Officers responded to the shooting around 3:30 a.m. in the 10300 block of Sahara Street, which is located near Isom Road.

SAPD stated the man and his sister were arguing. An officer at the scene told KSAT that the man was allegedly assaulting his sister.

At some point, police said that someone pulled out a gun and the woman’s brother was shot in the upper body.

The woman and her boyfriend, who was also present at the time of the shooting, were later detained for further questioning, SAPD said.

At this time, officers said it’s unclear whether charges will be filed or if the shooting will be considered self-defense.

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

Read also:

• Hondo PD officer fired, SAPD officer suspended after drunken incident at New Mexico ski resort

The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.6%.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P are down 1.81% and 1.85% respectively before the opening bell, and the Nasdaq is down 2.48%. It would be the second consecutive week of losses for the Dow.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week attempted to put a lid on longer-term borrowing costs which have weighed on markets, but the results have been muted.

The Treasury announced Wednesday that it will at least double the size of its planned purchases of longer-term government debt, and Bessent signaled Thursday that the repurchase program could be larger.

The announcement temporarily brought down government bond yields, which have been elevated by concerns about high inflation partly caused by the war in Iran and rising U.S. government debt.

But economists believe the effect on bond yields is temporary. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury was around 4.70%, up from nearly 4.64% on Thursday and back near its level before the Treasury Department’s announcement.

The 30-year Treasury yield was about 5.25%, up from 5.18% on Thursday.

In early trading, SpaceX shares are up less than 1% after nearly 319 million shares held by investors and employees became eligible to trade Thursday.

Bitcoin is on a tear this week and was up more than 5% early. Bitcoin has gained 22% for the week and was trading for $76,935 each on Friday.

In Asia, bond yields also rose. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield, which had been trading near 30-year highs, rose to about 2.88% from around 2.83% on Thursday.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.1% to 10,752.29. France’s CAC 40 was nearly unchanged at 8,454.20. Germany’s DAX rose 0.1% to 26,015.14.

Oil prices are essentially flat as the U.S. stepped up its economic threats toward Iran due to limited progress in talks between Washington and Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.1% to $93.67 a barrel. It was trading at roughly $72 per barrel before the start of the war. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 0.1% to $86.77 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar declined to 158.70 Japanese yen from 159.05 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1702, up from $1.1678.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 66,016.36. Japan on Friday reported that headline inflation rose to 1.9% in July, in part due to higher oil prices resulting from the war with Iran.

South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9% to 6,912.95. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2% to 26,009.46, while the Shanghai Composite index added less than 0.1% to 3,905.20.

San Antonio police and crossing guards say speeding remains the most significant problem in school zones, putting children at risk as they walk and bike to campus.

Getting caught can be expensive. A school zone speeding ticket can cost more than $240 within the city, and more than $360 in Bexar County, officials said.

Crossing guards say they still have close calls even while wearing bright safety vests and using whistles and flashing stop signs.

“While the crossing guard is out in the street … motorists do pass the stop,” said Janet Sanchez, a school crossing guard supervisor with SAPD.

Sanchez said crossing guards have had moments when they were nearly struck by a vehicle.

Sanchez pointed to an incident earlier this week as an example of distracted driving near schools. While speaking with a guard, a driver ran over a cone set up at a crossing zone. She said this is a sign of motorists rushing or not paying attention.

‘The speeders are the teachers in the school zone, and they should be the example to the rest of the motorists around the schools,” she says happens sometimes.

Crossing guards are armed with paper and pen.

“They can take down license plates if the vehicle is speeding. They do write down a license plate number, make and model of the vehicle, the person, male or female, and turn it into the supervisor,” Sanchez said. “The supervisor then turns it into the safe officer, and they follow up on that,” she said.

Police statistics show the problem is widespread. Between August 2025 and May 2026, about 7,000 drivers received citations in school zones, with most tickets issued for speeding, according to SAPD. The next most common violations involved drivers using cellphones, followed by motorists who pass stopped school buses.

The city currently has about 250 crossing guards working around 28 elementary schools, but officials say they are still short staffed. The department is hiring and has 21 openings, with starting pay listed at $18 an hour for about two hours a day.

Sanchez said the job is open to a wide range of applicants.

“Whoever is looking to apply from age 18 to elderly,” she said, noting that crossing guards include grandparents and college students looking for extra pay.

Even Ken Paxton is choosing his words carefully. The Republican Senate nominee, a reliable ally of President Donald Trump, said in a statement that the administration’s plan “is not smart border security,” representing a rare break from the White House.

As bipartisan outrage has exploded in West Texas, numerous top Republicans have hedged on the matter, welcoming this week’s construction pause without entirely breaking from the Trump administration. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, echoing other GOP leaders, said he was glad federal officials were taking a beat “to hear the concerns of local landowners and law enforcement.” And he acknowledged that “the tools needed to secure the border in Big Bend are likewise different than those needed in a dense urban environment,” without explicitly condemning the project.

“It is a huge liability,” said former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican who has been outspoken about the political vulnerability presented by construction in the beloved region. “This issue has become big, really big, and it’s going to become bigger.”

Republicans are already taking a battery of attacks from Democrats, who are bullish on claiming a statewide victory in November’s midterm elections, which would be their first since 1994, and nabbing congressional districts that can upend power dynamics in Congress.

“To be honest with you, we’re in a general election coming up that’s going to be pretty tough,” state Rep. Wes Virdell, one of three GOP state lawmakers to sign a letter asking the governor to step in, said during an interview last week with KXAN News. “If people are watching Republicans not stand up for them down in South Texas, I think we’re going to lose the vote down there.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton, seen during his “Rally in the Valley” in McAllen on July 14, 2026, said in a statement that the Trump administration’s plan “is not smart border security.” Aiden Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune

State Rep. James Talarico discusses common sense border security and how a border wall through Big Bend would impact Texans at a press conference during his “Frontera Tour” in Sanderson on July 13, 2026. Aiden Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune

The race for U.S. Senate is shaping up to be the greatest threat for Republicans, whose nominee, Paxton, will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico of Austin. Polls place the two in a tight race, and Talarico, like many other Democrats, has spent weeks blasting the Trump administration’s plans.

After initially declining to say where he stands, Paxton issued a fresh statement that pushed back on Big Bend construction in starker terms.

“Texans know this stretch of our border better than anyone in Washington. Destroying one of our state’s greatest natural treasures with unnecessary roads and barriers is not smart border security,” the attorney general said. “We must always put Texans first. That means effective enforcement that protects our communities and supports our law enforcement while respecting the unique character of places like Big Bend and leaving our natural resources undisturbed for future generations.”

Changing plans cause confusion

The source of all the anger are plans from the Trump administration to build an access road and vehicle barriers in Big Bend National Park and 30-foot tall barriers on private land outside the park.

Adding to the furor, the plans — consistently shrouded in secrecy — have changed repeatedly with little communication, as some residents and ranchers learned of developments through a government website or when they received letters from U.S. Customs and Border Protection threatening to take their land via eminent domain.

Landowner David Keller, 55, shows a letter he received from Customs and Border Protection requesting access to his property for survey of border wall construction in Redford, Texas, on June 4, 2026. Paul Ratje for The Texas Tribune

The Rio Grande cuts through the desert between the United States and Mexico as seen from an aerial view over Big Bend National Park on May 24, 2026. Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune

Republicans and Democrats alike in West Texas say there is no need for a physical barrier in the area the administration is eyeing out there.

Border Patrol agents are divided by geographic regions called sectors. The Big Bend sector is the largest and quietest. It covers 77 Texas counties and 517 miles of the 1,954-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. That area accounted for just 1.3% of the 237,538 apprehensions recorded across the entire border last fiscal year.

“In other words, we don’t have a problem,” Patterson, the Republican who held statewide office for 12 years until 2015, said. “And we’ve got, so far, a $7.5 billion fix in no-bid contracts.”

Republicans break silence, carefully

In Congress, Texas’ Democrats have been banging the Big Bend drum for months.

The state’s Democratic delegation held a news conference in April to decry U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s wall plans, and signed onto letters to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin opposing the border construction plans in March and again in July. In all cases, the Democrats stood alone.

When U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, attempted to block construction in the park via an amendment to the annual homeland security funding bill, Republicans — including the Texans on the committee — voted in lockstep to block it.

Texas Republicans had opportunities to respond to locals’ concerns, but did not do so — for the most part — until last week, when photos and videos of construction crews arriving in West Texas drew even more attention to the issue.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, seen in Austin during the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Texas Policy Summit on April 8, 2026, has remained quiet about the Trump administration’s latest border wall plans. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune

Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, seen in Canton on Jan. 17, 2026, also has not weighed in on plans to secure the border in the Big Bend region. Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune

House Speaker Dustin Burrows, seen at a Republican rally in Sherman on July 27, 2026, has not publicly commented about border wall plans in the Big Bend region. Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune

Now that Republicans are speaking out, their responses have varied from calculated to pointed to misleading. And two of the president’s most loyal allies in the state have remained quiet: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. House Speaker Dustin Burrows also has not publicly commented. Spokespersons for all three did not respond to inquiries from the Tribune.

Some Republicans have backed the pause in construction announced this week by CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott while he visits with local officials. Among them are Cruz, who broke his silence in a statement to the Tribune, as well as U.S. Reps. Chip Roy, R-Austin, who thanked Scott for the pause, and August Pfluger, R-San Angelo, whose district includes a large swath of West Texas.

Pfluger wrote on social media that “security and conservation are not mutually exclusive” and encouraged CBP to work with local leaders, communities and ranchers regarding new border infrastructure in the region.

Other Republicans have been more explicit in their opposition.

Last month, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, right, seen with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, on Nov. 26, 2024, in Rio Grande City, sent a cease and desist letter to Customs and Border Protection and a federal contractor she said had illegally cleared GLO-owned land in Presidio County. Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

Last month, Dawn Buckingham, who leads the General Land Office, sent a cease and desist letter to CBP and a federal contractor she said had illegally cleared GLO-owned land in Presidio County. In a statement to the Tribune, she said her agency was working with a contractor to “remediate” the land. She said all construction the GLO had identified has since ended.

Buckingham’s office is now surveying state tracts in the area and “conducting a thorough review of relevant titles and deeds to better determine the location and extent of any potential trespass,” she added.

“Our process concerning wall construction will ensure all factors, including our conservation obligations, are carefully considered,” Buckingham said.

CBP officials have repeatedly said there are no plans for a wall in the park. Some Republicans are talking about one, anyway.

Robert Garza, the GOP candidate for House District 74 — which includes the Big Bend region —told the Tribune he opposed a wall there. He will face state Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., a Democrat who has emerged as a leader of the opposition to the project.

“I’m for strong border security, but not a wall through Big Bend,” Garza said. “Big Bend is one of the most beautiful and rugged stretches of the border and its terrain is already one of the toughest natural barriers we have. Technology and manpower will do more there than a physical barrier.”

Comptroller Don Huffines said in a statement that “building a permanent wall through Big Bend National Park is one of the dumbest ideas I’ve heard in a long time.” He also added that he was pleased with the drastic reduction in illegal border crossings.

Gov. Greg Abbott has similarly focused on a wall and took credit for stopping it. Earlier this week, he told reporters that he had spoken with Mullin, who “committed to me that they will not be building a wall or a fence in Big Bend National Park.”

Most of the comments from Republican state leaders are far from a full-throated rebuke of what those in the region see as federal overreach of precious land that will be disrupted by heavy trucks and equipment to install infrastructure meant to address a problem many believe is nonexistent.

And CBP’s pause — lauded by Republicans — has done little to quell worries that eventual construction of any new roads and surveillance technology will destroy the tranquility and land many cherish in the region.

Desert erosion is seen from an aerial view over Big Bend National Park on May 24, 2026. Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune

Protesters shield themselves from the sun with their signs on Aug. 12, 2026. Sarah M. Vasquez for The Texas Tribune

On Tuesday afternoon, Scott, the CBP head, met with one group of local officials — hailing from West Texas to Del Rio — for an hour and a half.

Democratic state Sen. César Blanco, whose district includes the area, told the Tribune after the meeting that Scott acknowledged a need to hear input from locals before proceeding.

Scott told those at the meeting that federal officials hope to make a decision in the coming weeks regarding the temporary pause of construction, according to Blanco. Local electeds suggested to Scott that the administration consider technology — like infrared surveillance — instead of building physical and permanent structures. Blanco said he felt that Scott made a sincere effort to listen.

But the administration’s plans to build on private land, the senator said, “was somewhat not negotiable.”

The kids from Kendall County defeated the Ascension Parish team from Gonzales, Louisiana, 4-1 on Aug. 10 to win the Southwest region, but not without some controversy.

Before Aug. 10, the Little League team from Tulsa, Oklahoma, had already qualified for the Southwest regional title game.

Approximately an hour before the Boerne-Ascension Parish game on Aug. 10, Little League Baseball, Inc. announced that the Tulsa team was disqualified from competition after using an ineligible player. Tulsa’s disqualification meant the Boerne-Ascension Parish game became the de facto regional title game.

After Boerne’s win, a Waco-area district judge granted a temporary restraining order against Little League Baseball, Inc., which included the Tulsa Little League team’s reinstatement into the Southwest regional bracket and championship game.

One day later, on Aug. 11, the same judge dissolved the temporary restraining order, which solidified Boerne’s return to Pennsylvania.

Boerne’s march to a world title begins in earnest Friday afternoon in the team’s first Williamsport, Pennsylvania, game. Boerne will face off against Northwest regional champions — the Soundview Little League team from Tacoma, Washington.

First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Central Time and will air live on ESPN.

More recent coverage of this story on KSAT:

• ‘We don’t crack under pressure’: Boerne Little League confident ahead of LLWS
• Boerne heads to Little League World Series after judge dissolves temporary restraining order

F1 returned from its mid-season break with an intriguing challenge for the drivers Friday, but Antonelli still led the way.

The single practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix was held on a drying, constantly-changing track after rain.

McLaren and Ferrari drivers traded quickest laps before Mercedes' Antonelli beat both rival teams late in the session, going fastest by 0.121 of a second from McLaren's Lando Norris, who won the last race in Hungary on July 26 on a similarly tight and twisty track.

Antonelli's Mercedes teammate George Russell was third and the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fourth and fifth. A day after his new contract at Red Bull through 2030 was confirmed, Verstappen was frustrated in 11th, taking a trip through the gravel as he struggled with the handling.

The 2026 cars and their formidable electrical power have yet to be tried in serious rain as part of a race weekend. That briefly seemed like it would happen in practice as teams started on intermediate tires, but the track soon dried out.

The weather could yet affect qualifying later Friday for Saturday’s sprint race.

The Dutch Grand Prix is a unique race. Here's why it's leaving

Verstappen may have committed to Red Bull on a new contract through 2030, but there's no sign of the Dutch race staying beyond this year.

The 80s rock anthem “The Final Countdown” rang around the venue Thursday as organizers gear up for the sixth and final race since returning to the F1 calendar in 2021.

The race is a privately run operation in a calendar packed with races that boast government backing. Citing “risks and responsibilities,” organizers said in 2024 they'd rather “go out on a high" with two more races and no more.

Something else makes the Dutch Grand Prix stand out, too. Almost all fans attending are barred from driving to the track because the seaside resort town puts strict rules on traffic. Instead, they must take the train from Amsterdam or — in a uniquely Dutch take on F1 — join the tens of thousands riding bikes to Zandvoort.

Lawson and Tsunoda need to learn fast

Liam Lawson only learned on Monday he was being promoted to the main Red Bull team after Isack Hadjar injured his wrist. Lawson has only tried the unfamiliar car on the simulator so far, in a hastily arranged session Wednesday.

Lawson's promotion means Yuki Tsunoda is back on the grid with Racing Bulls. He hasn't raced under the new-for-2026 regulations at all. Given those challenges, Lawson's 14th place in practice — three behind Verstappen — was solid, as was Tsunoda's 17th.

___

See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The crash happened near Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport, approximately 450 miles (725 kilometers) west of Anchorage, Alaska.

“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and Eleventh Air Force, said in a statement.

The radar site is managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center. It’s part of a network of remote radar sites that tracks aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders, the statement from Alaskan Command said.

The statement did not provide details on the specific work the individuals were doing. It referred to the plane involved as a “civilian-contracted aircraft.”

Davis described those on board as “dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment. Our absolute priority right now is providing unwavering support to their families, friends and teammates during this devastating time. We are profoundly grateful for the swift and tireless response of our search and recovery professionals.”

Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief, said earlier Thursday evening that two pilots and six passengers were on board.

The plane, a Cessna 441, had taken off from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and was headed to Cape Newenham, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The crash happened about 12:15 p.m. Thursday west of Cape Newenham.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska posted online that the flight was operated by Security Aviation, an airplane charter company based in Anchorage.

An email was sent to the company Friday morning seeking comment.

“I join Alaskans in offering condolences as we learn of the plane crash in Cape Newenham,” Murkowski posted Thursday night. “I’ve traveled extensively with Security Aviation throughout Alaska, and have met many of their experienced pilots. I appreciate the U.S. Coast Guard, NTSB, Alaska State Troopers, and the Rescue Coordination Center for responding to the site. Alaska is praying for those on board, their loved ones, and the team at Security Aviation.”

Alexis Fuetsch is the reigning Miss Texas USA & she’s from right here in San Antonio. She talks about her local pride & tells us how she’s preparing for the national pageant.

NBA star Jordan Clarkson is riding high off his finals win with the New York Knicks but did you know he’s from the Alamo City. He’s giving back this summer with the JC Cares Charity Golf Invitation. We chat about his mission & the upcoming event.

The summer sun can be tough on your skin & heading back to class with blemishes can make the school year even harder. Simply Tiff’s shares some do’s & don’ts of skin care, so you kiddos can go back with some confidence, and spoiler alert - good skin care is simpler than you may think.

Explore over 50 organic loose leaf teas — thoughtfully sourced, intentionally crafted, ready to ship or pick up locally in San Antonio at The Steeped Leaf. They tell us how a warm cup of tea might be the perfect way to unwind after a chaotic back-to-school week.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier abruptly ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise just before it began Monday. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to support him over the war in Iran.

South Korea's military said the Ulchi Freedom Shield, a command post exercise with the U.S., ended on Friday.

This month's exercise was initially reportedly scheduled to be held in two phases for 11 days in simulation of North Korean attacks — the first part until Friday on defensive operations and the second part until Aug. 27 on counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to the second phase.

South Korea and the U.S. had also planned to hold 14 joint field training exercises during the Ulchi Freedom Shield period. But they've agreed to halve them as well, according to South Korea's military.

North Korea shrugs off Trump's outreach

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, brushed aside Trump’s overture on Wednesday, saying that reducing the duration and size of the drills won't change their “provocative, aggressive nature.”

The next day, North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently following through with its previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.

The U.S. Pacific Command said the events didn't pose an immediate threat to U.S. territory or its allies. The command said the U.S. remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and its allies in the region.

Kim Yo Jong's statement dampened hopes for an early resumption of talks between Trump and Kim Jong Un, whose earlier nuclear diplomacy collapsed in 2019. Kim Jong Un has used the diplomatic stalemate to increase his leverage by modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals and aligning with Russia over its war against Ukraine. Kim Jong Un suggested last year that he won't return to talks unless the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for diplomacy.

Kim Yo Jong still used relatively measured language, avoided typical harsh North Korean rhetoric and touched upon what she called an “excellent” relationship between her brother and Trump. This suggests North Korea doesn't want to completely shut the door for future talks and may seek to win bigger U.S. concessions, such as international recognition as a nuclear state and broad sanctions relief.

More nuclear weapons, Russia ties give North Korea greater leverage

With its supply of ammunition and troops to Russia, North Korea is likely receiving economic and military assistance in return, and its expanding ties with Russia provides it with leverage to ask for greater support from China, its biggest trading partner.

“After this strategic play has run its course, Kim may seek further economic and reputational benefits from Washington,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “But that will probably be after the U.S. midterm elections when Trump is expected to be in a weaker domestic political position and in search of headline-grabbing foreign policies.”

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that Kim Yo Jong's statement showed North Korea's position that a personal relationship between her brother and Trump “can't be a factor that moves current North Korean-U.S. relations.” He said Kim Yo Jong likely aimed to head off speculation that Trump's move can restore diplomacy so as not to fully take the blame when it doesn't happen.

Kim Yo Jong denied Trump’s claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation. When asked by reporters Wednesday if he would be meeting with Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said that “Yeah, I will be.”

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the main military exercises conducted by the U.S. and South Korea annually to enhance their ability to cope with potential North Korean aggression. Its downsizing has caused worries about joint U.S.-South Korean readiness.

Geis’ remains were found by a team made up of local volunteers, according to Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. The expedition was Geis’ first attempt to climb an 8,000-meter (26,247-foot) peak in Pakistan.

Geis, 39, lived in San Antonio, Texas. She announced on social media earlier this year that she was closing her Pilates studio to take “a giant leap of faith into the unknown to see where life goes. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.”

Her family remembered her in a statement earlier this month as “a bright light who was loved deeply by her family and friends.”

The recovery ended a search that began on July 31 after the expedition, led by renowned climber Nirmal Purja, was swept away by an avalanche on Broad Peak.

Purja, a Nepal-born former British Army soldier widely known as Nims Dai, climbed the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record 189 days in 2019, an achievement featured in the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” His record was broken in 2023.

Accidents are common on climbing expeditions in northern Pakistan because of avalanches, falling ice and rock, high altitude and rapidly changing weather.

ORLA — Elected officials and industry leaders warn that Texas is at the “precipice” of running out of underground space to dispose of the nearly 1 billion gallons of wastewater that oil and gas production generates every day in the Permian Basin.

The toxic wastewater, known as produced water, is usually injected underground into disposal wells. But these wells have increased underground pressure, triggering earthquakes and blowouts. Instead of underground injection, the oil industry is now seeking alternatives to treat and reuse produced water.

Industry experts made clear last week, at a legislative hearing in Austin and a conference in Midland, that a lack of disposal space could soon constrain oil production in the Permian Basin.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is developing two permitting programs for re-using treated produced water. The agency began accepting permit applications to discharge the treated wastewater into rivers in 2024 but has yet to issue any permits. The agency released a proposed rule earlier this year to allow treated produced water to be applied on land for irrigation or rangeland restoration.

In public testimony last week, Commissioner Jim Wright of the Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas, emphasized the urgency of providing alternatives to disposal wells.

“Continued delay could restrict oil and gas development across the Permian Basin,” he said during a Texas Senate hearing. “I respectfully urge TCEQ to finalize and issue workable permits as soon as possible.”

While political pressure mounts on the TCEQ to issue permits, pilot projects using treated produced water are ongoing. Researchers are still gathering data to publish more peer-reviewed papers that will inform the permitting programs. Advocates question whether regulators are jumping the gun by drafting permits as research continues on the safety of treated produced water and treatment technologies.

TCEQ declined an interview request from Inside Climate News. The agency did not respond to individual questions regarding the scientific basis of its rulemakings or when the agency anticipates issuing the first permits for produced water discharges, but it provided a statement.

“TCEQ develops permits that are unique and reflect site-specific conditions of a single entity’s proposed activities and the location of the activity,” spokesperson Victoria Cann wrote. “Permits are drafted to ensure compliance with the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards and protective of drinking water, aquatic life, and other existing uses of the receiving waterway.”

Senators hear updates in Austin

TCEQ regulates discharges from numerous municipal and industrial sources. But produced water is an especially complex waste stream.

Fracking companies inject often-toxic chemicals underground to stimulate wells. These fluids return to the surface in produced water, along with extremely salty water that has been trapped for thousands of years in inaccessible underground formations. Among numerous hazardous compounds, produced water may contain bromide, arsenic, strontium, barium, radioactive isotopes and volatile organic compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes.

TCEQ obtained primacy in 2021 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to permit discharges of treated produced water. During the 2025 legislative session, Texas lawmakers transferred authority to permit land application of treated produced water from the Railroad Commission to the TCEQ, which has greater expertise in water quality.

In April, the Texas Produced Water Consortium, a research group funded by the state and based at Texas Tech University, published a report with water quality data from five pilot projects.

The Texas Senate Natural Resources committee met in Austin last week to hear updates from regulators and industry representatives.

Michael Lozano of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association testified that companies could soon run out of disposal space. “We’re at this precipice,” he said. “This is a large volume of water that we don’t have avenues for that we’re trying to rapidly create.”

State Sen. Kevin Sparks, a Republican from Midland and committee chair, stressed a prompt response from the TCEQ when he referred to discharges of treated produced water from treatment plants.

“Obviously, we want to make sure that the work product that comes out at the end of these plants is acceptable,” Sparks, who is also the director of an oil company, said while addressing panelists, including TCEQ Executive Director Kelly Keel. “But timing is a critical issue at this point.”

Not all the speakers recommended moving quickly. During public comments, Julie Range, policy manager for the nonprofit organization Commission Shift, noted that TCEQ has not made public any water quality standards for hazardous compounds in produced water. She added that the public does not have access to much of the data informing the permitting process.

“Let’s not trade one problem for another by hastily allowing unsafe waste fluids into our soils and into our rivers,” she said.

A massive ice maker in the desert

Further west, in the Permian Basin, energy companies aren’t waiting for regulatory certainty to move ahead with treatment technology.

The day before the Senate committee hearing, Texas Pacific Water Resources hosted a ribbon cutting at its new treatment facility outside the small town of Orla. The plant will be able to treat up to 10,000 barrels, or 420,000 gallons, of produced water a day.

The desert sun blazed outside as invitees gathered inside the large warehouse, with red pipes towering over their heads. The plant is deep in the oilfields of Reeves County, near the New Mexico state line.

Texas Pacific Water Resources chose the location, in part, because it lies within a “seismic response area,” where the Railroad Commission has reduced underground injection to limit the risk of earthquakes. Texas Pacific expects demand for produced water treatment to be concentrated in these areas.

The company is using freeze desalination technology to treat the raw produced water, which can be several times saltier than seawater. Adrianne Lopez Billings, who leads research at Texas Pacific Water Resources, described the technology as a “massive ice maker.”

When water molecules freeze, the salts are pushed out and separate into a brine. Of the raw produced water that is treated, about half will be recoverable for reuse. The other half will be brine that still must be disposed of underground.

State Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock, thanked Texas Pacific for its “risk taking” and investment in the technology.

“If they tell me it’s good enough to drink one day, I’ll drink it,” he said. “I’m looking for the first glass.”

Texas Pacific Water Resources is a subsidiary of Texas Pacific Land Corp., one of the largest landowners in the state. Texas Pacific already holds a permit for a pilot project to apply treated produced water onto nearby rangeland. The company recently requested permission to increase the permitted volume of water to 2.73 million gallons per day spread across 102 acres.

Texas Pacific Water Resources submitted a permit application to the TCEQ in 2024 to discharge treated produced water into the nearby Salt Creek, a tributary of the Pecos River. More than two years later, they are still waiting on the permit to be issued. Several other companies have applied to discharge treated produced water into the Pecos River watershed. Lopez Billings, of Texas Pacific Water Resources, said that they have worked on a second draft of the permit with the TCEQ and hope to receive approval by the end of the year.

Lopez Billings partnered with scientists at Texas Tech University to study using treated produced water to irrigate alfalfa at another Texas Pacific facility near Midland. A peer-reviewed paper in the journal Irrigation Science based on that research was published mere days before the recent ribbon cutting, after more than two years of work.

“There is a turnaround time in doing the pilots, gathering the data, submitting it for peer review,” she told Inside Climate News. “I think a lot of that work was really important for TCEQ to take what we were saying as fact. They had to see it in peer-reviewed articles.”

She added that Texas Pacific can also use the treated produced water on-site for internal re-use, in condensers and chillers. She said that is informing their plans to use treated produced water at data centers that are flocking to the Permian Basin.

Challenges remain. Desalination technology is energy intensive. To treat 10,000 barrels a day — a drop in the bucket compared to what the industry hopes to eventually treat — the Orla facility needs 5.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power several thousand homes. They are relying on a mix of line power and micro-turbine generators.

Produced water treatment companies will have to line up alongside data centers and other projects seeking to connect to the electric grid or secure power generation equipment. The energy demand is one reason why treating produced water is still more expensive than the alternative of injecting it underground.

Scientific research continues

The Produced Water Society’s annual conference in Midland drew hundreds of people to two days of panels last week. The status of TCEQ permit applications was a hot topic.

In the words of Brady Murphy, president and CEO of the energy services company TETRA Technologies, the next step is for regulators to “really define what is acceptable to put into the environment.” TETRA Technologies currently treats produced water for reuse in the oilfields.

Those who hoped that remarks from TCEQ Commissioner Catarina Gonzales would clear the uncertainty were likely disappointed. After an extended aside about cowboy boots, Gonzales said she couldn’t speak to specific permit applications for produced water discharge.

“There’s a couple that, I’m told, are pretty close,” she said. “We’re kind of in the final stages of going back and forth with companies. But at this point, I can’t even tell you who those are.”

Robert Crain, executive vice president at Texas Pacific Water Resources, followed Gonzales on the stage. He touched on the status of the company’s permit application with TCEQ to discharge treated produced water into the Salt Creek.

“We want this permit framework to be defensible,” he said. “We don’t want to discharge … bad water.

“But we also have to have a framework that we can meet and that fits in those economic boundaries,” Crain continued. “We can’t have a $100,000-a-month sample fee. We need to do all the homework, we need to do all the legwork.”

His comments hinted at the tension between regulatory rigor and economic feasibility. Pilot studies and academic research on produced water have included wide-ranging water testing methods, including non-targeted analysis and “whole effluent toxicity.” Researchers have looked for hundreds of constituents that may be in the waste stream. But this battery of tests is expensive and can only be completed at certain labs.

TCEQ has not publicly disclosed what ongoing monitoring will be required of treated produced water and the frequency of testing. Companies could push back on testing requirements that they consider too costly or onerous, as indicated by Crain’s comments.

While many industry leaders are bullish on the prospects for treating produced water to use outside the oilfields, researchers have called for more scientific study.

Authors of the recent peer-reviewed paper in Irrigation Science wrote that their findings suggest that irrigating alfalfa with treated produced water “has the potential” to supplement existing irrigation resources. But the authors wrote that results should be considered preliminary because the study was limited to a single growing season. The authors recommended multi-year studies to evaluate cumulative effects of continuous irrigation with treated produced water.

Another study published in July in Separation and Purification Technology sought to address “knowledge gaps” in the literature. The authors wrote that short-term laboratory or bench-scale experiments conducted to date “do not adequately capture the operational variability or long-term reliability of treatment technologies under real-world conditions.” They also noted a “lack of comprehensive water quality characterization and toxicity studies for PW treatment.”

The Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, which is a member of the Texas Produced Water Research Consortium, wrote earlier this year that additional research is needed to determine what level of treatment is necessary, what water quality standards should apply and how treated produced water may affect the environment and public health over the long-term.

“Writing the regulations before robust research can inform them is unreasonable,” the group wrote.

These ongoing questions have fueled public concern over the use of treated produced water outside the oilfields. TCEQ received nearly 450 comments on the proposed land application rule earlier this year. An analysis by the organization Future Heist found that over two-thirds of commenters opposed the draft rule.

Disclosure: Permian Basin Petroleum Association, Sierra Club – Lone Star Chapter and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

• HEAT INDEX 105°+: High near 102° + slightly higher humidity today
• HOTTEST DAY SATURDAY: Saturday could bring hottest temps yet
• VERY SMALL RAIN CHANCE: Mainly north of SA on Saturday
• DROUGHT MAKING COMEBACK: Drought rapidly returning

FORECAST

HEAT INDEX 105°+ TODAY

Yesterday saw temps peak at 102°, while the heat index reached 105°. Today will play out very similarly. Slightly higher humidity could allow the heat index to exceed 105° for a few hours. Heat advisories remain in place.

SATURDAY SCRIMMAGES

Saturday could be our hottest day of all. Temperatures are forecast to reach 103°. Thankfully, humidity values drop slightly in the afternoon, keeping heat index values in check. That said, several area schools will be having football scrimmages. Heat safety will be imperative for any outdoor activities.

VERY SMALL RAIN CHANCE SATURDAY AFTERNOON

A weak front could stir up a storm or two mainly north of San Antonio Saturday afternoon. A pop-up downpour can’t be ruled out, however the rain chance sits at only 10%.

DROUGHT MAKES COMEBACK

The drought monitor is revealing that any gains we made in July are quickly getting erased by this hot, dry stretch. Moderate drought has returned to a large portion of our area.

QUICK WEATHER LINKS

• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
• Hourly and 10-Day Forecast
• Download FREE KSAT Weather Authority App: Up-to-date forecast information and livestreams from trusted local meteorologists.
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Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged in 2021 with inciting subversion under a China-imposed national security law that has effectively crushed the city’s previously thriving pro-democracy movement. They face a maximum prison term of 10 years. The alliance was also found guilty.

The three judges ruled that the alliance’s call to “end one-party dictatorship” did not aim to demand that the ruling Communist Party return to the system of multiparty cooperation under the constitution, but to end its leadership status under the constitution. They said the “end” in the phrase carried the meaning of “overthrowing” and “undermining.”

In the verdict, they wrote that the defendants persisted in the call after the law's introduction, neglecting that it was in breach of the constitution, which states the party's leadership is a defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. That falls within “other unlawful means” under the security law, the judges said.

The defendants “intentionally encouraged supporters of the alliance to wait for the right time to carry out the goal to ‘end one-party dictatorship’ by unlawful means,” they said.

The judges insisted they were not tried because of their political views.

Lee and Chow smiled and waved at the public gallery before they left the courtroom. They are expected to be sentenced at a later date. They will plead for lesser sentences next week, one of the judges said.

Observers say the trial is a barometer for Hong Kong’s civil rights

The verdict is among the latest involving Hong Kong’s once-vibrant pro-democracy movement, which has largely been dismantled after the security law's introduction in 2020.

For decades, Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigil was the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen crackdown and attracted tens of thousands of people annually. The crackdown remains a political taboo on the mainland, where authorities tightly censor discussion of the events and prohibit public commemorations.

Hong Kong’s greater political freedoms, granted under Beijing’s “one country, two systems” governing framework, allowed the vigil to keep the memories alive, until authorities banned it during the coronavirus pandemic.

Observers said their trial symbolized the erosion of freedom of expression in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the infrastructure of remembrance has been criminalized and dismantled. He said every actor in Hong Kong civil society who assumed that renouncing violence and working within the law would be fine has to revise that assumption.

“Moderation of method offers no protection if the objective itself is held to be unconstitutional,” he said.

During the trial, Lee told the court that their call was not about ending the party’s leadership but about moving toward democracy, letting the people decide who leads them, and that the Communist Party should not enforce “dictatorship.”

In a Patreon post Thursday, Chow recalled being shackled in handcuffs, and in waist and ankle chains, for trips to court from prison, saying she was walked by correctional service officers “like a dog."

“Justice lives in the hearts of the people. There is no need to look up to this kind of top-down ruling, and one verdict doesn’t matter much,” she said.

When the trial began in January, codefendant Albert Ho pleaded guilty, which typically could result in a reduced sentence. He will also plead for a lesser sentence next week.

Supporters cast doubt on allegations

After the conviction, Lee’s wife, Elizabeth Tang, told reporters she was disappointed and angry about the result even though it was within her expectations. She insisted Lee was innocent.

“I feel it's unfair. I feel the judges did not consider our lawyers' opinions and materials,” she said, adding that they would decide whether to appeal later.

Chow's mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, said she hoped the “environment can be a little healthier."

“Flowers and plants of all colors can bloom,” she said.

Dozens of people lined up outside the court under drizzling rain ahead of the hearing.

Tang Ngok-kwan, a former alliance member, said police wouldn't let him join the line if he insisted on bringing along “sensitive” materials, including bookmarks printed with “vindicate June 4.” The date is the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. He decided not to go into the court.

Former vigil goer Margaret Chan, who joined the queue at 6 a.m., said the alliance’s name carried the word “patriotic.”

“Everyone is patriotic. How to incite? Incite others to be patriotic?” she said.

Hong Kong authorities defend the verdict

Hong Kong leader John Lee said the alliance has long deliberately planted seeds of hatred against the party and the central government in society, and their acts endangered national security.

Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police's national security department, said the case would help with future law enforcement.

“It also lets the public know that it is not that one cannot criticize, or cannot do anything at all. It is simply that there must be no incitement, and no subversion of state power," he said.

Rosie Winterton, the minister for the Indo-Pacific region at the U.K. Foreign Office, said the verdict is a further demonstration that even peaceful acts of remembrance in Hong Kong are now treated by the authorities as threats to national security.

Hundreds of people, and possibly thousands, were killed in the 1989 crackdown as military tanks rolled into the center of Beijing. The Tiananmen Square crackdown was a pivotal moment in China’s modern history, showing that the market reform that transformed the country into the world’s second-largest economy would not be coupled with political liberalization.

After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the former vigil site in Hong Kong was occupied instead by a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups.

Beijing said the 2020 security law was necessary for the city’s stability. Many leading activists have been jailed under the same law, including pro-democracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Under the drastic political changes, dozens of civil society groups also dissolved, including the Hong Kong alliance.

“We have virtually given up on many things,” said Ahmad Karimi, 52, a taxi driver and father of two who has been working 15-hour days to make ends meet. “We’re cutting out fruit, we’re cutting out protein, we’ve given up leisure, we even work on weekends."

Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is taking a beating under the force of sanctions and a naval blockade that is making it extremely difficult for the country to export oil, its most valuable product.

Whether this intensifying economic pressure will translate anytime soon into military or political concessions from Iran remains to be seen — but some experts are skeptical. Since the war began, Iran has been attacking oil-rich neighbors and U.S. bases in the region, and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, its biggest strategic advantage.

Iran is trying to use this retaliatory pressure — which is driving up energy prices globally — to bring the war to an end on the best terms possible. It is pressing for sanctions relief, and seeking enough control over the strait to demand payment from ships passing through to deliver energy and other goods.

The Trump administration — which is stuck fighting over a waterway in a war that was launched to curb Iran's nuclear program — is now promising to deliver even tougher sanctions to try to squeeze the Islamic Republic into submission. But experts say U.S. President Donald Trump may be underestimating how long Iran can hold out.

Iran has been subject to Western sanctions for years and has become deft at partially circumventing them. It has expanded domestic production, used informal cross-border trade networks, bought restricted goods through third countries, and used a shadow fleet to transport its oil.

“Iran’s resistance capacity not only avoids collapse, it also prevents the economic pain from translating into the political pressure and changes that the U.S. expects,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an expert on Iran’s economy at Brandeis University.

Iran's economic strains carry an ‘emotional toll’

Tehran’s sprawling Grand Bazaar is regularly packed with shoppers hoping to find more affordable staples than at the country’s grocery stores, where rice is 60% more expensive and beef is 150% more expensive than before the war.

A mother of two from northern Iran posted a photo on X this week after purchasing milk, eggs, toilet paper and a few other items, but no meat. She complained that it cost 89 million rials (about $65).

“Buying basic necessities has become our main priority, and our shopping basket has gotten smaller and more limited,” the 41-year-old told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

“The emotional toll and the pressure we’re under are another story," she said. "Every time we have to say no to our children, every time we have to go back and forth over a decision, whether it’s a class you’d love your children to take or something they really want you to buy for them, it’s genuinely exhausting.”

By the end of the year, inflation in Iran is expected to rise nearly 70%, according to the International Monetary Fund, and the country's economy — devastated by a decade of sanctions before the war — is forecast to shrink by more than 5%.

While gasoline has remained cheap thanks to government subsidies, even that might not last forever as supplies get tighter. A presidential aide told Iranian state television last week that the country is now using more gasoline each day than it produces and may need to raise prices — something that in the past has led to widespread protests.

Iranians turn some anger toward countries behind sanctions

Iran's theocratic leaders were already facing economic discontent before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28. Protests had spread across the country at the beginning of the year before they were violently put down, with thousands killed and tens of thousands believed to have been arrested.

Many Iranians have now turned at least some of their economic frustrations toward the countries behind the sanctions and the attacks that have destroyed factories and critical infrastructure and killed scores of civilians, said Hassan Golmoradi, a Tehran-based economist.

“Despite the hardships and difficulties, they have shown considerable patience in putting up with the resulting economic pressures,” Golmoradi said.

Iran’s leaders have said it is a treasonous offense — punishable by death — to take part in anti-government protests.

“They do suffer, but they do not think that by joining violent protests they can achieve something for themselves and their families,” said Mohammad Farzanegan, a professor of Middle Eastern economics at the University of Marburg in Germany.

Trump is threatening tougher sanctions

On Wednesday, Trump vowed on social media to unleash against Iran the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.” He also threatened secondary sanctions on nations and companies that continue to do business with Iran.

The United Arab Emirates, which for years had enabled Iran to circumvent sanctions and receive goods from other countries, announced this week it was suspending all trade with Tehran. Trump had called the leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the day before the announcement.

With the economic struggles, the elected government of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said it favors a negotiated end to the war. “What concerns us is people’s livelihoods and their economic situation, and we are doing everything we can to deal with it,” he told reporters last week.

But the most powerful force in Iran remains the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has only become stronger after withstanding U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that killed Iran’s top leaders during the war's opening salvos. The Guard is pressing for greater concessions from the U.S., including Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz and financial compensation for the war.

With negotiations to end the war stalled, Iran’s hard-liners believe their country can endure the conflict’s economic pressures longer than their adversaries.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, this month appointed a former Revolutionary Guard commander to head Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, a sign that he favors the hard-line approach.

A taxi driver says something has to give

Official government statistics put Iran’s unemployment rate at 9.1%, though state-affiliated media outlets have said the real figure is most likely many times higher. A Labor Ministry official said last week that by late May, just three months into the war, more than 1 million jobs had been lost.

In a sign that Iran's leaders are at least somewhat concerned about public opinion, the government has refrained from enforcing mandatory hijab regulations as harshly as it had been — a social freedom that has long been sought by many.

But these days many Iranians are focused on how their lifestyles are restricted economically.

Karimi, the taxi driver, said Iran’s leaders will need to do something soon to alleviate the financial pressures he and others are feeling.

“The people won’t be able to continue living like this,” he said. “We’re simply breathing, surviving, and trying to make it from one day to the next.”

___

Rising reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The 30-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, learned on Friday that prosecutors intend to try him for a second time on the charges.

Barrientos underwent an eight-day trial for the same alleged attack last month in the District Court of Western Australia state in Perth.

A jury found him guilty on two charges that he had assaulted the woman, then aged 20, occasioning bodily harm in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

The jury also found him not guilty of choking her and not guilty of three of six charges of rape.

The jury could not reach majority verdicts of at least 10 out of 12 jurors on the remaining three rape charges.

Prosecutor Danielle Clarke told Judge Linda Black that the alleged victim, who cannot be identified, was willing to testify again at a retrial.

Black was the original trial judge. She told defense and prosecution lawyers on Friday to consider whether they want a new judge to hear the retrial and whether the proceedings should be heard by a jury or by a judge alone.

The Colombian-born entertainer will be sentenced for the assault convictions after his retrial. No date for the trial has been set.

Barrientos has been free on bail since he was charged and was allowed to return to Britain for several months.

He said nothing to reporters as he left the court on Friday.

Barrientos had been touring Australia and had already performed in Sydney and Melbourne before he encountered his victim in Perth. He was arrested several days later in the east coast city of Brisbane, where the tour was to end.

Prosecutors alleged the woman initially agreed to have sex but withdrew her consent because she feared for her safety.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Restoring alcohol sales a sticking point

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robert Bothwell, a professor emeritus of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said Kinew’s criticism reflects a broader Canadian view of Trump. “Kinew speaks for Canada,” Bothwell said. “The majority of the Canadian people hates Trump.”

Reese was 9-for-9 from the field, hitting two 3-pointers, for 20 points and had 10 rebounds and eight assists for her WNBA-leading 25th double-double of the season. She had 18 points in the first half.

Reese set a Dream record for field goals without a miss and became the third player in WNBA history with a 20-point double-double on 100% shooting. She's four shy of Alyssa Thomas’ WNBA double-double record of 28 set in 2023.

In addition, she had three offensive rebounds in the first half to break her own WNBA season record of 172 set in 2024.

Rhyne Howard added 26 points and five 3-pointers for Atlanta (23-13), which has won eight straight in the series with Los Angeles. Naz Hillmon had 14 points and Allisha Gray 13.

Cameron Brink scored 14 points off the bench for Los Angeles (12-24), which was eliminated from playoff contention. Rae Burrell added 12 and Nneka Ogwumike had 11.

The Dream led by 42 points and reached the 100-point mark with 8:10 left.

Play was briefly interrupted with 2:59 left in the third quarter after a sex toy was thrown on the court near where Jihyun Park was about to attempt a free throw for Los Angeles.

Up next

Dream: At Phoenix on Saturday.

Sparks: Host Connecticut on Saturday.

___

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Árpád Selmeci said navigating even a small fishing boat on Hungary's third-largest lake is becoming increasingly difficult as the water level has ebbed to around 20 centimeters (8 inches), well below the 150 centimeters (5 feet) optimal for August. Swimming beaches across the lake, once popular with tourists, have been closed.

Lake Velence’s decline is part of a broader water crisis confronting Hungary as increasingly prolonged droughts and climate change-driven heat waves have pummeled Europe.

“I've lived on Lake Velence since I was a child, and I've never seen the water so low," said Selmeci, 58. "It's terrible. My heart aches every single moment.”

This summer, wildfires scorched the continent from the United Kingdom to Greece, while in Hungary, drought has damaged crop yields, led to drinking water shortages and threatened to shut down the country's only nuclear power plant.

Yet the lack of rainfall linked to human-driven climate change is only part of Hungary's water problem. Experts say the country's long-standing practice of channeling water away from its landscape and draining natural wetlands has left it especially vulnerable as droughts become more frequent and severe.

A legacy of draining away water

Around 99% of Hungary’s lands are currently under severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the national meteorological service, and desertification, a process where vegetation recedes because of high heat and low rainfall, threatens much of the Great Hungarian Plain.

Yet more than a quarter of Hungary consists of low-lying land that naturally retains precipitation, and in past centuries its many rivers and streams made it rich in freshwater resources. However, a 2023 study published in the journal Nature estimated Hungary’s historical wetland loss at more than 80%.

Zsuzsanna Ujj, a biodiversity policy specialist and project coordinator with environmental group Friends of the Earth Hungary, said the country “has not been a good steward of its waters in the last 200 years.”

A major contributor is Hungary's network of more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of drainage canals — a length that exceeds the circumference of the Earth — which drain accumulated precipitation from fields, wetlands and the soil to make room for agriculture and other enterprises.

The priority on draining land rather than allowing natural flooding cycles to occur has contributed to a consistent drop in the water table and the drying out of wetlands and topsoil. With less water available to evaporate, the air dries out, further reducing the chances of localized precipitation.

Ujj said that Hungary — which is among the most drought-exposed countries in Europe and ranks 16th globally, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — “needs to realign its water management practices, shifting from a drainage-based approach to one focused on water retention.”

Disappearing lakes

The drying out of Hungary isn't limited to streams and wetlands. Lake Garancsi, a small recreational lake around 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Budapest, was once a popular destination for fishing, swimming and ice skating, and was the setting of the 2001 cult Hungarian comedy “Üvegtigris” (“Glass Tiger").

But the lake, present since the Middle Ages, has shrunk so dramatically in recent years that none of the previous recreational activities are permitted, and most of the former lake bed is now exposed, cracked and dry.

What remains of the water is so shallow and warm that all of the fish and most of the other wildlife have disappeared, and authorities have predicted no water will be left by the end of summer.

Zoltán Mettner, who runs the Glass Tiger bar on the shores of the lake, said conditions have gotten worse every year. After spending years beside the lake, he said looking at it now is “terrible, there’s no other way to put it.”

“It’s sad enough that we’ve let things get this far, and that we couldn’t have taken gradual steps to prevent this lake from being completely destroyed,” he said.

Hungary's government plans a change of course

Hungary's new government has promised to begin taking those steps.

In late June, on the same day the country set a high temperature record of 42 Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit), Prime Minister Péter Magyar told lawmakers that his government would put water management policies “on new footing,” and launch a comprehensive water conservation program to mitigate the effects of drought.

"Many have said year after year that water shortage will be one of Hungary’s problems and one of the most important strategic issues to be solved. They were right,” Magyar said.

In addition to poor water retention practices, Magyar said that aging water utility infrastructure causes 20-25% of the country’s drinking water to leak out through damaged pipes, costing some 17 billion forints ($54.4 million) annually.

“For years, even the existence of the problem was denied and relativized,” Magyar said. Now, he added, “water retention will be the basic principle of Hungarian water management.”

Danube River at historic lows

Yet implementing such sweeping changes will be time consuming and costly, while Hungary's current water crisis threatens its ability to produce adequate energy.

The Danube, the European Union's longest river which runs through 10 countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea, has set successive records this summer for low water levels, threatening to shut down Hungary's only nuclear power plant, which uses water from the river to cool its reactors, for the first time in its 44-year history.

Hungary's government has taken emergency interventions to raise the water level at the Paks plant, including sinking two 80-meter (262-foot) barges just upriver and beginning to install a riverbed sill designed to divert more water toward the plant's pumps.

In such drought conditions, wetlands near rivers like the Danube normally act as a “natural reservoir” for retaining water when weather gets dry, said Ujj, the biodiversity specialist.

The extremely low level of the Danube — as well as the increased chances for more frequent and intense floods — are effects of human-driven climate change that can be partially mitigated through appropriate land use and restoration of wetlands and other natural habitats, she added.

“We do indeed expect water levels to fluctuate more, and we also expect precipitation patterns to become more extreme with drier summers,” she said. "However, restoring wetlands and increasing evaporation in certain areas could help boost precipitation during the summer months.”

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

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

Sent to Central America by plane and Mexico by bus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Third-country deportations raise concerns for Mexican migrants

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

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

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

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

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

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

A recent change in the deportation pattern

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

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

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

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

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Verza reported from Mexico City and González from Tegucigalpa.

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

Mendoza struggled in his second preseason game, throwing an interception that Houston returned for a touchdown before the Las Vegas Raiders rallied late for a 22-20 victory over the Texans on Thursday night.

Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who led Indiana to a national title, played the first half and went 8 of 15 for 86 yards. The performance came after he threw a touchdown pass in his preseason debut last week against Arizona playing behind Kirk Cousins.

“I came away with there’s a lot more learning to do, and although that maybe you may have had a lot of success at another level, this level is a whole step further and that the margins are so small, and that one tiny mistake can lead to catastrophe,” Mendoza said.

On Thursday, Mendoza’s third pass was overthrown and intercepted by Wade Woodaz, who returned it 80 yards for a touchdown that made it 14-0. Mendoza chased him down, but Woodaz shoved him aside near the 15 and continued to the end zone.

“That’s what we are built for is attacking the football, so when we do that it puts us in a really good position,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said.

Mendoza was sacked once and took several other hits playing against Houston’s second-string defense. He played five series and led his team to just one field goal.

“I think there’s plenty to clean up, plenty to get better at,” Las Vegas coach Klint Kubiak said. “Plenty that we can do better for him as coaches. Plenty that he can learn from.”

Though Cousins is expected to start in Week 1, Kubiak wouldn't say that after the game.

“We got another week of playing. I don’t want anyone to be comfortable in their job,” he said. “It should always be that way from all positions, so let’s keep going forward.”

C.J. Stroud led the Texans (0-2) to a touchdown on his only series in his first action of the preseason. Stroud and the offensive line were among the few Texans starters who played.

Stroud was 4 of 6 for 27 yards, and a 20-yard scoring run by Woody Marks on the drive he led made it 7-0.

“C.J. made some really good decisions,” Ryans said. “Didn’t throw it around a ton but when he did throw it, it was good decisions with the football.”

The Raiders (1-1) also rested most of their starters, including Cousins, defensive end Maxx Crosby, running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers.

A 4-yard run by Dylan Laube with about five minutes left in the third got the Raiders within 20-10.

Former Texan Dare Ogunbowale scored on a 19-yard run with less than eight minutes to go. Kansei Matsuzawa's extra point failed to make it 20-16.

Aidan O'Connell relieved Mendoza in the second half. He scored a 1-yard touchdown on a tush push with 14 seconds to go to put the Raiders ahead 22-20. Matsuzawa missed that extra point, too.

Kickers convert 3 from 50-plus

Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn made field goals of 51 and 57 yards in his first preseason action after sitting out last week. Matt Gay kicked a 52-yarder in the second quarter for the Raiders.

Clowney returns to Houston

Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft, played the entire first half after sitting out last week. He rejoined the Texans on a one-year contract earlier this month after spending his first five seasons in Houston.

He had a tackle and a quarterback hurry Thursday night. Clowney spent last season with the Cowboys and had 8 1/2 sacks.

Injuries

Las Vegas linebacker Buddy Johnson left early in the third quarter with a shoulder injury but returned in the fourth. … Las Vegas CB Chigozie Anusiem was carted off the field in the third quarter with a knee injury.

Up next

Raiders: Host San Francisco next Thursday night in their final preseason game.

Texans: End the preseason with a visit to Carolina on Aug. 28.

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, plan to return to the United Kingdom from California in a matter of weeks. They have already enrolled their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, in British schools so they can start the autumn term with their classmates.

News of the surprise decision, which broke late Wednesday in stories published by the Telegraph and Sun newspapers, has sparked widespread discussion about where the couple will live, who will pay for their security and whether they will return to royal duties one day.

But perhaps the most difficult issue is whether Harry can repair his once-close relationship with Prince William, the heir to the throne, which was decimated by Harry’s very public complaints of mistreatment at the hands of Buckingham Palace staff, racism in the royal family and the failings of the monarchy. There are also concerns that Harry and Meghan could try to upstage William and his wife Catherine, when they once again share the British stage.

“That will be something for the palace to deal with …” Craig Prescott, an expert on the U.K. constitution and the monarchy at Royal Holloway University of London, told The Associated Press. “They wouldn’t want Meghan and Harry’s presence in the U.K. here to overshadow the work of the monarchy, and there will have to be some discussion and allowance for that.”

Harry and Meghan wanted their children to grow up British

The couple are expected to live at a private, nonroyal residence outside of London and they won’t resume their royal duties, which they gave up when they moved to the exclusive Southern California community of Montecito six years ago, British media reported late Wednesday.

Their return to the U.K. comes as King Charles III, Harry’s 77-year-old father, continues to undergo treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer that was discovered in 2024. The prince said last year that he didn’t know “how much time my father has left,” and has expressed a desire for his children to have a chance to get to know their grandfather.

While Harry and Meghan’s decision is a surprise to many, royal historian Ed Owens said recent events created a pathway for the couple's return.

First, Harry spoke of his desire for reconciliation, then there was the apparently successful meeting between the king, his younger son and daughter-in-law and their children last month at Charles’ Highgrove estate in western England. In addition, there is Harry’s stated desire for his children to grow up British and that the U.K. looks like a safer place to be right now, given the divisions in American society, said Owens, author of “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?”

Royal experts expect Charles to forgive Harry

Finally, Owens said he expects Charles to forgive Harry because as the supreme governor of the Church of England he has to demonstrate the teachings of Christianity, including the virtue of forgiveness.

William may find forgiving his brother more difficult, but someday he too will become head of the church, Owens said.

“It may be that privately William never fully forgives his younger brother for what he deems the betrayal of the family,” Owens told The AP. “But publicly,” he will, “because for traditional moralists, traditional Christian values, they demand that there is this public act of forgiveness, that there’s reconciliation between the brothers.”

Charles was informed of Harry and Meghan’s plans on Sunday and the matter wasn’t discussed during their recent visit to the U.K.

Relations have been strained in the House of Windsor

Relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family have been strained since the couple gave up their royal duties and moved to California in 2020 to earn their own living. The couple later signed lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify.

The rift deepened after the couple gave a series of interviews and Harry published his explosive memoir “Spare,” in which he said they left Britain to escape the restrictions of royal life. The couple also criticized palace officials for being insensitive to Meghan’s mental health and alleged at least one member of the royal family had expressed racist views when she was pregnant with their first child. Meghan describes herself as biracial.

Oprah Winfrey asked Harry to summarize his reasons for leaving Britain in a 2021 interview that was broadcast around the world.

“Lack of support and lack of understanding,” he replied.

Strains are exacerbated by long-running battles with the newspapers

Those tensions were exacerbated by Harry’s long-running legal battle with Britain’s tabloid newspapers, which he alleges illegally hacked his phones and invaded his privacy when he was younger. The courtroom drama seemed to be nearing an end after Harry and other plaintiffs lost their lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail last month.

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

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

The couple’s security arrangements are a “private matter” for Harry and Meghan to deal with, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said when asked about the issue on Thursday.

After Harry lost his court challenge of the committee’s decision in May 2025, the prince said he hoped to reconcile with his family while continuing to vent his anger at those in Britain he feels have mistreated him and his wife.

“I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point,” he told the BBC at the time. “And the things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything. You know, I love my country. I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done.”

Although much of the media attention on Harry and Meghan has focused on family tensions and recriminations in recent years, Owens suggested that the story may now shift to the royal’s efforts to rebuild family harmony.

“I think time is a great healer. It creates space in a social media-saturated world,” he said. “People are always looking for the next thing to talk about and, arguably, that will be reconciliation between first of all father and son, and then potentially the two brothers.”

With sparse details, President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.

It reflects the dire reality Trump faces with an increasingly unpopular war he can't seem to end just months before pivotal midterm elections that will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. Whether out of desperation or strategy, the president is refocusing America's might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalized countries in the world.

The immediate response from Iran hawks has been praise and a call for patience as it plays out, while other analysts warn that Trump is refusing to learn the lessons of his predecessors.

In an interview Thursday on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a small glimpse of what may be ahead, threatening secondary sanctions on nations and companies that conduct business with Iran.

He did not say exactly whom would be targeted as part of this next phase of the administration’s “ Operation Economic Fury, ” which earlier had focused on entities and individuals that buy oil from or bank with Iran. China and India, however, are major buyers of Iranian oil.

“If you insist on doing business with them, then the U.S. Treasury and U.S. government will put its full might and force against you,” Bessent said. “It’s time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision."

Some experts see ‘uncharted waters’ that could force Iran's hand

Despite decades of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Trump administration is arguing that it’s only a matter of time and that striking the right economic target would get Tehran to its breaking point.

Richard Goldberg, who coordinated efforts to put diplomatic pressure on Iran in Trump's first term, said the consequences of U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites last year, the war this year and the American naval blockade on Iranian ports have created the perfect storm for capitulation — one that didn't previously exist.

“I think we’re watching a strategy, whether it takes a short time or a long time, that is very much about fundamentally changing the future of the world by seeing the end of this regime," said Goldberg, who is now at the hawkish Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“I caution everyone — including myself, who has worked on sanctions, who’s worked on financial warfare — to have the humility to admit that we are in uncharted waters,” he said.

He said the decision this week by the United Arab Emirates — once one of Tehran's most important trading partners — to suspend trade with Iran over an alleged missile attack will only further isolate the government.

Beyond trade in domestically produced goods, the Emiratis had helped the country absorb some of the shocks caused by sanctions through its re-export hub.

Targeting allies and partners comes at a price

With nearly all of Iran's energy, financial and transportation sectors already covered by U.S. sanctions, Trump’s aim appears to be to apply secondary sanctions on countries, including allies and partners, that have not cut all ties with Iran to starve the country of any remaining income it may still be receiving.

In many ways, it is a redux of Trump’s first-term “maximum pressure” campaign, which he has ramped up during his second term to include military action.

But as Trump and his allies discovered during his first administration, it can be difficult to enforce secondary sanctions without harming U.S. interests and provoking reciprocal measures. There were numerous instances of the administration granting sanctions waivers to countries, particularly those that rely on Iranian oil for their energy needs.

“Trump’s strategy now rests on targeting Tehran directly by impeding its touch points and access to the formal financial system and international economy,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program. “This will require making the Iran issue more important in U.S. bilateral relations with countries in Europe and Asia.”

Iran doesn't see an ‘open door’ at the end of the sanctions campaign

Iranian officials and analysts have accused the Republican president of flip-flopping with his latest pivot to economic pressure against Iran. Trump has long derided past leaders who used sanctions to limit Iran’s ability to pay for its military and nuclear development.

In a post last week on X, Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, wrote that Washington's pattern of retreating to sanctions when it doesn't want to pursue diplomacy has proven to be futile.

“Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains,” he said. “The real risk is that American politicians, clinging to this bad habit, will instead strangle their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making.”

Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group, said the Trump administration's decision to take its own “maximum pressure” policy to new heights with military action seems to ignore years of U.S. foreign policy lessons that show Iran does not respond well to pressure.

If anything, he says, the latest economic campaign has only “hardened Iran's position.”

“I think (Trump's) blind spot is the fact that the only thing that the Iranian regime views as more dangerous than suffering from U.S. sanctions is surrendering to U.S. terms," Vaez said.

Plus, the past year of start-stop diplomacy has only worsened the already fragile dynamic between the longtime adversaries, Vaez says, adding that Iranian officials' lack of trust in Trump and his mediators has created an untenable foundation.

“They believe that even if they capitulate to U.S. terms under economic duress, Trump would move the goalposts and ask for more,” he said. “And this is really the fundamental problem: Pressure without an open door is an exercise in futility.”

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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether Graham or Rep. Ralph Norman will be Republicans' nominee on the November ballot.

The Myrtle Beach rally is the sort of campaign trail occasion that Trump hasn’t done as much of this year, compared with past midterms, making it a signal of the importance Trump is placing on a win for his pick.

It's also an opportunity for the president to wade into friendly territory ahead of the midterm elections that leave his party’s control of Congress hanging in the balance. South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide in decades, its House delegation has only one Democrat and Trump’s own victory in the 2016 presidential primary here helped propel him toward the nomination and ultimately the White House.

In the scramble of a special Republican primary election that was called after Lindsey Graham's sudden death last month, Darline Graham was picked by Gov. Henry McMaster — also a Trump ally — to serve as interim senator and entered the special primary at Trump's urging. The president had said he told McMaster that appointing her would be a “fabulous tribute to Lindsey,” although the governor pointed out that he asked Graham to serve “in the wee hours” after her brother's death, adding that Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick.

The president pressed “RUN DARLINE, RUN” on social media, and gave her his “Complete and Total Endorsement” before she'd officially announced her campaign. And at every turn on the campaign trail, she's reminded voters of this anointing, as well as her commitment to advancing his priorities if elected. On the eve of the primary two weeks ago, he held a tele-rally for Graham.

Trump also considered Lindsey Graham a close ally and friend, though they ran against each other in 2016 and had their ups and downs, so part of the visit is personal for Trump. He eulogized his longtime golfing partner and wartime consigliere at Washington National Cathedral last month.

Like Trump, Darline Graham has portrayed herself as a political outsider

A political newcomer, Graham has stressed that she's “not a politician,” as she's hurriedly introduced herself to voters across the state. Regularly touting her support for Trump’s policies, as well as his endorsement, she has pointed to her years heading up a state agency, as well as her weeks on the job in the U.S. Senate, as evidence of her readiness.

Saying she’s “answering President Trump’s call to serve,” she has repeatedly said she wants “to fight for President Trump’s agenda” and cited his core goals of border security and passing the SAVE Act voting bill as among her top priorities.

Graham has said she's focused on kitchen table issues like gas prices and household spending rather than international affairs. Earlier this week, after stumbling on an elemental foreign policy question related to U.S. interests in Taiwan, Graham defended herself as “not a polished politician up here.”

Trump has made no comment on the gaffe, which garnered attention after Graham told moderators, "National security is not my thing.”

Trump's rally will be in Myrtle Beach, a conservative — and growing — area

By meeting voters in Myrtle Beach, both Trump and Darline Graham are aiming to capitalize on a growing part of the state that's known to be deeply conservative, loyal to Trump and full of new residents.

It's also the home district of Rep. Russell Fry, the House ally whose name Trump had floated as an “outstanding” possible replacement for Graham after the senator's death. Elected to the House in 2022 with Trump's help, Fry ousted a five-term GOP congressman who had voted to impeach Trump a year earlier.

Running in the Senate primary, Fry touted his support for and previous backing from the president, but was hampered by the absence of it in this race. Finishing third, he swiftly endorsed Graham, a calculated move for the 41-year-old, two-term congressman, who, dating to the origins of his 2022 election, has seen the ramifications for some Republicans who have crossed Trump.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

For many, A Night in Old San Antonio, better known as NIOSA, is one of those traditions.

Now, as organizers prepare to redesign the event because of planned construction at La Villita, some longtime community members are concerned that changing NIOSA could mean losing part of what makes it special.

“I believe that they should keep NIOSA the same and not change anything at all,” community member Edward Sauceda told KSAT. “They’re losing revenue from doing that. Instead of gaining revenue, they are losing revenue.”

The Conservation Society of San Antonio oversees NIOSA, which has been held at La Villita for decades. But the future of some of the event’s longtime spaces is uncertain.

The La Villita Assembly Hall is slated to be transformed into a food hall, with construction potentially beginning this year and wrapping up by the end of 2027. Plans call for eight to 10 food hall tenants, along with a restaurant and new outdoor spaces connected to the San Antonio River Walk.

Organizers previously said they were confident they could find another home for that portion of NIOSA if the Assembly Hall becomes unavailable. But the changes could extend beyond one building.

The Conservation Society said it expects to lose access to the Villita Assembly Hall and could also lose Maverick Plaza because of planned construction in the area. Together, those changes could eliminate about 43% of NIOSA’s current event space, according to the organization.

For an event that draws thousands of people into downtown San Antonio each year, community members say the physical location is part of the experience.

For longtime attendees, NIOSA is part of San Antonio’s identity

Sauceda is among longtime NIOSA attendees who worry that changing the event could change what makes it meaningful.

For people who have attended since childhood, NIOSA can represent family memories, Fiesta traditions and a connection to San Antonio’s history.

But for NIOSA supporters, that progress comes with a question: Can the event evolve without losing the atmosphere and traditions people have come to expect?

NIOSA is also tied to historic preservation. The Fiesta San Antonio Commission, which works with organizations that operate official Fiesta events, acknowledged the challenges facing NIOSA.

In a statement to KSAT, the commission said each nonprofit organization running an official Fiesta event is responsible for making the business decisions it believes will give its event and organization the best chance of long-term success. The commission also emphasized NIOSA’s broader role in the community.

“For many, NIOSA is Fiesta — one of Fiesta’s oldest and favorite events!” the commission said.

The commission also noted that NIOSA helps fund the Conservation Society’s historic preservation efforts.

That connection adds another layer to the conversation about NIOSA’s future.

The event isn’t simply a four-night Fiesta celebration. Its success also supports the work of an organization dedicated to preserving San Antonio’s historic places and character.

Would a smaller NIOSA still feel like NIOSA? Could the event move to another location and maintain the same atmosphere?

For San Antonians who have grown up with NIOSA, those questions are about more than a Fiesta event.

They are about preserving memories, culture and a piece of the city’s identity.

As organizers begin planning for future Fiesta celebrations, the challenge will be finding a way to move NIOSA forward without leaving its traditions behind.

Read also:

• NIOSA organizers announce layoffs, ‘reset’ ahead of event’s redesign

In a news release, the Conservation Society of San Antonio said it is reenvisioning NIOSA for future success, streamlining operations and reducing staff to support the redesign.

Betty Bueché, president of the Conservation Society, said two people were laid off: one full-time NIOSA manager and one part-time bookkeeper. Three employees remain on staff.

“There is a financial situation,” Bueché told KSAT in an interview on Wednesday. “We need to retool this so that we can make sure that we have proceeds. We’re being very cautious about this.”

Bueché said that “the city has been working toward the moment when they can redevelop La Villita for public benefit.”

“As a result of that, we no longer have available for NIOSA the use of the Villita Assembly Hall,” she said. ”We will not have Maverick Plaza if their construction continues.”

The Conservation Society’s loss of two major spaces within La Villita for NIOSA results in a 43% loss of space, according to Bueché.

The society said the goal is to build a stronger NIOSA for the future, while honoring the volunteers and workers who helped make it a San Antonio tradition.

“Unfortunately, aligning our resources with this new direction means saying goodbye to some of our valued team members through a staff reduction,” Bueché said in the Wednesday release. “We are immensely grateful to those who have helped sustain this event and appreciate the thousands of volunteers who are committed to making A Night In Old San Antonio even better.”

For more than 70 years, the release states the Fiesta event has helped raise millions of dollars to support the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic structures in the community.

The Fiesta® San Antonio Commission recognizes the challenges that face NIOSA and appreciates their willingness to develop plans and solutions for long-term success for the event and the Conservation Society of San Antonio. 

Each Non-Profit Organization that coordinates an Official Fiesta Event is responsible for making the best business decisions that will give their event and organization the best opportunity for success.

The Fiesta San Antonio Commission’s purpose is to help each Fiesta Event Organization be as successful as they can be.

For many, NIOSA is Fiesta—one of Fiesta’s oldest and favorite events!

NIOSA also funds the historic preservation efforts of the Conservation Society!

Steve Rosenauer, Executive Director for the Fiesta San Antonio Commission

Read also:

• Could San Antonio’s budget increase Fiesta costs?

Because of that, the Huskies are practicing at Gustafson Stadium instead of their own practice field. Gustafson is about 1 mile away from Holmes, but it’s still altering how the Huskies normally practice.

The Huskies are making the best of a difficult situation.

“It’s a great opportunity for our kids,” head coach Pete Padilla said. “To be able to play under the lights and to experience it before we even start the season is pretty good for our kids.”

Huskies star senior Jayden Hopkins, who has totaled more than 3,000 yards in three seasons, is also staying positive.

“The good part is we’ve got home field advantage,” Hopkins said. “We get to play at Gus (Gustafson Stadium). The people who are moving up on varsity get the feeling of playing on Gus.”

Holmes has six offensive starters and five defensive starters returning from last year’s squad that went 2-8.

The Huskies will open the season on the road Friday, Aug. 28, at Laredo Martin High School.

Read also:

• Harlan football enters season with Matthew McKinney taking over as head coach
• Medina Valley Panthers drop to Class 5A, eyeing district title defense

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

“We’re worried about people going through this again,” said John Bravender, a warning coordinator meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu. “Normally we would say pay attention to the forecast just in case. Now we’re saying take action now.”

He said a tropical depression was just starting to become more organized, and while the system is not expected to take exactly the same track or even dump potentially as much rain as Lala, the ground is already saturated from the recent hurricane.

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

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

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

Some people paddled to safety on surfboards, she said.

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

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

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

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

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and other state officials, held a news conference Thursday afternoon to update Lala recovery progress and urge people to prepare for the next storm.

“These hurricanes are very serious. There were many houses that were destroyed,” Green said. He said the next storm could be similar in strength but there's still a lot of uncertainty though “we're going to prepare.”

Officials urged people low on emergency supplies after Lala to restock up to 14 days of food, pet food, medicine and other essentials and closely monitor the storm's progress.

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

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

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

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

Help from California to restore power

The Hawaiian Electric utility said that as of Thursday afternoon, there were still about 13,000 customers without power on the Big Island. The company expected that nearly all of them would have electricity restored by Friday, except for in certain remote and severely damaged areas.

The utility said crews from Southern California Edison arrived to help repair equipment and restore power.

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

The 20 deportees arrived at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia.

Deportees will include African nationals as well as nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah. Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh has said they could seek asylum in the West African country if they wished.

The U.S. State Department declined to answer questions about the Liberia agreement, but said that implementing the Trump administration’s immigration policies was a “top priority.” It said it was “unwavering in our commitment to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America’s border security.”

The U.S. Homeland Security Department declined to confirm Thursday's deportations “for operational security reasons” and referred additional questions to the State Department.

Third-country agreements are often shrouded in secrecy. Migrants have been deported to countries they have never been to or where they face safety risks and are left with little choice other than to return to the home countries they were fleeing from.

The Trump administration struck agreements with at least 35 countries to deport people who are from other countries, including Liberia and 13 others in Africa, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, a partnership of Refugees International and Human Rights First that relies on public records requests, news reports and other sources. More than 23,000 people have been deported to 26 countries under the agreements.

The U.S. State Department previously announced that Liberia agreed to accept deportees who are not from Liberia. But a six-page agreement reached in September 2025 and posted on its website does not say how many or from which countries.

In October 2025, Liberia offered to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia of El Salvador, who was mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador. Blocked from sending him to his native country, the Trump administration has vowed to send him to a third county, including Liberia.

Abrego Garcia has said he would agree to be deported to Costa Rica, which has said it will accept him. But the government has so far declined to send him there. Abrego Garcia is fighting deportation to Liberia in a federal lawsuit in Maryland.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simply, he said, “We forgave.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iran denounces Trump's economic threat

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doctors Without Borders condemns Israel's military

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

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

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

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

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

UK and others rebuke planned West Bank settlement project

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

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

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

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

Egypt and Jordan also condemned Israel’s move.

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

Gaza funeral for 50 killed in opening strikes of war

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

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

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

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

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

US sanctions network supporting Hezbollah

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

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

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

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

Turkey denies delegation had visited air base in Syria

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

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

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

Syria's top diplomat discusses Middle East in Pakistan

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

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

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

Bodies of Pakistani sailors returned after Houthi attack

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

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

• BRUTAL STRETCH AHEAD: Rain-free, triple digit streak continues through next week
• ENERGY DEMAND: While demand will be high, ERCOT showing plenty of supply

FORECAST

STREAKS TO WATCH

We have now logged 26 straight days without measurable rainfall at San Antonio Int’l, with 4 days in a row at 100° or above. Both these streaks are forecast to continue through at least next week. Today’s high should reach around 102°. Slightly higher humidity today will push heat indices to near 105°. Those east of San Antonio will experience higher heat index values, with a Heat Advisory now posted for these areas.

ENERGY DEMAND

While this stretch will be brutal for much of Texas, ERCOT demand should be able to cover supply. We’ll keep you updated should anything change.

LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

If you haven’t heard, we have a local team in the LLWS. Boerne plays Friday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Temperatures will be warm, but not near as hot as what we’re dealing with in Texas. Good luck Boerne!

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

Anthony, 19, sat at the defense table as his attorney argued that the pact ultimately marred the June trial, which ended with jurors rejecting his claims of self-defense. Prosecutor Bill Wirskye defended the trial as fair.

The hearing was set to continue Friday, and it was not clear when the judge will rule on Anthony’s retrial request.

Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Among the details that jurors never heard, according to attorneys on both sides, were that Anthony once sent a text message fantasizing about stabbing someone and Metcalf had a history of fighting and using racist language.

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

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

Prosecutor says Anthony was angry before meet

In addition to citing the off-the-record agreement, defense attorney Russell Wilson also told the judge a new trial should be allowed because of errors that limited access to the proceedings.

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

Wirskye said Anthony's original attorneys agreed to everything done during the trial.

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

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

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

The defense team had information showing that Metcalf used racial slurs in the past and bullied Black classmates, according to Howard and documents shown during Thursday's hearing.

As Howard spoke in the court, Metcalf's parents sat quietly in the gallery. There was no immediate response to an email seeking comment from them through a court spokesperson.

Karmelo Anthony case spurred a wave of threats

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

The prosecutor said there were threats against a judge who granted Anthony bond, fake autopsy reports circulating online and attempts to intimidate witnesses.

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

New judge deciding whether Anthony will get a new trial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

This story has been corrected to show that prosecutors said a judge who granted bond, not the trial judge, received threats.

___

Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

General manager Mike Hazen confirmed Thursday that Marte is headed to the injured list and will return once he's healthy, which The Arizona Republic and MLB.com first reported.

The three-time All-Star traveled back to Phoenix for tests on his left knee Tuesday. Manager Torey Lovullo said he has struggled to get information from the veteran slugger throughout the process.

Marte's absence and apparent injury come at a difficult time for the D-backs, who are fighting to make the playoffs for the first time since a run to the World Series in 2023. Arizona has a 67-61 record and is one game behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild-card spot.

Marte is hitting .249 with 21 homers and 67 RBIs so far this season.

This wasn’t the first time Marte had a strange disappearance.

Last season, he went on the restricted list when his home in Arizona was broken into during the All-Star break. He missed three games after flying back to his native Dominican Republic and later apologized for his absence.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Trump-aligned board at the Kennedy Center voted earlier this month to inscribe the president's name on the venue’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also be renamed to recognize Trump.

The Kennedy Center has said it wouldn’t attempt to engrave Trump’s name on the building before Sept. 8 to allow for legal arguments to unfold.

Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center, has led the effort to prevent Trump from memorializing himself there. In asking for the court’s intervention, her lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, wrote that the board's actions amounted to “clear violations” of an earlier court order.

A representative for the Kennedy Center didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The resolution approved by Trump’s allies on the board said the Kennedy Center “would be in financial ruin without President Trump’s unique stature as both an unparalleled fundraiser and world-class developer.”

Congress named the performing arts center as a living memorial to Kennedy in 1964, the year after he was assassinated. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building, ordering it removed. The institution’s leaders complied in June but left a tarp and scaffolding in place where Trump’s name once stood.

Lawyers for the Kennedy Center wouldn’t commit this week to taking down the scaffolding, saying it’s needed as part of a broader system for “water testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang.”

The back-to-school season can bring excitement of seeing friends and learning new things, but with most school districts starting near early August, it also means more students begin their routine during the hottest temperatures of the year.

The average temperature for the month of August in San Antonio is 85.5 degrees. The average high temperature is 97 degrees.

Both statistics make August the hottest month of the year.

While school officials prioritize heat safety, they are also tasked with fulfilling the 75,600 minutes of instructional time set by the state.

“That’s the real balance that school leaders are trying to draw is, let’s be respectful of the fact that it’s really hot in August, but at the same time, let’s give our teachers enough time to actually get the curriculum taught by the end of the school year,” former Northside ISD Superintendent Brian Woods said.

Texas law states public schools cannot start class prior to the fourth Monday in August. However, more than 90% of school districts in Texas have an approved District of Innovation plan, which allows them to choose an earlier start date.

“It’s interesting when you poll parents around what they care about with regard to calendar; start date is rarely something that’s high on the list,” Woods said.

As temperatures continue to stay very warm in August, teachers and lawmakers are rediscussing the possibility of pushing back school start dates.

“Yeah, actually it’s a conversation that happens almost every summer,” Woods said. “I suspect when the legislature comes back into session in January of 2027 that that will be one of the things that gets discussed.”

A Texas lawmaker proposed to move the start of the school year to after Labor Day on Monday.

State Rep. Jared Patterson argued students and school staff should not have to return during the hottest part of the Texas summer, our sister station KPRC reported.

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The upgrades are part of a $12.5 billion nationwide investment in air traffic control and airport technology approved by Congress. The funding will come from President Donald Trump’s Working Americans Tax Cut Act, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

San Antonio International Airport is expected to receive about $30 million for the improvements.

“We’ve switched over the old copper to fiber,” Duffy said. “We gave them new radios. In the next couple of weeks to a month, they’re going to get electronic flight strips.”

The electronic strips will replace the paper strips controllers use to track flights as they move from one controller to another.

Duffy said the airport will also receive new voice switches, displays, radar and surface-awareness systems. Those upgrades are designed to give controllers clearer communication with pilots and better visibility of aircraft on the ground, especially during bad weather or fog.

“When you have more resilient equipment, when you have radios that are far crisper versus ones that are 30 or 40 years old, the communication between the tower and the pilots is way cleaner, way crisper,” Duffy said.

Surface-awareness systems could also help controllers identify where aircraft are on the tarmac and help prevent ground incidents.

“Where planes might bump, we saw an incident actually in LaGuardia,” Duffy said. “So giving an additional tool when the weather’s bad or fog is rolled in to let them see what’s happening on the field as opposed to just looking out the window and seeing what’s there again drives safety.”

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, who represents Texas’ 15th Congressional District, supported the funding.

“What this does is allow the controllers to put more safety measures in flights for the everyday passenger,” De La Cruz said.

Duffy said the San Antonio upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of 2028. He said additional changes could be made as the federal government continues developing new software to help controllers manage weather, delays and growing air traffic. However, software upgrades have not all been approved by congress.

“We have to have the best equipment to match the best controllers that we do have to make sure that we navigate this safely,” Duffy said.

Read also:

• TxDOT plans major changes along Loop 410 and San Pedro Avenue near airport
• Do San Antonio school districts allow corporal punishment as form of discipline?

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

The world’s oldest president, who has led Cameroon since 1982, began his eighth term in office in November after winning a widely disputed election in October.

Biya had left the country on June 7 for what his office described as “a brief private stay in Europe,” but it became the longest recorded absence of his presidency.

The health of the president has long been a topic of speculation as he spends significant time in Europe, including France and Switzerland, where he often spends weeks while leaving governance to key party officials and family members.

Cameroon’s constitution does not specifically prohibit a president from leaving the country for months. But without a vice president, an appointment Biya has full control over, the opposition has described the country as being run on “autopilot.”

Biya’s close collaborators were at the airport on Thursday, but he was not shown descending from the plane and held no briefings. He was seen waving to supporters from his vehicle.

The results of Biya's nearly half-century in power have been mixed. Armed insurgencies by Boko Haram in the north and separatists in the west, along with a stagnant economy, have left many young people disillusioned with the leader.

The president’s reelection last year sparked widespread protests that left at least 16 people dead, according to government figures, signaling significant tensions between the mostly young population and its aging leader.

After a 2008 constitutional amendment abolished term limits, Biya has now led Cameroon longer than most of its citizens have been alive: More than 70% of the country’s population of nearly 30 million people is below the age of 35.

In April, Cameroon’s parliament reinstated the vice president’s post, a move criticized by the opposition as a power grab because Biya can appoint and dismiss the deputy at will and determine which powers the office can exercise.

Cantú, who was suspended from the county judge role in May, made the declaration Monday afternoon with nearly four months left in his current term.

“This decision has not come easily,” Cantú said in the video. “It is not a decision made out of anger, frustration or defeat. I have made it because I believe it is what is best for me personally, what is best in my official capacity and, ultimately, what will allow me to continue serving and advocating for the people of Maverick County.”

In a May 4 order signed in Maverick County’s 293rd Judicial District Court by visiting Judge Patricia O. Alvarez, Cantú was placed on a temporary suspension after he was accused of “official misconduct” and “incompetency.”

“Official misconduct” and “incompetency” is defined in Section 87.011 of Texas’ Local Government Code. According to the order, Cantú was not allowed to exercise “any powers, duties or authority of the office and shall not interfere in any manner with the operations of county government.”

Cantú’s order did not offer specific examples of the official misconduct or incompetency allegations he faces.

“As many of you know, legal proceedings involving my office have also become a part of this journey,” Cantú continued. “Some may say it’s political, but as a result of orders issued by the (293rd Judicial) District Court, there are matters involving county government that I am restricted from discussing publicly. That reality has weighed heavily on this decision.”

Had Cantú remained as county judge, he could have been subject to permanent removal from the role following a jury trial.

What’s next for Cantú

Maverick County Commissioners Court is scheduled to meet Friday morning to formally accept Cantú’s resignation and perhaps pick a new temporary county judge to finish out the next few months of the term.

Since the May 4 order, Rolando Jasso was tabbed as Maverick County Judge on an interim basis. The commissioners court meeting will be held at 9 a.m.

Alvarez, along with attorneys assigned to the case, are set to meet Monday to discuss Cantú’s suspension. During the meeting, Alvarez will consider rescinding the suspension since Cantú has since left office.

Earlier this year, Cantú lost his reelection bid for Maverick County Judge to challenger Gerardo “Jerry” Morales.

Because both candidates failed to garner the 50% + one vote majority during the March primary, Cantú and Morales faced off in a May 26 Democratic primary runoff.

In the runoff, Morales earned 66% of the vote to win his party’s nomination. Morales will now face Republican Ruben J. Camarillo in November’s general election.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

More recent coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Maverick County Judge Ramsey Cantú suspended from role, accused of misconduct and incompetency

Swalwell, a Democrat who was running for California governor, ended his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment, which he denies. Wahab will represent the state’s 14th Congressional District, which covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, through Swalwell's term ending in January.

She will be the first Afghan American to serve in Congress. The progressive Democrat defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez even after a swell of spending by outside groups opposing Wahab in the race's final stretch. She said her victory shows her district “cannot be bought.”

“I will fight for this district that raised me,” Wahab said in a statement. "From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream.”

The conclusion of the race to replace Swalwell comes as criminal investigations continue into the sexual assault allegations he faces. Over the weekend, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and later searched his home in Washington, D.C., according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Swalwell’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.

Wahab became the first Afghan American elected to public office in the U.S. when she won a Hayward City Council seat in 2018.

She has championed housing affordability and access in her time in the Legislature and throughout her campaign. She also wrote a bill in 2023 to ban caste-based discrimination, which garnered national attention. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it, saying such discrimination is already outlawed by civil rights protections.

Wahab and Hernandez will face off again in a separate November election determining who will serve the next full two-year term.

Wahab won the June primary decisively, but outside spending in favor of her rival poured into the race ahead of the general election.. Groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, spent millions into supporting Hernandez, and thousands into opposing Wahab.

At a candidate forum in April, Wahab answered “yes” when asked if she considered “what is happening to the Palestinian people” to be a genocide.

Hernandez did not give a straight yes or no answer. She said Israel had a right to defend itself following the October 2023 attack by Hamas but that “the destruction into Gaza has gone too far.”

Hernandez, a moderate Democrat, said she was proud to put up a competitive fight after Wahab’s success in the primary.

“I’ve been a fighter my whole life, and when I promised the residents of CA-14 I would fight for them, I never gave up,” she said in a statement.

___

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed from Washington.

Davis, who said in the interview that he was also in the car with Anderson, is accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of the 25-year-old hip-hop superstar in Las Vegas. At the time of the interview, his nephew had been dead for a decade.

Davis said the white Cadillac he and Anderson were riding in with two other men pulled up alongside a car with Shakur inside, along with hip-hop mogul and Death Row Records head Marion “Suge” Knight.

“If we would have been on my side, I would have blasted,” Davis said. Instead, Knight’s car was on the other side, so Davis passed his gun back to Deandre “Big Dre” Smith. But Smith didn’t want it, Davis said.

Anderson, who was also in the back seat, took the weapon and started firing, Davis said.

Jurors watched the screen as the transcript of the audio recording rolled. Some occasionally took notes. At the beginning of the audio interview, Davis and his attorney whispered to each other. Shakur’s family sat still, occasionally looking at the screen or looking down to the floor. The room was quiet as Davis described the shooting.

It was the first time Davis directly discussed his involvement in the killing with authorities. The interview is essential evidence in the state's case against the 63-year-old Davis. Prosecutors told jurors in opening statements that they would lean heavily on Davis' own admissions in interviews with police and on podcasts, as well as the 2019 memoir he co-authored, “Compton Street Legend.”

He also previously told the FBI that his nephew was not involved in the 1996 shooting of Shakur, and speculated that Knight or Sean “Diddy” Combs were involved.

Davis has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer has called the prosecution’s narrative “fiction” and said Davis was “full of crap” when he told stories of his involvement, and that authorities knew it. He argued investigators failed to back up the statements his client made with evidence.

The Los Angeles police detectives had actually brought Davis in to talk about the 1997 shooting death of Shakur's archrival, the Notorious B.I.G.

Davis had briefly been one of the suspects in that still unsolved killing, but he was later discounted.

“Everybody was a suspect at that time,” Daryn Dupree, one of the detectives in the interview, said in court testimony Thursday.

The detectives tell Davis that their discussion is confidential.

“Nothing you say today can be used against you,” said Greg Kading, the other detective conducting the interview who described it in a book a few years later.

Some in the audience shook their heads when someone in the audio tells Davis that “nothing leaves this room.”

Dupree adds, “If you don’t say nothing, it’s cool, but if you go out there and start talking …”

Prosecutors say Davis did in fact “go out there and start talking” a decade later when he told stories about the shooting in interviews and the memoir. They said that nullifies any agreement he had with law enforcement over this and other recorded conversations.

Prosecutors allege Shakur was killed to avenge Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Anderson a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight. Davis was at the fight but not the brawl.

Later in the evening, they were in the Cadillac and saw Shakur hanging out of a black BMW with people calling out “Tupac!”

Davis said that after Lane fired the shots, he thought Knight was dead.

Decades after his death, Shakur remains a cultural icon, and one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. He died as his popularity was peaking and his film career as an actor was taking off. His legend has only grown in the years since.

____

Associated Press Writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho and AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

The International Economic Development Council, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, recognized the program for helping participants overcome barriers, such as transportation and child care, while pursuing job training and certifications.

The program provides free training for eligible residents. Participants can also receive support, such as VIA bus passes, to help reduce transportation costs.

Jose Sigala, who has experience in manufacturing, is completing a three-week training program focused on OSHA and manufacturing certifications. He said the program could help him find a job with better pay and benefits.

“Within the next two weeks, hopefully having a good, steady-paid job with good health benefits — everything just perfect for me and my family,” Sigala said. “I know for a fact I’m going to get a job because this program’s really helping us out a lot.”

Christine Urdialez, director of workforce development at Goodwill, said services such as transportation and child care allow participants to focus on their training.

“If you’re worried about, ‘How am I going to get to school?’ then you’re not going to actually concentrate on the certifications and the curriculum,” Urdialez said.

A city dashboard shows that 5,888 participants have secured jobs that meet the program’s requirements. The city said those workers increased their salaries by an average of about $33,500.

However, the city has been slow to meet some of its goals.

Voters approved Ready to Work in 2020 through an eighth-cent sales tax. The program began in 2022, with the goal of helping residents secure jobs paying more than $15 an hour and offering benefits.

The mayor initially proposed winding down the program entirely to help address the city’s budget shortfall. After discussions, she has shifted to considering the use of a smaller portion of its funding.

Urdialez said the program benefits the broader community when participants move into higher-paying jobs.

“They’re contributing back to society,” Urdialez said. “They’re contributing back to the community by having high-paying jobs that are then able to sustain them.”

For Sigala, the training is an opportunity to build on his previous experience and create more options for his family.

“It’s all free, and it’s really helping out a lot,” he said. “I love it. I’m grateful for everything they’re doing for me.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

___

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

Bodeen died Monday after a struggle with cancer and complications from a stroke, his daughter, Ingrid, said Thursday by telephone from Taiwan.

Bodeen, who spoke fluent Mandarin with a proud Taiwan accent, spent much of his career detailing China's rise to an economic, political and military superpower — and the accompanying friction from what critics have long called Beijing’s heavy-handed efforts to establish dominance in Asia and beyond.

“Chris was a reporter who would go anywhere and do anything for the story,” said Charles Hutzler, AP's former bureau chief in Beijing. After a huge quake flattened a swath of Sichuan province in 2008, Bodeen composed his account from one devastated town sentence by sentence over text messages because of damaged telecommunications networks. "It was one of the first eyewitness reports the AP and the world received about one of the worst earthquakes in decades,” Hutzler recalled.

He was an expert on politics and Chinese military issues

From AP bureaus in Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei, Bodeen was for years the news agency's go-to person on Chinese politics and military issues, able to quickly determine the newsworthiness of the government's often abstruse statements.

“A chat with Chris would inevitably turn into a remarkable history lesson," said Emily Wang Fujiyama, former Greater China news director. “He had astounding knowledge of the region and would be writing about China’s military presence in the South China Sea, pivot to Taiwan’s intricate politics, and just as deftly write about the political sensitivities of Tibet, Mongolia and China.”

Bodeen was born in Missouri on Sept. 9, 1970, but he spent parts of his childhood in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. His father was a foreign service officer and his mother a former diplomat, his daughter, Ingrid, said. Friends and colleagues remembered his love of the Boston Red Sox, esoteric punk rock -- and his contagious enthusiasm for the job of journalism.

"He was the blondest, palest person you’ll ever meet” yet also spoke pitch-perfect Chinese, said Ted Anthony, AP’s former China news editor and news director for Asia. “So when the earthquake in Sichuan happened in 2008, he went out there, put on one of his ever-present ballcaps to cover his hair, and slouched down. He passed as Chinese, started interviewing people and sailed under the scrutiny of the authorities.”

He was 'always ready for adventure’

Bodeen joined the AP in 1996, in Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island China claims as its own, before working as an editor on the agency’s international desk in New York and then joining the AP bureau in Beijing as a correspondent, in 2000. He majored in history and Asian studies at Tufts University, graduating in 1993.

“Chris Bodeen was always ready for adventure. Hiding in the hills of Hainan Island, China, to try to report on the return of an American Air Force plane forced down in 2001, he was the best colleague to be with,” said Raf Wober, a video journalist in the AP's Hong Kong bureau.

In a 2017 story on efforts to burnish the image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Bodeen described state broadcaster China Central Television leading its evening national news bulletin “with more than four minutes of uninterrupted clapping for Xi as he met with adoring citizens,” and a Russian translator who “was so engrossed with reading a recent speech by Xi, Xinhua (the official news agency) said, that he skipped lunch and dinner just to finish studying it.”

While much of this might have seemed amusing to outsiders, Bodeen was careful to note that “the domination of (Xi’s) image in official propaganda evokes, for some, the painful memories of the upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s, when Mao (Zedong) was accorded the status of a near deity.”

Julie Pace, AP's executive editor, remembered Bodeen as not only an effective China correspondent but as a fellow journalist whose knowledge elevated those around him.

“Chris cared deeply about his work and the value of on-the-ground reporting in such an important region of the world," she said. "His expertise informed AP’s audiences for so many years, but also helped lift up so many colleagues.”

Passion for family and work was his hallmark

Bodeen was deeply proud of his two daughters and loved showing off their artwork and achievements — and creative Halloween costumes — to colleagues. “Every parent thinks their kids are the best, but, hand to God, these girls are both adorable and seriously tough cookies,” he wrote of his children.

“He truly, passionately loved what he did, as much as he loved being a dad," Ingrid Bodeen said. She recalled that when her father spent long stints reporting from Afghanistan during her childhood, “he would always have my mom fax over my spelling lists and homework so we could work on them together. He never missed a spelling test week.”

Bodeen was also beloved by colleagues for his sharp sense of humor, his knowledge of good local food and an encyclopedic knowledge of movie and TV comedies from the ’70s and ’80s.

Kanis Leung, an AP reporter in Hong Kong, said that Bodeen once told her about an old correspondent's description of news reporting as “the art of shoving 50 pounds of oatmeal into a 10-pound sack."

“Except,” Bodeen told Leung, "he didn’t say oatmeal.”

Bodeen is survived by his wife, Yen Ling, daughters Ingrid, 26, and Naomi, 22, his parents and a sister.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in an email Thursday evening, “The Trump Administration is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised,” and the people deported included “terrorists, human smugglers, and suspected foreign agents."

Some deportees were handpicked by Iranian officials, emails show

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

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

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

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

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

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

A spokesperson for DHS said in a statement that all asylum-seekers receive due process and “have their fear claims heard.” The statement also pushed back on the idea that there was a person who was mistakenly deported — and instead said he was deported because he was a “possible national security risk” who "illegally entered the United States."

"It is total fabrication that ICE inadvertently removed an illegal alien to Iran," the spokesperson said in an email.

US prioritized deportation efforts during war

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iranian officials had access to immigration detainees

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

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

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

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

DHS vehemently disputed the lawsuit's allegations.

“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE. ICE works with every country to get travel documents for detainees,” a DHS statement read.

Four days brought a big change for Scottie Scheffler, too. The world's No. 1 player went from an eight-shot victory in the postseason opener to feeling under the weather and having to rally for a 72, his highest opening round since the U.S. Open in June.

Scheffler's voice was hoarse when he said he didn't want to stop to talk, saying only that he was sick as he headed for the locker room.

McIlroy returned from a four-week break after the British Open with plenty of rust and very little golf and failed to break par in any of the four rounds for the first time in more than five years at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

He went home to Florida and worked with swing coach Michael Bannon.

“I went home and I worked on a few things and at least got myself back in a frame of mind where like I felt like I’m at least back on the right path of what I’m doing with my game and with my swing,” McIlroy said. “It’s certainly a work in progress. Days like this are encouraging, obviously. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

McIlroy is fond of saying players never remember what it's like to play bad when they're going well and they think they'll never play good again when the game is going poorly. It's never that far away, and Thursday was a reminder of that.

Bellerive originally was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and later updated by his son, Rees, who had the reputation as the “Open Doctor” for trying to modernize and toughen courses. While soft conditions contributed to a bunched leaderboard, it was hard to look past so many U.S. Open champions at the top.

Gary Woodland, a Kansas native getting plenty of support in Missouri as he continues to recover from brain surgery and make it to the FedEx Cup finale, holed out for eagle on the 11th fairway and didn’t miss a green until the 18th, his lone bogey. He won the U.S. Open in 2019 at Pebble Beach.

Wyndham Clark, who birdied five of his last six holes, is a two-time U.S. Open champion, including this year at Shinnecock Hills. J.J. Spaun went back to the putter he used when he won the U.S. Open at Oakmont two years ago and had seven birdies until a bogey on the final hole.

Among those a shot behind was 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.

“Coincidence,” Clark said about five of seven U.S. Open champions at 65 or better.

Woodland is the only one at 64 who really needed a start like this. The triple-digit heat last week in Memphis, Tennessee, made it difficult for him to slow his heart rate, which is key for him to prevent his brain from being overly engaged.

He is at No. 31 in the FedEx Cup — only the top 30 reach the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta, which would guarantee him starts in all four majors next year, along with giving him a chance to play for the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize.

“I can promise you East Lake wasn’t on my mind to start the year,” Woodland said. "It’s a goal, I think you write it down, but it seemed like far, far away. I’ve had up-and-down days. I’ve had some rough days lately. But we’ve built this together, Randy (Smith) and I, to get to a point where I feel very comfortable over the golf ball.

“If I can find a way to get through 18 holes mentally, my game’s in a pretty good spot where I can compete out here at a level I haven’t been able to compete in a while.”

Woodland kept the excitement down when the crowd erupted in cheers to see his sand wedge from 99 yards spin back and roll into the cup for eagle on the 11th hole. He smiled and raised his arm and gave high-fives to Adam Scott and the caddies.

Most impressive was his 2-iron from 286 yards on the par-5 17th that rolled out to 12 feet on the fringe. He narrowly missed that and settle for birdie.

Woodland occasionally places his hand on the left side of his chest before putting. It looked like a reminder to keep his shoulders in place. Turns out it has a much deeper purpose.

“When I’m struggling I put my hand on my heart to just to remind myself that I’m alive, and if I can feel my heart beat I know I’m breathing,” he said. “And I’ve done that this year just to try to slow my heart down, tell myself I’m safe and I’ll be all right.”

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

Noah Lopez’s father told KPRC, our sister station in Houston, that neither he nor the boy’s mother gave permission for him to be physically punished.

“It just really hurt real bad. I was running across the room going in circles, and everybody was just laughing,” Lopez said. “I was like, dang, come on bro, it’s already embarrassing I’m getting hit.”

Lopez joined the Memorial High School football team in Port Arthur less than a month ago.

He said the reason he missed school was because he didn’t have a ride after his mother was seriously injured in a crash.

Lopez said his coach was furious with his pant color and that he didn’t have Lopez’s phone number.

Lopez’s father told KPRC the call from the school office was something he’d never heard before.

“Never whooping without my permission. I don’t even whoop on my kid,” Lopez’s father said.

Corporal punishment is defined as deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping or any other physical force used as a means of discipline.

Port Arthur ISD said in part it’s “policy doesn’t require a parent to provide advance written consent before corporal punishment may be administered.”

According to the Texas Education Code, if parents or guardians do not want corporal punishment to be used on their children, they have to sign a written statement and send it to the district’s board of trustees.

KSAT reached out to more than 15 local school districts around the San Antonio area to find out about their corporal punishment protocols. Almost all of them responded.

The following school districts have prohibited corporal punishment:

• Northside ISD
• North East ISD
• San Antonio ISD
• Edgewood ISD
• East Central ISD
• South San Antonio ISD
• Southside ISD
• Medina Valley ISD
• Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD
• Somerset ISD
• Boerne ISD
• Harlandale ISD

Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD told KSAT it voted last month to remove the option from its handbook.

Somerset ISD said it prohibited corporal punishment in 2023, however it has not updated its online student handbook, which still says corporal punishment is allowed.

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• NISD bus driver shortage leaves northwest San Antonio families scrambling at the start of school
• SA City Council votes unanimously to change César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Trump praised Cohen for ‘recanting everything you said’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Army is shutting down unit in Europe focused on drones

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

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

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

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

Melania Trump accepts $2 million gift to provide college scholarships

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

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

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

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

Treasury extends Lukoil license

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

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

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

Trump meets Vance’s baby

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The debate reflects broader tensions over technology and local impact.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Melania Trump is set to announce new scholarships for foster children

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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White House legislative affairs director James Braid is leaving his post

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

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

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

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

Fresh US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East

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

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

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

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

Democrats narrow their list of 2028 presidential convention sites

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The US national debt now stands at $40 trillion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read also:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read also:

• SA City Council votes unanimously to change César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard

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

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

It doesn't sound like that is imminent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

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

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

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

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

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

Residents are exhausted from days without power

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Schools across northwest Indiana are still closed

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

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

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

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

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

Flash flooding brings new woes to central Ohio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

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

More local news coverage on KSAT:

• Hondo PD officer fired, SAPD officer suspended after drunken incident at New Mexico ski resort
• 26 dogs seized from North side home amid increase in dog hoarding cases, ACS says
• USMS: 2 ex-Karnes County detention workers allegedly smuggled drugs inside detention facility

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Residents and school board members speak out against the gloves

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

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

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

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

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

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

Most school resource officers were trained to use the gloves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read also:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Army had previously prioritized efforts to use drones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Don’t f---ing touch me!’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cisnero’s claim

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘What I did was horrible’

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

Cisnero had worked for Hondo PD since March 2024.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

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

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

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

Zelenskyy repeats his appeals for more air defense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ukraine says it struck more Russian oil facilities

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

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

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

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

Ukraine's neighbors are on alert

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Explosions shatter windows and screams fill the air

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Supporters stood silently for an hour

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chaplain recalls one of the first things Clancy said to her

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Associated Press journalist Leah Willingham contributed from Boston.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

Pollard reported from Washington.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read also:

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

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

KSAT Community Phone Bank: Community support makes a difference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But it was far from over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Up Next

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

Team up with like-minded colleagues to advocate for yourself

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check state laws to see what's required of employers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Treasury buyback is small compared to the size of the market

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

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

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

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

Millions of people at risk but far less aid

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

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

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

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

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

One desperate mother tells her story

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

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

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

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

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

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

A health center tries its best to help

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

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

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

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

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

They don’t know where their next meal is

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Republican committee issues warning over data centers in Ohio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump’s statement already put to use in Nevada race

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

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

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

Texas' governor changed course and got a jab from Trump

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

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

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

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

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

Data centers complicated Wisconsin governor race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FORMATION

Dust or dirt devils form during hot, dry weather. You’re most likely to see them in open fields, where the ground heats up quicker than places with lots of vegetation.

Here’s how the dust devils form:

1. The sun heats the ground, warming the air near the surface
2. As the warm air rises, it creates a very localized area of low pressure
3. Surrounding air rushes in toward the newly-formed low and begins to circulate
4. Continued heating helps to maintain the spin
5. Dust and dirt get picked up, and the dust devil becomes visible!

Dust devils may look intense, but they very rarely cause damage. That’s because wind speeds in these whirls rarely eclipse 45 mph.

• Read more from the meteorologists on the Whatever the Weather page
• Download KSAT’s weather app for customized, accurate forecasts in San Antonio, South Texas or wherever you are
• Find the latest forecasts, radar and alerts on the KSAT Weather Authority page

“Here we go,” Alcaraz posted on his social media pages Thursday, with one picture showing him in front of the U.S. Open logo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

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

Description

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

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

Responsibilities

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

Requirements

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

Preferred

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

Applicants can send resumes to careers@grahammedia.com

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

On Wednesday, four hemp retailers filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against the Texas Department of State Health Services, alleging the agency has engaged in executive overreach by classifying hemp-derived substances as illegal, which violates the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed them from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

“Thousands of small business owners built enterprises, hired workers, and invested capital relying on that law,” said David Sergi, lead counsel for the hemp industry in this case, in a news release. “DSHS does not have the constitutional authority to rewrite statutes or destroy an industry simply because it disagrees with legislative policy.” 

The complaint states the hemp industry has already undergone “catastrophic” harm due to DSHS’s regulatory decision, with over 36,000 jobs being lost due to workforce reductions, retail sales dropping by more than 50%, leading to billions of dollars in lost revenue, and inventory being stranded all over Texas. 

The lawsuit also alleges that DSHS’s decision to focus only on the hemp industry has unlawfully shut down the market while protecting the state-licensed medical marijuana program known as the Texas Compassionate Use Program or TCUP. 

In addition to the complaint, the plaintiffs are also moving for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to remove the ban on these THC products. 

“We are asking the Court to uphold the Texas Constitution, protect thousands of Texas jobs, and keep policy decisions where they belong—with the elected representatives of the people,” Sergi said. 

Earlier this month, three different members of the hemp industry sued the state of Texas for violating commerce protections with a hemp-derived THC ban.

Two hemp retailers and a distributor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Texas Department of State Health Services; Attorney General Ken Paxton; and the Galveston County criminal district attorney and sheriff, alleging that classifying hemp-derived substances as illegal violates the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed it from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The complaint states that the reinstated definitions provide no delineation between lawful hemp and unlawful marijuana; that it’s preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill’s protections for the interstate hemp market; and that these classifications impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.

“For more than seven years, Texans have built a multibillion-dollar hemp industry under laws that define these products as legal hemp. Without any change to those laws, the State now says they’re Schedule I drugs, like heroin,” said Andrea Steel, lead counsel for the hemp industry in this case, in a news release

State officials banned at the end of last month several hemp-derived THC cannabis products, including those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC variants, punishing people in possession of them with jail time and fines. However, delta-9 THC, the most commonly sold THC product in Texas, will remain legal.

Now that THC variants are classified as a schedule I drug, possession of illegal THC products will be treated as a state jail felony, which carries a punishment of 180 days to two years in prison and fines of up to $10,000, say cannabis experts.

“Our Constitution does not allow the government to jail a person under a framework no one can make sense of – our clients are asking the federal court to protect Texans from their own confused government,” Steel said.

Cannabis experts say if the ban is not removed, more than half of the THC products in stores might be removed from shelves.

“It’s a pretty big blow, and it’s recriminalizing a lot of cannabis products that have been completely legal and allowable in the state for many years, so we’re taking steps backwards toward prohibition,” Sarah Todd, media representative at Texas Cannabis Policy Center, previously told the Tribune.

The recent change stems from a Texas Supreme Court decision in May that allowed the Texas Department of State Health Services to reclassify all hemp-derived THC, except for low-dose delta-9 THC, as a Schedule 1 drug, prohibiting its possession and sale in the state. The ruling ended a 2021 injunction that paused DSHS from enforcing the new classification, which effectively allowed stores to stock different kinds of THC for the past five years.

The ban applies to all synthetically created THC forms, including delta-8, delta-10, THCP and THCA flower. The one exception will be delta-9 products with less than 0.3% THC by dry weight.

Delta-9, which naturally occurs in cannabis and is not typically synthetically derived, will remain the only THC option for Texas consumers because the federal 2018 Farm Bill legally defines hemp as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, and it does not list other cannabinoids.

This is the latest blow to the state’s hemp industry, whose year started with promises from lawmakers that hemp is here to stay but has been consumed with uncertainty over the last several months as flurries of court actions have ripped products off the shelves and then put them back on.

A statewide ban on the sale of smokeable hemp, such as flower buds and rolled joints, was supposed to go into effect on March 31, but a court ruling has paused it, so delta-9 smokeable hemp will also still be available to consumers.

Texas banned the sale of vape pens containing THC in the last legislative session.

Various lawmakers have promised to continue their crusade against hemp this upcoming legislative session, making arguments against THC that harkened back to the days of the “Just Say No” campaigns of the ’80s regarding the risks of THC usage and its effects. Members of the committee used the frying-pan-and-brain analogy as an example of how these products cause mental health problems among young people.

Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, has already confirmed he will once again file a bill to ban consumable hemp products at the next legislative session.

There are about 14,000 retail stores statewide that are licensed to sell consumable hemp, according to the Department of State Health Services.

Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Umana, who has a pending federal criminal case in connection with the Aug. 8 crash, lied to a border officer and falsely claimed he was a U.S. citizen when he entered the country in Texas in 2007, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

Hernandez-Umana, 46, a citizen of El Salvador, is being held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to online records. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he will eventually be deported.

Immigration authorities arrested him after he was released on bail in his criminal case, where he is charged with causing the deaths of 5-month old Antonella Garcia and 27-year-old Sara Sanchez through misconduct or neglect.

According to prosecutors, Hernandez-Umana wasn’t licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard, wasn’t aware of basic safety rules and told investigators he’d borrowed his friend’s personal vessel for the New York Harbor excursion. The boat was illegally chartered and overcrowded, prosecutors said.

“Once he faces justice for his crimes, we will make sure that he is swiftly removed from our country,” Mullin said in a statement.

Hernandez-Umana's lawyer, Amy Gallicchio, declined comment.

Hernandez, who had been living in Manville, New Jersey, was not required to enter a plea at his initial court appearance in the criminal case on Aug. 10. He wiped his eyes as he arrived to the courtroom, still wearing the T-shirt, swim trunks and water shoes he’d had on during the voyage. He is due back in court on Sept. 9.

According to Coast Guard investigators, Hernandez was piloting a 21-foot Yamaha AR210 with 14 people aboard — well over its 10 person capacity — when it swamped and sank as it made a U-turn in choppy waters. The tour began around 7 p.m. and the vessel capsized more than three hours into its journey.

The infant wasn’t wearing a life preserver because the boat didn’t have any for small children, prosecutors said. Instead, Hernandez told Sanchez she needed to wear a life vest and hold the infant throughout the hourslong tour, a violation of federal regulations, prosecutors said.

The tour was organized through Zeus Luxury Rental Inc., which advertises its services on social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok. A boat chartered by the company caught fire last year during a birthday cruise on Long Island Sound.

According to his criminal complaint, Hernandez told investigators he had worked for Zeus Luxury on a freelance or contract basis since last year, starting as a limousine driver. He said that twice recently he used his personal boat, a slightly larger Yamaha AR250, but used a friend’s boat on Aug. 8 because his needed repairs, the complaint said.

Messages seeking comment were sent to a phone number and email address listed on Zeus Luxury’s website. The phone number’s voicemail was full, according to an automated recording.

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This story has been updated to correct that Homeland Security announced the arrest Wednesday, not Monday.

TEXARKANA — When Scott Norton became president of the TexAmericas Center, he hoped the industrial park would attract employers that would bring much-needed jobs to North East Texas.

Little did he know the industrial center would sit atop one of the country’s largest and richest lithium deposits, known as the Smackover Formation, and would also become a key location for mineral production in Texas.

“[Lithium production is] a great opportunity not just for the Department of War and Red River Army Depot, but in the entire region when it comes to capital investment and job creation,” Norton said.

Lithium production in East Texas could create high-paying jobs, support local businesses and encourage cities to improve East Texas infrastructure, such as roads or public utility services. But it could also leave landowners struggling with high property values and a community dealing with infrastructure that doesn’t keep pace with rapid growth, leading to a bust that the state has seen before with the oil and gas industry.

Economists at a Texarkana lithium symposium in July warned against vying for a boom, and encouraged leaders instead to seek slow, sustainable growth.

Now, however, local officials and state lawmakers must decide how to manage the industry to ensure that landowners’ rights are respected, that the extraction process remains safe and clean, and that producing this mineral in East Texas is worth the cost.

“We can learn from Arkansas and from some of these other places, but it has to make sense economically for companies,” said Brent Elliott, an economic geologist and mineral resource specialist with the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas. “They won’t do it if there’s not some kind of incentive or clarity on the landscape, like ownership, unitization and the production procedure. And then the economics of it at the end of it.”

Next year could prove to be a crucial year for this budding industry, if lawmakers make it a priority in the 2027 legislative session.

Who will manage lithium rules and regulations?

Lithium production is a national issue with wide-reaching implications. Landowners near production facilities have a stake in the game, as do producers such as EnergyX, ExxonMobil and Chevron, local officials and state and national lawmakers.

President Donald Trump and Texas’ congressional delegation are pushing to expand domestic mineral production and reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign countries for critical minerals. Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency oversees federal regulations on mineral extraction.

In Texas, lithium mining regulation is overseen by the Texas Railroad Commission, which also oversees the state’s oil and gas production, use and waste. The agency was given rule-making authority in 2023 and established some guidelines based on the oil and gas industry, and brine production.

Industry players would like to see some clarity on important issues, such as property tax values, royalties and brine injection regulations, either from the commission or from state lawmakers.

Researchers at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas, including Elliott, plan to present lawmakers with findings on the industry, such as water rights and mineral royalties, by the end of the year to help lawmakers form decisions on this emerging industry.

“We’ll try to get to anyone who represents East Texas,” Elliott said. “Anyone who has jurisdiction over the Smackover or anybody who’s on the Natural Resources committees, both in the House and Senate, or the Energy Committees. Those folks would do well to understand the current landscape and the recommendations for making it better.”

This issue also touches on local economic development, which is why the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce hosted its first-ever lithium symposium, at which experts provided more insight on the industry to regional and state leaders. It even brought Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Texas to open the symposium.

Lithium production in Arkansas has grown exponentially over the last few years as companies pull brine from the Smackover Formation, which spans from Florida to Central Texas. Because brine production was already common in Arkansas, lithium production rules and regulations were folded into an already established framework.

Arkansas’ regulations were cited in both the symposium and multiple independent interviews with the Texas Tribune as a solid source for Texas to base its own regulations on.

“They seem to be very happy with the structures in place in Arkansas, and would like to see more structures in the state of Texas,” said Robin Hickerson, president and CEO of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.

Economic implications

Texas’ reputation as a business-friendly state could encourage lithium producers to create high-paying jobs for out-of-work oil and gas workers since both industries require similar skillsets. It could also encourage tertiary development, such as retail, restaurants and hotels, in underdeveloped areas.

Before any of that happens, though, the industry needs to hammer out some much-needed details.

Bruce Cutright is the CEO of GeoFrame, an Austin company that wants to build the largest lithium production facility in the U.S. in Mount Vernon, a town about 60 miles north of Tyler. He has been working closely with community leaders in Franklin County to get the lithium project off the ground.

Cutright said the Legislature has several matters to settle next year, including the rights and responsibilities around minerals and brine, the water byproduct of drilling.

The key question lawmakers should ask when deciding water and mineral rights is why the brine is being extracted, said Chris Alex, vice president of U.S. Upstream Asset Development for EnergyX, which is developing a lithium production facility in Texarkana. Is the brine being brought to the surface as a byproduct of oil and gas production, or is it being extracted specifically to recover lithium through direct lithium extraction?

“The state has yet to clarify this in a ruling or statute,” he said.

If the brine is produced as a byproduct of oil and gas operations, Alex said it would belong to the exploration and production company. But if a company extracts the brine specifically to produce lithium, he said state law does not clearly establish who owns those mineral rights.

Other concerns center around the impact lithium production in the area would have on property taxes as well as who ultimately would see the financial gains from mineral production.

Cutright is concerned that, without clear guidance on how property taxes will be affected by lithium production, homeowners near his site may not be able to afford a significant increase in their property valuations.

“I wouldn’t want these beautiful fifth-generation ranches to suddenly be priced out of their property,” Cutright said.

Texas currently leaves it up to landowners and producers to hash out these decisions and they’re made as part of lease agreements, Alex said.

The Mineral Interest Pooling Act, which can dictate royalties for oil and gas rights, could also guide lawmakers, Elliott said.

Environmental implications

Most of the lithium produced around the globe is extracted from salty aquifers and stored in massive evaporation ponds in the arid countries of the Southern Hemisphere. The brine that is left is processed further for lithium extraction. The lithium carbonate, which is left after that extraction process, is then shipped to countries like China to be used in battery components for clean energy technology.

The whole process can take years and can be delayed by a rainier-than-average season. It requires significant amounts of water and has led to water scarcity in countries like Chile, which sits atop the largest known reserve of lithium in the world. And in some cases, the ground and surface water have been contaminated because of lithium extraction processes.

Lithium producers in East Texas, however, are eyeing an extraction process called Direct Lithium Extraction, or DLE, that more closely resembles oil and gas production. And it could work exceptionally well at extracting lithium from the brine in the Smackover Formation thousands of feet below East Texas.

For long-time environmental advocate Neil Carman, a volunteer and former Clean Air Director for the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club, the idea of lithium production in the state is a scary one. He worries that Texas’ emerging lithium industry won’t truly be regulated in a way that protects the community.

DLE poses similar risks as those of oil and gas production. If something fails in the infrastructure, it could leak into the potable groundwater resources East Texans are currently fighting to protect, and Texas doesn’t have the best reputation for cleaning up those messes, Carman said.

He’d like to see the state outline reporting requirements for operations and a detailed plan for if something goes wrong.

Elliott sees DLE as something akin to what Texas has already done for years with the oil and gas industry. The Railroad Commission already has rules in place for brine production overall, which includes lithium.

Alex of EnergyX believes brine extraction is regulated similar to oil and gas in some ways, but with more stringent requirements in others. EnergyX maintains a strict emergency action plan with the county and has secured its site beyond Railroad Commission requirements, he said.

Cutright is happy with the state’s framework, but he’d like to see the Railroad Commission update its rules regarding reinjection. As it stands, brine pumped from the ground must be reinjected into the same formation. This will dilute the lithium brine source over time, meaning eventually the lithium extractors will have to find a new place to pump, Cutright said.

“There needs to be sort of a side decision loop in the permitting process that asks if there are other, more appropriate zones to inject the spent brine back into the subsurface,” Cutright said.

What comes next

Arkansas is using much of its framework and infrastructure from bromine production, a mineral that can be extracted from brine, which is why some experts have encouraged Texas to see what its northern neighbor is doing.

But Texas is in a position that could set the stage for real industry growth and development that even Arkansas doesn’t have, Elliott said.

“We have the advantage of developing infrastructure that would be better suited for future development without having the previous stuff,” said Elliott.

It could take some time, though. Lithium may have been a priority for lawmakers going into 2027 before state residents began to worry about data centers. Now that data centers and most especially, water and energy usage, are top of mind for many voters, Elliott said he isn’t sure how this new industry will be perceived.

“It was probably higher on the priority list before,” he said. “The data center issues have really kind of moved to the forefront. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for lithium.”

Meanwhile, in East Texas, companies are setting up test sites and figuring out exactly what the deep-water aquifer has to offer. Texarkana is bracing for investment, as are communities across the region.

GeoFrame’s ground breaking was pushed back from its original goal of 2026 due to financing and project changes, but Cutright is excited for its launch.

The site would produce more than 83,000 metric tons — about the weight of 16,000 large elephants — of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually. This would put a sizable dent in the U.S. domestic needs, if successful.

“Texas is blessed with some of the highest lithium concentrations in the Smackover Formation,” he said. “The part of Texas where we’re working, Franklin County, and that area — that’s really the bullseye for the highest concentrations.”

In June, KSAT reported about the plans to revitalize the historic district known as Project DC.

Stakeholders have purchased properties with the goal of creating affordable housing, businesses and using the future VIA Silver line to connect workers, but they must first deal with unhoused people that have been in the area for years.

The San Antonio Housing Trust approved a 28-month Homeless Response Action Plan focused on the area, where more than 160 people experiencing homelessness are sleeping near abandoned buildings.

Nearly 40 nonprofits and other organizations have started working to connect people with housing, medical care and legal assistance.

Corazón Ministries is one of the groups involved. The organization said it has helped house 35 people.

During the first six months of the plan, participating groups will focus on building relationships, earning the trust of people experiencing homelessness and identifying their needs. The next phase will focus on finding permanent housing and providing long-term support.

The first two years of the plan could cost more than $12 million. Expenses are expected to decrease as people leave the program.

People who live and own businesses near Cattleman Square said they are glad people are receiving help, but some remain skeptical about whether the plan will work.

“You can’t help everybody, but you can try to help the majority of the people who are there,” said Diana Avila, a West Side resident. “I’ve seen families who are homeless.”

Ralph Gauna said he has seen “a lot of promises” and hopes this plan will help the entire neighborhood.

Jennifer Villegas, owner of Cafe Don Juan, said the business is close to a shelter that provides services for people experiencing homelessness.

“The homeless population will gravitate to that area, so it will be a little hard to say, ‘Get them out of the area’ because the resources are readily available,” Villegas said.

Cafe Don Juan has been in business for five decades and borders the Cattleman Square district. Villegas said she believes a nightlife scene could benefit her business.

She also said she did not know about or attended community meetings in June focused on reshaping the district.

A draft of the Project D.C. master plan is expected in October. The final plan may be available by January.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• ‘Project DC’ aims to revitalize neglected district west of downtown

Nguyen Thi Quynh Tam, 24, said she was raped on July 5 and pressured by the man’s family to accept money and not go to police. She said the police also initially urged her to settle the matter privately.

The AP does not usually identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, except if they come forward publicly about the abuse. Tam's candor is unusual for Vietnam, where sexual violence is rarely discussed publicly, but she said she wanted to speak out to help protect other women.

“I’m doing this not just for me. But for everybody else that has been harmed,” said Tam.

Tam’s account was documented in interviews, her police complaint and communications with U.S. and Vietnamese officials. After she sought help from U.S. officials and a U.S. lawmaker, officials confirmed Thursday that they had charged the 23-year-old man.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said authorities had initiated legal proceedings “in accordance with Vietnamese law.” She did not respond to questions about alleged police pressure to settle the case.

The man charged in the case did not respond to AP queries sent via social media.

Tam, whose family moved to the United States when she was 5 years old, returned to Vietnam in May for a banking internship, hoping to reconnect with her family’s homeland. She joined a group of acquaintances on a July 4 trip to a resort in Phu Tho, near Hanoi.

The group stayed up late and when she went to bed, Tam found herself locked out of the room where she expected to sleep. She found another bedroom and fell asleep with the door unlocked, then awoke to the 23-year-old man kissing her neck.

Her complaint says Tam told him not to touch her, but he persisted and climbed on top of her. She pushed and punched him and shouted, “No!” But he pinned both her arms above her head and raped her.

Later that night, she messaged her boyfriend in the U.S. that she had been raped. The AP has seen the messages.

Afterward, she said she blamed herself and struggled mentally. Others in the group they traveled with told her the man was from a wealthy, politically-connected family and she was unsure what to do.

Tam said the man apologized twice on July 9, in a note and during a phone call. The AP has heard a recording of the call and seen the note.

On July 11, Tam and friends of her family met with the man's father in an encounter suggested by members of the group she traveled with. She said he asked how much money she wanted for not involving the police. He called five days later, again offering compensation, she said.

In an email to the The Associated Press, the father said the two had been “intimate,” but he declined to comment further. He said his family had “no intention” of pressuring Tam to drop the case.

Tam said that after she reported the incident to police on July 21, they took her back to the room where she said she was raped and asked her to reenact the assault, leaving her distraught.

“A part of me is gone. And it’s in that room,” she said.

The next day, she said, police urged her to meet with the 23-year-old and to sign a statement saying she had refused a rape kit and a lawyer. She refused. The police again asked her to settle while she was getting mental health care at a Hanoi hospital, she said.

Tam, who is from Houston, Texas, said she got little help at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, where she was told she could report the matter to Vietnamese police, or return home. She said she was discouraged when they cited a previous sexual assault case that dragged on for over a year before being dropped.

After Tam's father contacted their senator, Ted Cruz, the embassy called her to apologize. It told Cruz’s office it had supported Tam and helped her contact authorities. Her father called that “inaccurate,” according to a July 29 email exchange.

The State Department said it was aware of her case, but couldn't comment further because of legal and privacy reasons. It said American “safety and security” was its top priority.

The Texas Department of Transportation is moving forward with improvements along Loop 410, San Pedro Avenue and U.S. Highway 281 on the North Side.

The project covers 4.3 miles of Loop 410 between West Avenue and Broadway and 2.7 miles of U.S. Highway 281 between Loop 410 and East Nakoma Drive.

The work will affect areas within San Antonio and Castle Hills near the airport.

TxDOT said the project addresses safety and operational concerns in a corridor that experiences heavy traffic and a high number of crashes.

Between 2014 and 2018, the project area averaged 3.7 crashes per day — a rate higher than the statewide average for both interstates and U.S. highways. Officials said the work will improve congestion and vehicles weaving in and out of traffic.

Without improvements, morning commutes in the corridor could double by 2045, while evening commutes could take up to four times longer than they do today, according to TxDOT.

The improvements include removing seven ramps and replacing them with new access points. Several intersections also will be improved to help traffic flow and increase safety.

The project follows a multiyear planning process that included a feasibility study and public input.

TxDOT will hold a stakeholder open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 27 to discuss the planned improvements. The meeting will include information about the project, details about the proposed work, construction timelines and opportunities for public involvement.

Residents can subscribe to TxDOT email updates through the project webpage or submit questions to SATINFO@txdot.gov.

In one crash, a bus and vehicle collided as the bus was making a turn near the intersection of Babcock Road and Eckhert Road. A district spokesperson said 47 Rhodes Elementary School students were on board at the time of the crash.

Another Northside ISD school bus was dispatched to the scene to transfer the uninjured students to class, which is less than a mile from the scene.

The second incident was a minor crash in the Interstate 10-La Cantera area. The district said a Brandeis High School student, who was not hurt, was on board at the time of the crash.

More local news coverage on KSAT:

• SA City Council votes unanimously to change César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard
• Keith Urban headlines San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s first round of performers for 2027

The Bruins are to play two games in Munich, while the Oilers will play two matches in Leon Draisaitl’s native city of Cologne during the 2027-28 NHL season. The opponents have yet to be determined.

“These events represent an important step in our commitment to grow the game in Germany. By bringing more NHL games to one of Europe’s most dynamic hockey markets, we hope to continue to deepen engagement amongst our fans, partners and local communities, while at the same time creating a significant opportunity to grow the game throughout the country,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators were already slated to play two games in Düsseldorf in December. Those Global Series games are the second and third regular-season games the league has staged in Germany after the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin in 2011.

More are to follow with the NHL and NHLPA committed to bringing regular-season games to Germany for at least the next three seasons.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

The petition with the hashtag InfantinOut also calls for FIFA "to be rebuilt so that the current debacle can never happen again.”

“The shameful attempt by one individual — the FIFA President himself — to sell off the World Cup to private investors exposed a betrayal football will never forget,” the petition said about Infantino's plan for a commercial spinoff, which he dropped amid a furious backlash.

The fan groups include Football Supporters Europe, Football Supporters Africa and, in North America, the Independent Supporters Council, plus about 40 national fan groups worldwide.

Infantino has resisted calls to leave office despite European soccer body UEFA saying it has no confidence in him. He has also been criticized by the leadership of North America’s CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation.

Some of FIFA's 211 member federations are supporting Infantino, including 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco as well as Qatar, where he lived before the emirate hosted the 2022 World Cup, and Lebanon, which gave him citizenship this year. Saudi Arabia, the 2034 host, has not publicly backed Infantino despite his close political ties to the kingdom.

“Gianni Infantino has demonstrated a profound failure of leadership, incompatible with democratic governance,” the fan petition states. “The concentration of power around the FIFA Presidency, combined with opaque decision-making, personality cult clientelism, and zero accountability has destroyed any remaining trust in the world governing body."

“For the credibility of FIFA — and for the future of the game — he must resign,” the petition adds.

FIFA was approached for comment about the petition.

Fan anger at World Cup ticket prices

The petition also cites Infantino’s past support for projects that outraged fans, including the failed European Super League project, pushing to hold World Cups every two years that was resisted and the “extortionate ticketing policy at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

FIFA and Infantino did not consult with fan groups before setting record ticket prices for the 104-game tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, that provoked anger and led to some tickets being sold for $60 to the most loyal fans of each of the 48 teams.

Football Supporters Europe is the official liaison for fans with UEFA and advises on ticket prices for European Championships and club cup finals like the Champions League.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Officers responded to the scene around 8:45 a.m. Thursday in the 9500 block of Interstate 35 southbound, which is located near Whirlwind Drive.

With the state of the decomposition, officers said it’s unclear whether foul play was involved in the man’s death.

The death may have resulted from a drug overdose or natural causes, SAPD said.

Police noted that the abandoned motel is a “haven” for people experiencing homelessness.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the man’s cause and manner of death.

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

Read also:

• Man stabbed multiple times at North Side convenience store, police say

To compete in the increasingly commercialized world of college sports, programs of its size might spend more than $40 million a year on talent acquisition, revenue sharing and other costs, according to experts. But just five of Louisville's 23 sports generate any revenue, according to the athletic department. Only football and men’s basketball turn profits.

Louisville, like a growing number of major conferences ′ public universities, is trying to narrow that spending gap and its supporters are trying to help by creating a new organization to oversee everything from third-party multimedia deals to hospitality packages.

This spring, Louisville launched Cardinal Ventures, a nonprofit designed to help the athletic department leverage its brand to generate new revenue streams, all to keep pace with the multibillion-dollar market around compensating athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness.

“We live in a highly, highly competitive environment and industry,” Heird said. “And if there’s anything that anybody can do to try to create even the smallest sort of competitive advantage, then they’re gonna look to do that.”

The University of Kentucky also has a revenue-raising nonprofit. The University of North Carolina is actively discussing a limited liability company. So, too, is Louisiana State University.

There’s “feverish” interest from higher education in these offshoots, according to Clay Grayson, whose South Carolina law firm designed Clemson University’s in-house venture. There’s also scrutiny from Congress. Widespread privatization could further transform universities into profit-driven businesses resembling professional sports franchises, weaning them off fatigued donors and opening the door to private capital.

“Governmental universities don’t do commercial very well,” Grayson said. “Those nonprofits are the ones that kind of can get out into that space.”

Record high gifts underscore the spending spree. Virginia Tech touted an “unprecedented” $75 million commitment intended to “ensure a strong start” for its nonprofit Hokie Ventures. Michigan State bolstered its athletic department with a $401 million contribution that included an investment in its own Spartan Ventures.

Louisville’s Heird said he frequently finds himself discussing these new organizations with peers as they all look to boost their bottom lines.

At his school, he has found some “low-hanging fruit” with concerts. Louisville’s 60,000-seat football stadium largely sits dark outside of home games.

Country music star Zach Bryan recently lit up the field. The rapper Ludacris headlines an upcoming hip-hop billing. Planning is already underway for next year’s shows — each of which could bring seven-figure profits for the hosts.

Athletic directors seek flexibility, control and a ‘commercial engine’

These new efforts may not provide a “silver bullet,” but they do offer new revenue and something many athletic directors may value even more — more control.

The nonprofits and LLCs offer greater flexibility to crack the financing puzzle than the previous system. Bureaucracy can drag decision-making out for months. Key components of the fan experience — tickets, parking, merchandise, concessions— are often outsourced to vendors they don’t fully run.

“There is an unstoppable train that is college sports," said Jason Belzer, a Sequence Equity partner who advises schools on NIL deals. "The reality is that you need to create new platforms and paradigms to be able to successfully operate a business that no longer really sits with the original mission of college athletics -- at least at the higher levels.”

Everything is on the table for Syracuse University. Athletic director Bryan Blair sees an opportunity to corner New York's college sports market. It's the state's only Power Four conference school. And all five ticketed sports play under a 50,000-seat dome that brings what he called a “big state school feel."

The question is how to build a “commercial engine,” Blair said, whether it exists within his department or outside it.

“We’re trying to educate young people, give them a great experience. We’re trying win on whatever day of the week it is for whatever competition it is. We’re trying to be great stewards and ambassadors for our university,” Blair said. “But to do a lot of those things requires more revenue than ever before.”

Nonprofits join growing number of affiliates

Commercial affiliates aren't new to higher education. Some universities use them to monetize drug patents or manage copyright.

Take the University of Kentucky, believed to be the first school to convert its athletic department into a limited-liability holding company. Trustees already managed separate health systems through a not-for-profit that was primed to take ownership of its athletics offshoot.

Athletic director J Batt, who recently joined the Wildcats from Michigan State, expects these formations will become the norm rather than an exception. “And everybody will do the one that’s right for your campus,” he added.

Grayson, the legal architect behind many such models, said he mostly hears from members of the Power Four. Those 67 schools tend to be the only ones with large, competitive enough programs to spend beyond the revenue-sharing cap of $21.3 million this year. His firm has helped create affiliated entities at an estimated one in seven schools competing in the Southeastern Conference, the Big Ten, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12.

His model strays from the traditional nonprofit. He proposes smaller, seven-person boards in order to expedite decision-making. Some of the athletic ancillaries even own for-profits that handle taxable activities such as stadium concerts.

Another big difference: they’re not registered to fundraise because their focus is programmatic revenue. He recommends aligning these new ventures with existing fundraising organizations — like “two pedals of a bicycle.”

“If you get them moving in sync, you’ve got a powerful, powerful motor," he said.

Questions about charitable purpose and donor fatigue

It remains to be seen whether these new entities will alleviate donor pressure to bankroll costly football programs. Moreover, they raise the same question that murky NIL collectives did: what is the charitable purpose of an institution whose main goal is to generate more revenue for athletics?

The Internal Revenue Service decided many nonprofit NIL collectives were erroneously given charitable status. They served players, not the public good, so their activities were likely not exempt from taxes.

These affiliates are similar, in the view of an NIL tax consultant who previously worked at the IRS. Thad Madden, who studied NIL compliance issues for the agency, said he doesn't see any “charitable connotation."

“It's to serve the financial interest of the athletes so that they make the most possible money with the goal of putting the best team on the field,” Madden said.

That financial interest has fatigued donors, according to consultants who advise schools on issues of NIL. They're fielding more athletics solicitations even as universities continue fundraising for student scholarships, research projects and other functions.

It used to be that development officers could leverage donor interest in athletics to direct some funds towards academics. That's not so nowadays, according to University of Pennsylvania professor Karen Weaver, a former athletic administrator who studies the evolving college sports landscape.

“Athletics doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem," Weaver said. "So, whatever dollar they bring in is gonna be spent on trying to get an advantage in athletics.”

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The announcement of his contract extension ahead of Verstappen’s home Dutch Grand Prix this weekend ends speculation that he could seek a blockbuster move to another team or quit the sport.

It comes despite Red Bull struggling to match the pace of leading team Mercedes this season, and Verstappen's own frustration with how much the 2026 cars rely on electrical power.

“After the first few races (this year), I said to Laurent (Mekies, Red Bull team principal): ‘Don’t come to me with any kind of questions about the future because I don’t even know if I want to stay.’ Honestly, we always kept it very open,” Verstappen said.

He added that talks with F1 and governing body the FIA had persuaded him that “we are slowly working towards something that becomes better and better” with the current cars, while the new contract until 2030 could cover a potential — but not confirmed — return to simpler V8 engines.

“Even if I’m not entirely happy with how the package is, I still love racing, this is still the pinnacle of motorsport, so I still want to be here,” he added.

Asked whether he’d spoken with other teams, he said: “I think I was closer to retiring than changing team.”

The Verstappen-Red Bull pairing could set an F1 record

Seeing out the contract in full would take Verstappen to 15 seasons with Red Bull. It would be the longest-running driver-team pairing in F1 history. It comes with strong support for team principal Mekies after he replaced the team's founding boss Christian Horner last year.

In return, Mekies laid out how the team is built around Verstappen.

“He’s a lot more than the fastest driver in the world for us,” Mekies said. “He’s the central point of the team. He’s one we always refer to for all the strategic decisions we are making, and to know that he’s going to be with us in order to build that next winning cycle is phenomenal.”

Verstappen, already considered one of F1’s all-time greats at the age of 28, has yet to win a race this season. The 71-time race winner hasn’t had a winless season since his rookie year in 2015.

Why there was speculation Verstappen might move

Verstappen’s previous contract ran through 2028 but reportedly included performance-related clauses which could have potentially allowed him to leave earlier and which fueled speculation he might seek to move.

Red Bull backed Verstappen’s career from childhood and brought him into F1 at the age of 17 in 2015 at its second team, then called Toro Rosso. That made him the youngest driver in series history, a record he still holds.

Still, there had been signs of tension in recent years amid the departures of a series of key staff including Horner last year and car design great Adrian Newey.

Verstappen also raised safety concerns this season after two separate faults with the Red Bull car’s rear wing hurled him into high-speed crashes.

Verstappen had been linked with a move to McLaren after reports of a meeting in June between his representatives and McLaren management. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said at the time the team didn't have an opening for him and would stick with defending champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who said Thursday he hadn't been worried for his seat.

Mercedes had also signaled interest in the past.

“Drivers talk with different teams, teams talk with different drivers. Everyone has to just see what their cards are," Mercedes' George Russell said Thursday. "My seat never felt under threat, and I felt 100% security with Toto (Wolff, team principal) and the team. That obviously now continues.”

One driver who had been considered a potential replacement for Verstappen at Red Bull, Carlos Sainz Jr., signed a new contract on Wednesday with Williams.

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The injury happened Wednesday, according to the district. Crandall is located approximately 25 miles southeast of Dallas.

“Our thoughts are with the student and the student’s family. We ask our community to respect their privacy at this time,” Crandall ISD posted on Facebook.

The Crandall ISD case is the second incident a Texas high school football player has fallen ill during practice this school year.

Lake Travis High School football player Odin Hensley suffered a medical emergency during practice Aug. 10 and was later airlifted to a hospital. He died two days later.

After careful consideration, Lake Travis announced Wednesday it will cancel its season opener against Dripping Springs.

Crandall ISD has not said when additional information about the injured student may be released. The district has yet to release details about the student’s condition or the nature of his injury.

Read also:

• Lake Travis football coach says team ‘heartbroken’ after player’s death

Country music star Keith Urban, who’s performed at the San Antonio rodeo several times in the past, is the headliner, according to a news release.

Urban most recently appeared in the 2025, 2023, and 2020 editions of the rodeo.

Below is a list of the four artists and their performance dates:

• Flatland Cavalry: Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
• Turnpike Troubadours: Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
• BlackHawk: Sunday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
• Keith Urban: Saturday, Feb. 20 at noon and 7:30 p.m.

The San Antonio rodeo takes place from Feb. 11 through Feb. 28, 2027, at the Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum fairgrounds.

Tickets are currently available on the rodeo’s website and Ticketmaster.

Read also:

• Jonas Brothers announce San Antonio concert date as part of new 45-city North American tour
• San Antonio Zoo named one of best zoos in world by Condé Nast Traveler

Walmart’s second quarter fanned anxiety about the financial well-being of low-income shoppers who are spending cautiously as prices rise at the gas pump and everywhere else.

Company shares tumbled more than 8% Thursday and helped drag the U.S. stock market lower as well.

Walmart’s comparable sales in the U.S., which measure sales at stores open at least a year along with online sales tied to those locations, rose 2.6% in the second quarter. That is down from 4.1% in the first quarter.

Excluding the wellness category that includes Walmart’s pharmacies, comparable sales increased 3.4% in the second quarter. Sales were hit by federal legislation that requires pharmacies to dispense some high-cost Medicare drugs at capped prices, the retailer said. That was still below Wall Street projections of a 3.8% increase, according to FactSet.

Still, Walmart’s quarterly profit, boosted by a $2.9 billion tariff refund, topped expectations, and so did revenue. Walmart says it continues to take market share.

Walmart is using the U.S. tariff refunds to temporarily lower prices on 11,000 items, it said Thursday, particularly on groceries and general merchandise.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this year that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when he imposed double-digit import taxes, meaning U.S. companies were owed refunds from the government.

Yet Walmart is trying to contain prices as it is squeezed by the same pressures hammering the American consumer, namely rising energy costs due to fighting in Iran. The company expects to book an additional $2 billion in incremental fuel costs this year.

Slowing comparable sales, particularly in Walmart stores, also reflect a strategic shift toward e-commerce, Walmart+ memberships and advertising. Walmart’s domestic e-commerce business, which has become a growth engine for the retailer, rose 24%.

U.S. e-commerce now represents 23% in the overall U.S business., Walmart said, double the share five years ago.

“As these businesses scale, they become a more meaningful part of our mix, and they’re changing the shape of our business,” CEO John Furner said Thursday.

Walmart is considered a barometer of consumer spending given its vast customer base. More than 150 million customers are on its website or in its stores every week, according to Walmart.

Walmart’s trajectory may draw even more attention after U.S. data released Friday showed retail sales were surprisingly weak in July. On the same day, a new read on consumers from the University of Michigan revealed growing pessimism about the economy.

Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said Friday that when gasoline prices rise above $4, the company can feel it.

“There’s a psychological impact to that ... that there are choices that consumers are making,” Rainey said. “June was a little more obvious as we look at the quarter in terms of customers making trade-offs. And it’s why we have leaned so heavily into lower prices.”

The price of a gallon of gasoline ticked higher again overnight, according to AAA, reaching $4.10.

With prices higher, Walmart continues to capture a larger share of wealthier consumers. The biggest gains in market share for Walmart are coming from households with annual incomes over $100,000, the retailer has said.

Walmart’s quarterly net income was $6.37 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the three-month period ended July 31. Adjusted per-share results were 81 cents, easily topping the 74 cents Wall Street had expected, according to FactSet.

Sales rose 5.9% to $187.94 billion. Analysts were predicting $186.62 billion, according to FactSet.

For the third quarter, Walmart expects earnings per share of 62 cents to 64 cents. It projects sales to be up 3% to 3.75%, putting sales in a range of $184.9 billion to $186.23 billion.

For the full year, Walmart now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $2.80 to $2.87, while sales should be up anywhere from 4% to 5%. That would mean a forecast for sales in the range of $741.7 billion to $748.8 billion, according to FactSet.

Analysts expected $2.90 per share and sales of $752.06 billion for the year, according to FactSet.

An analysis by The Associated Press and Reporter Brasil of all National Mining Agency records through June shows that rare earth exploration applications have surged, with more than 86% filed in the past three years, including 268 in the first half of 2026.

The interest is already raising environmental concerns for the Amazon and other areas.

Here are takeaways from the story:

The US and others are seeking alternatives to China

Rare earth minerals are a group of chemicals essential in digital and defense technologies, used in electronics, magnets and batteries. They are also used in wind turbines and electric vehicle motors, critical to the transition away from fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal that cause global warming. The International Energy Agency estimated in 2022 that demand for rare earths could increase at least threefold by 2040.

China has nearly half of the world’s reserves and dominates global processing. Brazil has the second-largest reserves and is becoming increasingly attractive to investors seeking alternatives to China after Beijing restricted exports last year.

By reviewing all National Mining Agency records in Brazil through June, the AP-Reporter Brasil analysis found that foreign investors are driving the growing interest in rare earth exploration, accounting for more than four in 10 applications.

Australian and U.S. firms dominate the interest. Among recent deals was the acquisition of Serra Verde, Brazil’s only commercial rare earth producer, by a U.S.-backed company.

Chinese firms had not filed any rare earth exploration applications in Brazil as of June, but they are positioning themselves in the sector. Last year, state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group acquired tin producer Mineracao Taboca and announced plans to assess rare earth potential at its Amazon mine. Separately, Shenghe Resources signed an agreement with Brazilian partners WEG Mineracao and Fenrir do Brasil to pursue rare earth projects, including one in Minas Gerais.

New mining push could impact communities and ecosystems

At least a quarter of the applications overlap with or are within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of protected areas and Indigenous territories, including in the Amazon, according to the Energy Transition Observatory, a collaboration among researchers and Reporter Brasil. Experts say mining projects within this buffer zone can cause environmental damage.

Depending on what is mined, toxic chemicals can be released and radioactive waste generated. Other potential impacts include deforestation and polluted water seeping into rivers and lakes, which can poison fish populations, as well as air pollution and noise.

In Goias state, in central Brazil, a small Afro-Brazilian community overlaps with mining claims by the Canadian firm Aclara Resources, which last year secured $5 million in project development financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

Aclara in a statement said its project initially overlapped with the community’s territory, but “no mining activities will take place there.” Still, residents fear operations that could start as early as 2028 could affect local springs and wildlife.

Brazil is considering safeguards around foreign influence

“The challenge today is that China dominates processing and refining,” said Brazilian lawmaker Zé Silva, author of pending legislation that would establish a federal policy on critical minerals and rare earths, set investment priorities and create a national council to monitor significant foreign influence in the sector. “Under our proposal, companies are welcome to invest, but they must transfer technology to Brazil, including processing capacity.”

On Monday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the Senate would move forward with the proposed law, to defend national interests.

“We will not allow anyone from outside to come here and exploit our mineral resources, because we want their processing and transformation to happen here,” Lula said.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Officers responded to the stabbing just after 9:30 p.m. at a 7-Eleven in the 900 block of Fredericksburg Road.

According to an SAPD preliminary report released Thursday, officers found the victim with multiple stab wounds to his “upper torso area and upper extremities.”

The victim was taken to a local hospital for further treatment, the report states.

Police believe the two men know each other. According to the report, both men entered the convenience store. As they left the store, the men began arguing.

While it is unclear what the argument was about, authorities said the 39-year-old suspect then stabbed the victim multiple times.

The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, police said.

SAPD said its investigation is ongoing.

Read also:

• Man randomly shot while riding bike on Southwest Side, SAPD says

The most significant impact in the San Antonio area was at North East ISD, where 30 campuses lost the free meals program.

As some San Antonio families adjust to the changes, nutrition experts say packing an affordable lunch at home does not have to mean sacrificing healthy options.

Luis Ricardo Crompton, a nutrition education coordinator with the San Antonio Food Bank, demonstrated a few lunch options that combine affordable ingredients with lean protein and vegetables.

One option is a three-bean salad made with three types of beans.

Crompton said beans can provide a source of lean protein while helping families cut back on foods high in saturated fat.

For children who are not fans of beans, Crompton suggested a vegetable wrap made with celery, onions, and carrots, along with Swiss or mozzarella cheese and low-sodium smoked turkey.

The ingredients can also be relatively inexpensive, he said.

Tortillas can cost about $2 to $3, while vegetables such as celery and carrots can be purchased for about $1 to $1.50. Cheese can cost about $2 to $3, depending on the brand.

Crompton recommended store brands, including H-E-B products, as another way to keep grocery costs down.

Families can also save money by making some foods at home. Crompton demonstrated homemade hummus as well as a chocolate mousse made with avocados, bananas, almond milk and honey.

He estimated the ingredients for the dessert at about $2 to $3.

For families trying to stretch their grocery budgets, Crompton said choosing inexpensive staples and preparing food at home can make it easier to put together nutritious school lunches without spending a lot.

Crompton offers nutrition education to students and families through the San Antonio Food Bank’s Culinary Health Education for Families program.

Noah Lopez, who attends Memorial High School in Port Arthur ISD, told KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, that the punishment happened less than a month after he joined the team.

Noah said he had missed school because he did not have a ride after his mother was seriously injured in a crash. He also said he wore the wrong color football pants to practice. According to Noah, the coach was also upset because he did not have Noah’s phone number.

“It just really hurt real bad,” Noah said. “I was running across the room, going in circles, and everybody was just laughing. And I was like, dang, like, come on bro, it’s already embarrassing, I’m getting hit.”

Noah’s father told KPRC that neither he nor Noah’s mother gave permission for the paddling.

“The way they did it, you know, it was like an assault,” Henry Lopez, Noah’s dad, told KPRC. “You know, they didn’t let me know. I don’t even whoop with my son.”

The Texas Education Agency said it has a zero-tolerance policy toward misconduct that threatens student safety. The agency also said parents can report school safety concerns to the TEA.

Port Arthur ISD said, in part, that district policy does not require a parent to provide advance written consent before corporal punishment may be administered.

According to the Education Code, parents or guardians must sign a written statement and send it to the board of trustees of their district to prohibit the use of corporal punishment on their children.

It is not yet clear whether the family has filed a formal complaint with the district or the state. Parents with safety concerns may report them to the Texas Education Agency.

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• Lake Travis football coach says team ‘heartbroken’ after player’s death

According to a Spurs Sports & Entertainment news release, Gunn Family Coyote Dog Park reopens Friday.

The reopening comes more than five weeks after the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in the area July 15. Damage forced the park to close for repairs.

Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which manages the 7.5-acre facility, worked alongside Bexar County and local partners to restore the park, the release states.

The free public space draws approximately 50,000 visitors a year and features a dog agility course, walking trails, seating areas, dog-wash stations and play mounds.

Friday’s reopening celebration kicks off at 8 a.m. at 15915 Old Fredericksburg Road. Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody will join representatives from Spurs Sports & Entertainment and Gunn Auto Group for brief remarks at approximately 8:05 a.m.

Giveaways, free coffee and pup cups will be available while supplies last. Admission is free.

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Officers were dispatched to the scene just after midnight Sunday in the 5100 block of Crestway Road.

Upon arrival, officers located a deceased man, police said. Witnesses reported that he was assaulted in the area.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Michael Allen Berry, 62.

At this time, it is unclear what led up to Berry’s death. However, the medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, no suspect information is available and no arrests have been made.

Officials said Berry died from cardiac air embolism due to sharp injuries to his neck.

Additional information was not immediately available. The investigation is ongoing.

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• 2 children seriously injured after three-vehicle crash on US Highway 281, police say

The Ervebo vaccine is licensed for use against Ebola virus, one of the viruses that cause Ebola disease, but not for Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak which has so far killed 2,476 people out of the 5,208 confirmed cases

WHO said in a statement that while it’s not known whether Ervebo may protect against the Bundibugyo virus, “early laboratory and animal data suggest it may provide some protection.”

The allocation includes 20,000 doses for a Phase 3 clinical trial to understand the impact of the vaccine on the Bundibugyo virus, the agency said. The remaining 50,000 doses will be used for front-line and health workers as recommended by WHO experts.

The outbreak raging in six provinces in eastern Congo has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other Ebola outbreak in history, and is spreading about three times faster compared to the 2014-2016 outbreak across West Africa — the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, which includes WHO and other partners, said the doses will be released immediately following a request from Congo’s government.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the approval “an important example of global solidarity in action.” He said the agency and its partners remain committed to supporting strengthened surveillance, rapid detection, quality care, community engagement and vaccination efforts to bring the outbreak under control.

The lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus has been a major issue for responders. Most new cases have been reported outside of the people being monitored, showing the virus continues to spread faster than efforts to track it. That has been a key contributor to the recorded deaths.

The case fatality rate so far is 47.5% although it is far worse in some places where response efforts are more challenging, such as in North Kivu province where the fatality rate is up to 70%.

Experts believe the virus began spreading from the mining town of Mongbwalu as early as February, months before authorities declared the outbreak on May 15.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims dropped to 206,000 last week from a revised 212,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, ticked up to 204,000 last week from 199,750.

Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a harbinger for where the job market is headed. For the past year, claims have been at a historically low range of around 200,000 to 230,000 a week.

“The labor market has yet to show any sign of wear and tear from the surge in oil prices since the start of the war with Iran and the global energy supply shock,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary.

The number of people collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Aug. 8 rose to 1.8 million from 1.78 million the week before.

The U.S. unemployment rate is low at 4.1%, partly because the economy has proved resilient in the face of higher energy prices. But it’s also because President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and the ongoing retirement of baby boomers mean that fewer people are competing for jobs: More than 1.3 million people have dropped out of the U.S. labor force over the past year.

The job market is tough for those looking for their first job and for those who lost their jobs and are looking for new work. At the same time, companies, remembering the worker shortages that followed the end of COVID-19 lockups, are still reluctant to let go of staff; but they aren’t eager to take on new workers. Economists regularly refer to a “no hire, no fire″ job market.

In July, companies, government agencies and nonprofits together cut 23,000 jobs. So far this year, employers are adding 61,000 jobs a month. That is an improvement on the 9,700 they averaged last year — the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. The lingering effects of high interest rates and Trump’s erratic trade policies discouraged companies from hiring in 2025.

Hiring this year remains well below the 166,00 monthly jobs created, on average, in 2023 and 2024, let alone the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed pandemic lockdowns.