The decision against Rong Chhun, a top adviser to the Nation Power Party, was met with anger by some 300 supporters from around the country who had gathered outside the Supreme Court complex in Phnom Penh.

“Even though he is not in prison, I'm saddened that his freedom has been restricted and he has become a sub-citizen, meaning he has no right to vote or participate in politics,” said Nek Ratha, a 55-year-old from the capital.

“The verdict is hard for us to accept because he is not free, and he has done nothing wrong.”

The 56-year-old had been found guilty last year of inciting social unrest after meeting with villagers displaced by government construction projects, in what was widely seen as one of many legal moves taken by the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet to stifle criticism.

Rong Chhun told his supporters the verdict was “completely unfair” and accused the court of following orders of the government rather than the rule of law.

“If the powerful leader wants black, the court will paint it black for them,” he said. “And if the powerful wants white, the court will paint it white for them.”

Under almost four decades of autocratic former Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia was widely criticized for human rights abuses that included suppression of freedom of speech and association. He was succeeded in August 2023 by his American-educated son, Hun Manet, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.

Sophal Ear, a Cambodian political scientist in the U.S., called the decision against Rong Chhun “evidence of continuity rather than change under the transition from Hun Sen to Hun Manet.”

“A high-profile case like this inevitably becomes a test of how much political space exists under the current leadership and whether the transition has produced any meaningful changes in governance,” he said. “Many people will conclude that the leadership transition has so far produced more continuity than reform.”

Under the decision, Rong Chhun will be prohibited from any involvement in politics for five years, including voting or standing as a candidate, and will be banned from traveling abroad for three years, the remainder of his original four-year sentence, his attorney Em Chantha told reporters. He had also been free while his appeal was pending.

Supreme Court decisions are final, but Rong Chhun said he and his attorney would study the verdict in detail to decide whether there would be a chance to ask Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni for a pardon.

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Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press reporter Anton L. Delgado contributed to this report from Bangkok.

The military identified one of the dead, a lieutenant colonel, and said the three others would be identified later.

Lebanon’s state-run news agency says at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the south overnight.

The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.

Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with Hezbollah, reported that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over ongoing Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.

Israel maintains it must continue to hold the territory and have a free hand to battle Hezbollah as it has been launching attacks into northern Israel.

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

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Friday its forces struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, which the Israeli military said were ongoing.

Continued fighting in Lebanon could unravel the newly signed deal, which calls for an immediate halt to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and for ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.

The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday put off his trip to Switzerland where he had been set to lead the talks. The White House blamed logistical issues, but the announcement came after a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied to Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the initial pact with Iran on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, which took immediate effect.

In comments following the signing, Vance offered a blunt warning to Israel, saying Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press reporter David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok.

The 20-year-old man was one of three masked offenders who broke into the Adass Israel Synagogue, doused the interior with flammable liquid then set it alight in the early hours of Dec. 6, 2024, a police statement alleged.

The fire caused extensive damage to the synagogue and a worshipper sustained minor injuries.

The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which brings together federal and state police with a spy agency, charged the man, who has not been named, with offenses including arson.

He was charged in a Melbourne jail where he was already being held in custody on unrelated offenses. Police declined to elaborate on those offenses.

His co-accused Giovanni Laulu, 21, was arrested in July last year and another suspect, Younes Ali Younes, 20, was arrested a month later.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guard of directing the synagogue fire and an arson attack two months earlier at a Sydney kosher eatery, Lewis’ Continental Kitchen.

Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, said the Revolutionary Guard used a “complex web of proxies to hide its involvement” in both antisemitic attacks.

Iran’s ambassador to Australia and another three Iranian diplomats were expelled. Tehran has denied Australia’s allegations.

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Crozier told reporters on Friday that investigators were working with international partners in the continuing investigation.

Police were also investigating whether the three alleged arsonists knew who ordered the attack.

“They may not actually be aware of the people who are directing or the principals of these investigations. That remains a key line of inquiry for us,” Crozier said.

Victoria Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul O’Halloran said police had informed the local Jewish community of the third arrest before the news was made public.

“Our heart goes out to them. Again, this brings back this terrible incident,” O’Halloran said.

“People deserve the right to feel safe and be safe in their community and particularly at their place of worship. Today's charges are a strong testament to this,” he added.

The latest suspect will make his first court appearance on the new charges next week.

The Australian government has established a public inquiry to investigate a rise in antisemitism across the country, including the killing of 15 people when two gunmen opened fire on a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December.

It marks a major triumph for a team that failed to get out of the group stage in 2022 and now has won twice on home soil in front of jubilant crowds. Mexico players celebrated at midfield and waved to the fans who cheered and sang from the packed stands at Estadio Akron.

As soon as the final whistle blew, the mariachis began to sing at the Ángel of Independence in Mexico City while thousands of people walked in from all directions. Some streets in Guadalajara were filled with drivers honking horns and fans chanting and waving Mexican flags.

Luis Romo scored in the 50th minute after South Korea goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu collided with defender Lee Gi-hyuk and dropped the ball inside the area. Romo easily found the open net after picking up the loose ball.

The South Koreans nearly equalized in the 87th minute when Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel stopped a header from close range by Cho Gue-sung, then made an even better save of Yang Hyun-jun's attempt on the rebound, extending his right arm to keep the ball from crossing the line.

“It was very quick, it was pure reaction,” Rangel said. “I couldn’t really tell you what I saw, because I remember the moment of impact with my teammate and me having the ball."

Mexico clinches Group A

Mexico won Group A with six points in two matches, three more than South Korea and five more than the Czech Republic and South Africa, who drew 1-1 earlier Thursday in Atlanta.

The top two teams from each group move on to the knockout stage, along with the best eight third-place teams. A round of 32 is being played for the first time at the World Cup after the tournament was expanded to 48 teams.

“We’ve been doing very well,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. “It wasn’t a great match, but I think that our opponent didn’t let us do too much. But we still were able to score, on that mistake, in addition to another two or three opportunities.”

Aguirre said it felt good for the players to guarantee their spot in the next round back in Mexico City.

“It relieves some of the pressure,” he said. “But not for me, for the players. They are euphoric, they are very happy.”

Mexico opened with a 2-0 win over South Africa, while South Korea rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Czechs.

Mexico closes group play on Wednesday against the Czech Republic in Mexico City, while South Korea takes on South Africa in Monterrey.

Mexico had never won a World Cup game on home soil outside Mexico City. Before 2026, all but one of its nine World Cup matches at home, spanning the 1970 and 1986 tournaments, had been played at Estadio Azteca, with five wins and three draws. When it played in Toluca in 1970, it lost 4-1 to Italy in the quarterfinals.

Thursday's match got off to a lackluster start, with neither team creating significant scoring opportunities and both squads getting loudly booed after the halftime whistle.

Mexico, ranked 13th, was eliminated in the group stage four years ago in Qatar. That followed seven straight eliminations in the round of the 16.

South Korea star Son Heung-min had another disappointing game and was substituted out in the 57th.

Plaudits for Son

The 33-year-old Son is looking to become South Korea’s top goal scorer at the World Cup and the Asian player with the most goals in the tournament. The former Tottenham star, currently with Los Angeles FC, entered with three goals over three prior World Cups.

Kim kept Mexico from adding to the lead by coming up with a tough save off a close-range shot by Raúl Jiménez in the 75th.

The South Koreans pressed through the end but could not equalize.

South Korea, ranked 22nd, is making its 11th straight World Cup appearance and 12th overall, the most of any Asian country. Its best result was a fourth-place finish at the tournament it co-hosted with Japan in 2002. Since then, the South Koreans have never gone beyond the round of 16.

“The mistake that we made was unfortunate,” coach Hong Myung-bo said.

This time there were not many empty seats in Guadalajara, contrary to what happened in the earlier match between South Korea and the Czech Republic. FIFA had blamed fans standing in the concourses for the empty seats. Thursday's crowd was announced at 45,522 for the 45,664-capacity stadium, which was hosting the national team for the first time.

Celebrations and protest

Fan zones across Mexico were packed ahead of the game. In the biggest one, in Mexico City’s Zócalo, chants of support for the national team, shouting “Olé!” with every pass, mingled with a homophobic chant — a one-word slur that literally means male prostitute in Spanish — that has previously led to sanctions against Mexico and could spur new punishments by FIFA.

There were peaceful protests in Guadalajara organized by the families of Mexico’s 130,000 missing people.

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Associated Press writers Refugio Ruiz, Alexis Triboulard and Maria Verza contributed to this report.

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

Vice President JD Vance had been prepared to make an overnight flight Friday to meet with his Iranian counterparts at a mountainside resort in the tiny Swiss village of Obbürgen and begin the technical talks.

His staff and a small pack of journalists had even gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in anticipation of the trip. Meanwhile, dozens of White House officials, advance staffers and more media gathered in Switzerland to prepare for Vance's anticipated arrival.

But then abruptly on Thursday evening the trip was called off — at least for the time being.

The White House issued a statement explaining Vance — who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the negotiations — and his delegation were prepared for talks, but they were unable to finalize plans and the vice president would remain in Washington.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement noted.

The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a Pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it.”

Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal doesn’t explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

Hours before postponing his trip, Vance gave some indication of the state of flux when he told reporters at a White House briefing that he was uncertain if the talks were going to happen this weekend.

“Our plan is to go to Switzerland, I don’t know exactly when,” Vance told reporters. “We think these technical negotiations start sometime this weekend. That’s still the plan. But that could change.”

Soon after Vance spoke to reporters, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed direct negotiations with the U.S. in a terse statement read by state media that appeared to signal to the Islamic Republic’s leadership that it could move forward with a first round of talks.

“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” Khamenei said in his statement.

The messaging seemed to give Khamenei, who was badly wounded in the Feb. 28 U.S. strike that killed his father, some maneuverability. Hard-liners in the Iranian government, including Khamenei’s father, have long opposed direct talks with the White House, especially after Trump, during his first term, pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by Democratic President Barack Obama's administration.

More importantly for the White House, it appeared to create a permission structure for the talks to start.

The meeting was initially supposed to be a signing ceremony

Vance was initially expected to go to Switzerland to sign the agreement at a formal ceremony. Instead, Trump signed the document Wednesday during a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian separately signed the agreement.

The agreement states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble left by U.S. military strikes last year targeting Tehran’s key nuclear sites, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision.

It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously. But a range of other commitments remain to be worked out.

Iran believes it's in a strong negotiating position

Iranians would be going into the talks with a measure of confidence after effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, causing global economic reverberations, said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities in Washington.

She said the U.S. is now “essentially trying to negotiate our way back to the prewar status quo."

Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House think tank, said the “buoyant” Iranian leadership feels it has the upper hand. The endorsement of the talks by the Iranian supreme leader “sends a very strong signal domestically: ’We’re now on an equal footing with the U.S.'”

”‘Trump has gone from calling for regime change on Feb. 28 to this: Now they’re going to sit down with us directly and talk about these big issues,'” Quilliam said of the Iranians' thinking. “So it’s intended more for the domestic audience, and telling them: ‘We are firmly in control of this. There can be no protests, no revolution: We are a new regime and we’re staying put.’”

The president's tone has also taken a notable shift.

For weeks, he's insisted the financial costs to Americans were less important to him than stamping out Iran's nuclear program. He irked some of his fellow Republicans when he indicated its potential impact on November's midterm elections wasn't a concern.

But this week, at the G7 summit in Evian-Les-Bains, France, he acknowledged for the first time that continuing the war could have led to “economic catastrophe” and that oil reserves were on track to run out in about four weeks.

“And the one president I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover,” said Trump, referring to the 31st president whose time in office was defined by the Great Depression.

Vance has to negotiate through political division

For Vance, a likely 2028 presidential contender, how the negotiations play out could have enormous ramifications for his political fortunes.

Vance's skepticism of foreign wars was a core part of his political identity during his political rise. But now he finds himself the chief defender of negotiating an endgame to Trump's conflict that Democrats have largely derided as a foolish gambit. Some hawkish Republicans are aghast that Trump is getting behind a settlement that could put billions of dollars into Iran's coffers.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that he’s concerned the agreement “negotiates away the victories" from the U.S. air campaign against Iran and said aspects of it are “completely out of step” with Trump's goals.

Trump had fiercely criticized Obama for the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump argued failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon and funneled billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic.

In 2018, Trump exited the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union were also signatories to the pact.

Trump has pushed back against comparisons to the JCPOA, saying he had “negotiated from strength” after a massive military campaign while asserting that Obama was paying the Iranians off and not receiving acquiescence.

Wicker was particularly concerned about the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran mentioned in the 14-point agreement, saying it "would make Iran’s payoff under Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison.” Trump and Vance have said no U.S. taxpayer money would go to such a fund and it would not come without concessions and reforms by Tehran.

Burnham decisively won the seat of Makerfield in northwest England over Rob Kenyon of the anti-immigration party Reform UK.

The victory announced early Friday cements the status of Burnham, a 56-year-old politician nicknamed the King of the North, as the top contender to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham won almost 55% of the 45,510 votes counted, over 9,000 more than Kenyon.

Burnham’s victory speech left no doubt that he wants to lead the country, and not just be one of the more than 400 Labour lawmakers in the 650-seat House of Commons.

“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working," he said. "Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”

Starmer, who has previously maintained he will fight any leadership challenge, took to social media to congratulate Burnham. “Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate,” the prime minister wrote on X.

Burnham has led Manchester since 2017, overseeing rapid regeneration for the city where the Industrial Revolution was forged. He is pledging to repeat his signature brand of “Manchesterism” on a national scale.

Burnham said he would work to ensure that “the name Makerfield is forever synonymous with bringing about the change this country needs.”

He said Labour had “a final chance to change" and win back voters' trust.

“But it is a chance now, from this result tonight, to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States,” he said.

Labour is in power but unpopular

Starmer’s popularity has cratered since he led the center-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the U.K. ambassador to the United States.

Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party, and facing a rising Reform UK, which consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls. The Nigel Farage -led party has rapidly gained ground in post-industrial northern England areas like Makerfield, some 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of London.

A dismal performance by Labour in May’s local elections spurred scores of lawmakers to demand Starmer’s resignation. He has refused to budge, but senior colleagues are trying to force a change.

Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary in May, saying that “where we need vision, we have a vacuum.” Streeting has said he will run in a leadership contest if there is one.

Then Josh Simons, the Labour lawmaker for Makerfield, stepped down to trigger a special election and give Burnham the chance to return to Parliament.

Britain’s parliamentary system allows governing parties to change leaders midterm, with the winner becoming prime minister without the need for a national election. Under Labour rules, a lawmaker can challenge the leader if they have backing from a fifth of the party’s House of Commons lawmakers — a number that stands at 81.

The victorious Burnham will head to London to be sworn in as a lawmaker as soon as Monday. He’s likely to seek a meeting with Starmer to argue that the prime minister should exit gracefully and set a timetable for his departure.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said Burnham and Starmer would in the next few days have to “have a conversation about what comes next.”

Labour lawmaker Louise Haigh, a Burnham ally, said Starmer should “do what’s best for both the country and the Labour Party” and “consider an orderly and managed transition.”

“Andy won’t be doing anything rash or hasty,” she told Sky News. “I’m really hopeful the prime minister and Andy can come to an agreement.”

Burnham’s victory piles pressure on Starmer to quit

Starmer has so far insisted he has no intention of leaving his post.

“I will fight if there’s a challenge,” he said at the G7 summit in France this week. “We won a significant general election result in 2024, with a mandate to bring about change. I’m not going to walk away from that.”

Starmer suggested that he could offer Burnham a Cabinet post, telling Sky News on Wednesday that “I want him to have a big role in government.” Allies of Burnham indicated that he wasn’t interested.

Despite his stubborn determination, Starmer could be forced out if several members of the Cabinet tell him the game is up and quit, or threaten to quit, in protest.

There could then be a leadership contest, or a coronation, depending on whether other potential candidates think Burnham has an unassailable lead.

Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said “the pressure on Starmer will be very hard to resist” now that Burnham is back in Parliament.

Ford said defeating Reform UK in Makerfield strengthens Burnham’s claim to be Labour’s biggest asset.

“The narrative he can bring is, ‘No one else could have won that seat. I won that. I bring something unique. I bring an ability to renew our appeal,’” Ford said.

U.S. futures declined as optimism over the U.S.-Iran deal to end their war was dimmed by the postponement of high-stakes talks on reopening negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and getting oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Juneteenth.

Investor sentiment has also been hit by expectations that central banks including the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to try to curb inflation.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 wavered between gains and losses and was little changed at 71,082.81. The government reported that consumer prices excluding volatile fresh foods was unchanged, but analysts said it would likely pick up in coming months despite higher fuel costs.

Higher inflation was a factor driving the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark interest rate earlier this week to a three-decade high of 1% as it gradually adjusts its policies after years of near-zero or negative rates.

In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.5% to 9,019.22 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.1% to 8,818.40.

India's Sensex lost 1%.

Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan were closed for the Dragon Boat festival.

On Thursday, stocks rose on Wall Street, erasing most of their losses from a day earlier to notch weekly gains thanks to big advances for heavyweight technology companies. The decline on Wednesday was driven by anticipation that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates this year in an effort to fight inflation.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to 7,500.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 51,564.70 and the Nasdaq composite surged 1.9% to 26,517.93.

Technology stocks had some of the biggest gains and the most influence on the broader market's rise. Intel surged 10.6% after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the semiconductor giant will make chips for Apple in the U.S. Other big semiconductor companies gained ground. Nvidia rose 3% and Micron Technology jumped 8.7%.

On the losing end, SpaceX fell for the second straight day since its big debut on the U.S. stock market last week. The Elon Musk-led rocket maker and AI company was down 3.6% following a 4.9% loss Wednesday.

Oil prices wavered after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. Brent crude, the international standard, spent most of the day lower before settling 0.4% higher at $79.85 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude fell 0.2% to $75.85 per barrel.

Early Friday, Brent crude was down 0.5% at $79.34 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude lost 0.5% to $75.37 per barrel.

Airlines had some of the bigger gains. American Airlines rose 3.7% and United Airlines rose 2.1%. Cruise line company Carnival jumped 3.2%.

Energy companies lost ground. Exxon Mobil fell 2.1% and Chevron fell 2.2%.

Prices for crude oil are still above roughly $70 per barrel from before the war, but are well below the $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.

Higher oil prices have been weighing on markets throughout the U.S. war with Iran. The current deal between the nations waives sanctions against Iran and allows it to sell its oil freely. It also opens up the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped.

Rising energy costs have been putting more pressure on already hot inflation. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dipped below $4 a gallon, but is still 25% higher than a year ago. Prices have been rising for a wide range of goods because of higher shipping costs.

The Federal Reserve kept is key interest rate unchanged this week but hotter inflation means it will likely raise rates by the end of the year. Lower interest rates make borrowing easier for businesses and households, spurring growth, but they also tend to stoke inflation.

In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.39 Japanese yen from 161.38 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1441 from $1.1458.

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AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed.

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat speeding through the water before being struck and bursting into flames.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

Senators on Thursday demanded that the Pentagon release “unedited video” of the strikes. They have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The U.S. military’s first strike in early September drew particular concern from some lawmakers and those who study military law.

Two men on the boat initially survived the attack that killed nine others, and they were clinging to the wreckage when the vessel was struck again, killing them. The White House confirmed the follow-up strike, insisting it was done “in self-defense” to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.

But some legal scholars said a second strike killing survivors would have been illegal under any circumstance, armed conflict or not.

The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general’s office said.

Severe weather also pummeled parts of the Midwest, where a separate line of strong storms knocked down structures and left tens of thousands of residents without power.

Arthur was the first tropical storm of the season in the Atlantic basin, and although it quickly downgraded within a day of forming, the lingering system created dangerous conditions in Louisiana and Mississippi. In one rural Louisiana parish, more than 2 feet of rain fell in 48 hours and most of that soaking came Thursday, said Donald Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

It flooded at least 200 homes in Avoyelles Parish, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of the state capital, Louisiana state Rep. Daryl Deshotel said.

“Even by this region’s standards, that’s catastrophic rain,” Jones said.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a social media post Thursday night that a worker on a county road crew in the southwestern part of the state had been killed while helping with storm cleanup operations. The cause of the death was not disclosed.

Thirty homes below the Anchor Lake dam in southern Mississippi were being evacuated as a precaution due to concerns that rising waters could overwhelm the spillways and compromise the structure, Reeves said. Residents in the area were being encouraged to seek higher ground.

Coni Dubois said several inches of water flooded her home overnight in Houma, southwest of New Orleans, but others in the community had worse damage. She’s lived through many hurricanes and other storms, but never witnessed thunder and lightning like this.

“It was unbelievable, it literally sounded like hell broke open,” Dubois said. “I thought for sure we had a tornado on top of us. The lightning and the thunder was so consistent, the whole house was lit up like daylight for about 20 minutes.”

The National Guard and state wildlife officials were working with rescue crews, officials said.

One tornado had been confirmed in Avoyelles Parish in central Louisiana, along with three others near New Orleans, the weather service said.

Louisana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency for some storm-hit areas, and the town of Cottonport in Avoyelles Parish said it was turning off water service overnight “to manage our resources and allow our system to recover.” It urged residents to limit water use and to fill pots and other containers before the water was shut off.

Amid relentless rainfall in central Louisiana, Cody Coco said he rescued stranded workers — waist deep in water —- at a cypress sawmill operation he runs near his home in Avoyelles Parish. He said the water has continued to rise all throughout the day.

Coco, 40, said he also used a boat to rescue the four pigs he kept in a pen. Video he shared on his Facebook page shows the hogs swimming out of their enclosure in a torrent of murky water. Coco says they are now safe on higher ground.

“If I’d left them in the pen, they’d have drowned,” Coco said. “They were happy to see me.”

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno posted a video on Facebook describing relatively minor damage and cleanup efforts. Ahead of the storm, police prepared boats and set up barricades in flood-prone areas. They also opened sandbag distribution sites across Louisiana.

Just across the Mississippi River in Avondale, a tornado wrecked four homes, Jefferson Parish spokeswoman Rachel Strassel said. Two people were hospitalized with minor injuries and later released.

The Midwest was also dealing with damage after a strong line of storms.

A tornado was reported Wednesday evening near Effingham, Illinois, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Springfield. Several people suffered minor injuries, officials said.

Firefighters responded to damaged homes, collapsed structures, car crashes, downed power lines, gas leaks and blocked roads, Effingham Fire Chief Brant Yochum said.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln, Illinois, confirmed two tornadoes, including one Wednesday with maximum winds of 116 mph (186.8 kph) in the Charleston area. The EF2 tornado lifted the roof off a home and flipped a semi-truck, injuring one person.

Marla Washburn and her husband, Todd, hunkered down in their basement as a suspected tornado tore through their neighborhood about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north in Blue Mound. They could hear debris smacking into their house and a school across the street lost its roof, which came crashing onto their home.

“The whole house shook,” Washburn said in a phone interview, adding that the neighborhood looks like Armageddon.

“You don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but we’re OK,” she said. “You look at it and you go, ‘I don’t even know where to start to clean up.'”

Her unapologetically expansive, left-wing agenda includes subsidized or even free childcare, increased down payment assistance for homebuyers and community resources to reduce crime, plus a promise to aggressively confront President Donald Trump's attempts to reshape the nation's capital.

“People are tired of hearing what government can’t do. They want to hear what government can do,” Lewis George said in an interview before the city's primary, where she defeated her Democratic opponents and positioned herself to win the general election in November in a city dominated by Democrats.

Lewis George's victory signals a break with a quarter-century of centrist governance in Washington, and it puts her in the vanguard of democratic socialists who have ascended in urban politics over the last year. Zohran Mamdani toppled Andrew Cuomo, the scion of a political dynasty, on his way to becoming New York City mayor. Katie Wilson won an upset victory to lead Seattle last fall. And this month, Nithya Raman clinched a spot in the November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

All of them are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA. The political organization has seen its membership ranks swell from a few thousand to more than 100,000 nationwide over the last decade after an influx of younger Americans joined following the presidential bids of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also a self-described democratic socialist.

There's little sign of national coordination among the candidates, and it’s unclear whether voters are gravitating toward their promises of improved government services, their vows to fight the Trump administration or their critiques of capitalism.

But from coast to coast, confrontational progressives are advancing in mayoral races. City leaders can draw outsized attention for their successes and failures, and democratic socialists will be under pressure from residents to deliver on their vows for a new kind of governance. Whether that translates to national politics is a next test for their movement.

“They are all channeling a displeasure with a status quo and a serious desire for economic populism that the establishment Democratic Party hasn't been preaching,” said Eric Stern, a Democratic strategist with Fight Agency, a political consulting firm that strategized Mamdani's mayoral campaign.

Stern added that Democratic voters appeared more willing to support the most progressive candidate in mayoral races rather than in contests for the U.S. House. Candidates like Mamdani and Raman, Stern said, are “daring voters to dream and fall in love not just with the individual candidates but also the political process as a whole.”

A rising left navigates America's urban challenges

The trend of progressives surging in urban areas may have limits for its broader impact on Democratic politics. Democratic mayors in cities including Atlanta, Houston, Miami and San Francisco won on relatively moderate platforms in recent years.

Progressive have also faced noteworthy challenges. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was endorsed by the city's DSA chapter during his 2023 mayoral run but has since faced criticism from both moderate and liberal local leaders on issues such as immigration, the local budget and public safety. Recalls and public pressure ousted progressives elected to district attorney offices in multiple jurisdictions over the last five years, when criminal justice reform efforts ran into dissatisfaction over public disorder following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump's hardline immigration and law enforcement tactics have also become a challenge for liberal cities. The president's agenda poses an especially serious threat to Washington, D.C., because of its status as a federal territory.

“Maybe we take back Washington and run it on a federal basis,” Trump told reporters this month when asked about the potential election of a democratic socialist as the district's mayor. “We won’t put up with it.”

But progressives hope the current wave of anti-Trump furor in deep blue cities across the country will help buoy the chances of those on the hard left.

“It’s not folks looking for the leftmost option so much as looking for a candidate who’s gonna be on their side,” said Ravi Mangla, speaking for the left-wing Working Families Party. The party often endorses the same candidates as the DSA and is readying to target more mayoral offices in the country's biggest metropolises this fall and in 2028.

“It’s less about whether you are on the right or on the left so much as whether you are willing to punch up at the powerful,” he added.

Mamdani and Lewis George are both self-described “sewer socialists” who emphasize the need for responsive government services rather than critiques of market economics. The phrase recalls the socialist Gilded Age mayors whom critics derided as too preoccupied with managing public works projects.

The term's revival is partly a strategic move to align leftist ideas with concerns over affordability and the economy, voters' top concern in the midterm elections, and shift the public perception of democratic socialists from firebrands who support radical policies to independent-minded public servants.

“This is absolutely a change election and I’m excited to bring the change that people want, which is really putting people first in the city and having the moral clarity and courage to stand up to Trump,” Lewis George said.

For voters the ‘socialist’ label did not seem to matter

While conservatives have used the “socialist” label to attack Democrats as extreme or incompetent, some D.C. voters appeared ambivalent before Tuesday's primary.

Several lifelong residents said they believed Lewis George was a “fighter” but didn't think she'd have much of an impact on the local economy, given the city's status as a federal district.

“I go back and forth on my own labels and whether I am supportive of that movement or not, but I am supportive of making D.C. more affordable,” Owen Fitzgerald, a University of Maryland graduate student, said of his support for democratic socialism.

Fitzgerald voted for Lewis George because she would stand up to Trump and said he'd first learned of her campaign from friends in his neighborhood. But he didn't know she was a democratic socialist until he saw news reports describing her with the label.

“It sends a cultural message to this administration that the people who are surrounding them in the capital are opposed to their platform, opposed to their political agenda, and I think that it will send a message, both nationally and internationally,” Fitzgerald said.

Dressed in military-style camouflage, the members of the National Coordinating Committee of the Bolivarian Army placed their weapons on a table during a formal ceremony in the department of Putumayo, which borders Ecuador. The group is a dissident faction of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Now disarmed, the dissidents will enter a temporary resettlement zone where the government intends to facilitate their gradual reintegration into civilian life. The government in a statement explained that they “will have their freedom restricted and will be under the control and supervision” of authorities.

“We laid down the iron rifle because we understand that words are a more powerful weapon,” dissident leader Geovany Andrés Rojas said as part of the ceremony. He made the remarks remotely from jail, where he is being held after being captured last year when the group was engaged in peace talks with the government.

His arrest took place in connection with an Interpol Red Notice for drug trafficking charges in the United States. Rojas on Thursday said his capture undermined the confidence of the rank and file but did not derail the dialogue process.

Petro, a former rebel leader and Colombia’s first progressive president, is negotiating with the dissident faction as part of his signature “total peace” policy, which has opened parallel peace negotiations with multiple armed groups. The effort has largely failed.

The dissident groups emerged from factions that did not accept the historic peace agreement signed a decade ago by the state and FARC, formerly Latin America’s oldest guerrilla group. The country is estimated to have 27,000 illegally armed group members, according to a 2025 report by the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a think tank focused on the internal conflict.

Last week, Petro established a monitoring mechanism for the temporary relocation zone and ordered the suspension of offensive military and special police operations to allow the dissidents to enter the designated area.

The budget shortfall is expected to hit in the FY 2028 budget, not the upcoming FY 2027, but the city is plotting a two-year path to closing the pending gap. On Thursday, city staff proposed a mix of new or increased fees, cuts, and maxing out the property tax rate.

The city is generally only allowed to set a tax rate for its maintenance and operations that would bring in 3.5% more revenue from existing properties without getting voter approval. However, it can also tap into the unused “increment” from recent years when it didn’t take that full amount.

Using that increment and maxing out the property tax rate would cost the average homestead an additional $81 in city taxes, according to the city, though the 46% of homesteads with a senior or disabled tax freeze would be unaffected.

It would also bring in another $124.8 million over the next two year, according to the city presentation.

The $21.9 million worth of proposed revenue increase over the next two years would come from various sources, like raising the EMS transport fee, a $10 non-resident library card fee, and more cost recovery on Fiesta event expenses.

After accounting for adding to the budget reserves, that would leave the city to find $23.4 million to cut over the course of the next two budgets.

Councilman Marc Whyte (D10), who has been one of the loudest opponents to raising the tax rate, pointed to previous city projections that showed the city would still be facing $155 million deficit in 2031, even if it were to raise the property tax rate.

“So a property tax increase, it’s just a Band-Aid to to get us through the next couple of years. It doesn’t solve the problem,” Whyte said.

With members like Whyte calling for the city to cut its way out of the deficit, city staff also laid out a non-tax increase plan with $137.7 million worth of reductions. Those could include cuts following department reviews of the library, municipal court, police, fire, and human resources; reshuffling costs to other parts of the budget; getting rid of vacant positions; chopping delegate agency funding; hiring and pay freezes; and straight cuts to program level services.

All together, that cut-heavy approach would getting rid of 209 city positions, 132 of which are currently filled, spurring its own concerns from council.

“That’s 132 families wondering what’s next and how they’re going to get their next meal,” Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) said.

City staff had previously put the projected FY 2028 budget deficit at $130.7 million, but staff that also accounted for some of the new revenue and almost $10.7 million worth of cuts the city had penciled in for FY 2027 during last year’s budget process.

Budget Director Freddy Martinez told reporters most of those potential cuts, worth $21.4 million over two years, were still included in the $137.7 million plan, like a $1 million reduction to the Minor Home Repair program or a $200,000 reduction in the $1.2 million in assistance to the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said she’d like to see the assistance go down to $0, noting the botanical garden charges a ticket fee. She also hit on another of the previously proposed cuts, reducing help for the San Antonio Book Festival from $150,000 to $100,000, as something the city shouldn’t be funding at all.

“Corporate, philanthropy, foundations, like pick this up. $150K in each year? That’s nothing,” she said. “I’m not saying we don’t need a book festival. I was just there this last time, and it was great. But these are not things that the public needs to be paying for. Military veterans affairs, Greater Chamber. Can you pick that up?”

While Thursday’s presentation did not include specific examples of other cuts, city staff will have have to lay out definite proposals when they present a draft budget in August.

After that, it will be up to the city council to decide which ones they can live with before they pass a final spending plan in September.

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At least 159 recruits have tested positive for influenza, and two have been hospitalized, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to ABC News. One of those sources said the actual number of cases and hospitalizations could be higher.

An Air Force spokesperson confirmed the outbreak to ABC News.

“Over the last three weeks, there has been a localized influenza outbreak among trainees at Basic Military Training,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Medical professionals and Public Health officials have implemented mitigation measures to isolate and treat symptomatic trainees to reduce further exposure and continue to monitor the situation.”

The spokesperson added that symptomatic trainees are receiving antiviral medications, including Tamiflu, and will return to training once cleared by medical professionals.

Vaccination policy change at the center of outbreak

The outbreak follows a policy change announced in April by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who made the annual flu vaccine optional for all U.S. military personnel — both active duty and reserve. Previously, the vaccine had been mandatory.

“Our new policy is simple: If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should. But we will not force you,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth had described the previous policy as “overly broad and not rational.”

Since the mandate was lifted, the flu vaccination rate among recruits at the San Antonio base has dropped to roughly 40%, down from nearly 100%, ABC News sources said.

The Pentagon has since granted exceptions to the new policy for several branches and agencies. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told ABC News that exceptions were approved for the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency and Defense Health Agency.

“The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said.

Recruit death under investigation

The outbreak comes as ABC News reports the Air Force is also investigating the death of a recruit at the base.

Keon McDaniel was in his sixth week of Basic Military Training when he suffered a medical emergency on June 12, according to ABC News. He was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he later died.

The Air Force said a comprehensive medical review is underway to determine the cause of the medical emergency. It remains unclear whether McDaniel’s death is connected to the flu outbreak.

ABC News’ Dr. Jade Cobern, Luis Martinez and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

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• STORMS FRIDAY?: Possible, will depend on storms to our north
• SATURDAY: Threat for a few storms continues, cooler

FORECAST

FRIDAY

We’re watching for a storm cluster to develop and organize in North Texas, and if that happens overnight, then those storms could head our way by Friday afternoon. By Friday night, upper-level energy should help develop storms closer to the Rio Grande.

Temperatures will cool slightly tomorrow thanks to added cloud cover. That said, it’ll still be hot and humid, and heat index values may still jump up to 105°.

SATURDAY

Hit or miss storms should pop-up Saturday, but it definitely won’t be for everyone. Odds currently sit at 40% through Saturday afternoon. It won’t be raining all day, but some neighborhoods could see brief, heavy rainfall. Make sure to take an umbrella with you for your Saturday plans.

Sunny, warm and humid on Sunday for Father’s Day.

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For Anne and Gunawan Halim, owners of Asian Bite near Stone Oak, the restaurant was more than a business. It was a way to support their family while staying close to their two sons, including one who is nonverbal and lives with autism.

“The first reason was for my son,” Anne Halim told KSAT. “I have a lot of appointments, therapies, and doctor appointments for him. We also love the culinary business.”

The couple took over Asian Bite in 2024 after years of working in the restaurant industry. Anne said owning a restaurant allowed her family to work toward something she hoped her children could one day inherit.

But that future changed suddenly on May 29.

Anne said the family spent the day celebrating a happy occasion.

“That day was a graduation for my son, we worked like regular, and then nighttime, it happened,” she said.

During the night, her husband suffered a stroke at home.

“He fell. We didn’t know until I woke up at 4 in the morning,” she said.

Gunawan was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found bleeding in his brain. He underwent emergency surgery and spent about a week in intensive care before being transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

Anne said her husband is showing signs of progress, particularly with his speech, but he remains paralyzed on the left side of his body and faces a long recovery.

“It’s sad because he’s the only one,” Anne said. “I don’t know when he can be back.”

That uncertainty extends beyond his health.

As the restaurant’s owner and only cook, Gunawan’s absence forced Anne to temporarily close Asian Bite’s doors. She has even placed a “Business For Sale” sign outside the front door. Anne told KSAT she is unsure how long she can manage everything on her own.

“Everything is too much on my plate right now,” she said. “If I have to run the restaurant, I don’t think I can do it.”

The decision has been especially difficult because of what the restaurant represents for their family.

For 17 years of marriage, Anne said she and Gunawan worked hard to provide for their children. She describes her husband as a dedicated provider who was always working to support his family.

“He’s a hard worker,” Anne said. “I just think about him and the kids.”

As medical bills continue to grow and the family remains without income from the restaurant, friends and community members stepped in to help.

A friend created a GoFundMe page on the family’s behalf. Since the page was created, it has garnered more than $23,000 for the family.

Anne said she has been overwhelmed by the support from customers, neighbors, teachers and members of the Stone Oak community.

“I’m really grateful. I’m very blessed,” she said. “I didn’t even think I could get that.”

For now, Anne is focused on helping her husband recover while caring for their children and navigating difficult decisions about the future of the restaurant.

“All the stuff that I do is all about my family,” she said. “Sometimes you just have to do one step at a time.”

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The warnings were followed by sweeping airstrikes, which Israel said targeted the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

What Kaour found back in Tyre shattered his hopes. His dream family apartment overlooking the Mediterranean Sea was a heap of rubble and shattered glass.

His return came after the announcement of an agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. The deal also calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Hezbollah, but it's unclear what that means in practice.

Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal doesn’t explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as "Israel’s security needs require it.”

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri — a Hezbollah ally — said Thursday that the group was committed to the ceasefire, “provided that Israel adheres to it fully and comprehensively.” Hezbollah has said that it's committed to resisting any occupation by Israel. Fighting between the two sides, which was still underway in some parts of southern Lebanon, could derail the deal.

Many hope the US-Iran deal signals better times

For residents in the south of crisis-battered Lebanon, hopes of better times are mixed with skepticism after many ceasefire announcements previously failed to halt fighting.

Kaour lives in Germany but spends most of the summer in Tyre. Last month, when an Israeli strike hit their street without warning, he was abroad with his family.

When he returned, he saw his building, with a popular sweets shop and an electronics store on the ground floor, was still standing, unlike surrounding structures that were leveled to the ground.

But walls and windows had been blasted out. He was relieved his family had not been there, he said.

“I’m hopeful for peace, and God willing this is the end of the war, and everyone can go back to their homes," he said. “We are living abroad, but our minds are here in our country.”

Outside, the street filled with people trying to clear the rubble.

Kaour's neighbor one floor above, Samih Haidar, had also just returned and found his door bolted by wooden boards.

He tried to kick them down but failed, then anxiously waited as two men who had been clearing rubble on another floor came and unscrewed the bolts.

Through a gap, Haidar climbed in. He didn't know what to expect. He had rented the apartment out to a family displaced from another area in the south, people who came to him through a friend.

His anxiety turned into shock: broken furniture, shattered glass, rubble and a burned out kitchen that had caught fire after the strike. He slowly walked through each room, quietly filming with his phone. He doesn't know what became of the tenants — displaced from Tyre like scores of others, he presumed.

“We want things to work out and live in safety, so there can be stability for us and everyone else,” Haidar said.

An isolated enclave hopes for reprieve

Farther south, the Christian village of Ain Ebel is one of a few enclaves in Lebanon's border area where residents have remained during the war. Christian villages, where Hezbollah has little presence, have been largely spared the destruction of neighboring Shiite villages. But they have their own problems.

The village is cut off from the rest of Lebanon by fighting and Israeli checkpoints, relying on aid convoys that require extensive coordination to get through. One such convoy, organized by the Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious order, arrived Thursday bearing emergency livestock feed and supplies for farmers.

Cattle farmer Boutros Maroun said people in Ain Ebel are exhausted.

“We don’t care about America and Iran, we want the Lebanese people to live comfortably and happily," he said. "Every two years there’s a new war, and we can no longer take it.”

The convoy was delayed in returning to Beirut because of explosives found on the road, which had to be cleared by U.N. peacekeepers.

Fighting pierces a tenuous ceasefire

The fighting subsided but did not stop Thursday. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli drone strikes, including one on a car in the town of Kfar Tebnit that killed one person and critically wounded another. Hezbollah later said in a statement that its fighters clashed with Israeli troops trying to advance on the town. Israel did not comment.

To the north, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, displaced families huddled along the waterfront in Beirut. Most of them have been sleeping in tents for months, living in limbo. For others, it's a bench or a mattress on the ground.

Many said they're not convinced that the U.S.-Iran deal will hold or that they will be able to return to their homes — if they still exist. In the border area close to Israel, many Lebanese villages have been almost completely demolished.

“I haven’t felt relieved at all,” said Mohammed Ashmar, displaced from the border village of Deir Seryan, holding a cup of coffee and sitting near his tent on the waterfront. “Until I get back to my home ... I won’t be convinced of anything.”

The Israel-Hezbollah war has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon, and killed more than 3,900, according to Lebanese officials. About 30 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

Speaking during a visit by foreign dignitaries on Thursday, Lebanon’s Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said the country faces urgent humanitarian needs but also the daunting task of planning for the return of displaced families and reconstruction of the destroyed areas.

“The Lebanese people deserve peace," she said. “They deserve to return safely to their homes, rebuild their communities, and look to the future with confidence and hope.”

___

Associated Press journalists Fadi Tawil in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. Hussein reported from Ain Ebel, Lebanon.

The San Antonio Police Department offers training on operating a gun safely for the public and requires the training for officers.

SAPD Sgt. Joshua Bagley shared the most important parts of properly handling, cleaning and storing a firearm.

While operating, Bagley emphasized keeping your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, but safety comes before that.

“The way that we normally handle the safe handling or stowing of a firearm is a gun safe,” Bagley said. “What I have is a simple gun lock. These can be purchased relatively cheap at just about any sporting goods store or gun store and it achieves essentially the same concept of gun safe, making it to where the firearm cannot be unintentionally loaded or intentionally loaded or used by an unauthorized person.”

SAPD public information officer Emily Garvin mentioned how important training is for everyone, even if people have used a firearm previously.

“You’re able to learn the actual fundamentals of manipulating a weapon and knowing how to shoot correctly,” Garvin said.

The fundamentals of operating and storing a weapon are important to prevent accidental shootings.

Between Jan. 1, 2026, and June 1, 2026, SAPD responded to 20 accidental shootings. In the same timeframe in 2025, SAPD responded to 61 accidental shootings.

While the number has decreased in the last year, the department’s goal is for no one to be impacted by an accidental shooting.

Therefore, taking lessons on how to shoot and clean a weapon are critical.

“You need to make sure to be cleaning your weapon properly because if you don’t, you’d hate for it to malfunction or anything of that manner,” Garvin said.

Bagley said it’s important to clean your gun often to avoid rust and other issues that come from a lack of cleaning.

“Any firearm that is poorly maintained, it can rust, it can change the internals and the mechanics of it, so we often see with older firearms that are mishandled or used, they can have firing mechanisms that aren’t as safe as a firearm that’s been properly maintained,” Bagley said.

San Antonio residents over the age of 18 can apply to be in the Citizen Police Academy to learn more about safe gun usage, cleaning, storage and more.

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The review was yet another surprise for European allies and Canada as they learn to deal with an increasingly unpredictable ally. U.S. officials and senior military officers had promised to coordinate closely with the Europeans as America draws down.

In recent months, U.S. President Donald Trump and the Pentagon have sent conflicting signals about whether America is reducing or increasing its military footprint in Europe, as well as threatening to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark. Just weeks ago, the Trump administration said that it would no longer provide as much military support should any NATO member come under attack.

“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” Hegseth told his NATO counterparts. “It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz later said the allies have long been aware of U.S. plans to pull troops from Europe at some point and that they must take care of their own security.

“We know that we must do more and we are doing it,” Merz said.

Public dressing down over bases, gender and migration

In a fiery speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Hegseth lambasted European allies for failing to provide U.S. forces access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it “shameful.”

“These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said. The review would also assess whether the U.S. has full access and overflight “when we need it.”

While defense ministers and military officers sat in silence, Hegseth railed against migration and gender equality policies in Europe, in remarks reminiscent to those of Vice President JD Vance in February last year that angered many Europeans.

“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defenses, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defense austerity. Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered, along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth's comments largely mischaracterized European policies today. On defense, European allies and Canada have launched an unprecedented effort to boost defense spending and expand their armed forces. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte noted on Thursday that they spent $90 billion more on defense last year, a 20% increase over 2024. And while Europe accepted large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers more than a decade ago, most countries have tightened their borders since.

It does not augur well for a summit of NATO leaders in Turkey on July 7-8.

A rare and short visit to NATO

It was a rare visit to NATO by Hegseth, his first this year after skipping a meeting in February. The Pentagon chief did not stay long, leaving well before the gathering was over and hours before Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to press allies for more weapons for his country.

Speaking to reporters at Brussels airport before flying home, Hegseth said, “It was great to hear country after country say, ‘We’re going to meet our target. We’re going to meet our target.’ There are still a few outliers, and we will be clear with them as we do this review.”

NATO’s supreme allied commander, an American, is working on backup plans to defend Europe after the U.S. signaled on June 3 that it would no longer supply an aircraft carrier and support ships, aerial refueling planes and dozens of fighter jets, among other military assets, in a crisis.

The Trump administration insists that it needs to be able to plan for two simultaneous conflicts and wants more military resources at hand should it clash with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Under NATO’s collective security guarantee – Article 5 of its founding treaty – the 32 allies pledge that an attack on one of them will be considered an attack on all. It does not oblige them to provide military support, although many likely would.

In essence, the United States is scaling back how it might help should an ally trigger Article 5.

US nuclear weapons will stay

The U.S. has by far NATO’s biggest armed forces. It does not intend to withdraw its nuclear weapons in Europe, which are key to NATO’s deterrence. To underscore that point, NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group issued its first statement in 19 years after Thursday’s meeting.

In the statement, it “recalled that the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance remain the supreme guarantee of Allied security and underpin NATO’s extended deterrence architecture.”

The ministers “agreed to continue enhancing NATO’s nuclear deterrence mission by modernizing NATO’s nuclear capabilities, strengthening its nuclear planning capacity, and adapting to achieve its security interests.”

Rutte played down the impact of the U.S. decision, saying that the NATO Force Model – the system for organizing what forces member countries will provide commanders in times of peace, crisis or conflict – is just “a planning tool,” and not a reflection of what would actually happen.

“If war breaks out, we will all max out what we need to do to make sure we can fight the war,” Rutte told reporters. “In the planning phase, it is important to know what we can count on. What is in theory there.”

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

Jonathan David scored three goals and Canada won its first World Cup match while all but securing a spot in the knockout round with a 6-0 victory over Qatar on Thursday.

Qatar was reduced to nine players because of red cards in the chaotic match. Assim Madibo was handed a red early in the second half after a tackle on Ismaël Koné, who was stretchered off with a broken left leg. Homan Ahmed was sent off in the first half for a challenge on Tajon Buchanan.

With the outburst of scoring, Canada tripled its overall World Cup goal total. Cyle Larin scored in the Canadians' opening draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Alphonso Davies scored four years ago in a loss to Croatia in Qatar, where Canada also got on the board with an own goal by Morocco. The Canadians were shut out three times in the 1986 World Cup.

“No one will forget this, and no Canadian will forget this day,” said coach Jesse Marsch, who held up six fingers as he walked off the field. “It’s an incredibly seminal moment for everyone to understand that there’s talent in this country, that there’s mentality, that there’s desire, that there’s a lot of things that make this country special.”

And the supporters who packed BC Place were ecstatic.

“We’re soaking up history right here,” fan Matthias Kempe said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the 52,497 fans in attendance after missing the game in Toronto last week because of the G7 summit in France. He sat with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

“It was amazing. After every goal it got louder and louder,” David said. “It gave us motivation to get the next goal and the next goal.”

Canada's triumph was marred by its anguish over Koné's injury. Teammates surrounded him in concern after he was tackled from behind and crumpled to the pitch with his lower left leg bent at a gruesome-looking angle. Madibo was clearly distraught before he was ejected.

Koné was taken to a hospital, were he was preparing for surgery. His family was with him, said Marsch, who confirmed the player's leg was broken.

Larin scored his second goal of the tournament on a rebound in the 16th minute. Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada punched away David’s volley but it fell to Larin, who pointed to his ears in celebration as the red-clad crowd roared.

David doubled the lead with a right-footed volley in the 29th, for his first goal in the run of play in more than a year.

Ahmed was sent off with a red card in the 33rd. The official initially pointed to the penalty spot, but after video review Canada was given a free kick just outside the box and the initial yellow card handed to Ahmed was changed to red.

Canada made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time when David scored in a scramble in front of the net off a shot that caromed off the crossbar. Qatari players stood with their hands on their hips in frustration while Canada celebrated.

Nathan Saliba, who came in as a substitute for Koné, scored on a free kick in the 64th to make it 4-0. Mohamed Manai deflected a shot past his goalkeeper for an own goal in the 75th.

David completed the hat trick in stoppage time, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi as the only players with three goals in a match in this World Cup.

“It was a very tough match for many reasons. The players did their best. It was very difficult to face this match with two players less with this environment,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said.

Qatar scored a stoppage-time goal to earn a surprising 1-1 draw with Group B favorite Switzerland in its opener. The Persian Gulf country is still looking for its first World Cup win after losing all of its group matches four years ago as the host.

Switzerland defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 earlier in the day in Group B.

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

Romanch Mahajan, 18, died after he got off of the four-wheeled carriage as its horse sprinted through the park without the driver.

He is believed to be the first person to die in a horse carriage accident since they were introduced in Central Park more than 150 years ago, according to the labor union representing the industry and the Central Park Conservancy, which manages the 843-acre (341-hectare) park.

The conservancy was among those arguing Thursday that the carriage industry should be suspended until more protections can be put in place. Mahajan’s death was the eighth horse-related incident in the park over the past 13 months, the group said.

“The record is undeniable: crashes, runaways, horse deaths, injuries, and now a devastating loss of human life,” said Edita Birnkrant, head of the animal welfare group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets.

Animal rights activists have long said the carriage horses are overworked, can get easily spooked on city streets and live in inadequate stables while their drivers regularly flout city rules. All of those allegations have been denied by the horse and carriage owners, who say the animals are well cared for and the stables are fine.

The conservancy has argued that horses can no longer safely share park roads teeming with joggers, cyclists, pedestrians and motorized scooters, noting that other U.S. cities, including Chicago and San Antonio, have also recently done away with the nostalgic rides.

But carriage industry leaders said the fatal crash underscores the need for better protections, not outright elimination of the quaint attraction that harkens back to a romanticized, bygone New York.

“We’re absolutely gutted and stunned by this tragedy,” said Alexander Kemp, a vice president with the Transport Workers Union Local 100, the labor union representing carriage drivers and owners. “We have shuttered the stables and ceased operations today while we have extensive internal discussions of safety protocols and how they can be improved.”

Horse carriages weren’t running Thursday and it was not immediately clear when the rides, which cost about $72 for the first 20 minutes, would resume.

The owner of the carriage involved in the fatal crash also suspended the driver indefinitely, and has plans to retire the horse from the business, according to the union. It said the driver improperly dismounted to take a photograph of his passengers.

Celebrating a high school graduation turned tragic

Mahajan had been on a family trip celebrating his recent high school graduation when the family decided to take a ride on one of the park’s often photographed, richly decorated carriages.

His father, Deepak Mahajan, told The New York Times the family had arrived from India on Monday, the same day Romanch learned he had been accepted to a university in Jaipur.

They had spent the trip visiting many of the city’s popular tourist attractions, including the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The carriage driver hopped off to take a photograph of the family near a fountain when the horse suddenly bolted, Mahajan said.

Romanch’s mother fell out of the carriage, and the teen jumped out in an attempt to save her, according to his father.

“He was screaming, ‘Mom!’” Deepak Mahajan recounted to the Times.

But Romanch hit his head on the ground before the carriage clipped another horse-drawn vehicle and eventually toppled over. The father, his wife and younger son escaped with minor injuries.

“This incident should be taken very seriously,” Mahajan said. “It took my son’s dream away.”

Carriage owners and drivers fear end to livelihood

New York City leaders vowed to work swiftly to end the industry in the wake of Romanch's death.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the legislative body would hold a hearing next month on a long-simmering bill that would ban horse carriages and help drivers transition into new jobs.

Last year, the park conservancy revived debate over the carriages when, for the first time, it threw its support behind what’s known as Ryder’s Law.

“The time to act is now,” she wrote on the social platform X.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani also reiterated his support for ending the industry, saying he’d work with the council, the industry and animal welfare advocates to “deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.”

Other recent mayors have made similar pronouncements. Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to shut down the industry “on Day One" in office, only to come up against years of council opposition. Mayor Eric Adams, Mamdani’s predecessor, came out against the industry near the end of his single term.

Onur Altintas, who owns four horses and a carriage operating in Central Park, was among those worried about an end to their livelihood. He said the industry provides hundreds of jobs to drivers, stable hands, farriers, and others in horse-related trades.

“We are sad about what happened. Nobody wants that. But it’s not like this is happening every day,” said Altintas. “Car crashes and plane crashes are happening every single day. One horse makes an accident, and the world is destroyed? Come on.”

The longtime owner and driver said the industry needs better regulations to make it safer. He said “90%” of horse-related accidents could be avoided simply by installing hitching posts throughout the park so drivers could safely tether and secure their horses, including at popular tourist photo stops.

The Transport Workers Union on Thursday said legislation recently introduced into the council would do just that.

“Drivers can’t leave their carriage. They have to be on it all the time,” Altintas said. “But it’s impossible. We have to go to the restroom. We have to eat. We have to do things.”

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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it didn’t sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday.

Visitors over the past two centuries who viewed the tree's gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham compressed the soil, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said.

The forest has been under threat for years and the tree had been rumored to have died in the past — only to have the group confirm it was still alive.

That is no longer the case.

“The tree’s failure to produce leaves this year is heartbreaking for everyone,” Hollie Drake of the RSPB said in a statement announcing the death.

The tree is said to have sheltered Robin Hood, the legendary 13th-century bandit who stole from the rich and gave to the poor and took refuge in the forest when being pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham.

It got its name after being mentioned in a book on oaks by Major Hayman Rooke in 1790 that led to the first wave of fans who flocked to the forest.

It's impossible to say what killed the tree, but the footprints of millions contributed to its downfall, along with intervention to shore up its massive limbs using cables and poles. Climate change that has brought heat waves and drought was also blamed.

Tree experts found the root system strangled and starved.

“Ancient trees like the Major Oak are the ‘conservation white rhinos of the U.K.’ but their decline is far less visible,” said Ed Pyne, of the Woodland Trust. “Saving them is vital to the health of the world we live in and yet most disappear quietly, without the recognition or care given to the Major Oak.”

In addition to its place in folklore, the forest is known for Sherwood oaks that floated the ships of Vice Adm. Horatio Nelson’s Royal Navy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and as timbers in the roof of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Major Oak was spared from the saw and has been protected by a fence since the 1970s.

“The Major Oak will continue to stand at the heart of Sherwood as a natural monument for visitors to come and see, living on in the legend of Robin Hood and continuing to provide as much support to the forest’s ecosystem in death as in life,” Drake said.

The proposal from the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West to impose a one-time, 5% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion faces staunch pushback from a wide swath of critics, including Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The union said Thursday that it would abandon the 5% tax proposal if Newsom would join them in supporting a 2% levy. The updated proposal would instead have to be passed by the Legislature, given a June 25 deadline for the measure to qualify for the ballot.

Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, said scaling it back doesn't change its "fundamental flaws that harm working Californians.”

“The Governor supports making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share, but this poorly designed state-only measure will defund teachers, schools, clinics, and public safety,” she said in a statement.

The tax, to be paid by those living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026, is meant to generate $100 billion in revenue, mainly to counter federal cuts to healthcare for low-income people with some money going to food assistance and education programs.

“A 2% one-time tax on that accumulated wealth is modest by any objective measure especially if it means keeping emergency rooms open and saving patient lives,” backers wrote in a letter to Newsom.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, said Wednesday night that petitioners collected more than the roughly 875,000 signatures needed to place the original proposal before voters.

States have been debating how to respond to the major tax breaks and spending cuts legislation President Donald Trump signed last year. The proposal has already divided Democrats and major labor unions and triggered an expensive campaign to defeat it. The proposed tax is backed by prominent progressives including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Silicon Valley tech moguls have spent millions to defeat it, and prominent players in Sacramento have opposed it. They include the California Medical Association and California School Boards Association, which helped launch a committee this week urging voters to reject it if it ends up on the ballot in November. Newsom also opposed a ballot measure in 2022 to increase taxes on the wealthy, which would have funded programs that help people buy electric cars or install more chargers. Voters rejected it.

Critics say the original measure would decrease state revenue over time by pushing the ultrawealthy to leave, taking the money they would contribute in income taxes with them. That would deal a huge blow to a state that relies on its top 1% of earners for nearly half its personal income tax revenue.

“This flawed measure is the wrong approach for California’s small businesses and working families,” said Roger Salazar, a spokesperson for Golden State Promise, a political committee fighting the tax.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that the 5% tax would generate tens of billions of dollars in the first few years, but that income tax revenues could subsequently decline by hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Since the proposal was announced in October, Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated $82 million to a political committee called Building a Better California that backs a variety of initiatives designed to blunt the billionaire tax proposal. It has raised more than $118 million, counting Brin’s contributions, from fewer than a dozen donors.

State lawmakers passed budget bills this week that aim to raise revenue in other ways, including by extending a tax on healthcare providers. Newsom and legislative leaders agree to this approach, Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón said.

“The budget, as approved by the Legislature and now being negotiated with the Governor, does not include the billionaire’s tax,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Instead, it reflects additional revenues to address our long-term structural deficit.”

For Blanca Nubia Monroy, it’s a black-and-white scale of justice tattooed on her forearm, identical to the one used to identify her 19-year-old son's body after he was kidnapped and killed by Colombian soldiers in 2008.

For Sigifredo López, it's flashbacks from the seven years he was held captive by guerrillas in the South American country's dense jungles and the trauma of surviving after his companions were massacred in 2007.

Both have radically different views of who should win Colombia’s presidency on Sunday, with Monroy throwing her support behind peace activist Iván Cepeda and López backing Trump-endorsed Abelardo de la Espriella, who has promised a scourge on crime.

But their fear is the same: Returning to a more violent past.

“It all takes a toll, both physically and emotionally,” said López. “Emotionally, there’s the fear that still simmers deep down, something you don’t openly express, the fear that everything we’ve already lived through could happen again.”

Polarization ‘brewing for decades’

In Colombia’s most polarized presidential election in years, voters will choose between de la Espriella and Cepeda – two candidates with sharply different visions for how to find peace in a country long marked by war.

The armed struggle between Marxist guerrillas, Colombian military forces and right-wing paramilitaries has resulted in more than 10 million people — one in five Colombians — becoming victims of conflict, according to a government registry documenting killings, kidnappings, forced displacement and more.

The trauma of war and the fight for peace are embedded in Colombian politics. Despite a 2016 peace pact with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, conflict rages in many parts of the Andean nation, becoming a defining theme in Sunday's vote.

Polarization within Colombian society over how to handle violence has “been brewing for decades,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, Bogotá-based deputy Latin America director of International Crisis Group.

“Increasingly on both sides, there's an us and a them. That's very dangerous in a country like Colombia with a long history of political violence. ... The spark could light at any moment."

On one side is Cepeda, who has pledged to continue Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” agenda of negotiating peace pacts with a range of criminal groups, from drug mafias to insurgent fighters. That strategy sought to rewire how Colombia deals with conflict, but has largely failed, stoking a rebuke as armed groups have taken advantage of ceasefires to grow in strength.

On the other is de la Espriella, a lawyer who has promised an all-out offensive on crime, echoing El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s war on gangs. While Bukele’s crackdown has drawn attention across the region for sharply cutting homicide rates, it also fueled allegations of human rights abuses.

Fears of state violence

The 67-year-old Monroy is reminded of the civilian toll from past military offensives every time she thinks of her son, Julián Oviedo Monroy, or looks at the tattoo on her arm.

Her son, who had dreamed of joining Colombia’s military to lift his family out of poverty, disappeared in 2008 along with other poor young men on the fringes of Bogotá. Months later, his body was unearthed in a clandestine grave in the conflict-torn northeast. His body was identified by his tattoo.

“It’s like still having him here,” she said, looking down at the tattoo she got as an homage to her son and his photo that she keeps in her wallet.

Monroy's son became one of 6,402 victims in one of the worst atrocities of Colombia’s conflict. Colombian military officers carried out extrajudicial executions against civilians in a scandal known as “false positives” carried out largely between 2002–2008 under ex-President Álvaro Uribe. Officials then falsely said the murdered civilians were enemy combatants killed in the war with FARC rebels.

Around a dozen high-ranking security officers later acknowledged they killed Monroy's son and asked for forgiveness in a peace tribunal established after the 2016 peace pact to unearth the ugly truths of the war — a court that de la Espriella has promised to dismantle.

Monroy criticized the mounting violence under incumbent president Petro, saying Cepeda would have to come down with a heavier hand on criminal groups.

But what outweighed her criticism was fear of the military campaign promised by de la Espriella, who has vowed to wipe out “anyone who I’ve declared a military target like cockroaches, like rats.”

“God willing, this man doesn’t come to power, because ‘false positives’ will become a reality again,” she said of de la Espriella.

‘Colombia is being kidnapped’

For López, 62, the fear is returning to the “hell” he lived in for seven years from 2002-2009 when he was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas and held captive in the jungles they controlled.

López was working as a local assemblyman in western Colombia at a time when the rebels had declared politicians military targets. They kidnapped him and 11 other lawmakers.

López was being held in solitary confinement in 2007 when his companions were massacred by rebels. He heard the gunshots echo over the rebel camp, a memory that haunts him. The case turned López into a symbol — a survivor of the FARC's kidnapping of over 21,000 people over five decades of conflict.

Now in Cali, the city where he was kidnapped, he lives with a state-appointed security detail because of threats against his life. He's watched with fear over the past four years as violence has mounted. Because of that, López, a self-declared leftist, said de la Espriella has his support.

“Colombia is being kidnapped,” López said. “I’m with Abelardo because his priority is to restore safety to Colombians. He understands ‘total peace’ isn’t won by negotiating with criminals, but by exercising the legitimate force of the state.”

Under current president Petro, armed groups have used weapons like drones to wage war, bombings have racked up a civilian toll and one presidential candidate was assassinated in June 2025. In May, the International Red Cross said the impact of armed conflict on civilians in Colombia over the past year had reached the worst point in a decade.

This week, the country's largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), announced a temporary ceasefire in order to not interfere in Colombia's elections. Other criminal groups made no such promises.

With the wave of violence, López said, “victims are being revictimized."

Just as Monroy fears what could come from a sharp swerve to the right, López worries about what could happen if Colombia continues on its current path.

“My fear is for the new generation, that the same thing that happened to me could happen to them if the country keeps being handed over to guerrillas and organized crime,” López said.

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

Koné injured his left leg when Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo tackled him from behind in the second half, sending the 24-year-old to the ground. Koné grimaced and players rushed to his aid, calling for help from the sidelines.

Madibo was sent off for the tackle on Koné, who was protectively surrounded by his teammates while he was treated on the field before he was stretchered off.

“I saw his leg. I saw that something wasn’t right,” Canada captain Stephen Eustáquio said. He was among one of the first players to reach Koné.

Koné was whisked to a local hospital were he was preparing for surgery while surrounded by family, Canada coach Jesse Marsch said. He said the injury happened right in front of the bench, and you could hear the “bones snap."

“Everybody was crushed when it happened, but we had to find a way to stay focused, we knew that Ismaël wanted us to finish the job," Marsch said. "There’s a lot of thoughts that go through our heads right now, we’re all thinking about him, but we’re all very proud of what we are.”

Marsch added that Madibo personally apologized to Koné.

Madibo's red card left Qatar to play with nine men, after teammate Homam Ahmed was sent off in the first half.

Fewer than 10 minutes later, Koné’s replacement, Nathan Saliba, scored Canada’s fourth goal in the 6-0 win and held up Koné’s jersey in an emotional tribute.

Canada striker Jonathan David, who scored a hat trick, questioned the need for the tackle on Koné.

“If there’s a play where you cannot win the ball, there’s no point,” he said. “It’s just to hurt people.”

The details of Koné’s injury have not yet been disclosed. His lower left leg looked visibly broken in photos after the incident.

“We’re going to miss (Koné),” Eustáquio said. “He has that X factor that our team really needs.”

__

Connor Joyce and Drew Renner are students in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

The team led by Vance had been ready to leave but was postponing, the White House said, citing difficult logistics for negotiations. The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

Vance, who was initially personally skeptical of the U.S. going to war with Iran, has increasingly become the administration’s face of the conflict and has been outspoken in defending the deal.

Earlier Thursday, he took the relatively unusual step of appearing at the White House to defend the initial deal to extend the ceasefire 60 days and allow for more negotiating — arguing that while it offers concessions, Iran first has to comply with U.S. demands.

“As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief,” Vance said. “If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.”

But the vice president also had said during those remarks that he was not sure of the timing of his planned to Switzerland and that talks might not begin this week. The formal postponement now makes that even less clear.

Vance staying put in Washington came after the U.S. said it had lifted its blockade, allowing oil tankers to begin freely moving through the Strait of Hormuz after months of being unable to use the critical channel. Still, the tentative agreement has drawn sharp criticism from some in the U.S. — including a few congressional Republicans — who worry Washington ceded too much to Iran with relief from sanctions and a potential $300 billion fund to help with rebuilding.

Earlier, a top Trump administration envoy told U.S. lawmakers in a private briefing that Iran will invite the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear sites.

And Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had seemed to endorse direct negotiations for his officials.

“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” he said in a statement read by state media.

It was Khamenei’s first reaction to the agreement, and it was interpreted as a shift in Iran’s approach. Hard-liners, especially Khamenei’s father, the previous supreme leader, have long opposed direct talks, especially after the U.S. pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The supreme leader has not been seen in public since he was wounded in a strike at the start of the war.

Lawmakers told Iran will invite UN inspectors to its nuclear sites

The agreement states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also says that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told members of Congress that Iran will invite the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin work on identifying and uncovering the locations of Tehran’s enriched material, which is believed to be buried under rubble.

Witkoff's private briefing was described by two people familiar with the conversation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to share the closed-door details.

The agreement requires Iran to “commit to renounce their nuclear ambitions in writing,” said White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales. The IAEA did not respond to a request for comment.

Witkoff told congressional leadership and members of national security-related committees that the agreement the U.S. struck with Iran did not include any side deals, but a side letter was drafted between Tehran and the IAEA extending the invitation.

Witkoff said the letter to IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi would enable him to bring U.S. nuclear inspectors to Tehran.

Vance defends US-Iran deal and has sharp words for Israel

Before Vance delayed his trip, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif postponed a planned visit to Switzerland, where Islamabad officials had originally planned to host a ceremonial signing ceremony for the agreement. That visit was postponed because the agreement had already been signed by both Iran and the U.S., said two senior officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

President Donald Trump signed the initial pact with Iran on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles. The deal is slated to take immediate effect and extends a ceasefire while giving each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements on larger issues.

Vance, in his comments at the White House, shrugged off criticism about the confusing rollout of the initial deal, saying, “I don’t think our public messaging has been chaotic."

He also offered a blunt warning to Israel, which has pushed the U.S. to take a harder stance against Iran and launched attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon throughout the war, including just before the deal extending the ceasefire was reached. Those attacks complicated the peace efforts with Iran.

Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time," Vance said. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower.”

Shipping starts to pick up

Trump said he signed the agreement to avoid “economic catastrophe” in the U.S., after the war caused oil prices to skyrocket, made financial markets skittish and fueled inflation. The deal caused gas prices to fall and stock markets to rise — though rallies could be threatened again depending on how the next round of U.S.-Iran talks go.

The vice president said more than 12.5 million barrels of oil went through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night and said that the U.S. easing its blockade of Iran means “honoring our end of the early part of the agreement on the military side.”

U.S. Central Command said American warships “will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect.”

Iranian state media said shipping had “normalized” at Iran’s southern ports but added that the strait remains supervised and under the control of the Iranian military, and transiting through the vital waterway still requires coordination.

Major shipowners began moving vessels through the strait after the agreement was signed, according to maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence, though Lloyd's did not give data on how many ships have passed through the strait as of Thursday.

In a media briefing, Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List, said for the first time in 110 days, ships owned by major companies are transiting the strait after effectively being marooned there since February. It could take weeks or months to fully reopen the strait, and the two alternative routes do not have as much capacity as the strait's central passage.

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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Aamer Madhani in Zurich; Collin Binkley in Washington; Mae Anderson in New York; and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

A few minutes later, everyone knew the answer. There was Scheffler jumping up and down in a bunker situated 150 yards shy of the green — and 10 feet lower than the fairway — to catch a glimpse of the flag on the putting surface ahead.

What resulted was a rare bogey 6 for the world's No. 1 player on one of those rare par 5s in pro golf that wasn't remotely reachable in two — thanks to it being uphill and dead into a 25 mph wind. Even after the wind died down in the afternoon, the 16th played at 0.372 strokes over par with most of the first round over, making it the fourth-hardest hole on the course.

Welcome to Shinnecock.

“You had to be hitting a great shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment,” Scheffler said after walking off the windswept golf course at 2-over par, which was eight shots behind leader Wyndham Clark, who played in much tamer conditions in the afternoon. “I think ‘good’ would put you in some tough spots.”

Scheffler, who needs this tournament to complete the career Grand Slam, found plenty of those tough spots in his 10th straight round at the U.S. Open in which he has failed to break par. It began in the morning but bled well into the afternoon — a 5 1/2-hour grind through the wind that started late because of a two-hour fog delay. One of his playing partners, defending champion J.J. Spaun, fared even worse. Spaun shot 77.

Scheffler made double bogey on No. 8 after teeing off into the rough, hitting his second into a bunker some 40 yards from the hole, then three-putting.

He hit a wedge from 110 yards to the middle of the 13th green, but the ball spun and rolled off the front. That led to a bogey; blame it on the soft conditions the USGA has been trying to hang on to in wake of the wind forecast.

“Overall, yeah, it was a really challenging day,” Scheffler said. “If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on 9 that I would post 2-over today, I would definitely have taken it at the time.”

He made that putt, a 6-footer, to make the turn at 3 over. He sank a 9-footer for a sand save on No. 18 to walk away with his 72. Three of his four birdies came on the back nine.

“I feel like this course can change pretty rapidly from day to day,” he said. “I think that’s also part of the challenge of the tournament is adjusting to those conditions.”

Some 90 minutes after the round, Scheffler was still on the driving range, having an animated conversation with his coach, Randy Smith, while the wind picked up for the second wave of players, many of whom would be on the course at twilight.

As much as his swing, Scheffler knows this tournament will come down to who can untangle the conditions, then deal with them the best. He walked off the course in a tie for 75th place — not out of it, but still looking for answers.

“I think it’s a little easier sometimes in a U.S. Open,” Scheffler said, “because it’s happening to everybody.”

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

Morning fog led to a two-hour delay, and Clark had a feeling his late afternoon start would be an advantage as the wind began to subside with the setting sun. Good golf was still required, and Clark displayed every bit of that before he was stopped only by darkness.

By then, the former U.S. Open champion rode a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch to 6-under par through 16 holes and a four-shot lead.

“Everything was kind of clicking,” said Clark, who came into the U.S. Open playing as well as anyone. “We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall a good round.”

The USGA set up a different golf course at Shinnecock Hills — slower, more receptive greens and reasonable pin positions — to keep it playable in strong wind. But when the wind subsided late in the day, Clark looked like he was playing in a different U.S. Open.

No one ever has gone lower than 66 in an opening round at Shinnecock Hills. Clark can go two shots lower if he can finish with two pars when he and 49 other players return Friday morning.

He led by four over seven players, one of them Oklahoma junior Ryder Cowan, another one the surprisingly resurgent Dustin Johnson. Four of them were former U.S. Open champions.

Rory McIlroy thought he had made a fine effort with a 69 in gusts that topped 30 mph in the middle of the day, when the scoring average was well above 74. The afternoon started tough until the wind kept subsiding, and players began taking aim at flags. The afternoon wave was playing at least a stroke easier than the early starters who faced relentless wind.

Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard was an unfamiliar site for this course. When play was suspended by darkness, 17 players were under par.

Cowan birdied his last hole for a 68 to join former Sooner Max McGreevy and former Oklahoma State player Sam Stevens of those who finished the round. Stevens was the only one of that trio who faced the harsh wind of the morning wave.

Johnson, in his final year of being exempt from the U.S. Open he won at Oakmont in 2016, ran off four straight birdies and was tied with Clark after 13 holes. But Johnson failed to get up-and-down for birdie on the easy par-5 fifth, where Clark made eagle. And then Johnson three-putted from short range for double bogey on the sixth to fall four shots behind.

Scottie Scheffler, who needs the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam, battled all day and relied heavily on his short game to salvage a 72. It was his 10th consecutive U.S. Open round without breaking par, but at the time it left him only four shots out of the lead.

Clark, who won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club three years ago, changed the look of the leaderboard with his late flourish. He was to return Friday morning to complete the round, then head out for the second round in wind expected to be not as strong as the full blast from Thursday.

“I would say when I got my tee times on Tuesday, I was like, ‘Oh, could be a tough draw,’” Clark said. “That two-hour fog delay was very helpful, and it was really nice it laid down. So it definitely helped those last six, seven holes we played.”

His golf wasn't too shabby, either. Clark started on No. 10 and opened with two quick birdies. He went out in 32 to get his name atop the leaderboard. And after missing an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and failing to save par from a bunker on the long par-3 second, he took off.

He hit wedge to 5 feet on No. 3 for birdie, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the next and then from 207 yards with some wind at his back, he hit his second on the par-5 fifth to 3 feet for eagle.

When Johnson faltered, Clark had plenty of breathing room — and a quick turnaround.

The wind was so strong and the conditions so severe that it took Scheffler's group nearly three hours to complete nine holes. There was a question the round could have finished even without the fog delay.

Johnson was joined by three other U.S. Open champions — Matt Fitzpatrick (2022), Gary Woodland (2019) and Jon Rahm (2021) — at 2 under, with all still having holes to play.

Rahm, who had a chance in the final hour at the PGA Championship, was bogey-free and reached 2 under by making a 60-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole.

Stevens overcame a double bogey to start his round — a hole that took him over two hours to play because of the fog — and strung together six birdies for his 68.

“The greens haven’t been too firm, the fairways haven’t been too firm, so I’ve really felt like it’s pretty scorable,” said Stevens, who had only his second sub-70 round in his fourth U.S. Open. “Obviously, it’s difficult, but overall it’s an awesome place. I think the setup is great right now.”

For half of the opening round, the USGA appeared to have the ideal test. Coming off two Opens at Shinnecock when the course got out of control, it slowed greens to 10 1/2 on the Stimpmeter — rare for any major, much less the U.S. Open — and keep plenty of water on the putting surfaces.

It was all due to the wind, which did not disappoint. The sustained wind approached 25 mph, and gusts were even stronger. And if that wasn’t enough, it shifted directions in the middle of the day.

“It was tough around here without wind, and then it was blowing pretty hard — really hard,” Keegan Bradley said after a 70. “The USGA did a great job setting the course up because if the greens were any faster or firmer, we might not be playing right now.”

But they played, it became more ideal with each passing hour late in the afternoon.

___

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

Midway through his round Thursday, the leaderboard showed that the amateur was playing the best golf of anyone at Shinnecock Hills.

Cowan, a 21-year-old who will be a senior at Oklahoma, briefly held the lead in his first major championship before finishing with a 2-under 68, matching the lowest round by an amateur at Shinnecock. He was tied for second when the first round was suspended because of darkness.

“Through nine, I looked up and I was 3-under par,” Cowan said. “I definitely looked at that leaderboard, and I saw it up there.”

A couple bogeys on his second nine knocked him back, but with the sun setting, Cowan finished strong shortly before play was stopped for the day. Playing the ninth hole, he hit his approach to 5 feet and knocked in the putt for his fourth birdie of the round.

Starting on the back, he had three of them in his first eight holes, moving to 3-under and into the lead after his birdie at the par-3 17th.

“I feel like I started well. I got some momentum from that,” Cowan said. "I knew, if I could get through those holes, I had a couple easy holes coming in.

"I hit it good all day, put myself in good positions throughout the day.

Cowan was four shots behind Wyndham Clark, in position to be the first amateur to finish a U.S. Open round in the top five since Brian Campbell was tied for fourth after the first round in 2015. The group he is tied with includes past U.S. champions Dustin Johnson, Matt Fitzpatrick, Gary Woodland and Jon Rahm.

Cowan earned his trip to Shinnecock through a qualifier at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, shooting 6-under 138 and then surviving a three-man playoff for two spots. The other was earned by 17-year-old Miles Russell, who also played well Thursday and finished at 2 over while playing in a group with three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, 54.

Cowan said the practice he did to prepare had him believing he would play well. But playing on his home course looks and sounds much different than what he faced at Shinnecock.

“I think that I’ve really just been trying this week to focus on each shot, especially today. One at a time, not worry about what’s going on in the crowds or everything,” Cowan said. “I’m not used to all these crowds. We don’t ever really play with a lot of crowds.”

If he can keep up his strong play, he might have a big one following him around on the weekend.

“I feel like all the work I put in every single day gives me that belief that I can come out here and play with anyone and the guys that I surround myself with,” Cowan said.

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

In a rally with Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that drew thousands to a Brooklyn theater, the emboldened mayor delivered a fiery message to Democratic leaders in Washington — and even those considering 2028 presidential bids — as he worked to elevate a slate of likeminded candidates in Tuesday's New York primaries.

“People often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party. This slate here today is our answer," Mamdani declared. "The Democratic Party must change.”

“The party of the past will not be what leads us into the future. We need a Democratic Party with backbone."

He shared the stage with three congressional candidates, including two running against Democratic incumbents. All three identify, or have identified, as democratic socialists. They promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned the “genocide” in Israel and vowed to "tax the rich" if elected.

The collection of congressional candidates he’s backing represent a political gamble for Mamdani, whose picks may not win Tuesday, and a potential headache for Democratic leaders, who fear that Mamdani’s allies may push the party too far left. It's the latest way Mamdani is testing the limits of his newfound political muscle, even if it means challenging his own party’s leadership.

Sanders cheered him on Thursday night, noting that democratic socialists fighting for working-class voters like Mamdani have been elected across the country in recent months.

“The politics and the policies of the democratic establishment are no longer good enough,” Sanders charged. “In this dangerous and unprecedented moment in American history, tinkering around the edges just won’t work.”

The Mamdani slate

Establishment Democrats are not pleased with the mayor's decisions.

Mamdani endorsed political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York's 13th District, which includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Mamdani is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York's 10th District. And in New York's 7th, he's supporting democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s handpicked successor.

All three congressional candidates stood arm-in-arm with the mayor Thursday and spoke from a podium emblazoned with the sign “Our team, our year.”

“Right now there’s really mass dissatisfaction with the way the party leadership has been operating and not standing up strongly enough to Trump,” Valdez told The Associated Press before the rally, where she promised to “Free Palestine” and “abolish ICE.”

She said she hopes to “bring a partner to Zohran to Washington.”

Valdez's primary opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, said he feels like the underdog in the race, even though he was endorsed by the outgoing incumbent. He said Mamdani “has a celebrity status that we haven’t seen the likes of since I’ve been alive.”

“He’s going to be our champion for the foreseeable future and he’s doing a great job, and when he says that he’s endorsing someone, it matters,” Reynoso said in an interview. “I believe that this community has seen me work, they know I’m a progressive champion, and in any other circumstance I would be a favorite to win this race, but I’m not because he has tipped the scale.”

The candidates are largely aligned on the biggest issues, although there are modest differences.

Israel’s war in Gaza has featured heavily among the Mamdani slate, with Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier casting their Democratic opponents as too soft on Israel. The mayor’s candidates also sought to replicate much of the platform that sent him to City Hall, focusing on the city’s high cost of living and framing themselves as fresh faces not beholden to powerful business interests.

Avila Chevalier went after Espaillat at Thursday’s rally for accepting major donations from real estate developers and Wall Street.

“You cannot take working people for granted. And you cannot outspend a movement whose time has come,” she said. “We are done being ignored.”

The view from Washington

On Capitol Hill, Democrats are pleasantly surprised that Mamdani has become less of a political liability for the party in swing district seats than they once feared.

But Mamdani’s endorsements have aggravated intraparty fissures, especially among moderates who worry that Mamdani's far-left brand may eventually tarnish the entire party.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, has tried to push back against the Mamdani-backed democratic socialist challengers, endorsing and campaigning for the embattled incumbents in a proxy fight with the mayor.

But Jeffries and Mamdani have opted to wrestle only in primaries rather than bicker publicly and feed into GOP narratives of Democratic disarray.

“Democrats must understand, and both the leader and Mamdani appreciate this, how to yell in areas where we agree and whisper in areas where we diverge,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who works with House Democrats.

For now, Jeffries' allies acknowledge that Mamdani has energized Democratic voters and may be able to reach some Americans who have checked out of the political process. They also prefer that Mamdani is hyper-focused on New York City’s governance rather than traveling across the country.

And yet Mamdani made clear Thursday that he wants his message to be heard nationally.

He referenced the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nomination contest, saying it begins Tuesday when New York Democrats pick their general election nominees.

“For far too long our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people,” Mamdani said. “That old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday. And frankly it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire.”

Meanwhile, Republicans plan to elevate Mamdani's profile as well.

The GOP hasn't made Mamdani a central feature of its broader national messaging as it once threatened, but Republican operatives have sought to link Mamdani to Democratic House candidates in swing districts across California, Colorado and Wisconsin. They also believe the specter of the New York City mayor will loom large in pivotal House races in New York and New Jersey.

The Republican bet is that vulnerable Democrats cannot afford to break with Mamdani too cleanly for fear of alienating progressive voters, even as they cast him as a radical.

“Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm. “And during a time when Democrats don’t have a leader or a message, he’s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.”

Sanders' senior adviser Faiz Shakir encouraged the GOP to try.

He said “the crowd goes nuts” when Sanders mentions Mamdani in almost every speech as he tours the nation rallying voters ahead of the midterms.

“He’s seeing that opportunity — that we can radically change the Democratic Party,” Shakir said of Mamdani, whom he described as a friend. “He certainly is not a political liability.”

___

Brown reported in Washington.

Council members had been expected to vote on a series of rate increases that would raise an average residential customer’s monthly bill by roughly $15 to $17 by 2029.

The utility has been seeking to raise additional revenue, in large part, to support billions of dollars’ worth of capital expenses, including upgrading wastewater treatment plants, replacing pipes and installing backup generators.

However, the council voted 6-5 to push consideration of a rate increase until October.

Sukh Kaur (D1), Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Edward Mungia (D4), Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), Misty Spears (D9) and Marc Whyte (D10) voted in favor of the delay after several council members expressed a lack of trust or confidence in the utility.

After citing what he said were issues with SAWS on leaks, the development community, disconnections, “battles with council,” and “lack of accountability on joint projects,” Whyte said it felt the council was at a “crossroads.”

“It’s business as usual or actually get the change from this utility that we need,” he said.

McKee-Rodriguez said when he had concerns about SAWS shutting off water for entire apartment complexes because of their owners’ late payments, he felt CEO Robert Puente’s response had been “snippy,” and that when there had been leak-related issues “it was always someone else’s fault.”

Though the East Side councilman said he believed Puente had “internalized” his feedback and the tone of his responses had changed, “a part of me feels that it’s all been in service to earning my vote for a rate increase.”

“Why is it now, when trust is wilted, that there are plans to improve?” he asked Puente. “Now all of our questions can be answered, and there’s a plan to address our issues. And it’s at this point when a rate increase is needed; it’s not at any other point over the past several years when concerns have been raised."

Puente said after the vote the utility had to gain council members’ trust and confidence.

“It’s always a struggle; it’s always a struggle to educate people on what we do. And these are our owners, these are the ones that decide on our rates. So I have to go back to each one, especially the ones that commented that way, and get their trust, and hopefully get to a point where they can vote ‘yes.’”

Some of the council members would be “no” votes no matter what, Puente told reporters.

Puente said the delay on a rate increase would push projects back and likely increase their cost. Each of the increases would need to be looked at again and probably adjusted, he said.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, a SAWS board member, was among the five who voted against delaying a decision, citing the utility’s Uplift assistance program as one of the reasons to move forward with the rate hike.

SAWS Vice President of Customer Experience and Strategic Initiatives Cecilia Velasquez previously said residents enrolled in Uplift would not be impacted by proposed rate increases.

“We are now, as a result of going to 150% of the federal poverty line, we’re going to be helping somebody — a mom and two kids — who was making $21.34 an hour. That’s who we’re helping: the most vulnerable," Jones said during Thursday’s meeting. “We should not delay this.”

Watch Thursday’s city council delay vote in the video player below:

In texts exchanged with KSAT after the vote, current SAWS board member and former District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia blasted some council members’ treatment of Puente during the meeting

“That was a witch hunt. A public hanging,” Rocha Garcia texted KSAT. “Humiliating to the man.”

Rocha Garcia also said personnel issues are handled by “the governing body,” and “as he (Puente) alluded, we have been addressing issues with any concerns they’ve had about him.”

SAWS rates last went up in 2020, though the utility also restructured its rate system ahead of 2023, which did not affect its overall revenue. The restructuring resulted in many residential bills dropping, though there was an increase in commercial rates.

The initial and updated proposed increases for all customer classes can be seen below:

More related City Hall coverage on KSAT:

• KSAT Q&A: Mayor Jones pushes for SAWS rate increase, demands $5M from Spurs ownership
• San Antonio City Council looks at slightly lower SAWS rate hike

The team announced before Thursday night's game against the Athletics that the 11-time All-Star was placed on the 10-day IL due to a right hamstring strain. The Angels recalled infielder Christian Moore from Triple-A Salt Lake among a flurry of moves.

Trout told MLB.com that the injury occurred when he was running to first base Wednesday in the Angels' 8-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“From last night to today, it’s a night-and-day difference, so that’s positive for me,” Trout told MLB.com. “I was a little worried last night, but had a plane ride and just sitting down after playing, so that kind of came into effect. But feels way better today, so I’m not overly concerned about it. But I’m going to do everything I can in that training room and the weight room to get back.”

Injuries have hindered Trout for much of this decade. Since winning his third AL MVP award in 2019, Trout has played more than 82 games in a season just twice – 119 in 2022 and 130 in 2025.

The 34-year-old Trout had played in 74 of 75 games this year in a resurgent season. He's batting .234 with an .866 OPS, 17 homers, 36 RBIs and seven steals.

He entered Thursday with an AL-leading 54 runs, a total that was tied for second in the majors behind Washington’s James Wood. Trout's 66 walks also ranked second in the big leagues, behind the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz.

Trout had the second-highest vote count of any AL outfielder in the All-Star Game balloting totals that were released this week. He grew up near Philadelphia, where this year’s All-Star Game will take place next month.

The injury to Trout created an opportunity for Moore, who was hitting .333 with a .468 on-base percentage, nine homers, 45 RBIs and 10 steals in 51 games at Salt Lake while playing second base, third base and the outfield.

Moore hit .198 with a .284 on-base percentage, seven homers, 16 RBIs and three steals in 53 games with the Angels last season.

In other moves, the Angels recalled right-hander Ryan Johnson from Double-A Rocket City, released left-hander Drew Pomeranz and optioned right-hander Brett Kerry and catcher Logan Porter to Salt Lake.

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

State Sen. Aisha Wahab and Melissa Hernandez, a Bay Area Rapid Transit director who advanced Thursday, received the most votes in a crowded field of both Democrats and Republicans to move on to the Aug. 18 special general election.

Wahab had a lead in votes, but Hernandez said her path forward to August is “digging into the numbers, and going out to those areas where we know that we can secure votes."

“I connect to voters, and that’s one thing that is definitely different than my opponent," she said, reiterating her focus on bringing down costs for lower and middle class families. “We’re going to fight the good fight.”

Whoever wins the special election in August will fill Swalwell’s seat through January. At that time, the winner of the regular general election in November will take over for a full, two-year term. In this case, that will also be Wahab or Hernandez, who snagged the top two spots in the regular primary that was held on June 2, similarly locking out Republican challengers.

That means both candidates are running in two separate elections for California’s 14th Congressional District, which includes East Bay cities such as Fremont, Hayward and Livermore. It would’ve been an uphill fight for a Republican to win in the heavily Democratic district. The three top vote-getters in the special election were Democrats, with businesswoman and attorney Rakhi Israni Singh finishing behind Hernandez.

Whoever wins the special election in August will likely get a boost of visibility and a few months of experience in Congress that they can tout during the November general election campaign.

Wahab, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday, is an established presence in California politics as the Senate’s assistant majority leader. She has campaigned on a more progressive platform and has detailed her track record in public office.

That includes expanding social safety net programs and renter protections, promoting social justice issues and pledging to support small businesses by cutting bureaucratic hurdles.

Hernandez, who was the former mayor of the East Bay city of Dublin, has highlighted similar goals while emphasizing a business-friendly approach. For lowering costs, Hernandez said she would “prioritize growing small businesses” and promote incentives to build housing. She also would push to lower health insurance premiums by restoring insurance subsidies.

One of them will replace Swalwell after he served for seven terms before resigning in April and dropping his bid for California governor. That was prompted by a San Francisco Chronicle report of allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him.

CNN later reported that other women accused him of sending inappropriate messages and nude photos.

Swalwell, a Democrat, has repeatedly denied the accusations but said it would be unfair to his constituents to remain in Congress.

Every Brazilian fan — in Philadelphia to watch their team play Haiti on Friday at the World Cup — who stopped for a snapshot or a selfie with the 9-foot-11, 1,300-pound beast left the statue dressed in only his bronze trunks and boots.

No taking chances of getting hit by the Rocky curse.

Yes, the Rocky statue, long a symbol of resilience, heart and the unbreakable bond between Rocky and the people of Philadelphia, has taken a few more hits of late (even in retirement).

Visiting American sports fans have long learned the hard way that dressing the statue with colorful jerseys, scarfs, hats, anything found in your local Rally House, has only meant that team would suffer a knockout blow at the home of the local Philly team.

Scoff all you want.

The bad fortune stretched to soccer when Ecuador fans took over the Rocky steps and sang and danced and waved flags and ... dressed Rocky in a team jersey and tied the country's flag around the fictional fighter's neck.

It didn't go well.

Amad Diallo scored in the 90th minute to lift Ivory Coast to a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in its first World Cup appearance in a dozen years.

And there ain't gonna be no rematch.

Brazil fans noticed the outcome and one of their fan groups, the Green and Yellow Movement, urged visitors to keep their clothing to themselves.

"ANTENCAO TORCEDOR!" the Instagram post warned.

Everyone is paying attention.

The translated text read: “It's totally forbidden to put a Brazil shirt on the Rocky statue in Philly!!!!!”

Even Visit PA cheekily got in on the fun and tried to warn foreigners that — just like Ivan Drago learned the hard way — Rocky was not to be messed with.

“Countless football teams (as in American Football, not Fútbol — same curse, different sport) have all dressed the Rocky Statue in their colors and gone on to lose,” the Instagram post said. “Ecuador dressed Rocky last weekend Coincidence? Sadly, history says no.

“Philadelphia can't wait to host you! (but Rocky does not need your kit)”

Brazilian fans paid heed to the warning Thursday, and scores of fans simply took the spot in front of the statue and raised their arms in triumph just as Rocky did after so many fights, and many, many movies.

Hundreds of Brazilian fans swarmed the Rocky steps late in the day and left the statue bare. Rocky was roped off as if inside the ring and four “Rocky protectors” stood at each corner to keep enthusiastic fans at bay.

“This is a moment in Brazil,” said Lorival Guerreiro, who traveled from Limeira, Brazil. “They promote this place to celebrate before the game. The Brazilians come here to celebrate our team."

When the bronze statue was left on the steps after filming the “Rocky” movies, the museum fought to have it removed. It was eventually relocated to South Philadelphia before returning to the bottom of the steps in 2006. The statue was a huge hit and became a point of pilgrimage for people around the world.

According to the Philadelphia Visitor Center, about 4 million people visit the steps each year — rivaling the nearby Liberty Bell in annual foot traffic. The pop culture icon was recently moved to the top of the steps.

Roberto De Freitas, a native of Porto Alegre who now lives in Florida and is attending his third World Cup, climbed the steps for a photoshoot with perhaps Philadelphia's most famous landmark. He was dressed in Brazil's colors — down to the green sneakers — and was set to attend Friday's game.

He hoped five-time World Cup champion Brazil would take a page from Rocky's corner and win some more.

“We have five titles,” De Freitas said. “We are trying to get that sixth one.”

De Freitas had not yet heard of the Rocky curse but had no plans to tempt fate once he learned of the potential consequences.

“That's what they said,” he asked with a laugh. “I'm for sure not going to do it.”

For the record, De Freitas said “Rocky” was his favorite of all the movies in the series.

The Rocky Shop at the base of the steps was loaded with tourists who snaked their way through fighter T-shirts and plush offerings of Mr. T's character, Clubber Lang. Peruvian sports journalist Jampool Cuadros Estrada tried on a Rocky robe as a cameraman followed him around the store for their latest World Cup report.

Philadelphia, home to nearly 6,000 Brazilian-born immigrants, has a bit of a recent connection with the South American country. The Philadelphia Eagles opened their Super Bowl championship season with a win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil in 2024.

Facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002, Brazil was outplayed early and needed Vinícius Júnior’s 32nd-minute goal to get a 1-1 draw with Morocco on Saturday.

Brazil now needs to beware Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 and is a noted heavy underdog — just like Rocky.

“Brazil has the pressure. Haiti has the freedom,” Haitian singer Wyclef Jean wrote on social media. “And sometimes freedom is the most dangerous thing on the pitch. I can't wait!!!!”

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

Trump bestowed the military's highest honor on Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr. and Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery. He also awarded it posthumously to Marine Corps Col. John W. Ripley, who died in 2008.

“These are great men, great people,” Trump said at the ceremony. “We thank you and we will never, ever forget you.”

Capers led a selfless rescue after a deadly ambush

Capers, 88, was honored for risking his life to ensure the safety of his fellow Marines after they were ambushed in Vietnam in 1967. What was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission to find a suspected North Vietnamese base camp turned into days of bloody fighting in dense jungle, according to his citation.

On the fourth day, his team was ambushed and outnumbered by Vietnamese fighters. A mine explosion left Capers with a broken leg and serious wounds to his abdomen.

“After a shot of morphine, Jim asserted command of the firefight,” Trump said, drawing on accounts of the mission. “He took over like nobody’s ever seen before.”

Capers called in air support to repel the ambush. When a rescue helicopter arrived, Capers loaded all the wounded men before climbing aboard.

Trump shared a moving moment with Capers as the president pinned the Medal of Honor around his neck, clasping Capers by the shoulders and pulling him forward to make sure the medal was straight and level against his chest. Capers had been keeping a straight face but broke into a smile when Trump grinned.

Ripley single-handedly laid explosives to destroy key bridge

Ripley was honored for a heroic effort to halt the advance of North Vietnamese forces by blowing up a crucial bridge in 1972.

A force of more than 30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and 200 tanks was approaching the bridge in the village of Dong Ha when Ripley single-handedly placed 500 pounds of explosives to bring it down, according to his citation.

Over the course of five hours, Ripley climbed back and forth along the bridge's steel beams, exposing himself to enemy fire as he placed the charges.

“John completed not one, not two, but five such trips,” Trump said, calling him a “very strong guy.”

Ripley said a prayer, then detonated the bridge, sending it into the water below and halting the North Vietnamese advance, Trump said.

Ripley died in 2008. His three sons and other family members attended the ceremony.

Dockery rescued wounded soldiers before coordinating rescue

Dockery's platoon members were guarding a compound in Afghanistan's Kapisa Province in 2012 when they were ambushed by an estimated 150 Taliban fighters. He raced across open ground to rally his scattered team then set out to find missing soldiers, according to his citation.

After carrying a wounded soldier away from gunfire, he spotted two enemy fighters heading toward another wounded soldier in an alley. Dockery killed the two fighters before performing CPR on the American soldier to get him breathing again, his citation said. Dockery called in mortar support, then shielded the wounded soldier from the blasts with his own body.

After hours of fighting in the close urban setting, Dockery used smoke grenades to signal enemy positions for American gunships. He refused to leave the village until all the wounded soldiers were taken to safety.

“You were the last man to depart the battlefield that day," Trump told him, “and you left it a legend and a hero."

According to an annual defense authorization bill, filed this week, much of the travel funds for the defense secretary’s office may not be spent until Hegseth submits "unredacted civilian harm investigations," including for the Feb. 28, 2026, strike on the Minab school. Officials have preliminarily said the U.S. was responsible for the strike, which was blamed on outdated intelligence.

Congress, which conducts oversight of the Pentagon, has not yet received the Defense Department's report on the investigation. It is believed to have been completed last month.

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that this year's annual defense package “forces the Secretary to be more accountable to Congress and will prevent many errors of the past from being repeated in the future.”

Strike on elementary school became a flashpoint

The bombing of the elementary school on the first day of the U.S. war against Iran killed more than 165 people, many of them children, at the campus adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base. It quickly became a focal point of the conflict.

Outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carrying out the missile strike, according to those familiar with the preliminary findings in March. If so, it would stand among the highest civilian casualty events caused by American military operations in the last two decades.

Senators from both parties tucked the new provisions blocking Hegseth's travel funds into the National Defense Authorization Act to force release of the investigation.

The Senate bill text said not more than 25% of the defense secretary’s travel funds may be spent until he submits the investigations, "including all relevant supporting documents,” for several incidents of civilian harm.

The Pentagon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senators also demand video of the boat strikes near Venezuela

Senators also are seeking to withhold Hegseth's travel funds until the Pentagon releases “unedited video” of the U.S. strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats near Venezuela.

The Pentagon has conducted a monthslong campaign of strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 211 people so far. Many of the attacks have been captured on videos that the department announces by posting select footage on social media.

In at least one instance, survivors have been killed in follow-on strikes, which experts have said is at odds with military law and rules of engagement. Lawmakers also pressed for such video in last year's defense package.

Additionally, lawmakers are seeking three other investigations into a series of strikes in Yemen in April 2025. They were conducted during the U.S. military's campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who were attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea.

The list of requested investigations includes a strike on a port that left at least 70 dead and more than 170 wounded and a strike on neighborhood in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital of Yemen, that hit a house, killing at least four people and wounding 16 others.

The casualty figures for both were provided by the Houthis.

At the time, U.S. Central Command didn’t answer questions relating to the strikes in Yemen. Following the port strike, it said it “was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.” Central Command argued it was intended to “eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years.”

Senators conduct oversight as part of sweeping defense bill

The reports being requested from the Pentagon are to be submitted to the Armed Services committees in the House and Senate.

The directive comes as part of the annual defense bill, a sprawling 1,500-page document that sets policy for the coming year. The package is compiled by both parties — Republicans, who hold the majority in the Senate, and Democrats in the minority.

It’s one of the rare bipartisan measures that is almost always approved by Congress.

The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced the measure last week, and it is now headed to the full Senate for a vote.

The retraction came just a day after Mangione’s lawyers told Judge Gregory Carro that they planned to pursue a defense involving claims that the 28-year-old Ivy League graduate was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the Dec. 4, 2024, killing.

A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Mangione’s lawyers. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the state case, declined to comment.

Mangione's lawyers had faced a deadline Thursday to provide prosecutors with information to support the emotional disturbance claim.

In another turn, Carro rescinded his order to unseal a transcript and other material from a secret hearing on the matter on June 3, citing the defense’s decision, but by the time he ruled copies of the transcript had already been provided to at least some members of the news media.

It contained no additional details about the emotional disturbance claim.

If Mangione were to have gone through with the extreme emotional disturbance defense, he would have effectively been admitting that he killed Thompson but did so because of mitigating circumstances. It wouldn’t have absolved him of responsibility, but could have led to less time in prison.

If a jury accepts the defense, it is obligated to convict a defendant of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which carries a potential life sentence.

In a letter to Carro on Thursday, Mangione lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the defense “respectfully withdraws” its notice under New York's psychiatric defense statute “at this time.”

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. His state trial is scheduled to start Sept. 8. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13.

At Wednesday's hearing, Friedman Agnifilo protested Carro’s decision to unseal materials related to his psychiatric defense, saying it will be “prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts” in his federal case, where an extreme emotional disturbance defense isn’t allowed.

An emotional disturbance defense is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.

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

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

At a hearing last month, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.

The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”

San Antonio police arrested Destiny Lezzet Converse, 28, on Monday and booked her into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center the next day, jail records show.

Converse faces one count of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and one count of robbery, a second-degree felony, records indicate.

Maria Victoria Gomez, 46, was arrested Wednesday by SAPD for the same charges and booked into the Bexar County jail on Thursday, records show.

The pair caused “serious bodily injury of 2 individuals from the ages of 40-65 years old,” SAPD said in an social media post.

KSAT reached out to SAPD for additional details regarding the arrests.

Read also:

• Knicks fan says father was ‘lying in a pool of his own blood’ after assault outside River Walk hotel
• Dead animal found in grease spill at East side restaurant

The decision comes as a blow to NetChoice, which has won court victories against identical digital identification laws in other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies said the Ohio decision went against “clear national consensus” and that it intended to keep fighting.

“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” said Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.

Netchoice brought suit against Ohio's law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.

The Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit's panel disagreed. In a 2-1 decision, it found that the law was not unconstitutional and sent it back to a lower court to have a block on the law's enforcement vacated.

“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote in the lead opinion. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”

Judge Alice Batchelder concurred, writing that “a statute is not vague just because it has a wide berth.”

Known as the Social Media Parental Notification Act, the Ohio law was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July 2023.

The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, now a U.S. senator, saying at the time that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids.

The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.

Republican Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called Thursday's ruling “a win for Ohio families.”

“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”

The moment gave birth to what we now call Juneteenth, and the holiday continues to grow in size and significance across the U.S.

San Antonio has no shortage of ways to honor the day. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the city this week.

Music, narration, and reflection at the Tobin Center

On Thursday, June 18, the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) opens the week’s festivities with Freedom: The Soundtrack of 250 Years at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, located at 100 Auditorium Circle. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The evening marks America’s 250th anniversary with a program exploring the role of Black musical traditions as expressions of power, protest and community.

The San Antonio Gospel Heritage Choir performs Black spirituals and gospel anthems, and they’ll be joined by the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness, whose work spans gospel, jazz, R&B, and soul.

Tickets and more information are available at tobincenter.org/freedom.

Freedom Coalition Parade steps off Saturday morning

The Freedom Coalition Parade kicks off Saturday, June 20, starting at 9 a.m. at Sam Houston High School, located at 4635 East Houston Street.

Organizers describe it as a community gathering where families and friends can come together to educate and remember that freedom is for all. The parade runs through 11 a.m.

More information is available at juneteenthparadesa.com.

Juneteenth Festival returns to Comanche Park

Also on Saturday, June 20, the annual Juneteenth Festival takes over Comanche Park No. 2, located at 2600 Rigsby Avenue, from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The festival dates back to 1996, when the first Juneteenth Celebration was held at the Freeman Coliseum.

Over the years, the festival has been hosted at the Carver Cultural Center and St. Paul Square before settling at Comanche Park, where it has been held for more than 20 years.

The event has grown into a popular destination for family reunions and community gatherings.

Details are at juneteenthsanantonio.com.

SA Block Party brings an upscale celebration to St. Paul Square

Rounding out the day, the SA Block Party runs Saturday, June 20, from noon to 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul Square.

Organizers describe it as an immersive environment designed for professionals, creatives, entrepreneurs, and cultural tastemakers — a celebration of legacy, growth, and Black culture.

More details are at sanantoniojuneteenth.com.

Read also:

• Here’s which City of San Antonio services will be open, closed on Juneteenth

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

CAVENDER GRANDE FORD

3600 I-35, San Antonio, TX 78219

Cavender Grande Ford is one of the largest Ford dealerships in Texas, operating from a sprawling 24-acre campus along Interstate 35 in San Antonio. Part of the Cavender Auto Group, the dealership features a 144,000-square-foot facility housing more than 1,200 vehicles, 63 service bays, a collision center, and commercial vehicle services. Cavender Grande Ford serves customers throughout South Texas with a wide selection of new and pre-owned vehicles while emphasizing convenience through digital shopping tools and its customer-focused “Cavender Confidence” approach.

During today’s visit on Texas Eats NOW, the dealership celebrated its latest summer promotion by firing up the grill and preparing chicken and pepper tacos for customers. Cavender Grande Ford is currently offering employee pricing through July 7 with its “You Pay What We Pay” campaign, giving shoppers additional savings on select vehicles. The dealership also continues to honor military personnel by providing complimentary oil changes for the life of the vehicle, underscoring its commitment to serving the San Antonio community.

BB’S CAJUN CANTINA

5423 W Loop 1604 N, San Antonio, TX 78253

BB’s Cajun Cantina brings the flavors of Louisiana and Texas together with its signature Tex-Orleans menu, blending Cajun comfort food, seafood favorites, and Tex-Mex influences in a lively, family-friendly atmosphere. The restaurant has become known for its crawfish boils, hearty gumbo, and overstuffed po’boys, offering guests a taste of the bayou without leaving San Antonio.

Popular menu items include seasoned crawfish served with smoked sausage and corn, shrimp po’boys on authentic French bread, crispy boudin balls, Cajun empanadas, and Lloyd’s Crawfish Etouffee. BB’s also incorporates Tex-Mex staples into the menu, with fish tacos and fajitas drawing praise from diners looking for a fresh spin on traditional Louisiana fare. Combining bold flavors, generous portions, and a festive cantina atmosphere, BB’s Cajun Cantina continues to serve up a unique dining experience on the city’s Far West Side.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

• Facebook: @TexasEatsTV
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• Twitter: @TexasEatsTV

People in the neighborhood where it happened, meanwhile, are still trying to get over what they saw and heard.

The shooting happened after 7 p.m. Wednesday in a neighborhood near Loop 410 and Valley Hi, not far from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

San Antonio police say it appears the victims had arrived on Baywell Drive expecting to meet up with someone for that transaction.

They say at some point, a group of as many as three people showed up and shot them, then ran away, heading toward the nearby highway.

“Just a random address. That’s what police are saying,” said one woman who lives on that street and asked not to reveal her identity.

She said she believes the whole thing was a setup, that the victims were lured to that location by people who planned to rob them.

The neighbors said neither the victims nor the shooters live on that street.

The unidentified woman said she first noticed the victims when they stopped their car in front of her home.

She said they made it clear they were there to sell jewelry; only no one living there knew anything about it.

“I go to turn to get back in the house,” she said. “No later did I walk away from that door that gunshots went off.”

The woman recalls hearing what she described as rapid gunfire, as many as 10 shots.

Right afterward, she noticed both victims in the street, suffering from gunshot wounds.

“It rocked all of our whole worlds,” she said. “Nothing like that ever happens around here.”

Police searched the neighborhood but did not make any arrests right away.

To avoid the potential for problems, police encourage people to conduct transactions like this in public places, such as one of their substations.

Read also:

• Man shot twice in West Side shooting rushed to hospital, SAPD says
• FBI warns parents about social media dangers after teens lured into robberies in SA
• SAPD warning of potential summer spike in car burglaries, gun thefts

The shooting happened just before 12:30 p.m. near the intersection of Tisbury Parkway and Wolf Point.

According to an SAPD sergeant on scene, the victim, a man in his 40s, was in the area visiting a family member when two males shot at him.

Police said the victim drove himself to the parking lot of a nearby church off Potranco Road.

Upon arrival to the church, officers and first responders began attending to the victim, who was grazed in his head with one gunshot and was wounded by a second gunshot in his left knee.

KSAT was on scene as the victim grimaced in pain while emergency personnel placed him into a San Antonio Fire Department ambulance. He was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

At this time, the sergeant said no arrests have been made.

More recent local news on KSAT:

• San Antonio City Council unanimously approves Toyota incentive package
• SAPD: 2 men shot in vehicle near downtown, transport themselves to hospital
• Metro Health reports 94 heat-related illnesses in San Antonio since May

Chase's father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to The New York Times she died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. She had been homeless in Los Angeles with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died, he told the newspaper.

TMZ first reported Wednesday that Chase died Tuesday.

She voiced the lead role of Lilo in the 2002 animated film, a role she auditioned for at age 8. Years later, a Hawaiian actress was cast as Lilo for the live-action remake.

For her role as long-haired Samara in the 2002 horror film, Chase won an MTV movie award for best villain.

Chase also voiced another lead in the 2001 animated film “Spirited Away.” She had roles in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko” and the 2003 show “Oliver Beene,” according to internet movie database IMDb.com.

She was born in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon. In her small hometown, she began singing and dancing at age 3, according to IMDb.

Chase struggled with drugs since she was 13 years old, Schwallier said in an interview with the Times. He said his daughter was estranged from her parents, who are divorced.

Schwallier said he was in touch with Chase's boyfriend, and just before she died, arrived at the Los Angeles hospital where she was being treated.

Switzerland used the break to seize it.

Coach Murat Yakin said he timed a triple substitution of speedy players for the second-half pause Thursday, betting that plucky Bosnia-Herzegovina couldn't handle an abrupt change of pace in what had been a nervy, scoreless match.

Johan Manzambi and Rubén Vargas made their coach look awfully clever while they led a spectacular barrage of goals that put the Swiss in control of the game and atop their group.

Manzambi scored his first World Cup goal on an outstanding volley in the 74th minute, and Switzerland erupted late for a 4-1 victory over Bosnia.

Despite controlling possession deep into the second half, Switzerland couldn't break through against the Dragons until Yakin used the FIFA-mandated pause to turbo-charge its attack with the 20-year-old Manzambi and the dynamic Vargas. Both substitutes immediately altered the tempo, and both played roles in multiple goals while Bosnia went down to 10 men.

“It was very important that after the second hydration break, we would change a few things, because then the opponent can’t react immediately,” Yakin said through an interpreter. “Maybe that was the edge we had. We brought in very fast players, and our opponent couldn’t run (with them), and it opened up gaps on the edge. That was my strategy. I waited until the break.”

Vargas scored in the 84th minute shortly after Tarik Muharemovic was sent off for a dangerous tackle. Manzambi scored again in the 90th on a pass from Vargas, and captain Granit Xhaka converted from the penalty spot with the final kick of the game in stoppage time.

Switzerland opened the World Cup with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Qatar last week, stoking concern about the team's mental state. The Swiss then struggled to get loose from the Dragons, who were unbeaten in their last nine competitive matches.

Backed by tens of thousands of raucous fans in the Los Angeles area, Bosnia capably hung with Switzerland into the second half — until the hydration break led to a moment of brilliance from Manzambi, a 20-year-old Geneva native who plays for German club Freiburg.

“This is probably the best moment of my career so far,” Manzambi said. “We knew we didn’t start the match in the best way, but we had to be patient. We know we’re a good team, and we showed it.”

Three minutes after Manzambi replaced standout winger Dan Ndoye, he jumped and connected perfectly on Amar Memic’s attempted clearing header. The volley set off a wild celebration in the nervous Swiss sections of SoFi Stadium.

“He’s a boy who learned how to play football on the streets, but on defense he also has a lot of discipline,” Yakin said. “He still needs to learn how to be more structured, but we are making progress. We try to give him a lot of freedom to play, and he handles it very well.”

Substitute Ermin Mahmic scored in second-half injury time for Bosnia, which still has a legitimate chance of reaching the knockout stage of only its second World Cup. Mahmic’s vicious goal in traffic salvaged some good feeling before a decisive showdown with Qatar next week.

“Maybe our start wasn’t that good, but from (first) cooling break until the goal, we were the better team,” Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said. “We had two or three excellent chances which should have ended in a goal. ... This is the first match we've lost in a while, and it is hurtful. It's quite painful, but we know that if we win the next game, we have an excellent chance of going forward in the tournament.”

Four minutes after Muharemovic was sent off for taking down striker Breel Embolo one step outside the penalty area, Embolo got the ball from Manzambi and slipped a pass across the front to Vargas for a no-doubt goal.

Xhaka then found Vargas in deep for another pass to Manzambi, who finished with aplomb.

Captain Edin Dzeko started and played 63 minutes for Bosnia, becoming the fourth outfield player to start at a World Cup in his 40s — a group joined by Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday. Barbarez said Dzeko didn't play in the World Cup opener last week because he wasn't fully fit.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup

From a distance, Ivan Franco thought it must be a car. But as he approached in his tow truck, he saw it was a plane — broken in half, its fuselage resting on its side, bright fire beginning to rise above. He stopped and rifled through the rescue kit his company keeps in the truck, grabbing a sledgehammer as well as three fire extinguishers, which he handed off to police officers.

“At that moment, you don’t think much about what to do, because I knew the plane could explode since it was on fire,” Franco told The Associated Press in Spanish. “My idea was to try to break the windows because the pilots hadn’t come out yet.”

Franco was one of several motorists who happened across the crash in Laredo, Texas, late Tuesday night and rushed to help — putting their own lives in danger to help those on board escape as smoke filled the cabin.

Passersby helped save lives

Police were also on the scene quickly, and their teamwork with the good Samaritans undoubtedly saved lives, officials said.

“The officers and the good Samaritans that went to the scene, our firefighters that responded — I do also want to commend each and every one of them,” Laredo Police Chief Mike Rodriguez said during a news conference Wednesday. He said he asked his staff to track down all the civilians who helped.

The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement. The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement that it was cooperating with authorities.

The crash occurred after its pilots reported mechanical problems while requesting an emergency landing at a nearby airport. The fuselage came to rest across a concrete barrier, while its tail broke off and fell to a lower section of roadway.

One person was killed: Joshua Baer, 50, a leader in Texas’ technology and startup sectors. Three male teenage passengers and two pilots survived, as did a person in a truck struck by the plane as it crashed. Laredo police said one of the survivors, 16, was related to Baer but did not provide more details about him or the other passengers.

Investigators combed through wreckage Wednesday for clues to the cause.

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

‘It looked like part of a movie’

Among the motorists who stopped in Laredo was Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she saw the wreckage. She recorded video as her husband ran to help.

“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” Garza said. Most worrisome was the fire: “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”

Garza saw people leave their cars to try to smash the cockpit glass. Her video shows the aircraft's door popping open slightly from inside as a voice cries “Help! Help! Help!” The rescuers strain to lift the door farther open as the three teenagers dart out, followed quickly by one pilot and then by another.

Franco, a 23-year-old from Laredo, frantically swung the sledgehammer through heavy smoke. Others struck at the window with a shovel and tools from their own vehicles.

Cockpit windows are designed not to shatter

They accomplished little more than spiderwebbing the cockpit window with small cracks: Airplane windshields have multiple layers of glass and are designed to remain structurally sound even if the outer layer shatters. The windows must be able to withstand a bird strike at cruising speed and hold up to extreme pressure differences at high altitudes.

“They are basically bulletproof,” said retired airline pilot John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.

Police officers tried to remove the final person inside — Baer — as the smoke grew thicker. Officers doubled over coughing after turning away from the smoke.

Eventually firefighters with oxygen masks were able to get inside.

Firefighters also removed a dog from the plane that was suffering from smoke inhalation. The dog was turned over to animal control and was expected to survive, said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department.

Five officers were treated for smoke inhalation; the five people who survived the crash were also released from a hospital.

As the plane crashed on the northbound lanes of the highway, its wing hit a truck traveling southbound. The driver of that vehicle also survived, Baeza said.

There has been an outpouring of support on social media for those who stopped to help, heralding their bravery and selflessness.

Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño called it “nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” thanks in part to the late hour when the crash occurred and the quick action of first responders.

Franco said that as he tried to help, all he could think of was getting people out of the plane. But to do it, he had to conquer another feeling.

“You’re in constant fear," he said. "You don’t know what situation you’re in.”

___

Johnson and Golden reported from Seattle. Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.

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The family behind Terry Black’s BBQ has set a timeline for the hotel component of its mixed-use development in the lower Broadway corridor, per a new filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Construction is set to begin in September on what is now called “The Mandeville,” an independent boutique hotel with more than 40 rooms. Eyed for 2100 Broadway, it will sit next to a Terry Black’s BBQ restaurant.

In a February 2026 interview, co-owner Mark Black said the hotel would operate more as a neighborhood amenity than a tourist destination, and that the restaurant and hotel would be separately run businesses.

Read more of this story at the San Antonio Business Journal website.

Editor’s note: This story was published through a partnership between KSAT and the San Antonio Business Journal.

More recent SABJ coverage on KSAT:

• The Merc announces first wave of retail tenants
• Bexar County moves forward on $15M incentive package for H-E-B’s East Side expansion
• Houston seafood chain exits San Antonio after shuttering final two locations

Behind the Kitchen Door is a series where KSAT investigates health inspections of restaurants in and around San Antonio.

Mariscos Don Charly

Records show Mariscos Don Charly, located at 515 South WW White Rd., voluntarily closed to clean up the issues noted in a June 2 inspection report.

KSAT visited the restaurant this week to see what improvements have been made.

Despite not allowing our cameras behind the kitchen door, employees in the restaurant said they fixed everything. They asked KSAT to wait to speak with the owner.

KSAT asked the owner about the 12 violations, which records show include a dirty bar area, uncovered food in the fridge, and a dead animal that an inspector said looked like a rat stuck in grease behind a fryer.

“I mean, this is normal,” said the owner. “I don’t know what’s going on. He told me something, we need to fix it, and we’re still working on it.”

“You said a dead rat is normal?” asked Ibarra.

“I mean, it’s not normal,” responded the owner.

Ibarra and the owner spoke in both English and Spanish about the violations. When asked about what he would say to customers concerned about the dead animal, the owner said he wouldn’t know, and there’s nothing to say.

The owner said Mariscos Don Charly has been a staple in the community for over a decade, and health inspection reports show the restaurant had previously had scores in the high 80s to 90s.

The owner said he wanted to invite KSAT back soon.

Popeyes

Employees were not as forthcoming at a Popeyes inside a TA Travel Center on Interstate 10.

A manager said he could not answer questions about the June 2 inspection report.

As KSAT asked about dead insects found near the condiments and in a grease container, the manager walked away.

Our cameras saw fries tossed all over the counter. Metro Health wrote them up for needing to better clean prep areas.

In total, Metro Health found 9 violations at the fast-food fried chicken joint, earning the restaurant an 85.

Other scores from the week of May 31 through June 6:

Brevity Coffee - 100

2838 N FM 1604 E

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El Sazon de Mexico - 100

13777 Nacogdoches

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Mary’s Snack Bar & Cafe - 100

2709 Southcross W

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Cuba 1918 - 100

2809 Southcross W

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In N Out Burger- 100

10918 Culebra

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Nothing Bundt Cake - 100

407 W 1604 S

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Bahia Bowls- 100

22103 Bulverde

Score Guide

100-90 = A (Very Good to Acceptable)

89-80 = B (Acceptable to Marginal)

79 or lower = C (Marginal to Poor)

• RELATED: What do Metro Health inspectors look for when inspecting a restaurant?

You can catch Daniela’s BKD reports on Thursdays on the Nightbeat.

ALSO ON KSAT.COM

Watch other Behind the Kitchen Door stories here

McKenna Wendel was reported missing March 13 and last seen alive in her hometown of Sioux Falls early on March 14. Her body was found outside Brookings, an hour's drive north of Sioux Falls, on March 19.

Wendel's uncle, Mark Milk, 51, also of Sioux Falls, now faces five counts related to her death. Milk was almost three decades into a life term on a manslaughter conviction when Noem commuted his sentence in 2023.

Wendel was raised by her grandparents, loved animals and had a “vibrant personality and a zest for life,” according to her obituary. She and her grandparents were Rosebud Sioux Tribe members and attended powwows often.

“She loved the singing and the beautiful sounds of the drums,” her obituary read.

Details about Wendel's death remained thin as authorities who announced the charges in a Sioux City, Iowa, news conference Thursday kept close what they knew to protect their investigation.

Authorities have said an autopsy was done, but the findings have not been released. The cause and manner of Wendel's death would not be released yet per Justice Department policy, said Leif Olson, U.S. attorney for northern Iowa.

Milk faces five counts including possession with intent to deliver cocaine that caused Wendel's death. He is also charged with transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to court documents.

Jon Rogness, 38, of Brookings faces conspiracy and accessory charges in an alleged attempt to cover up the crimes. The counts against the men were the “most serious, readily provable” charges and all originated in Iowa, Olson said.

“This is a horrific case,” FBI special agent Gene Kowel said. “There are no cases that we investigate that are more heart-wrenching and more tragic than the ones that involve children or the death of a child.”

Court records showed no lawyers listed for Milk and Rogness, and no relatives could immediately be located through phone records and social media to speak on their behalf.

In February 2023, Noem commuted Milk’s life sentence for a manslaughter conviction in an October 1993 stabbing death. Milk, then 19, had been involved in several altercations in the city of Winner that ended with the death of Shawn Peneaux, according to records.

Milk was in jail on unrelated allegations of driving under the influence and eluding police when Wendel's body was found. His name came up in public discussion about the case from the start. But prosecutors, who finished their investigation in late May, did not formally link him to Wendel's death until filing charges Wednesday.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a late March news conference the decision to commute Milk's life sentence was strictly Noem's.

“It is fairly often that you see law enforcement oppose commutations," Jackley remarked without commenting further on Noem's decision.

The commutation documents were sealed and even he had not seen them, he noted.

The Associated Press left a message Thursday for Noem on seeking comment through NovaRed Mining, a Canadian firm she recently joined in a “strategic advisory role."

A Republican, Noem, 54, was South Dakota's lone congressperson from 2011 to 2019 and governor from 2019 to 2025. She was Homeland Security secretary before being fired in March by President Donald Trump amid criticism of her handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

Trump praised Noem's leadership and said he was making her special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas." The new organization of Western Hemisphere nations is focused on supporting democracy and security in the region.

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Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado, and Billeaud from Phoenix, Arizona.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a news conference where he called Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws.”

The 58-year-old stand-up comic was charged with six felony counts of failure to file personal income tax with the intent to evade taxes — one each for the years 2019 to 2024 — and six similar counts for corporate taxes.

Mencia owes more than $300,000 in state taxes on income totaling $8.7 million, Hochman said.

He has not entered a plea, and emails sent to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.

Mencia was arrested at his Los Angeles home at about 7 a.m., authorities said. He remained in custody Thursday afternoon and was being held on $250,000 bail. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday. If he’s convicted of all counts he could get more than 11 years in prison, along with paying the tax bills and interest that will almost double the total.

The charges are the first filed under the new district attorney's new Business Tax Fraud Unit that was established in May by Hochman, a former longtime prosecutor of tax cases.

Mencia regularly paid taxes before 2019, Hochman said. He was sent 78 notices from the state about his delinquent bills, with no response. The charges deal only with state taxes. Hochman said the IRS has not informed his office of Mencia's federal tax status.

Born Ned Arnel Holness in Honduras and raised in East Los Angeles, Mencia began doing stand-up in LA clubs in the late 1980s. By the early 2000s, he became one of the most popular comics in the U.S. and also did some acting in film and television. He had his own TV series, “Mind of Mencia,” combining stand-up with sketches on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2008.

Hochman pointed out at the news conference that on the show in 2007, Mencia said, “Maybe I'm different, but I think taxes are a good thing.”

His comedy most often dealt with race, class and Latino culture. His career took a downward turn as he was hit with accusations from many fellow comedians of joke theft, which he always denied, from other comics. Joe Rogan, then best known as a stand-up comic, confronted him on a club stage on the issue in a video that went viral in 2007. Mencia had long discussions on Marc Maron's podcast on the alleged plagiarism, acknowledging that he may have absorbed others' material but denying outright theft.

He still does regular stand-up shows, touring clubs and small theaters. He's scheduled to do a series of dates in Southern California this week and Las Vegas next week.

The San Antonio Mission Indian Descendants organization announced its “Find Your Roots, Claim Your Story” initiative, a project designed to connect people with their family histories through research conducted in partnership with universities across the region.

The organization was founded in 2022 by descendants who say they spent much of their lives unaware of their own Indigenous heritage and ties to the missions.

“We had no clue that we were Native American, much less that we are descendants of the missions,” said Diane Moreno Reyes, one of the group’s founders. “We were created to help people like us who grew up not knowing who we were.”

Organizers said the initiative was inspired by their own experiences learning about their ancestry and realizing many others may have similar connections they have yet to discover.

To support the effort, the organization has partnered with six universities in San Antonio and Texas State University. Student interns will help conduct genealogical research beginning this fall.

According to organizers, estimates suggest there could be between 100,000 and 300,000 descendants of the Indigenous people associated with the missions living in Bexar County alone.

“For generations, other people have told the story of the Native Americans who lived in the missions,” said organization member Nehemiah Moreno. “It’s time to take that story back. That story is ours to tell.”

The group said the project is not only about tracing family trees, but also preserving Indigenous history and increasing awareness of the role Native communities played in building San Antonio.

The founders note that more than 60 Indigenous groups were present in the region during the mission era.

While researchers may not always be able to identify a specific tribal connection, organizers said helping people understand their Indigenous ancestry remains a meaningful goal.

Organizers say Indigenous contributions to early Texas and American history are often overlooked, despite historical records showing mission residents contributed labor, resources and livestock during the era of the American Revolution.

As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, the organization doesn’t want Native American history to be overlooked.

“As Indigenous people, we have been loyal to this country, even when they haven’t been loyal to us,” Diane said. “That’s important. People need to know that.”

The organization will hold a soft launch event June 24 to raise awareness about the initiative and encourage participation at The Doseum.

Organizers hope the project will help descendants reconnect with their heritage while ensuring Indigenous voices are included in conversations about San Antonio’s history and America’s 250th anniversary.

“Without San Antonio, there would be no Texas. Without the missions, there would be no San Antonio. And without the Indigenous people, there would be nothing,” Moreno Reyes said.

Click here to start the process of learning your roots by answering 17 questions about your family.

Read also:

• Daughters of the American Revolution members preserve history, honor veterans in San Antonio
• How The Alamo became one of the most defining sites in U.S. history

The council is scheduled to vote on nearly $143 million worth of city and utility incentives to help lure a new $2 billion vehicle assembly line and 2,000 jobs to the South Side Toyota plant.

>> Toyota incentive package up for City Council vote Thursday

City staff will also present a “trial budget” that is expected to show details on how exactly the city might close a $131 million budget deficit projected for FY 2028.

While some council members have said they believe the gap can be closed simply by finding efficiencies and cuts, city staff have proposed an approach mixed with a property tax increase.

City Council will also vote on a series of SAWS rate increases that could raise an average residential customer’s monthly bill from roughly $15 to $17 over the next two-and-a-half years.

The water utility is looking to raise additional revenue, in large part, for billions of dollars’ worth of capital expenses, including upgrading wastewater treatment plants, replacing pipes and installing backup generators.

>> SAWS rate hike up for San Antonio City Council vote Thursday

“In my view, there is nothing we can point to at this time‚” Air Safety Investigator Mitchell Gallo said.

The investigator made the comments while providing updates about the deadly plane crash in Laredo, where NTSB has been investigating possible causes of the collision since 5 a.m. Thursday.

NTSB said the first preliminary report is expected to be complete in approximately 15 days, Gallo said, and the full investigation is expected to take a year.

Gallo thanked the help investigators have recieved from local law enforcement and the community.

Read also:

• 1 killed when small plane crashes on Laredo highway; People leave vehicles to try to help
• Laredo plane crash: NTSB, FAA begin investigation into deadly crash, city officials say

Casey Garrett and Michael Massengale, hired by the Texas Legislature to conduct a probe of the flood response, said cascading failures led to the tragedy, from communication lapses between state and local authorities to lackluster instructions to counselors about how to safely evacuate in the event of a flood beyond haphazard planning by the camp’s director, Richard Eastland, who also died in the flood while trying to rescue campers.

“And when disaster struck, and it did strike on July 4 of last year, it may as well have been no plan at all,” Massengale said.

In a 115-page report, the findings pieced together more accounts of the events that played out at the century-old camp, including new interviews with surviving campers and state and local officials.

Camp Mystic Final Report by gjimenez

A joint committee of state representatives and senators said the Legislature addressed all but one of the deficiencies outlined in the investigators’ report by passing a series of laws last year. They promised to address the remaining problem — the inability of camp counselors to reach the camp’s owners during the flood — in the next legislative session that begins in January.

“We do not recall being aware of this deficiency at the time we developed and passed (the laws), and we are thankful this process revealed it to us,” a letter attached to the report said.

The investigators’ report concluded:

• Camp Mystic did not have written emergency plans that complied with the state’s requirements. Investigators said camp leadership didn’t have state-approved emergency plans posted in each cabin for counselors and campers, other than instructions to shelter in place. “Staff members and counselors were not assigned any responsibilities in the event of that kind of an evacuation. This was a fatal error,” Massengale said.
• Camp Mystic did not adequately prepare for the storm: The camp had received weather alerts warning of a storm on July 3, investigators said. Camp Mystic “had the means to inform itself and to appropriately protect its campers from severe weather,” Massengale said. “Our investigation showed that apart from what Dick Eastland was likely doing, nobody else at the camp was watching that night.”
• Camp Mystic did not evacuate in advance of the storm, despite ample opportunity to do so: At 1:14 a.m., investigators said, the National Weather Service sent a flash flood warning. Eastland called his son, Edward, for help shortly after 3 a.m., investigators said. In that time, investigators said the campers could have been instructed to evacuate to higher ground.
• Camp leadership confiscated counselors’ cellphones while on site, the report found, and did not provide them with replacement equipment, such as a radio or handheld transmitter that they could have used in an emergency.
• The camp normally employed three counselors per cabin but reduced the number to two in certain cabins. A senior counselor expressed to the camp’s leadership that some of the younger teenaged staff struggled to keep up with their cabins and needed assistance. The report said that having older, more experienced counselors at the camp could have helped prevent more deaths.
• The reunification efforts and incident management after the storm were chaotic, which led to campers’ parents being “unnecessarily traumatized” by incomplete and conflicting information as they waited to learn whether their children survived.

10 new speakers added to the TribFest lineup! Kevin Stitt, Sherrilyn Ifill, Mitch Little, Imani Perry, Ron Nirenberg, Carla Espinoza-Grcic, Karl Rove, Elisa Villanueva Beard, Avi Loeb and Joanna Lydgate will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 24–26 in downtown Austin. See the lineup and get tickets.

TribFest 2026 is presented by JPMorganChase.

With 894 confirmed cases so far, the current outbreak is three times worse than a previous outbreak in Uganda in 2000, which had 281 cases at the same point, said Dr. Wessam Mankoula, a medical epidemiologist at Africa CDC.

The latest number of cases is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed on May 15, weeks after it was suspected to have begun. The number of cases has increased 38% since last week and is now in 32 health zones across eastern Congo, said Mankoula.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccines or treatments and was not tested for in the early days. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

So far 74 patients have recovered from the disease across eastern Congo and Uganda. Experimental treatments like monoclonal antibodies are being developed for Bundibugyo.

The outbreak is concentrated in Congo’s eastern province of Ituri, which accounts for more than 90% of the cases. Cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases have been reported and two people have died.

Contact tracing remains an issue due to the area's remoteness and ongoing insecurity in Ituri province, Dr. Mankoula said.

“For those 800 confirmed cases, we should have between 17,000 to 35,000 contacts that should be in our contact list,” said Mankoula. Currently only around 4,000 contacts have been tracked and are being evaluated, less than 15%.

“We are still far from controlling the situation of this outbreak,” said Mankoula.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by years of conflict in Ituri, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, making contact tracing difficult as people flee attacks or move frequently in the vast province with dense forests, poor roads and remote villages that can take days to reach.

Tracing is also difficult among the thousands of miners who regularly move among remote sites in the mineral-rich region.

Of the over $900 million pledged to fight the outbreak, only $90 million has been released to help fight the outbreak, further complicating the ongoing crisis, according to Mankoula.

Africa CDC estimates it needs 540 personnel to fight the outbreak and so far they only have 84.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed those new pledges will be fast tracked, and we’ll be following up with different member states and different partners about their commitment to turn those pledges into actual money released to their affected countries or partners,” said Mankoula.

“Damn, New York, we really did it,” Brunson, the finals MVP, said at a celebration at City Hall. “Somehow, someway, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done.”

Moments later, Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented keys to the city to the Knicks' players, coaches, owners and staff. Wearing a team jersey under his suit jacket, Mamdani said he and other fans “waited because we knew deep down in our sick, suffering hearts” the Knicks would someday win.

Blue and orange confetti swirled through the air during the parade. Massive cheers of “Let’s go, Knicks!” and “Knicks in five!” kept erupting.

And OG Anunoby, who scored the go-ahead basket in Game 4 of the finals on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, left his parade float to interact with fans, holding the NBA Cup in-season championship trophy in one hand and a bottle of Patron tequila in the other.

Director Spike Lee, perhaps the team’s most iconic fan, was on a float with Brunson, savoring the moment. “I’ve never been to a parade — ever — and I’m glad it’s this one,” Lee said.

The MVP’s mom, Sandra Brunson, wore a shirt with photos of Jalen and husband Rick, who played for the Knicks and is an assistant on coach Mike Brown's staff. She echoed her son’s words, saying, “It was all worth it.”

Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy and a cigar on top of a parade bus while Mamdani danced. Later, Towns approached a group of kids with the NBA trophy to let them get their hands on it, bringing joyful screams.

Knicks fans turn out in force

Several blocks from the parade route, fans stood shoulder to shoulder — sometimes on each other’s shoulders — or climbed traffic lights and sanitation trucks. Far away on the Brooklyn Bridge, people gathered just to hear the loudspeakers.

“I had to be here today,” said Shareefa Wallace, 34, who got up at 3 a.m. to make her way from suburban Long Island. She grew up in the city going to Knicks games, and she sported the souvenir jersey of a legend from that era, Patrick Ewing.

Owner James Dolan thanked fans for waiting more than a half-century. Brown encouraged fans to keep their energy going “because this championship is about you guys.”

‘The New York vibe’

Nearby bars and delis filled with fans, some wishing they’d arrived at dawn. But many seemed at peace with only experiencing the parade from a distance.

“We just want to be with the New York energy and the New York vibe,” said Jean Strong, who came to the parade from Harlem with his nephew and sister.

Terrell Emerson, a chef who grew up in Queens, said he drove from Maryland with his daughter Madison — named in honor of the Knicks' home arena, Madison Square Garden.

Beaming, Madison held a handwritten sign announcing she’d skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be there.

Stars and Knicks legends

Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the ’70s champion teams — led the parade in a stylish convertible, wearing his NBA title rings. Frazier had late teammates and coaches on his mind.

“They would be amazed at what has happened to the Knicks and how they’ve really captivated the city this year,” Frazier said. “This has exceeded any expectations I ever thought that we’d have.”

Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Jon Stewart, Mariska Hargitay, Tracy Morgan and other celebrities joined the party, while Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen emceed the City Hall ceremony.

Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind,” performed a medley that mixed her song with the classic “New York, New York.”

A parade decades in the making

The mere fact that the parade is happening is historic in itself. Although the Knicks won the championship twice in the 1970s, the city didn’t host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons. Instead, he held a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jam-packed ceremony in 1973 outside City Hall.

This time, the city went all out. A police officer could be seen holding a sign reading, “This is really happening.”

And a massive security operation

Officials said 10,000 police officers were deployed to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks' title run, including a five-game final against San Antonio.

Police said 10 people in the area around the parade were arrested and three others were issued summonses, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to felony assault. The Fire Department said it took 30 people to hospitals and treated 31 others at the scene for ailments that included heat-related emergencies, asthma and minor injuries.

Before the parade, a small group of people were crushed against a barrier near Fulton Street, a key subway hub, pinned between a swelling crowd and a group of police officers shoving the barrier.

Some 650 sanitation workers were assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide.

Why does New York throw ticker-tape parades?

Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines. New York brokerage firm workers tossed the paper from office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling spectacle.

Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades for visiting foreign leaders, historic anniversaries and feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more.

The Knicks' parade was the 210th, coming after a bash for the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2024.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz and Julie Walker in New York and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Southampton, New York, contributed.

The Children’s Entrepreneur Night Market gives kids ages 5 to 17 the chance to create, price and sell their own products to the community.

From handmade jewelry and artwork to sweet treats, crafts and slime, each booth is run by a young entrepreneur learning real-world business skills.

The market is designed to teach kids the basics of running a business, including customer service, money management, creativity and confidence.

Shoppers can stop by to support the young vendors and see what the next generation of San Antonio business owners are creating.

The Children’s Entrepreneur Night Market takes place at Pearl from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on select summer Wednesdays.

The next markets are scheduled for July 15 and August 19.

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• Miss Anastasia’s story time at Pearl book store draws generations of San Antonio families

Merlin Lu admitted to a TV station this week that he was responsible for the recent cross burning in Grant Park. But he insisted that he was protesting President Donald Trump and Christian nationalists and was not using the cross as a historical symbol of hate against Black people.

Lu appeared in court Thursday on four felonies and four misdemeanors, including a hate crime, property damage and burning a cross to intimidate. A judge denied a request by prosecutors to keep him detained.

Defense attorney Alexander Michael told the judge that Lu was exercising free speech in a “foolish manner.” He also disputed that it could be a hate crime against certain Christians.

On June 9, in the middle of the day, Lu created a cross with two pieces of wood, wrapped it in toilet paper, doused it with kerosene and started a fire, Cook County prosecutors said in a court filing. The fire left burn marks on the trunk and limbs of a tree.

Lu told WMAQ-TV before his arrest that his intent was not to intimidate Black people. He said he was protesting the “ruling class” and Christian nationalists who support Trump, and attached a red hat to symbolize the MAGA hat favored by the president's allies.

“I did know about this historical relevance beforehand. But I didn’t know the severity, how racially motivated it may seem from what I did,” Lu said of a burning cross. “Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender.”

Someone put a large, multicolored, glass fiber heart with the word, “resilient,” in the place where the burning cross stood in the park.

Lu's LinkedIn page says he has attended college in Indiana and Chicago and was studying chemistry.

The amateur draft for players residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico would be cut from 20 rounds to 12 beginning in 2027 under the proposal Major League Baseball made during a bargaining session with the players' association. An identical 12-round draft would be started for international prospects, a proposal the union has rejected in the past.

Starting in 2028, a prospect for the amateur draft would have to be at least 20 years old by the Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from the graduating year of his high school class — a restriction that also would eliminate players who completed their first year of junior college.

The amateur draft started in 1965, high schoolers have been eligible along with college players who are in or have just finished their junior years.

Raising signing ages would likely lead to players being older when they become eligible for free agency, which currently requires six years of major league service.

MLB cited increased revenue in college baseball as reasoning. In addition, MLB said 75% of high schoolers signed from 2012-19 did not reach the major leagues.

“Expanded scholarships, NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and significant investments in facilities and player development have made college baseball an increasingly important pathway that is producing major league-ready talent at an accelerated rate," MLB said in a statement. “By creating a draft system centered around college-aged players and making most college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball — and ultimately the major leagues — more quickly.”

The players' association claimed the plan would decrease compensation by $1 billion over five years, including $400 million from this year to 2027.

“MLB made another set of proposals that are flat-out bad for baseball, ones that would cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game,” the union said in a statement.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips supported keeping more prospects in college longer. He said in a statement that improvements in facilities, technology and scholarships “are creating more opportunities for student-athletes and providing additional pathways to develop at the collegiate level before taking the next step to the professional ranks.”

MLB said it will not seek to reduce the 120 minor league teams in the top four levels when it negotiates new professional development licenses in 2030 to replace expiring 10-year deals. It would cap bonuses for undrafted players at $10,000 — Middle Tennessee two-way player Trace Phillips was bypassed in the draft last July and signed with Tampa Bay for $629,200.

For international amateurs, the age to sign would be raised to 18 on the Sept. 1 of their signing year, up from 17.

“The game's greatest stars are precocious talents. We always want to have a great window for them,” said Scott Boras, baseball's most high-profile agent. “International markets recognize this, as well. When you bar a labor force from opportunity in America, it is not an American concept.”

Each separate draft would have $200 million in signing pools in 2027. There would be hard caps for each draft.

Teams would be able to trade draft picks but a club couldn't trade its first-round pick in consecutive drafts. A team couldn't acquire more than three additional selections among the first three rounds. In addition, MLB proposed requiring up to 10 prospects to attend the draft, and each would get a $50,000 draft attendance bonus.

Spending on signing bonuses for players eligible for the 2025 amateur draft have totaled $401.81 million and signing bonus pools for 2026 increased by 2.5%.

Each team would have the same amount to spend under the proposal rather than the current system which gives higher pools to teams with poorer records in the previous year. Pittsburgh is at just over $19 million this year and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at slightly under $4 million. Teams currently can go over their pools and often do as much as 5%.

Teams have spent $196.38 million on signing bonuses for international amateurs in 2026. The current signing period runs from Jan. 15 to Dec. 15 each year, but the initial international draft would be no earlier than September 2027 and no later than March 2028.

MLB proposed eliminating competitive balance round picks that began in 2023 and cutting the draft lottery that started in 2023 from the top six picks to four.

Bargaining began May 13 and the sides exchanged initial proposals two weeks later as management proposed a salary cap for the first time since 1994, which resulted in a 7 1/2-month strike and the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.

Baseball's five-year collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to immediately impose a lockout, as it did in December 2021. An agreement was reached on the 99th day of the lockout, preserving a slightly delayed 162-game schedule.

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

The unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge wrongly interpreted Philadelphia's contract claims involving Independence National Historical Park, saying the city merely having standing to sue did not mean its arguments had merit. The panel also praised the plans for the replacement installation, writing that they were “full of historical context,” despite objections from historians and city officials that the content appears whitewashed.

The ruling comes a week after a Massachusetts federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore sites changed under an executive order calling for the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks to not display elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” The federal government has asked for a stay on that ruling while it appeals.

It was unclear how the Massachusetts ruling would affect the restoration or replacement of the panels at the President's House Site. About half the large panels at the outdoor exhibit had been restored before a February pause in the work.

Messages to spokespeople for the Department of Interior and the National Park Service were not returned.

In a statement on Instagram late Thursday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker vowed to pursue legal avenues to reverse the decision.

“We cannot and WILL not rest until the full story of American history – including the existence of Slavery at the President’s House here in Philadelphia – is told, for our Nation and the World to see,” she wrote.

Dawn Chavous, a volunteer for Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, one of the advocacy groups that helped develop the site in the 2000s, said they are disappointed with the decision but are speaking to their attorneys and considering options.

“For decades, ATAC has worked to ensure that the stories of the enslaved African descendants who lived and labored at the President’s House are not erased, overlooked, or misrepresented,” the group said in an emailed statement. “That commitment remains unwavering. We believe that historical truth matters, and we will continue to advocate for the protection, preservation, and accurate interpretation of this important chapter of American history.”

The city of Philadelphia sued in January after the National Park Service, in response to President Donald Trump's executive order, removed the explanatory panels from the President’s House Site, where George and Martha Washington lived with nine of their slaves in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.

The city had worked in tandem with the federal government, historians and private partners to create the exhibit in the early 2000s — as part of a longstanding cooperation agreement over the downtown historical park — and contributed $1.5 million toward its creation.

The city argued that the federal government must consult with the city before making changes to the President's House Site. Justice Department lawyers argued the administration alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties.

In its ruling Thursday, the appeals panel said the maintenance portion of the contract between the city and the federal government could not be interpreted to mean the site would remain as it was when it was completed.

“The duty to ‘maintain’ is better understood as a general management obligation that accompanies ownership, not a promise that the exhibits will forever remain in place regardless of the owner’s wishes,” the opinion said.

___

Casey contributed from Boston.

“You guys were after me,” he told reporters. “I was the hunted. And now I’m the hunter."

The incident, recalled in “Regime Change,” New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's new book on the first year of Trump's second term, encapsulates how different Trump's return to the White House in 2025 has been from his first term.

The book spells out a thesis that Trump himself believes: Had he not lost the 2020 election, he would not be as powerful in his second term as he is now — emboldening him to trample norms, dismantle established institutions and push the limits of presidential power.

Trump still falsely claims to have won in 2020. But a second term coming then might have been marred by pushback from members of his own administration, the coronavirus pandemic and the runaway inflation it caused, as well as an antagonistic Congress controlled by Democrats. He hasn't faced those issues this time.

Here are some takeaways from the book:

Vance or Rubio in 2028? Trump will loom large in the choice

The authors recount how Trump frequently quizzed aides about whether Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be better to succeed him.

Some donors promoted Rubio and some aides thought the secretary and the president had better personal chemistry than Trump and Vance. But Trump also indicated that he was impressed by Vance’s intellect and abilities during television interviews — particularly tough ones, the book says.

Trump is also said to be impressed by the background of Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants. The book describes how, after Trump redecorated the Oval Office to fill it with gold flourishes, someone asked the president about the likelihood that the next president would undo all that he had done. Trump retorted: “Cubans love gold.”

But, Haberman and Swan write, Rubio and Vance are also friends. An example they offer is Rubio texting Vance after the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee's comments about “ childless cat ladies ” became a scandal. Rubio offered to campaign with Vance to show his support.

As those two men jostle for position before 2028, it’s possible Trump won’t soon yield the spotlight to them.

The president frequently talks about the two and a half years left in his term, a timeline that carries him right up to Inauguration Day 2029 — suggesting that he's unlikely to let the Republicans running in the presidential race overshadow him.

A case in point occurred during an Oval Office meeting with Trump, Vance and Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the House Democrats. As Haberman and Swan recount, the president showed off “Trump 2028” baseball caps, prompting Jeffries to gesture at Vance and ask, “How does he feel about that?” Trump responded “Ah, he’s fine. He doesn’t care,” adding, “We’re giving him a little more training.”

Vance, speaking up for himself, offered, “No comment.”

Panic inside the White House over the Epstein files release

Haberman and Swan detail the deep level of alarm over the administration’s handling of the release of files from the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. That included White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles convening a crisis response meeting in the Situation Room and Vance suggesting enlisting friendly interviewer Tucker Carlson to sit down with Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

That revelation has now raised questions about whether the reporters got audio recordings of what was said in a secure area of the White House, which would be a security concern.

Trump redecorated while the first lady was away

The book details how the president and first lady are the first first couple to sleep in separate bedrooms since Richard and Pat Nixon, though Bill and Hillary Clinton slept apart briefly when his affair with Monica Lewinsky became public. First lady Melania Trump sleeps in the White House’s traditional master bedroom of the Executive Residence — Room 219 — while the president sleeps in Room 220, next to second-floor space known as the Yellow Oval.

The president fitted his bedroom with gold and other flourishes, carrying in some objects himself from the corridor where his wife had selected the decor during the first term, the book said. Because the first lady wasn’t in Washington much during the start of the second term, she wasn't there to stop the president from rearranging things.

Among the items moved was a gold-leaf-framed mirror that had been part of the first lady’s redesign of the second-floor Queen’s Bedroom. But that actually ended up outside, on the Colonnade outside the Oval Office, where it is used to facilitate selfies.

The first lady had also overseen first-term Rose Garden renovations and objected to Trump wanting to pave over the area for his patio space reminiscent of his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago. The president relented, and the surrounding grass was covered, but not the roses. She lost a larger battle, the authors write, as the East Wing was demolished to make room for the $400 million ballroom her husband is building.

Trump long had a Venezuela fixation

The president began his second term talking frequently about seizing Greenland and making Canada the 51st state, but was privately more focused on Venezuela — even suggesting it could become a state where he'd be allowed to appoint the governor.

Initially, Trump allowed special envoy Ric Grenell to negotiate with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but he was eventually sidelined as Rubio made the case that Maduro would string along the administration for years, in an attempt to wait until Trump was out of power in 2029, Haberman and Swan write.

Rubio told White House officials that Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was corrupt but serious and could most likely keep Venezuela together. Rubio spoke with Rodriguez on the night U.S. forces stormed into Venezuela and deposed its president. He told her she had to bring stability to her country and prevent mass migration and violence. Rodriguez remains head of Venezuela after Maduro's ouster.

Trump also told the authors during a March 2026 interview that he had a “love affair” with Venezuela that began with his years of owning the Miss Universe pageant and the beautiful women representing that country in it. That wasn’t enough to improve his opinion of Ukraine, though, which Trump said he didn't like, except for its women who kept winning Miss Universe, the book says.

Trump said he was talking to a historian. It was Gary Player's caddy

Haberman and Swan conclude with the president telling them about a historian introduced to him by golfer Gary Player who described the president as the most powerful man the planet had ever known — surpassing even Alexander the Great, William the Conqueror and Napoleon.

Trump, who promoted the anecdote himself on social media Thursday, was unable to recall the historian's name during that interview. However, a White House staffer later revealed to the authors who the golf legend actually had been talking about. It was Player's longtime caddy.

Castro released a statement Wednesday ahead of a planned congressional oversight visit to the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center, southeast of San Antonio, where he said he will meet with Octavio Daniel Cabrera Valdez.

Cabrera Valdez, 36, was arrested by the Stockdale Marshal’s Office on April 16, according to an ICE spokesperson. The marshal’s office requested assistance from immigration officers, and was taken into ICE custody.

Castro said Cabrera Valdez was at work when he was detained, had a valid work permit and was the sole provider for his family.

Cabrera Valdez appeared before an immigration judge on May 4, the ICE spokesperson said, and his bond was denied because he was “considered a flight risk.”

Because of the detention, Castro said Cabrera Valdez’s partner, 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were forced out of their apartment.

Cabrera Valdez also provided care for his mother, who had an amputation following a car crash, Castro said, along with his father, who is seriously ill with diabetes.

His parents and other family members are U.S. citizens, Castro said.

“Octavio Daniel Cabrera Valdez was building a life for his family in San Antonio,” Castro said. “He was working and contributing to his community. ICE is going after members of our communities, like Octavio, and tearing families apart in the process.”

KSAT has reached out to the Stockdale Marshal’s Office for additional details regarding Valdez’s arrest.

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Although the tentative peace deal between the U.S. and Iran and the resumption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are pushing energy prices downward, the cost of gas is still much higher than before the war began on Feb. 28.

According to motor club AAA, a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $3.999 on Thursday. It was the first time since late March that prices were that low. And the drop aligns with easing crude oil costs overall, with markets expressing optimism in recent weeks about the prospect of a peace deal.

Even with prices dropping, American drivers are collectively paying about $1 more per gallon than they were before the war, and gas is 25% more expensive than it was this time last year. That has caused many households to tighten their budgets and rethink how they want to spend their money.

More expensive bills beyond gas

Research has shown that short-term swings in the cost of gas leads consumers to adjust their driving and wider spending, with some even pulling back on core necessities such as groceries when gas prices get high, said Dylan Brewer, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Economics.

If costs continue to fall in the coming weeks, he said, more people may be able to “loosen their belts a little bit.” Businesses that rely on gas and diesel to transport their goods will also benefit, but it could take a few months for that to trickle through the supply chain, Brewer added.

Gas isn't the only thing that's gotten more expensive during the war. Groceries, airline tickets and even condoms and shoes cost more amid global supply chain disruptions. Even if oil and other core necessities such as fertilizer begin flowing from the Middle East again, experts warn that the high costs will likely persist long after the fighting ends.

“Product prices across the United States are projected to keep climbing for the rest of 2026," Pat Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, said Thursday.

Penfield pointed to depleted inventories and supply chain problems caused by the war, noting that farmers, for example, had to pay more for fertilizer and other supplies this spring, which will “ripple through to increased food prices by autumn.” At the gas pump, meanwhile, limited refinery capacity in the U.S. “remains a significant bottleneck” toward bringing down prices further, he said.

What prices at the pump look like nationwide

Steep fuel costs have already pushed U.S. inflation to its highest level in three years. And many consumers are still paying much more than $4 per gallon to fill their tanks.

That price is a national average, with costs varying between states due to factors like proximity to supply and differing tax rates. In California on Thursday, the average price for regular gas was about $5.64, according to AAA. Next costliest was Hawaii, at $5.57. Meanwhile, prices in Indiana and Texas sat at about $3.40 and $3.49 a gallon, respectively.

Recent relief for fuel prices arrived with a drop in costs for crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline.

Brent crude, the international standard, sat under $80 per barrel Thursday. And U.S. benchmark crude tumbled to below $76 per barrel. That's still a little higher than the roughly $70 price tag before the war, but far below the $100-plus price from just a few weeks ago.

Why oil costs are falling

Prices fell overnight Wednesday into Thursday after President Donald Trump signed the tentative agreement with Iran. It calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and, in a significant concession from Washington, waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil freely.

Major ship owners have also begun moving vessels through the Strait of Hormuz since the memorandum of understanding was signed Wednesday, according to maritime data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, although some reported that only more limited side routes were open. And U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. Navy has lifted its own blockade to allow some transit to and from Iranian ports.

Still, it could take weeks or months for traffic to return to prewar levels. Before the war, the strait carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. And Gulf oil producers that throttled back production will need time to get the oil moving again.

Some ship captains may take their time to determine if the passage is safe. The agreement between the U.S. and Iran calls for a permanent end to hostilities and starts a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, though Trump left the door open to resume attacks.

Refineries also typically pay for crude oil a month or more in advance, so even after oil prices drop, they won’t immediately be processing cheaper products. Energy shocks have been even starker in places that rely more heavily on imports from the Middle East — notably countries across Asia and Africa.

The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. While Trump allies noted the agreement is not final, the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran’s sale of oil and the plan for a $300 billion fund to rebuild Iran and its economy were met with criticism from Republican leaders and conservative influencers, including some close Trump supporters.

“President Trump has pursued peace through strength. I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are not undermining that objective,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who has urged Trump to keep up the pressure on Iran and last month warned against striking a bad deal.

“The $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran — though not funded by U.S. taxpayers — would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said, referring to the Democratic administration's Iran agreement that Trump withdrew from during his first term.

The criticism from within Trump’s own party — though hardly unanimous — comes as he is trying to bring an end to the unpopular war fewer than five months from midterm elections, where Republicans are facing headwinds in their effort to hold their narrow majorities.

Trump calls his critics ‘fools’

Wicker’s points were backed by a number of his colleagues, many of whom supported the war when it began.

“History demonstrates giving billions of dollars to the theocratic lunatics who want to kill you is an exceptionally bad idea," said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch supporter of the war. “And so I hope we don’t do that.”

Trump on Truth Social called his critics “fools” and said the $300 billion payment to Iran by the United States is “fake news.” The interim pact promises a $300 billion fund for postwar reconstruction. It’s not clear where that money will come from — but Trump said, as Wicker noted, the U.S. would not contribute.

“All there is for the U.S. is Success, Lower Oil Prices, and Victory,” he posted.

Some senators question financial provisions

As the memorandum was released to Congress on Thursday, several Republican senators said it left them with questions, many of them about its financial provisions.

Majority Leader John Thune and South Dakota colleague Sen. Mike Rounds were seeking clarity on how financial incentives to Iran and conditions barring funding terrorism would be enforced, because “right now, a lot of money's going to go to Iran,” Rounds said.

To be sure, there were Republicans more closely aligned with Trump's America First policies in the Senate and elsewhere who were giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Sen. Roger Marshall stressed the point in the memorandum that supporters say gives the U.S. the upper hand. In a social media post, the Kansas Republican said one of the most important provisions “lays out a key commitment that strengthens regional security and ensures that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Louisiana GOP Senate candidate John Fleming, who has focused on Trump's most loyal supporters ahead of a June 27 Republican primary runoff, said that means Trump has suggested that the U.S. will strike Iran again if it does not live up to the agreement.

“The criticism may be worthy if there isn't follow-through,” Fleming said. “He's using the speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick in offering them plenty of help, but at the same time he's got that stick ready if they don't live up to their agreements."

MAGA voices send a warning

Still, some of Trump's strongest supporters in conservative media have warned against the agreement.

Conservative radio host Mark Levin suggested a strategic rethinking to hold off on an agreement with Iran until after the midterms.

“We should consider slow-walking the enemy, building up our munitions, our oil reserves, get the price of gasoline down, get through the midterms, then knock them out,” he said in a social media post. Instead, the U.S. seemed to be “rushing to a deal, building up their oil industry” and agreeing to governments “transferring billions to them.”

Right-wing social media influencer Laura Loomer, who has long supported Trump while also promoting conspiracy theories, was more pointed in her criticism.

“Who is giving the President tainted, pro-Islamic intel?” she posted on X.

What all the critics shared is an abiding distrust of the Iranian regime, no matter their relationship to Trump.

“It does smack of the kind of appeasement," said former Vice President Mike Pence, whose relationship with Trump was fractured after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Bottom line. I don’t trust the Iranians.”

___

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

The decision announced Thursday marks the third such fake elector case filed by states to be dismissed, though the Democratic attorney general is vowing to bring it back to a grand jury in hopes of securing another indictment.

The legal maneuver is aimed at getting around a Friday deadline for starting new grand jury proceedings after Mayes lost an appeal earlier this month. The appeal was filed after defense attorneys argued successfully that the original grand jury hadn’t been shown the relevant parts of a law that governs how presidential contests are certified.

“This case is complex and will require substantial presentation of evidence and time to accommodate defendants’ request to testify and present evidence,” prosecutors wrote, explaining the new presentation of the case to a grand jury won’t happen by the deadline. Mark L. Williams, an attorney for Giuliani, said his client and the others charged in the case did nothing wrong and were only exercising their rights to free speech and to petition the government.

“This action was brought to punish Mr. Giuliani and the other Republican defendants for exercising their constitutional rights,” Williams said. “It’s appropriate that it’s being dismissed.”

Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair during the 2020 election season and one of the 18 defendants in the case, wrote on social media that Mayes had damaged the reputations and finances of those charged and “certainly seems unwilling to admit her overreach & put this behind us. She wants to keep persecuting her political opponents.”

Mayes’ office has declined to comment on Ward’s criticism.

Courts have dismissed similar cases in Michigan and Georgia, and a special prosecutor dropped a federal case in late 2024 that charged Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Those cases ended after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Cases related to the fake elector scheme remain in Nevada and Wisconsin.

The Nevada charges were dismissed in 2024 after a judge concluded Clark County, the state’s most populous county and home to Las Vegas, was the wrong venue for the case. Later that year, though, the case was refiled in Carson City, Nevada’s capital.

The Arizona case had been stalled for well over a year while Mayes pursued the appeal.

In Arizona, defense lawyers argued the law allowed for multiple slates of electors to be submitted to Congress in case the results were disputed. Federal law was amended in 2022 to specify that any given state could put forward only one slate of electors and that state governors are responsible for signing off.

Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by 10,457 votes.

The state attorney general has faced steep challenges in making her case.

It was filed nearly three and a half years after the 2020 election and levels complicated conspiracy charges against the 18 defendants. A dozen dismissal requests filed by defense attorneys have slowed progress in court.

The first judge on the case recused himself in late 2024 after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Harris’ campaign for the presidency. The next judge ordered the case to be sent back to a grand jury.

Of the 18 Arizona defendants, two were former Trump aides, five were lawyers working for Trump and 11 were Republicans who submitted a document falsely claiming Trump won Arizona.

Three defendants have resolved their cases, including one who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The rest pleaded not guilty. Some said they signed the certificate in case Trump won court challenges and a new slate of electors was needed urgently before Congress’ Jan. 6 deadline to tally votes.

The case has factored into Arizona’s attorney general race, where both Republicans vying to challenge Mayes in the Nov. 3 general election have publicly said they would dismiss the charges if they were elected to the post. Mayes is running unopposed in the July 21 primary.

Mike O’Neil, an Arizona pollster and political analyst, said he believes Mayes would face criticism from Democrats if she had decided to abandon the case altogether. “People who are upset about this aren’t the people who would vote for her anyway,” O’Neil said.

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

Prior to Thursday morning’s vote, all 10 council members and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones shared varying levels of excitement about the prospects of the package.

“I am so excited that this opportunity comes along with this new council and mayor because it doesn’t always come along,” District 3 Council Member Phyllis Viagran said.

“If we’re going to truly uplift our city, this is the kind of win it’s going to take,” District 7 Council Member Marina Alderete Gavito said.

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

The company has not said what model the new line would produce or what other locations it’s considering, but San Antonio is trying to ensure the new line comes here.

The city’s $122.1 million worth of incentives include:

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

The city council also decided to recommend the manufacturer for another $20.7 million worth of help from the city’s power and water utilities through $4.5 million worth of San Antonio Water System fee waivers and a CPS Energy program that could reduce the company’s electric rates, worth $16.2 million.

“You can’t force people to invest in communities that they don’t care about or believe in. And so, those industries, employers and companies that do choose to invest in you, you value them,” District 2 Council Member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said. “And so, I appreciate the partnership that we’ve had with Toyota over the past 20+ years. This is us, as an organization, investing in you and in your success.”

As part of the deal, Toyota would create 2,000 full-time jobs, earning at least the county’s average annual wage — which is currently $32.46 per hour.

Part of the deal includes Toyota making “good faith efforts” to fill at least half of those jobs with people from the local area.

San Antonio is not the only one flashing cash at Toyota in an attempt to bring an expansion to the South Side.

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

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

Staff also said Thursday that SAWS and CPS Energy would also be offering additional help through infrastructure support and a natural gas discount, worth another combined $42.5 million.

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A 22-year-old male suspect, described as armed and dangerous, remained at large Thursday.

The five shootings occurred Tuesday between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m, in a 5-mile stretch of Kansas City, three of them on Interstates 70 and 670 as they cut through downtown. All of the shootings were at least 4 miles away from Arrowhead Stadium, where Argentina won its first match against Algeria.

Two American fans of Argentina's team, arriving for Tuesday's match, told Argentine outlet La Nación that someone in a car came alongside and fired two shots at the Uber they were riding in, hitting the driver in the leg. They said they first thought the sound was a car tire popping until they saw the driver had been hit.

They had to go to the police station to provide statements about what happened. Officers then took them to the stadium in patrol cars, they said. The driver's injuries were not life-threatening, police Capt. Jacob Becchina said.

That shooting and two others on the interstates occurred while cars were traveling east, one of them from neighboring Kansas, police said. The others occurred further east on Truman Road, a major thoroughfare through the city.

Police said three adults and a minor, a teenager, were injured, and all were hospitalized, though only one adult had life-threatening injuries, Becchina said.

About 6:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a vehicle crashing into a pole along Truman Road, east of the other shootings. The driver was taken to a hospital, and workers there discovered what appeared to be a gunshot wound while treating him. He died of his injuries.

“Victims all indicated they were driving down the highway or roadway when one or more shots were fired into their vehicles,” Becchina said in an email.

Becchina said detectives believe the non-fatal shootings occurred “in close succession,” from west to east, connected by the one suspect.

Police later tracked the suspect to a home in the suburb of Independence, about 2 miles further east of where the fatal shooting victim was found, and a standoff ensued. But when police entered the home about 8 a.m. Wednesday, the suspect was not there.

Officials across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, also have a warrant out for the suspect over a June 11 incident involving an illegal discharge of a firearm, Nancy Chartrand, the spokesperson for its police department said.

McALLEN — A South Texas community once cited as the poorest in Texas is courting an Austin-based defense technology startup that promises to bring 10,000 jobs over 10 years, more than SpaceX’s initial promise of 300 back in 2014.

The Cameron County commissioners court approved a $211 million tax break for Saronic Technologies in hopes that the company will select the Port of Brownsville for its $3.2 billion naval shipyard called Port Alpha. The tax break would come in the form of a 95% tax abatement agreement over 20 years.

If Saronic accepts the deal, Brownsville would strengthen its position as one of Texas’ emerging technology hubs, sparked by SpaceX’s arrival many years ago.

“This is exactly the kind of investment that positions Cameron County as a statewide and national leader in innovation and workforce excellence,” County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said in a statement.

The prospect drew a lot of attention from the community and prompted more than two dozen people to address the county commissioners during a meeting this week, both in support and against the tax abatement agreement.

Those against the agreement argued it would shift the tax burden from the company, which is valued at $9.25 billion, over to residents. Opponents also said the abatement would take away money from public schools.

“Why is it fair that a billion dollar company comes to our small city and asks for a tax break?” said Victoria Oseguera, a Brownsville resident. “Providing jobs is not enough.”

Supporters of the tax incentives said the company would bring much-needed jobs to the area. The 10,000 jobs Saronic is expected to create would outnumber the approximately 4,000 employees SpaceX has in South Texas. SpaceX is expected to grow to 8,000 employees by the end of the year, according to Brownsville officials.

“This project will build an ecosystem of suppliers, advanced manufacturers, tech, AI, highly skilled people, a pipeline of local talent and, lastly, opportunities for local entrepreneurs and local businesses,” said Gilberto Salinas, president and CEO of the Greater Brownsville Economic Development Corporation, which is offering Saronic an additional $10 million incentive.

Salinas said projects like Saronic’s Port Alpha would transform the economic landscape of Brownsville and import money that would create generational wealth.

“We need to do a better job of shedding that tagline of the poorest city in the United States,” Salinas said.

Most of the jobs Saronic will add — 7,401 — would fall under production and maintenance, which includes welders, electricians, plumbers, crane operators and assembly line workers.

Another 1,200 positions would be in engineering and design, 700 in administration and support, and 699 in research and development.

As part of the tax abatement agreement, 35% of their full-time workforce is required to be local residents.

If Saronic falls short of job projections, the tax abatement would decrease.

Additionally, the company must agree to participate in job fairs, partner with Workforce Commission Cameron and two other local educational institutions on training programs, submit annual reports to the Texas Workforce Commission and comply with all local, state and federal permits.

Opposition vs. Opportunity

Christopher Basaldu, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, told county commissioners that the project would further pollute the area and would not bring the economic benefits to those who need them.

“This company has no morals and they only wish to exploit cheapened land and cheapened labor,” Basaldu said. “You think that this is going to bring opportunity? It brings opportunity to very wealthy people who don’t live here. It doesn’t bring opportunity to the poorest and most marginal of us all.”

With the Port Alpha project, Saronic aims to build “the fleet of the future” that consists of autonomous warships. The company boasts that the shipyard would be the most advanced in the world and would quickly and affordably assemble vessels of varying sizes, from small tactical boats to large ships.

Late last year, Saronic secured a $392 million contract from the U.S. Navy for autonomous maritime capabilities, and earlier this month, one of the company’s AI-powered boats rescued two crew members of a downed U.S. Army helicopter that was shot down by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz.

In response to questions and a request for an interview, Saronic issued a statement confirming the company had not yet selected a location for Port Alpha.

“Saronic’s nationwide search for a location to build Port Alpha remains active and ongoing,” read a statement from a company spokesperson. “Recent filings are a standard part of the vetting process for sites under consideration, reflecting the thorough and deliberate approach required by Port Alpha’s unique requirements.”

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the United States better compete with China for superiority in the fast-growing AI sector.

Tech companies and data center developers welcomed the chance to connect faster to the country’s power supply for the biggest energy users ever built in the United States, including some that consume more electricity than a small city.

Utilities, states and regional grid operators had worried that the Republican administration’s plan would remove their authority to manage the process, but FERC said the order leaves states in control of retail electric rates, terms and conditions. Clean energy advocates have urged regulators not to undermine state-level efforts to require the use of renewable energies.

The commission’s actions come as a backlash grows against data centers over concerns about the massive amounts of energy and water they use and fears about noise and air pollution, water shortages and a loss of open space or farmland.

Unanimous vote and affordability

FERC members voted unanimously to direct six regional grid operators to ensure that AI data centers and other large power users are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”

Laura Swett, an appointee of President Donald Trump who chairs the commission, called the vote “historic” and said it would push the country’s electricity market into the future while respecting states’ rights, protecting reliable electric service and shielding ratepayers from shouldering the costs of connecting big power users to the grid.

“I know that Americans across the country are concerned about affordability, and so are we,” Swett said, referring to the five-member commission. As chair, “I am taking extremely seriously the mission that Congress has entrusted us to ensure that rates are reasonable,” she said.

The vote comes eight months after Wright asked the independent agency to take more control over ensuring that the vast network of massive computing warehouses needed to power AI are connected quickly to high-voltage transmission lines.

Wright hailed the commission's action, saying it would "remove barriers, accelerate development and ensure America has the affordable, reliable and secure energy needed to power a new era of prosperity."

Data centers would pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed for their connection, under the commission order. But that order can do little to address the tightening energy supplies that are driving up electricity bills in some areas and raising warnings of blackouts as the construction of data centers outpaces the speed of new power plants coming online to serve them.

Robert Montejo, a lawyer who represents data centers, said the most important message from FERC’s action is that AI “has fundamentally changed the electricity landscape. The grid and prior policy were not built for the pace and scale of demand we’re seeing from AI infrastructure, and FERC is signaling that standing still is no longer an option.”

The six regional grid operators under the order serve 200 million Americans, or two-thirds of FERC’s jurisdiction. FERC, meanwhile, invited utilities that handle their regional transmission systems to also participate and analysts said the agency could eventually pressure them, too.

A search for power

Tech giants are scrambling to find enough power for their data centers and report that, in some places, it will take years to connect to the electric grid.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities, said FERC’s order builds on regional and state processes already underway while “supporting flexibility and innovation.”

Besides power bottlenecks, the tech industry is running into widespread opposition from communities where residents don’t want to live next to or near a data center.

More than 4,000 data centers now operate in the U.S., according to one estimate, with an additional 3,000 planned or under construction.

Trump has tried to deflect public concerns about AI, seeing the fast-evolving technology as crucial for the U.S. to attract foreign investment and maintain its economic and military prowess. He signed an executive order this month establishing a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.

In December, FERC took an earlier step to help data center operators get electricity quickly, voting to allow tech companies to effectively plug a data center directly into a power plant and Thursday’s order sought to ensure that option is accessible around the country.

Power demands from data centers

FERC told grid operators to respond within 30 days on how they will ensure there is adequate power supplies for new and future data centers, and within 60 days on plans to integrate large power users in line with the new guidelines. Swett told reporters after the meeting that she hoped faster connection processes are in effect in “as little time as possible.” She didn't set an exact timeline.

Jeff Dennis, executive director of the Electricity Customer Alliance, said FERC’s order is responsive in particular to big power users and state regulators.

Tech giants are confronting unclear rules to connect data centers to high-voltage transmission systems, while states need more clarity on who should bear the cost of regional transmission projects approved at the federal level, he said.

Rob Gramlich, a Washington-based energy consultant, said states should quickly develop rules to accommodate large power users and prevent cost shifts to residential and business customers. FERC could assert broader jurisdiction over interconnection issues if states don’t act quickly, he said.

Data from the Electric Power Research Institute shows that data centers now account for about 5% of U.S. electricity demand, but could triple by 2035.

Tech companies have continued to raise their spending on building and equipping data centers, but there is evidence that construction is lagging and projects are hitting roadblocks, including permitting delays, growing local opposition or bottlenecks around gas turbines, transformers and skilled labor.

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Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pa.

The market's reversal was powered by sharp gains for big technology companies. The decline on Wednesday was driven by anticipation that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates this year in an effort to fight inflation.

On Thursday, stocks faced less pressure as bond yields eased and oil prices spent most of the day falling.

The S&P 500 rose 80.48 points, or 1.1%, to 7,500.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.15 points, or 0.1%, to 51,564.70. The Nasdaq composite surged 496.28 points, or 1.9%, to 26,517.93. Every major index notched weekly gains.

U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Juneteenth.

Technology stocks had some of the biggest gains and the most influence on the broader market's rise. Intel surged 10.6% after President Donald Trump announced that the semiconductor giant will make chips for Apple in the U.S. Other big semiconductor companies gained ground. Nvidia rose 3% and Micron Technology jumped 8.7%.

On the losing end, SpaceX fell for the second straight day since its ballyhooed debut on the U.S. stock market last week. The Elon Musk-led rocket maker and AI company was down 3.6% following a 4.9% loss Wednesday.

Oil prices wavered after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. Brent crude, the international standard, spent most of the day lower before settling 0.4% higher at $79.85 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude fell 0.2% to $75.85 per barrel.

Airlines had some of the bigger gains. American Airlines rose 3.7% and United Airlines rose 2.1%. Cruise line company Carnival jumped 3.2%.

Energy companies lost ground. Exxon Mobil fell 2.1% and Chevron fell 2.2%.

Prices for crude oil are still above roughly $70 per barrel from before the war, but are well below the $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.

Higher oil prices have been weighing on markets throughout the U.S. war with Iran. The current deal between the nations waives sanctions against Iran and allows it to sell its oil freely. It also opens up the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped.

“While investors are welcoming the agreement as a constructive step for geopolitical risk, uncertainty remains elevated around potential flare-ups, the pace of shipping normalization, control of the waterway, the cost of access, and the path forward for Iran’s nuclear program.” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, in a research note.

Rising energy costs have been putting more pressure on already hot inflation. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dipped below $4 a gallon, but is still 25% higher from a year ago. Prices have been rising for a wide range of goods because of higher shipping costs.

Hotter inflation prompted the Federal Reserve to shift course from cutting its benchmark interest rate to likely raising rates by the end of the year. Lower interest rates can boost the economy by making borrowing easier for businesses and households, but it also tends to stoke inflation.

The Fed has been trying to balance its job of curbing inflation while supporting employment growth. The jobs market has remained relatively strong amid rising inflation, with low unemployment and solid job growth.

The central bank closed its two-day meeting on Wednesday by maintaining its benchmark interest rate at its current level. But it signaled that it might raise the rate at least once by December.

“This shift in the risk distribution helps explain why around half of the committee thought that an interest-rate hike this year might be needed,” said James McCann, senior economist at Edward Jones, in a research note.

The Fed's stronger signal for an eventual rate hike prompted a jump in bond yields on Wednesday, but they eased on Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.45% from 4.49% late Wednesday. The yield on 2-year Treasury, which more closely tracks action by the Fed, fell to 4.18% from 4.20% late Wednesday.

Markets were mixed in Europe after closing lower Asia.

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Senior Producer Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

The justices decided unanimously in favor of Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas man who argued that a law barring guns from anyone who regularly uses illegal drugs violates the Second Amendment.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that his opinion narrowly limits the government's power to take guns away from drug users who are not considered dangerous. Hemani, who was not charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence, is thankful he “finally has closure,” lawyer Zachary Newland said.

The decision is a loss for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions. Its core argument “fails under every measure,” Gorsuch wrote.

The law was originally meant to keep guns away from dangerous people, but the millions of people who now use marijuana can't all be characterized that way, Gorsuch wrote. While recreational use is illegal under federal law, about half of states allow it and cannabis use for health purposes is widespread.

“Whatever one thinks of these developments, the federal government has not just tolerated them; it helped fuel them,” Gorsuch wrote. “All of which leaves it awkwardly positioned to suggest that the millions of Americans who now regularly use marijuana are categorically and unusually dangerous.”

The law was also used in a case against Hunter Biden, who was convicted in Wilmington, Delaware, of buying a gun while addicted to cocaine in 2018. He was later pardoned by his father, Democratic President Joe Biden.

Someone addicted to an illegal drug could potentially still be prosecuted after Thursday’s decision.

“We do not address efforts to ban addicts, or those presently intoxicated, from possessing a firearm,” Gorsuch wrote. Prosecutors could charge a marijuana user if they had evidence the person was dangerous, he said.

Recreational use remains illegal on a federal level even after the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in April.

Gun rights and pro-cannabis groups join forces

The case made for some unusual political alliances.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association supported Hemani’s case, as did cannabis legalization groups such as NORML. On the other side were gun safety groups including Everytown that usually oppose the administration on Second Amendment issues.

The ACLU applauded the ruling, saying that nearly half of Americans have reported using marijuana at some point in their lives.

“The court has sent a strong message that the government cannot criminalize the conduct of large numbers of people by making categorical and unfounded assumptions about whether they are dangerous,” said Cecillia Wang, legal director at the ACLU.

NORML applauded the decision as a “vindication of personal freedom” and the Second Amendment Foundation called it a “major victory for gun owners.”

The group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization of the drug, condemned it.

“While the justices in this case appear to be most concerned with historical battles over Second Amendment rights, public health and safety are the collateral damage in this decision,” said CEO Kevin Sabet.

Gun control groups were more measured, with Everytown saying the decision still recognizes that “drugs and guns can make for a dangerous mix.”

It is rare to see standalone criminal charges filed against people accused solely of owning guns and using drugs, though they are more often filed against people also accused of other crimes.

The opinion is the latest in a series of firearm cases to reach the Supreme Court since its landmark ruling expanding gun rights in 2022 led to a wave of challenges around the country.

Since then, the high court has upheld a law aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and strict regulations on ghost gun kits but has struck down a ban on bump stocks, an accessory that enables rapid fire. The justices are also considering a second firearm case this term over strict regulations on carrying guns in Hawaii.

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

“I hope this center will serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious our democracy truly is and remind us what we can achieve when we embrace our shared responsibilities as citizens,” the nation’s first Black president told the crowd.

Bono, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony and Eddie Vedder took turns on the stage ahead of Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder, who closed the show singing “Higher Ground” as the former presidents, world leaders and others danced along.

President Donald Trump was conspicuous both in his physical absence and by not being mentioned by any of the speakers or performers. Trump called the $850 million center a “total disaster” in a social media post in February.

Obama voiced his support for character, honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion and sense of duty, praising both Democrats and Republicans, including those he defeated.

“Every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in no less than I did,” Obama said. “It is our greatest inheritance.”

Reflecting on his arrival in Chicago in 1985 as an untested political organizer, he said he could not have built the Obama Presidential Center anywhere else. He met his future wife Michelle nearby, their wedding reception was within walking distance, his children were born in the neighborhood and he launched his first candidacy not far away.

“It’s an expression of thanks, an acknowledgment that so much of what I hold most dear I owe to the people of this city and the people of the surrounding neighborhoods,” Obama said.

Michelle had some emotional words for her husband

The Obamas and their daughters shared the stage with former presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton along with former first ladies Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and many other leading Democrats were in the audience.

Michelle Obama spoke directly to her husband when she stepped up to the podium. “Eight years in the crucible and not once did you melt in the heat. Not once did you let it harden you.

“Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence,” she said. “Your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber. And to do it all as a first.”

She ticked off highlights from her husband's eight years in office, including ordering the raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, “standing up for marriage equality” and “listening to science.”

“And you did it all with such grace and class and cool,” she said. “You made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.”

Obama appeared to wipe away a tear as she praised him.

Michelle Obama also referenced the current “anxious and divisive times” and warned against being cynical or complacent as “everything feels so upside down.” She pitched the center as “a respite from all that.”

A-list entertainers sang inspirational anthems and protest songs

Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem and Aguilera delivered a rousing rendition of “What a Wonderful World.” Pearl Jam’s Vedder, joined by Chicago teenagers in the nonprofit Guitars Over Guns program, sang an original song called “Better Believe,” written just for the dedication.

Legend sang “Someday We’ll All Be Free” and was joined by the rapper Common and Uniting Voices Chicago for their Academy Award-winning song “Glory.”

Bono, who said he was representing the Irish, joined with The Edge in singing the U2 song “City of Blinding Lights.” The Roots served as the house band. And Springsteen sang “Land of Hopes and Dreams” before turning to the Obamas and saying “I love you.”

Wonder sang “All I Do” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)” before the grand finale, joined by the performers who preceded him.

The VIP crowd included several potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates; civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Al Sharpton; Oprah Winfrey; comedians David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert; actor Tom Hanks; tennis legend Billie Jean King and Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts.

Former world leaders in attendance included former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Event kicked off weekend of celebration

The three-hour invite-only celebration included commentary from a nearby park where thousands gathered, and it was livestreamed to many more. It kicks off a weekend of events as the center opens to the general public on Juneteenth.

“This is not a monument to the Obamas,” said Valerie Jarrett, the Obama Foundation’s chief executive and former Obama top adviser. “This is a tribute to all those who made this journey possible.”

The opening, like the ribbon-cuttings of other presidential libraries over the years, had a heavy focus on accomplishments. This former president also expressed some regrets — such as the increase in political polarization during his two terms. “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better,” Obama said in his final State of the Union.

“Some of the exhibits reflect unfinished business,” Obama said Thursday. “In some cases, my own shortcomings and mistakes.”

General admission tickets for the center are sold out through the end of October. More than a million visitors a year are expected at the nearly 20-acre campus.

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Associated Press writer Mike Catalini contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

Instead, the rollout of Vance’s second book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” has been largely crowded out by something else he’s put his name on: the deal to end the Iran war.

The Republican vice president has embraced the role of chief defender of the agreement he and President Donald Trump signed with Tehran, giving a series of interviews touting it as a success, releasing a video championing it and parrying questions about it during a briefing at the White House.

It’s a striking emergence for a politician who's known for his skepticism of foreign military interventions and who seemed reluctant to speak on the conflict when Trump launched it in February.

The vice president is poised to yoke himself further to the conflict’s outcome, when he’s expected to kick off a new phase of negotiations with Iran — though when that will occur was still up in the air Thursday.

Vance becoming a hype man for the agreement seems to be an all-in gamble that, should he decide to seek the White House in 2028, voters will reward him for being the face of ending an unpopular conflict.

It’s also setting Vance up as the presumptive fall guy should the deal with Iran falter.

Trump joked about such a possibility on Wednesday.

“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit," Trump said. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”

Officials release text of the deal after backlash

Vance on Thursday referred to Trump's comment as a joke and said he wasn't worried. He added: “Look, the entire team has worked very well on this, and we’ve got this thing to a very good place for the American people.”

The White House in a statement called Vance the president's “right-hand man and an invaluable member of the President’s talented national security team.”

"That’s why the Vice President was trusted to lead these negotiations alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said. "What President Trump and his team achieved on the battlefield and at the negotiating table is nothing short of remarkable and will strengthen American security for years to come.”

But backlash, including from conservatives, began growing this week after the U.S. digitally signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Sunday.

Vance spokesman Luke Schroeder said in a statement: “It’s unfortunate that some Republicans are attempting to undermine the President’s efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East and ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.”

Officials gave shifting answers about when they would release the text, but leaked copies of a draft were quickly met with anger and skepticism from Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers, as well as Israel and pro-Israel advocates. Their criticisms included concerns that the deal, meant to open a two-month negotiating period, seemed to offer Iran wins up front while guaranteeing little in return and that Trump’s stated reason for launching the conflict, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, remains unresolved.

Vance has reiterated that Iran must meet its obligations.

In response to the backlash and mounting questions, the U.S. on Wednesday provided the text of the agreement to journalists.

The agreement states that Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously. But beyond stating that the U.S. and Iran will negotiate over Iran's nuclear program, other commitments still need to be worked out.

Criticism on the right persisted after the text was released.

Conservative radio host Erick Erickson, a hawk who has defended the war, said Wednesday: “This is an American surrender.”

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, another potential 2028 presidential candidate, criticized the agreement and said to reporters, “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice.”

Trump's Operation Epic Fury has angered wings of his movement

The conflict, which has stretched into its fourth month, has cleaved Trump’s broad Make America Great Again coalition and angered both those who favored a harder line against Iran and those drawn to Trump’s “America First” foreign policy underscored by a message of “no new wars.”

Critics, including Republicans, have already started pointing fingers in Vance's direction, questioning whether the deal resembles the 2015 nuclear agreement struck by Democratic President Barack Obama and whether this new agreement achieves Trump’s stated objectives for launching the war, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally and Iran hawk, had been skeptical of the agreement and referred to Vance on social media as “the architect of the deal."

After the agreement was released, Graham issued a tepid statement of support, saying, “I see little downside to trying.”

Ben Domenech, The Daily Wire’s opinion editor, said on Fox News that everything he was hearing about the deal “seems bad” and appeared to cast blame on Vance by alluding to his first book, “Hillbilly Elegy."

“Are we going to backslide into being some kind of ‘hillbilly Obama’ kind of GOP?” Domenech said.

GOP allies say Vance can navigate the politics

The Trump administration has not offered formal briefings to Congress on the details of the memorandum, but Vance has quietly started doing outreach to some Republican senators on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, a close ally of Vance's, said the vice president would be able to assuage even critics within his own party who are skeptical of the deal because “JD is just the president’s messenger, and the president’s going to prove them all wrong.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the deal “certainly adds to the national security and geopolitical chops” of Vance, who spent two years as a U.S. senator for Ohio before ascending to the vice presidency.

But Cramer acknowledged the risks if the agreement goes awry.

“I guess the nice thing is, if you’re not the No. 1 person, you can take credit and avoid risk, avoid the criticism, but probably not so easily,” Cramer said.

Vance argues Iran is not a quagmire like the Iraq war

In interviews this week, Vance has sought to speak directly to the skeptics in his party, a preview of the difficult explanations he may be pressed to make as a candidate on the war.

On Megyn Kelly's show, the vice president said the critics “believe Iranian propaganda” about the deal. But he acknowledged some of the frustrations on the hawkish right while trying to reassure the anti-interventionists that the Iran conflict isn't the war in Iraq, where he served as a Marine.

Democrats have stressed that even as Vance becomes the face of the Iran deal, the fate of any administration official who harbors presidential aspirations — particularly hawkish Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has largely been quiet in the agreement's final phases — will be tied to its outcome.

“I think any member of this administration is going to rise or fall on the basis of the Iran war and the handling of the economy,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

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Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.

General. By submitting an entry to the Texas Eats & HOOTERS Instagram sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”), brought to you by KSAT 12 (“Sponsor”) and HOOTERS (the “Co-Sponsor”), entrant acknowledges and agrees that entrant has read, understands, and agrees to be bound by these official Sweepstakes rules (“Official Rules”). By entering the Sweepstakes, entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Official Rules, or the Sweepstakes itself, and agree to be bound by all decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions are binding and final in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Failure to comply with these Official Rules or any Sponsor instructions relating to the Sweepstakes’ Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes.

Eligibility. The Sweepstakes is open only to legal U.S. residents who are a minimum of 21 years of age or older at time of entry and reside in Sponsor’s Designated Market Area, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (“DMA”). Employees of Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, prize suppliers, and any other vendors providing services in connection with this Sweepstakes and members of these employees’ immediate families (spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings and their spouses) and those living in the same household with these employees, are not eligible to enter or win.

How To Enter. The Sweepstakes begins at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 22, 2026 and runs through Friday, June 26, 2026 to 12:00 p.m. (the “Sweepstakes Period”). Sponsor’s time clock will be the official time clock of the Sweepstakes. To enter, you must completely and accurately fill out the Sweepstakes entry form provided on the Sponsor’s Sweepstakes page at https://www.instagram.com/eldereats/?hl=en (“Entry Form”). Eligible Entrants must “like” the post on the IG Account, share the Post on your own Instagram story, save the post, Follow the @hooters and @eldereats Instagram account and comment on the post (collectively, an “Entry”). Each additional comment on the Post will be considered an additional entry. You may enter unlimitedly per person and per email address and per telephone number during the Sweepstakes Period. “Liking” content other than the original Post does not qualify as an Entry. Entrants must be the natural person assigned to any submitted email account by the provider responsible for the assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such email account. Entrant must also be an authorized account holder for any submitted telephone number. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void such entries and that entrant may be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. The use of automated or third-party software or web site to enter and/or play is prohibited. Entries that are inaccurate, incomplete, illegible, or corrupted are void and will be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. If Entry Form permits or requires submission of user-generated content (“UGC”), by entering into the Sweepstakes, entrant represents and warrants as follows: (1) that they created and fully own or have properly licensed all UGC materials or information, can submit such UGC without violating any applicable law, agreement with any third-party, and/or third-party right of any kind (including without limitation any intellectual property, data protection, privacy, or publicity right); and (2) that all UGC entrant hereunder will be true and correct in all respects. UGC may not contain personally identifiable information or other similar sensitive/confidential information of any third-party or content that is offensive, inappropriate, or inconsistent with the Sponsor/Co-Sponsor’s image or the spirit or purpose of the Sweepstakes. By submitting UGC, entrant represents and warrants that all UGC content complies with the User Conduct section of the Sponsor station websites Terms of Use available at https://www.grahammedia.com/terms. UGC may not have been previously published or otherwise made public elsewhere. Furthermore, without limitation on anything set forth herein to the contrary, Sponsor will have the irrevocable, transferable, and fully sublicensable right and license (but not the obligation) to exploit all such UGC in any manner it so elects to promote the Sweepstakes, its business, brand, products, and/or services, throughout the world in perpetuity, and in all media, now or hereafter known. All received entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned except as disclosed in these Official Rules.

Selection of Winners. One (1) potential winner will be selected via random drawing on or around Friday, June 26, 2026, from among all eligible entries received during the Sweepstakes Period.

Odds. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Winner Notification and Verification. Potential winner(s) will be subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. In addition, Sponsor will attempt to notify the potential winner(s) via direct message on the Entry platform (“Notification”). Potential Sweepstakes winner(s) must respond promptly and supply all requested information including full name, email address and telephone number. Potential Sweepstakes winner(s) must completely and accurately execute and return any required affidavit of eligibility, release of liability, publicity release and/or prize acceptance form (“Forms”) within 48 hours of Notification. Potential winners may be required to display a copy of a valid government photo ID in addition to the submission of any Forms. A potential winner may be disqualified and, time permitting, an alternate winner may be selected by random drawing from among all remaining entries if: (1) a potential winner cannot be contacted/does not respond to Sponsors’ first Notification attempt as directed; (2) a winner does not fulfill the eligibility requirements; (3) a winner does not adhere to the Official Rules; (4) a winner does not sign and return the Forms or provide required ID by the deadline set forth above; and/or (5) if the Notification is returned as undeliverable, refused, or declined. A POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNER IS NOT A WINNER UNTIL HIS OR HER ELIGIBILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY THE SPONSOR. Sponsor reserves the right to contact all Sweepstakes entrants using the contact information provided in the Entry Form in connection with the Sweepstakes entry. The official record(s) of entries will remain the property of Sponsor. If a printing, programming, or other error leads to more prize claims than there are prizes provided for in the Official Rules, prize(s) will be awarded in a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received at each prize tier.

Prize(s) One (1) HOOTERS Gift Card. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of each HOOTERS Gift Card: $100. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of all prizes: $100. Unless otherwise stated, subject to winner verification and compliance with these Official Rules, all prizes will be available for pick up at the office of the Sponsor/Administrators (address provided below). Sponsor and Co-Sponsor not responsible for loss, delay, or damage in shipping. There will be no substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent for prizes, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor, which may substitute prizes of comparable value. Limit one prize per person and per household. Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes related to the award of the prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or auctioned. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. All properly claimed prizes will be awarded provided a sufficient number of eligible entries are received, but in no event will Sponsor award more prizes than are provided for in the Official Rules. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded. For tax purposes, the winner of a prize with an ARV of at least $600 will be required to accurately complete and submit IRS Form W-9 to the Sponsor and Sponsor will arrange to issue an IRS Form 1099 MISC to winner reflecting the value of the prize.

Disclaimer and Representations. Each winner assumes all liability for any injuries or damages caused or claimed to be caused by winner’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or the acceptance and/or use of any prize, and releases the Sponsor, Co-Sponsor, Instagram and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, agents, and employees (collectively, “Releasees”), from any such liability. Releasees are not responsible for: the failure of any entry to be received by the Sponsor because of electronic device errors or failures of any kind, internet disruption, telecommunications, network, electronic, telephone or mobile service outages, delays, busy signals, or any equipment malfunctions or other technical difficulties that may prevent the Sponsor from receiving any entry submission; entries that are illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, garbled, delayed by computer transmissions, lost, late or damaged; any injury or damage to the entrant’s or any other person’s electronic device related to or resulting from participation or accessing or downloading any materials related to the Sweepstakes; or any human errors, any inaccurate transcription of entry information, errors in any promotional or marketing materials or errors in these Official Rules. If you choose to enter using your mobile phone, standard message and data rates may apply.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual from participation in the Sweepstakes if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such person: (a) has attempted to tamper with the entry process or other operation of the Sweepstakes; (b) has failed to comply with or has attempted to circumvent these Official Rules; (c) has committed fraud or attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes; or (d) has acted toward Sponsor, any other entity affiliated with the Sweepstakes, or any other entrant in an unfair, inequitable, threatening, disrupting, or harassing manner. If a dispute arises regarding compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may consider, in its sole discretion, data reasonably available to Sponsor through information technology systems in Sponsor’s control, but Sponsor will not be obligated to consider any data or other information collected from any other source. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of such Official Rules. If there is a conflict between any term of these Official Rules and any marketing or entry materials used in connection with the Sweepstakes, the terms of these Official Rules will govern.

Sponsor also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes if an insufficient number of entries are received or if the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including, without limitation, as a result of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failures of any sort, or for any reason beyond Sponsor’s control. If due to circumstances beyond the control of the Sponsor, any event related to the Sweepstakes or prize is delayed, rescheduled, postponed, cancelled or has a change of venue, the Sponsor reserves the right, but is not obligated, to cancel or modify the Sweepstakes. Notice of cancellation or modification of the Sweepstakes will be published on Sponsor’s website. If cancellation occurs prior to Sponsor’s receipt of any entries, Sponsor will not be obligated to award prize(s). If cancellation occurs after Sponsor’s receipt of entries, winner(s) will be selected by random drawing from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to cancellation, provided Sponsor is able to do so.

Sponsor defines “personal information” as any information that identifies you as an individual or is directly linkable to you as an identifiable individual. Entry constitutes (a) permission to share all personal information collected in connection with your participation on the Sweepstakes with business partners, including Co-Sponsors to be used for informational and/or commercial purposes and (b) permission to Sponsor and Co-Sponsors to contact you using this personal information for commercial purposes including advertising and telemarketing. Sponsor is not responsible for the privacy practices of these entities.

Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner’s name, home city and state, likeness and/or voice for commercial purposes including advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation. The winner’s name and city of residence may be posted online and disclosed to those who make a timely request for a winners list.

By accessing these Official Rules or entering the Sweepstakes on ksat.com, you are deemed to agree to be bound by ksat.com‘s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

In Case of Dispute. EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED, ENTRANTS AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THIS PROMOTION, OR PRIZE AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS, AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED BY ENTRANT WITH REGARD TO THIS PROMOTION, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL DAMAGES INCLUDE ATTORNEYS’ FEES, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Sponsor(s) in connection with the Sweepstakes will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of state where the Sponsor is located as set forth below (“State”), without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. The state and federal courts located in the State will be the exclusive forum for any dispute relating to these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes. All entrants and winner(s) agree, by their participation in the Sweepstakes, to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State and waive the right to sweepstakes jurisdiction.

Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.

Winner List. For the name(s) of the winner(s), send request and a self-addressed stamped envelope to Sponsor at 1408 N. St. Mary’s San Antonio, TX 78215. Attn: Winner’s List, or request it online at help.ksat.com . Be sure to specify the name of the sweepstakes for which you are requesting the list of winner(s). Request must be postmarked after Sweepstakes Period and received by Sponsor no later than 60 days after the close of the Sweepstakes Period.

Sponsor/Administrator: KSAT 12, 1408 N. St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78215

Co-Sponsor: HOOTERS, 9802 Ingram Rd, San Antonio, TX 78245

The Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating Moderna's new shot, dubbed mFlusiva, for older Americans ahead of the winter flu season. Moderna is seeking full approval for the vaccine's use in people ages 50 to 64 — along with authorization for use in those 65 and older while it conducts additional testing.

The FDA's independent advisory committee evaluated Moderna's studies of the vaccine and voted unanimously that its benefits appear to outweigh any risks for both age groups. The FDA will consider that recommendation in making a final decision by early August.

Tens of thousands of Americans die from influenza every year, and older adults are among the most vulnerable. There are various types of flu vaccines already available in the U.S., including three specifically recommended for people 65 and older. But vaccines made with the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology are faster to manufacture than other types — something experts say might help if the shape-shifting flu virus mutates in a way that requires suddenly brewing new doses to match.

“Having this technology available puts us in a better position to be prepared for emerging strains in the future,” said Dr. Flor Munoz-Rivas of Texas Children’s Hospital, one of FDA's advisers.

In a study of 40,000 people age 50 and older, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine reduced flu cases by about 27% compared with those given another routinely used vaccine brand. In a smaller study of people 65 and older, Moderna's shot also generated a strong protective immune response compared with a high-dose flu vaccine already recommended for that age group.

Data showing strong immune reactions “were very compelling,” said FDA adviser Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University, adding that "the vaccine looks very promising.”

Moderna’s Dr. Rituparna Das told panelists that the company’s ability to quickly manufacture mRNA vaccines that closely match the latest flu strains could prevent thousands of hospitalizations in older Americans.

Severe flu cases in the U.S. generally rise in years when the flu shot doesn’t closely match the circulating virus. Moderna officials noted that flu strains for each fall's vaccines now are chosen several months earlier than the yearly recipe update for COVID-19 shots that mostly are mRNA-based — and there can be a mismatch if the flu virus mutates after the recipe is made.

At the meeting, FDA vaccine reviewer Dr. Timothy Brennan suggested the agency was open to approving the vaccine for older adults ahead of the coming flu season, despite the need for more information about its use in frail seniors or people with weak immune systems.

If it's approved, Moderna is planning its required next-step study to include 400,000 people 65 and older, half given the mRNA vaccine and the rest given one of today’s special-for-seniors shots. It's supposed to repeat that study for two flu seasons.

Moderna's data showed no major safety issues although the shot did cause some temporary reactions including injection-site pain, fever, headache, tiredness and aches. The latter reactions are common in a variety of vaccines, but occurred somewhat more often than with today's flu shots. The FDA said that's typical of mRNA vaccines.

Those temporary reactions can be a signal that “your immune system is responding,” said Dr. Hayley Gans, a Stanford Medicine pediatrician and FDA adviser who stressed it will be important to explain that to vaccine recipients.

Earlier this year, Moderna’s data was at the center of a highly unusual public dispute as a then-top FDA official blocked the company’s application for its first-of-its-kind shot.

The embattled vaccine chief at the time, Dr. Vinay Prasad, said the company should have compared its shot to a high-dose flu vaccine recommended for seniors rather than a standard-dose brand. It was a sign of FDA’s heightened vaccine scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Moderna challenged that decision, noting that FDA staff had approved that main study’s design and citing a separate, smaller study comparing the mRNA shot with a high-dose vaccine for seniors. Days after the spat, the FDA accepted Moderna’s application.

Moderna also is studying the vaccine in younger adults and plans a separate study in 9- to 17-year-olds this fall.

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

General. By submitting an entry to the Texas Eats & La Panaderia Instagram sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”), brought to you by KSAT 12 (“Sponsor”) and La Panaderia (the “Co-Sponsor”), entrant acknowledges and agrees that entrant has read, understands, and agrees to be bound by these official Sweepstakes rules (“Official Rules”). By entering the Sweepstakes, entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Official Rules, or the Sweepstakes itself, and agree to be bound by all decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions are binding and final in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Failure to comply with these Official Rules or any Sponsor instructions relating to the Sweepstakes’ Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes.

Eligibility. The Sweepstakes is open only to legal U.S. residents who are a minimum of 18 years of age or older at time of entry and reside in Sponsor’s Designated Market Area, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (“DMA”). Employees of Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, prize suppliers, and any other vendors providing services in connection with this Sweepstakes and members of these employees’ immediate families (spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings and their spouses) and those living in the same household with these employees, are not eligible to enter or win.

How To Enter. The Sweepstakes begins at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 19, 2026 and runs through Tuesday, June 23, 2026 to 12:00 p.m. (the “Sweepstakes Period”). Sponsor’s time clock will be the official time clock of the Sweepstakes. To enter, you must completely and accurately fill out the Sweepstakes entry form provided on the Sponsor’s Sweepstakes page at https://www.instagram.com/eldereats/?hl=en (“Entry Form”). Eligible Entrants must “like” the post on the IG Account, share the Post on your own Instagram story, save the post, Follow the @lapanaderia and @eldereats Instagram account and comment on the post (collectively, an “Entry”). Each additional comment on the Post will be considered an additional entry. You may enter unlimitedly per person and per email address and per telephone number during the Sweepstakes Period. “Liking” content other than the original Post does not qualify as an Entry. Entrants must be the natural person assigned to any submitted email account by the provider responsible for the assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such email account. Entrant must also be an authorized account holder for any submitted telephone number. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void such entries and that entrant may be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. The use of automated or third-party software or web site to enter and/or play is prohibited. Entries that are inaccurate, incomplete, illegible, or corrupted are void and will be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor. If Entry Form permits or requires submission of user-generated content (“UGC”), by entering into the Sweepstakes, entrant represents and warrants as follows: (1) that they created and fully own or have properly licensed all UGC materials or information, can submit such UGC without violating any applicable law, agreement with any third-party, and/or third-party right of any kind (including without limitation any intellectual property, data protection, privacy, or publicity right); and (2) that all UGC entrant hereunder will be true and correct in all respects. UGC may not contain personally identifiable information or other similar sensitive/confidential information of any third-party or content that is offensive, inappropriate, or inconsistent with the Sponsor/Co-Sponsor’s image or the spirit or purpose of the Sweepstakes. By submitting UGC, entrant represents and warrants that all UGC content complies with the User Conduct section of the Sponsor station websites Terms of Use available at https://www.grahammedia.com/terms. UGC may not have been previously published or otherwise made public elsewhere. Furthermore, without limitation on anything set forth herein to the contrary, Sponsor will have the irrevocable, transferable, and fully sublicensable right and license (but not the obligation) to exploit all such UGC in any manner it so elects to promote the Sweepstakes, its business, brand, products, and/or services, throughout the world in perpetuity, and in all media, now or hereafter known. All received entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned except as disclosed in these Official Rules.

Selection of Winners. One (1) potential winner will be selected via random drawing on or around Monday, June 22, 2026, from among all eligible entries received during the Sweepstakes Period.

Odds. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Winner Notification and Verification. Potential winner(s) will be subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. In addition, Sponsor will attempt to notify the potential winner(s) via direct message on the Entry platform (“Notification”). Potential Sweepstakes winner(s) must respond promptly and supply all requested information including full name, email address and telephone number. Potential Sweepstakes winner(s) must completely and accurately execute and return any required affidavit of eligibility, release of liability, publicity release and/or prize acceptance form (“Forms”) within 48 hours of Notification. Potential winners may be required to display a copy of a valid government photo ID in addition to the submission of any Forms. A potential winner may be disqualified and, time permitting, an alternate winner may be selected by random drawing from among all remaining entries if: (1) a potential winner cannot be contacted/does not respond to Sponsors’ first Notification attempt as directed; (2) a winner does not fulfill the eligibility requirements; (3) a winner does not adhere to the Official Rules; (4) a winner does not sign and return the Forms or provide required ID by the deadline set forth above; and/or (5) if the Notification is returned as undeliverable, refused, or declined. A POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNER IS NOT A WINNER UNTIL HIS OR HER ELIGIBILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY THE SPONSOR. Sponsor reserves the right to contact all Sweepstakes entrants using the contact information provided in the Entry Form in connection with the Sweepstakes entry. The official record(s) of entries will remain the property of Sponsor. If a printing, programming, or other error leads to more prize claims than there are prizes provided for in the Official Rules, prize(s) will be awarded in a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received at each prize tier.

Prize(s) One (1) La Panaderia Gift Card. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of each La Panaderia Gift Card: $50. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of all prizes: $50. Unless otherwise stated, subject to winner verification and compliance with these Official Rules, all prizes will be available for pick up at the office of the Sponsor/Administrators (address provided below). Sponsor and Co-Sponsor not responsible for loss, delay, or damage in shipping. There will be no substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent for prizes, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor, which may substitute prizes of comparable value. Limit one prize per person and per household. Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes related to the award of the prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or auctioned. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. All properly claimed prizes will be awarded provided a sufficient number of eligible entries are received, but in no event will Sponsor award more prizes than are provided for in the Official Rules. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded. For tax purposes, the winner of a prize with an ARV of at least $600 will be required to accurately complete and submit IRS Form W-9 to the Sponsor and Sponsor will arrange to issue an IRS Form 1099 MISC to winner reflecting the value of the prize.

Disclaimer and Representations. Each winner assumes all liability for any injuries or damages caused or claimed to be caused by winner’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or the acceptance and/or use of any prize, and releases the Sponsor, Co-Sponsor, Instagram and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, agents, and employees (collectively, “Releasees”), from any such liability. Releasees are not responsible for: the failure of any entry to be received by the Sponsor because of electronic device errors or failures of any kind, internet disruption, telecommunications, network, electronic, telephone or mobile service outages, delays, busy signals, or any equipment malfunctions or other technical difficulties that may prevent the Sponsor from receiving any entry submission; entries that are illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, garbled, delayed by computer transmissions, lost, late or damaged; any injury or damage to the entrant’s or any other person’s electronic device related to or resulting from participation or accessing or downloading any materials related to the Sweepstakes; or any human errors, any inaccurate transcription of entry information, errors in any promotional or marketing materials or errors in these Official Rules. If you choose to enter using your mobile phone, standard message and data rates may apply.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual from participation in the Sweepstakes if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such person: (a) has attempted to tamper with the entry process or other operation of the Sweepstakes; (b) has failed to comply with or has attempted to circumvent these Official Rules; (c) has committed fraud or attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes; or (d) has acted toward Sponsor, any other entity affiliated with the Sweepstakes, or any other entrant in an unfair, inequitable, threatening, disrupting, or harassing manner. If a dispute arises regarding compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may consider, in its sole discretion, data reasonably available to Sponsor through information technology systems in Sponsor’s control, but Sponsor will not be obligated to consider any data or other information collected from any other source. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of such Official Rules. If there is a conflict between any term of these Official Rules and any marketing or entry materials used in connection with the Sweepstakes, the terms of these Official Rules will govern.

Sponsor also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes if an insufficient number of entries are received or if the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including, without limitation, as a result of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failures of any sort, or for any reason beyond Sponsor’s control. If due to circumstances beyond the control of the Sponsor, any event related to the Sweepstakes or prize is delayed, rescheduled, postponed, cancelled or has a change of venue, the Sponsor reserves the right, but is not obligated, to cancel or modify the Sweepstakes. Notice of cancellation or modification of the Sweepstakes will be published on Sponsor’s website. If cancellation occurs prior to Sponsor’s receipt of any entries, Sponsor will not be obligated to award prize(s). If cancellation occurs after Sponsor’s receipt of entries, winner(s) will be selected by random drawing from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to cancellation, provided Sponsor is able to do so.

Sponsor defines “personal information” as any information that identifies you as an individual or is directly linkable to you as an identifiable individual. Entry constitutes (a) permission to share all personal information collected in connection with your participation on the Sweepstakes with business partners, including Co-Sponsors to be used for informational and/or commercial purposes and (b) permission to Sponsor and Co-Sponsors to contact you using this personal information for commercial purposes including advertising and telemarketing. Sponsor is not responsible for the privacy practices of these entities.

Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner’s name, home city and state, likeness and/or voice for commercial purposes including advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation. The winner’s name and city of residence may be posted online and disclosed to those who make a timely request for a winners list.

By accessing these Official Rules or entering the Sweepstakes on ksat.com, you are deemed to agree to be bound by ksat.com‘s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

In Case of Dispute. EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED, ENTRANTS AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THIS PROMOTION, OR PRIZE AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS, AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED BY ENTRANT WITH REGARD TO THIS PROMOTION, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL DAMAGES INCLUDE ATTORNEYS’ FEES, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Sponsor(s) in connection with the Sweepstakes will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of state where the Sponsor is located as set forth below (“State”), without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. The state and federal courts located in the State will be the exclusive forum for any dispute relating to these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes. All entrants and winner(s) agree, by their participation in the Sweepstakes, to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State and waive the right to sweepstakes jurisdiction.

Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.

Winner List. For the name(s) of the winner(s), send request and a self-addressed stamped envelope to Sponsor at 1408 N. St. Mary’s San Antonio, TX 78215. Attn: Winner’s List, or request it online at help.ksat.com . Be sure to specify the name of the sweepstakes for which you are requesting the list of winner(s). Request must be postmarked after Sweepstakes Period and received by Sponsor no later than 60 days after the close of the Sweepstakes Period.

Sponsor/Administrator: KSAT 12, 1408 N. St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78215

Co-Sponsor: La Panaderia, 8305 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209

The Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

The bipartisan Protect College Sports Act aims to regulate payments to players, limit them to one free transfer over their careers and create a rule to restrict coaches from changing jobs during a season. It advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee on a 19-9 vote and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

Thursday’s vote came hours after the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten Conference, the two most powerful in college sports, reiterated their position that “revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.” Several senators who voted against it cited concerns raised by the two conferences, which could spell trouble for its chances.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who supported the bill, said he would like to be able to bring it up for a vote in the Senate next month, before the August recess. He said the legislation will "continue to get refined as time goes on.”

“It was a really strong vote coming out of the committee,” Thune said.

The bill takes a step forward

The committee vote advancing the bill followed endorsements from several athletic conferences, the NFL and its players union, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The Olympic committee backed the revised measure after lawmakers added additional protections for women’s and Olympic sports.

“The new agreement also reflects the critical importance of Olympic sports," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the committee, said in opening remarks. “That is a major part of what this bill is about. College athletics is not only football and men’s basketball.”

NCAA President Charlie Baker applauded the Senate action Thursday, saying it was a “powerful statement to the growing bipartisan support for targeted intervention.”

In an interview with AP after the vote, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell — the top-ranking Democrat on the committee — said the vote result felt “pretty darn good.” The legislation is the product of months of negotiations between Cruz and Cantwell as other attempts in Congress to intervene in college sports have failed to advance far.

“This is a big milestone,” Cantwell said.

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz was among the six Democrats who voted with most Republicans in advancing the bill.

“It took me awhile to get there, and I think there's more work to be done,” he said.

Big Ten and SEC aren't on board

The SEC and Big Ten said hours before Thursday’s committee meeting that their “critical revisions have not been accepted.”

Among their concerns, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has argued the bill could invite the very litigation it is intended to prevent. Both conferences have also objected to a provision allowing conferences to pool media rights, saying they are unconvinced it would generate the additional revenue supporters say it could.

“What we did today was say we’re not going to let the most powerful, richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what’s going to happen to 500,000 athletes,” Cantwell said after the committee vote.

Support and opposition for the bill does not fall neatly along party lines, reflecting the national reach of SEC and Big Ten schools and broader divisions in Congress.

While President Donald Trump has backed the bill, multiple Republicans opposed the legislation Thursday, while several Democrat supported it.

Some of the senators who voted against the bill represent states that are home to prominent SEC and Big Ten programs, including Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, and Republican Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

“Universities in Mississippi and around the SEC are concerned that some further progress needs to be made on the media rights,” Wicker told the AP.

Earlier this month, the Congressional Black Caucus also urged the Senate to suspend action on the bill in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that effectively disabled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, a member of the CBC, voted against the legislation Thursday.

A long road ahead

Clearing the committee is just the first step in a long process.

Passage through the Senate is far from guaranteed, as leaders already have a packed schedule and a dwindling number of legislative days left before the November election. The bill would need to clear a 60-vote threshold in the 53-47 Republican-controlled chamber.

The bill will also still need to clear the House. Earlier this year, the House Republican leadership had been working toward a vote on its own college sports bill, known as the SCORE Act, before the Congressional Black Caucus announced its unanimous opposition.

Still, supporters on Thursday called the committee action a massive step forward.

“Today we are proving that we are resilient in keeping this product moving,” Cantwell said.

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AP National Writer Eddie Pells in Southampton, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP's coverage of college sports at https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports.

The federation earlier said the 23-year-old Wahi was not going to be able to travel to Canada, but it issued a statement Thursday stating the necessary authorizations had now been obtained.

Wahi started in Monday's 1-0 win over Ecuador in Philadelphia. The Elephants play Germany on Saturday in Toronto in their second match of the tournament.

Taous Ait, a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration minister, declined to comment on the case, citing a need for authorization from the individual involved.

The French soccer league said Wednesday that an “unusual amount of bets” were placed internationally on Wahi receiving a yellow card during a game on May 17 while playing for Nice. The French league was alerted by partners monitoring betting markets about suspicious betting activity concerning Nice’s home game against Metz, which ended in a 0-0 draw and in which Wahi was shown a yellow card.

The French league said it passed that information to police and gambling authorities, as well as the French soccer federation.

Asked whether Wahi was questioned by police, the Marseille prosecutor's office told The Associated Press “a 23-year-old professional football player, competing in France’s Ligue 1 championship, was arrested on May 29, 2026, as part of their investigation."

The office added “the investigation concerns alleged offenses of organized fraud, organized sports corruption, receiving stolen goods, and money laundering.” The player was questioned while in police custody and was released without being detained.

Wahi’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Ivorian soccer federation said it has not been officially notified “of any judicial or administrative proceedings” concerning Wahi. The soccer body said if “offers its full support to the player and reaffirms its confidence in him.”

“Elye Wahi remains an important member of the Ivory Coast national team," it added.

Wahi joined Nice on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt in January and scored nine goals in 18 games in all competitions, helping the team reach the French Cup final.

The French league season ended May 17. Wahi scored twice less than two weeks later to help Nice stay in the top division, a 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne in the second leg of the promotion-relegation playoffs.

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

Thapelo Maseko’s long range shot late in the match caught the hand of Czech opponent Pavel Sulc in the area.

Mokoena, who was shown on camera with tears rolling down his cheeks during the pre-game national anthem, stepped up to the penalty spot and sent his shot low past Czech Republic goalkeeper Matej Kovar in the 83rd minute.

The South Africa midfielder said he was overwhelmed before kick off, thinking about his late grandfather.

“I know, wherever he is, he would be proud of me," Mokoena said. "I just felt his presence in that moment. I thought if he was here, he would be proud of me because I know he believed in me when nobody believed in me.”

Michal Sadilek had given the Czechs the lead in the sixth minute at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Alexandr Sojka played in Sadilek and he slid a shot past goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

Both teams lost their opening matches, and both knew another setback would seriously hinder their chances of reaching the round of 32.

South Africa faced some strong criticism following its 2-0 loss to World Cup co-host Mexico, which raised the prospect of the country extending its run of never having advanced to the knockout phase of a World Cup — even as host in 2010.

“If we go on like that and if we can make another performance like today I think we have a chance to go in the second round,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said.

South Africa will next face South Korea on Wednesday in Group A, but will be without Mokoena, who is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament.

The Czechs lost to South Korea 2-1 in their opening match and will likely need to beat Mexico in their final game on Wednesday to advance.

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Associated Press writer R.J. Rico contributed to this report.

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

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

Niger’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack in Niamey was foiled and that 20 suspects were arrested along with weapons and ammunition.

Witnesses reported gunfire and explosions during the attack, and an Associated Press journalist saw soldiers searching people on the road to the airport in the aftermath of the violence.

Hours later, the National Civil Aviation Agency said the airport was operating normally.

Niger, led by a military junta since a 2023 coup, has struggled to contain deadly jihadi violence that has battered parts of Africa’s Sahel region, including neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali that are also run by military juntas.

It was the second attack at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey this year, after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a similar attack in January that targeted Niger’s drone assets.

The airport is a strategic hub that hosts a Nigerien air force base as well as the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali joint military force.

The military has beefed up the airport security following the January attack, but jihadis in Niger and the wider region continue to pose serious threats, analysts say.

“The symbolism of the airport as headquarters for AES will drive intent by militants to target it,” said Beverly Ochieng, a senior security analyst at Control Risks, referring to the regional Alliance of Sahel States.

The document, which has not yet been made public, will be submitted Thursday to Cuba’s National Assembly. It envisions expanding opportunities for private enterprise, greater autonomy for municipalities and state-owned companies and measures to attract additional foreign investment, including from Cubans abroad.

In recent days, residents in several Havana neighborhoods staged protests, banging pots and pans as power outages spread across the island.

“Cuba resists heroically and creatively, but has endured for too long a barbaric, undeserved and unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel said late Wednesday in the closing speech of the Communist Party session. The speech was published Thursday.

The announcement comes after months of increasing pressure from the U.S. and high-level talks between the two countries that have included Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro. The U.S. has levied numerous sanctions against Cuba and has indicted Raúl Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of two civilian planes operated by Miami exiles.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said at a White House press briefing that the administration is watching the island's actions to determine how to respond.

“We’re going to see what they do. And obviously, if they do one thing, we’re going to do something,” Vance said. "If they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.”

Pressure from the European Union also ratcheted up Thursday, with lawmakers passing a resolution condemning “the systematic repression” by the Cuban government and demanding “profound economic and political change.” The resolution also called for EU sanctions targeting Díaz-Canel and the leadership of Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. Both have already been sanctioned by the U.S.

Díaz-Canel said the emergency plan and the policy document prepared by the Communist Party’s Central Committee were shaped by the experiences of China and Vietnam, two communist countries that have introduced market-oriented economic reforms while maintaining one-party rule.

The document will be submitted to the National Assembly for debate during a special session that, like the recent party meeting, was convened without prior public notice.

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Seung Min Kim in Washington and Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this story.

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

The expected motion for dismissal of the suit was filed Thursday by the 99th District Court in Lubbock County. That was three days after Texas Tech said he wouldn't play this fall, and exactly a month after Sorsby filed his lawsuit that set off a legal saga that rattled college sports.

That Texas court issued a temporary injunction June 8 that made the transfer quarterback eligible to play even after admitting that he placed bets on his own team while at Indiana as a freshman four years ago. Those were among thousands of impermissible bets he made while in college.

Sorsby had to be ineligible for NCAA play to be able to apply for the NFL's supplemental draft. The submission deadline for that rarely used draft is Monday, and the 22-year-old quarterback tentatively plans to work out for NFL teams on July 10.

The injunction last week by Judge Ken Curry had prevented the NCAA from enforcing its ruling that the quarterback was ineligible to play what would have been his final college season. Sorsby transferred to reigning Big 12 champion Texas Tech in January after the past two seasons at Cincinnati.

Cody Campbell, the billionaire booster who is chairman of the Texas Tech regents, announced in an open letter Monday night that Sorsby would not be part of the team this fall. He wrote that the decision was made with Sorsby and his family, with the draft deadline and ongoing legal process among the key factors.

That letter came on the same day the NCAA and Big 12 Conference had filings in separate courts related to the case.

Sorsby already faced a two-game suspension as part of the temporary injunction. The continued legal wrangling made uncertain what his status could be for Tech's remaining games.

The temporary injunction had cleared the way for Sorsby, after the first two games, to play despite being declared ineligible after he admitted making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. Those included at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the games in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Here, The Associated Press runs you through some of the more compelling — and controversial — backstories from the kit designs on show in soccer’s biggest event, currently taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Cape Verde's flight paths

For its World Cup debut, the smallest nation by population at the tournament is paying homage to the roughly 525,000 inhabitants who live on 10 volcanic islands off the coast of Africa. A geometric, triangular print across its blue (home) and white (away) jerseys represents the network of flight paths that connect the islands. The idea is that the people of Cape Verde are united behind the players at the World Cup — and that togetherness showed as the team held firm to seal an unlikely 0-0 draw with heavily favored Spain in their first match.

Belgium's surrealism

“This is not a jersey,” reads a message on the collar of Belgium's multicolor away shirt. No, the Belgians aren't losing their minds. It's just a nod to the European nation's surrealist heritage — and notably the work of its master in this artistic movement from the early 20th century. Throughout his career, Belgian artist René Magritte questioned the enigmatic relationship of mind and eye, reality and language, writing under “The Treachery of Images” — his iconic painting of a pipe — the words: “Ceci n’est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe).” The light-blue jersey features pink patterns and black detailing, incorporating soccer-inspired motifs such as pitch lines and a ball. “True to the surrealism theme, the kit sparks the imagination and invites conversation,” the Belgian federation says.

Haiti's battle scene

The original jersey submitted by this Caribbean nation included a depiction of the final battle of the Haitian War of Independence in 1803 on its front. In the words of Colombian sportswear manufacturer Saeta, it was a “tribute to the men and women who contribute every day to Haiti’s future.” It didn't go down too well with FIFA, which rejected the image during its approval process, deeming it too political. So an updated blue soccer kit was needed, one that no longer includes the battle artwork.

Argentina's swirling paint technique

The defending World Cup champion is mixing sporting heritage with artistic expression in its jerseys. The home kit — worn by Lionel Messi for his hat trick against Algeria on Tuesday — features three shades of blue on its stripes, an homage to the South American nation's World Cup-winning uniforms from 1978, 1986 and 2022. As for its dark blue away jersey, that's inspired by a traditional painting technique from capital city Buenos Aires — filete porteño — that's used for ornamental design, combining brilliant, swirling colors with specific lettering styles.

France's American connection

France arrived for the World Cup with an away kit that honors a gift the nation famously gave to the United States: the Statue of Liberty. The jersey has a green hue that resembles the oxidized color of the iconic sculpture designed by a Frenchman — Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi — and given to the United States in 1886 as a symbol of French-American friendship. On the jersey is a logo in copper — the original color of the statue — with the words “Nos différences nous unissent” (Our differences unite us).

Iran's endangered Asiatic cheetah

The most striking imagery on Iran's home (white) and away (red) kits is an Asiatic cheetah low across the front. There also are cheetah spots on the sleeves up to the shoulder. The Asiatic cheetah, an equally fast cousin of the African cat, is one of the world’s critically endangered species — one that Iran has long tried to save. There were as many as 400 in the 1990s but the numbers have dwindled to less than an estimated 70 remaining in Iran.

Norway's runic font

Norway's kit might be the sharpest at the World Cup — literally. The font used for the names and numbers of players is inspired by runic writing — characters in several Germanic alphabets used in northern Europe from ancient times until the adoption of the Latin alphabet. The writing is pointy, geometric and easily visible, representing the Norwegian team's desire to embrace its centuries-old history. Flanking the large blue cross across the chest are Viking art patterns in an Urnes style.

Colombia's yellow butterflies

Look closely at Colombia's typically vibrant yellow jersey and you'll notice a burst of butterfly patterns. That's an homage to the classic novel by the nation's Nobel Prize-winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” and the stories that made him literature’s best-known practitioner of magical realism — the blending of the everyday with fantastical elements such as a man trailed by a cloud of yellow butterflies.

Mexico's Aztec calendar

Mexico's home jersey brings back the Aztec calendar design that was popular in the 1990s. In the run-up to the World Cup, the team visited the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and posed for a photo with the uniforms in front of the Aztec “Piedra de Sol” or Stone of the Sun, best known as the Aztec calendar.

Saudi Arabia's architecture

Dotted across Saudi Arabia's dark green home jersey are symmetrical lavender squares or diamond shapes, a tribute to doorway decoration — namely geometric, triangular architecture — commonly seen in homes in the kingdom. Wild lavender flowers fill Saudi's desert landscapes in springtime, so purple is a celebrated color in the nation and regarded as a symbol of generosity.

Brazil's Amazonian frogs

What might immediately jump out when looking at Brazil's navy blue-and-black away jersey made by Nike is a yellow “Jumpman” logo synonymous with Michael Jordan-promoted sportswear. However, more closely linked to Brazilian culture is the color of the kit, inspired by the skin of the poison dart frog found in the Amazon. It's a nod to the danger posed by Brazil, the record five-time world champion.

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This story has been corrected to remove a reference to Haiti as a World Cup debutant. This is Haiti's second World Cup.

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Associated Press writer Luis Andres Henao contributed to this report.

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

A small fly has the potential to impart a big impact on Texas’ beef and agricultural industry.

On June 3, the New World screwworm was detected in a three-week-old calf in Zavala County by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since then, the agency reported more screwworm infestations in Texas.

The fly poses a multibillion-dollar crisis for the state’s cattle industry, which generates $41 billion a year. It could also increase already record-high beef prices nationwide.

It’s unclear how many cases could hit Texas. Nearly 28,000 cases have been detected in Mexico since November 2024, according to Mexican officials.

State and federal officials are working together to stop the northern migration, which they have tracked since 2023. In response to the cases, USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission have ramped up animal surveillance of animals near the confirmed detections by setting up zones around each infestation. Animals are not allowed to leave infested areas without being properly inspected.

Officials are also increasing fly traps, surveillance of wildlife and releasing sterile flies, which are used to break the reproduction cycle of the parasitic screwworm fly.

What is New World Screwworm?

New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that is attracted to living tissue, burrowing their larvae into open wounds. After they hatch, the maggots then feed off that living flesh, causing damage to the animal. If untreated, the damage can even cause the animal to die.

Screwworm can also burrow through openings in the skin, such as the corner of an eye or through the nose.

From a biological standpoint, all mammals are vulnerable to screwworm, including pets and humans. However, livestock and wildlife tend to be the most susceptible because they spend their entire lives outdoors.

Dogs and cats are vulnerable through small wounds or scratches that break the skin. Health officials recommend pets be medicated for fleas and ticks year-round, said Casey Locklear, veterinarian and parasiticides lead for Elanco Animal Health.

“As a pet owner, if you were to notice that your dog or cat had a wound, especially if it’s foul smelling, it’s enlarging, you may actually see the maggots,” Locklear said. “If you see a wound, get treatment early. Whether that’s for yourself or your pet, early treatment is key.”

Read more about the screwworm here.

A century of broken treaties already had spawned distrust of the federal government, and widespread forced assimilation was accelerating. With shifting cultural and social circumstances came declining populations. Survival was hanging in the balance.

Renowned for their masterful beadwork, Lakota women had a strategy.

Incorporating symbols of American patriotism into their work was more than a simple embrace of the stars and stripes. It was an act of quiet resistance that provided an avenue for conserving their values as U.S. policies unraveled their communities.

So with America's 250th birthday come mixed emotions rooted in pain, pride and even patriotism. Native youth are writing essays about what 1776 means to them. Museums are displaying elaborate beadwork as a window into that past, while contemporary Native artists are offering critics in paintings on more modern political struggles.

It's a milestone marking resilience — and a fresh opportunity to look at the nation's history through an unexpected, and perhaps less varnished, lens.

Native Americans and the US have a unique relationship

Curators and tribal scholars say the Native experience cannot be overlooked or minimized when talking about the complex tapestry that is America.

“The United States could not exist without Native history having been here first,” said Aaron Carapella, who is of Cherokee descent and creates maps of Indigenous territories. “There’s so many influences that Native people embedded into the fabric of what we call America.”

A student of history, Carapella finds it unlikely that most of the Founding Fathers would have expected tribes to persist as sovereign entities. Rather, they thought tribes would be absorbed into American society.

Implementation of laws like the 1830 Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson and the 1887 Dawes Act enacted by President Grover Cleveland led to forced relocations through brutal journeys like the Trail of Tears. Land grabs resulted when millions of acres of tribal landholdings were broken up.

Bounties in Minnesota and the Southwest along with militias in California further eroded tribal territories. Then came the boarding schools, where Native children were sent in an effort to erase their connections to culture, language and religion.

It's not ancient history. Tribal leaders say their people are still living with the effects of those policies.

Today, there are 575 tribes with inherent sovereignty recognized by the U.S, with the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina joining the list in December. The government-to-government relationships are unlike arrangements many other countries have with Indigenous populations.

N. Bruce Duthu, chair of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Dartmouth College and a member of the United Houma Nation, has taught and lectured around the globe. He said it’s hard for Indigenous leaders in Bolivia and elsewhere to believe that tribes in the U.S. have been able to build power over the last half-century. It’s an ongoing fight, but Duthu points to successful efforts to influence environmental policies and pass major legislation to hold nontribal citizens accountable for crimes committed in Indian Country.

“The U.S. is routinely at the top of the heap in terms of a country that, despite all the flaws, at least now in the last 50 years or so, seems to have gotten it right,” Duthu said.

There's a deep history of influence

Native influences span from the notions of democracy shared with the Founding Fathers to the warrior ethos exhibited by the fierceness with which tribal nations fought to protect their land — from other tribes, foreign nations and the federal government.

It's not unlike the patriotism many Americans feel today. And for some Native Americans, it's a fundamental part of who they are; they have one of the highest per-capita rates of military service in the country.

At the center of the “Stars, Stripes and First Americans” exhibit at New Mexico’s Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a painting by Kee Yazzie titled Diné Code Talker. The brushstrokes pay homage to the Navajo Code Talkers, who used their language to create an unbreakable code that played a critical role in U.S. victories during World War II.

Danyelle Means, the museum's executive director and a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, said other tribes also had code talkers. That included the Choctaw Nation and Comanche, Kiowa, Hopi, Muscogee, Sioux and Seminole recruits.

“Veterans are a huge part of celebration and ceremony within Native communities and are often revered and have their own societies within these communities,” Means said. “So it is something — that aspect of the U.S. and being a warrior for this country — that is very deep-seated in so many Native communities.”

Influence has permeated art and culture

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., is commemorating the 250th with an installation of two dresses that highlight heritage and Native American servicewomen.

Made a century apart, one is a Lakota beaded dress likely made for a July Fourth celebration and the other is a modern jingle dress worn by members of the Native American Women Warriors that includes a patch honoring Lori Piestewa, who is believed to be the first Native woman killed in combat on foreign soil. The Hopi soldier died from injuries following an ambush in Iraq in 2003.

Those military operations came after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Navajo artist Pauline Thomas called it a scary time, knowing that more Native soldiers would be heading off to war. The 73-year-old created a weaving following 9/11 that is now part of the exhibition in New Mexico.

For Thomas, her weavings mark moments in time, but they're also a way for Navajo customs to live on. Her 12-year-old granddaughter already is winning blue ribbons for her weavings.

“I think it’s very, very important,” Thomas said from her hometown of Naschitti on the Navajo Nation. “I don’t want my people to lose their culture. I want them to learn more about their ancestors, where they came from.”

The way forward has many paths

Jami Powell, curator of Indigenous art at Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art, uses the phrase “colonial entanglements” to describe the complexity of U.S.-tribal relations. She tells her students that things aren't always black and white.

“And it is OK to have feelings of ambivalence around these issues and the difficult histories that led to this current moment,” said Powell, a citizen of the Osage Nation.

The Hood Museum is displaying the work of Native artists as part of its 250th commemoration. Both subversive and pointed, the pieces broaden the conversation and get visitors thinking about the next two centuries, Powell said.

Ensuring Native youth have a voice in that future is a driving force for Tracy Canard Goodluck, executive director of the Center for Native American Youth.

A member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and of Mvskoke Creek heritage, Goodluck said the power of those voices rang loud and clear in essays submitted for a recent competition focused on the 250th. They touched on sovereignty, self-determination and maintaining a connection with land and culture.

“They know who they are, where they come from, their identity, their culture, their history,” Goodluck says, “and we need to create pathways for them to be able to share that with everyone.”

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This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

Civil society groups including a Christian organization joined the challenge, arguing that the ban violates the rights to life, health, dignity and equality, and that such protections should be extended to pregnant girls and women.

The challenge was filed Wednesday in the country’s Constitutional Court.

The Dominican Republic has one of the strictest abortion bans in the region, criminalizing it without exception and regardless of circumstance. Women face up to two years in prison for having an abortion, while doctors or midwives could face five to 20 years.

“My daughter died because she was denied the medical care she needed. No other mother should have to go through this,” Rosa Herminia Hernández said in a statement.

Rosaura Almonte died in 2012 from leukemia while three weeks pregnant. She was 16 years old, according to the court filing.

The challenge seeks that abortions be allowed in rape or incest cases; when the life or health of a woman or girl is in danger; or when a fetus has fatal abnormalities.

“This action seeks something very simple: that no woman or girl should have to choose between her life, her health and the law,” attorney Patricia Santana Nina said in a statement.

At least 67,455 abortions were recorded from 2019 through late 2024 in the public health sector, according to government data. It did not differentiate between spontaneous and induced abortions.

Meanwhile, from June 2017 to October 2022, prosecutors filed 62 criminal cases for abortion and 16 cases for attempted abortion. The Prosecutor General’s Office has stopped publishing such data since November 2022.

“Is it legitimate to maintain a permanent criminal threat against women in medical emergencies solely to legally express a moral stance?” the challenged filed Wednesday stated.

In 2023, a woman with three children, one of whom was product of a rape, had an incomplete and spontaneous abortion while pregnant, according to the challenge. It noted that authorities detained her for 10 days in inhumane conditions despite her condition, adding that she did not receive adequate medical care.

“The woman went to a health center seeking care and ended up being deprived of her freedom,” it stated.

Human rights activists say that it’s often health providers who report women to authorities.

There are no reliable statistics on how many women in the Dominican Republic have died during or after a clandestine abortion.

In 2024, at least 585 girls from 11 to 14 years old became mothers, according to government data. Meanwhile, at least 681 rapes were reported from January to July 2025, with activists noting that unreported cases are much higher.

The challenge noted that the ban worsens existing inequalities: women with resources can seek private medical care in or outside the country, while those who are impoverished face higher health risks and are more exposed to criminal prosecution.

“The women who are persecuted often share conditions of socioeconomic vulnerability, job insecurity, low educational level, or migratory status,” the challenge read.

Now that the department is offloading civil rights enforcement and special education, some parents and advocates warn a process that has largely been stalled since President Donald Trump took office will see only more chaos and roadblocks.

“It’s to the point I don’t even check in anymore with the attorney,” said Nicole May, an Ohio mother. May filed a complaint in spring 2024 with the department’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging her teenage daughter was bullied over her hearing aids and was getting in trouble in class because she couldn’t hear her teachers. More than two years later, the case lacks a resolution.

Under the changes announced Tuesday, the Department of Justice will take over civil rights enforcement in schools, and the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The moves help fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Education Department. Linda McMahon, the education secretary, pitched the changes as a way to get more help to families of kids with disabilities.

Advocates said special education doesn’t belong in a health department, which usually treats disabilities as conditions to manage, instead of differences in how children learn. The top Republican on the Senate education committee agreed, saying he’d pursue legislation to keep special education out of Health and Human Services.

Some families already are taking discrimination cases elsewhere

For many, though, the response to the announcement was a sigh of resignation.

The Education Department’s civil rights office had long been the last resort for parents who believe their child is facing discrimination at school, with a mandate to review all complaints. Under Trump, the backlog of cases has ballooned, and resolutions have dwindled. Increasingly, attorneys say they are turning elsewhere to try to obtain justice for children.

The reaction is a marked change from a year ago, when parents and attorneys were in a panic as Education Department staff and attorneys were slashed.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services has shrunk by roughly a third since 2024, and the Office for Civil Rights is roughly 40% smaller. Meanwhile, in the Department of Justice, the Education Opportunities Section has shrunk by half, according to estimates provided by Justice Connection, a network of department alumni.

“I think a lot of people are mad, but they are like, ‘What are we going to do?’” said Emily Harvey, the co-legal director at Disability Justice, formerly Disability Law Colorado, who has watched her cases languish.

When Trump took office, she had a federal complaint pending, alleging some Colorado schools were illegally rejecting enrollment from kids outside their neighborhood boundaries because they had disabilities. Harvey also has a case pending at the Department of Justice, alleging a district south of Denver restrained and secluded disabled students hundreds of times, even though the practice is supposed to be reserved for emergencies.

“I feel like they’re probably collecting dust on a virtual shelf somewhere,” Harvey said.

In response to the federal backlog, she helped to push for a new state law that expands the types of civil rights cases Colorado education officials can pursue.

States across the U.S. already investigate various special education complaints, including when parents allege schools aren’t following a child’s individualized education program, or IEP. But the Colorado legislation, signed into law in May, allows the state to pursue the types of cases typically handled at the federal level, such as those involving allegations of discrimination and harassment.

Harvey said she didn’t think the federal civil rights office was ever perfect. “But I think it’s become even less help for people who are trying to resolve issues,” said Harvey, who worked as an Education Department civil rights attorney in 2020 and 2021.

Boston-area special education advocate Craig Haller said he’s heard nothing on a complaint he filed early last year with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. Ever since the Trump administration started dismantling the department, he has leaned more on Massachusetts’s state system for resolving special education matters.

He recently used that system to help a student whose high school didn’t take into account his special education plan when it suspended him.

“I got it fixed for my client,” Haller said. But without the federal Office for Civil Rights, “I can’t get it fixed systematically.”

Department workers say the dismantling has made their jobs harder

While only Congress can close the Education Department, McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has signed 10 additional agreements to give department functions to other federal agencies.

So far, those agreements have not reduced the number of employees working on specific programs. But the union that represents department workers says staff have run into issues with equipment and access at their new postings.

“It’s hard to describe how inefficient the implementation of the (agreements) has been,” said Rachel Gittleman, the union’s president.

The Education Department said Wednesday the latest agreements will help the Office for Civil Rights run “more effectively and efficiently.”

“Compliance and enforcement of federal civil rights laws will remain a priority,” the department said in a written statement.

Taken together, the fracturing of programs, enforcement and oversight for disabled students across multiple agencies raised questions of what would fall through the cracks, special education advocates said.

Robyn Linscott, who directs education and family policy at The Arc of the United States, a major disability rights group, recalled attending a three-hour listening session the Education Department hosted in January. Families, educators and advocates described barriers to accessing proper support and services. Although they acknowledged breaks in the system, not a single parent advocated for moving oversight of special education to Health and Human Services.

Still, she isn’t surprised the Trump administration moved the program anyway.

“It has only been 24 hours, but I think we anticipated this move for over a year,” she said on Wednesday.

In Congress, senators from both sides of the aisle said they would try to stop the move to put special education in Health and Human Services.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he would “publicly commit” to working with his Democratic colleague, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, on legislative action that would push the administration to change course. Cassidy, who lost a primary election this spring and has less than six months left in his Senate term, has personal knowledge of the education challenges faced by kids with disabilities: His wife co-founded a network of charter schools for students with dyslexia.

If special education is moved, he said Wednesday, it should go to the Labor Department. That agency, he said, is better positioned to support people with disabilities as they learn and work.

Ultimately, what matters to parents is whether they can get the services their children need, said Rob Harris, an IEP advocate in Colorado. Families spend an inordinate amount of time navigating systems that should be working together to serve children, but often aren’t. Harris has navigated those systems himself: His 19-year-old daughter is blind.

“Families don’t experience the government through organizational charts,” Harris said. “We experience it through the services our children receive.”

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Associated Press writers Bianca Vázquez Toness and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Some experts have warned that this summer's World Cup — co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada — could be the hottest in the tournament's history. In response to concerns about extreme heat, FIFA implemented three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half regardless of temperatures or whether stadiums are enclosed or air conditioned. But some critics say they're interrupting the game's flow and give coaches a chance to shift momentum in their team’s favor, while some scientists have said the breaks are too short to make a significant impact on cooling and rehydration when conditions are sizzling.

“When we look at the three-minute hydration breaks, we're really looking at this as a way to mitigate anything that could potentially lead to an incident or an emergency,” said Joshua L. DeVincenzo with Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.

FIFA's mandatory breaks, regardless of temperatures

FIFA said the mandatory breaks are to “ensure equal conditions for all teams, in all matches,” and the rules draw upon the experiences of past tournaments, including the FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S. last summer when temperatures soared.

Some coaches said the breaks make sense when temperatures are extreme, but they questioned whether they were necessary at every match. The pauses have also been criticized for interrupting the spectacle for fans, with broadcasters cutting to commercials.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said they're making the most of the hydration breaks.

“You can’t get on the field but the players can come near you while drinking water and we can give them instructions,” he said. “We take advantage to try to correct something during the game, it’s something good for the coaches.”

Even highly-trained, elite athletes can get heat stress

Athletes pushing themselves physically in hot and humid conditions risk getting what's called exertional heat illness. It happens when the body gets too hot and is accompanied by significant strain on the heart, nerves, muscles and central nervous systems.

Symptoms include muscle cramps, extreme fatigue, impaired performance, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness, cramping and dehydration.

When internal body temperature exceeds 105 F (40.5 C), athletes might feel confused, aggressive or lose consciousness, said Yuri Hosokawa with the Faculty of Sport Sciences in Japan’s Waseda University, in an email, “all of which are characteristic signs of exertional heat stroke and require immediate medical attention.” She co-signed a letter to FIFA in May urging stricter heat guidelines for player safety, including that cooling breaks be at least six minutes.

Exertional heat stroke is among the leading causes of death in athletes.

Dehydration also exacerbates the risk. Athletes in the heat can sweat 1 to 2 liters (50 to 67 ounces) an hour, and most drink less liquids than they expel. Losing as little as 2% of one's body weight to dehydration can impair physical performance.

Ryan Calsbeek, professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College, said the human body performs better when it’s warmer, but there’s a critical threshold above which that improvement in performance not only stops, but precipitously drops off.

“Your body starts to really fall apart, you lose the ability to cool off fast enough,” he said. “And the physiological mechanisms just break down.” That happens when the wet bulb globe temperature, which includes temperature, humidity, cloud cover and wind, reads above about 95 F (35 C), though some people will be more heat tolerant.

The increased confusion from extreme heat could impact an athlete’s ability to make strategic decisions, he said.

“It’s these marginal differences in performance that I think can determine the outcome of a match,” Calsbeek said. “If you have individuals that do better in extreme conditions, whether it’s extreme heat or high altitude or whatever the case may be, those small differences could play a critical, pivotal role in determining the outcome.”

Hydration breaks should be longer, some experts say

The three-minute mandatory hydration breaks are meant to protect players, and referees, from extreme heat illness and help them maintain their physical performance.

Players can cool off and replenish lost water and salt from sweating.

That could mean putting wet, cold towels on parts of a player's body. If done well, that could reduce their body temperature by about 0.22 F (0.12 C) per minute, said Douglas Casa, CEO of the University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute who also co-signed the letter.

“Some people can tolerate a little more fluids comfortably and then do intense exercise. Some people can’t because it sloshes around in their stomach and they don’t feel super comfortable, so they might not drink as much in such a short period of time,” he added.

In a 2024 study, researchers found that three minutes lowered athletes' core temperature by about 0.72 F (0.4 C) during simulated soccer running in a heat chamber. But this happened in ideal conditions where they drank 350 to 400 milliliters of cold water and draped a cold towel on their shoulders.

Draping ice towels over a player's shoulders can be helpful, but only if they rehydrate as well, said Julien Périard in an email, a study co-author and director of the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise who also signed the letter.

That’s why it’s important the three minutes be well planned, but “even in ideal settings, the breaks can slightly help but will not eliminate the risk of heat illness in response to a rise in core temperature,” he said.

Casa said time dictates the volume of impact, whether from fluid or cooling.

How much time a player needs to recover also varies. “Depending on your body, you might need more or less time. But those kinds of breaks are crucial so that your body isn’t just being forced to keep trying to play catch up... to keep trying to cool you down without any kind of rest or a break,” said Bharat Venkat, director of the Heat Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles.

As our planet gets hotter, mandating hydration breaks and changing where, when and how sports are played will be necessary.

“No matter what sport you play, there’s going to be adjustments that have to be made in the face of climate change, ” he said.

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Tales Azzoni contributed from Guadalajara, Mexico.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

The Office of the Ombudsman’s only investigation opened during its first five months examined whether an academic assistance program violated the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion by censoring conservative speech while encouraging liberal political speech and antisemitic speech, according to the records. The student who filed the complaint alleged he was terminated from his position as a student instructor after raising those concerns with supervisors. The investigation remained ongoing as of June 11.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Brandon Simmons, a former Texas Southern University regent, as the state’s first higher education ombudsman last year. The office is housed within the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Simmons did not respond to questions about his office’s work, including those regarding allegations received or how the office seeks additional information regarding complaints.

In a statement, he said Texas’ college leaders are working to implement new state laws and “enhancing public trust in higher education by eliminating divisive practices and unconstitutional discrimination and ensuring accountability for important personnel and curriculum decisions. The Office of the Ombudsman is their partner and supports them in this important endeavor.”

Simmons’ office deemed 28 complaints as harassing, profane, “obviously fake” or invalid because they lacked a legitimate name or email address. Others involved more substantive disputes but did not lead to investigations.

For example, seven students reported that colleges were reviewing and restricting course content as a result of the new laws or campus leaders’ actions. The ombudsman closed those after concluding they failed to state a claim or lacked specific facts to support the allegation.

Four students complained about what was being taught in class. One alleged a course included DEI; another that critical race theory was being taught. Simmons’ office closed those complaints as well, in some cases noting that course content is generally exempt from the state’s ban on DEI efforts on public colleges.

Faculty complaints focused mostly on grievance procedures and employment disputes, according to the records. The office closed those after noting that they either failed to state a claim or fell outside its authority.

The records do not identify the complainants or the universities or colleges involved.

Simmons’ office began accepting complaints against state colleges or universities through an online form on Jan. 9. The Legislature created the office last year to investigate complaints from students, faculty and staff alleging violations of two Texas laws. Those are Senate Bill 37, which increased state oversight of curriculum, faculty governance and hiring, and Senate Bill 17, which bans DEI offices, programs and training at public colleges.

If Simmons finds a school violated the law and does not fix the problem within a set time, he can recommend that lawmakers bar the university from spending state money until it complies.

The Tribune requested the complaint data Feb. 23, but the ombudsman’s office asked the Texas attorney general to let it withhold the records. The office argued the information could reveal confidential information, interfere with anticipated litigation and expose internal decision-making. The attorney general’s office rejected those arguments and ruled May 15 that the information must be released. The records were provided to The Tribune this week.

Simmons’ annual salary is about $230,000, according to The Tribune’s Government Salaries Explorer. Legislative budget documents projected the office would have four additional employees, including two compliance analysts, a general counsel and a legal assistant. The projected annual cost for the office was about $786,790.

Simmons is expected to testify this summer about his office’s work. The Senate Higher Education Committee is scheduled to meet July 28.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

All outdoor pools will be open six days a week and remain free to the public throughout the summer.

Each location will have a designated weekly closure day that varies by site. Cassiano Pool will remain closed this season due to construction.

Most pools will operate from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., while several locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The pools include:

• Concepcion Pool — 600 East Theo
• Cuellar Pool — 502 S.W. 36th St.
• Dellview Pool — 500 Basswood
• Elmendorf Pool — 235 Shore Drive
• Fairchild Pool — 1214 East Crockett
• Garza Pool — 5800 Hemphill
• Heritage Pool — 1423 South Ellison Drive
• Kennedy Pool — 3299 S.W. 28th St.
• Kingsborough Pool — 350 Felps St.
• Lady Bird Johnson Pool — 10700 Nacogdoches Road
• Lincoln Pool — 2803 East Commerce
• Monterrey Pool — 5919 West Commerce
• New Territories Pool — 9023 Bowen
• Normoyle Pool — 700 Culberson
• Roosevelt Pool — 330 Roosevelt
• San Pedro Springs Pool — 2200 North Flores
• Southcross Pool — 803 West Southcross
• Southside Lions Pool — 3100 Hiawatha
• Spring Time Pool — 6571 Spring Time
• Sunset Hills Pool — 103 Chesswood
• Ward Pool — 435 East Sunshine
• Westwood Pool — 7627 West Military
• Woodlawn Lake Pool — 221 Alexander Ave.

Seasonal schedule and extended programming

The June 20 opening marks the start of the city’s regular summer pool season, which runs through mid-August. The city also opened seven pre-season pools on May 23, which have been operating on weekend schedules.

Select “extended season” pools will remain open beyond mid-August and into September.

In addition to outdoor facilities, the Atanacio Garcia Natatorium remains open year-round. Seven splash pads across the city also opened in March and will remain available daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through October.

Read also:

• Six Flags Fiesta Texas to debut Werewolf Gorge, world’s longest family launch roller coaster
• Hill Country ranch with caves, cliffs and lake will become Texas’ second-largest state park

In a media briefing, Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd’s List, said for the first time in 110 days, ships owned by major companies were crossing the strait after effectively being marooned there since February.

The strait is a critical passageway for the world’s oil and natural gas. Before the war, the waterway off Iran's coast carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. Its closure during the war has created a historic energy crisis.

Lloyd’s List did not say how many ships were transiting through or had passed through the strait as of Thursday. It said tankers controlled by major ship owners Grimaldi Group, Cosco, Knutsen and NYK had passed through the strait. Two Iran-flagged, National Iranian Tanker Company-owned, sanctioned crude oil tankers entered the strait, according to Lloyd’s List.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. Navy lifted its blockade of the strait to allow some ships through Iranian ports.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X that an Italian merchant ship owned by the Grimaldi Group was among the first vessels to transit the strait after the agreement’s signing.

Maritime data and tracking company Kpler said it observed six verified ship crossings on Wednesday and another 11 on Thursday.

Phillip Belcher, marine director of Intertanko, a trade group for global independent tanker owners, said the main central route of the Strait of Hormuz was still closed and has an estimated 80 mines that need to be cleared. But ships have been passing through the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters.

“Those two routes now seem to be fully open,” Belcher said.

However, it will take weeks or months to fully reopen the strait, and the two alternative routes don't have as much capacity as the central passage in the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is like a highway where the road in the middle is closed and you’re using that hard shoulder,” Belcher said. “That’s now being used as the main route. We need to get back to having the highway open.”

Lloyd’s List estimated that 550 merchant ships will need to prepare to exit the Persian Gulf, including 160 tankers, 200 bulk carriers, 60 container ships and 10 vehicle carriers.

The league launched an investigation at the request of the NHL Players’ Association in light of the Edmonton Oilers’ interest in hiring Babcock. The league in a statement said even in the least favorable light, there was no basis to restrict Babcock’s employment.

It was not immediately clear if or when the Oilers would name Babcock coach. They have been looking for a replacement since firing Kris Knoblauch following a first-round playoff exit that came after back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final.

Babcock, 63, has not coached in the NHL since 2019, when he was fired by Toronto 23 games into his fifth season in charge. The Blue Jackets hired him on July 1, 2023, and Babcock resigned in September after his requests for personal photos from players in an attempt to get to know them drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.

A statement from the NHLPA called the allegations very concerning and said, "Moving forward, we expect that Mr. Babcock will uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches.”

The NHL dropped its planned investigation at the time because Babcock stepped down. It got underway this week after the final ended

Babcock coached Detroit to the Stanley Cup in 2008 and has made two other trips to the final, along with guiding Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and ’14.

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

Although the official certification of the primary race is continuing, McDuffie said in a statement that “it is clear that the voters have chosen a different path.” The former member of the D.C. council said he had contacted Lewis George and congratulated her. He thanked his supporters and urged them to continue working for the city.

"The campaign may be over, but the work of building a safer, more affordable, more prosperous city continues.”

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race. Lewis George had a little less than 53% of the vote Thursday morning, which is just a few percentage points above the 50% threshold to avoid ranked choice voting.

The city is scheduled to release preliminary ranked choice voting results on Sunday. AP will call the race before then if it is clear that the ranked choice process will be avoided.

Lewis George has pledged to aggressively stand up to federal intervention into Washington, D.C.’s, affairs, setting up a potential showdown with President Donald Trump over his administration's moves to challenge the city’s limited autonomy.

If the results stand, Lewis George is likely to win November’s general election in the heavily Democratic city. The winner in the general election will replace Muriel Bowser, who decided not to run again after three terms.

Lewis George would join Robert White Jr., who won the Democratic primary for the district’s delegate to Congress, as the top local officials who likely will contend with the federal government’s intentions for the city. They each campaigned on a promise to take a harder line than their predecessors against the Trump administration’s moves on the district, including its deployment of the National Guard on an ongoing, open-ended mission meant to fight crime.

“As mayor, I will work with anyone who makes D.C. safer,” Lewis George told a crowd of cheering supporters Tuesday night, “but I will also stand up to Trump.”

Washington has limited autonomy and federal leaders retain significant control over local affairs, including approval of the budget and laws passed by the D.C. Council.

Trump further encroached on that autonomy last year when he briefly federalized the city’s police force and deployed an ongoing law enforcement surge that included the National Guard. His efforts to downsize the federal government also roiled the capital region, costing thousands of people their jobs. And he has been reshaping the city by renovating storied landmarks and putting his name or image on buildings.

Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist and a member of the D.C. Council, has already come under fire from Trump, who last week threatened to place the city under federal control if she won.

“Maybe we’d take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” he said.

Lewis George, 38, and a third generation Washingtonian, has vowed to overrule an executive order by the city’s police chief permitting local law enforcement to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Lewis George argued the order “hurt the trust of our community.”

She also pledged to use any levers available to her through the city’s home rule compact to resist what she called authoritarian infringements on the district’s local governance.

“We have legal tools we can use to fight back,” she told the AP in an interview before the vote. “And we know that when we have gone to court, we’ve won.”

Bowser found herself walking a fine line between staying in Trump’s good graces and responding to the concerns of constituents, many of whom said she didn’t push back hard enough on Trump’s actions. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the 18-term, 89-year-old delegate to Congress, meanwhile, faced mounting concern from critics who said she wasn’t forcefully pushing back on the Trump administration’s moves against the city.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion. Some areas have reported fuel shortages.

The attack by dozens of drones came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held “an important coordination call” with the presidents of the United States and France and had won key pledges of further support from this week's G7 summit.

“If Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will burn too," Zelenskyy said, adding that the attack was part of Kyiv's effort to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. "It is time to end the aggression, time to end this war.”

Ukrainian attack embarrasses Putin again

The Moscow attack was the latest embarrassment for Putin. Ukrainian drones attacked his hometown of St. Petersburg earlier this month as he welcomed foreign VIPs to his showcase economic forum in the city.

Putin on Thursday was in Kazan, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) east of Moscow, hosting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties with the regional bloc.

Russia’s state-controlled TV channels only briefly mentioned the attack on Moscow. Pro-Kremlin newspapers reported it, with some praising the performance of air defenses while noting that the strike highlighted the need to further strengthen the defensive shield around the capital.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, warned that Moscow would respond by ramping up its strikes.

“Their action will lead to our counteraction and launching harsher blows, with more powerful weapons,” Volodin said in televised remarks.

Some Russian hawks urged the Kremlin to respond with nuclear weapons. Nationalist Konstantin Malofeyev criticized the military for “fighting at half-strength in a gentlemanlike way.”

“War means victory at any cost,” Malofeyev wrote on his Telegram channel, suggesting the use of “the nuclear weapons that our ancestors created and stockpiled while mobilizing the entire country’s strength precisely for this purpose -– to win."

Fires rage at Moscow refinery

Thick, black smoke and occasional flames spewed from the Moscow Oil Refinery amid its red-and-white smokestacks on the southeastern edge of the city, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Kremlin. Sooty, black rain fell on cars, according to local video.

“One of the most popular questions asked by Muscovites this morning is ‘What is going on?’" Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X. "I can answer. Your country started a war of aggression against ours. For years, it has been killing our people. Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it.”

The refinery is one of Russia’s biggest, according to its website, producing more than a third of the Moscow region's fuel. It was last attacked by Ukraine on Tuesday, but officials said that fire was swiftly put out.

Thursday's fire at the refinery was “largely contained,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said hours afterward, adding that remaining hotspots were being extinguished.

As Ukraine pressed its strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure, fuel supplies appeared to be under strain. Gas station chains in multiple regions have introduced restrictions on what drivers could buy. Russian independent news outlet Agentstvo reported that one out of every four gas stations has introduced some kind of restrictions.

Authorities in the capital said in a statement hours after the attack that “supplies of oil products to Moscow and the work of all gas stations in the city continue as normal.”

The attack also temporarily halted flights from four Moscow airports, transport and aviation authorities said. The Russian business daily Kommersant counted more than 500 delayed or canceled flights at the airports, based on their online flight information.

In the greater Moscow region, a drone hit a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky, according to Gov. Andrei Vorobyov. Buildings elsewhere were damaged by drone debris, injuring 17 people, including two children, he added.

Ukraine seeks more help from NATO, EU

“Russia is on the back foot: militarily, economically and politically,” ‪EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas‬ said on X after meeting Thursday with Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. “Now is the time to provide Ukraine with even greater support and to exert even more pressure on Russia to end the war.”

Zelenskyy held talks Thursday in Brussels with NATO and European Union leaders, and the German and Ukrainian defense ministers signed an agreement to jointly develop an air defense system to counter ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy described it as the start of an “anti-ballistic missile coalition” and invited others to join.

Russia has relentlessly struck Ukraine with those types of missiles, which air defenses struggle to counter.

Russia says it downed over 500 Ukrainian drones

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, with almost 200 intercepted as they approached Moscow. That was roughly double the number of drones that Russia launched at Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

“If Putin does not want to end this war and wants to continue it, we will not sit quietly — we will respond,” Zelenskyy said in a voice message to a group chat with journalists.

He has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump, but Putin has refused, and U.S.-led peace efforts have fizzled.

Ukraine disrupts Russian supply lines

Along with pledges of more diplomatic and military help at the G7 summit, Ukraine recently has gained momentum on the battlefield against Russia’s bigger army, thanks to its high-tech drones, Western officials and analysts say. Longer-range drones are choking Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine, in addition to disrupting oil production.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the G7 summit was “very important for Ukraine” because its supporters — crucially including the U.S. — vowed to help it, although he provided no details. The U.S. under Trump has cut back assistance to Ukraine, leaving the Europeans as the biggest suppliers of military and financial aid. Trump and Zelenskyy have had a sometimes strained relationship.

“America is with us on Ukraine, that is very important,” Macron said as he and Trump left the Palace of Versailles near Paris.

In other developments Thursday, Russia struck the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine with two glide bombs that killed a 64-year-old man who was fishing in a river, said Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration. A Russian strike on the central city of Dnipro killed one man and wounded nine, said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.

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

The news emerged as Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, Russian officials said Thursday. A major oil refinery was hit for a second time in a week and commercial flights at Moscow airports were disrupted.

Against the backdrop of conflict, and despite reservations among some European leaders, the EU has been quietly seeking to reopen communications with Moscow even as it doubles down on its support for Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has tried to cut out Europe and Kyiv and negotiate Ukraine’s future with Washington.

“⁠In the past few weeks, brief contacts were made at diplomatic level to open communication channels, but nothing was discussed on substance,” an EU official with knowledge of the approach said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive move. A second official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the matter, confirmed the Russia outreach is taking place but declined to comment further.

“In any future scenario, the EU has specific interests that will need to be defended, therefore it is important to have established diplomatic channels with Russia. The EU is not a mediator. It supports Ukraine in its efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace,” the first official added.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Putin has repeatedly said Europe cannot play any kind of mediation role in settling the conflict but has not ruled out speaking to the EU.

“We have never refused contacts with representatives of the European Union in any format,” he said earlier this month. “We are not rejecting contacts. If they want to talk, they know how to reach us. They can pick up the phone and call. If they want to come, they are welcome to do so. It is not Russia that is refusing engagement.”

The officials said European Council President Antonio Costa “has been coordinating closely with European leaders on possible engagement with Russia and the issues to be discussed when the right moment comes.”

News of the moves came as EU leaders met in Brussels for their summer summit, where Ukraine was high on the agenda. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to address the 27 leaders, who are seeking closer ties with Kyiv.

Leaders of EU countries in the Baltics expressed skepticism about the initiative.

"There has to be someone on the other side willing for peace,'' Latvia’s new Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said. Otherwise, "there's no point for contact.''

Luxemburg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden said that if Europe wants a voice in Ukraine's future, "at some point in time, yes, we need to sit at the table.”

The EU leaders overwhelmingly urged support for Ukraine as they arrived for the summit. On Monday, Ukraine officially opened negotiations to join the EU, launching a process that will require its government to commit to years of political reforms even as it fights the Russian invasion.

The EU outreach to Russia also closely follows this week's meeting of the world's seven leading industrialized nations in the French spa town of Evian-Les-Bains, where Europeans managed to get Trump to join G7 leaders in offering “unwavering support for Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said his country won key pledges of further support from world leaders attending the G7 summit in France, including the United States.

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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.47% from 6.52% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.81%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also came down this week. That average rate fell to 5.81% from 5.84% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.96%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

With inflation still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, officials at the U.S. central bank left the benchmark interest rate where it was on Wednesday. It was the first meeting with new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who replaced Jerome Powell after his eight-year run as the U.S. central bank’s leader.

A number of Fed policymakers said they are actually willing to consider at least one interest rate hike this year.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the conflict between the U.S. and Iran began in late February, disrupting the flow of crude oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That’s sent oil prices sharply higher, helping drive up inflation, bond yields and mortgage rates.

However, earlier this week, the U.S. and Iran came to a tentative agreement to end the war and allow Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and sell its oil freely.

That sent the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note down from 4.53% last week to 4.44% Thursday. It was just 3.97% in late February, before the war broke out.

As recently as late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had slipped just under 6% for the first time since late 2022. It’s hasn’t fallen below that threshold since. Two weeks ago, it climbed to 6.53%, its highest level since Aug. 28.

While average long-term mortgage rates remain lower than they were at this time last year, their mostly upward trajectory and uncertainty over how much higher they may go has kept many would-be homebuyers on the sideline.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes declined in the first three months of the year compared to a year earlier, extending a nationwide housing slump that dates back to 2022 when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales were essentially flat in April, but accelerated in May to their fastest pace since December.

Still, sales of existing U.S. homes continue to hovering close to a 4-million annual pace, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million.

Though mortgage applications fell according to the most recent Mortgage Bankers Association survey, they jumped 10.8% the week before.

Pending home sales also rose last month, an encouraging sign for the housing market heading into the second half of the year after a lackluster spring homebuying season.

WACO — Brian Uptmore, a rancher and auctioneer based just outside of Waco, has had the same routine over the past several years. Every morning, he makes his rounds, feeds his cattle, checks them for respiratory issues and makes other basic health assessments.

Recently, however, he’s added a new step to his routine. These days, he’s paying closer attention to flies.

“It’s not like COVID where we can’t see it,” said Uptmore. “We can handle it. It will just require producers to check on their cattle more often than once every two months.”

Brian Uptmore and Bodie Gist auction off cattle at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

Uptmore’s outlook on the parasitic New World screwworm is in stark contrast to most in the cattle industry. Since new cases of screwworm — once thought to be eradicated 60 years ago — have emerged, many national departments have mobilized to combat the pest, which could cause cataclysmic losses to Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry.

“This is going to lean up the industry, but it’s going to make better cattle managers,” said Uptmore, who is also an auctioneer for West Auction Inc., where 1,500 cattle pass through their doors a week. “This is part of the business. It’s survival of the fittest.”

Brian Uptmore auctions off cattle at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins stood alongside Texas officials at the Knipling Bushland U.S Livestock Insect Research Laboratory and declared “war on New World screwworm,” bringing all available resources into the fight against the parasitic insect.

“South Texas ranchers are the front line of this battle against screwworm,” Rollins said. “We know what the enemy looks like. We now understand what we have to do.”

But a little over 190 miles away, it was all quiet at the Uptmore ranch. The Waco-based rancher proceeded with his regimen of applying topical fly treatments to his cattle, using fly tags and more. To Uptmore, the parasitic larvae are a simple problem to solve for ranchers who are responsible enough to take it on.

Cattle stand in the shade on Brian Uptmore’s ranch in West, Texas on June 12, 2026. Uptmore plans on buying 20 cattle per week and selling 100 a month, keeping each herd separated by age. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

Screwworm is a parasitic fly that targets the wounds of animals and lays its eggs in any openings, leaving the eggs to hatch into maggots and burrow into the animal to feed on living flesh. It is notorious for devastating the cattle and livestock industry, but the fear of this fly is mainly determined by where someone resides in the supply chain.

“To be honest, we personally don’t worry about it,” said Deborah Horner, a worker at West Auction. “Hopefully, it has gotten caught and treated before it reaches here.”

Local, state and federal officials are working to track screwworm cases and containment efforts, including the release of sterile flies to mate with screwworms so they lay unfertilized eggs. Experts, including Rollins, say the screwworm outbreak may continue for at least a few months.

Garrett Rieger, inspector for the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), watches the cattle move through the auction ring at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on June 11, 2026. Rieger’s brother is a state livestock inspector and was temporarily reassigned to South Texas to help monitor New World Screwworm. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

Ranchers and producers are concerned that it’s too late to stop the spread of screwworm, and that inevitable quarantines and loss of cows will cripple the already weakened cattle industry. Despite the grim outlook, cattle sellers and buyers see some positives in the screwworm’s arrival, as improved precautionary measures can only benefit consumers.

“Things like this take out the unprepared and lower quality producers, but what is left is a better product in the end,” Uptmore said.

Brian Uptmore on his ranch in West, Texas on June 12, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

The responsible rancher

While checking a group of cows earlier this month, Robbie Graff, manager of Rock Creek Ranch near La Pryor, Texas, spotted something odd in the navel of his three-day-old calf.

Graff quickly identified that something wasn’t right and contacted state officials. His prompt reaction led to the first confirmed case of New World screwworm in the United States since its eradication more than 50 years ago.

Keeping a constant eye on livestock and acting fast is key to controlling screwworm, Graff. said.

“The calf is completely healed, so the process works if you get everything done quickly. Just be very vigilant, try to check your cattle every day, especially if you have baby calves,” Graff said in a video statement posted by the USDA.

Though screwworm was eradicated in the 1960s, the U.S. experienced a resurgence of the pest from 1972 to 1976. That outbreak infested tens of thousands of cattle across six states, cost tens of millions of dollars to contain and was only defeated after a massive national effort.

Cattle in the holding pen before being moved through the auction ring at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

U.S. producers have not treated livestock for screwworm in more than 40 years, putting the industry’s future on shaky ground. A producer is a broad, industry term for anyone engaged in commercial agriculture production; this can include sheep, bison, cattle and more. A rancher is a type of producer who raises grazing livestock, such as cows.

“Texas livestock producers and all Texans must now be vigilant in their efforts to manage and combat the invasive pest,” Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said in a statement after the first screwworm case was confirmed in Texas.

It’s unclear how many screwworm cases could hit Texas. Nearly 28,000 cases have been detected in Mexico since November 2024, according to Mexican officials.

In response to the cases, USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission have ramped up surveillance of animals near confirmed detections by establishing zones around each infestation. Animals are not allowed to leave infested areas without being properly inspected.

The USDA also announced a potential partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deploy AI-controlled drones, along with other potential strategies to squash screwworm.

The main issue producers face with screwworm, besides the potential loss of cattle, is restricted movement during a quarantine, which can lead to sales losses.

“We still have to make movement; we still have to make commerce; you have to make trade,” Uptmore said. “My concern is how this will affect movement and commerce.”

A buyer’s bid card at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

State and federal officials are encouraging producers to report anyway because any delay can lead to a costly spread of screwworm that affects not just one producer but the entire state.

“If you find a problem, please turn it in, because they are dropping sterile flies within two days of the report, and it has been very effective,” Graff said. “We haven’t had another case on this ranch since they started dropping flies.”

Responsible reporting and cattle management are how Texas producers can protect themselves from this parasitic fly, and those who don’t follow those measures won’t survive, Uptmore said.

“You’ve got to have thick skin to be in this business,” he said. “It’s like a UFC fight. If you aren’t prepared, you are going to lose. But the positives are that those who remain there will be better quality meat and producers with better practices and management.”

Allie and David Reedy check in ranchers and their cattle ahead of Thursday’s livestock sale at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

Checkpoints and precautions

While producers are in a state of unrest over the fate of their cattle, buyers aren’t particularly concerned, given the consistent reassurance from ranchers as well as state and federal officials that there is no risk to the food supply.

“The amount of precautionary measures and checkpoints in place ensures there is no risk. As long as we are providing good quality meat, then the industry will survive,” Uptmore said.

The same day Rollins was touring South Texas telling ranchers the federal government hadn’t forgotten them, a state cattle inspector sat in his seat at West Auction and quietly observed every cow that was presented before the auctioneer.

A worker moves cattle into the auction ring chute at the West Auction barn in West, Texas on June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

“We always have so many eyes on the cows here, it’s just nothing out of the ordinary,” said Heather Stuver, who works the front desk at the cattle auction and has family members who are ranchers. “There are a lot of checkpoints between us.”

In the cattle pens alone, there are over 15 staff members, along with a few dogs, watching every movement to ensure that the cows presented to buyers are safe for breeding or consumption.

Before the cows even reach the cattle pen, they undergo various inspections, including those by the USDA, state authorities and cattle sellers.

To most of the staff who work at the cattle auction, the screwworm is just another pesky fly to deal with in the usual way with sprays, misting, fans and other precautions.

“It’s annoying. Not scary,” said Horner, a staff member at West Auction. “The technology we have today is much better than what we had in the past. I am not as panicked as others.”

Cattle sellers and buyers say the fly damage will occur mainly on ranches where they aren’t doing consistent checks, and any failure there will be caught before it reaches them.

“This issue requires more effort and tracking for all parties, and in the end, we probably will have better cattle from it,” he said. “It’s a serious issue, but not a dealbreaker. They will bounce back.”

Doug Williams rearranges the gates between holding pens to move cattle through the West Auction barn in West, Texas on June 11, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America

Officers responded to a hospital at approximately 4:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of McCullough Avenue after learning the victims were there.

SAPD identified the victims in a preliminary report as a 22-year-old man and a 23-year-old man.

The victims told officers they were driving down the 600 block of West César E. Chávez Boulevard and heard multiple gunshots fired at their vehicle.

Police said the 22-year-old driver first noticed he was wounded and then drove to a local hospital for treatment.

At this time, it’s unclear what led up to the shooting. Officers said both men were receiving medical treatment at a hospital.

Information on a potential suspect is not yet known, according to the report. SAPD said its investigation is ongoing.

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The push to rename the street follows allegations that Chávez sexually assaulted and abused women and girls. The allegations have prompted calls to remove Chavez’s name from streets and public landmarks across the country.

The San Antonio Historic and Design Review Commission voted to recommend changing the name from César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard. Commissioner Gabriel Velasquez was the only person to cast a vote against the name change.

Velasquez was part of the effort decades prior to changing the name from Durango Boulevard to César E. Chávez Boulevard.

“We worked very hard for many years, the César Chávez March for Justice organizing committee,” Velasquez said. “One of the original ambitions was to have a street named after César Chávez, as we were trying to elevate the Civil Rights Movement and the civil right causes in San Antonio.”

Velasquez said he wants the new name to reflect a Mexican American who has made significant contributions, rather than changing the name back to Durango Boulevard.

“What about Gus Garcia, what about Albert Beña,” Velasquez said.

Councilmember Teri Castillo’s office initiated the council consideration request to change the name from César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard.

“With Durango, it does have a lengthy history in the City of San Antonio,” Castillo said. “When you look at the streets surrounding Durango, it’s other Mexican cities within Mexico that are there. It’s Veracruz, Chihuahua, Tampico and many other Mexican cities and states within that corridor.”

The city’s Development Services Department presented information on the potential name change to the HDRC. The department told the commission the change would affect 295 addresses and that the city has sent more than 400 notices to property owners about the potential renaming.

In addition to address updates, the city said it would need to replace street signs and highway signage, bringing the projected total cost of the change to about $305,200.

Questions remain about how the city would fund the work.

“There was funding with last year’s adopted budget for the César Chávez events,” Castillo said. “Since those events did not occur, that funding is available and ideally we would tap into that allocation of funding.”

The proposal is scheduled to be considered by the Planning Commission on June 24. The City Council is expected to make a final decision in August.

“It is a lengthy governance process, but the goal is that we are engaging community every step of the way until council takes official action of renaming César Chávez Boulevard to Durango,” Castillo said.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Should César E. Chávez Boulevard be renamed? City of San Antonio holds listening session

The killing is the latest act which Polish authorities believe could be part of a campaign of Russian sabotage aimed at sowing fear and demoralizing Ukraine's closest allies. Poland, a NATO and European Union member, has in recent years become a place of refuge for political dissidents from Russia and Belarus, as well as Ukrainian war refugees.

“Early this morning, police apprehended a suspect in the murder of a Russian man — a murder that shocked all of Poland,” Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński told a news conference in Warsaw.

He said the suspect is a 36-year-old man who carried a passport belonging to the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia with links to organized crime and crimes committed in Poland dating to 2022. The arrest took place in a hostel housing foreigners in Piastów, near Warsaw, he said.

Robert Kuzovkov, a 44-year-old known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was killed on Monday morning near his home in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska, near the border with Belarus. Prosecutors said the perpetrator fired two shots at him, then shot him three more times at close range before fleeing.

Kuzovkov, who died of gunshot wounds to the head, chest and back, had painted unflattering caricatures of Putin, Kadyrov and other high-ranking Russian officials. One depicts Putin being cradled in the arms of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He had refused offers of protection by Polish authorities.

Polish officials said Russia was under suspicion due to the profile of the victim and the way he was killed, though they stressed that they are still investigating.

“We are treating this case very, very seriously because, frankly, there is reason to suspect that there may have been people who commissioned this potential assassin,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Brussels, where he arrived for a summit on Thursday.

“I do not need to convince anyone that this concern involves the possibility of state-sponsored terrorism. This would not be the first such case in Europe, as Europe has seen incidents of this kind before. However, in Poland it would be the first case of a politically motivated assassination carried out on behalf of a foreign state.”

Since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been accused of trying to assassinate its opponents abroad, including targeting exiled activists in France and Lithuania.

Officials in Germany have also broken up plots targeting the head of a German weapons supplier to Ukraine and a Ukrainian military official.

Polish authorities arrested a man in 2024 in what they said was a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That same year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain, with Russian operatives as the prime suspects.