard Library in Plano.

Confident in his choice, Olson still expressed some worry that some conservatives might be less inclined to vote in November if costs for daily expenses, most notably fuel, remain elevated.

“If they end this war soon, then good. Energy drives the cost of everything, and prices will settle,” he said. “But they have to end this war quickly.”

‘He’s just a toady for Trump’

Lee Rodriguez, a 76-year-old registered independent, said he planned to vote for Cornyn outside a polling place in Austin, Texas, mainly because he is a “stable person; he’s willing to reach across the aisle.”

To Rodriguez, that’s in stark contrast to Paxton, who “is too corrupt” and an “extremist,” he said, echoing Cornyn’s talking points about past Paxton scandals, including allegations of an affair.

Trump’s endorsement of Paxton reaffirmed his fears that “he’s just a toady for Trump,” said Rodriguez, who did not vote for Trump in 2024.

Cornyn ‘definitely the lesser of two evils’

Linda Williams walked into the steamy, sundrenched parking lot outside of Haggard Library in Plano, outside of Dallas, on Tuesday around noon.

“Paxton is a no-go!” she said of the state attorney general, but was little more enthused about Cornyn, for whom she voted and who is fighting for his political future in the Republican Senate runoff.

“It was definitely the lesser of two evils,” the 73-year-old, retired administrative support staffer from Plano said.

“Cornyn has not been the check on Trump we need. He used to be more respectable,” Williams said. “But the way he has coddled Trump and bragged about voting with him? It’s an embarrassment.”

It was all out of Williams’ sense of pragmatism.

“At least he’ll have a better chance against Talarico,” she said with reference to the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico.

“Because Paxton is a crook.”

Trump is wrapping up a month of reshaping the GOP

This has been a big month for Republican primaries and Trump’s influence over his party.

On May 5, he successfully campaigned against five out of seven Indiana state senators who rejected his redistricting plan there.

On May 16, he helped dislodge Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to convict Trump in the Jan. 6 impeachment trial five years ago. Cassidy finished third in the primary, failing to make the runoff, while Trump’s choice, Rep. Julia Letlow, finished first.

On May 19, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost his primary to Ed Gallrein, who Trump endorsed. Massie had frustrated the president by voting against his signature tax legislation and pushing to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

If Paxton wins, it would be a dramatic punctation mark on the month.

Paxton’s supporters brush off years of scandals

The attorney general has faced an impeachment effort and criminal investigations, but his supporters say they’re not concerned.

“He’s had his flaws, but so have we; we all make mistakes,” said Daniel Vega, 18, adding, “He’s repented; let’s move on.”

Others said they appreciated his aggressive conservative politics.

“He’s a fighter. He’s a person of action. He’s proven that as attorney general,” said Jeffrey Sonnier, 72.

Cornyn and his allies have dumped money into the race

Throughout the campaign, Cornyn has had the cash advantage. The senator and his allies have spent roughly $90 million in advertising, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

That includes more than $20 million since the March 3 primary.

Paxton is supported by a single super PAC, and combined they’ve spent about $10.5 million on advertising. Roughly $6.1 million has been spent since March 3.

KSAT anchors Myra Arthur and Ernie Zuniga will be live on election night Tuesday, covering key primary runoff races. The livestream will take place at 7:30 p.m. on KSAT Plus and YouTube.

When District 125 State Representative Ray Lopez announced his retirement in 2025, a half dozen candidates filed to run for his seat in 2026: four Democrats and two Republicans.

Public school teacher and advocate Adrian Reyna defeated former Bexar County Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela, according to the Texas Election Results, during the May 26 runoff election to face up against Republican Ricardo “Rick” Martinez in November.

In State Senate District 19, Republicans Marcus Cardenas (44%) and Robert Marks Jr. (32%) will face off one more time for the opportunity to take on incumbent Democrat Roland Gutierrez in November.

Cardenas, a San Antonio small business owner, has never run for public office. Marks ran for the Schertz City Council in 2024. According to his campaign website, he is retired.

Election day is May 26. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

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Find election results on the Vote 2026 page.

In a letter sent to more than 250 companies, members of the Black Caucus urge them to condemn the redistricting efforts, which the lawmakers describe as “coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box.” Some of the companies had cosigned their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.

That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, was backed by many of the country’s most valuable and influential companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.

Tuesday's letter is the latest effort by the Congressional Black Caucus and its allies to gather support for preventing more Republican-led states from redrawing their legislative maps in ways that would dilute Black political representation. Several states have moved to eliminate congressional districts represented by Black Democratic lawmakers after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that severely weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Black Caucus, said in an interview.

Clarke described the letter as “putting corporate America on notice,” but she said the caucus was not seeking an adversarial relationship with corporations. Among those receiving Tuesday's letter were companies based overseas that have a significant presence in the U.S.

The caucus last week called for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that are gerrymandering their congressional maps to eliminate districts held by Black lawmakers. The 59-member Congressional Black Caucus consists entirely of Democrats, including more than a third from Southern states.

Some lawmakers have said mass protests and federal legislation might be necessary to undo the efforts underway in Republican-led states. Any new federal voting rights law would almost certainly require Democrats to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress and win the presidency.

It is unclear how companies will respond to the demands. One firm, the outdoor clothing company Patagonia, said that it had received the caucus' letter and endorsed its message.

“A healthy business depends on a healthy democracy,” said Corley Kenna, an executive at Patagonia. “Patagonia stands with those who work to increase representation and defend free and fair elections.”

The Associated Press reached out for comment to dozens of companies that were sent a letter by the caucus, but did not receive a response from most firms. Microsoft declined to comment.

“Many companies that previously issued statements after the murder of George Floyd, pledged billions toward racial equity initiatives, and spoke forcefully in defense of democracy following January 6 now face a defining test of whether those commitments were rooted in principle or convenience,” the caucus' letter states.

It also represents the latest instance of the caucus expressing frustrations with corporate America. A 2024 Black Caucus report noted that lawmakers were “troubled that some corporations that made pledges in 2020 have taken several steps in the opposite direction,” such as rolling back or failing to follow through on pledges to diversify their workforces.

“We understand who the occupant in the White House is and the reality of Republicans being in charge,” Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada said of the caucus’ message. “But what corporate America also understands is that there will be a shift at some point.”

The letter calls on companies to publicly condemn the redistricting plans, meet with Black Caucus members to discuss corporate America's role in protecting voting rights and disclose their political donations to Republican politicians in states that are redistricting their congressional maps.

President Donald Trump last year kicked off the unusual mid-decade round of congressional redistricting when he pushed Texas lawmakers to redraw their maps in a way that would add Republican seats. Democratic-led California responded, but it has been mostly Republican states redrawing their lines since as the party tries to maintain its majority in the U.S. House during this year's midterm elections.

The effort was supercharged by the Supreme Court decision, which allowed even more Republican states to redraw congressional maps that previously had protected minority communities.

Horsford, who chaired the Black Caucus during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, said the caucus is demanding that companies “stand on the side of democracy, fairness and equal representation.”

“This is about power, who holds it and what it’s used for,” he said. “And when you’re diluting Black economic and political power, we need to know where these companies stand in this moment, and what side of history they’re on.”

Garcia will face Republican Carlos De La Cruz, who won his party’s runoff, in the November general election. De La Cruz, brother of Rep. Monica De La Cruz, defeated state Rep. John Lujan.

Galindo, who finished first in the primary, called for an ICE detention center to be turned into a prison for American Zionists and said Jews run Hollywood and worship the “synagogue of Satan.” Democrats, including Texas Reps. Al Green, Greg Casar and Texas Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico, all condemned Galindo’s comments, and Republicans blasted the party for antisemitism. 

Lead Left PAC, a pop-up group formed in early May that hasn’t had to disclose its donors, spent nearly $1 million on Galindo to create TV ads and mailers. Its website metadata initially linked to Republican donation platform WinRed, Punchbowl News reported, causing Democrats to denounce it as GOP meddling. 

In an ad, Garcia called Galindo “MAGA’s favorite,” saying her comments would make her the easiest Democrat to beat. Galindo has repeatedly blasted Garcia for his position as a cop and taking money from pro-Israel groups. 

Galindo said in an Instagram post on May 21 that she never said she wants people in internment camps. However, she doubled down on her comment about the ICE facility, saying she wants it turned into a “prison for the billionaire Zionists who have profited off genocidal prison state materials and trafficking.

Texas’ 35th District is one of several targeted by Texas Republicans last year to increase GOP congressional representation. Its current representative, Casar, was drawn out of the seat, paving the way for four Democrats and 11 Republicans to run in the March primary election. 

The new district boundaries contain less than 10% of its former constituency and now cover parts of San Antonio and outlying eastern areas in Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson and Karnes counties. 

If the updated lines had existed in 2024, the district would have gone to Donald Trump by about 10 points, though the nonpartisan Cook Political Report gives congressional Republicans a four-point advantage. Still, Democrats have set their sights on overcoming the GOP gerrymander that created the Hispanic-majority district, believing they can capitalize on a leftward shift of Hispanic voters since Trump took office.

Throughout his campaign, Garcia pitched himself as an “old-school, law-and-order” Democrat that he argued was necessary to beat a Republican challenger. Some of his priorities include increasing federal grant funding for local law enforcement, ending Trump’s tariffs and preventing members of Congress from stock trading.  

He was backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who put him on their “2026 Red to Blue” list, the centrist Democratic caucus Blue Dog Coalition and Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, a group that backs pro-Israel Democrats. 

In a news release, Blue Dog Action congratulated Garcia on his victory and said he “will keep this seat blue in November.” 

De La Cruz, a retired Air Force veteran who finished behind Lujan in the primary, was bolstered by Trump’s endorsement ahead of the primary and was fundraised by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. AI and cryptocurrency super PACs also poured a combined more than $2 million into pro-De La Cruz spending. 

De La Cruz’s win against Lujan is also notable because Lujan was one of the Republicans in the Texas Legislature who carved out the district at the president’s request. Part of Lujan’s current constituency overlaps with the new congressional boundaries.

Some of De La Cruz’s priorities include strengthening border security, AI innovation and rolling back clean energy regulations to make costs more affordable for consumers.

Johnny Garcia defeated Maureen Galindo in the Democratic Texas Congressional District 35 runoff election, the Associated Press projects. The race was called by AP at 9:35 p.m. Tuesday.

Carlos De La Cruz secured the Republican Texas Congressional District 35 nomination over John Lujan, the AP projects. The race was called by AP at 9:40 p.m. Tuesday.

According to the Associated Press, roughly two-thirds of all votes have been counted in this race.

Find more election coverage on the Vote 2026 page.

KSAT anchors Myra Arthur and Ernie Zuniga will be live on election night Tuesday, covering key primary runoff races. The livestream will take place at 7:30 p.m. on KSAT Plus and YouTube.

A new-look U.S. congressional district will have a new face representing it by the start of next year.

The state’s 35th congressional district formerly encompassed portions of San Antonio’s West Side, East Side and downtown areas as well as parts of four counties along Interstate 35 — Caldwell, Comal, Hays and Travis.

After it was redrawn by state lawmakers last year, the new 35th congressional district now occupies south, east and northeast Bexar County in addition to Guadalupe, Karnes and Wilson counties.

As a result of the changes, Rep. Greg Casar, who currently holds the seat in District 35, announced a run for the redrawn Austin-centric 37th Congressional District after Rep. Lloyd Doggett announced his retirement. On March 3, Casar (80.75% of the vote) won the Democratic primary against Esther Fleharty (19.25%).

With Casar vying for a Central Texas seat, 15 Democratic and Republican hopefuls announced their candidacies for the March primary. Only two candidates remain in each party’s May runoff.

Republican primary runoff

Current state Rep. John Lujan (33%) was the top vote-getter in the March 3 Republican primary.

Lujan represents Texas House District 118, which also occupies similar areas of Bexar County as the new District 35. He turned Texas House District 118, a historically blue district, red in a 2021 special election.

Lujan held on to the seat during the 2022 midterms and again during the 2024 general election. He also earned the endorsement of Governor Greg Abbott.

Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz did not finish far behind Lujan in second place (26.81% of the vote). According to his campaign website, De La Cruz said he was inspired to serve in the Air Force following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

De La Cruz also secured his own high-profile endorsement ahead of the March primary: President Donald Trump. He is also the brother of current Rep. Monica De La Cruz, who ran unopposed in U.S. Congressional District 15’s Republican primary.

Democratic primary runoff

New blood is set to take center stage in the Democratic runoff after a tight race in March.

All four candidates on the ballot earned at least 20% of the vote. However, Maureen Galindo (29.2%) and Johnny C. Garcia (27.1%) stood above the fray.

Galindo is running for office for the second time in as many years. In 2025, Galindo was a candidate for the District 1 council member seat in San Antonio eventually won by Sukh Kaur. Galindo garnered 3% of the vote in that race.

Garcia announced his candidacy last October for the congressional seat after an extensive career in law enforcement. He spent the last seven years as a spokesperson for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

In recent weeks, Galindo and Garcia have been locked in a public fight over alleged antisemitism and who would best represent Jewish voters.

Garcia has since secured endorsements, including from Houston-area Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.

Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2026 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.

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The 37-year-old Kimbrel came on in the eighth inning of the Rays' 6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He struck out Leody Taveras and Jeremiah Jackson before giving up a single on a soft grounder by Colton Cowser. Kimbrel then retired Blaze Alexander on a groundout.

The Rays placed right-hander Jesse Scholtens on the 15-day injured list with a right wrist strain to make room for Kimbrel on the active roster.

The New York Mets designated Kimbrel for assignment last Friday after the nine-time All-Star allowed 10 runs over 15 innings in 14 appearances. He signed a free agent contract with the team in January.

Kimbrel has 440 saves with 10 teams in his 17-year career. He won a World Series with Boston in 2018 and was the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year.

The Rays have the AL's best record at 34-18, but their bullpen's ERA of 4.40 entering Tuesday night ranked 21st in the majors.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

The Associated Press called the race for Paxton shortly after 8 p.m., about an hour after most polls closed in Texas.

Paxton’s win, coming on the heels of an eleventh-hour endorsement from President Donald Trump, will reverberate nationally. The result is a triumph for Paxton and his wing of the GOP, which prioritizes politicians’ zeal for destroying the left over traditional values like statesmanship and dealmaking.  And it’s a massive blow to the Republican old guard in Texas and the political establishment in Washington, who were firmly behind Cornyn amid concerns about Paxton’s electability in November. 

The outcome sets up a general election matchup between Paxton and Austin state Rep. James Talarico. Democrats have made no secret of their preference for Paxton, who they believe can be beaten due to the baggage he carries from a line of political and personal scandals. Paxton has run and won three times statewide, but Talarico will be by far his best-funded and most prominent opponent, and the first he will face running atop the ticket.

The attorney general received Trump’s backing a week before election day, providing him with a significant boost after both candidates spent a year lobbying for it. Paxton’s victory further demonstrates Trump’s iron grip on his party and the consequences Republicans can face for even mild criticism of a president who demands loyalty. And it sends a chilling message to the Republican establishment, which has now lost one of its most powerful senators and best fundraisers.

In a cycle that has already seen notable incumbents in both parties go down nationally, Cornyn’s loss is a political earthquake.

Cornyn has been an elected official for over 40 years, rising from district judge to Texas Supreme Court justice to Texas attorney general to the U.S. Senate. His election as attorney general put the office under GOP control for the first time since Reconstruction, setting the agency on its path to becoming a laboratory of right-wing legal activism. 

First elected to the Senate in 2002, Cornyn ascended the GOP ranks, serving as Senate Republican whip — the number two position in the conference — from 2013 to 2019. 

The senior senator had never lost a race in his career. He successfully navigated the transition from the Bush era, when he was first federally elected, to the tea party to the first Trump era of Republican politics, which felled many of his Senate contemporaries around the country. 

But the staid, even-keeled senator, a mainstay in Washington who reached the upper echelons of Senate power, could not survive a challenge from Paxton, a MAGA darling who led the unsuccessful legal effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In a concession speech early Tuesday evening, Cornyn did not mention Paxton by name but reiterated his pledge to support “the Republican ticket.” He also quoted Teddy Roosevelt — “It’s not the critic that counts … The credit belongs to the man who’s actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and blood and sweat” — and the Apostle Paul: “I fought the good fight. I finished the race, I kept the faith.”

Cornyn also ticked through his accomplishments in office, from contributing to the passage of “historic tax reform bills” to removing red tape to “helping put hundreds of conservative judges on the federal bench.”

The attorney general was once indicted for felony securities fraud (charges that were later dropped) and impeached by the Texas House for corruption and abuse of office (and acquitted by the Senate), and he has come under fire for alleged infidelity and an accumulation of assets during his time in office. 

But Paxton, after his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Texas Senate in 2023, has inspired fervent support from a MAGA base that sees him as a victim of political persecution in much the same light as Trump. He wielded that clout to target GOP lawmakers who voted for his impeachment, backing numerous primary challengers in 2024 who took out Republican incumbents in the Legislature.

Tonight, he defeated one of the most successful politicians in Texas GOP history and a key figure in the Republican establishment in Washington. Had Cornyn won the primary and gone on to serve a fifth term, he would have set a Texas senatorial record for longevity. Instead, he becomes the first senator in Texas history to lose to a member of his own party since Ralph Yarbrough in 1970.

Onstage at his victory party in Plano, Paxton took the stage to cheers from supporters and elected officials in his camp. He praised Trump for endorsing him against the advice of Republicans in Washington. And he soaked in the gravity of the moment.

“Tonight, we just sent a Texas-sized message to Washington,” Paxton said.

Cornyn is the second sitting U.S. senator to lose a primary this month, following Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who failed to qualify for a Republican runoff earlier this month. Prior to this year, only two senators had lost primaries in the past 15 years — Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Luther Strange of Alabama. Their successful primary challengers both went on to lose the general election.

Many of the Republicans who have been chased out of Congress in the past few cycles were either moderates or members who had crossed Trump, especially those who voted to impeach or convict him in the wake of January 6, such as Cassidy. But Cornyn does not fall into that category. He has been a reliable conservative vote throughout his career. His two biggest strays from MAGA orthodoxy recently were supporting aid to Ukraine and voting in favor of a bipartisan gun safety bill in the wake of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.

And as Trump’s endorsement post made clear, Cornyn irked the president when he cast doubts on Trump’s electability in 2023 — far from a unique position. As Trump put it, “He was not supportive of me when times were tough.” 

Paxton, by contrast, was one of two elected officials to attend Trump’s presidential campaign launch announcement in 2022, a demonstration of the ironclad loyalty he has shown the president.

The result is also a massive defeat for the Republican establishment in Washington, including Majority Leader John Thune, which has spent tens of millions on Cornyn’s behalf. For months, Cornyn, Thune and allies have made the case, both to voters and to the White House, that a Paxton candidacy would endanger Republicans’ chances in both the Senate race and down-ballot contests, especially the U.S. House races in Texas that could decide the balance of the lower chamber.

Minutes after the race was called for Paxton, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections forecaster, shifted their Texas Senate race rating one tick to the left, from “likely” to “lean” Republican.

Tuesday’s runoff also demonstrates the limits of money in politics. Cornyn significantly outraised Paxton throughout the race, and pro-Cornyn forces outspent the pro-Paxton side by a factor of close to nine to one overall, and over three to one during the runoff. 

The deluge of spending certainly helped, erasing Paxton’s double-digit polling lead from early in the race and powering Cornyn to a narrow first-place finish in the March primary. But Cornyn’s money machine ran up against the realities of runoffs, which have smaller electorates where hardened partisans make up a larger share of the vote, and the fact that Paxton — and his ethical baggage — was already well-known to voters. Trump’s last-second endorsement helped seal the deal.

Cornyn and his allies in Washington have argued that Paxton is a risky general election candidate whose checkered history and weak fundraising will force the GOP to spend potentially over $100 million in Texas — money they’d rather deploy to swing states like Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina. Groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee — the Senate GOP’s campaign arm — have attacked Paxton in intense personal terms, funding ads going after his divorce and calling his behavior “repulsive and disgusting.”

As Paxton’s victory appeared imminent, the NRSC put out a statement bashing Talarico, but making no mention of the nominee the group has been deeply opposed to.

“A state President Trump won by nearly 14 points isn’t going to elect James Talarico — a radical leftist who thinks God is nonbinary and that Texas should be a welcome mat for illegals,” NRSC regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell. “He is the most dangerous flank of the far left. Texas isn’t swapping brisket for open borders.”

Daniel Hayworth, Paxton’s son-in-law and a pastor at a non-denominational church in Central Texas, led a prayer at Paxton’s watch party in which he said, “We ask that your hand of blessing would be upon the campaign as they continue on to fight against James Talarico, who twists your word and spits upon your name.”

Cornyn and his allies, including Thune, routinely made the electability case to Trump, encouraging him to endorse Cornyn to avoid a costly runoff. After Cornyn finished 1.5 percentage points ahead of Paxton in the primary, the senior senator seemed to be on the precipice of achieving it. The next day, the president pledged to endorse one of the candidates in short order, accompanied by a call for the one he did not pick to drop out.

But Trump’s endorsement, when it finally came more than two months later, was for Paxton. Paxton previously offered to consider dropping out if the Senate passed the SAVE America Act, a voting restrictions bill that Trump has called his top legislative priority but is doomed in the Senate because it requires 60 votes for passage. Cornyn, already a cosponsor of the bill, indicated openness to ditching the legislative filibuster in order to pass it. But Paxton pushed the idea more aggressively, and Trump, who said in his endorsement that he appreciated Paxton’s commitment to terminating the filibuster, chose to back Paxton.

Texas’ top statewide elected officials, including Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, stayed mum on the race. 

Paxton’s win will compel an awkward reconciliation between the now-GOP nominee and the party organizations that have spent months trying to keep him off the November ballot and criticized him in sharply personal terms, saying his treatment of his family was “truly repulsive and disgusting.” And if Paxton wins the general election, he’ll be part of a Senate Republican Conference that’s been loyal to Cornyn and hostile to Paxton’s candidacy.

Paxton told CNN last week that he wanted to “cooperate” with Washington Republicans and that he is “ready to unite.”

Talarico, meanwhile, issued a statement welcoming Cornyn’s supporters into the Democratic tent, foreshadowing the skirmish in the coming months to win over the highly coveted voting bloc.

“I want to thank Senator John Cornyn for his years representing our state,” Talarico said. “ We don’t agree on everything, but we both still believe in public service. To Senator Cornyn’s supporters: you have a place in our campaign.”

Cornyn, for his part, told radio host Mark Davis before the primary that if Paxton won, he would “vote for the Republican.”

Club for Growth, a deep-pocketed GOP group, endorsed Paxton as the first results trickled in Tuesday night, accompanying it with a two-minute ad bashing Talarico.

“Ken Paxton has consistently stood up against Democrats and the establishment in Austin to defend the rule of law and freedoms for every Texan,” said Club for Growth PAC President David McIntosh.  “Meanwhile, James Talarico has spent his career promoting woke gender ideology, fighting against meat consumption, and opposing the values Texans cherish.”

While Cornyn will not be on the ballot in November, he’ll continue to serve in the Senate through early January. He will return next week to a Republican conference at odds with the White House over ballroom funding and the Department of Justice’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. Trump’s Paxton endorsement, which went over like a lead balloon in the upper chamber, recently heightened the tension. 

Retiring senators and those running for reelection in swing states have hamstrung some of Trump’s priorities in recent months. On his podcast last week, Cruz speculated that Cornyn might join the renegade caucus. 

“If Cornyn loses, I can imagine he’s going to be pissed as well,” Cruz said. “If you’ve got a three-vote majority, and you have four or five [GOP] senators who are pissed at the president, that ain’t easy.”

After a year of bitter infighting, the party will need to come together to defeat Talarico — and Paxton will need to attract Cornyn voters, some of whom have indicated in polling that they’d sit out the contest or even vote for Talarico if Paxton is the nominee. 

Texas Republicans said in interviews that they expect the party will be able to unite over their opposition to the Austin Democrat in time for the general election.

“It’s a bruising primary, it’s a bruising runoff,” Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Midlothian, said in an interview in mid-May. “There’s going to be some hard feelings for awhile, and then we got four months to get it back together. Texans generally do rally around in a very strong way once it’s over.”

But even with the runoff over, the ugliness of it — including the tens of millions the Cornyn camp spent attacking Paxton — could resonate into the fall.

“The fact that John Cornyn will have spent tens of millions of dollars on his own, plus tens of millions of dollars from outside groups, questioning the morality and the ethics of Ken Paxton is a huge down payment on the Democrats’ November campaigns,” said Josh Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project.

Talarico has exponentially outraised Paxton, creating an open question about whether Republican money — much of which was behind Cornyn — will come through for the attorney general. 

MAGA Inc., the main Trump-aligned super PAC which is sitting on a nearly $350 million war chest, could be tapped to fill the fundraising gap. 

After Trump’s endorsement came down last week, Paxton began pivoting to the general election, asking a crowd in Katy what nickname he should call Talarico. General election polling has shown a tight contest between the two, with Talarico ahead in numerous surveys.

Talarico’s message throughout the campaign has urged voters to reject a corrupt political system that he says benefits corporations and the ultra-wealthy — a message that dovetails somewhat with Cornyn’s attacks on Paxton’s rising net worth while in office.

But in an interview on Fox last week, Paxton noted that he had won three general elections before and said he planned to ensure Talarico is thoroughly scrutinized for the electorate. The Austin Democrat’s politics, especially his social views, are far outside the norm for Texas, Paxton argued, adding, “Once Talarico’s been vetted, I am convinced that Texans will reject what he’s pushing.”

— Kayla Guo and Alejandra Martinez contributed to this report.

The race, like others in recent weeks, proved the GOP’s continued loyalty to President Donald Trump, as “MAGA Mayes” pummeled Roy for saying Trump engaged in “clearly impeachable conduct” on Jan. 6, 2021, and supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failed 2024 presidential bid.

This is the first open race for attorney general in more than a decade, after Attorney General Ken Paxton decided to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Under Paxton, the agency has become the linchpin of a national effort to push conservative causes through the courts, an effort Middleton and Roy both vowed to continue.

Middleton came from behind to beat Roy’s name ID lead during the primary, thanks in large part to the millions he put into television ads and mailers, promoting his loyalty to the president. While Trump didn’t endorse in the race, Middleton touted the president’s previous positive comments about him, promising to work hand-in-hand with the Trump administration on conservative goals.

He also ran on his record of passing hard-right legislation, including limiting what bathrooms trans people can use, barring trans people from sports teams that align with the gender they identify as, and putting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

Roy offered a nearly identical ideological vision for the agency, promising to use it to go after Muslim organizations, left-leaning district attorneys and election fraud. After entering the race as the presumptive frontrunner on name recognition alone, he faced an uphill climb over his relationship with Trump and the MAGA movement.

Roy, a fourth-term Austin congressman, former federal prosecutor and top aide to Paxton at the attorney general’s office, criticized Middleton as inexperienced and unprepared for the job. Middleton is a licensed attorney, but has worked exclusively for his family oil business. He says he has practiced civil law as part of his work.

A cadre of GOP donors stepped up in the homestretch to help Roy get that message out, making the most expensive attorney general’s race in U.S. history all the more costly. Roy outspent Middleton on ads during the runoff, although Middleton spent more during the entire cycle.

Roy carved a solitary path in Congress as a conservative firebrand with an uncompromising commitment to small government. He delayed and derailed priority legislation, clashed frequently with party leaders and took on often quixotic battles with fellow conservatives over spending limits and constitutional law.

Roy’s tension with Trump, and GOP leadership, showed he had the independence necessary to be Texas’ next attorney general, he said, often citing Trump’s comment from last summer saying Roy is “not easy, but he’s good.”

“There’s no greater compliment that [Trump] could give me,” Roy said at a campaign stop earlier this month. “The guy that we praise for the Art of the Deal, the guy that we think is so strong in negotiating with other countries, to say that I’m not easy, but I’m good? That’s what I want in our attorney general, whether it’s me or someone else.”

While Trump’s approval ratings have bottomed out nationally, he remains extremely popular among Texas Republicans, with 82% approving of the job he’s doing as of April.

“Roy has had a problem there, and he chose to lean into those conflicts and use that as potentially as a strength,” said Joshua Blank, research director at the Texas Politics Project. “But if recent races are any guide, deviation from the president is not of any value in the Republican primary.”

Middleton will now face his former colleague, Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, in November. Johnson beat out former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski on Tuesday night, securing his chance to try to reclaim the agency for the Democrats.

Johnson has promised to restore the agency’s non-partisan functions, like child support enforcement and consumer protection. He’s also said he will stand with blue state attorneys general in pursuing litigation against the Trump administration.

In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strikes had targeted the new leader of Hamas' military wing. They identified him as Mohammed Odeh and called him “one of the architects” of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered over two years of war.

The strike came less than two weeks after Israel killed the previous head of Hamas' military wing, Izz al-Din al-Haddad.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas. The bodies of the dead were taken to Gaza's Shifa Hospital, which confirmed the deaths.

The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, normally a joyous time of family gatherings and large meals.

The holiday once again is subdued this year in Gaza, where the vast majority of people remain displaced and live in tents or temporary shelters after a devastating war.

A ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas last October remains fragile. Israeli attacks have killed more than 880 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says its attacks are in response to violations by Hamas or threats to its soldiers, but Palestinian health officials says scores of civilians have been among the dead. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during this period.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks in October 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says over 72,700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. The ministry, part of Gaza's Hamas government, does not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.

Republican voters in Texas’ 19th Congressional District, which represents a wedge of West Texas from Lubbock to Abilene, elected Sell as the Republican nominee. Sell, a businessman with deep familial ties to Lubbock, was endorsed by several U.S. House GOP leaders, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

President Donald Trump won by a 52-point margin in the 19th Congressional District during the 2024 presidential election, his widest in the state. Sell’s opponent in the runoff, Abraham Enriquez, made his support for Trump a key element of his unsuccessful bid for the seat after receiving the president’s endorsement. 

Trump did not endorse either candidate in the district, but Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick both threw their support behind Enriquez, with Patrick describing Enriquez as “the true America First conservative in this race.”

The seat opened up after Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, who served in the district since 2017 and chairs the U.S. House Budget Committee, announced in November that he would retire. Trump had endorsed Arrington in his 2020 and 2024 reelection campaigns.

Voters in Texas’ 38th Congressional District selected Jon Bonck of Houston as the GOP nominee, besting his opponent Shelley deZavallos handily after receiving several endorsements from Republican leaders. Bonck nearly won the seat outright in March, having received just under 47% of the primary vote, roughly 3% shy of a majority.

Bonck declared victory a half hour after polls closed Tuesday, with early voting results indicating an immediate lead over deZavallos. 

“Tonight, the people of TX-38 made it clear that they are ready for a conservative outsider who will fight for our families, our faith, and our future,” Bonck said.

Endorsements for Bonck came from several leading names in the Republican Party, including Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, Scalise and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump posted a graphic celebrating Bonck’s victory on social media less than an hour after polls closed.

The district, which represents a western stretch of the Houston area, became open for new representation after Rep. Wesley Hunt launched an unsuccessful Republican primary bid to challenge  U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for his seat. 

Sell and Bonck will face Democratic nominees Kyle Rable and Melissa McDonough, respectively, in November, however both districts are heavily favored for the two Republican candidates.

Phuoc died Saturday in Southern California after collapsing suddenly, his nephew, Van Nguyen, said.

Phuoc was hired in 1965 by AP’s former photo chief, Horst Faas, to replace another local hire who had been killed on assignment. He quickly gained a reputation among other journalists and the U.S. and South Vietnamese troops for his uncanny ability to find the thick of the action.

Phuoc was born in a Vietnamese village near Quang Ngai, south of Da Nang, in 1935 and was the youngest of many siblings. When he was about 10, his father was killed by local members of the Viet Cong insurgency. A few years later, his mother died, leaving him homeless.

“He was a really very extraordinary man who grew up from very bad treatment when he was a boy,” Nguyen said.

As a young man, Phuoc volunteered to help carry equipment at a Saigon film studio where Nguyen’s mother worked as a cook. It was there that Phuoc first picked up a camera and taught himself photography, his nephew said.

Phuoc, who was dubbed the AP’s “secret weapon” by his boss, was known for walking with the “point man” on combat patrols, putting him in position to get excellent photographs — but also exposing him to grave danger.

He was wounded at least five times during his 10 years with the AP in Vietnam, the first time just five months after he was hired. A grenade explosion left him with shrapnel in his chest and leg, but he was back on duty within a few months covering the drawn-out civil war between the Communist forces of North Vietnam and the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese military.

In 1968, he sustained a concussion when he was hit in the head by a rocket while covering street fighting in Saigon. That same year, Phuoc risked sniper fire to carry a wounded U.S. soldier to safety and received a commendation from the Ninth U.S. Army Infantry Division for saving the man’s life.

Phuoc lost his right eye in a grenade explosion in 1969 while on patrol with a Ranger battalion south of Da Nang, along Vietnam’s central coast. He learned to shoot with one eye and returned to work.

In a 2011 interview for AP’s archives, Phuoc described the difficulty of working with one eye when he had to look through the camera while also watching for silent hand gestures from the soldiers with whom he was patrolling.

His colleague in AP’s Saigon bureau, Huỳnh Công “Nick” Út, described Phuoc as fearless and resourceful in the field. Behind the scenes, he was a giving man and loyal friend who treated Út like a brother.

“Everyone loved him so much,” Út said. “When I heard, I cried, ‘My brother, he’s gone.’”

Despite his reputation for shooting action, the photos that touched Phuoc were those that evoked the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire. In the 2011 interview, he compared himself to a “small grain of sand” who used his pictures to bring their stories to the world.

When Saigon fell in 1975, Phuoc fled with his family with little more than the clothes on their back and a bottle of milk. His family was rescued from a refugee camp in Guam with the help of AP reporter Linda Deutsch, who was covering the tent city, and flown to Camp Pendleton.

Phuoc then returned to Asia and worked briefly for the AP in Hong Kong before leaving the company and settling permanently in Southern California with his family.

He went on to become a professional portrait photographer in Orange County, which is home to Little Saigon, the largest single community of South Vietnamese refugees in the world.

His great-nephew, Kim Nguyen, looked back Tuesday at the portraits Phuoc shot of him as a baby and reminisced about bringing his own son to see Phuoc’s work on display at a museum in Vietnam.

In California, Phuoc was a founding member of The Artistic Photography Association and trained young photographers. He also was a civilian volunteer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and in 1994 was named the county’s volunteer of the year.

___

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

Inspired by Gisèle Pelicot ’s decision to make her harrowing drug and rape trial public, the parents of the children agreed to open the proceedings. In France, trials involving children are usually held behind closed doors.

According to their lawyers, some parents said they were following the example of Pelicot and her motto that “shame must change sides” to abusers, not victims.

The Paris case emerged in April 2025 after several children told their parents they allegedly had been sexually abused at a nursery school.

The defendant, 36, who has not been publicly identified, is accused of assaulting children while supervising them in bathrooms, during lunch breaks and in after-school care between August 2024 and April 2025. He has denied any sexual abuse against children.

The children were between 3 and 5 years old at the time. They do not have to attend the trial. A judge has read their testimonies to investigators.

The defendant is also accused of sexually harassing two co-workers and sexually assaulting one of them. He faces up to 10 years in prison. His lawyer would not speak with The Associated Press before the trial.

Barka Zerouali, co-founder of parents' group MeToo Ecole, or MeToo School, said at a protest outside the courthouse that “there needs to be a national wake-up call at some point." Protesters carried a banner reading: “Because no child should be afraid to go to school.”

Families said the trauma of the alleged assaults was compounded by what they described as a struggle to be taken seriously by authorities. An initial warning raised by a mother months earlier was apparently ignored by the school.

Rebecca Royer, a lawyer representing several families, said that “what we are expecting is a real turning point in child protection, meaning we expect the government and municipalities to implement real measures to protect children, but also to provide real resources."

Similar cases in Paris and across France have drawn media attention in recent months.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau last week said investigations were underway involving 84 nursery schools, about 20 elementary schools and about 10 daycare centers in the capital.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said 78 school and after-school staff members have been suspended in the city since the beginning of 2026, including 31 over suspicions of sexual violence.

While teachers in France are employed by the government in state-run schools, school assistants and after-school activity leaders are hired by city authorities.

Grégoire, elected in March, has made combating child abuse an “absolute priority” and unveiled a 20 million euro ($22 million) plan to address what he described as “major dysfunction” in the city’s school supervision system. He pledged to immediately suspend any school employee suspected of abusing children.

Before being elected, Grégoire publicly revealed that he had been sexually abused as a child while attending elementary school between the ages of 9 and 10.

Child abuse became a major issue in the mayoral campaign after a series of allegations involving public schools emerged earlier this year.

___

Associated Press journalists Nicolas Garriga and Masha Macpherson contributed to this report.

Mealer, a former GOP nominee for Harris County judge, won the runoff after earning the support of Washington power players, including President Donald Trump and members of House Republican leadership.

The Associated Press called the race for Mealer shortly after 8:15 p.m.

Outside groups poured millions into the race on her behalf, leaving Cain vastly outspent. His loss also reflects a setback for Gov. Greg Abbott, who had endorsed him in the race before Trump weighed in.

Mealer will face Leticia Gutierrez, a community organizer and the Democratic nominee, in the November general election. The district includes some of Texas’ major economic powerhouses, including the Houston Ship Channel and various refineries and petrochemical production facilities.

The seat is one of five districts Texas Republicans redrew last year to favor the GOP, kicking off a national gerrymandering war after Trump urged red states to undertake an unusual mid-decade redistricting scheme to help pad Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the U.S. House during the midterm elections. Mealer and Cain finished atop a nine-person field in the March 3 Republican primary. Neither earned a majority of votes, pushing them into Tuesday’s runoff.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Green currently represents the 9th District; with the new lines covering an almost entirely different part of the map, Green shifted to run in the nearby 18th District.

Under its new lines, the 9th District would have voted for Trump by a 19-point margin in 2024. But the leftward drift of Hispanic voters, who narrowly make up a majority of the district’s eligible voting population, has convinced some Democrats they can make a run for the seat in November.

The district takes in parts of Houston’s heavily Hispanic East End and cities in the eastern part of Harris County, including Baytown, Deer Park and Pasadena. Solidly Republican Liberty County was also tacked onto the district.

Throughout the race, both Mealer and Cain ran on their Trump-aligned, conservative bona fides. Mealer showcased her support from Trump and experience in the Army, while Cain emphasized his homegrown roots in the district and staunchly conservative record in the Texas House on issues including immigration, abortion, elections and guns.

Mealer outspent Cain three to one over the course of the election cycle. Outside spending also flooded the contest, with several conservative groups wading into the race to boost Mealer and attack Cain.

Club for Growth, an influential and well-heeled national conservative group, invested over $1.1 million to support Mealer and oppose Cain, with funding going to mailers, text messaging, ads, a field program and more.

Win It Back PAC, a group affiliated with Club for Growth, pushed an ad attacking Cain for previously accepting campaign contributions from the developers of Colony Ridge, a development in the district that came under fire from Republicans for selling land to undocumented immigrants.

Additionally, Conservatives for American Excellence, a super PAC bankrolled by GOP megadonors that has opposed hardline candidates aligned with the House Freedom Caucus, aired an ad tagging Cain as a “liberal lightweight.” Another group affiliated with an Anthropic-backed effort supporting candidates who favor stronger guardrails around the AI industry, known as Defending Our Values PAC, spent over $400,000 supporting Mealer.

Cain, who hails from Deer Park, has been consistently ranked among the most conservative lawmakers in the Texas House over nearly a decade in office. Mealer attacked him, though, for supporting the House’s 2023 impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, a MAGA darling running to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

Cain had just one outside group in his corner during the runoff: Building a Strong America, whose funding came entirely from a dark money nonprofit group that does not have to disclose its donors. The pro-Cain group spent over $85,000 on texts and digital ads opposing Mealer.

Mealer is a former U.S. Army captain and bomb squad officer. She graduated from West Point, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, and she served as the public safety chair for Harris County METRO. She was the 2022 Republican nominee for Harris County judge, a contest she narrowly lost to Democrat Lina Hidalgo and whose results she contested.

Thomas Smith, an assistant attorney general in Paxton’s office, held a commanding lead in the GOP primary runoff for Place 3 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals over Alison Fox, a staff attorney with years of experience working for this court, unofficial election results showed Tuesday. The two candidates had emerged neck-and-neck at the top of a four-way race in March, with Fox less than one percentage point ahead of Smith.

Smith said in a statement to The Texas Tribune that he is “honored and humbled” to be the nominee. 

“I want to extend my respect to my opponent, Alison Fox, who is a great competitor and exceptional lawyer,” he added. “I hope she will join me in the task that lies ahead, uniting our party to win in November.”

Smith will face Democrat Okey Anyiam, a criminal defense attorney, in the November general election. No Democrat has been elected to the court since 1994. 

Smith’s primary win also signals Paxton’s continued influence on the nine-judge court, resulting in notable turnover on the all-Republican panel. 

Traditionally, the Court of Criminal Appeals is closely followed for its rulings on death penalty cases. It also hears criminal appeals from lower courts as well as petitions from those convicted of a state felony challenging their conviction or sentence. But in recent years, the court has also been in the spotlight for a 2021 decision that the attorney general’s office lacks the authority to unilaterally prosecute allegations of voter fraud. 

Paxton in turn successfully waged a campaign during the 2024 primary elections to unseat three Republican judges who were part of the 8-1 majority in the voter fraud ruling, including Sharon Keller, the presiding judge who had served on the court since first being elected in 1994. 

This year, two more Republican judges who ruled against Paxton were up for reelection, but both, David Newell and Bert Richardson, chose not to seek another six-year term. 

Newell’s campaign also donated $4,000 to Fox in October. But she returned the fund last month, according to her campaign finance report filed May 16, after learning the donation was significantly more than the $100 judicial officeholders are allowed to donate to a political candidate in a year. 

Judge Kevin Yeary, the sole pro-Paxton vote in the 2021 ruling, is the only incumbent seeking reelection this year. He did not have a primary opponent. 

One day ahead of Election Day, Smith faced a judicial complaint from James Luster, a criminal defense attorney who alleged that the candidate’s “negative campaigning” had violated the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.  

Luster co-represents Autumn Hill, who was convicted of four federal charges and acquitted of several others in connection to a 2025 nonfatal shooting of a police officer outside a North Texas immigration detention facility. He is also a partner at the Fort Worth-based Cofer Luster Law Firm, which hosted a petition signing event for Fox in September. 

On May 18, Smith criticized Fox on social media over the firm’s representation of Hill. 

“Anti ICE, Antifa lawyers helped launch my opponent’s bid to get on the ballot?!” Smith posted on X. “She is the most radical, leftist candidate to ever appear on a statewide Republican ballot.”

A day later, Fox said in a Facebook post that she is a “lifelong conservative Republican” and called the comments “absurd and intentionally deceptive.”

In his complaint, Luster said Smith’s comments misrepresent the positions of Fox and the law firm, adding that attorneys didn’t discuss any specific cases with her before the campaign event and that they also represented defendants from the Jan. 6, 2025 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He added that Hill’s state charges are still pending, and that Smith’s comments suggest that he “would probably reach a decision in favor of the State” if that case gets to the appeals court. 

Smith called the judicial complaint “politically motivated” in a statement to the Tribune.

“Our system provides representation for those accused of wrongdoing and I have my own support, including financial support, from attorneys who provide criminal defense representation for defendants,” he added. “Any observation I made about the gathering they held for my opponent was to demonstrate that she chose to seek support there rather than Republican and conservative clubs in Tarrant County where I sought support.”

The beginning of the end for John Cornyn came in 2022, when he was doing the thing he was once praised for: whipping votes to pass difficult, bipartisan legislation.

That year, moved by the Uvalde school shooting, Texas’ senior senator convinced 14 Senate Republicans to buck the National Rifle Association and join him in passing the most significant gun safety bill in a generation.

“This was fundamentally important to the country at a time when things are so polarized and people are so intolerant of others that have different points of view,” he said after it passed. “I thought it was important to demonstrate the Senate could work.”

It was legacy defining, but not in the way he had hoped. Later that year, he was booed at the Texas GOP convention for an agonizing 45 seconds straight before he even began his remarks. When he launched into his speech, packed full of red meat, the jeers did not stop.

He dismissed the reception at the time, but it would prove to be prophetic — as would President Donald Trump’s decision to torch him as a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only, for his efforts negotiating the bill.

On Tuesday, Cornyn lost his first ever election, putting an end to his more than four-decade career in public office.

A former Texas Supreme Court justice, the first Republican to become Texas attorney general since Reconstruction and a four-term U.S. senator, Cornyn had held on in the GOP as it transformed from the party of Bush to the Tea Party movement, and eventually the dominion of Trump.

But in the end, Texas Republicans rejected the august senator for a MAGA darling. Despite a record of voting in near-perfect alignment with Trump’s agenda, serving as the No. 2 most powerful Republican in the Senate, using that post to drive the president’s priorities through the chamber and working to elect Republicans across the country — Cornyn fell to Attorney General Ken Paxton, his political nemesis and a man he battered for months as morally unfit for office.

“He’s an incredibly sophisticated and talented political operator,” said Enrique Marquez, a Republican consultant who previously served as chief of staff to one of Paxton’s erstwhile rivals, former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan. “He just happened to be running against the one person more loyal to Donald Trump than he is. And ultimately, loyalty is the attribute that Trump values the most.”

Cornyn’s list of MAGA sins included voting to certify President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election (even as he opposed Trump’s impeachment over the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection) and suggesting in 2023 that Trump’s “time has passed him by” (before later endorsing him for his third run at the White House). He was also seen, in the eyes of Trump and the grassroots, as failing to push hard enough to pass the SAVE America Act, a voting restrictions bill at the top of Trump’s priorities, this year. Notably, he was also one of the few Texas Republican leaders to criticize Paxton’s 2023 impeachment as “a source of embarrassment” to the party — igniting a feud that would carry through their primary battle.

“Cornyn created his own vulnerabilities by really allowing himself to become untethered from the desires of the average grassroots Republican in Texas,” said state Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, who served on Paxton’s defense team during his impeachment trial. “It was really the perfect storm of Paxton being optimal in all the areas where Cornyn was weak.”

For the past several months, Cornyn ran primarily on his allegiance to the president — and on the basis that Paxton was unfit for office and would threaten Republican dominance in Texas. Even while gluing himself to Trump, who has faced similar scrutiny to the attorney general, Cornyn hammered Paxton for his long list of since-resolved civil and criminal accusations and for his divorce over his alleged infidelity.

“Character is on the ballot,” Cornyn said ahead of the March 3 election. “Ken Paxton is betting that character doesn’t matter to Texas Republican primary voters. I’m betting the opposite.”

Trump all but sealed Cornyn’s fate last week when he issued a last-minute endorsement of Paxton a day after early voting began. He did so over the protests of Cornyn’s colleagues in Senate Republican leadership, who argued that Paxton would make a weaker general election candidate and force the GOP to spend millions more defending Texas instead of other, more competitive seats.

“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination.”

Over Memorial Day weekend, Trump’s tune soured. In another post, he attacked Cornyn as “VERY disloyal to me, as President,” adding that he “didn’t fight hard enough for the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT.” The bill would require people to provide proof of citizenship in person to register to vote and to show government-issued photo ID at the polls. It would also force states to submit their voter rolls to the federal government to check for noncitizens.

Trump described Paxton, meanwhile, as “someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT,” and “a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas.”

The outcome reflects Trump’s continued grip on the Republican Party, despite his flagging approval rating and status as a second-term president pushing 80 years old. And it underscored the ever vanishing space within his GOP for a lawmaker of Cornyn’s tradition, in which bipartisan cooperation, statesmanship and staunch conservatism could outweigh a candidate’s devotion to Trump.

Cornyn and his allies dropped roughly $100 million on airtime over the course of the primary, seeking to convince voters of his conservative record while tarring Paxton as corrupt, adulterous and untrustworthy. Senate Republican leadership poured millions into the race on his behalf, helping make the primary and runoff elections the most expensive in the country’s history, according to media tracking firm AdImpact.

Cornyn also rolled out endorsements from titans past of Texas Republican politics, law enforcement, industry groups and more. And he nakedly sought to curry the president’s favor, posting photos of him reading Trump’s book, “The Art of The Deal,” and standing in front of Trump Burger in Houston, proposing Congress rename a highway “Trump Interstate,” and reiterating his consistent support for Trump’s agenda.

None of it was enough to save him.

“He was willing to be malleable, flexible on his issue positions, but what he couldn’t ever really do was change his basic style of engagement with politics,” said Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “Cornyn is not by nature an ideological warrior, he’s not someone who gets up in the morning thinking about how he can own the libs. And that’s what Paxton is. … To the extent that that has become the dominant style of our politics, Cornyn is, in terms of tone and vibe, not a good match for that.”

Had Cornyn won the nomination and gone on to beat Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico for a fifth term, he would have set a Texas senatorial record. Instead, he is the first sitting senator in Texas to lose to a member of his own party since U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarbrough in 1970.

His final pitch to Texans as voting in the runoff kicked off reflected both the political style he embodied over more than two decades in Washington and one long out of vogue with a Republican base intent on taking a wrecking ball to the establishment.

“We know we can’t just win elections with Republican votes,” Cornyn said in Austin last week. “You need independents and the occasional convert from the other party. Ken Paxton will get none of those, and puts all of this at risk.”

That resistance to the base’s preferences did not go unnoticed.

Cornyn “assumed his final form, which is an ivory tower moderate Republican who was removed from the everyday concerns of Texans,” Little said. “He is out of touch with his voters and it cost him. And Attorney General Paxton is not out of touch with his voters — he’s with them all the time.”

The last major Texas Republican of his ilk, Cornyn’s defeat leaves behind a cast of political characters who have increasingly modeled themselves after Trump: brash, populist and set upon partisan domination.

“John Cornyn was part of a wave that helped usher in the Republican revolution in Texas,” Marquez said. “He is the last of the gentlemen Republicans in our state.”

The rise and fall of John Cornyn

Cornyn began his career in public office as a district judge in Bexar County. He sat on the Texas Supreme Court in the 1990s before winning election as attorney general in 1998, serving one term while George W. Bush occupied the governor’s mansion.

Historically, the attorney general’s office was not splashy or particularly partisan, and instead mostly handled child support and defended the state in bureaucratic lawsuits.

But Cornyn’s election to that office helped kickstart the Republican takeover of Texas at every level of government, laying the groundwork for Paxton’s rise — and Cornyn’s own eventual ouster.

“John Cornyn and the men and women that swept into office with him in those years are the reason that conservative government in Texas is … a model to the rest of the country,” Houston attorney Charles Eskridge, now a federal judge, told a Federalist Society gathering in 2017.

In the Senate, Cornyn reached the upper echelons of power. He sat on high profile, influential committees, such as the judiciary and finance panels, and he served as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, leading the effort to elect Republicans during the Obama administration and to retake the Senate majority in 2014.

As the GOP whip — the No. 2 Senate Republican — from 2013 to 2019, Cornyn was a key deputy to then-Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, playing a central role in the GOP’s reshaping of the judiciary. In the early Trump years, Cornyn helped shepherd three Supreme Court justices and various legislative priorities through the Senate, including Trump’s marquee 2017 tax law. He was also instrumental in passing major legislation including the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which incentivizes semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., and up to $11 billion in federal reimbursements for border security efforts undertaken by Texas during the Biden administration.

Just 18 months ago, Cornyn was positioning himself to lead Senate Republicans. He had raised a staggering $414 million over the course of his tenure on behalf of GOP campaigns and developed personal relationships with each senator while serving as whip. He narrowly lost the post to U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who maintained his support for Cornyn’s re-election bid even after Trump’s endorsement.

Through it all, Cornyn established a reputation for working across political lines, mastering Senate processes, raising gobs of money for fellow Republicans and bringing federal dollars home to Texas.

“Senator Cornyn — you can criticize him saying he’s been there too long, but doggone it, he knows how to get that done,” said former U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville.

But all around him, the Republican Party was changing.

As anti-establishment energy took hold from the tea party movement through the era of Trump, the mold of the conservative, business-oriented, genteel Republican that Cornyn represented and that had dominated the Texas Republican landscape began to crack in favor of a more populist, flamethrowing and insurgent ideal.

“For much of Cornyn’s political career, people like him were riding high,” Wilson, the SMU professor, said. “It has really been over the last 10 years that their political world has started to unravel.”

The landmark bipartisan gun safety bill he championed came to encapsulate his Republican detractors’ chief criticisms: that he was insufficiently conservative, too willing to compromise with Democrats and a creature of the establishment that wanted to take away Texans’ liberties. The measure largely did not restrict gun owners’ existing rights and was supported by a host of law enforcement groups, but Cornyn was spurned at the Texas GOP convention later that year anyway.

Diverging from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Cornyn also voted to certify the results of the 2020 election. In 2023, he remarked that Trump’s “time has passed him by.” He broke with most Texas Republicans to call Paxton’s legal scandals a “source of embarrassment” for the GOP. He was dubious of Trump’s push for a wall along the entire southern border, even while supporting broader border security efforts, and he backed legal protections for migrants brought unlawfully to the U.S. as children — earning him attacks from Paxton and the right, who claimed he supported “amnesty.” This year, even as Trump and the base clamored for Senate Republicans to nix the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, Cornyn initially resisted, maintaining his long-held position that the tool should be protected for the good of the institution.

“John was good at doing enough Republican things to cover over the things that were clearly in opposition to conservative Republicans’ values,” Little said. But “he wasn’t there when we needed him.”

At the same time, Paxton was ascendant.

He sued the Biden administration more than 100 times, making him a conservative hero as he worked to hamper the Democratic president on every hot-button issue from immigration and the environment to abortion and gender.

He was the first state attorney general to file a lawsuit contesting the results of the 2020 election on Trump’s behalf, and he stuck with the president even as most Republicans distanced themselves after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. When Trump launched his 2024 campaign for the White House, Paxton was one of few Republican elected officials to show up.

His legal troubles fell away, too. He was acquitted by the state Senate of his impeachment over charges of corruption and abuse of office; prosecutors dropped a set of felony securities fraud charges; the Texas Supreme Court dismissed a State Bar of Texas complaint against him; the Justice Department ended its investigation into the same allegations at the heart of his impeachment; and the state, not Paxton, would be on the hook for the $6.6 million he owed to his former senior staff who reported him to the FBI and later argued he fired them in violation of state whistleblower law.

And he was gearing up for what would become a nearly three-year journey to topple Cornyn.

“I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,” Paxton said on the Tucker Carlson show in September 2023, freshly vindicated of his impeachment.

It would become the refrain of his campaign, which cast Cornyn as a fair-weather conservative and Washington insider long out of touch with the grassroots.

“We’re not putting up with that anymore,” the attorney general said in Dripping Springs last week. “We’re not gonna put up with the lies, we’re not gonna put up with the non-performance. We want somebody that represents our values that will go fight for us — that’s why I ran.”

Cornyn warned throughout the race that Paxton’s nomination, with all his legal and ethical baggage, would risk a Democrat winning a Senate seat in Texas for the first time since 1988, and would sink Republican candidates down the ballot. The general election began Wednesday on the third anniversary of Paxton’s impeachment by the Republican-dominated Texas House.

Cornyn’s closing plea to Texans came in favor of the political tradition he held onto over decades.

“We need to get away from this idea that when people disagree with you occasionally, as they will, that they are somehow a traitor,” he said in Austin as early voting began. “These are your fellow Texans, these are your fellow Americans and people you need to work with and try to do the hard work of building consensus, rather than deteriorate or degenerate or name call.”

At what would be the last campaign stop of his career on Friday, in a final push to carve out a path to survival in today’s GOP, Cornyn urged those in attendance in Corpus Christi to vote — and to get their neighbors who might not typically participate in runoff elections to join.

“The small fraction of people who actually vote [in runoffs] are not necessarily representative of the whole state and all voters,” he said. “Because I believe that character does still matter, and it is on the ballot.”

Gabby Birenbaum and Alejandro Serrano contributed reporting.

Maria Tellez, the mother of 19-year-old Gregorio Ricardo Cordova-Mejia, and Jesica Martinez, mother of 15-year-old Angel Ray Garcia, said they are still searching for answers in the case, which remains unsolved.

San Antonio police have not identified or arrested a suspect.

“It’s still hard, it’s still difficult,” Tellez said. “I just hope and pray that we find who did this already.”

For Tellez, the night her son was killed still haunts her.

Instead of receiving a phone call or a knock at the door, she said she learned about the shooting after seeing KSAT’s coverage. From there, she began putting the pieces together herself, knowing her son often spent time at the apartment complex where the shooting happened.

“I actually found my son myself,” she said. “Me and my (other) son went out there and I told my son, ‘That’s Greg’s car right there.’”

In that moment, she said, before any official confirmation from investigators, she already knew.

Martinez said her son Angelray was just two weeks shy of his 16th birthday when he was killed — a milestone he never got a chance to reach.

“It’s devastating, it’s heartbreaking, it’s something I never expected,” Martinez said.

She said the grief has not eased with time, adding the loss still feels as heavy as it did in 2022.

Both mothers said the moment they learned their sons had been killed is something that will shape their lives every day.

Over the years, the families have tried to keep attention on the case, including a billboard placed in hopes of generating new leads.

Still, they said there have been no arrests and few answers.

Despite that, both mothers refuse to stay silent.

“Angelray and Greg aren’t forgotten. They are still loved and we are still trying for them,” Martinez said.

San Antonio police are actively investigating what happened that night in July 2022.

Even after three years, Tellez and Martinez continue speaking publicly about what happened to their sons.

When asked to describe their sons, both mothers shared memories that reflect who they were in life.

“He was so loving, He was good in school. He has a big family that he very much loved. I do miss him a lot,” Martinez said of Angelray.

Tellez described her son Gregorio as “funny and caring.” Gregorio also leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter.

As the anniversary of their deaths approach, both families said they continue to honor their sons privately, often through candlelight vigils and time with close family.

For them, the goal has remained the same since 2022.

“We just want justice for the boys so they can rest in peace,” Martinez said.

The San Antonio Police Department asks anyone with information about the shooting to contact Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (7867). Tips can remain anonymous, and a reward may be available for information that leads to an arrest.

Read also:

• Man with apparent gunshot to head dies inside South Side home, authorities say
• Family member stabs man multiple times with kitchen knife on Northwest Side, SAPD says
• SAPD: 1 dead, 1 in critical condition after shooting outside apartment complex on Northwest Side

The Alabama-based nonprofit was indicted in April on fraud and money laundering charges that accuse it of misleading donors by paying informants inside white supremacist and other extremist organizations to obtain inside information about their activities.

Lawyers for the SPLC have already argued that law enforcement agencies have long known that the nonprofit paid informants to report on the movements of hate groups. They have also said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche made a false statement at a news conference when he said the organization had not shared with law enforcement information it had learned from informants. Blanche later appeared to walk back that claim in a television interview, saying it was true that the SPLC had “selectively” shared information with law enforcement over the years.

The attorneys for the center expanded on those arguments Tuesday, saying in a legal brief seeking to dismiss the case that the prosecution was the “culmination of a top-down, retributive campaign" in which Trump pushed the Justice Department "to go after those individuals and groups he deemed his political enemies, including the SPLC.”

Defense says indictment fits broader retaliation campaign

The brief was filed against the backdrop of other politically charged prosecutions that have raised concerns that the Justice Department is operating as a weapon to target Trump's opponents. It drew a parallel between the SPLC indictment and the human smuggling prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, which was dismissed Friday on similar vindictive prosecution grounds by a judge who called the case an “abuse of prosecuting power.”

The SPLC has said its now-defunct program of paying informants to infiltrate hate groups was developed to glean key insights into their activities so that potential victims could be protected. An earlier federal investigation into the practice was closed without charges, but the brief paints the current Justice Department as pursuing the case with renewed — and rushed — vigor.

The department decided to pursue the indictment without having interviewed any current SPLC employees, and did not seek any documents from the group until after it had told defense lawyers that criminal charges were forthcoming, defense lawyers say.

During a meeting requested by defense lawyers who hoped to avert to indictment, Justice Department officials informed them that the decision had already been made to pursue charges, according to the brief.

“These procedural irregularities show that the charges against the SPLC were a foregone conclusion based on prosecutorial vindictiveness — driven by the White House and FBI leadership’s retribution campaign — rather than the result of a good faith examination of the evidence,” the document states. It says the indictment was “premised on conclusory accusations but devoid of provable facts or a proper statement of the law.”

The motion also cites whistleblower accounts that accused top Justice Department officials of rushing forward with an indictment despite internal concerns about the merits of the case and the strength of the evidence.

“For weeks, we have been arguing against these false allegations levied against the SPLC — an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multiracial democracy where we can all live and thrive,” Bryan Fair, the interim president and CEO of SPLC, said in a statement.

“The government can’t prosecute the SPLC as payback for its protected speech — it violates basic constitutional rights," he said.

The administration has painted SPLC as partisan

Founded in 1971 as a civil rights organization, the SPLC over the decades has used litigation to fight white supremacist groups. It also tracks the activities and locations of domestic extremists. But its work has made it a popular target among Republicans who see it as overly leftist and partisan.

The center, for instance, received fresh attention last year after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk because the SPLC had included a section on the group that Kirk founded and led, Turning Point USA, in a report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024."

FBI Director Kash Patel announced in October that the bureau would be severing its relationship with the SPLC, saying it had turned into a “partisan smear machine,” and he accused it of defaming “mainstream Americans” with its “hate map” that documents alleged anti-government and hate groups inside the United States.

The defense motion says “animus” from senior levels of the administration helped shape the indictment.

It cites, among other comments, a statement from Trump himself deriding the SPLC as “a total scam run by the Democrats,” as well as a news media interview in which Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's top civil rights official, said the indictment was “personal” to her because she had “a lot of journalist friends ... and groups that I’ve represented who have been targeted by the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

Green, who has represented the 9th Congressional District since 2005, has been a vocal opponent to President Donald Trump’s policies in Washington and a fixture on the Houston political scene. Green repeatedly and unsuccessfully filed articles of impeachment for Trump during the president’s first and second terms. He was also removed from the State of the Union earlier this year after unfurling a protest sign. He had vowed to continue fighting Trump’s agenda if reelected and leaned on his experience, pitching himself as the candidate has been doing the job.

Menefee will face the GOP nominee Ronald Dwayne Whitfield. Whitfield faces an uphill battle as the district is deep blue; Kamala Harris would have carried the new district by 55 points.

Menafee is an attorney by trade who in 2020 became the youngest ever and first Black Harris County attorney. In January, Menefee won a special election to finish the term of Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in March 2025.

With little policy misalignment between the two congressmen, the runoff contest for the 18th Congressional District centered on stylistic differences between Menefee, the newest member of Texas’ delegation, and Green, amid a broader conversation about age and politics.

Green, 78, and Menefee, 38, advanced to the runoff election after neither cleared the 50% threshold in the March primary, in which Menefee received more votes. Tuesday’s election marked the fourth in seven months for voters in the district.

Texas Republicans forced the rare incumbent against incumbent clash when they drew a chunk of Green’s voters out of his 9th Congressional District in a mid-decade redistricting effort last summer to gerrymander the state’s congressional map for more GOP gains.

Green has represented his district, and parts of the region, for more than two decades since he defeated an incumbent in 2004, also following a redistricting that created the majority Latino and Black district.

The new district has more voters from Green’s previous boundaries. Still, Menefee led Green in some polls leading up to the election, especially with voters younger than 55.

Among the few differences in policy between the two is over cryptocurrency. Green has emerged as a skeptic while Menefee has embraced the industry as it invested in his congressional bid.