The Arsenal forward made all that fretting moot.

Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Merino had just been knocked down, and a foul was called. While Portugal's Bernardo Silva argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and easily beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa after a series of passes capped by Ferran Torres' nifty ball through the middle.

“He's one of the best in his position worldwide, and he has given us a fantastic result and a fantastic goal,” de la Fuente said through a translator. “I want to express the importance of substitutes that came in later in the game. Not just today, but the contribution in other games has been enormous.”

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010. La Roja will play either the United States or Belgium on Friday in Inglewood, California.

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer's biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).

Merino didn't enter until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years this spring.

The World Cup was in doubt for Merino, who turned 30 during the tournament, after right foot surgery cut short his Arsenal season.

In the biggest moment of the year for Spain, there he was with fresh legs, finishing with his left foot into the left corner of the net. After emerging from a group hug with his teammates, Merino made a circle around the flag in a corner before letting out a guttural scream while clenching both fists.

That's how his father, Miguel Merino, celebrated more than three decades ago during his club career in Spain. And his son first emulated it after a late goal to beat host Germany to send Spain to the semifinals of the European championship two years ago.

This was Mikel Merino's first World Cup goal, and 11th for the national team.

“What better way to celebrate,” Merino said. “You remember all the good and the bad, and there have been difficult moments for me this year.”

The latest meeting of Iberian Peninsula rivals that first played in a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that is considered one of the tournament's best games.

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but didn't have many chances against Spain's Unai Simón, who extended his World Cup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal. Spain became the first team to record six straight shutouts at the World Cup.

The best chance was Ronaldo's nifty backward kick in the 37th minute when Joao Felix’s header deflected off Simón’s left shoulder and popped in the air to Ronaldo. He flicked the ball with his right foot, but it was soft enough to give Simón time to recover and make a leaping grab.

“I’ll wake up tomorrow like I woke up today, with a clear conscience,” said Ronaldo, who a day earlier had repeated his previous declaration that his sixth World Cup would be his last. “I gave my best. I won three titles with Portugal. Before Cristiano, Portugal hadn’t won any title. So, I’m happy. The biggest title that I won with the national team was in 2016 (European Championship), which for me had the same dimension as a World Cup, honestly.”

Portugal desperately pushed for an equalizer in the final eight minutes of stoppage time. Silva had a header that went just over the top of the net.

The defensive struggle came just two days shy of a year since Portugal beat Spain in a riveting UEFA Nations League final that went to penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw.

The other World Cup meeting was Spain's 1-0 victory — also in the round of 16 — when La Roja won the title in South Africa.

“It was a great match. Two superb teams,” de la Fuente said. “As we had said it, it was like an anticipated final. As it was expected, we had to suffer until the very end.”

Until Spain didn't have to suffer anymore — thanks to its super sub.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Former Utah Valley University Officer Christopher Bagley said he witnessed Kirk's shooting while the conservative activist was speaking on Sept. 10 to a crowd of thousands. Soon after, Bagley went to a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk's location, he said.

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley said, adding, "you’ve got markings of elbows, knees and feet.”

The testimony came as Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, were in the courtroom for the first time since the case began, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for defendant Tyler Robinson. A five-day preliminary hearing that began Monday marks the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case.

There were no major revelations on the first day, although prosecutors aired new video that investigators believe showed Robinson getting in and out of his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Robinson's parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks as the hearing began. The 23-year-old defendant is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist and ally of Trump. Robinson turned himself in the day after the shooting.

Robinson has not yet entered a plea, and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

A low threshold for prosecutors

Prosecutors showed several videos of Kirk's shooting as they made their case to state District Judge Tony Graf. Attorneys from both sides tried to shield their monitors from spectators in the court gallery, after Graf said the assassination videos couldn't be publicized because of their graphic nature.

Utah State Bureau of Investigations Agent David Hull described the videos during questioning by prosecutors: They showed the crowd milling around at the event, Kirk interacting with some of the spectators, the harrowing moment when he was shot and, finally, an anxious scene as Kirk's security detail picked him up and took him away while administering first aid.

Robinson sat quietly between his attorneys throughout the hearing, looking at the prosecution’s exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. He wore a gray suit, and his wrists were shackled to a chain around his waist.

Charlie Kirk's parents and widow walked out of the courtroom when a police officer started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus the day he was shot. They later returned.

The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk and should stand trial. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors, as a result, should have little trouble advancing their case, said Mark Kouris, a former prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City.

“This standard is extremely low and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing," said Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Bagley, the prosecution's first witness, said he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk’s body as Kirk spoke on campus. Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot.

“I saw him go to the left ... I could no longer see the right side of his body,” Bagley said. “Then everybody started getting up and started to run, more of a chaos situation.”

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked Bagley about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled. Bagley acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn’t know whether it had been fingerprinted.

Utah is an open carry state, meaning people can carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit.

Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors. She was mostly overruled by the judge. However, Graf sided with the defense to block the introduction of a compilation of surveillance videos from Utah Valley University because some had been altered to zoom in or had circles drawn around individuals.

Prosecutors said they would try again Tuesday to introduce that video with the alterations removed.

Any evidence from this week’s hearing would have to be reintroduced to be used at trial.

Roommate's recorded testimony could be focal point

Prosecutors have said they plan to present DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are also expected to argue the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Robinson's roommate is not expected to testify in person during the hearing. Still, the roommate's recorded testimony could be a focal point for prosecutors. In addition to the alleged confession note, Robinson reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.

Erika Kirk says court proceedings are a 'painful reminder'

Before his death, Kirk and the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help Trump win a second term.

The Republican president has said he hopes Robinson receives the death penalty.

Erika Kirk said during his memorial service that she forgives Robinson.

Ahead of Monday's hearing, she thanked supporters in a statement for their kindness and prayers.

“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” she wrote, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Evaniel Johnson said he is waiting to see if video footage supports the police narrative that his 20-year-old grandson, Tyrin Johnson, turned toward U.S. guard members with a gun while running from them early Sunday. Memphis police say the guard members were responding to a report of gunfire.

The National Guard members had been assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis created last year by President Donald Trump, who has sent troops and federal agents to Democratic-run cities he described as crime-ridden.

“Show me the video,” Evaniel Johnson told The Associated Press. “Please show me that — and then I’m OK. Until you show me that, I’m gonna fight and advocate for my grandson until there’s no breath in me.”

Johnson, a former correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office in Nashville, disputes that his grandson would have tried to fire a gun at U.S. guard members and that deadly force would be needed if he was running away. His grandson, he said, was “no hoodlum.”

According to his grandfather, Tyrin Johnson carried a gun for protection after being “jumped” recently in Nashville and was likely wary about being attacked again over a murky social media feud.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it is reviewing the shooting and that two guard members fired their weapons. Johnson’s family says they were told by the TBI that he was shot twice in the chest. The Memphis Police Department declined to comment on what footage existed and when it would be released.

The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the two members involved in the shooting had been placed on leave.

Democrats call for a transparent investigation

Tennessee Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari and Chairwoman London Lamar, both of Memphis, issued joint statement expressing their sympathy and emphasizing the need for transparency during the investigation. They asked the TBI to release any available video as soon as it is possible to do so without jeopardizing the investigation.

“Transparency serves everyone — the Johnson family, the members of the National Guard involved, and a community that deserves confidence in the outcome, whatever the facts ultimately show,” they wrote.

State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat running for the U.S. House, echoed the call for a transparent investigation and demanded the disbanding of the federal task force.

“Memphis does not need armed soldiers in our streets terrifying our people,” he said in a statement.

Trump's decision to send Tennessee National Guard troops to Memphis to combat crime was met with a mixed response from residents and was the subject of a lawsuit. However, it was never the subject of widespread protests.

TBI data shows that at least three people have died in four shootings by officers tied to the federal task force.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee embraced federal intervention, while Democratic Memphis Mayor Paul Young took a pragmatic approach. Young said he never asked for National Guard troops but recognized they were coming regardless of his opinion.

Evaniel Johnson wishes his grandson stayed home that weekend

Tyrin Johnson did not appear to have a criminal history besides a handful of traffic violations, according to a review of online federal and state court records and Memphis and Nashville courts. In May, he was arrested for failing to appear at a 2025 hearing for driving without a license in Wilson County, just outside Nashville. He bonded out, records show.

He was enrolled in Tennessee State University from August 2023 to May 2024, according to university spokesperson Angel Higgins.

Evaniel Johnson said he had hoped his grandson would return to university and he was training him to take on a bigger role in the family's real estate development business, including lining up a project for him in Nashville to oversee in the coming weeks.

On the Fourth of July, Evaniel Johnson said his family had gathered on his back porch in Nashville to play cards. He wished his grandson had stayed with them. Instead, Tyrin Johnson ended up in Memphis.

“He was down there like all the rest of the people trying to enjoy the Fourth of July,” Johnson said. “His future was buying homes, living life, taking care of his little baby. He had a future. It’s gone now.”

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Brook reported from New Orleans.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Prosecutors are seeking to convince a state judge this week that they have enough evidence against 23-year-old Tyler Robinson to proceed to a trial.

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus last September. Kirk’s parents and widow, Erika Kirk, were in the courtroom for the first time, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son.

The hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence in the case so far. After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed.

The preliminary hearing is set to continue Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Here's the latest:

Erika Kirk leaves Utah courthouse

Charlie Kirk’s widow has left the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo.

Erika Kirk, along with Charlie Kirk’s parents, attended the preliminary hearing of the man accused of shooting her husband.

She walked straight to her car flanked by security and did not stop to speak to media.

Court ends for the day

Shortly after the break, prosecutors requested that court end for the day. They said they wanted to spend the evening preparing a copy of a video that they want to introduce into evidence.

They plan to try to introduce a copy of a video that doesn’t have added markings, including a blur and a circle. Earlier during the hearing, State District Judge Tony Graf declined to admit a video into evidence, in part because it had been altered.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team says they don’t mind ending 15 minutes earlier than planned.

The preliminary hearing will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Judge orders 10-minute break

The judge announced the unscheduled break shortly after attorneys on both sides approached the judge’s bench so they could discuss something in private.

Doorbell video shows shooting suspect’s car, investigator says

Prosecutors have played a series of video clips taken from a Utah resident’s doorbell camera.

The clips showed a vehicle parking across the street from the home with the camera, a person leaving the vehicle, and then a person returning to the vehicle before it drives away.

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull says investigators believe the camera captured Tyler Robinson and his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Judge rejects a video exhibit for now

State District Judge Tony Graf says he won’t admit a video exhibit after the defense team raised concerns that it had been altered and there was no one to talk about exactly what was changed.

The video in question appears to consist of a variety of clips taken from different sources.

It’s possible the video could still be admitted later, but the prosecution team would likely have to have a witness explain exactly how it was created and where the clips originated.

Attorneys debate over whether the shooting suspect can be pointed out in court

When Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill asked Hull to look around the courtroom and point out the suspect he identified during his investigation, the defense team objected.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester told the judge that would amount to “unduly suggestive in-court identification,” violating Tyler Robinson’s constitutional rights.

Nester said there is a lot of case law that says asking a witness to identify a defendant in a courtroom — particularly when that defendant is the only person sitting at the table with defense attorneys — is unduly suggestive, essentially tainting the identification.

The judge called attorneys on both sides up to the bench to privately discuss the matter. When the discussion was over, the judge said the court record will show that Robinson was identified.

Investigator describes the search for a suspect

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull says his primary focus on Sept. 10 was to identify the person who had been seen on the roof at Utah Valley University.

Investigators reviewed hundreds of hours of video, including university surveillance footage, to try to track the suspect’s movements both before and after the shooting, he said.

Investigators also interviewed people in hopes of identifying the person who jumped off the roof, Hull said.

Washington County officials later contacted investigators to report that an individual had come forward with Tyler Robinson’s name, Hull said.

Court is back in session

Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing is underway again after a 15-minute afternoon break.

Much of the past hour has been spent with prosecutors introducing evidence collected by state investigators in the first hours and days after Charlie Kirk was shot, including videos and written statements.

Before the break, former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull described how Kirk’s team loaded him into a vehicle and rushed him to a hospital immediately after the shooting.

Kirk was declared dead at the hospital, and a medical examiner was called in to conduct an autopsy, Hull said.

Court takes an afternoon break

State District Judge Tony Graf has placed the hearing on a 15-minute afternoon break.

Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull will return to the witness stand after the break.

Judge weighs whether to ‘publish’ evidence

State District Judge Tony Graf is considering several things when deciding whether graphic videos of the shooting and other evidence should be “published,” a legal term that means shown in court.

In some cases, he has found that videos can be shown in court and on the livestream of the hearing. In other cases, he is allowing video to be introduced as evidence but says it can’t be shown in the courtroom or on the livestream.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team has argued that some of the videos may have been altered, with clips taken from longer videos. They’ve also said some evidence may violate Robinson’s due process rights in part because the people who made or edited the videos aren’t in court to testify.

But the prosecution team has generally taken the stance that the records are public and should be published in court. In some cases, they have asked that redacted versions be published.

An attorney for the press has argued that the public has the right to see the exhibits, since they will be used by the court to decide whether the case proceeds.

The judge is also considering whether some of the video or written evidence is so prejudicial that it would make it hard to find impartial jurors if the case goes to trial.

Judge allows statement verifying video of event from woman who isn’t in court

David Sturgill with the Utah County Attorney’s Office is asking former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull to describe the evidence he collected during the shooting investigation.

Hull says phone tips from members of the public poured in, along with many cellphone videos of the shooting taken by people who attended the event. Prosecutors want to present some of those videos, including one from a woman who also wrote a statement confirming she took it.

But defense attorney Kathryn Nester has objected to the video and the written statement, saying they shouldn’t be admitted in part because the woman isn’t present in court to testify about them. It’s difficult for the court to assess a witness’s reliability when the witness isn’t there to be cross-examined, Nester says.

State District Judge Tony Graf says the evidence is allowable under a rule governing “reliable hearsay.”

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The spelling of David Hull's last name has been corrected

Officer’s body camera battery apparently died shortly after the shooting

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley about security plans, body camera footage and any evidence found on the day Charlie Kirk was shot.

Bagley said he wasn’t given any tactical or operational plans before the event.

After the shooting, Bagley looked on the roof of the Losee building, but says he didn’t find any spent casings at that point. His body camera stopped recording while he was on the roof.

“I think my battery died. I don’t know,” Bagley says. He didn’t go back to the roof once his body camera was charged because it was too chaotic, he said.

He has about 27 minutes of body camera footage from that day, Bagley said.

State investigator describes leading the investigation into Kirk’s shooting

Hull, who now works for the Utah Department of Public Safety, says he investigated major crimes when he worked for the State Bureau of Investigation.

He explained how SBI helps other law enforcement agencies process crime scenes and investigate after serious incidents.

Hull says he wasn’t familiar with Charlie Kirk or Utah Valley University before he was asked to help with the shooting investigation. He was eventually tasked with leading the investigation.

Utah state investigator takes the stand

Former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley is done testifying.

David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent, is called to the stand.

Preliminary hearing resumes after lunch break

Court is back in session for Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing after an hourlong lunch break.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is expected to continue her cross-examination of former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley.

Members of the press are camped outside the courthouse

Television crews, photographers and writers are camped outside the Fourth Judicial District Courthouse in Provo, Utah.

Seats inside the courtroom are limited, so many members of the press are covering Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing from the sidewalks outside. They’re watching the building entrances to see who is coming and going, hoping for any opportunity to interview those involved with the case.

Security is tight, and surveillance teams can be seen on rooftops. A drone buzzes overhead occasionally.

Charlie Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, are at the hearing today. So is Donald Trump Jr. and far-right influencer Jack Posobiec.

Robinson’s parents have also been attending the hearing.

The court breaks for lunch

The judge has called a break for lunch. Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing will resume after the hourlong break.

Utah is an ‘open carry’ gun law state

Utah is an open carry state, former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley told defense attorney Kathryn Nester.

Utah state laws allow adults to carry guns openly or conceal them without a permit, though there are restrictions for people ages 18 to 20.

There are some exceptions at public colleges, however. Utah Valley University says it follows state law and allows gun owners to carry a concealed firearm if they have a permit.

Nester is questioning Bagley about the report he wrote after the shooting, including his observation about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled.

Bagley acknowledged that he never took custody of the holster and doesn’t know if it was ever fingerprinted.

Defense begins cross-examination of former university officer

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is cross-examining former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley.

She asked Bagley if he ever attended a meeting to discuss how officers would keep people safe on the day of the shooting. Bagley said he did not.

Bagley said there were six officers working that day. Thousands of people attended the event.

There were no metal detectors being used to screen the crowd, and no drones being used for security, Bagley said.

He also said there were no law enforcement officers on the roof, stairway or walkway when he arrived to work that day.

Officer describes seeing a ‘sniper pad’ disturbance in gravel rooftop

Former Utah Valley University police Officer Chris Bagley says he saw a disturbance in the gravel rooftop of the Losee building that looked like a “sniper pad,” where someone might have been lying in a position that would allow them to shoot a weapon.

The disturbance included spots that looked like they were made by two elbows and two knees, as well as a spot where someone might have laid a gun down. Bagley says he put police tape around the scene to keep people from going near it.

He then realized that they probably did not have a shooter in custody, Bagley said, and so called to have the building searched and secured.

Bagley also went to watch some surveillance video, which showed an individual run to the edge of the roof and drop down. He found a shoe print in the grass on the north-east side of the building, he said.

Preliminary hearing resumes after break

Court is back in session after a 15-minute break. Judge Tony Graf is talking to attorneys about how exhibits are being handled in court.

Charlie Kirk’s parents and widow left the courtroom before the shooting was described

The three of them walked out of the courtroom about a minute after former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus the day he was shot.

Kirk’s mother, Kathryn Kirk, clutched a pocket-sized packet of tissues. She had been listening to the proceedings with her head bowed and eyes closed. Widow Erika Kirk had been leaning her head on the shoulder of a blonde woman sitting to her right.

Defendant Tyler Robinson has meanwhile been sitting quietly between his attorneys at the defense table, looking at the exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. He’s wearing a gray suit, a pale pink shirt, and a tie, with his wrists shackled to a chain around his waist.

Bagley says he spotted something ‘out of place’ on a rooftop

Before a 15-minute recess Monday, former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley said that shortly after the shooting last September, he ran up a public staircase to reach the roof of the Losee Center building, which he knew had a clear line of sight to the location where Charlie Kirk was sitting when he was shot.

On the roof, he spotted something “that looked out of place to me,” Bagley said. It was a red-and-black screwdriver.

Officer describes hearing a shot and chaos erupting

Bagley says he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk as the conservative activist spoke on campus.

Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot, he said, and chaos erupted.

People got up and started running.

Within a few moments, Bagley says he heard officers over the radio say that someone was in custody, so he began assessing the crowd for injuries.

Then he began working to “preserve the crime scene,” Bagley said.

He spotted a pistol holster that had been left on the ground, but knew that he had heard a rifle shot rather than a pistol shot, Bagley added.

Officer details the start of his workday on the day Kirk was shot

Bagley says that on the day of the shooting, he got to work around 11 a.m., and his job was to secure an area near a campus building called the Hall of Flags.

Bagley is using aerial drone photos to describe the layout, including whether there is a clear line of sight or view between different places on campus and the courtyard where Charlie Kirk was shot.

Officer describes the university setting where Kirk was shot

Former Utah Valley police officer Chris Bagley is describing the university campus where Charlie Kirk was shot.

He is using a drone image of Utah Valley University taken in December to set the scene, including a parking garage and campus buildings.

But Robinson’s defense team says he hasn’t adequately shown that he took the photo or that it accurately depicts the campus.

State District Judge Tony Graf says Bagley has first-hand knowledge of the area, so he is allowing it to be used as evidence.

Robinson’s parents are sitting in the courtroom gallery

They are a few rows behind Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, who is watching the proceedings with a furrowed brow.

The first witness has been called

Prosecutors have called Spanish Fork Police Officer Chris Bagley to the stand. Bagley was an officer at Utah Valley University when Charlie Kirk was shot there last year.

Donald Trump Jr. is attending the preliminary hearing

Trump Jr. was among the conservative political figures who spoke at Kirk’s memorial service last year.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s assassination. Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence, and the preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to allow the criminal case to proceed.

As many as 50 exhibits are expected during the hearing

Chief Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander told state District Judge Tony Graf that the exhibits will include several videos of the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting, which occurred as Kirk was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University.

The videos will be shown on a courtroom monitor that is being set up so that it won’t be captured by the press videographer in the courtroom, Graf said.

Courtroom spectators told to treat the hearing with respect

The judge says people in the courtroom need to show proper decorum during the preliminary hearing.

Spectators aren’t allowed to display pins, clothing, photos or other visible demonstrations of support for anyone involved in the hearing. That includes things like shaking heads, Graf said.

Decorum rules like these are common during court proceedings.

Most witnesses will also be kept out of the hearing until it is time for them to testify, Graf said.

The hearing will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT each day, with two 15-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch break at noon. It is expected to last a week.

Preliminary hearing begins for man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

State District Judge Tony Graf is going over his rules for the hearing, including some limitations on the use of technology such as cellphones and laptops.

Graf says the court has the duty to protect and uphold the rights of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing the Turning Point USA founder, and those of Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.

Kirk’s widow arrives at the courthouse

Erika Kirk has arrived at the Utah courthouse for the preliminary hearing of the man accused of killing her husband, Charlie Kirk.

Three men escorted her into the building several minutes before the hearing was expected to begin.

Charlie Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, arrived separately.

Court hearing in Kirk’s death draws the curious, heavy security

Armed officers with binoculars are on the roof of the courthouse where Tyler Robinson faces a key hearing in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

More officers are on the ground outside the courthouse. A drone was also flying overhead. Robinson’s defense team arrived at Utah County court with a dolly to move boxes of documents.

The focus of the hearing is whether there’s enough evidence to send Robinson to trial and whether the death penalty will be an option if there’s a conviction.

Shelly Juber, who lives nearby in Orem, got one of the 14 courtroom seats set aside for the public.

“I’m a trial watcher, true-crime enthusiast. … My grandson’s girlfriend was there the day it happened,” she said, referring to Utah Valley University.

A former Utah judge says prosecutors will likely clear the legal bar to pursue a murder case

For Tyler Robinson to be found guilty at trial, prosecutors will have to prove without any reasonable doubt that he killed Kirk. But the criteria for this week’s preliminary hearing are less strict.

Mark Kouris, who was a prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City, says there’s a low threshold for prosecutors to show the case against Robinson should proceed to trial.

“Effectively, it’s 51% — there’s a 51% chance they did it,” Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, said in an interview. “This standard is extremely low, and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing.”

Kirk’s family says his death ‘irrevocably impacted our lives’

Charlie Kirk’s family thanked supporters for their kindness and prayers ahead of Monday’s preliminary hearing.

“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” Erika Kirk, his widow, said in a statement posted on X, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”

She added that the public outpouring “has sustained us during the darkest days of our lives.”

The statement was posted on behalf of Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, his widow and his sister Mary.

“Out of respect for the judicial process, we will not be commenting further at this time,” the brief statement said.

Kirk’s widow has said she forgives the man accused of killing him

Erika Kirk forgave defendant Tyler Robinson during her husband’s memorial service in September.

“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said as she struggled to hold back tears.

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did. It is what Charlie would do,” she added.

Her declaration was an outlier among prominent conservatives, including President Donald Trump, who said in September on Fox News that he hopes Robinson gets the death penalty.

Erika Kirk took the helm of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth movement that her husband co-founded, shortly after her husband’s death.

She is expected in court throughout the week with her husband’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk.

Robinson’s attorneys tried to block the death penalty

State District Judge Tony Graf said recently that prosecutors violated his restrictions on talking outside the courtroom when Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard told a media outlet his office had ample evidence to convict Tyler Robinson of killing Charlie Kirk.

Robinson’s lawyers argued the comments were intended to influence potential jurors. As a punishment, they wanted the judge to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.

But Graf said that was too severe, and that Ballard's comments weren’t malicious.

The judge said any potential bias issues could be addressed by expanding the jury pool or more closely questioning potential jurors when the case goes to trial.

Will Robinson face the death penalty?

Starting with today’s hearing, the focus of the case shifts to whether there is enough evidence for a trial and whether the death penalty is warranted, said Paul Cassell, a University of Utah law professor and former federal judge.

Cassell said evidence made public to date in court filings suggests prosecutors have “an overwhelming case.”

“This seems like the proverbial slam dunk at this stage of the case, where the only issue is whether there is a sound basis for moving forward with a trial on the merits,” he said.

A death sentence is an option in Utah only when a crime has aggravating circumstances. Prosecutors will argue in Robinson’s case that Kirk’s shooting endangered others in attendance.

What information is publicly known about the case?

Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle used to kill Kirk, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.

Robinson’s parents had confronted him after authorities released a surveillance photo of the suspect and details about the rifle, authorities have said. His parents convinced him to meet with a family friend, a retired sheriff’s deputy who reportedly helped arrange for Robinson to turn himself in.

Prosecutors have said Robinson left a note for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” They also said he wrote to his roommate in a text message about Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block prosecutors from using recorded statements from Robinson’s roommate during the hearing. The defense wanted the roommate to testify in person so Robinson could exercise his right to challenge the credibility of witnesses against him. Graf said the time for challenging witnesses would come later.

What to expect during today’s hearing

The proceeding will resemble a mini-trial, with prosecutors planning to offer DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, testimony from investigators, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are not required to present all their evidence and can use secondhand information or hearsay.

After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed.

Prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors have to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors will lay out their case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk’s widow and parents are expected this week in a Utah court where prosecutors seeking the death penalty will argue that the man charged with killing the conservative activist should stand trial for murder.

The five-day preliminary hearing that starts today will be the first time members of Kirk’s family are in the Utah courtroom with defendant Tyler Robinson. The hearing will be livestreamed.

Robinson turned himself in after the shooting. Prosecutors allege that he also sent a text message confession to his partner and left a note saying he had an opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, “and I’m going to take it.”

He has not entered a plea in the case, however.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, who was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University. His attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence.

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On Monday afternoon, a FIFA appeals judge dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge fewer than eight hours before kickoff. The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

Trump rang a ceremonial bell Monday as the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq opened, reflecting how much he's counting on the stock market as he promoted the launch of Trump Accounts for children, which Republicans created in their 2025 tax and spending cuts bill.

And Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey, as Kyiv tries to refocus his attention on the conflict with Moscow and as Trump publicly mused about Syria’s role in the Middle East.

The Latest:

Senate Democrats' campaign arm says it won’t spend money in Maine if Platner is the nominee

The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out of the Maine Senate race and said it would spend no money in the state if he is the nominee.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

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Balogun is in starting lineup for World Cup match vs Belgium

Folarin Balogun is in the United States’ starting lineup for Monday’s World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium after his red-card suspension was lifted by FIFA in a decision that sparked an uproar across the sport.

Balogun’s red card was assessed for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

Following a phone call from Trump to FIFA’s president, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year, prompting the European governing body UEFA to call the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Belgium’s attempt to have FIFA reinstate the suspension was denied by FIFA’s appeals committee, which said the Belgian federation lacked standing.

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Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters don’t apply to DC pipe bomb suspect, judge rules

Trump’s mass pardons for supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol don’t apply to a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump’s blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the attack on the Capitol.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump’s parsons. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The devices didn’t detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest, telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped.”

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Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements after Maine candidate faces sexual assault allegation

Democrats began pulling their endorsements for Graham Platner after an allegation surfaced that he had forced an on-again-off-again girlfriend to have sex.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who had stood by Platner even as the Senate candidate was hit with prior allegations, said: “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Also dropping their endorsements were Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and the Democratic-leaning political group End Citizens United.

Top leaders inside the Maine Democratic Party also called on Platner to drop out of the race, a seat considered key to Democrats’ efforts to try to secure a majority in the Senate.

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Red card furor puts Trump and Infantino’s relationship under the spotlight again

The relationship between Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, long in the making, is now at the center of one of the great World Cup controversies, sparking anger, disbelief and questions about the integrity of global sport’s biggest tournament.

Trump’s intervention in the lifting of U.S. forward Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension has shone the spotlight on his close ties with Infantino. It has led to furor from Belgium — the U.S. team’s opponent in the round of 16 match on Monday — as European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, accused FIFA of crossing a “red line.”

The highly contentious call comes on the back of Infantino’s campaign to strengthen relations with Trump, the leader of the co-host of the biggest World Cup ever.

FIFA lifts suspension of US star Balogun

FIFA’s stunning decision to lift the suspension of a star U.S. player has riled the host country’s next World Cup opponent, Belgium, and sent soccer fans -- and political leaders -- into a frenzy over the influence President Donald Trump may have had over the extremely rare ruling.

Hours before kickoff, FIFA dismissed Belgium’s challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. That means forward Folarin Balogun is eligible to play on Monday night in Seattle. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, which would be the best U.S. result at a men’s World Cup since 2002.

Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from Monday’s match after receiving a red card last week. But FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

FIFA president says disciplinary committee acted with independence

In its decision to let Balogun play against Belgium, FIFA cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says a “judicial body” can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” Balogun could yet get that one-game suspension on top of any future punishment if he commits a similar offense again in the next year.

While FIFA didn’t elaborate on how it reached its decision, the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.” Article 27 doesn’t lay out any requirements for which cases are eligible under the rarely used rule.

Trump says he’s building a White House helipad for a new, more powerful Marine One

President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers.

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”

The president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image.

Trump tells lunch guests they won’t have to talk to each other while music plays

Trump offered his playlist as he wrapped more than 40 minutes of remarks in Washington, D.C.’s heat that was held shortly after an earlier, lengthy press event in the Oval Office.

“Should we put on a little music, yes?,” he asked. “This way you don’t have to talk to each other. You just have to listen to music.”

“So we’re going to put on a little music, the Trump playlist, OK, and we’ll have a little fun,” Trump said.

“YMCA” began to play as the White House press pool was escorted back indoors.

Rapper Nicki Minaj returns to White House for launch of Trump accounts

Minaj got a shoutout from Trump as he spoke at a Rose Garden luncheon after an earlier event to highlight the accounts.

The musical artist had joined Trump in January for an earlier announcement about the “Trump Accounts” for children born during his second term.

Trump said Monday that Minaj is “great” and “so respected.”

Minaj has described herself as Trump’s “number one fan.”

Rubio also wades into the red card controversy

In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile’s foreign minister, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump by saying “it was the right decision to reverse” Balogun’s penalty.

Rubio acknowledged that “there’s a lot of drama around” the decision. But he mused about why Belgium would want to possibly win a match “if everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best, or their leading scorer was not on the pitch.”

Rubio joked that maybe it was “turning into an international incident” ahead of the NATO leaders summit in Turkey this week.

“Maybe we’ll bring it up at NATO tomorrow or with the Belgians and everybody else,” Rubio told reporters Monday, laughing. “I just hope the match will go on, everyone will be at full strength and the winner will be the winner.”

Trump says Cruz only SCOTUS appointee who would get 100 Senate votes

Calling Sen. Ted Cruz “a friend of mine,” in the Oval Office earlier on Monday, Trump said the Texas Republican was the only potential Supreme Court nominee who could get unanimous approval for the post from the Senate.

Trump talked at length about how the two were “great friends” before they duked it out for the GOP nomination during the 2016 presidential campaign, “but then it came together better than ever before.”

Cruz has been laying the groundwork for a possible run at the presidency again, stumping for Republican candidates in early-voting states including South Carolina. Frequently floated by Trump for a post on the high court, Cruz has said he would decline it, preferring to stay in politics and policy.

Trump says he’s putting ‘a lot of love’ back into the White House

Trump reviewed several of his White House renovation projects at a lunch on the Rose Garden patio for his investment accounts that bear his name for children born during his second term.

He referenced work being done to the columns on the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to the mansion and said he was having layers and layers of paint removed.

Trump also talked about the ballroom he’s building and his decision to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with patio stone.

“We’re putting a lot of love back into the White House,” he said.

Nonprofits and brands navigate this partisan 250th in search of a unifying tone

The United States’ 250th birthday carries ambitions to galvanize Americans behind nationwide community-service drives and patriotic brand launches. Well-known U.S. nonprofits hope to inspire a record-setting level of volunteerism, while major companies such as Walmart and Coca-Cola are sponsoring tributes and selling limited-edition merchandise.

But the private sector’s unifying ambitions have been met with a mixed response, complicated by an uneasy national mood. Fewer Americans see their country as exceptional compared to 10 years ago, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, part of a broad decline in patriotic sentiment. Views of the American flag — a prominent feature of semiquincentennial celebrations — are divided by politics, age and race.

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Hamas dissolves Gaza government, plans power transfer to UN-backed committee

The Hamas militant group said Monday it had dissolved its government in Gaza and is preparing to transfer power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.

Hamas did not say whether it planned to take the crucial step of disarming or handing over security to an international force, but described its decision as evidence of its commitment to Gaza’s reconstruction after years of war.

It was unclear if the move, announced by a lower-level official, would lead to any meaningful change on the ground.

The Board of Peace, led by Trump with the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it would assess the impact of the Hamas announcement based on “actions, not promises” and stressed in a statement on X that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu urges US not to sell F-35s to Turkey

Speaking Monday on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “calls openly for the annihilation of Israel.”

Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. However, Trump, who has warm relations with Erdogan, has hinted ahead of his planned visit to Ankara for the NATO summit that the sales could soon resume.

Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would “upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East.”

Israel’s Air Force depends on hundreds of U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

Trump points to George Washington to justify enriching his family

The president has drawn sharp criticism after financial disclosures showed his family made more than $1 billion in crypto last year.

He says his sons are running the family business, the Trump Organization, while he’s president.

“I don’t talk to them,” Trump said, adding, “I’m allowed to, I think.”

But he also said he doesn’t bother because being president is more important: “This office is a much higher calling.”

Trump also offered a dubious history lesson, suggesting that, as president, George Washington had two desks — one for business matters and another for the presidency.

“He had two desks in the same room,” Trump said. “And so, you’re allowed to. But I choose not to. I don’t talk to my kids about, you know, this stuff.”

“The hardest thing to get is a helipad,” Trump said. “There’s no harder zoning thing to get.”

He added “we’re building a helipad” that will feature the presidential seal and be made of granite.

The plan marks yet another building project for Trump, who has shaped the White House and its grounds in his own image in myriad ways.

Trump questions dangers of TikTok because he’s No. 1 on it

Asked whether SpaceX shares would be donated for use in Trump Accounts, the president instead talked about how TikTok helped him become president again.

Citing a news segment about the social media app’s purported dangers, Trump said he had seen that he is “No. 1 on it,” then questioned how dangerous it could actually be.

“I think it helped me win the election in a landslide, if you want to know the truth,” he said.

As for SpaceX, Trump said he’s “a cheerleader for geniuses” and speaks to many of them, including Elon Musk, who founded the rocketmaking company.

Trump says he called FIFA president to review red card, called it a ‘horrible’ call

Asked about his role in getting Balogun’s red-card penalty suspended, Trump acknowledged calling Infantino and asking that FIFA take a second look.

The president said he didn’t initially know what a red card was or what its consequences were. When he found out that it could keep Balogun out of Monday’s match against Belgium, Trump said he felt compelled to intervene.

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said to press at the White House. “I didn’t think it was a foul,” he added. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed each other and got entangled.”

He said the red card was a “horrible” call, arguing that the slowed-down video review made it look worse than it was.

“That’s very unfair,” he said. “How do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played?

Platner denied the allegation, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.

“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in a video released on social media.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response, but in an interview on CNN Monday evening she said she opted not to fight back for fear of Platner, a former Marine, becoming more violent.

“He violated multiple layers of consent that night,” Racicot said.

Platner's campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.

Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from a candidate who has long been controversial. The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out and said it would spend no money in the state if he is the nominee.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who'd stood by Platner even as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, said Monday's was enough. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego also announced he was pulling his endorsement, as did the Democratic-leaning political group End Citizens United.

The Democratic leaders of Maine's legislature called for Platner to withdraw, as did top officials at the state Democratic Party.

“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle,” the statement continued.

Platner commandingly won Maine's Democratic primary last month, but state law allows him to be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

As of Monday, Platner had canceled a handful of campaign town halls planned in Maine.

Platner was a first-time candidate who won the primary with backing of the party's left wing. While some Democrats came around to support him after his commanding primary win, Platner's controversial history had already left others openly despairing of their chances of winning the race. A veteran who also worked for a private security contractor, Platner has a chest tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, had a history of controversial statements on social media and reportedly sexted with other women shortly after getting married.

In 2013, Platner posted on Reddit that people shouldn’t get so drunk “they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to” and that sexual assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves.” He's since apologized for the post and says he no longer holds those beliefs.

Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator and streamer who's backed Platner, seemed to reverse himself Monday following the Politico report. "If new evidence presents itself, I’m going to change my perspective — it’s that simple,” Piker said during a livestream on Twitch, adding: “This is a clear-cut instance of verifiable sexual assault allegations. It’s completely irredeemable.”

Maine's Democrats have long sought to oust Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who's held on despite representing a state that reliably votes for other party at the presidential level. After Collins' solid 2020 win, several Maine Democrats passed on the opportunity to challenge her this time and instead looked at other offices. That left the state's 78-year-old governor, Janet Mills, as the Democratic establishment's best hope.

Platner rode into the political void and pitched himself as a blue-collar oysterman and veteran who could reach disaffected voters who had supported President Donald Trump. But as allegations began mounting against him, some state Democrats had heartburn, embodied by Mills' refusal to endorse Platner after she dropped out of the primary. Chatter already began to circulate about other possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

“I’ve known this has been coming,” said Marie Follayttar, a Democrat and community organizer in Maine, talking the growing whispers inside the state's small population that had been bracing for yet another revelation surrounding Platner. “I’ve been scared and I’ve been sick waiting.”

The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interview with Politico.

Balogun’s red card was assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

Following a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, FIFA's disciplinary committee suspended the discipline for a year on Sunday, prompting the European governing body UEFA to call the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Belgium's attempt to have FIFA reinstate the suspension was denied by FIFA's appeals committee, which said the Belgian federation lacked standing.

Belgium fans chanted “FIFA Mafia” during their pregame march to Lumen Field.

Infantino said he did not play a role in the decision by the disciplinary committee, which also fined Balogun $40,000, a penalty that can be paid by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

The U.S. started an unchanged lineup, while Belgium dropped Jérémy Doku and Kevin DeBruyne, who began on the bench along with Romelu Lukaku. The Red Devils also left out Artur Teatre and Hans Vanaken, while inserting Dodi Lukébakio, Amadou Onana, Nicolas Raskin and Nathan Ngoy.

Balogun's three goals lead the U.S., which has never won consecutive knockout-rounds games at the World Cup. Belgium eliminated the Americans in the 2014 round of 16.

The U.S.-Belgium winner faces Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco. The U.S. last reached the quarterfinals in 2002, when it was knocked out by Germany. The Americans advanced to the semifinals of the first World Cup in 1930.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

In a DPS preliminary report, troopers identified the motorcyclist as Wilfredo Mattei, 29.

Troopers attempted a traffic stop on a black sport motorcycle at approximately 9:50 a.m. Monday near the intersection of the Loop 410 access road and Marbach Road.

Mattei, however, refused to stop. He led troopers on a brief chase, the report said.

Troopers said Mattei later abandoned the motorcycle near the intersection of Vance Jackson Road and Wall Street when he attempted to make a run for it.

Mattei was taken into custody following a foot pursuit, DPS said. He was taken to a local hospital for further treatment.

After his release from the hospital, the report said Mattei will be charged with evading arrest on foot, evading arrest with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.

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

More recent news coverage on KSAT:

• BCSO identifies couple killed in suspected murder-suicide in southwest Bexar County
• San Antonio city officials seek public input on neighborhood hazards, disaster preparedness
• Man charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with Southeast Side crash, SAPD says

In a Monday news release, the automaker said it will invest $3.6 billion in its South Side plant that will create a “second vehicle assembly line” for the production of Toyota Tacoma trucks and add 2,000 jobs by the start of 2030. The plant is already home to Tundra and Sequoia production.

The release states the expansion will also add 2.5 million square feet to Toyota Texas, doubling its size by 2030.

According to the company, Toyota Tacoma production will be phased out at its manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico, before shifting to the San Antonio plant over the next four years.

“Toyota’s continued investment in North America is a testament to our confidence in the region’s workforce, innovation and long-term growth potential,” TMNA President and CEO Ted Ogawa said in a news release. “By expanding our San Antonio plant, we are deepening our commitment to American manufacturing, creating meaningful and sustainable jobs, while advancing our mission to deliver high-quality vehicles that meet the changing needs of customers today and into the future.”

The carmaker’s expansion was applauded by state and local leaders ranging from Gov. Greg Abbott to San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.

“This Texas-sized investment reflects the strength of our workforce and the unmatched business advantages found only in our state,” Abbott said in a news release. “Supported by the Texas Enterprise Fund and JETI program, this expansion will deliver economic opportunities to generations of San Antonio families and further cement Texas as the premier destination for world-class advanced manufacturing.”

“San Antonio proudly hosts Toyota, and we’re excited to be selected for additional expansion,” Jones said in a news release. “This is a significant recognition of the talent our city offers, as well as the investments our community is willing to make to support Toyota’s growth. We look forward to expanding the Toyota family in San Antonio.”

Earlier this year, Toyota announced an additional 400 jobs were coming to the South Side plant in the form of truck axle production.

More related coverage of this story on KSAT:

• San Antonio City Council unanimously approves Toyota incentive package
• Truck axle production coming to South Side Toyota plant, will bring 400+ jobs

The crash Sunday morning happened on U.S. Highway 90 near Tondre Parkway and killed a woman who was a passenger in one of the vehicles involved.

In a news release, Castroville police said they are conducting tests to determine if the driver who rear-ended the woman’s car may have been intoxicated.

A spokesman told KSAT 12 News on Monday morning that it could take a few days to get those results. In the meantime, he said the crash did not appear to be related to a road construction project in that area.

Still, people commenting on the Castroville Police Department’s Facebook page pointed to the roadwork as a possible source of trouble.

Others in the area, including Ceci Gaitan, told KSAT 12 News they are concerned the changes brought about by the project are creating a hazard for drivers.

“The area where the accident happened, it’s a little confusing even to us that live here,” Gaitan said.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the road project, which is on a state highway, is being overseen by a developer.

The work is to accommodate an increase in traffic expected from a new housing development in the area, a TXDOT spokesperson said.

The project includes new traffic patterns that involve a new series of traffic lights and turnarounds.

In one stretch directly outside Gaitan’s subdivision, drivers now are forced to make a right turn where they once had the choice of turning left.

“The lights also, people aren’t honoring the red lights,” she said.

The changes, Gaitan said, are adding up to a scary situation that has her more aware and careful when she is behind the wheel.

“I have girls that are learning how to drive, so I’m scared for them to get on this road,” she said.

Darrel Papoff, though, sees people, not the project, as the source of the trouble there.

He said some drivers are simply too impatient.

“People don’t want to sit there and wait (at the light),” he said. “That’s what wrong with people. They think the laws are not made for everybody, and they have their own versions of them.”

Papoff said as far as he is concerned, there is no confusion.

All the traffic changes on the road are clearly marked, he said.

Others spoke off camera, saying it may be just a matter of drivers getting used to the changes, and embracing progress instead of seeing it as a problem.

Read also:

• Man charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with Southeast Side crash, SAPD says

The data, posted in late June by the Trump administration and first reported on by The Associated Press, reveals how changes in each state’s insured population led to around 2.6 million fewer Americans having Obamacare plans in February compared with the same time last year.

It captures not only how many people signed up for or were automatically reenrolled in plans in 2026, but how many paid their first monthly premiums to keep coverage, according to Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, who reviewed the dataset. She said it accounts for people who were retroactively removed from coverage after a nonpayment grace period ended.

“This is the first time we’ve seen state-level data that shows how much ACA marketplace enrollment truly fell,” Cox said. “It’s in line with our expectations, but it does show a very steep drop in the number of people with ACA coverage.”

Healthcare affordability is a central issue to voters

Health analysts have kept a close eye on changes in ACA enrollment since the expiration of so-called enhanced premium tax credits caused many Americans’ monthly health insurance fees to double or triple, forcing some to forgo coverage entirely. The subsidies had been at the center of a bitter fight in Congress last fall, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for their renewal.

Health insurance costs have been rising across ACA and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns.

In a report released last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggested the significant drop in enrollment this year could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment. But analysts have said it was more likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies, and other changes, including tightened requirements on which immigrants could access subsidized plans.

Mike Rhoads, deputy commissioner of life and health at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, cited a crackdown on fraudulent enrollments as one reason ACA enrollments dropped. But he said in his state, the biggest factor was money.

“It's all about affordability at this point in time,” he said in an interview, adding that he expects the problem to continue with insurers forecast to raise rates again next year.

Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona saw the most significant drop-offs

An AP analysis of the data finds that Ohio and Oklahoma each saw a more than 32% decline in ACA enrollment over the past year. They lost larger shares of their covered populations than any other state.

Following closely behind, and losing more than a fourth of their enrollees, were Arizona, South Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri.

Florida, a state that relies highly on ACA insurance in part because it did not expand Medicaid and is home to many gig workers and entrepreneurs, still has more residents in the marketplace than any other state, at nearly 4 million. But it also saw the highest number of enrollees drop coverage this year — around 443,000.

The data doesn’t show whether people who dropped ACA health insurance this year found coverage elsewhere, and chances are some of them became insured through employer plans or other options. But Cox said most people who left the marketplace are likely going without insurance, because it is typically a “place of last resort” to get health coverage for people who aren’t eligible elsewhere.

Some of the states that saw the largest enrollment declines were the same ones that saw the biggest enrollment gains after the federal government introduced enhanced subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cox said that isn’t surprising, because those states likely had large numbers of people who enrolled only because the enhanced subsidies made coverage much more affordable.

Only one state saw an increase in its covered population. New Mexico gained some 14% more enrollees in the government health insurance program compared with the same time last year. It was the only state in the nation that fully replaced the lost federal subsidies using its own funds.

Federal marketplace states saw biggest enrollment losses

About three in five states use the federal marketplace Healthcare.gov, while the rest operate their own state-based marketplaces for ACA insurance.

The new data shows that federal marketplace states overall lost larger shares of enrollees than states with state-based exchanges.

One reason for that could be that many states with their own marketplaces took steps to offset costs for their residents when the enhanced subsidies expired in January.

New Mexico, which saw double-digit enrollment gains, is the most extreme example of that. In a special legislative session last fall, lawmakers in the state approved a plan to use state funds to make up for the missing subsidies through mid-2026. In March, the state’s governor signed a bill to continue making up the difference through mid-2027.

Tim Fowler, public relations coordinator for the New Mexico Health Care Authority, said the state's rise in enrollment was due to its healthcare affordability fund that replaced the subsidies.

“In New Mexico, we believe health insurance should protect people against medical debt, not cause it,” he said.

Hours before kickoff, FIFA dismissed Belgium's challenge to the most-debated political intervention in a World Cup in decades. That means forward Folarin Balogun is eligible to play on Monday night in Seattle. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, which would be the best U.S. result at a men’s World Cup since 2002.

Balogun had faced a mandatory ban from Monday's match after receiving a red card last week. But FIFA lifted his suspension on Sunday following a call Trump made to the global soccer organization’s president, Gianni Infantino.

Here’s a deeper look at the controversy.

Why Balogun and the red card matter

Born in New York to Nigerian parents, raised in London, and playing in the French league, Balogun's birthright citizenship made him eligible for the U.S.

Securing his commitment to play on the American team was a coup and it has paid off; the 25-year-old leads the team's World Cup scoring with three goals.

All was well until Wednesday when he stepped on opponent Tarik Muharemović's ankle in a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32.

The decision to send off Balogun was disputed — his movement seemed clumsy but not malicious. But once a referee decides to issue a red card, the punishment is usually straightforward: The player is excluded from the rest of the game and — until now, at least — a suspension for the next game is automatic.

If the ban had stayed in place, replacing Balogun in the lineup posed a big challenge for coach Mauricio Pochettino.

The U.S. has plenty of attacking players in wider or deeper roles, but few with the combination of physical power and goal-scoring ability for the center-forward role that the rest of the offense focuses around. Likely replacement Ricardo Pepi hasn't scored in four World Cup games.

FIFA's explanation and what it didn't say

There is typically no appeals process against the automatic one-game ban, only for longer sanctions usually applied to the most serious fouls like violent conduct or racism.

In its decision to let Balogun play against Belgium, FIFA cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says a “judicial body” can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” Balogun could yet get that one-game suspension on top of any future punishment if he commits a similar offense again in the next year.

In a statement Monday, FIFA's disciplinary committee gave more details on its decision. It said it found Balogun guilty of two breaches of its disciplinary code: one related to the red card and another for celebrating with his teammates on the field after the Bosnia match despite having been ejected. It imposed a fine of $40,000 but suspended the automatic one-match ban for a probationary period of one year.

“The sanction remains dormant during the probationary period and will only be activated if he commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during that one-year period,” the committee said.

Infantino insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.” Article 27 doesn't lay out any requirements for which cases are eligible under the rarely used rule.

Last year, FIFA suspended two games of a three-game ban for one of soccer's biggest-ever stars, Cristiano Ronaldo. That left him free to play in the opening games of the World Cup for Portugal. He did serve the remaining one game ban in a qualifier.

Balogun's case seems to be the first since 1962 in which a sending-off during a World Cup match didn’t result in a suspension. On that occasion, the president of host nation Chile argued for Brazilian midfielder Garrincha to be allowed to play the final after he had kicked a Chilean opponent.

How Trump got involved in ‘great injustice’

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said Sunday on social media after Balogun's suspension was lifted. On Monday, Trump defended his outreach to Infantino, saying he merely pointed out that the referee's call against Balogun seemed like a bad one and warranted a closer look.

Infantino and Trump have developed a well-known relationship. The Swiss soccer official became a regular visitor to the Oval Office as the U.S. prepared to host the World Cup. He gave Trump a FIFA peace prize at the World Cup draw in December, an award the organization hasn't presented to anyone else before or since.

FIFA’s statutes prohibit governments from intervening in the independence of soccer bodies managing their own affairs. FIFA regularly suspends member federations where governments have interfered in decision-making.

Pochettino, the U.S. coach, applauded FIFA’s move Sunday and said the initial on-field ruling against Balogun was “completely unfair.”

Backlash from Belgium over FIFA decision

The Belgian soccer federation said it was “astonished” when the news of FIFA's intervention broke. Coach Rudi Garcia likened the decision to April Fools' Day.

On Monday afternoon, a FIFA appeals judge dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge fewer than eight hours before kickoff. The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA’s disciplinary code says suspensions of two games or less typically can’t be appealed — though that would generally apply to teams wanting a suspension lifted, not reimposed.

It was unclear if Belgium can, and how soon, pursue an appeal to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is on standby to rule on urgent World Cup cases.

As Europe woke to the news Monday, the Instagram account of Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever's cat, Maximus — a social media celebrity in his own right — weighed in with a picture captioned: “Red card? I'm still going to play!”

Other prominent soccer voices weigh in

European soccer body UEFA criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” and warned “the integrity of the game is at stake.”

In an apparent response to UEFA’s criticism, FIFA’s disciplinary committee said “reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game.”

Norway coach Ståle Solbakken weighed in after his team stunned Brazil on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” he said. “Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away?”

Former England great Wayne Rooney said on the BBC: “Infantino, he should be ashamed of this because I think the sportsmanship of this game is in question here.”

Ex-Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimović was a prominent voice welcoming the decision.

“First of all, he should not get a red card and then they should have come quicker, this call,” Ibrahimovic said on Fox Sports. “I’m happy for the U.S. team because the U.S. team has been amazing but Balo has been super-amazing.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel predicted this could set off a flood of complaints and appeals over other on-field decisions affecting key players at the World Cup.

“Where to draw the line is the question that I ask,” he said after England beat Mexico 3-2 for a quarterfinal spot.

“Our yellow card from the first minute against Declan Rice, we can now debate endlessly. I think it's not a yellow card. Do we get this back?”

___

AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It’s really a beautiful thing.”

The Republican president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image.

The helipad will be able to handle new choppers, Trump says

Some of Trump's major White House construction projects have relied on public money, even when the president initially suggested otherwise. Still, Trump said Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, would be paying for the helipad.

Asked about the cost of the project and a timeline for its completion, Lockheed Martin responded with a statement reading in part: “This specific contribution was made to the National Park Service” and “conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

In 2024, Sikorsky completed a new fleet of helicopters for use as Marine One, and President Joe Biden took the first flight aboard a modern VH-92A Patriot helicopter on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — the same day the military announced Sikorsky delivered the last of the 23 new aircraft.

A Sikorsky spokesperson said Monday that the new helicopters deliver “increased performance and reduced maintenance costs and time.”

But Trump said the newer aircraft were more powerful than Vietnam War-era choppers that long had been used as Marine One, and the modern ones were too potent to land on the White House lawn without damaging the grass.

"It’s not that the grass gets discolored — it gets ripped out,” the president said.

Indeed, the new helicopters have seen limited service because their exhaust vents aim heat downward, scorching the White House South Lawn.

The Marines and Sikorsky have spent years trying to find a solution to the problem, which has meant that the new helicopters haven't been used at the White House. Trump recalled telling a group of gathered military generals that a White House helipad would solve those problems.

The president said Sikorsky was building the helipad and paying the "full cost” because they “felt a little bit guilty” that the new fleet of helicopters was too powerful to land at the White House.

Trump also said he told builders to “do a beauty” and suggested using granite rather than simply laying concrete and painting it white.

“You’re landing on granite, which is the strongest stone,” the president said, noting that the completed landing pad could also be used for other events, like outdoor White House news conferences. He added that the helipad will allow officials to “finally retire 45-year-old helicopters” that had been used as Marine One.

Trump's other projects to remake the White House include tearing up part of the Rose Garden for a patio space reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and affixing partisan plaques to the wall of the colonnade for a Presidential Walk of Fame.

Trump also had crews redo the bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom and renovate the Palm Room, place new flagpoles on the north and south lawns and demolish the entire East Wing for a sprawling ballroom.

Efforts to improve presidential helicopters go back decades

While the term “Marine One” is applied to a variety of helicopter models that transport presidents, the most iconic and longest serving helicopter to take on the mission is the specially modified VH-3D Sea King helicopter that first entered service in 1978.

In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush, a Republican, began an effort to modernize the helicopter fleet, but the program ran into cost overruns, leading it to be scrapped by President Barack Obama's administration.

Obama, a Democrat, restarted the program, but new technical issues emerged, and it wasn’t until May 2014 that the military finally awarded Sikorsky a contract to build the next presidential helicopter -- the VH-92A Patriot, which were the aircraft delivered in 2024.

A Marine Corps spokesman, Capt. Jacob M. Sugg, declined to comment on matters pertaining to the White House property. But he said the Marine One squadron currently consists of nine Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings that were first deployed in the 1970s, as well as six Sikorsky VH-60Ns deployed in the late 1980s and 10 of the newer VH-92A Patriots.

Trump says ‘a lot of love is being put into the White House’

Later Monday, Trump addressed a lunch in the Rose Garden patio space and detailed yet another White House construction project, this one to revamp the columns on the building's north side.

Crews have erected scaffolding and Trump said, “We’ve taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns," noting, “If you don’t strip the paint off, it gets worse and worse and worse.”

“A lot of love is being put into the White House,” Trump said.

He didn't say who would be covering the cost of the column work.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump's blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. Cole hadn't been charged, let alone convicted, when Trump issued the pardons, Ali noted in his three-page order.

On the first day of his second term in the White House, Trump erased the largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history when he pardoned, commuted the prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the Jan. 6 attack.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump's sweeping act of clemency. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the night before the riot. The devices didn’t detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest, telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped." Investigators also used phone records and other evidence to identify him as a suspect.

Cole's attorneys argued that he qualifies for a pardon because his alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events near the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“By the government’s own telling, this is exactly the kind of case that President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Presidential Pardon was invoked to reach,” defense lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors countered that Trump's pardons have no bearing on Cole's case since the president's proclamation applies only to people who been convicted of or had a pending indictment for Capitol riot-related crimes.

“And even if the proclamation somehow could apply to this case, the Department of Justice’s contrary position is entitled to deference as a reasonable interpretation taken by the Executive Branch agency expressly charged with administering the proclamation,” they wrote.

Ali was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Trump, a Republican, spread baseless conspiracy theories that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him. Supporters who attended Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 joined a mob's attack on the Capitol, disrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying Biden's electoral victory.

Cole is due back in court on Wednesday for a status hearing in his case. A trial date for his case hasn't been scheduled yet.

The furor centered on a phone call that President Donald Trump made last week to FIFA head Gianni Infantino to make the case that U.S. striker Folarin Balogun should not have been suspended for Monday’s matchup with Belgium because of a red card in a game last week. FIFA lifted the suspension and cleared Balogun to play.

The decision appeared to be the first time since 1962 that punishment for a World Cup offense was suspended in the tournament, increasing scrutiny on Infantino’s control of FIFA and his close association with Trump.

European soccer body UEFA said FIFA “crossed a red line” and called Sunday’s decision by FIFA’s disciplinary committee “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” Infantino denied having a role in the decision. Trump called it a “horrible” call and took credit for getting FIFA to review the foul, but said he did not demand an outcome.

The Belgian Football Association said it informed the U.S. Soccer Federation it was contesting Balogun’s eligibility.

But FIFA’s appeals committee dismissed Belgium’s legal challenge less than eight hours before scheduled kickoff of the round of 16 match in Seattle. The appellate panel said Belgium had no standing to challenge the decision.

It was unclear whether Belgium could pursue an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Balogun’s red card was assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent’s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Claus did not initially issue a red card but showed it after a video review.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee on Sunday provisionally lifted the suspension for one year and fined Balogun $40,000, which the USSF can pay.

UEFA vs. FIFA reignites

European soccer officials reacted with outrage.

“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” UEFA said in a statement.

“Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not,” it said. “When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”

UEFA has often clashed with Infantino during his decade in FIFA power.

Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter, forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media:

“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” said Blatter. “They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”

The Swiss Football Association declared that the “credibility of the competition depends on clear rules that are applied consistently.”

Coaches speculated about the implications of the decision going forward.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said. “Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away? It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel wondered whether yellow cards to English defender Declan Rice and French midfielder Michael Olise could be reversed.

FIFA's disciplinary committee defended its decision in a statement Monday.

“Reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game,” it said. “In the majority of top-tier leagues belonging to UEFA-affiliated member associations the overturning of red cards is a common disciplinary measure, yet this has never raised concerns about crossing any `red line.'”

Trump’s comments

Trump on Monday called the referee’s decision a “horrible” call while admitting he was confused about the rules and punishment surrounding red cards.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

He also acknowledged calling Infantino.

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said. “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’”

Infantino issued a statement saying: “FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously.”

“I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” he said of his conversation with Trump.

Infantino’s relationship with Trump previously sparked concern among soccer officials. European soccer leaders walked out of a FIFA Congress in Paraguay last year due to a three-hour delay caused by Infantino arriving late because he was with Trump in the Middle East.

After Infantino awarded Trump the first FIFA peace prize in December, Norway’s governing body filed a letter supporting an ethics complaint against Infantino that accused him of violating provisions in FIFA’s code of ethics requiring political neutrality.

Belgium’s legal options

Belgian officials prepared in Seattle through the night into Monday to get a hearing with a FIFA-appointed appeals judge, and their eventual defeat might not be the end.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of the match,” the Belgian federation said, ”(we are) deeply concerned by the way these events have unfolded and will continue, in the hours, days and months ahead, to pursue every available avenue to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, sporting fairness and the interests of football as a whole.”

Balogun’s tackle

Balogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on an ankle of defender Tarik Muharemović.

That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.

Still, similar challenges by star players have gone unpunished at this World Cup — by Argentina’s Lionel Messi against Algeria and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi vs. Brazil. Bernardo Silva of Portugal got just a yellow card against Congo.

“I think a yellow card would have been fair,” Balogun later suggested.

FIFA’s interventions

This World Cup has been remarkable for FIFA under Infantino seeming to rewrite the norms of disciplinary action even before the tournament began.

A pattern of pardons opened FIFA to suggestions of executive intervention in the statutory independence of its judicial bodies, including the disciplinary committee that formally reprieved Balogun.

Cristiano Ronaldo was cleared to play in Portugal’s opening World Cup game despite getting a red card for serious foul play in a qualifying game against Ireland last November. He struck an opponent with an elbow.

Ronaldo served his mandatory ban in Portugal’s final qualifying game but he was reprieved from an expected two-game ban because FIFA introduced the idea of probation. An imposed three-game ban was less meaningful as two games were deferred during a one-year probationary period.

At the opening game on June 11, South Africa’s Themba Zwane got a red card against Mexico for a similar offense to Ronaldo’s and FIFA imposed a three-game ban with no probation. Zwane did not play again at the World Cup.

Three players sent off in their teams’ qualifying games last year were surprisingly told by FIFA in May they could serve their bans in a future competition instead of at the World Cup, which was the long-standing norm.

Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo, Argentina defender Nicolás Otamendi and Qatar defender Tarek Salman all had their bans waived for the World Cup.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Two people were briefly trapped in debris at the BJ’s Wholesale Club in Ocean Township but managed to escape, and no injuries were reported, according to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.

Flooding rains were reported in parts of New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey as rounds of storms moved through the area Monday, breaking a heat wave that gripped much of the area last week.

On Sunday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned about heatstroke and shared locations of pools and cooling centers. By Monday, he was urging people to leave basement apartments immediately if they saw water rising in their homes.

Heavy rain stranded cars on flooded highways across northern New Jersey and sloshed water into businesses and at least one hospital.

“Nothing too serious. They have us running from call to call,” said Lakewood Police Capt. Leroy Marshall.

The rain and storms broke the heat dome that settled over much of the Northeast last week.

LaGuardia Airport in New York set a record high Thursday of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Low temperatures in many places barely made it below 80 degrees F (26.7 C), preventing people from cooling off even at night.

The temperature at LaGuardia hovered just below 70 degrees F (21.1 C) Monday with the rain.

Officials in New Jersey were investigating at least 29 deaths last week that were possibly heat-related. The people were found dead on the street or in homes without air conditioning. They ranged in ages from their 30s to their 80s, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Raynard Washington said.

Autopsies and other investigations will be needed before the deaths are officially blamed on the heat, Washington said.

Other states have not announced possible deaths from the heat.

Severe storms moved from Michigan to the East Coast as the heat wave broke over the weekend.

In Michigan, two children, ages 8 and 12, were found dead Saturday in a garage after they were apparently overcome by exhaust from a generator during a storm-related power outage, Sumpter Township police said.

About 370,000 people remained without power across the country, most from the storm damage, according to poweroutage.com.

Two Gilbert police officers saw possible signs of life multiple times, but the child was still taken to the hospital's “cold room" after being treated by staff, according to the documents.

“Please do your thing and let me do my thing,” Dr. Aryan Toosi told an officer at one point, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”

First responders were dispatched to the home at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in response to a reported drowning. They performed life-saving measures on the child before taking him to a local hospital where the boy was pronounced dead about an hour later.

About five hours later, police were notified that the child was indeed breathing, and he was flown to another hospital. The boy ultimately survived and has been released.

Boy survived but his parents are scrutiny

Gilbert police are recommending negligence charges against the parents. Investigators said there was a strong odor of marijuana at the home and open doors that could have allowed unsupervised access to the pool. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the case and declined further comment Monday.

In 911 calls, two relatives frantically reported that the child had been pulled from the pool as people at the scene could be shrieking. One caller reported the toddler was unconscious.

No one answered at the home where the near-drowning occurred when an Associated Press photographer knocked on the door Monday.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where the 18-month-old was taken, said in a statement that the hospital conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.”

The hospital called it “a heartbreaking situation” and declined to release further details.

When a team from the local medical examiner's office arrived in the so-called cold room, they found the boy breathing and rushed him to another hospital, police said.

Doctor's lawyer says there's more to know

Scott Holden, an attorney for Toosi, told the AP that he wouldn't make a full statement on behalf of the doctor “other than to assure you that there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.”

A GoFundMe page, which was created in February to help the boy's family with medical bills, said the toddler would need extensive therapy.

“Thank you for your prayers, your kindness, and your support for baby Vincent — our miracle fighter,” the page says.

An ABC affiliate in Phoenix, KNXV-TV, was the first to report the story.

There have been other cases of people discovered alive after being declared dead. In Southfield, Michigan, Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, was declared dead by a doctor over the phone in 2020. City paramedics had responded to a 911 call at her family’s home.

Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was swiftly taken to a hospital but never recovered and died two months later. Southfield settled a negligence lawsuit filed by the family for $3.25 million. ___ Ed White contributed to this story from Detroit.

Efforts to defend the nation’s airspace can be traced back to San Antonio and Fort Sam Houston, which is considered the birthplace of America’s military aviation.

Lieutenant Benjamin Foulois laid the foundation, according to historic accounts, which state he brought the first military plane to Fort Sam Houston in 1910.

Foulois was given one order: learn how to fly, and had to learn to do so, largely through the mail.

“He didn’t have aviation experience as a pilot. He had gotten an earlier ride with Orville Wright at Fort Myers,” said Col. Tom Shaw, a former Marine pilot. “He would correspond with the Wright brothers just in bits and pieces. (With) a lot of pluck and a lot of luck, he managed to teach himself how to fly.”

Shaw is a volunteer guide for the Texas Air Museum at Stinson Field, and helps show decades of military and civilian aviation history on exhibit at the South Side museum.

After Foulois learned to fly, Shaw said he trained a group of soldiers assigned to learn how to fly as well.

“It’s very similar to the Navy’s TOPGUN school,” Shaw said. “He was going to be the duty expert, as we say in the military, and then he was able to train the follow-on folks.”

These service members would become the first Aero Squadron, the first official airplane unit of the United States Army.

Aero Squadron’s success led to the expansion of military flight training, with several training camps established across America, including Camp Kelly, later known as Kelly Air Force Base.

Randolph, Brooks and Lackland Air Force bases would later be established in San Antonio, leading to the city becoming known as “Military City USA.”

Today, Randolph Air Force Base continues the military’s aviation legacy.

“It’s often called the showplace of the Air Force. Randolph is a place to be, you know,” said Lane Bourgeois, historian for the 12th Flying Training Wing. “We’re kind of a hub of the Air Force.”

“Everyone who gets training in an aircraft has been through Randolph for pilot training, because that’s what we do,” Bourgeois said, “we do pilot instructor training.”

Taxing down flight lines at Randolph, Bourgeois said there are two planes training the next generation of pilots: a T-38 Talon from the 1960s and the new T-7A Red Hawk trainer.

“We’re now going to an advanced flying training, a T-7, that will fulfill the needs of Generation 5, Generation 6 type pilots,” Bourgeois said.

The first Red Hawk trainer arrived at the base in last December with hundreds more on the way.

Read also:

• Descendants of Revolutionary War supporters keep South Texas history alive
• New initiative aims to help descendants of San Antonio Missions uncover Indigenous roots

The 166,000-squre-foot project was registered Thursday and will be located at 3007 West Loop 1604 South, which is located near Kriewald Road.

The estimated cost to build the membership warehouse club is $24 million, according to the filing.

San Antonio currently has six Sam’s Club locations. Here is where to find them:

• 5565 De Zavala Road
• 12349 N. Interstate 35
• 2530 Marshall Road
• 5055 Northwest Loop 410
• 3239 Goliad Road
• 3150 SW Military Drive

Construction for the new Sam’s Club is expected to begin on Nov. 30, 2026, with completion slated for Nov. 8, 2027.

Read also:

• New Chick-fil-A restaurant to open on Northwest Side
• Layne’s Chicken Fingers plans construction for new restaurant in Leon Valley

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS

• STRAY STORM TODAY: Mainly in the Hill Country
• HOT: Daytime temps slowly climb, upper-90s by Wednesday
• WEEKEND RAIN CHANCE: Deeper moisture ups rain chances by Saturday

FORECAST

TONIGHT

There are a few storms in the Hill Country that could produce some street flooding in isolated spots. This activity will be around until sunset, with a small chance (20%) of it reaching San Antonio metro area.

TOMORROW

Sunny & toasty! Highs will be in the mid- to upper-90s. Just a degree or so above average.

THIS WEEK

Daytime temperatures will slowly climb, peaking Wednesday and Thursday, with highs in the upper-90s.

MORE RAIN CHANCES?

A surge of moisture arriving from the Gulf on Friday should at the very least give us more cloud cover. But, downpours, some heavy, should also arrive with this airmass. As of now, our best chance for downpours will be on Saturday (30%).

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• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
• Hourly and 10-Day Forecast
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Márquez and his father, who also survived, spoke through layers of concrete, hearing Leonel suffer, shout for help and inhale suffocating smoke as he waited for a crane to remove the columns crushing him. But it never came. After several hours, Leonel's cries gave way to silence, Márquez said.

But even that, terrible as it was, was not what disturbed him the most. The worst, Márquez said, was trying to recover his families' tangled remains with little more than his bare hands and a saw. He sliced off limbs to free the corpses of Leonel and his mother but was forced to abandon his sister, who was eight-months' pregnant, grandmother and other relatives beneath the ruins — and with their bodies, the hope that if he couldn't save them, he could at least give them proper burials.

“It’s unfair. It’s inhumane, everything that is happening,” 26-year-old Márquez said from the overflowing makeshift morgue at La Guaira port. "We couldn’t get my brother out because we didn’t get a response from the state ... and after 11 days, we are still requesting a crane.”

Márquez is one of countless Venezuelans who, after days of torment, has been left alone to search, if not for signs of life, then for loved ones’ remains — and for some semblance of closure.

International rescue teams, quietly acknowledging the possibility that no more victims would be found alive after 12 days under the rubble, are preparing to depart. Local authorities are turning their focus to finding shelter for thousands of displaced people. But the recovery of the dead has become a pressing, and horrifying, duty for Venezuelans still missing their loved ones.

“I found her hand, but her torso is crushed," said Norely Rodríguez, trying to get her 5-year-old daughter out of the ruins in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira. “I want to see if I can get her out whole."

Residents say they are alone in the search for their dead

Many say that just as they were left without government help to rescue survivors in the immediate aftermath of the quakes, so too are they now under-equipped to unearth their dead nearly two weeks later.

The more time passes, the more gruesome the recovery process becomes, said William Gomez, a firefighter in La Guaira. “It has been difficult because the bodies are already in an advanced state of decomposition, decomposed to such an extent that many times when we try to remove them, they fall apart.”

Authorities announced that the death toll rose on Monday to 3,535, with another 16,740 people injured. Beyond that is an untold toll: those whose bodies have yet to be found. There are no official statistics on how many people are buried under the rubble, but more than 30,000 reports of missing people have been sent to a website set up by the Venezuelan opposition.

Over the weekend in La Guaira, no government civil defense crews or security forces could be seen helping families dig. The vast majority of those working their way through the wreckage were civilians using their bare hands or rudimentary tools like pickaxes and shovels, occasionally accompanied by firefighters and Mexican rescuers who remain in the country.

There are 1.2 million tons of debris in the most affected parts of La Guaira, according to the United Nations Development Program.

“We are the ones helping ourselves: our family. Nobody else helps us except for a few volunteers,” said Yeikhary Urbina, who found the bodies of her mother and brother on Saturday suspended under piles of concrete, seemingly locked in an embrace.

In several WhatsApp chats on Monday, neighbors who could no longer wait for authorities to help them recover their dead discussed pooling their own money to rent a crane — for the price of $11,500, in one case.

Search teams from Italy, Argentina, Spain and other countries have already returned home. The Venezuelan government has not yet called off the search for survivors. But officials have pivoted from promoting heroic rescue stories on social media to announcing reconstruction plans under a program called Venezuela Reborn.

“Venezuela is entering a process of infrastructure recovery, of housing recovery,” acting President Delcy Rodríguez told state TV on Saturday. She has fiercely rejected widespread criticism that her government reacted too slowly to the disaster and accused media outlets of spreading misinformation.

Anger over recovery effort mounts

Families with missing loved ones face fresh horrors as they scour the rubble. Some have searched for days to find corpses of loved ones so decomposed, they cannot tell them apart.

Others have dug and dug only to find nothing at all. “She kept asking, ‘Why did God play this trick on me?’" Geraldine Perdomo said of her sister, who was feverishly clawing at the ruins of her home for anything that would confirm the death of her two daughters.

And some, like Márquez, have agonized for days to extract their loved ones' bodies only to lose them again in the chaos of the impromptu morgue beneath grain silos at the La Guaira port, where a near-constant stream of bodies has been arriving since the June 24 quakes.

Márquez said that on Sunday, a week after delivering their corpses, he heard authorities had located his mother and grandfather. But Leonel, he said, "is still missing because of the negligence here.”

He and many other residents of the country’s public housing blocks — built years ago for low-income families by former socialist leader Hugo Chávez — say their complaints of negligence long predate this disaster. High-rise buildings housing hundreds of apartments pancaked in the earthquakes, reviving questions about substandard construction.

Alexander, a 42-year-old police officer who lived in one of the towers, was trembling with fury at the government on Sunday — for not addressing what he said were long-running resident concerns that his concrete housing complex was shoddily constructed, for not sending rescue teams in time to save his wife and three daughters, and now, for not delivering heavy machinery to help him recover their bodies.

"Not a single person from the government was here," he said, requesting to be identified only by his first name because, as a government employee, he feared retaliation for criticizing authorities.

After 11 days of searching, he reached the last missing member of his family — his 12-year-old daughter, her corpse decomposed but intact.

“She was waiting for me to pull her out,” he said, cradling the black plastic body bag in his arms.

___

DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Senate Bill 2420, which was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, establishes age verification requirements and mandates parental consent before a person under age 18 is allowed to download apps or make in-app purchases. The law also requires app developers to say whether their apps are appropriate for people in four categories: children under 13, teens age 13-15, older teens age 16-17, or adults 18 and older. 

The law was initially blocked in December when a federal judge in Austin determined  restrictions in SB 2420 likely violated the First Amendment. 

Texas appealed the temporary injunction, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in late May allowed Texas to enforce the law until its judges issue a ruling on the law’s constitutionality. 

A trade association asked the Supreme Court to block the Texas law while the 5th Circuit weighed the state’s appeal. The high court declined Monday without comment.

Computer & Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers on Monday said the tech trade group looks forward to making its case at an expedited hearing before the 5th Circuit in early August.

“People should not have to turn over personal data to access the internet any more than they should show government identification to enter a bookstore,” Schruers said in a statement.

The law’s supporters say it is needed to protect children as they navigate social media and online spaces, while critics say it would violate free speech rights. Louisiana and Utah have passed similar laws that have not yet gone into effect. 

The Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, an advocacy group, filed separate lawsuits in October challenging the law, both arguing it violates the First Amendment. 

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman sided with the plaintiffs in December, finding the law likely violates the First Amendment and issuing the temporary injunction blocking the law while the full case plays out in the district court.

“The Act is akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen could enter and again when they try to purchase a book,” Pitman wrote in a 20-page ruling at the time. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office appealed the temporary injunction in late December.

Paxton urged the appeals court to allow enforcement of the law, arguing the state has the right to regulate transactions between minors and app marketplaces that take place in the state, according to court filings. 

In a June statement, Paxton wrote that the age verification law was necessary to protect children online.

“Texas has not only the right, but the duty, to protect children from the harms of our modern digital space,” Paxton wrote. “Parents deserve to know what their children are downloading and to have the ability to stop them from accessing harmful or inappropriate content.”

The trade and advocacy groups urged the court to uphold Pitman’s injunction, arguing SB 2420 “restricts an enormous amount of online speech” in violation of the First Amendment. 

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas in a statement at the time noted its members use marketplaces to access apps used to communicate and learn, and the organization itself uses apps to engage with its members and the public.

“Students have just as much a right to access information as adults, and this law denies them that access,” Cameron Samuels, co-founder and executive director of SEAT, wrote in a statement.

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

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled back within 1% of its all-time high, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The strength for companies in the artificial-intelligence technology industry sent the Nasdaq composite 1.1% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3%, to a record.

AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high. Doubts are rising about whether all the dollars flowing into AI chips and data centers can possibly create enough gains in productivity and profits to make back all the investments.

Broadcom was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 and rose 3.7% after announcing long-term agreements to provide silicon products to Apple. It was coming off two straight losses of more than 2% on Wednesday and Thursday at the end of last week, before Friday’s holiday in advance of the Fourth of July.

The global appetite for AI from investors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, the South Korean maker of computer memory, plans to raise $28 billion by selling shares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq. That would make it one of the biggest U.S. offerings ever, behind SpaceX’s IPO from last month, which raised $75 billion.

SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul has already more than tripled so far this year because of the AI boom, but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6% on Thursday alone, for example.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, has seen its stock likewise swing following its ballyhooed initial public offering.

It erased an early gain to fall 1% in the last day of trading before it’s scheduled to join the Nasdaq 100 index of the largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq. That inclusion will force funds like the QQQ exchange-traded fund, which mimic the index, to buy SpaceX themselves.

Elsewhere in AI, TeraWulf climbed 4.9% after it said Anthropic agreed to a 20-year deal to use its data center in Kentucky. TeraWulf expects the deal to bring in roughly $19 billion in revenue. TeraWulf is in the midst of transitioning its business away from mining bitcoin and into high-performance computing.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 54.19 points to 7,537.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 155.84 to 53,055.91, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 288.49 to 26,121.16.

In the oil market, prices drifted after OPEC+ announced Sunday that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It was the fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2% to $71.99. That’s close to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late Thursday.

A report showed that growth last month for U.S. recreation, finance and other services businesses was roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management said that some businesses said they were seeing lower prices for gasoline and diesel, easing inflationary pressures.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier and rose 1.1%.

___

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

It marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway ’s book “The Sun Also Rises” that launched the future Nobel Laureate to literary fame and put Pamplona on the map for millions of people around the world.

On Monday, the festival kicked off with a firework blast over a jam-packed plaza. The first of eight bull runs is on Tuesday.

Hemingway’s 1926 novel captivated generations of readers with its sexy Jazz Age tale of American and British bohemians trying to fill some inner void with the distractions of exotic travel, vast quantities of alcohol and the anguishing pursuit of impossible love.

Its success established “The Sun Also Rises” as a cornerstone of the American literary canon, right up there with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” It also popularized the term “lost generation” to describe the tight-knit group of early 20th-century writers expatriated in Paris. Hemingway's terse style forever changed American literature. In Spanish, its title is translated as “Fiesta.”

Hillmann, who hails from Chicago, was 19 when Hemingway’s vivid depiction of the bull running festival first enthralled him, especially descriptions of average Spaniards risking their lives sprinting through the streets to guide the bulls to the bull ring during the nine-day festival.

“I sat there for about six hours, well past midnight, reading the book," Hillmann told The Associated Press in Pamplona as he looked down on the pen where the bulls are held before being set free on the cobblestoned route. “And by the time I was done with that book, I was going to be a writer and I was going to be a bull runner."

Since that literary encounter, the 44-year-old Hillmann has run with the bulls in Spain hundreds of times, counting both his trips to Pamplona and his participation in dozens more bull runs in other Spanish towns. His infatuation with Hemingway and Pamplona has never waned, even though he nearly died one time that he was gored by a bull horn.

Hillmann’s appreciation led him to earn a doctorate in English, and now it is his turn to teach “The Sun Also Rises” at East-West University in Chicago, and write about bull running.

Americans are the biggest group of foreign bull runners

Hillmann is just one of many Americans inspired to travel to Spain to see the festival firsthand. While running with bulls is a cherished local custom for Spanish daredevils, Americans are still the leading group of foreigners who run at the San Fermin festival. In 2022, 16% of the bull runners were Americans, the largest percentage among foreigners and four times more than those from neighboring France, according to Pamplona’s City Hall.

Dallas-based tour operator Bruce Anderson, whose company “Running Of The Bulls” has helped thousands of Americans attend San Fermin over the years, says that Hemingway’s work made the festival a bucket-list destination. This year, his company is bringing 1,400 people to the festival, with over two-thirds from the United States.

“There’s a lot of energy, a lot of excitement around just remembering that book and the impact that it’s had,” said Anderson, himself a lifelong Hemingway fan. He spoke in Pamplona’s art deco Café Iruña, which features heavily as a drinking spot in “The Sun Also Rises” and today houses a life-size statue of Hemingway bellying up to the bar.

And Anderson, with his thick white beard, is something of a Hemingway look-alike. Local Spaniards often call out to him: “Papa!” – a nickname for their adopted hero.

It is impossible to avoid Hemingway in Pamplona

Hemingway is etched into the landscape of Pamplona. Hotels and bars have busts of him or signs up that he was once there. Outside the Pamplona bull ring, which also has a statue of the writer, a huge banner hangs in honor of the novel, including a quote that shows how the festival left the writer speechless: “At noon of Sunday, the 6th of July, the fiesta exploded. There is no other way to describe it.”

When Hemingway made his last visits to Pamplona, he would frequent the Perla Hotel; his suite still has furniture from the 1950s when he stayed there. The room, which overlooks the bull run route, also has two glass bookcases holding dozens of copies of “The Sun Also Rises.”

“Hemingway did a lot for Pamplona because he made it known around the world,” said Fernando Hualde, who worked for four decades as a receptionist in the hotel.

Hemingway’s legacy has become complicated over time

Hemingway’s local legacy, however, is mixed.

Beside a feminist critique of his hyper masculine public persona, Hemingway has drawn criticism from the animal rights movement for his praise of bullfighters. In “The Sun Also Rises,” he spills far more ink on descriptions of their bravery than on the bull runs.

Animal welfare activist Brook Spurling said during a protest against the San Fermin bullfights that “Hemingway wrote about many, many themes that today would not be accepted into society. He writes about hunting, about war, and we don’t want to be appreciating these themes today.”

Hualde says that some Pamplona residents rue his early promotion of the festival due to the ills of overtourism the sleepy provincial city is now experiencing.

Pamplona has 200,000 residents and receives over a million more people for the festival. While most are Spaniards, around 15% of the revelers are from abroad. And many, especially the younger visitors, follow Hemingway’s example of drinking to excess.

Some locals take pride in spots that weren’t touched by Hemingway. Local literature professor Gabriel Insausti of Pamplona’s University of Navarra recalls being in a bar with a sign that read “Hemingway was not here.”

“In general, Hemingway has become a product of a franchise associated with San Fermin festival that has obscured his novel,” Insausti said. “People know who Hemingway is, but they haven’t read his novel.”

But the power of Hemingway’s English prose lives on

Hillmann said that the high percentage of inexperienced foreigners today makes the Pamplona bull runs particularly dangerous. The last death was in 2009 but gorings and other injuries are common. Novice runners can easily panic and make a wrong move that can cause a pileup or send someone into the path of a bull.

He was badly gored in 2014 when he said a bad maneuver by a fellow runner left him exposed to a bull. He thought he was dying, such was the quantity of blood gushing from his leg.

After another goring in 2017, Hillmann told the AP from his hospital bed in Pamplona that he would not stop running. “People think this is just crazy people running. There is real art. If you pay attention, you can see it,” he said then.

Hemingway's granddaughter, the actress Mariel Hemingway, recalls being treated “like royalty” when she attended San Fermin years ago. Mariel, who has written and spoken about her grandfather's battles with mental illness that led to his suicide in 1961, is convinced his work will endure.

That fascination with death is likewise timeless.

“Identity, love, purpose, and how to rebuild after profound loss ... those themes haven’t ever changed. That’s what’s great about my grandfather,” Mariel Hemingway told the AP from her home in Idaho.

“I think he captured something that will never go away.”

“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said when asked about it during an unrelated Oval Office event. “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’”

Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for a second look at the punishment against Balogun in the United States’ 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. But he said FIFA made the final call to lift Balogun’s mandatory one-game ban for a foul tackle, allowing him to play in Monday’s round of 16 match with Belgium in Seattle.

FIFA’s decision to suspend the one-game ban was celebrated by many in the United States but brought condemnation in the international sports world, where some called it an outrageous intrusion. The Belgian soccer federation challenged Balogun's eligibility for Monday's match, and the UEFA soccer body in Europe called FIFA's move “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Trump criticizes the referee's red card call

In remarks on Monday, Trump called the referee's decision a “horrible” call. He said it would have been a stain on the tournament if Balogun, the U.S.' leading scorer at this year's World Cup with three goals, was held out against Belgium and the U.S. lost. He praised FIFA for suspending the punishment.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

The Republican president, who said he understands sports “really well,” acknowledged that he did not initially know what a red card is or the consequences it brings. When he learned it would lead to a one-game suspension for Balogun, he said, he decided to step in. He also took issue with the use of video review to issue the red card, arguing that slowed-down reviews can make plays look more aggressive.

“Belgium has got a great team,” Trump said. “We have to have our best players, and they have to have their best. And if we win or we lose, it’s fair.”

FIFA president defends the decision process

Soon after Trump addressed the controversy, Infantino issued a statement detailing his call with Trump and defending the independence of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” Infantino said in a statement on X. “That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold."

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who joined Trump at the White House event, credited the president for taking action. "On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” Cruz said during his remarks. “It was spectacular.”

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was the right decision to lift the punishment for Balogun.

In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile’s foreign minister, Rubio questioned why Belgium would want to win a match “if everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best, or their leading, scorer was not on the pitch.”

He joked that it was becoming an “international incident” ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey this week.

Trump also blamed the referee. Brazil's soccer federation defended him

Trump took a swipe at the official who made the call, describing Brazilian referee Raphael Claus as “a little bit suspect if you check his past.” He did not elaborate.

Claus has been considered one of Brazil’s best referees in the last few years, often picked to officiate the nation’s most important matches, including the final of the 2024 Copa America.

During a match-fixing investigation by Brazil’s Senate in 2024, lawmakers scrutinized referee assignment practices but did not accuse Claus of wrongdoing.

On Monday, the Brazilian soccer federation defended Claus as one of the world’s leading active referees, praising his technical expertise and ethics. “There is nothing in his record that calls his integrity into question or supports any suspicion of wrongdoing,” the federation said in a statement.

The Sao Paulo Football Federation in a statement expressed “its unwavering support” for Claus in the face of “regrettable insinuations that attempt, without any basis, to cast doubt on his integrity and professional career.”

How did Balogun get the red card?

The foul against Balogun was called after he planted his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during their round of 32 match. The referee didn’t initially signal a card, but a slow-motion review resulted in the red card.

Balogun later said he thought a yellow card, a formal warning, would have been fair.

FIFA's decision drew quick rebuke on Sunday from Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, who said it sounded like an April Fools' Day joke. Meanwhile U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino applauded FIFA’s move, saying his team was punished enough by losing Balogun for the remainder of last week's game.

As the drama played out on the pitch last week, it was immediately clear from the perspective of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House FIFA Task Force leader Andrew Giuliani and Trump administration officials that the process used to issue the red card to Balogun was improper.

Discussions over the red card and what to do about it dominated the flight from Santa Clara back to Washington. The consensus of the group, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the talks, was simply: that the slow-motion replay was improper, so shouldn’t the red card be nullified?

The next day, Trump officials continued to dig into the rules, consult lawyers and speak with U.S. Soccer about the matter, according to the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Trump was also briefed on updates as he prepared to speak with Infantino, whom the U.S. president has talked with multiple times a week since the World Cup, which is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, began June 11.

___

Kim reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press photographer Manny Ceneta contributed from Washington. Associated Press writer Eléonore Hughes contributed from Rio de Janeiro and writer Tales Azzoni contributed from Madrid.

On Monday, police identified the motorcyclist as Nicholas Moreno, 27, of San Antonio.

Officers responded just before 3 a.m. Saturday to the two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Schertz Parkway and Wiederstein Road.

Police said Moreno was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the motor vehicle sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Schertz police said its investigation is ongoing.

More news coverage on KSAT:

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David Streever, who is a U.S. citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration.

In the email, Streever called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace.” He said the agency violated his First Amendment rights in a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington D.C.

Streever is one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June in the wake of criticizing ICE online. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing Streever, and said it filed the lawsuit because Streever's right to free expression was violated.

“This is very clearly within the protection of the First Amendment,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the foundation. “It was in the context of political speech.”

Representatives for ICE previously declined to comment on the warning to Streever, citing an ongoing investigation, and the agency did not immediately comment Monday. The suit also names Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose office released a statement that said “Any allegation DHS and its components are attempting to ‘squash’ free speech is categorically FALSE.”

“Anyone who assaults or threatens our law enforcement officers will face the consequences," the statement said.

The entirety of the three-paragraph email, which carried the subject line “What's next,” and referenced a leader in Nazi Germany: “You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher.

“The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall. Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.

“You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, Steinbaugh said.

Federal officials went to Streever's house the same week that officials visited Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker, at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post.

Gonyea believes the warning stemmed from writing “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted,” in a post with a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. She posted it in January, after Ross had already been identified by the news media.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’ address. Part of that post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement in June that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.”

A representative for the New York Attorney General's Office has said the office is aware of the two residents' contact with federal agents. The representative has said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

Trump's intervention in the lifting of U.S. forward Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension has shone the spotlight on his close ties with Infantino. It has led to furor from Belgium — the U.S. team's opponent in the round of 16 match on Monday — as European soccer's governing body, UEFA, accused FIFA of crossing a “red line.”

The highly contentious call comes on the back of Infantino's campaign to strengthen relations with Trump, the leader of the co-host of the biggest World Cup ever.

Ties have grown during Trump’s second term

On Monday, in response to the fallout over the Balogun decision, Infantino said he had been in regular discussions with Trump about the World Cup.

Trump’s own interest in soccer grew after the U.S. won the right to co-host the tournament back in 2018, during the Republican's first term, and he hosted Infantino at the White House. The FIFA president, who took office in 2016, made an impression by handing Trump red and yellow cards, joking they could be used on the press.

Since then, the pair's relationship has only grown. In 2020, they had dinner together at the global economic summit in Davos, where Infantino called Trump “my great friend.” That same year, Trump invited Infantino to the White House for the signing event for the Abraham Accords, which sought to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries, as Infantino was shoring up FIFA's own ties with Saudi Arabia.

Infantino's ties to Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020, were far more low-key. Biden and Infantino met briefly at a Group of 20 summit in 2022 and the FIFA president visited the White House at least once, in 2024.

Infantino publicly congratulated Trump the day after he won the 2024 presidential election and visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s South Florida club, during the presidential transition. He then attended Trump’s inauguration, saying they “share a great friendship.”

Infantino attended Trump’s Board of Peace meeting in Washington earlier this year where nine governments pledged $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package. Infantino pledged a new stadium, FIFA academy and various soccer fields to the war-torn region.

In December, human rights advocacy group Fair Square filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee, accusing Infantino of repeated breaches of the governing body’s code regarding political neutrality, citing examples of his public support for the “actions and policies of the US President, Donald Trump.”

Trophies, trophies, trophies

The most tangible product of the close ties between Infantino and Trump came in the form of FIFA's inaugural peace prize, which was created in November — not long after Trump complained he had been snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize. The FIFA prize did indeed go to the U.S. president, whom Infantino praised for his “unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world.” During the 2026 World Cup draw in December, Infantino awarded Trump a golden trophy with his name on it, as well as a medal to hang around his neck.

“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said at the ceremony, adding that “most important, I just want to thank everybody. The world is a safer place now.”

Trump has also been given other trophies of a sporting kind.

Ahead of the newly expanded Club World Cup tournament being held in the U.S. last year, the giant Tiffany-crafted trophy, with a 24-karat gold-plated finish, had sat in the Oval Office. In an interview with broadcaster DAZN, Trump said he asked FIFA when it would pick up the trophy. He said he was told: “You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one.”

Trump was also gifted a gold replica World Cup trophy, with Infantino saying it was “for winners only.”

Trump and Infantino's mutual respect

Trump has described Infantino as “probably the most respected man in sports.” They were together in a luxury box at MetLife Stadium for the Club World Cup final in July last year. There, they began planning to stage the showpiece World Cup draw later that year in Washington, when it was widely thought it would have been hosted in Las Vegas.

Infantino has embraced close relationships with previous host countries, even collecting the Russian Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin after the 2018 World Cup and, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, relocating to Qatar. While Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were also in attendance at December's draw, it was Trump who was given special treatment, alone receiving the FIFA peace prize.

“You can always count on my support,” Infantino told Trump at the glitzy event, which was closed out by the Village People performing “Y.M.C.A.”

Trump confirmed Monday that he had called Infantino last week asking for a review of Balogun's suspension, which was subsequently lifted, clearing the striker to play against Belgium.

“I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do,” Trump said Monday.

Infantino said FIFA's judicial bodies are independent and autonomous and that was “essential to the credibility and integrity of football.”

Trump has yet to attend a World Cup match, though Infantino has taken in matches with members of the Trump administration, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and FBI Director Kash Patel. Trump is planning to join Infantino for the World Cup final and award the trophy to the winning team, Infantino said in a “Fox and Friends” interview last month.

___

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

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Of course, when it comes to Mick Jagger and company, time seems almost irrelevant.

“No matter who you are or where you’re from or how old you are, you know who the Rolling Stones are,” Zilisch said.

Zilisch joined fellow drivers Carson Hocevar and Jesse Love for a music video as part of a collaboration between NASCAR and the Stones ahead of the band's 25th studio album, “Foreign Tongues,” which comes out on Friday.

A custom NASCAR show car served as a listening lounge for the Stones' new music during events at Chicago's Navy Pier and Plaza of the Americas in the run-up to the stock car series returning to Chicagoland Speedway over the weekend.

The partnership also includes a merchandise collection featuring the band's tongue and lips logo, along with two NASCAR-themed vinyl editions of “Foreign Tongues.”

Megan Malayter, vice president of licensing and consumer products for NASCAR, said the organization was approached by representatives of the band about working together.

“The Rolling Stones, they’re iconic, they’ve been around since 1962, and so they appeal to that generation that was there, but they have just such history, folklore, and nostalgia around them that they appeal to the younger audiences of today," Malayter said. "So there really is amazing crossover."

NASCAR walks a tricky line when it comes to satisfying older racing fans while appealing to its younger supporters and expanding its audience. While its older fans are likely more familiar with the Stones, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Zilisch, Hocevar and Love are three of its younger drivers. Garrett Mitchell, a popular YouTube automotive influencer known as “Cleetus McFarland,” also was part of the video.

“I think when you look at all of those drivers, they have great personalities, very rebellious spirits and they kind of have a rock and roll nature about them, just kind of at heart,” Malayter said.

Set to “In The Stars,” the first single off “Foreign Tongues,” the music video envisions the drivers as a touring rock band.

Zilisch, 19, Love, 21, and Hocevar, 23, clown around during a photo shoot before jumping on a tour bus driven by Mitchell. The drivers play cards before stopping at a bar. Back on the bus, Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series, writes 77 on the face of a sleeping Zilisch in black marker.

The video ends with the drivers at the track in their fire suits, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans.

“It was cool. It was fun,” Hocevar said. “Yeah, just nice to kind of let loose, I guess, on a video.”

Hocevar said he likes to see NASCAR try new ways to interact with potential fans.

“Yeah, they have to,” he said. “I feel like they just got to keep throwing stuff at the dartboard and hopefully something sticks here.”

Zilisch described himself as a huge music fan. He grew up listening to Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with his father in the car. He said he has paid more attention to the Stones' music since he became part of NASCAR's partnership with the band.

Filming the video, Zilisch said, was a memorable experience.

“They made us dress up like we were in the 90s and wear leather and have all this jewelry on,” he said. “It definitely was a little bit unique and outside of what I would normally be wearing but regardless it was just a cool shoot. We got to go inside this old tour bus and, you know, just kind of feel like I was back in the day even though I’ve never lived in that era of time.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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• Kura Sushi
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Fifth-seeded opponent Alex de Minaur could barely touch the serve and the Australian’s weak return didn’t even go past his own service line.

Cobolli reacted by leaping into the air and pumping his fist. He launched a ball into the crowd before moving forward to shake hands with De Minaur.

Then the Italian moved on to the performance he’d been waiting for.

Cobolli put his racket down and went back out into the center of the court and launched himself into the most iconic celebration in soccer: twirling in mid-air like Cristiano Ronaldo, he then landed on the grass with his feet planted wide and jerked his arms down by his side.

The mostly English crowd knew just what was going on and shouted “Siuuu” along with Cobolli.

“I love his celebration. I love him,” said Cobolli, who was once a promising soccer player himself in Roma’s youth system. “I will cheer for Portugal (against Spain at the World Cup ) tonight because of Ronaldo.”

In his previous match, Cobolli performed a surfing celebration borrowed from Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.

Antonelli and Sinner

While four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the country has no lack of sports stars and a few of them were in the spotlight at the grass-court Grand Slam on Monday.

Cobolli’s 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over a fellow top-10 player to reach the quarterfinals was a statement win as he attempts to back up his run to the French Open final.

At the same time over on Centre Court, Jasmine Paolini ended the run of rising Filipino player Alexandra Eala with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory to return to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time since back-to-back runs to the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals two years ago.

Watching Paolini from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian driver who leads the Formula One standings for Mercedes.

“I met Kimi afterward,” Paolini said. “I’ve been following him a lot lately. I’m becoming an F1 fan. He seems like a real nice kid and very down to earth.”

Coinciding with Italy’s troubles in soccer, Antonelli and defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner — who plays Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals — have become the country’s most popular athletes.

Cobolli, too, is rapidly gaining attention after his run to the Paris final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets.

De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and was up a break twice in the third. But Cobolli wouldn’t be deterred.

“Alex is a stratospheric player. So beating him three sets to none makes me feel like I’m ready,” Cobolli said when asked if he’s ready for another deep run. “This gave me a lot of answers, and I think it provided a lot of answers to my opponents, too.”

World Cup and gelato

After the victory over De Minaur, Cobolli’s grandfather had to go and find a new house for their team in the Wimbledon village since they had only reserved through the first week.

Now they can maintain Flavio’s nightly routine during the fortnight: dinner cooked by his father and coach, Stefano, and shared with his best friend, Watford midfielder Edoardo Bove, before watching a World Cup match and downing a tub of gelato (pear and white chocolate is Cobolli's flavor for the tournament).

“An Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon,” Cobolli said. “So it’s really cool.”

Cobolli’s quarterfinal opponent will be Arthur Fery — the 23-year-old British player who grew up just five minutes from the All England Club.

Paolini doesn't let Federer distract her

Besides the challenge presented by the 21-year-old Eala, who eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, the 5-foot-4 Paolini also had to try and not to let the presence of Roger Federer in the Royal Box distract her.

At one point, Antonelli sat right next to Federer, the owner of a men’s record eight Wimbledon singles titles.

“He is my idol,” the 30-year-old Paolini said of Federer in an on-court interview. “I was like during the match, ‘Please stay focused, stay focused. Don’t think about he’s here.’ I was watching all the finals and all the tournaments he was playing here.”

Paolini’s next opponent will be Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian player who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4.

It was the hottest day of the tournament so far, as the temperature rose to 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), prompting players to place bags of ice around their necks on changeovers.

Another women’s quarterfinal will feature Linda Noskova against Elise Mertens.

The strong performance by Italian players follows similar results at the French Open, where three men reached the quarterfinals despite Sinner’s second-round meltdown in a Paris heat wave.

___

AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.

___

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

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Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, suffered “an adverse drug reaction” to an unidentified substance, which triggered anaphylaxis and exacerbated his asthma, according to the document. His March 14 death at a Dallas hospital was ruled to be an accident.

Paktiawal’s sudden death in ICE custody has drawn outrage because he had risked his life fighting as an ally of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan for a decade.

Out of more than 50 ICE detention deaths during President Donald Trump’s second term, Paktiawal’s is the first to be ruled an accident, according to tracking by The Associated Press. Most of the others have been blamed on natural causes or suicide.

An advocacy group, AfghanEvac, and two members of Congress on Monday called on Texas authorities to release his autopsy report, which they have sought to withhold by arguing its disclosure would interfere with a pending criminal investigation.

“This family has a right to know what happened,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac. He asked authorities to explain what substance triggered the allergic reaction, how it got into his system and why the date of the injury on the death certificate was listed as the day before Paktiawal was taken into custody.

“What’s happening here smacks of a cover-up,” added Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who said he would ask the Department of Homeland Security to release the autopsy.

Paktiawal was evacuated with thousands of others from Afghanistan when U.S. troops pulled out in 2021. He entered the U.S. through a legal process and requested asylum to stay. That claim was pending when ICE arrested him at his home in Richardson, Texas, on March 13 as he was getting some of his six children ready for school.

ICE has defended its decision to target Paktiawal for deportation, noting he had been arrested on food stamp fraud and theft charges. He had not been convicted in either case.

ICE did not respond to questions Monday, referring to its previously released report on Paktiawal's death, which said he was screened at its Dallas field office and denied any medical conditions or allergies. Hours later, he began experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain in a holding room and was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

The next morning, hospital staff noted swelling of his tongue while he was eating breakfast and gave him epinephrine, a drug that treats allergic reactions. He was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later after life-saving measures were unsuccessful.

The certificate lists the cause of death as “anaphylaxis complicating acute asthma exacerbation.” Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction typically triggered by food, drugs or insect venom. The document lists the toxic effects of methamphetamine, heart disease and cigarette smoking as contributing factors.

Relatives said they did not know Paktiawal to use meth, and a second autopsy performed for the family could not confirm whether he had meth in his system because no blood remained for testing, VanDiver said. His wife has said that he relied on an inhaler for asthma, but ICE agents rejected her attempt to give them the device when he was taken into custody.

"What accident are they talking about?" Paktiawal's younger brother, Naseer Paktiawal, asked Monday. “We just want the truth.”

Naseer remembered his brother as a special forces soldier who fought in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan. After settling in the U.S., Paktiawal became a truck driver and worked at a market and bakery, laboring long hours to support his family, his brother said.

The cause and manner of death were established by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office after an autopsy.

County authorities have refused to release the report, citing statements from ICE officials that doing so would interfere with a federal investigation into the death. They have asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office for permission to withhold the record under a “law enforcement exception” to the state’s open records law.

In response to the AP's request for the report, Dallas County official Jennifer Rose wrote that “its release would interfere with the detection, investigation, and prosecution of a crime."

Paxton’s office hasn’t ruled on the matter, but previously granted a similar request from another Texas county to withhold the autopsy report of a Vietnamese man who died in ICE custody in July 2025, records show.

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Taylor made his mark Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic, the prestigious track and field showcase held annually at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

The Harlan alum shocked the Olympic-level competition around him — and himself — by winning the men’s 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 19.75 seconds into a headwind.

Taylor bested Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (19.93), who won the gold medal in the 200-meter dash at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“Whenever I crossed the line, the first thing I thought of was, ‘Look at God,’” Taylor told NBC Sports during a post-race interview. “I came out here — and if I’m being honest — I was praying a lot, but I was expecting to get second, third, fourth. You know, he’s (Tebogo) an Olympic champion. I really never thought that I had the chance to beat him."

Taylor, who also told NBC Sports he had trained all week in Lane 3, was coincidentally positioned to run in Lane 3.

“I came out here really, really pumped up,” Taylor told NBC. “Whenever I stepped on the line, I was like, ‘God, just do You.’ So, all glory to God.”

After he signed his national letter of intent with Texas Tech, Taylor elected to compete in national track competitions instead of going toe-to-toe with opponents around his age.

Last spring, Taylor clocked a 100-meter dash win in 9.92 seconds at the 2025 UIL Class 6A State Championships, which shattered the previous national high school record.

In January, he broke another high school record by posting a 300-meter dash win (32.45 seconds) to win the USATF division race at the Virginia Showcase.

Last month at Texas A&M, Taylor became the first high schooler to complete the 200-meter dash in under 20 seconds (19.97).

Current U.S. Olympian Noah Lyles, who won the gold medal in the 100-medal dash two years ago in Paris, had owned the high school record (20.09) in the 200 when he set it at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

More recent Big Game Coverage on KSAT:

• San Antonio’s basketball reputation keeps rising, fueled by Wagner’s newly crowned NBA champions

A federal grand jury in West Virginia indicted Kriisa last month, and the case was unsealed Monday following his arrest by federal agents on Saturday in Kentucky. A 6-foot-3 guard from Estonia, Kriisa began his college career in 2020 at Arizona, where he became a fan favorite for his feistiness and long-range shooting.

Kriisa, 25, is expected to appear in federal court in West Virginia this week on five counts of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Matthew Harvey said.

“Financial fraud schemes erode trust and cause real harm to victims who believed they were helping someone in need,” Harvey said in a news release.

Kriisa led the Pac-12 in assists during his two full seasons at Arizona before transferring to West Virginia. Kriisa was suspended the first nine games of his lone season at West Virginia after admitting he received impermissible benefits while at Arizona.

Kriisa transferred to Kentucky in 2024, but was limited to nine games due to a foot injury. He transferred to Cincinnati for his final year of eligibility and started 12 games before suffering a separated shoulder in February.

From 2022 through June 2 of this year, he posed as other people, including his own mother, and falsely claimed that he and his family urgently needed money to deal with an emergency, the indictment says.

The indictment alleges that, in August 2022, Kriisa falsely told one victim that he had gotten a loan to repay her and then a few months falsely told her he planned to sell his organs to get money to repay her. Between 2022 and 2024, he contacted the same victim, posing as his own mother, and asked for money to pay for cancer treatments for his mother and to save the family's farm, the indictment says.

In April 2025, he signed a written agreement falsely promising to repay that victim $100,000 by February 2026.

From November 2025 through early February of this year, Kriisa repeatedly asked a second victim for money, sometimes posing as a made-up person named “Irene.”

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Apple Pest Control
• Dentech
• Eradicate
• Lonestar Pest Solution in Windcrest
• Philip’s Pest Control

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Maids on a Mission
• The White Glove Maid Service

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Dr Greenthumb Residential & Commercial Services
• Hollywood Crawford-Garage Doors & Openers
• Samuel’s Handyman Services
• Will Fix It

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Dr. Cassandra Elkins, Medical Center Dental Group
• Dr. Talena Meilinger, Ideal Dental, Bulverde Road
• Eric D Cornelius DDS PA
• Nautical
• Nautical Dental

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Plus, Jada gets some skating lessons from Skating with Vee. The pro offers lessons for all skill levels.

If you’re craving something sweet for your next event, Big Nasty Cakes can help with three signature flavors that she sells by the slice.

Speaking of summer entertaining, Fischer and Wieser is in studio with some peach-inspired skewers and their new pie jams that you can find at H-E-B.

All that and more on SA Live today.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Credit Human
• Frost
• Laura Mershon
• RBFCU
• Security Service FCU
• Wells Fargo Bank

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Dos Sirenos Brewing
• Embers
• Wayne’s Wings
• Wingstop

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• 7 Monk’s Cafe
• Green
• Kerbey Lane All Day Cafe
• Vegan Ave

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Blü Prime Steakhouse
• Myron’s Steakhouse Alon Center
• Saltgrass
• Tejas Steakhouse & Saloon
• Texas Roadhouse

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

LA FRITE BELGIAN BISTRO

728 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX 78205

La Frite Belgian Bistro is San Antonio’s premier Belgian bistro, bringing European bistro culture to the heart of Southtown for 17 years. Built on a foundation of Belgian heritage and culture, the welcoming atmosphere is intentional — guests are encouraged to linger, chat with neighboring tables, and feel at home in what the owners describe as San Antonio’s European dining room.

The kitchen, led by executive chef Luis Nahara, is known for its mussels above all else, sourcing Prince Edward Island mussels fresh three times a week and going through over 200 pounds weekly. Beyond the mussels, the table rounds out with dishes like a Belgian endive lettuce salad, a steak au poivre, and a duck confit, one of the few San Antonio restaurants to carry it as a permanent menu item. Daily prix fixe specials rotate alongside the regular menu, giving returning guests a reason to come back throughout the week.

CANDY’S OLD FASHION BURGERS

115 Plaza De Armas, Ste 107, San Antonio, TX 78205

Candy’s, formally known as Candy’s Old Fashion Burgers, is a downtown San Antonio institution built on a simple premise: old-fashioned burgers packed with flavor on every single bite. Founded in 2006 by Tony Vasquez, a lifelong restaurant worker who traced his inspiration back to the classic burger spots of Austin’s East 1st Street where he grew up, the restaurant has since become a true family affair. Tony’s daughter Melissa took over ownership two years ago, and her daughter — the third generation — now helps run daily operations, having grown up inside the restaurant since she was a baby.

The burgers are made with 100% fresh, never-frozen local beef patties cooked old-fashioned style — thick and juicy, never smashed — and always served on toasted buns loaded with tomatoes, pickles, and mustard. The Royale is a standout, a single patty piled high with smoked bacon and extra cheddar cheese, while the jalapeno cheddar cheeseburger features grilled jalapeños for a measured kick. The crowd favorite, though, is the chili cheeseburger — topped with the restaurant’s own blended chili and melted cheese that folds into the burger like a second sauce. The menu also extends to hand-breaded shrimp, tater tots, fish, french fries, onion rings, and a blackened chicken sandwich, rounding out a full menu of no-frills, deeply satisfying eats.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

• Facebook: @TexasEatsTV
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• TikTok: @ElderEats
• Twitter: @TexasEatsTV

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Fish City Grill 281 North
• Pappadeaux
• Sea Island
• Smashin Crab

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv’s need for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.

Fifteen people were killed in the capital of Kyiv, which was Russia's main target, and 56 were injured, according to administrative head Tymur Tkachenko. Another seven people were killed in the wider Kyiv region and 29 were injured, according to Ukraine's emergency service.

Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of residential high-rises in two locations that suffered direct hits.

Moscow has stepped up attacks on Kyiv in retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Those Ukrainian attacks have caused severe fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 people in Kyiv, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.

Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say, striking supply routes behind the front line, stripping the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and slowing its advance.

But Russia now is exploiting vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the Patriot missile systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of Patriot interceptors — a shortage now felt keenly in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy notes gaps in stopping ballistic missiles

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.

“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”

Ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise missiles but not against ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on insufficient supplies of interceptors. He urged U.S. and European partners at the summit to bolster Ukraine’s air defense and protect civilians.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he said on X following the attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry said any increase in the supply of drones, missiles and ammunition produced in the West "will not go unnoticed and will be countered by a corresponding increase in the number and power of retaliatory strikes by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory.”

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia is deliberately ramping up ballistic missile attacks on a scale unseen before, exploiting the acute shortage of Patriot interceptors. “Fewer such missiles are produced worldwide each month than the enemy fires at Ukraine in that same period,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities repairing air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the capital and surrounding region. The claims could not be independently verified.

Russia’s attacks have repeatedly hit civilian areas. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.

“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives,” Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.

A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he said. In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be buried in the rubble.

In Kyiv's suburb of Vyshneve, about 600 residents were evacuated due to the risk of unexploded munitions, Ukraine's Emergency Service said.

Witnesses recount their harrowing escapes

Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, said she began screaming after the first strike, which was followed by a second blast that blew out the windows in her apartment building.

The lights went out, a burning smell filled the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she said.

“When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there,” Piatetska said. “When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire.”

Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she was awakened by the first strike about 2 a.m. Moments later, her apartment building began collapsing around her.

“Everything was falling down,” she said. Water poured through the building as smoke filled the air while emergency crews rushed to evacuate residents.

About five minutes after the initial impact, a second strike hit, she said.

Ukrainian strikes reach from Russian-held Crimea to Siberia

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 613 of 625 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine’s military said its Special Operations Forces struck the Omsk oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from Ukraine’s border. That appeared to be the farthest oil refinery in Russia's east that Ukraine has ever struck, and added to a long list of key refineries hit in recent months.

Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed a Ukrainian attack on the refinery in a Telegram post but provided no details, saying only that “most of the drones” targeting the facility were destroyed and that there were no casualties.

The Omsk refinery is Russia’s largest, boasting a capacity of around 460,000 barrels a day, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence. As of the end of June, it was producing close to capacity, accounting for 12% of all Russian refining output, Peach said.

“Depending on the extent of the damage, a sustained outage of even part of Omsk’s capacity will exacerbate Russia’s woes on the domestic fuel market and make the need to find import replacements even more urgent,” he said.

Russia has been grappling with a widespread fuel crisis from Ukraine’s repeated strikes on refineries and other infrastructure inside the country. Gasoline shortages and fuel rationing have been reported in multiple regions, with drivers waiting for hours to fill their tanks.

In Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, an energy provider reported a blackout across the peninsula following Ukrainian attacks early Monday. The Moscow-appointed head of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the attacks cut power that was restored with backup equipment.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it struck several Russian energy and military facilities used to supply Russia’s armed forces with fuel and support its war efforts.

In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, two people were wounded in an attack in which over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed, according to regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev. He didn’t say if any facilities were damaged, but the Astra online news outlet said they caused a fire at an oil refinery.

Ukrainian drone attack on the Leningrad region north of Moscow damaged unspecified infrastructure at the Luga training ground, as well as in the areas of Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.

___ Associated Press writers Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Susie Blann in London contributed.

___

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

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Little Italy
• Marco’s Pizza Binz Engleman Rd
• Mattenga’s Pizzeria
• Mellow Mushroom
• Sofia’s Pizzeria

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Acenar
• Las Palapas
• Los Barrios
• Pappasito’s Cantina
• Pepe’s Taco and Salsa Jones Maltsburger
• Rosario’s

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Dallah
• India Taj-Palace Heubner
• John the Greek Thousand Oaks
• Mina & Dimi’s Greek House
• Pasha’s Mediterranean Grill

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

A BCSO spokesperson identified the two people as Ana Laura Rennie, 55, and Robert James Rennie, 58.

The sheriff’s office said Ana Rennie’s manner of death was homicide and Robert Rennie’s was suicide.

The couple was found dead with gunshot wounds at a home in the 15000 block of Escalante Pass, which is located near State Highway 16 and Watson Road.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said he believes Ana Rennie and Robert Rennie were a married couple who lived at the home.

Upon arrival, Salazar said a woman, who is believed to be the daughter of one of the spouses, told deputies she went to the home to check on them because “she had not heard” from the couple for “at least a day.”

When the daughter went inside the home, investigators said she found their bodies. Ana Rennie had at least one gunshot wound to her upper body, while Robert Rennie died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Salazar. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

In an interview Saturday morning, Salazar told KSAT that one bullet left the house and entered a nearby home. The sheriff said no one was injured as a result of that bullet entering the house.

Domestic violence homicide trends

“We believe that there is a domestic violence history between the two, unfortunately,” the sheriff said Saturday.

According to Salazar, there was a case of misdemeanor family violence involving the couple, but the case was later “dismissed” due to a “missing witness.” It is unclear who was charged with the misdemeanor.

The sheriff believes Friday night’s incident — BCSO’s fifth domestic violence-related homicide investigation out of 10 homicides so far this year — is the continuation of a disturbing trend in Bexar County.

Last year, BCSO said nine of the 15 homicides the sheriff’s office investigated were related to domestic violence.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to remind the community that domestic violence is what I believe to be — and what we believe to be at the sheriff’s office here — an escalating crime," Salazar said. “It doesn’t go away.”

The sheriff said anyone in need of domestic violence services can call (210-335-6000.

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

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

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

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, call 988 or text TALK to 741-741.

You can also reach out to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) or the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) at 210-223-7233 (SAFE) or 800-316-9241. You can also text NAMI to 741-741.

More recent news coverage on KSAT:

• One Year after Hill Country Flood
• Park visitors say it’s ‘scary’ seeing ICE officers at Phil Hardberger Park
• SAPD: 3 teens accused of robbing Northside ISD student connected to similar crime 2 weeks earlier

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Culebra Meat Market
• Granzines
• HEB
• Penshorn’s Meat Market
• Schott’s

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Little Italy
• Mare e Monte
• Mare e Monte on Huebner
• Olive Garden
• Pazzo Pastaria- Nacogdoches Rd

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Broadway Daily Bread
• Cinderella Bakery
• Dough Baby
• HEB
• Nadler’s

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Barbecue Station
• Blanco BBQ
• Dee Willie’s BBQ
• Smokey Mo’s BBQ
• Texas Pride BBQ Adkins Tx

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Box St. All Day - Hemisfair
• Crepeccino
• Magnolia Pancake House
• Max & Louie’s New York Diner
• Snooze

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Chris Madrid’s
• Diana’s Burgers - Zarzamora
• The Ridge at the Hill
• Whataburger
• Willie’s Icehouse 281/Thousand Oaks

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS

5757 US-90, San Antonio, TX 78227

Nelson Wolff Stadium is the longtime home of the San Antonio Missions, the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. Established in 1888, the Missions are one of the most storied franchises in minor league baseball, bringing affordable family fun to the Alamo City for more than 120 seasons. This July 4th, the stadium serves as the centerpiece of the H-E-B Independence Day Celebration as San Antonio joins the rest of the nation in marking America’s 250th birthday.

The night is packed from first pitch to final burst, with the Missions facing off against the Amarillo Sod Poodles on the diamond while fans enjoy all the trappings of a full-scale Fourth of July celebration. A hot dog eating contest gets the crowd fired up, and country artist Wade Bowen headlines a postgame concert on the left field berm before a fireworks display caps the evening. With baseball, live music, and a sky full of fireworks all in one place, the stadium delivers everything the holiday calls for.

DORP CREAMERY

310 W Grayson St, San Antonio, TX 78212

Dorp Creamery is a local ice cream concept serving up Asian-inspired flavors with a handcrafted approach. Founded by Michael Chue, the inspiration behind the business was to fill a gap in the San Antonio dessert scene after Chue found himself craving the kind of Asian-influenced ice cream he grew up enjoying in New York. Operating out of a truck, Dorp produces small-batch ice cream made from scratch using a rich custard base, aged before churning for a smooth, premium texture.

The menu features bold, creative flavors including ube, black sesame, matcha, and Thai iced tea, alongside the mango sticky rice ice cream that has earned viral attention on social media for its thick consistency and standout taste. Through pop-ups and local markets, Dorp has built a loyal following among San Antonians looking for something far outside the ordinary scoop shop experience.

THE BRUNCH SPOT

8022 Kitty Hawk Rd, Converse, TX 78109

The Brunch Spot is a family-owned restaurant in Converse serving scratch-made Southern comfort food with a modern twist. Founded by Tabby Pryor and led in the kitchen by her son, Nehemiah, the restaurant has earned a loyal following for its generous portions, welcoming atmosphere, and menu packed with hearty breakfast and lunch favorites. Guests can also enjoy handcrafted specialty coffees, lattes, and brunch cocktails to complete the experience.

Menu highlights include the signature Chicken & Waffles, featuring a fluffy Belgian waffle paired with crispy fried chicken, as well as the Chicken Fried Chicken served with eggs, breakfast potatoes, a biscuit, and rich cream gravy. Loaded omelets, buttery biscuits, and perfectly seasoned breakfast potatoes round out a menu that celebrates classic Southern flavors made fresh every day.

THE NEWSTAND COFFEE

1900 Broadway, Ste 106, San Antonio, TX 78215

The Newstand Coffee is a stylish neighborhood café in Midtown San Antonio that combines specialty coffee, house-made breads, and creative comfort food with a vintage-inspired atmosphere. Located inside the historic Jefferson Bank building, the café is known for its retro design, relaxed vibe, and an adjoining boutique featuring curated vintage clothing, books, and home goods.

The menu features hand-crafted sandwiches served on fresh-baked breads, including favorites like The Tribune with Texas Angus beef and The Times egg salad sandwich. Guests can also enjoy all-day breakfast items, fresh pastries, and specialty coffee made with beans from regional roasters, alongside seasonal drinks that make The Newstand a popular destination for breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon coffee break.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

• Facebook: @TexasEatsTV
• Instagram: @texaseatstv
• TikTok: @ElderEats
• Twitter: @TexasEatsTV

Here are this year’s finalists:

• 7 Brew
• Brevity Coffee Co.
• Dutch Bros Coffee
• Reunion Coffee
• Velvet Espresso, Inside Book Nerds, Castle Hills

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Benjie’s Munch
• Chrispy Eats 4822 Foster Rd
• Cone N Swirl
• Las Palapas
• Tacos el Regio

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Burger Boy
• Las Palapas
• Olive Garden
• Whataburger

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Bunz Handcrafted Burgers
• Burger Boy
• Elsewhere Too
• Five Guys
• McDonald’s

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July. 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Ding How Chinese Restaurant
• Singhs Vietnamese
• South Garden Chinese Restaurant
• Thai Bird
• Tongs Thai Austin Highway

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Benjie’s Munch - Bitters
• Boudro’s Texas Bistro
• Embers
• Max & Louie’s New York Diner
• Tejas Steakhouse and Saloon

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Chris Buckley
• Emily Bradshaw at Burn Boot Camp Helotes TX
• Matthew Cavazos
• Willie Nelson

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Chris Buckley
• CORE Physical Therapy
• Movement State Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab-- N Loop 1604 W
• The Program

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

With high inflation hurting Trump's popularity, the Republican president has tried to get more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should get the credit for any gains, particularly as the November midterm elections draw closer.

“It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof,” said Trump after formally launching the start of trading.

Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Still, the act of ringing the opening bell suggests why the president’s emphasis on the stock market might not help his party much with voters this fall.

The Oval Office event was promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a vehicle for children to have investments in stock indexes as part of Republicans' big 2025 tax and spending cuts bill.

In championing the accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that many Americans have no direct exposure to stocks.

This means that millions of people are not benefiting from investments that largely accrue to more affluent households or that the benefits they’re receiving are for retirements decades away.

Bessent declared before the bell ringing that “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets.”

The S&P 500 stock index posted gains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. The benchmark stock index has risen roughly 10% so far this year.

But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump has also seen his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election by promising to bring down costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures.

The consumer price index has climbed 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump started his second term in January 2025.

Trump, however, is betting that the stock investments that are being seeded by the government and by some prominent companies and billionaires will give future generations a deeper stake in the U.S. economy. The accounts already have gotten a boost from billionaires beyond the $1,000 from the government.

Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan, appeared by Trump on Monday as they have pledged $6.25 billion for the accounts, while there have been separate pledges by billionaires including investor Ray Dalio and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who said Monday that she would donate stock in the Elon Musk-led company to the accounts.

Trump jokingly acknowledged that children had missed the stock market gains that have occurred so far because of the delay in launching the Trump Accounts.

“We should have acted faster,” Trump said.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Arthur Murray Dance Center
• Dance Life Studio
• Studio 360 Dance & Fitness

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Alamo Heights Gymnastics Academy - Sandau
• Altitude All Stars
• Powerhouse
• Woodlands Elite San Antonio on San Pedro Ave.

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Khamenei's flag-draped coffin, and those of his family members who were killed Feb. 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States, sat aboard a truck decorated to resemble the ornamental grating that surrounds the shrine of an imam. The massive turnout was encouraged by Iran's theocracy as a sign of strength, and it came as the Islamic Republic negotiates with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war.

Helicopter images aired on Iranian state television showed a massive crowd stretching from Tehran’s Azadi, or Freedom, Square for kilometers (miles) down a multilane street of the same name. The crowd appeared to be larger than the one that turned out for the 2020 procession for the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which drew over 1 million people.

Authorities offered no immediate crowd count as the truck crept down the street. People alongside the truck and elsewhere on the route carried placards, signs and banners calling for Trump's death.

“Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader, it’s a very tough day,” mourner Fatima Hassan said. “We are not here to say goodbye to him. We are here for revenge. And we will take revenge.”

Sea of mourners gather for Khamenei

Mourners reached out to touch the truck, and some threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran seen as a blessing. Attendants, some on the ladders of fire trucks, sprayed misted water across the crowds to cool them in the heat.

Authorities appeared concerned about the dangers of having a large crowd alongside the procession, with officials on loudspeakers urging the public to walk slowly, not to push and to stay to the edges of the street.

The coffins were taken through the streets of Tehran on a roughly 12-hour journey to Mehrabad International Airport, and Khamenei’s casket was flown later Monday to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, according to state television. He will be honored there Tuesday.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday and will end Thursday as Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace. Khamenei was 86.

“This is the last time I am seeing him,” said a weeping Maryam Alizadeh. “Our generation lived with him for decades.”

Calls for Trump's death grow as the funeral goes on

As the funeral has gone on, mourners have increasingly called for Khamenei’s death to be avenged. Mourners and the signs they carry have called for the killing of both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Such signs were seen again Monday along the procession’s route, with one effigy of Trump being hanged.

"We are here to show that his path will continue, and every single one of these people will continue down his path with clenched fists, and soon we will certainly avenge his death against the U.S and Israel,” said mourner Sahar Zaraatgar.

U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years, stemming from Trump’s ordering the 2020 killing of Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force. Iran has repeatedly denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has suggested Trump was in Tehran’s crosshairs.

Trump, meanwhile, promised to destroy Iran’s civilization during the war, among other threats.

Negotiations over the war remain on hold

The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war. Talks appear to be on hold until after the burial.

The funeral was in part a show of unity as Iran demands a measure of control over the strait, a vital waterway for global energy that it shut down during the war. The U.S. has rejected those demands, and the sides are divided on other key issues, including the nuclear program and the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

At the height of the war, before an April ceasefire, Israel targeted top Iranian leaders, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position. It has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

King Charles III’s estranged son arrived Monday in the land of his birth for a series of charity engagements. But for most royal watchers that’s just background noise.

For the past 10 days, British tabloids and news broadcasts have been filled with speculation about whether Harry’s wife, Meghan, will accompany him and, more importantly, whether they will bring their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, so they can finally get to know Grandpa Charles. But everything is up in the air as Harry seeks to arrange protection for his family after a government committee refused to authorize taxpayer-funded security.

“With just days to go until Harry’s first public engagement in the UK on Tuesday … very little is guaranteed at all,” the Times of London reported on Saturday. “For Archie and Lilibet to meet the king, it’s now or never,’’ wrote the Telegraph.

The kids' trip hinges on adequate security measures

Harry, a British army veteran who served in Afghanistan, is visiting to attend events ahead of the next Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style competition he founded to motivate and inspire military veterans around the world as they work to overcome battlefield injuries. The games will be held in Birmingham next year.

Not on the official schedule but very much in the media spotlight is a decision Tuesday at the High Court in London, where the judge will reveal his verdict in Harry’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

The decision about whether to bring the children, according to reports based on off-the-record briefings and unidentified people close to the royals, hinges on whether the U.K. government agrees to provide security for Harry and his family. It is an issue that has hung over every trip the prince has made to Britain since he and Meghan decamped to North America six years ago.

British authorities say Harry isn’t entitled to blanket protection because he is no longer a working member of the royal family and they will assess his security on a case-by-case basis, just like any other celebrity. Harry says it is unsafe for his children to travel to Britain without protection because his family remains a target simply by virtue of their royal status.

The decision rests with a government committee known as Ravec that rules on who should get state-funded protection.

The outcome could be problematic for the royal family, which is trying to show that it provides value for money after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“In the paranoid atmosphere of waiting for more Andrew shoes to drop, Ravec and the royals themselves are terrified of public blowback if taxpayers are asked to fund protection for the House of Sussex,’’ royal commentator Tina Brown wrote on X. “The issue is not a hill that either the king or the government wants to die on, and who can blame them?’’

Harry wants his children to get to know their grandfather

After initial reports that Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, would visit the U.K., plans began to wobble after the Daily Telegraph reported that Ravec had again rejected Harry’s request for protection.

The Times of London reported that Harry was “distraught” after the decision and told friends he wouldn’t let his children be “chased by paparazzi” through the streets of London.

By Sunday, it was clear the family wouldn’t accompany Harry when he arrived in the capital, though there was still a chance they would join him later in the trip.

Then on Monday, plans for the prince's accommodation fell into disarray. First, there were reports that Harry would stay at Buckingham Palace while he was in London, but within an hour, it became clear that the palace was not an option. At least for now.

Nonetheless, Harry has said that he wants to reconcile with his 77-year-old father, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. And he really wants his children, who first met the monarch during celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, to spend time with their grandfather now that they are old enough to remember the experience.

Harry's relations with the palace have been tense

Tensions within the House of Windsor have heightened ever since Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California to pursue lucrative media deals, free from the pressures of royal life in London.

They reached a new low after Harry published an explosive memoir that included unflattering depictions of the royal family and damning allegations of a toxic relationship between the monarchy and the press.

Harry’s description of royals leaking information about other family members in exchange for positive coverage of themselves is just one of the tawdry allegations in his book, “Spare.” The prince was especially scathing about Queen Camilla, accusing her of feeding private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after her longtime affair with Charles when he was heir to the throne.

After losing a court battle over the security issue last year, Harry said he hoped to rebuild relations with his family, even as he suggested that the royals had sought to prevent him from receiving police protection to punish him for walking away from royal duties.

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

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Belle of the Ball Boutique
• Good Goods
• Julian Gold
• Tejas Rodeo Company Store

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Boysville
• Goodwill
• Plato’s Closet
• The Thrift Thru

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• H&M
• Men’s Warehouse
• Penner’s
• Tejas Rodeo Company Store

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Chasing Camila on Main Street
• Defiant Boutique 4704 Broadway SA,TX 78209
• Marianita’s Boutique 3008 Nogalitos
• Pinkberry Boutique on Hackberry
• Tejas Rodeo Company Store - Bulverde Texas

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Americus Diamond
• Good Goods
• James Avery

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Aera’s Alterations
• Blanco Alteration Tailors
• Midtown Laundry & Dry Cleaners

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FINALIST <<

We received thousands of nominations across nearly 80 categories in this year’s SA Picks. Each category was then narrowed down to three to five finalists, based on those nominations.

Choose your favorite and vote by using the link below. Voting is open from July 6th through July. 22nd, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

A special thanks to our SA Picks sponsor, Gamez Law Firm!

Click here to vote for your favorite finalists in SA Picks 2026.