“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico wrote in a filing late Monday.

”Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this Court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case,” the filing said.

It was the latest development in the back-and-forth saga of the Trump administration and the news media during the second term of his presidency. It has been a contentious relationship that has raised multiple First Amendment questions, produced sanctions and restrictions on White House and Pentagon reporters and led to several lawsuits that are winding their ways through the federal court system.

A two-week temporary restraining order on Trump's ban of the three organizations, issued by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly last week, restored the outlets’ White House access, but expires Oct. 8. The preliminary injunction requested in Monday’s filing would extend the White House access until the case is finally resolved.

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press immediately after the filing, the lead attorney for the three news outlets called the ban “a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process.”

“The president and his administration have continued to make clear that this ban has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn’t like,” said the lawyer, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.

“That’s retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, pure and simple,” Boutrous said. “With the district court’s temporary restraining order expiring this week, it is critical to ensure that the White House continues to be prevented from implementing this unconstitutional ban on the free press.”

The White House still says access is a privilege, not a right

The filing came a day after the Trump administration made clear it was not backing down from its contention that the sudden ban, which began Sept. 19, was justified.

“When it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said on ABC on Sunday, invoking an argument the administration has made since the beginning. “It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there.”

Monday's 42-page filing reiterated many of the arguments that the news outlets made in their original lawsuit against Trump and the White House, filed two days after the reporters were banned.

It also added mention of the White House broadcast pool rotation, which has become a battleground in the last few days in the standoff between Trump and the media.

The White House, it said, “has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban, including by barring CNN from fulfilling its role as designated television network pooler on Sept. 26 — to the detriment of CNN, its fellow pool members and, ultimately, the American public.”

When the ban was implemented, CNN was removed from its duties as part of the broadcast pool, which consists of the five main networks: CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News. In solidarity, the other networks decided to suspend the pool until CNN was allowed back in.

On Friday, CNN was allowed to cover the president with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the National Archives. But in a new setback Saturday, the White House banned the network from Air Force One, preventing it from covering Trump’s trip to a college football game in Tennessee. The rest of the pool declined to provide a replacement, in solidarity with CNN.

Blanche defended that decision, too. “The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane,” he said in the Sunday interview. He added that Trump was “sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news.” He added that news coverage he described as “misinformation” amounted to a national security issue.

“That is what is a national security problem, when you have complete misinformation coming out of the White House,” he said.

Kelly threw cold water on that argument in his ruling last week granting the temporary restraining order against the White House ban. “The court is skeptical … that defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation” for removal of access, Kelly wrote.

His ruling did not directly address the TV pool rotation. In the new filing, the plaintiffs describe the important function the pool provides and makes the case that it's an important part of the regular access to the president, and his activities, that the media has traditionally had — and must be restored.

It singles out the Air Force One case. “CNN received no official communication from the White House explaining its exclusion,” the filing says. “Because CNN was excluded and no replacement designated, no primary television network pooler accompanied the President on the trip.”

Pool access issue has presented networks with tough choices

For now, networks in the pool have decided to address the ongoing standoff on a case-by-case basis, according to a person familiar with the pool’s operation, speaking on condition of anonymity to give details of ongoing discussions.

On Sunday, Fox covered a pool event; on Monday, NBC was covering the president in the Oval Office. CNN is not in the rotation until Thursday. If the network is again barred from a pool event, the networks will decide together, presumably based on the newsworthiness of the situation, whether to provide a replacement or to refrain from coverage as they did previously.

The issues at stake are difficult. On the one hand, the networks want to take a stand on behalf of press freedom and against efforts to intimidate coverage. On the other, media outlets have an obvious purpose of providing news to their audiences.

“There are not a lot of good options,” said David A. Schulz, director of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School.

Should the White House continue to bar CNN, Schulz said, networks may choose “to exert their market power and say, ‘We’re not going to play ball with you.’”

The question, Schulz added, is: “Who’s going to back down first?”

The networks “may well feel like they’re between a rock and a hard place,” noted RonNell Andersen Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah.

“Capitulation might be perceived as abandonment of core components of press freedom,” Andersen Jones said. “But the practicalities of lengthy White House news blackouts are also complicated, and refusing to cover major news at the highest levels of government might itself feel like a failure to serve the goals of democracy.”

The sheriff's department and the FBI Guthrie Task Force were recently made aware of the possible ransom note as well as social media comments related to it, the statement from the sheriff's department said. Investigators are working to determine its credibility.

Officials did not immediately release details on how they found the note or what was in it.

In July, authorities released two ransom notes initially sent to a Tucson television station days after the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie went missing on Feb. 1.

The first note, sent Feb. 2, said Nancy Guthrie was safe but scared and would be released unharmed once her captors received $4 million in cryptocurrency. The second note, sent Feb. 6, said Guthrie died shortly after she was kidnapped. Authorities have not said whether Guthrie is still alive.

No suspects have been arrested in her disappearance. The investigation is dogged by unanswered questions, such as how many people are believed to have taken part in her abduction and whether she was taken by someone who knew her.

The FBI had also released surveillance videos of a masked person who authorities said appeared to tamper with a camera on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch and block it with a plant.

Nancy Guthrie's family has shared their pleas for information in videos posted to social media.

U.S. futures edged lower, and oil prices climbed over uncertainties over U.S.-Iran talks and the possibility of a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that's crucial for oil transport.

On Monday the S&P 500 slipped 0.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9%.

Stocks have been under pressure from rising yields on U.S. Treasuries, with investors looking for higher returns under growing worries about inflation and rising U.S. government debt.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury was at its highest since 2007. It was at around 5.25% early Tuesday, after hitting 5.27% Monday, compared with around 5.17% last Friday.

Central banks have been raising rates to help rein in inflation. On Tuesday, Australia’s central bank lifted its benchmark rate in its forth hike this year to the highest level in 15 years. Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in three years, and the Bank of Japan also raised rates to the highest in 31 years.

Already high oil prices, which contributed to inflation, went up early Tuesday, even as mediators continued to work with the U.S. and Iran on reaching a deal. U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend had rejected an offer from Tehran in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 1.8% to $99.63 per barrel, well above the roughly $72 a barrel level in late February before the Iran war.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.2% to 65,114.64. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.6% to 6,847.56. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.5% to 24,516.46. Hong Kong-traded shares of Shein fell 11.7%, after the fast-fashion online retail company reported its adjusted net profit for the latest quarter fell 67% from the year before.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.1% to 3,826.51 following a report from China’s official Xinhua News Agency late Monday that its State Council discussed “improving the effectiveness” of macro policies to help boost its economy.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1% to 8,686.20.

Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.6% lower, while India’s Sensex fell 0.7%.

The U.S. dollar rose to 157.42 Japanese yen from 157.39 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1362, down from $1.1371.

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Associated Press journalists Rod McGuirk and Stan Choe contributed to this report.

For residents, the steel barriers have become an unmistakable warning of what may follow: blocked streets, snarled traffic and long detours across Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi.

The latest deployment came ahead of a march by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanding his release. Cranes have lifted red, blue and green containers from trucks and lowered them into place along roads.

Originally scheduled for Sept. 27, the march was postponed until Oct. 4, but many of the containers remain in place. Since last week, police have positioned them along key routes leading to the Red Zone, home to Parliament, government offices and foreign embassies.

Khan, a former cricket star turned politician and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s main political rival, has been imprisoned since 2023. He is serving multiple prison sentences following convictions on corruption and other charges. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party say the cases are politically motivated.

Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. Sharif returned to office after lawmakers elected him prime minister following the Feb. 8, 2024, parliamentary election. Khan’s party says its mandate was stolen in that vote, an allegation the government denies.

The containers are hard to miss in the city

Now against Islamabad’s green hills and tree-lined avenues, the rows of brightly colored containers are hard to miss. Some sit beside busy roads, ready to be moved. Others are stacked two high or positioned across traffic lanes, turning broad avenues into narrow, controlled passages.

“It looks like a city of containers,” Islamabad housewife Sahiba Bibi said.

She said this time the disruption began before demonstrators had even set out for Islamabad from across the country, particularly from northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party governs.

PTI's top leadership said it delayed the march because authorities had blocked key approaches to the capital, including Attock Bridge, a major crossing for convoys traveling from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Containers and spiked metal sheets had been placed along the route that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and his supporters were expected to take, party organizers said.

Even where roads remained open, the preparations narrowed traffic lanes and created long lines of vehicles. Commuters searched for alternate routes, while shopkeepers along potential protest paths weighed whether to close their businesses, fearing damage if unrest or clashes broke out.

Authorities say they pay rent to owners of container trucks for the use of the containers. But some drivers say police stop them on highways, seize their vehicles and take their keys.

Rehmat Gul, a container-truck driver, said police stopped him and took his keys before impounding his truck. The container was later placed on a road near Rawalpindi, he said.

When the containers arrive, people know their lives will be disrupted

“Fuel prices have almost doubled because of the ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran,” said Abdul Hafeez, a government employee who commutes from Rawalpindi to Islamabad for work and also drives his children to school. “At a time when we are already struggling to keep our kitchens running, roadblocks force us to travel farther.”

“If the government does not block the roads, we have no problem with these protests,” he said.

For many residents, the containers are no longer merely a security measure. Their arrival signals that another political confrontation is approaching and that ordinary life may be disrupted.

The government, however, says the precautions are necessary.

“PTI has a track record of disruption and vandalism during protests, and its supporters would not be allowed to enter the capital,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters in Peshawar last week.

Afridi rejected the government’s characterization, saying PTI’s sole purpose was to hold a peaceful rally demanding Khan’s release.

Authorities used similar measures in November 2024, sealing roads into Islamabad as Khan’s supporters attempted to reach the capital despite a ban on rallies. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.

That experience has taught residents not to wait for a formal road-closure announcement.

Once cranes begin lowering containers into place, many start changing their routes, and some begin stocking up on food.

It turns out the third-string quarterback for the Chicago Bears is pretty good, too.

Keenum passed for two touchdowns in his first start in almost three years, and the Bears shut down Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles for a 27-7 victory on Monday night.

Stepping in for Caleb Williams, Keenum was 24 for 34 for 247 yards. He also scored his first rushing touchdown since 2019 on a 1-yard plunge with 7:19 left, capping a 13-play drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock.

“He knows where everyone is supposed to be on every single play and so he is really quick to recognize coverage,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “He knows why we’re calling the play and what we’re looking for and if we’re not getting that he’s accelerating through it really quickly. That’s what you get when you’re 15-plus years playing that position in this league.”

It was Keenum’s first action since he started for Houston in a 36-22 loss to Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2023. Williams was sidelined by a right hamstring injury, and Tyson Bagent backed up Keenum after he cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol on Sunday.

“To get a shot again like this? Yeah, you dream of it,” Keenum said. “That’s why I'm still here doing this when I get knocked down. I got knocked down my whole career. I just keep getting up, coming to work, just keep bouncing back.”

Kalif Raymond had six receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown as Chicago (2-1) rebounded from an ugly 9-3 loss to Minnesota.

Philadelphia (2-1) turned the ball over three times and failed to record a takeaway for the third consecutive game to begin the season. Hurts was 16 for 25 for 153 yards, and Saquon Barkley rushed for 82 yards on 15 carries.

“I think we all have to own that loss right there,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I don’t think anybody coached well. I don’t think anyone played well. It was a true team loss. And when it’s a true team loss, you know I have to look at myself first.”

Down 20-7, the Eagles lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 49 with about four minutes left in the third quarter. But Hurts was unable to draw a flag for offside, and the Eagles took a delay-of-game penalty before punting it away.

Hurts was picked off by T.J. Edwards on a fourth-and-5 play from the Chicago 46 in the final minute of the third. Edwards dropped a potential interception on third down on Philadelphia’s first drive of the second half.

“I liked the decision to go for it on fourth-and-5,” Sirianni said. “Hindsight, I feel like I should have went for it on that fourth-and-1 1/2.”

Keenum capped Chicago's first drive with a shovel pass to Luther Burden for an 8-yard touchdown, and he connected with a wide-open Raymond on a 41-yard TD in the second half.

On the drive that ended with his seventh career rushing touchdown, making it 27-7 with 7:19 remaining, Keenum drew an offside penalty on Moro Ojomo on a fourth-and-2 play from the Eagles 39.

“Poised, calm and honestly a guy who was having a lot of fun,” Raymond said of Keenum. “The whole week he was like, you guys having fun, because I am. That's the way he was. He loves the game.”

Trailing 7-0, Hurts drove Philadelphia deep into Chicago territory in the second quarter before he absorbed a late hit by linebacker D'Marco Jackson along the sideline. Hurts was pulled off the field to be checked for a concussion, and backup Andy Dalton was intercepted by rookie Dillon Thieneman in the back of the end zone with 6:14 left.

Hurts said he was waiting for clearance to go back in when Dalton turned it over.

“I was just waiting for the thumbs-up,” Hurts said. “I felt fine, we already checked it. I don’t know the extent of the process. Obviously wish we could have expedited things. I know I felt fine.”

Hurts scored on a quarterback sneak as time expired in the first half, but Chicago controlled the final two periods. Philadelphia gained just 62 of its 248 yards in the second half.

Chicago finished with 24 first downs and 128 yards rushing. The Bears had 28 first downs and 281 yards on the ground in a 24-15 win at Philadelphia last season.

He is back

Zach Ertz had one reception for 9 yards for Philadelphia in his first game of the season. The veteran tight end rejoined the Eagles when he was signed to the team's practice squad last week.

The 35-year-old Ertz spent his first eight-plus seasons with the Eagles, earning three Pro Bowl appearances.

Injuries

Bears: LT Braxton Jones departed with 10:22 left in the third because of a knee injury. ... Raymond was shaken up on a punt return with 3:12 remaining in the third, but he returned to the game. ... DB Cam Lewis had a hip injury.

Up next

Eagles: Host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Bears: Host the New York Jets on Sunday.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing town of about 5,700 people, high tides and pounding waves from Polo were breaching sea barriers as residents worried for their homes in the mostly empty town. Hundreds of people in the region evacuated, hunkering down in nearby shelters in schools and other facilities.

“Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area. With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way,” Rocío Sánchez, a fisherwoman, said.

Polo barreling toward Baja California peninsula

Polo was a Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It's expected to produce 6-12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

Forecasters said it would hit the Mexican mainland after lashing Baja California Sur, and that life threatening winds and flash floods were expected. It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.

The government of the northern Mexican state of Sonora on Monday night announced it would suspend all “non-essential” activities, including school, sports and non-essential work, in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities due to the incoming hurricane.

Residents in Baja California Sur were anxiously bracing themselves. Margarita Bobadilla and her family were sheltered in a local school, saying it was safer than weathering the storm in her wooden house.

“Material things can be replaced, but family can’t. My children and I decided to come here last night, and now we’re waiting to see what happens.”

Others lingered in their mostly emptied town of Puerto San Carlos, crossing their fingers the light flooding and powerful winds would be the worst of Polo.

Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency, reported that Polo would make landfall later in the afternoon. With Polo approaching Mexico, the Mexican navy said it had personnel ready across the northern Pacific coast and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by the storm. Local authorities along the Baja California Peninsula said they had shelters at the ready.

At a Monday morning news briefing, Velázquez urged residents to stay off the streets and seek shelter if their homes are at risk. She said travel will be suspended in the area where the hurricane was expected to make landfall and that ports across the region would be closed.

At the same time, Tropical Storm Rachel was brewing over Mexico’s southwest coast. The hurricane center said Monday that Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (96.6 kph) and was located about 250 miles (402.3 kilometers) southwest of Acapulco. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

It's been a busy season for Pacific storms

Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.

While Polo is slated to weaken over northern Mexico, tropical weather was also supposed to deal a one-two punch to the U.S. Southwest.

The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month. Now, the remnants of Polo are forecast to track east across the region, expected to douse Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas with inches of rain.

That’s a good chunk of the 8-12 inches (about 20-30 centimeters) the arid area of canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation usually gets in a year. Such terrain is already conducive to flash flooding, sudden torrents that can sweep down canyons and other low-lying areas with little warning. The new tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“We’re getting caught up here in a very, very short time,” Mangham said. “And that’s not really what we want. We want nice rains, you know, all summer long.”

In Hawaii, floods and mudslides are still a risk

Nolo, meanwhile, was well southwest of Hawaii and moving away from the Big Island as the weekend drew to a close. Nolo drenched communities in south and southeastern parts of the Big Island over the weekend, prompting some highway closures on Saturday evening and Sunday as rushing water and boulders blocked roadways.

Hawaii National Guard members rescued 19 people from flooding over the weekend, the U.S. National Guard said in a post on Facebook.

Damage assessments are still underway as Nolo moves northwest. While it's keeping its distance from the main Hawaiian Islands, it's approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area northwest of the islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could bring dangerous conditions to the area starting Tuesday, the center reported.

Thousands of households and businesses on Maui lost power for a time, but by Monday afternoon, service had been restored to nearly all of them, according to poweroutage.us. The majority of the outages were related to storm damage, according to statements from Hawaiian Electric.

Hawaii residents were still recovering from several other natural events this year, including spring Kona low storms, a May earthquake, Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September. Those events affected more than 1,290 homes, according to the state, and caused nearly $700 million in damage and recovery costs.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Photojournalist Eduardo Verdugo contributed from Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, reporter Julie Walker reported from New York, reporter Mead Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado. Videojournalist Eugene Garcia and photographer Gregory Bull contributed from Hilo, Hawaii.

The two aviators, assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3, successfully ejected as “a mishap occurred during aircraft recovery operations” and were rescued by search and rescue personnel, the Navy said in a short statement.

Both were returned to the ship and were being evaluated by medical personnel, the Navy said. The four shipboard personnel also were receiving medical care, including one who was transported to a hospital in the Norfolk, Virginia, area for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

The Navy did not say which type of two-seater plane was involved in the accident, nor what happened to the plane or what might have caused the accident. The Navy did not immediately answer a request for further details.

The nuclear-powered Nimitz-class USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was commissioned in 1977.

One day after the New York Mets finished last in the NL East for the first time in 23 years, the team's embattled president of baseball operations was asked a pointed question.

Knowing what he knows now, would he have taken a full swing at re-signing Pete Alonso?

“I think that's a very fair question. The truth is in this job, I don't get mulligans,” Stearns said Monday. "I also recognize Pete had a tremendous year. And the totality of our production at first base wasn’t good enough.”

When the Mets didn't attempt to retain Alonso in free agency last fall, their homegrown franchise home run leader bolted for a $155 million, five-year contract with Baltimore as Stearns focused on improving the pitching and defense instead.

“I think I’ll retire the phrase `run prevention,’” Stearns said with a grin. “I don’t know that that one worked particularly well.”

Alonso topped the American League with 43 homers and 113 RBIs, playing in every game for the third consecutive season as the 31-year-old slugger became the first player in major league history to win an RBI crown in both leagues.

New York, meanwhile, never recovered from a 12-game losing streak in April. Despite a record $358 million opening-day payroll, the Mets struggled badly at the plate, were mediocre on the mound and finished 74-88 for their worst mark since 2017.

“This past weekend that we just experienced in Washington, where you are literally playing out the string, it’s miserable. That is a miserable experience for players, for coaches, for executives,” Stearns said during a 33-minute news conference at Citi Field to wrap up the season.

“I think we have an extraordinarily motivated organization, from ownership on down, to ensure that never happens again.”

The absence of Alonso at first base was magnified when lineup mainstays Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor were both sidelined for long stretches because of calf injuries.

Soto finished with a .908 OPS, the second-lowest of his career, while Lindor set full-season career lows with 49 RBIs, three stolen bases, a .225 batting average and a .733 OPS.

Mets first basemen had 18 homers, 77 RBIs and a .667 OPS — the third-lowest OPS at the position, ahead of only Seattle and Arizona.

Alonso received standing ovations from Mets fans before every at-bat during the Orioles’ three-game sweep at Citi Field this month. He took a rare curtain call on the road Sept. 15, when his 300th career homer tied the score for Baltimore in the ninth inning and chants of “Fire Stearns!” rang out from the crowd of 28,097.

Last week, the Mets added former Minnesota Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey to the front office when he was hired as senior adviser for baseball operations. Falvey will report directly to Stearns.

New York played better late in the season, going 27-22 after the Aug. 3 trade deadline despite a massive selloff and 40-41 overall under Andy Green, who took over as interim manager when Carlos Mendoza was fired June 26.

Green was given the full-time gig and a three-year contract last week.

Part of the improvement was fueled by rookie outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, who combined for 31 homers and 47 stolen bases while playing strong defense. Rookie pitcher Nolan McLean went 12-10 with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts.

But going into a critical offseason for Stearns, the Mets have major question marks at first base, second base, in the bullpen and the rotation.

“Over the second half of the season, last few months of the season, we saw some really encouraging signs and we saw some elements of our team take shape that gives us all great optimism for both the near- and long-term future,” Stearns said.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

These things have often been true in recent years when world leaders orate at one another during their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly, which concluded Monday. This year, though, the discourse seemed even more urgent than usual. Across the words of more than 150 speeches, two things emerged as clear: Many leaders deeply want the world body to work. And many have concluded that it isn't.

“Where are the United Nations?” Alexandra Hill Tinoco, the foreign minister of El Salvador, asked Monday. “Do we have an organization that is still relevant?”

That was the question that hung over the weeklong gathering as leader after world leader — in different words, with different details — probed at the very heart of the organization that was founded eight decades ago to prevent a conflict like World War II from ever happening again.

At the heart of the U.N. ethos sits a word that most regular people never use: “multilateralism.” The optimistic principle — that problems that cross borders, regions and oceans can be solved by cooperation and shared power — is a potent one, advocated by almost everyone (the United States under Donald Trump being a notable exception).

But that flavor of multilateralism was conceived and built in a different era, when globalized challenges like pandemics, climate change and artificial intelligence did not sit quite so front and center. Even today, those that hold the true power — the ability to veto anything that comes before the U.N. Security Council without giving a reason — are the same five nations given it at the end of World War II.

“Multilateralism is under siege," said Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molioʻo, Samoa's deputy prime minister.

It's not surprising, then, that the theme of this year's leaders' meeting at the General Assembly was “restoring trust.” From the barrage of remarks about it being broken, it seemed obvious that something needs to give in order to, as Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf put it, create “a shared home rather than an organization held hostage to the dominance of power politics.”

“There are problems,” said the foreign minister of Sri Lanka, Vijitha Herath, “which no country can solve alone.”

There's a close relationship between multilateralism and trust

One sticking point that the scores of speeches revealed was the scratchiness between two vital notions — multilateralism and sovereignty. Nations from North Korea to the Marshall Islands invoked high principles to say that all must work together while simultaneously underscoring that they will never allow their sovereign rights to be violated. This produces contradictions that remain unsolved.

“We have never been so connected, yet we are increasingly unable to trust one another," said Grand Duke Guillaume, Luxembourg's head of state.

The tradition of American individualism plays a role here, as embodied by Trump's consistently aggressive tone toward the U.N. To many in the United States, multilateralism hints at dark echoes of “one world government” and the notion of giving up power — and thus liberty — to other stakeholders. This trait, while often recessive in U.N. meetings, is true of many nations that fear incursion, war and domination.

In reality, though, multilateralism is the way the world works today — economically and, arguably, politically. From AI to rising temperatures, many nations just aren't equipped to go it alone. And while cooperation on AI was a centerpiece this year, so too was the outlook that nations such as China offered — that each country must make its own decisions about the emerging technology.

“States alone cannot make progress," said Christophe Mirmand, Monaco's minister of state.

The hue and cry for multilateralism, always present when smaller nations meet larger ones, has been growing since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, when most of the meetings were held remotely. It has been amplified further as members — particularly island nations, whose very existence is threatened by warming oceans — increasingly assert that the world is happening at them rather than with them.

If bigger countries with different interests can make all the major decisions on problems and opportunities that transcend map borders, these smaller nations say, then they will be left in the dust. The only answer, they say, is a United Nations that truly equalizes voices and has the fortitude to make that principle stick.

“The message to small nations is clear: Be as sovereign as we allow you to be," said Philip Edward Davis, prime minister of the Bahamas. "A sovereignty that requires permission is not a sovereignty.”

Fixing the imbalance of political oomph is difficult

Whenever the United Nations gathers, its origin story is always lurking in the background: World War II. Nowhere is that more evident than when talk of expanding the Security Council and its permanent members comes up.

The 15-member Security Council, which holds the U.N.'s only real authority, has five permanent members — the United States, Russia, Britain, China and France — that hold veto power. While other nations rotate in and out, their power is limited; they can neither veto nor prevent vetoes. Those five nations have held the power since the beginning (in Russia's case, as the Soviet Union). For so many other nations, that's not OK.

“The veto is a relic," said Matthew Wale, prime minister of the Solomon Islands, whose existence is threatened by climate change. Many island nations want permanent representation on the council. José Antonio Kast, Chile's president, put it more forcefully: “We simply cannot continue to play by the same rules of an order that was established in 1945 in 2026.”

The notion of permanent representation for Africa, which currently holds three rotating seats, has long been a goal of African leaders, who speak about it every year. They're getting louder, and they're getting more adamant.

“Africa can no longer remain on the sidelines of situations that shape its destiny,” said Constant-Serge Bounda, the Republic of Congo’s foreign minister. He and others want two permanent Security Council seats for Africa — with veto power. “Africa is not asking for a favor,” he said. “It is claiming its rightful place.”

Taken together, these various outcries point back to the theme of the meeting. Everyone respects the United Nations. Everyone sees potential in its optimistic, egalitarian vision of a fraternity of nations. But even as they praise the possibilities, the fact that so many leaders denounce the reality left an echo after this week that is hard to ignore: Stop talking. Start doing. Yes, let all voices be heard. But then act.

Or, as Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austria's minister for European and International Affairs, framed it: “The United Nations was not created to discuss international problems. It was created to solve them." To many who ascended to the rostrum this past week, that simply is not happening.

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Ted Anthony has overseen Associated Press coverage of the U.N. General Assembly's annual meeting of leaders since 2018 and has been covering international affairs since 1994.

Republicans haven't abandoned the Southern battlegrounds, which President Donald Trump carried narrowly in 2024, though they are shifting greater resources to states they see as more competitive. The party now is spending heavily to defend reliably Republican Texas, and Trump is planning to campaign for the Republican incumbent in Ohio, both places the president won easily in 2024.

Some Republicans also have become more vocal in their complaining that Trump has squandered an opportunity to more comfortably hold off Democrats this fall. Among their grievances, they say the president failed to bring the unpopular war in Iran to a close, has dismissed the pinch of high fuel prices and engaged late in the midterm campaigns.

And though Democrats must still win several seats Republicans hold to win back the majority, the GOP is looking more at protecting seats they already hold than picking up Georgia, and they are signaling serious problems in North Carolina.

“There is a Republican turnout problem due to the administration's failure to address the economic concerns of voters,” North Carolina Republican strategist Paul Shoemaker said of the state's U.S. Senate race.

GOP Senate leaders look beyond Georgia

Republican Senate campaign leaders are looking past Georgia businessman Mike Collins' challenge of first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff to states they viewed as more competitive to focus future spending, according to two Republican Senate campaign sources familiar with Senate leadership's thinking. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.

Ossoff has swamped the successful trucking company executive in fundraising. Collins has also struggled to broaden his support beyond Georgia's Republican base.

Despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune's two-day campaign and fundraising trip to Georgia this month, some local party leaders were publicly pessimistic.

"He just doesn’t have what it takes to beat Ossoff,” said Tim Waters, Peach County Republican Party chair. “It’s hard enough trying to beat an incumbent, and you have the president of the same party in a tough midterm, right? I don’t think he’s got much of a shot.”

Republicans had viewed Georgia early in the 2026 campaign as a potential firewall, should Democrats win in a critical number of states where Republican seats are on the ballot. Democrats must win a net of four seats to win back the majority.

But Ossoff has already spent $57 million in advertising and had $13 million reserved through the election, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And while outside groups aligned with Collins had spent more than $52 million, AdImpact shows, Collins' campaign confirmed it had no advertising time immediately reserved.

Tillis is among the NC Republicans warning about Senate race

Retiring Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis stopped short of suggesting GOP candidate Michael Whatley's chances of holding the seat for the party had vanished, but implied it was time to take a hard look at how long to continue spending heavily against Democratic former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper.

“We've got to place our bets on the candidates that are the best run, either ahead or within striking distance,” Tillis told reporters Monday in the Capitol. “You've got to change your posture going into the last — we've got 36 days.”

Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman, has been a darling of Trump, who campaigned for him this month. But enthusiasm for Trump seems to have fallen even with a number of Republicans who voted for him, said Shoemaker, a Tillis adviser. Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2024.

“The blue-collar, working-class voters that Donald Trump brought to the Republican Party is the one that's being most impacted by higher energy prices, and it's dampened their enthusiasm to turn out and vote,” Shoemaker said.

Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP's leadership super PAC, had $19.5 million in advertising booked in North Carolina, having spent $30.4 million to date.

“Do I think Roy Cooper is going to win the race? I absolutely do,” said Michele Woodhouse, former Republican chair for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District and a devout Trump supporter.

“Roy Cooper, for Republicans, is the worst Democrat candidate who could be running for this seat," Woodhouse said. “He’s never lost in a statewide race. He’s very popular.”

Senate GOP PAC spends heavily in Texas as Trump heads for Ohio

In Texas, where Democrats have not won a Senate election since 1988, Republicans' Senate Leadership Fund is spending more than it is in any of the states it set out to defend early in the year. The group this month pumped more than $100 million into advertising in Texas to back up state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a race viewed as very competitive.

Trump endorsed Paxton over four-term incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary. GOP campaign leaders considered Paxton a potential drain on Republican resources because he has for years faced legal, ethical and personal questions. They include a felony indictment, impeachment charges and extramarital affairs, though Paxton was never convicted.

Senate GOP leaders had suggested Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., would carry a good portion of the advertising load after Paxton beat Cornyn in the May GOP Senate runoff. Neither the National Republican Senatorial Committee nor SLF had included spending on Texas in its midterm budget.

As of Monday, MAGA Inc., has committed more than $20 million to ads supporting Paxton so far this month, compared with the $124 million from SLF.

Should Democrats win North Carolina and Texas, they would only need to win two of the remaining competitive Republican-held seats — in Alaska, Iowa, Maine and Ohio — as well as hold competitive Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire to capture the majority.

Trump plans to visit Ohio on Saturday to support Sen. Jon Husted as the Republican tries to fend off a competitive challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. The president plans to campaign with Husted in Vandalia, near Dayton in southwest Ohio.

Senate Republican campaign leaders have complained that spiking gas prices, a result of the seven-month-long war with Iran, are among the issues weighing against candidates that Trump has exacerbated.

Campaigning with Whatley last week, Trump called higher fuel prices “a very inexpensive price to pay” for preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Though gas prices are near historic highs, they are still below the nationwide record set in 2022.

It's prompted some candidates, such as Iowa's GOP Senate nominee, Rep. Ashley Hinson, to speak out.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn't have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” she said last week.

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds dismissed that the Republican majority was slipping away, but suggested senators needed to act on fuel prices.

“We have to stay focused on the fact that we know that gas prices are too high, and diesel is way too high," the Republican said.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa and Sloan from Washington. AP reporter Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.

Much of Reed's first three decades of life had been shaped by abuse and neglect: first, she says, at the hands of her biological mother, then in foster care and, when she became an adult, in a series of romantic relationships. She had lost custody of three older children a decade earlier, in part because she lacked stable housing. By March 2022, when she had finally landed an apartment in a transitional housing program, she had lost all faith in herself.

None of that was apparent this September, when she traveled to the nation's capital to tell members of Congress how her life changed when she enrolled her children in Head Start.

Reed says Head Start helped her heal from three decades of trauma and abuse. Staff connected her to job training, taught her how to be a better mother, helped her advocate for her son’s disability accommodations at his elementary school, and urged her to join the council that oversees Head Start across Spokane County, Washington. She was elected the council's president last year.

Head Start was, Reed says, “a warm blanket in a time where I constantly felt cold.”

That could be changing.

Last month, President Donald Trump’s administration proposed gutting Head Start regulations that spell out how programs must support families with financial, education or housing concerns. Many of the services now mandated would become optional.

Head Start was founded to help both kids and parents

Reed’s transformation was no fluke: Head Start’s services for low-income parents have been central to its model for decades.

“Being told that somebody believes in you and thinks you’re a good parent after so much loss — it didn’t feel real at first,” Reed said. “It took probably a year or two for me to be like, ‘OK, maybe I am. Maybe I just went through something that was really hard, but I was doing the best that I could.’”

Head Start, a six-decade-old preschool program, works to lift children and their families out of poverty. Its two-generation approach is rooted in the idea that improving caregivers' lives is as essential to a child's success as what happens in the classroom. Parents can also serve on committees that help set the direction of their kids' preschool.

“It’s always had that family connection,” said Loukisha Smart-Pennix of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, which oversees several Head Start centers. “That’s been part and parcel of what Head Start was built on.”

Smart-Pennix said she's proof the approach works. When she was in the program as a preschooler in the 1970s, Head Start connected her mother with a factory job. Two decades later, when Smart-Pennix enrolled her son, the center employed her and pushed her to go to college. By the time her daughter was old enough to enroll, she earned too much to qualify. (Generally, families qualify for Head Start if their income is at or below the federal poverty line, currently $33,000 for a family of four.)

Under current regulations, Head Start asks parents to set goals — to return to school, to buy a home — and then helps them stay on track to achieve them. Parents have described how Head Start has helped them stay sober, finish school, pay off debt or simply keep the lights on. Operators are required to give hiring preferences to current and former Head Start parents, so many end up working for the program. Some eventually run their own preschools.

The Trump administration proposal would water down many of the family support regulations. Goal-setting with families would be optional, as would hiring preferences for Head Start parents. It would also scrap requirements for an open-door policy that gives parents liberal access to their child's classroom and cancel a mandate that staff visit homes and hold parent-teacher conferences at least twice per year. Programs would no longer be required to help parents navigate Medicaid, even as the government-funded health insurance program's rules are becoming more complex.

Head Start preschools would also have the option of eliminating parent committees, formal groups that weigh in on curriculum and programming. And policy councils, which have parent members, would see their authority weakened under the proposal.

Alex Adams, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services office overseeing Head Start, said the goal of the changes is to empower local leaders and to increase efficiency, enabling programs to serve up to 236,000 more children without additional funding.

“A one-size-fits-all mandate from Washington cannot fully account for the realities facing these 1,600 grantees” that operate Head Start preschools, Adams told reporters in August. “Federal mandates can certainly hinder local decision-making, drive up costs and limit the program’s reach.”

The Department of Health and Human Services said the proposal still recognizes the importance of parents in a child's learning, “but substantially reduces hyper-specificity for how to fulfill requirements, specifically around how programs must engage parents and families in education and child development services.”

“The proposal gives programs room to make thoughtful adjustments when local circumstances call for them,” the department said in a statement.

A push to enroll more children in larger classes

Head Start backers see the proposal not as a chance for flexibility but as another effort by the Trump administration to undermine the longstanding program. Days after Trump, a Republican, took office in early 2025, some Head Start programs temporarily closed their doors due to problems accessing their federal money. Later, a White House budget draft proposed eliminating funding for Head Start. The funding was restored after widespread backlash.

Adams emphasized programs wouldn't have to use the flexibility in the proposal if they want to continue operating as they have.

“It’s not a mandate," Adams told reporters. "The opportunity for these programs to make a different decision does not necessarily mean they must make a different decision.”

But advocates are skeptical. The administration's proposal eliminates requirements for small class sizes and scraps caseload limits for family support specialists. Centers instead would abide by their state's early learning regulations, which are often more lenient.

With more kids, fewer teachers, rising costs and no material increase in funding, advocates worry programs would be forced to dilute some of Head Start’s signature offerings. The Trump administration's own projections show that to add 236,000 slots for kids, Head Start centers would have to eliminate about 25,000 teacher jobs, increase class sizes and cut three-quarters of the staff who provide in-home education for new parents.

Reed says she worries the changes could mean fewer success stories like hers.

That's how she ended up in Washington, D.C. When Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., took a seat next to her, Reed grew nervous.

“Is it OK if I just read something from my phone?” she asked, shaking. Murray nodded.

She told the senator, a former preschool teacher, about the day she moved from a domestic violence shelter into transitional housing.

“At the bottom of our stairs was a Head Start center,” she said. “I had no idea how much it would change our lives.”

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of a two-way annual trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Donald Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner.

The import ban “certainly won't do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada,'' said trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.

The latest sparring began over the summer when Trump reached back to a Great Depression law to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, charging that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy, auto and alcoholic beverage producers. Canada promptly counterpunched with tariffs of 15%, 25% or 50%, matching U.S. imports dollar for dollar.

To punish Canada for retaliating against his tariffs, Trump decided to ban a list of Canadian products, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

The economic impact is likely to be minimal. Childress noted that the products on the banned list were already facing Trump’s tariffs. ”For a lot of these goods, the 50% was already acting as a de facto ban by making importation from Canada into the United States uneconomical,″ he said.

Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the center-right American Action Forum think tank, calculates that the ban would cover $967 million worth of Canadian imports, based on 2025 numbers. Of that, 87% would be alcoholic beverages that the U.S. targeted because of some Canadian provinces responding to Trump’s provocations by banning U.S. booze from store shelves.

Also banned are some dairy products — including the milk byproduct whey. The two countries have long clashed over Canada’s attempts to protect its dairy industry from foreign competition by imposing hefty tariffs once dairy imports have exceeded a quota.

The ban also covers motorcycles. Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) in Quebec confirmed that its three-wheel Can-Am Spyder and Canyon motorcycles “will be excluded from importation into the U.S.’’ But BRP said the impact likely won’t be felt until next year because it has completed most production and shipments for the current season.

“This marks yet another escalation in the trade war that may result in further retaliation on the Canadian side,” Jensen said. He expects Canadian exporters and U.S. importers “impacted by these bans will be highly motivated’’ to demand that trade officials on both sides find some way to reach a “resolution of this whole ordeal.’’

The impasse imperils efforts to renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a North American trade pact Trump pressured America’s neighbors into accepting in his first term and which he once declared “the most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country.’’

The deal allowed most goods to cross North American borders duty free. But since returning to the White House last year, Trump has announced a series of tariffs that have clouded the future of trade in the region.

Trump has directed most of his ire at Canada. He is openly seeking to pull Canadian manufacturing south. And he has inflamed public opinion in Canada by repeatedly suggesting that the country become America’s 51st state.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney came to power last year on a promise to stand up to Trump. In addition to retaliating against Trump tariffs — China is the only other country to do so, with very different results — Carney has sought to reduce Canada’s reliance on the United States, which last year accounted for more than 70% of Canadian exports.

“There is now a price to be paid for access to the United States market,” Carney said earlier this month. The Canadian prime minister wants to double Canada’s non-U.S. trade over the next decade.

Carney has embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member.

And he said last week that trade negotiations with India are making “good progress” and that the two countries are aiming to conclude talks by the G20 summit in mid-December.

Carney also broke with the U.S. earlier this year, striking a deal with China to allow a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles into Canada at a sharply reduced tariff in exchange for China lowering tariffs on Canadian canola.

“We take note of the coming into force of the Administration’s previously announced trade measures," said Gabriel Brunet, a spokesman for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc. "Our first priority remains on protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses from these unjustified actions. Our core focus is on what we can control: building strength at home, diversifying our partnerships abroad, and building Canada strong for all Canadians.”

Trump expressed confidence that the Canadians would cave in.

“They’re gonna come in and they’re gonna say, ‘Sir, we are sorry,’” he told reporters Monday. “They’ve treated the United States very, very badly. I think a deal will be made but it’s gonna be fair.”

Trade attorney Childress said the standoff is likely to continue for months, not weeks. The import bans and the tariffs so far “probably won’t cause enough economic upheaval to force either party back to the negotiating table,’’ he said.

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AP Writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this story.

Curtis Wilkie Beasley was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto in a 1995 attack on Carolyn Monfort. The Florida Supreme Court last week rejected appeals that executing a man his age who is suffering from cognitive decline would amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

Beasley, who would become Florida's seventh prisoner over the age of 70 to be executed this year, is set to receive a three-drug injection at the state prison starting at 6 p.m.

It was one of two executions scheduled this week in the U.S. Tennessee plans to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years on Wednesday by administering a lethal injection to Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of killing a classmate in a jealous rage when they were both teens.

Arrested while working under a fake name

According to court records, Beasley had been staying at Monfort’s Dundee home, south of Orlando, in August 1995 while he was pressure washing and painting nearby apartments owned by her son-in-law. Monfort's daughter went to her home after being unable to reach her for two days and found her body in a blood-splattered laundry room.

Monfort suffered multiple blunt-force trauma injuries to the head, and a bloody hammer head was found wrapped in a towel nearby, according to investigators.

Authorities began searching for Beasley after a witness reported seeing him driving what turned out to be Monfort's car. Investigators determined Beasley had traveled to Miami and later relocated to Alabama, where he was arrested while working under a fake name for an electrical company, officials said.

Beasley was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1998.

A final appeal remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Florida has carried out more than half of the nation's executions this year

Beasley would be the nation’s 29th execution this year, most of which have taken place in Florida.

The state is getting closer to last year's 19 executions, which was a record in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Two more are scheduled for this year, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has temporarily paused the next one.

William Lee Thompson, 74, is scheduled to be executed Oct. 13 over raping and fatally beating a woman at a Florida motel in 1976. After a doctor this month determined Thompson might be suffering from dementia, DeSantis ordered a panel of three psychiatrists to examine him Thursday to determine if he is competent to be executed.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, issued similar stays in 2023 and 2025 but both executions proceeded following evaluations.

William Reaves, 77, has an Oct. 20 execution date. He was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy outside a convenience store in 1986.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

The indirect talks come as the conflict, which is entering its eighth month, has caused global economic damage and badly battered Iran. Multiple efforts to allow safe shipping on one of the world’s most crucial waterways have failed.

The officials divulged that the behind-the-scenes efforts continue even after U.S. President Donald Trump initially said he spurned an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait in a week if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — who stayed in New York after last week’s gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly — will meet with Qatari mediators Monday about the latest discussions, Iranian state media reported Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as saying.

Despite Trump’s often bellicose rhetoric, he is open to pursuing a non-military resolution to the conflict if one can be achieved, a senior U.S. official said.

But the Trump administration will not reach a deal with Tehran until nuclear issues are addressed, another U.S. official said. Trump is willing to grant sanctions relief to Iran, along with the release of some frozen funds, for concrete progress on nuclear issues, and while Iran has indicated it is flexible on nuclear issues, the sides are far apart on timing and which side makes the first moves, the official said.

All the officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity about the behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations.

The deal would first reopen the strait and lift the US blockade

Two of the regional officials speaking to the AP confirmed that mediators are working with both sides on a proposal that would include reopening the strait and lifting the U.S. blockade, and then removing sanctions.

According to the draft text being discussed, the strait would reopen in accordance with a separate deal that Iran has been discussing with Oman, on the other side of the strait, and it would include no tolls — something Tehran has pursued. That deal seeks to temporarily manage shipping traffic on what was seen as an international waterway before the war.

One regional official said the U.S. is seeking Iranian concessions on nuclear issues that include allowing inspectors to enter the country. Under the memorandum of understanding the two sides signed in June that collapsed within days, Iran’s nuclear program was meant to be discussed over a 60-day period.

The U.S. officials say the United States is skeptical about whether Iran can be persuaded to ultimately reach Trump’s conditions for a deal and would be serious about any promises it makes, especially after it broke the interim deal by firing on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. officials feel their position is getting stronger as Tehran feels the impact of sanctions.

Iran's latest proposal seeks faster action

While Iran’s latest proposal echoes the June deal, a key difference is speed.

Araghchi told a closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week that Tehran had pitched the deal as benefiting Trump in the midterm elections. Araghchi later told journalists that “the seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts this plan.”

Meanwhile, Araghchi met Monday with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, whose office said he welcomed diplomatic efforts in the last week to end the conflict and urged the parties to keep talking.

Both the U.S. and Iran have been hurting economically — the U.S. from high oil prices as Iran attacks ships on the strait, and Tehran from the naval blockade and a growing number of U.S. sanctions that bottle up its oil sales. Brent crude, the international standard, is above $108.

For months, the two sides have been trying to outlast the other, while regional countries endure missile and drone attacks as Tehran claims to target U.S. military assets in the region.

Reflecting Iran's impatience, a rare statement on Monday attributed to the theocracy's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei noted the “painful blows” that enemy forces have received near the strait. “Before long, the Arabian Sea, too, will be rid of them,” the statement added.

Tehran's latest proposal again sought to end the fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon. But a new front has emerged in recent weeks as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are now perched on another crucial waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. That has further pressured global energy markets.

Iran argues that the Houthis have their own demands, and that their conflict with neighboring Saudi Arabia is separate from the U.S.-Iran war, but Iranian officials said they are willing to help in finding a settlement between the Houthis and the Saudis, one of the officials said.

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Price and Lee reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in Washington and AP Middle East editor Victoria Eastwood contributed to this report.

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AP STANDARDS: The AP only uses anonymous sources when the information is vital to the news report and not opinion or speculation. The information must be unavailable except under the conditions of anonymity imposed by the source. The source must be reliable, in a position to have accurate information and approved by news managers.

Klitschko, a Ukrainian former world champion boxer, has had full custody of the girl, Kaya, for most of her life, and she has lived with him in Ukraine. Kaya is Panettiere's sole heir. The filing in a Los Angeles County court cites items seized in a federal investigation of the actor’s death, unnamed and unauthorized people accessing her residence in Los Angeles, and valuables that are missing.

The petition says it is “urgent and essential” that Klitschko be granted the legal status of temporary guardian of his daughter's estate.

“Without an immediate appointment for these purposes, there is a high probability that property belonging to Hayden’s Estate may be lost, damaged or dissipated before a duly appointed personal representative can be in place to protect it,” the filing says.

Klitschko's lawyers filed the petition on Thursday, but it did not become publicly known until Monday, when it was reported by TMZ. The filing emphasizes that his intention is solely to protect his daughter's future assets until a permanent administrator can be put in place.

Panettiere, the former star of the TV series “Heroes” and “Nashville,” died Aug. 16 at age 36. A coroner's report obtained by The Associated Press said her death was from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl, and she had been in rehab just weeks before. She was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina.

The petition says that federal agents have taken Panettiere’s property in an investigation, and there is no authorized person to deal with them and assure it is returned.

The filing says that before her death, Panettiere and Klitschko hired security to protect her home because an unnamed person had gained unauthorized access. The petition says it's expected the same person will continue to try to “misappropriate” property belonging to her estate.

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Oct. 8.

In her memoir released earlier this year, Panettiere acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and having postpartum depression after her daughter's birth in 2014. Kaya went to live with Klitschko full-time when she was 2. Panettiere's father told investigators that when she died she had plans to visit her daughter in Ukraine days later.

Klitschko, 50, an Olympic gold medalist, held several heavyweight titles between 2000 and 2015. He and Panettiere began dating in 2009 and got engaged in 2013.

His older brother Vitali, also a former champion boxer, is mayor of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. The two brothers, sons of a Soviet major general, have worked to protect their country during its war with Russia.

The Canton Police Department said officers responded to the daycare center after receiving a report that a toddler had been found in possession of a loaded firearm inside the facility.

The case is under investigation by the Canton Police Department’s Detective Bureau and will be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review when the investigation is complete.

Bialy said a parent of the child has been arrested.

He said the child’s other parent is a police officer in a neighboring jurisdiction and that the officer’s department is conducting an internal investigation.

According to a message from the school that was sent to parents, the firearm was in a holster inside the child’s backpack.

When the child removed the weapon, a teacher intervened and secured it, according to the message.

“The protocols that they had in place, the fact that they had an instructor in the room that was able to safely remove the firearm from this toddler, I do believe kept everybody safe and avoided a tragedy,” Bialy said.

Children’s World Early Learning Center said in a statement that the incident was unfortunate and that no one was hurt.

In its message to families, the center said all safety measures were followed and that the family involved was disenrolled.

“We pride ourselves on being one of the safest centers in the Canton area. It is our priority,” Children’s World management said. “Although this incident was out of our control, we are very proud of our staff and especially the teacher who responded so quickly.”

The center said it has added safety measures, including searching bags.

“We have to understand where our firearms are, and we have a duty to make sure that we keep them secure,” Bialy said. “The law is very clear. If a child is present or you anticipate a child being present, you have to take those precautions.”

Police said the investigation is still active. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Canton Police Department.

As the next system moves into the region, we’ll see cooler temperatures and rain chances to end the week.

Let that motivate you to enjoy this evening.

Temperatures will drop to the mid-60s throughout the later evening hours before falling to around 60° into the late night.

Overnight lows will be in the upper 40s to low 50s with mainly clear skies.

There is the chance for patchy dense fog into Tuesday morning, so you may want to allow extra time for the morning commute.

Fog will burn off quickly, giving way to mostly sunny skies and highs in the 70s Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday will also be in the low to mid 70s, but we’ll see more cloud cover and bring in the chance of rain to end the day.

The better chance for rain will be Thursday and Friday as a cold front moves across the state.

This front drops highs to the low 70s Thursday, then to the low to mid 60s to end the week.

Police say the man was teaching his 18-year-old daughter how to parallel park around 4 p.m. in the 24000 block of Warner Avenue, when she reportedly struck her father and dragged him a short distance before coming to a stop.

Emergency personnel responded to the crash immediately and transported the victim to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. According to police, drugs and alcohol are not suspected to be a factor in the crash and the victim’s daughter is fully cooperating with investigators.

The incident remains under investigation and detectives are asking that anyone with information about the crash reach out to Detective Jason Vandervord with the Warren Police Department at 586-574-4741.

The overwhelming 77-22 vote to pass the legislation is the strongest effort yet by Congress to set national regulations governing payments to college athletes for their name, image and likeness and how often they can transfer. It would give the NCAA new authority over those rules and limited antitrust protections to enforce them.

The bill is the product of years of Senate negotiations that intensified after a 2025 lawsuit settlement uprooted the college sports landscape by allowing colleges to pay their players. The legislation, which would still have to pass the House, would codify the settlement into law but also establish new guardrails around the system in an attempt to rein in the runaway costs for colleges.

“It would be nice if college sports could somehow magically fix itself, but this is a matter of law, federal law, and only Congress can fix it,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who negotiated the bill with the top Democrat on the panel, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell.

President Donald Trump praised the bill in a social media post after the late night passage. “This is a really big deal,” he said. “It will not only save college sports, it will save the colleges themselves.”

The bill's backers — more than 70 senators from both parties — say it aims to curtail constant litigation and uncertainty across college sports for athletes, schools and fans. It would also give hundreds of thousands of athletes new health and labor protections.

But critics say the bill doesn't do enough to protect athletes or curtail the enormous sums of money flowing to coaches, colleges and conferences.

“This is a bill that essentially ensconces a system of exploitation, and it doesn’t fix the broader problems,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who has worked with labor and civil rights groups to rally opposition to the bill.

The bill’s future is still unclear. It could face an uphill battle in the House, which failed repeatedly over the last year to get a different version to the floor and is in recess until after the November elections.

Lawmakers will have to start over in the next Congress if the bill doesn't pass both chambers by the end of the year.

Bill addresses skyrocketing spending, unlimited transfers

College sports have been reeling in the wake of the 2025 court settlement allowing colleges to directly pay players for their name, image and likeness. The fallout has reshaped the industry and led to football roster payrolls that can exceed $40 million.

The bill would codify the court settlement, including a revenue cap that allows schools to share up to $21.5 million in revenue with their players. The legislation would more than double that amount for some schools, allowing up to an additional $27.5 million in payments through a retention fund — a change that helped win the support of the two largest conferences, the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference.

To help schools raise more revenue, the bill would give schools and conferences the option of pooling their TV media rights.

The legislation also aims to stabilize the NCAA transfer portal that has led to players constantly switching teams. It would restrict player transfers to one “free” move over five years without sitting out a year, with some exceptions, and also would restrict players to five years of total eligibility.

The proposed eligibility limit comes amid backlash to schools that have increasingly pushed boundaries, including LSU's now-canceled plans to place players on the roster who had participated in NFL training camps.

“That was probably like a big lamp for some people who saw it and said, ‘Oh my God, this is so out of control,’” Cantwell said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The bill also would restrict coaches from leaving their schools during the season, force schools that want to switch conferences to spend three years as an independent and prevent conferences from growing larger than 20 programs — an effort to prevent so-called “superleagues” from taking over sports. A last-minute amendment proposed by Florida Sen. Ashley Moody raised that cap from 19 in the original legislation.

The vote was delayed several hours on Monday as senators negotiated Moody’s amendment and others that were eventually adopted, including a provision to make it easier for athletes to sue over sexual assault and a requirement to disclose foreign financing.

The Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that would have put limits on ticket prices for fans and two by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., that would have capped coaches’ salaries at $5 million a year and increased compensation for athletes who have catastrophic injuries.

Critics say it wouldn’t do enough to help athletes

The legislation includes new protections for athletes, including caps on agent fees and guarantees for health insurance and scholarships. It would also require schools to maintain a minimum number of sports and roster spots — an effort to ensure that women's and Olympic sports are not cut in favor of football, basketball and other sports that generate more revenue.

Still, some Democrats say it wouldn't do enough to limit the big money in college sports.

The legislation “places a cap on the students’ cut of the revenues, but there are no caps on coaches’ salaries or on the size of donations to athletic programs,” Murphy said last week.

Groups like the NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus and AFL-CIO have also opposed the bill, in part, because it leaves unresolved whether athletes should be considered employees with the ability to collectively bargain.

All four Black Democrats in the Senate — Booker, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland — have opposed the bill.

Booker, who played football at Stanford in the late 1980s on a scholarship, noted the “outsized role” that Black athletes play in college sports. He said it wasn't until college athletes were able to begin to win cases in court that the power started to shift, “and now the NCAA is coming here to the United States Senate, asking for sweeping powers" to exempt antitrust laws.

“We know who this bill is protecting,” Booker said.

House passage is uncertain

Despite strong bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill faces a murky path in the House.

House lawmakers won't return to Washington until mid-November, after the elections. And it's unclear what will be on Republican leaders' agenda in the chaotic last few weeks of the session.

Pressure from Trump could help push the bill to passage. But some House Republicans have insisted on language explicitly stating that athletes are not employees, which the Senate bill does not have — a key concession to Cantwell to win enough Democratic support.

After the bill's passage, Cruz said it is his hope “that we see in the House the same thing we saw in the Senate: a big bipartisan vote.”

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Pells reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office will present evidence to a grand jury as he faces questions from the public about why there were no criminal prosecutions in the case.

The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint Sept. 16, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Ivy League campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She became completely incapacitated while frat members were sexually assaulting her, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, the reopening of the investigation and Cornell’s response have sparked a flood of commentary on social media. Many people have criticized the school and the district attorney’s office in their posts, while some have expressed doubt about the lawsuit’s allegations. Some posted photos of the seven fraternity members.

The accuser is suing the men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages. Her attorney did not immediately respond Monday to messages seeking comment on the prosecutor’s decision.

The woman went to campus police at the time, but Van Houten said the accuser did not make any claims of being gang-raped or drugged in her initial sworn statement to authorities. The prosecutor also said he was never contacted by the woman's attorney about her statement or about reconsidering the decision not to prosecute, but he reached out to the attorney recently.

“Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence,” Van Houten said in a statement. “I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members. I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with Jane Doe and her attorneys.”

Cornell responds to criticism about its handling of the allegations

The university said in a statement that it supports the decision to reopen the investigation. The school said it conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions, including expelling some students and suspending others. It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.

School officials on Monday declined to release more information on the sanctions, including how many students were expelled and suspended. Cornell said last week that federal privacy law barred it from disclosing specific information on individual students.

“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”

The national chapter of Chi Phi did not return phone and email messages Monday.

The school said it conducted an internal disciplinary investigation in 2024. It said a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, and both the woman and the people accused had the opportunity to testify and present evidence.

Lawsuit alleges student was sexually assaulted during a night of celebrating

The woman's complaint accuses the university of not preventing the alleged assaults and failing to properly address sexual violence on campus. It includes a photo that it says shows a group chat between frat members discussing the night's events.

The woman, who was a 20-year-old Cornell student at the time and a sorority member, went to campus police about three weeks later, according to the lawsuit. The fraternity and seven of its members were placed on temporary suspension that same day, the lawsuit said.

The complaint said the seven were given “the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell."

Cornell said “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement," noting the expulsions and suspensions.

Over the weekend, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned what she called a “culture of rape” that is protected at elite institutions.

“When I read what happened at Cornell, those men posted in a group chat. That means it was normal to them. That means it was acceptable to them. This is a culture,” she said Sunday at a forum packed with young people near Cornell’s campus.

“And what we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces any more.”

School says it has taken additional action to address sexual violence

Cornell said a school task force on campus sexual assault, formed in 2025, made recommendations earlier this year, several of which have been implemented while others are in development.

The task force report said a 2025 school survey showed 35% of undergraduate women and 8% of undergraduate men reported experiencing sexual assault during their time at Cornell.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the prosecutor said, his office has been flooded with phone calls, voicemails and emails about the case from people seeking answers and others making insults and threats.

“The community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,” Van Houten said in a statement.

Eeshaan Chaudhuri, a Cornell senior and president of the student government, said there needs to be a fresh look at the university’s initial investigation and why the district attorney's office did not do more.

There also needs to be an examination of the culture at the fraternity, he said.

“This issue poses more of a broader question, not just at Cornell,” he said. “Obviously, these things can’t be fixed overnight.”

A Utah judge ordered Douglas Stewart Carter let out on bail late Monday over objections from the victim's family. Carter is required to wear a GPS monitor while he awaits a new trial in the 1985 killing of Eva Olesen.

The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing misconduct by investigators. Carter has maintained his innocence and says a signed confession was coerced.

No physical evidence linked him to the crime scene. But the jury convicted Carter, a Black man, based on the confession and the testimony of two witnesses who said he bragged about killing Olesen, who was white. Those witnesses later recanted.

A DNA analysis received Sept. 22 excluded Carter as a possible match to blood found on a doorknob and genetic material recovered from the handle of a knife used to stab Olesen, who was also shot.

Judge Derek Pullan said those results further undermined the case against Carter, but a reasonable jury still could conclude that he killed Olesen.

Prosecutors are reconsidering the case

Carter walked out of jail late Monday, wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants, with his eyeglasses hanging from around his neck. His son pushed a cart with pillows, blankets and Carter's personal belongings beside him.

Carter smiled at times while also trying to shield his face behind papers. He didn't speak to a handful of journalists outside the jail, and got into a vehicle with his son and defense attorney. A judge ordered him not to have any contact with Olesen's family.

“This is going to be a lot for him,” Carter's son, Tyler Anger, said as he waited for his father.

Carter will be placed in an extended stay hotel near Anger, who was adopted by another family as an infant and didn’t learn about the conviction until years later, said Carter's attorney Neal Hamilton. Carter also will need therapy to deal with his extended incarceration, Hamilton said.

“If the state of Utah had their way, he would have been executed 15, 20 years ago before we discovered the misconduct,” Hamilton said. He urged prosecutors to seek dismissal of an aggravated murder charge still pending against Carter.

A two-month retrial was planned next year, but last week county prosecutors withdrew a notice that they intended to seek the death penalty.

Utah County prosecutor Erwin Petilos told the judge Monday that reassessing Carter’s bail was “necessary and fair” as the state continues to look at the remaining evidence in the case.

Carter, a Chicago native, was living with his mother in Utah when Olesen was killed on Feb. 27, 1985. Court documents indicate the investigation eventually focused on Carter, who was suspected of killing Olesen during a robbery.

By that April, Carter had fled Utah believing he was a suspect in an unrelated assault case, according to court documents. He was apprehended that June in Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed a confession while under interrogation by a Provo detective.

Carter said later that he falsely confessed after police repeatedly threatened him. He was convicted and sentenced to death after a trial in which the defense called no witnesses. He was again sentenced to death after a 1992 retrial, and courts in Utah rejected numerous appeals from Carter in subsequent years.

Key witnesses say police gave them cash and gifts

A turning point came in 2011, when the two witnesses from Carter's original trial were tracked down in Mexico. They said they had been told to lie in court and had received cash and gifts from police, who told them not to disclose the payments. They also said police and prosecutors threatened them and their son with deportation if they did not implicate Carter.

More than a decade of legal wrangling followed before the Utah Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing “multiple instances of intentional misconduct” by police and a prosecutor. A DNA analysis of the evidence was conducted in response to that order, and prosecutors said the results arrived last week. They declined Monday to say whether they're using the DNA evidence to search for other suspects with matching DNA.

Victim's husband was potential suspect

Carter's defense attorneys have said witnesses saw a white man fleeing the crime scene and an investigator suppressed evidence pointing to other suspects, including the victim’s husband, Orla Olesen.

They allege that prosecutors were close to filing charges against the husband, but a Provo police lieutenant asked them not to so he could continue investigating. Carter was identified as a suspect soon after, according to court documents.

Orla Olesen, a painting contractor who died in 2009, told police he found his wife dead in their home, partially undressed and with her hands tied behind her back.

Theresa Olesen, a daughter-in-law of Eva Olesen, said during Monday's bond hearing that her family had "serious concerns" about Carter's release.

“By golly we were hoping for a concrete match,” Olesen said of the DNA analysis. “It doesn't mean he wasn't there."

“We just want justice for Eva. And if he had any part of it we want that to be known,” she added. ___ Associated Press photographer George Frey in Spanish Fork, Utah, contributed to this report.

The incident occurred on Monday (Sept. 28) on Outer Drive and Whittier Avenue.

Police said officers arrived and made contact with the child and others at the scene.

Medics transported the victim to a Metro Detroit hospital for treatment.

Police said the child was listed in stable condition.

The investigation is preliminary, and police said they may release additional information as the investigation continues.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP, Detroit Rewards TV, or the Detroit Police Department’s 5th Precinct Detective Unit at 313-596-5545.

Trooper Hayden Phillips, 30, was shot when he pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 65 in Warren County, Col. Phillip Burnett Jr., commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, said during a news conference.

The vehicle left the scene, and after a brief search, law enforcement found it and the suspect about 94 miles (151 kilometers) northeast in Jefferson County, he said. Police in Louisville caught the suspect, a 51-year-old man from Portland, Tennessee.

Kyle Bumgarner, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, described it as a “routine traffic stop" and said officials responded within minutes of the shooting.

The suspect will be transported back to Warren County and face state murder charges, he said.

“This is among, if not among, it is the most heinous crime that can be committed in our commonwealth,” Bumgarner said. "One of our own was gunned down and murdered on the side of the road.”

Officials didn’t say why the trooper pulled the man over, how the shooting unfolded and whether the suspect has a criminal record.

Phillips had been at the agency for three years and was based out of Bowling Green in south-central Kentucky. He was a husband and father of three.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called Phillips “a hero who dedicated himself to protecting our commonwealth.”

The meeting between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan took place on Sunday, two people who were briefed on the Israeli leader's trip confirmed on Monday.

Meanwhile, the European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the bloc is applying for observer status in a Saudi-led maritime defense coalition formed to protect the kingdom's energy exports. The EU already has six vessels deployed to the Red Sea to protect shipping.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Full coverage is available here.

Netanyahu made a secret visit to the UAE

The Israeli prime minister held an hourlong meeting with the UAE’s president on Sunday, according to two people briefed on Netanyahu's trip, which was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 TV station.

One of them said the talks focused on a report published by the Israeli daily Haaretz earlier this month that said the Emirati leader warned Netanyahu about a looming attack by Hamas just ahead of Oct. 7, 2023.

Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed to deny the report, according to a person said to have firsthand information about the meeting. Netanyahu’s office had previously denied the Haaretz report. The person, along with a regional official briefed on the meeting, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret trip.

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.

The Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, filed a complaint with Israel’s chief military censor against Channel 12 over what it called a serious censorship violation. It said the timing of the report endangered the prime minister and the operation and forces on the ground and exposed Shin Bet operational methods.

The PMO said Channel 12 reported the flight at 9:38 p.m. while the plane was still outside Israel and about an hour before it landed.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on reports about the meeting but stressed it maintains “open and direct lines of communication” with Israel and shares “all relevant intelligence.”

The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency later confirmed the visit, saying the two leaders on Sunday discussed “bilateral relations between the UAE and Israel, as well as ways to strengthen and develop them.”

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By Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Samy Magdy in Cairo

EU applies for observer status in a Saudi mission in the Red Sea

The European Union is applying for “observer status” in a new multinational maritime defense coalition led by Saudi Arabia formed to protect the kingdom’s energy exports.

The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas made the announcement on Monday, ahead of a Brussels meeting. The energy-hungry EU is facing record energy prices due to the war in Iran.

Kallas said she will ask for an expansion of the bloc’s own small naval force in the Red Sea dubbed ASPIDES to help escort cargo vessels through the key strategic chokepoint of the Bab el-Mandeb strait and protect them from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Kallas said the “need is bigger than it’s ever been” for more ships. It’s unclear what observer status in the Saudi-led coalition would mean operationally for either the EU or ASPIDES.

Supreme leader says Iranian troops defended the Strait of Hormuz from the enemy

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has praised his country’s fighters for allegedly preventing “enemy forces” from “roaming freely” in the Strait of Hormuz.

Khamenei said in a message carried by the state broadcaster on Monday that Iran’s enemies now “do not come” closer to the strait than the Arabian Sea, which is part of the Indian Ocean.

Soon, “the Arabian Sea too, will be rid of them,” said the message, issued to mark the two-year anniversary of the killing of the militant Hezbollah group's longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Khamenei hasn't been seen or heard publicly since the opening attacks of the war on Feb. 28 that killed his father and previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Houthi-run health ministry says 4 civilians killed in strike on a home in southwestern Yemen

The Houthi-run health ministry said a strike by Saudi-backed forces on a residence in southwestern Yemen’s Taiz province killed three women and an elderly man.

The statement Monday said three others were injured in the strike in Kadhah, in western Taiz. It was not immediately clear if the strike occurred Monday.

The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claims.

Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel, aired footage it said to be showing a partially destroyed bloc of rural one-floor residences.

WHO says more people have been killed or wounded in Yemen

The World Health Organization said Sunday it has documented 164 deaths and 645 injuries from the war in Yemen between Sept. 19 and Sept. 26.

This brings the overall casualties since Aug. 6 to 4,481, with 838 fatalities. The latest intense fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemeni government forces has displaced more than 180,000 people.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 1 person, wound others

A woman was killed and her husband wounded when an Israeli strike hit a Gaza City rooftop on Monday, Shifa Hospital officials said. Another person was also wounded and in critical condition.

The Israeli military later said it was aware of this strike and was looking into its results.

Later Monday, a second Israeli strike, on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, left one person critically injured, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said it targeted a “military operative,” but did not immediately provide further details or identify the individual.

More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza ceasefire took effect nearly a year ago. Around half that number are women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which maintains detailed records that international organizations consider reliable.

Iranian and Emirati officials argue about ownership of Gulf islands

In the waning hours of the U.N. General Assembly, Iran and the United Arab Emirates used their final moments to jab at each other over the islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb, which are once again in the crosshairs of regional escalations.

The three small islands — which were seized in 1971 by Iran from what would later become the UAE — sit at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, the minister of state for the United Arab Emirates, used part of his speech earlier in the day to criticize Iran for its “occupation” of the islands.

Hours later, Nasser Asadi, a member of Iran’s U.N. mission, responded by saying that Tehran “illustrates its full sovereignty” over the islands.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

The lawsuit, filed Monday (Sept. 28) in Wayne County Circuit Court by Detroit-based Marko Law, alleges Gelof was making a sliding catch in the third inning of the July 9 game between the Athletics and Tigers inside Comerica Park when his right knee struck exposed metal fencing along the left-field foul line.

According to the complaint, the impact tore Gelof’s uniform and caused a deep laceration beneath his right kneecap that narrowly missed his patellar tendon.

Gelof was unable to continue playing and missed about 30 days of professional baseball, the lawsuit says.

The complaint alleges the fencing was rigid, sharp, inadequately protected, and positioned where the defendants knew or should have known players would run and slide while attempting to make plays.

The lawsuit also alleges the defendants failed to provide sufficient padding or clearance, inspect and identify the hazard, or otherwise repair, redesign, relocate, or guard the fencing.

Attorneys for Gelof allege that protective padding was installed over the area within weeks of the injury.

The complaint includes a photograph purporting to show the padding in place during a Tigers game in August.

The lawsuit cites comments allegedly made by Tigers outfielder Riley Greene after the incident, acknowledging that the area along the wall was made of metal and could be unforgiving during a hard slide.

Gelof, 26, is listed in the lawsuit as a professional MLB player for the Athletics whose primary residence is in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The complaint alleges Gelof suffered physical pain, medical expenses, lost wages and economic losses, as well as professional and emotional damages.

It seeks compensation for those damages, along with attorney fees, costs, and other relief allowed under Michigan law.

The lawsuit includes claims for premises liability, negligence, negligent design and construction of a recreational attraction, and a claim under Michigan’s public-building exception to governmental immunity against the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority.

The complaint alleges the Stadium Authority owns and/or controls Comerica Park, while the Tigers and Ilitch Holdings operate, manage and maintain the stadium.

Attorney Jon Marko said basic protective padding could have prevented the injury.

“It doesn’t take a stadium design expert to realize that sharp metal fencing in an area where players are required to slide and play around is a recipe for disaster like the one that occurred here,” Marko said in a statement included with the lawsuit. “All they had to do was put cheap padding up like they did after Zack was injured, and this entire incident could have been avoided.”

Leo, who dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity in its wake, was asked during a press conference about what the United States and China especially should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity. U.S. President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax.”

“This is a problem that, I think, we need to sit down and talk about,” the American pope told reporters returning home from France. “We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen.”

Trump has been a champion of AI, often warning that the United States must remain ahead of China in the technological arms race. He has said efforts to limit the technology were part of a “conspiracy” by his political opponents.

Several AI giants, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to give safety measures time to catch up to the fast-moving technology. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, for example, has warned that within six to 12 months, AI could be capable of leading a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet.

Trump had a late-night dinner with Amodei on Sunday, during which they discussed Americans' concerns about the technology and how to keep America dominant, the White House said.

“If someone were to ask me ‘Am I in panic mode?’ No I’m not. I sleep at night,” Leo said. “I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI should be taken seriously.”

“I don’t think that that is ‘fake news’ as some have said to try and cause whether financial or other some other kind of benefit,” Leo said.

The pope says AI is one of the biggest challenges to humanity

The pope, who called for robust regulation of AI and a slowdown of the technology in his encyclical “Magnificent Humanity,” is up to speed on developments in the field.

Despite being at the end of a grueling four-day trip to France, Leo noted a news report Monday afternoon about Nvidia introducing guardrails into AI. He also noted that the company has previously resisted outside regulation of AI development.

Leo had identified AI as one of the biggest challenges to humanity within days of his election and took the unusual step of personally launching his own encyclical alongside Anthropic's co-founder Christopher Olah at a Vatican event in May. The initiative was part of the Vatican's effort to engage Silicon Valley about the human costs of AI.

“We need to continue to invite political leaders, leaders of AI, social organizations, associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road,” he said Monday.

“To simply say ‘Oh it’s not going to happen’ and close our eyes to it I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that,” he added.

It's not the first time the pope and Trump have disagreed

With his comments Monday about the legitimacy of safety concerns and AI development, Leo has confirmed another area of disagreement with Trump. The two had a back-and-forth in April over Leo’s opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and Leo has also criticized the Trump administration’s migration crackdown.

Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week in Washington and while Xi said that it was important to ensure AI is “always under human control,” Trump focused more on trying to rebrand it as “superintelligence” and dismissed calls for regulation. However, the two leaders agreed to explore a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents affecting national security.

AI has become a major election-year issue in the U.S. as some of the country’s largest companies rush to build a national network of data centers while Americans from both parties increasingly raise alarms about the impact on farmland, water supplies and electricity bills.

The pope says he's optimistic about solutions

Worries about AI are continuing to grow inside and outside the industry and reports continue to emerge about increasingly powerful systems that solve problems beyond human capacity but could also go rogue and carry out other, more harmful tasks.

The worries have grown so loud that the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said in an interview with Fortune that his company would wait until next year to start selling its stock to investors on Wall Street as it focuses on safety.

Leo noted that ever since he published his encyclical in May, the Vatican has received comments from people interested in being part of a broader conversation about AI. A Vatican commission is working to promote dialogue, study and investigation “to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point of destroying humanity or removing humanity from the conversation,” he said.

Leo said he was “relatively optimistic” that solutions could be found.

“I think there are enough people seriously interested in that and willing to look at that outside of the questions once again of power, who gets there first,” he said.

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AP writers Roberta Rampton and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed.

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

The men were detained early Sunday after three vans were spotted in the countryside near RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year's war with Iran.

Investigators haven't concluded whether the incident was state-backed. They are investigating a possible link to Iran, Russia or non-state militant groups. RAF Fairford has also been the focus of protests by anti-war campaigners.

The five suspects, who haven't been named, were initially held over suspected explosives offenses and later also arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. Police said the men are all British nationals from London and in their 20s.

Britain's national news agency, PA, reported without citing sources that police had not found viable explosives. Announcing that the suspects had been bailed, the head of U.K. Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, said that the suspects face stringent conditions and “absolutely remain under investigation."

Taylor said lines of inquiry include that the suspected offenses were committed by "proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.

Iran denied involvement. The Iranian Embassy in London said that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” about the incident.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview late Monday with Fox News host Sean Hannity that it “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor” but did not name a specific country.

Residents were evacuated from 85 homes in the village of Whelford near the base on Sunday, and army bomb-disposal experts used a robot to examine three white vans. The villagers were allowed to return home late Monday afternoon, though a cordon remained around the three vehicles, police said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired a meeting of the government’s COBRA emergency committee on Monday “to make sure we have the full picture" of the incident, he said.

The arrests came after reports of suspicious vehicles

It was unclear whether the arrested men had been on security services' radar. Local residents described seeing heightened security around RAF Fairford in recent days, with heavy vehicles parked across entrance gates.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the suspects had been detained following cooperation between the U.S. and Britain, and had been “under view” for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about “suspicious vehicles” near the base.

A local farmer said she called police after seeing three oddly parked vans as she drove home late Saturday night, and that nearby she came across “a large group of men,” some with their faces covered. She said they scattered when they saw her vehicle.

She declined to be identified to protect her identity because she was describing what she saw as potential security lapses.

British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said the farmer “did exactly the right thing” by calling police but only had “a partial view” of the operation.

The arrests came at a time of heightened tensions around the threat from hostile states, with British intelligence services saying Russia and Iran have both used proxies to commit crimes on U.K. soil. In March, officials said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased by 50% in the six months to December 2025.

Iran has been linked to a series of attacks in Europe

Britain didn't join the U.S. and Israel in the Iran war, which began on Feb. 28, and initially denied Trump’s request to use bases in the U.K. to strike Iran. But then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed in March to let the U.S. use bases in Britain for what he called “defensive” operations against Iran’s missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf.

American B-1 and B-52 bombers have taken off from Fairford, 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of London, for operations during the Iran conflict.

Iran has said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.

British security officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arsons and other attacks in the U.K. and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community and intended to sow fear. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East continue.

Several people also have been charged with plotting to commit arson in the U.K. on behalf of Russia-linked groups.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that the incident is a “reminder of the threats our country faces.”

Miliband met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations in New York last week and told him that “Britain will not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on U.K. soil,” according to a U.K. readout of the conversation.

US Air Force says personnel remain vigilant

The U.S. Air Force said that its personnel on the base “remain vigilant,” but “for operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures.”

Rubio thanked the British authorities for their cooperation and help in breaking up the alleged plot, which he called a “very serious situation.” He said the British had been “very cooperative” but declined to comment in more detail, particularly about the fact that the suspects had been released on bail.

“I would argue that they’ve been very cooperative and very helpful on something that’s a very serious incident,” Rubio said in the Fox News interview, adding that the British response had been “appropriate.”

The U.S. Embassy in London has warned Americans in Britain to be cautious and mindful of their personal security.

Trump said that authorities had the suspects “under view for a long time and we got them.”

“It was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort. And working with the British worked out great,” he told reporters in Chicago on Sunday.

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Lawless reported from Liverpool, England. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

OpenAI’s decision to hold back the model, called GPT-6.1 Astra, comes amid a broader push within the industry to slow the development of increasingly autonomous systems until safety measures can catch up. The announcement comes a day before AI executives are set to huddle with President Donald Trump in Washington as technology companies face new pressure to be accountable for how their models can be abused.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the delay of OpenAI’s model release.

In a statement from OpenAI's head of safety systems Saachi Jain, the version “didn't quite meet the bar.” It had become more persistent in completing tasks, but OpenAI needed to balance that capability against unauthorized behavior.

Jain insisted the company was committed to ensuring the model was safe whether in the company's testing or is in the hands of users. "We have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment,” she said.

OpenAI paused training of its most advanced models last week, saying training would resume “only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards.”

That was after it disclosed instances in which AI agents exceeded their instructions, including by accessing government websites without authorization.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined other industry leaders in calling for a slowdown, warning that companies do not yet have adequate safeguards to control the most capable systems. Altman was scheduled to deliver the keynote address for OpenAI's annual conference for software developers on Tuesday in San Francisco. OpenAI President Greg Brockman is expected to attend the White House's event Tuesday.

Kurt Olsen's resignation from the so-called “grand conspiracy" probe represents further turmoil in a meandering investigation that has proceeded in fits and starts since its inception as prosecutors pursue an ill-defined right-wing theory of a conspiracy against Trump. It comes just weeks after the departure of another Trump ally, Joseph diGenova, who had been leading the closely watched investigation in Florida.

The person who confirmed Olsen's resignation spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Olsen didn't immediately respond to an email on Monday.

Olsen’s prominence as an election denier elevated his profile in the Trump orbit, but his absence of experience as a Justice Department prosecutor made him an unconventional pick for such a high-profile investigation.

Investigators have focused attention on multiple major investigations of Trump, including the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and have demanded testimony from officials from both of those probes as they search for any signs of a potential conspiracy to deprive Trump of his rights.

Olsen’s role in the investigation came into focus earlier this month when an attorney for former CIA Director John Brennan revealed that he had discussed with Olsen a subpoena compelling Brennan to testify before the grand jury in Fort Pierce on Oct. 25. Wainstein said Olsen told him that Brennan also remains a “target” of a narrower false statements investigation.

It's the latest sign of upheaval in the yearlong conspiracy investigation. Last April, a lead national security prosecutor in the Brennan investigation was replaced on the team after raising questions about the strength of the case. Days later, diGenova was sworn in.

The 81-year-old diGenova served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration and for years has been a prominent Trump ally, including backing his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and publicly and repeatedly claiming that the president was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy.

DiGenova resigned earlier this month without bringing a single criminal case. It remains unclear whether any will be, or what information has been gathered to support any basis for the idea of a plot against Trump by the government officials who investigated him.

Olsen, who unsuccessfully pushed the Justice Department in 2020 to back the president’s false claims, joined the Justice Department months ago after serving in a White House post as director of election security and integrity.

Olsen helped Texas’ Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, launch a longshot bid to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win and later represented Kari Lake during her attempt to overturn her loss in the 2022 Arizona governor’s race. Arizona courts sanctioned Olsen for making false statements in that case.

Courts have largely rejected the administration’s previous efforts, which reflect untrue claims about widespread voting fraud and come ahead of November’s midterm elections where Democrats seek to take control of one or both chambers of Congress and check Trump’s power.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., wrote in a 24-page opinion that federal agencies didn't have the authority from Congress to add such conditions to the grants, and that the conditions didn't meet legal thresholds requiring them to relate to the underlying grant purpose.

Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor its subagency handling the grants, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, immediately responded to a request for comment. The grant conditions were the latest in a line of actions by Trump’s administration to shape how elections are run, a task that has long been the job of states.

The plaintiffs that sued were Columbus, Ohio; Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; and El Paso and Harris counties in Texas, joined by two other Texas counties, Dallas and Travis.

They declared victory and said what the Trump administration had sought was a gross abuse of power.

“The end result is exactly what we wanted,” said Tyler Chance Yarbro, the director of law for Nashville and Davidson County.

A Harris County commissioner, Lesley Briones, accused the Trump administration of using the safety and security of communities as a "bargaining chip for partisan politics."

Twenty-five state attorneys general or governors filed a similar lawsuit.

Over the summer, a FEMA antiterrorism grant announcement included a list of election-related requirements, saying that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until they comply.

The program includes more than $1 billion for states and local and tribal governments for a variety of programs aimed at preventing terror at crowded places, online, with border security — and around elections. FEMA expects to award 56 grants.

The list of items for states includes verifying the citizenship of all registered voters and election workers.

Places that use electronic voting systems that use barcodes or QR codes to count votes would have to submit plans to switch to hand-marked paper ballots. Every jurisdiction would have to show it audits results.

In the lawsuit, the cities and counties said FEMA had no authority to impose those conditions, “not under its governing statute and not under the Constitution.”

Congress authorized FEMA to help jurisdictions protect critical infrastructure from terrorism and cyberattacks, not to decide who can vote, how ballots must be counted or how states maintain voter rolls, the cities and counties wrote.

“Never before has FEMA purported to regulate how states and counties run elections,” they said in the lawsuit.

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Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter

The officials and their families come from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru — all nations with right-leaning leaders friendly with President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador and Peru this month, pledging U.S. support for their efforts to combat drug and human trafficking.

Those leaders have complained that many of those targeted by the visa revocations were hindering their efforts to fight crime.

The State Department announced the revocations Monday, saying they were being done “to fulfill the commitments to defend democratic governance across our hemisphere against corruption and narco-trafficking.”

“Undermining a democratically-elected government is a threat to security and rule of law in the Americas and will not be tolerated,” it said in a statement.

The Trump administration is billing the revocations as part of its broader efforts to clamp down on corruption, particularly related to the narcotics trade and illegal migration, by members of the U.S.-led “Shield of the Americas” bloc in the Western Hemipshere that Trump created this year.

The State Department has been denying permission to travel to the United States as a way to crack down on immigration or as a pressure tool against some governments, ranging from bans on South African officials accused of discrimination against white people to refusing to issue visas to the Palestinian delegation to attend an annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations.

The 27 targeted include Bolivian Attorney General Roger Mariaca and more than 20 other Bolivian prosecutors and judges, 12 of whom were named as current visa holders and nine who will be denied visas should they apply. Two Colombians, a business mogul and a lawmaker, along with two Ecuadorians and one Peruvian judge are also affected.

Mariaca is accused of abusing his public position by soliciting and accepting bribes to facilitate narcotrafficking and is also accused of helping violent criminals evade justice, according to the documents.

“His actions endanger President Trump's efforts to combat narcoterrorism while undermining the very democratic institutions Bolivia, as a Shield participant, is working to strengthen,” the statement said.

Mariaca condemned the Trump administration’s visa restrictions against him, portraying them as political pressure on his office. He vowed to pursue investigations, including a sensitive case involving Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political strategist with ties to Trump’s circle who advised President Rodrigo Paz’s campaign.

“The work we have been doing has not pleased certain political sectors, both inside and outside our country,” Mariaca said at a news conference in the Bolivian city of Sucre. “No political pressure, national or international, can stand in the way of establishing the facts, which must be investigated.”

Mariaca, who was elected to a six-year term by lawmakers in 2024 under Bolivia’s previous left-wing government, has faced criticism over his office’s handling of drug-trafficking cases.

He led prosecutors in the eastern region of Santa Cruz when alleged Uruguayan drug kingpin Sebastián Marset, now in U.S. custody, escaped a police operation in 2023. He has since clashed with Paz, who has aligned Bolivia with Washington after nearly two decades of socialist rule.

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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Prosecutors said Word of Faith Fellowship leader Brooke Covington led a group of church members in 2013 who choked and beat a young man for two hours while they prayed to expel “homosexual demons.”

Covington, 68, pleaded to two misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and simple assault Monday by entering an Alford plea, according to court records. It's technically a guilty plea in which defendants maintain they are innocent while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them at trial.

The judge sentenced Covington to 45 days in jail on the false imprisonment charge and 30 days for simple assault, but suspended them so she won't have to serve the time if she completes her probation. Covington also was ordered to complete 30 hours of community service benefiting children or young adults.

Covington's original case ended in a mistrial after the jury foreman brought his own research into deliberations.

Since then, the COVID-19 outbreak, a move to remove the original prosecutor that ended with the suspension of the law license of the attorney making the request, deaths or retirements of lawyers on both sides and handing the case to a new prosecutor in a new jurisdiction all delayed a new trial.

Both the new prosecutor and Covington's lawyer didn't respond to messages seeking details about Monday's hearing.

Teen says church leaders held him down and beat him

Matthew Fenner joined Word of Faith as a teenager in 2010 with his mother. He was at a service on the church’s compound in Spindale, North Carolina, when members including Covington started what the church called a “blasting” session on him, according to Fenner.

Covington said the session was no different than others, and she had witnesses prepared to testify they didn't see an assault against Fenner.

Word of Faith is a nondenominational Protestant church that was founded in 1979 by Sam and Jane Whaley in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlotte and Asheville. Members consider Jane Whaley a prophet.

In 2017, The Associated Press published a series of stories about Word of Faith that detailed former church members’ allegations of abuse. The AP spoke to dozens of former congregants around the world, listened to hours of secretly recorded conversations with church leaders, and reviewed hundreds of pages of law enforcement, court and child welfare documents.

Church denies abuse and says it is targeted by former members

Whaley has denied that she or other church leaders ever abused Word of Faith members, and said that any discipline would be protected by the Constitution’s freedom of religion tenet.

The church said the allegations made to the AP were false and made by “certain former members” out to target the church and that it does not condone abuse.

Allegations against prosecutor lead to suspension of law license

The case was turned over to a special prosecutor after Fenner’s lawyer Andrew LaBreche accused District Attorney Ted Bell of siding with Word of Faith in his handling of the case.

LaBreche said Bell didn’t investigate new evidence or witnesses and made a deal to drop the felony kidnapping charge against Covington.

Bell provided text messages and other evidence he refused to talk to Word of Faith members when they tried to steer conversations toward the assault cases to a special investigator who reported to Superior Court Judge William Stetzer.

The judge not only denied LaBreche’s request to remove the prosecutor, but in his order said LaBreche’s “repeated acts of dishonesty and the significant harm to the legal profession” led the judge to suspend his law license for three years. He also awarded Bell legal fees.

LaBreche is appealing the ruling, and his suspension has been delayed until his case can be heard.

Associated Press covered Word of Faith extensively

Word of Faith had about 700 members in North Carolina a decade ago, but a sworn statement from a former church leader said membership had now dwindled to about 300 to 400 people.

The AP reported that the church controlled almost every aspect of their members’ lives, including who they married, what subjects they studied in school and whether they could go to college. Members were regularly slapped, choked and thrown to the floor during high-decibel group prayer.

The AP investigation also found that the church and its hundreds of followers controlled local law enforcement and social services, preventing fair investigations.

Caleb Flynn, 40, has pleaded not guilty to murder, assault and tampering with evidence charges in the February shooting of Ashley Flynn, 37, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach, at their Tipp City home, north of Dayton. Flynn and their two daughters were home when police arrived.

Flynn’s trial, which heads to closing arguments on Tuesday, has featured testimony from a woman who said she and Flynn had been having an affair at the time of his wife’s killing. Jurors also heard AI-generated love songs that prosecutors say he made for his paramour and some of the more than 100,000 text messages that authorities say they exchanged.

Prosecutors say Flynn staged a home invasion to mislead investigators and claimed in a frantic 911 call that a burglar had shot his wife. Flynn's alleged paramour, 24-year-old Alleigha Botner, testified that he had remarked that he hated his wife and harbored thoughts of killing her.

Here’s what you need to know about Flynn’s trial:

The woman in the affair testified against him

Botner's bombshell affair testimony has been the highlight so far. On the witness stand for two days, Botner described how she met Flynn in 2022 while she was a 20-year-old intern at his church and carried on an affair with him that spanned more than a year.

She detailed the secret life she says they shared, including candid conversations in which he mused about leaving his wife and wanting her dead.

“He told me that he hates her,” Botner testified. “He told me the only reason that he’s still with her is because of the girls.”

Botner sobbed as she read some of her text messages with Flynn, saying she regretted telling him: “I want to kill her, Caleb.”

Rather than dissuade her from that dark thought, Flynn replied: “That makes two of us.”

In August 2025, about six months before the killing, Flynn texted Botner: “I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail."

In another text message read in court, Botner said she wasn't serious, telling Flynn: “I'm not asking that you take her life obviously, because that's not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn't. But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.”

When a prosecutor asked how she felt about Flynn now, Botner said: “I hate him.” Asked why, she said: “Because I believe that he murdered his wife.”

Jurors heard love songs he made with AI

Prosecutors played some of Flynn’s AI-generated love songs, which included lyrics such as: “Age never mattered, when it was you and me," and “we danced on the edge of a life we could choose, so close to forever, so much left to lose.”

They also played audio of Flynn's 911 call, in which he said someone had broken into his home and killed his wife. He told a dispatcher that she was shot multiple times in the head and didn't know whether the intruder was still there.

When police arrived, the garage door, a side door and the center console of Flynn’s pickup truck were all open. Flynn told officers he kept a gun in the console, but no weapon was found there, according to a police report. Police say they never found the gun used in the killing.

Jurors also saw videos of Flynn’s police interviews. Crying and wearing a sweatshirt that said, “God-Sized Vision,” he said he was sleeping on the couch when he was awoken by a pair of gunshots. Flynn told investigators that a man had come to the door a day before the killing and handed his wife an American flag while making a “weird sales pitch for America.”

In another police interview, Flynn told investigators: “We are a normal married couple who love each other and disagree. I’ve never laid hands on her.”

Defense rests without calling any witnesses

Flynn didn't testify on his own behalf. Nor did anybody else.

After eight days of testimony from 40 prosecution witnesses, including detectives and forensics experts, Flynn's lawyers decided not to call any witnesses.

The prosecution and defense both rested their cases on Monday. That leaves Tuesday for closing arguments, followed by the start of jury deliberations.

In an opening statement, defense lawyer Emily Smith acknowledged Flynn's affair. But, she told jurors: “Caleb is not on trial for being a bad husband. He’s not on trial for cheating. You’re not here to deliberate on whether or not you like Caleb.”

Prosecutors opted not to call Flynn’s daughters, ages 10 and 12, as witnesses.

Caleb Flynn auditioned on ‘American Idol’ years ago

Flynn appeared in season 12 in 2013. He sang in televised auditions in Chicago before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood, where Candice Glover took the crown.

“Music is all I know,” Flynn said on the show. “It’s what I live to do, and I love to sing.”

Flynn said God inspired him to be a performer. He credited his wife with encouraging him to try out for “American Idol” again after he missed the cut a few seasons earlier.

“I love my wife more than anything,” he said. “She’s very, very pretty. Oof, I love her.”

Ashley Flynn was an educator, coach and church volunteer

Ashley Flynn coached middle school volleyball and was a substitute teacher, Tipp City Schools said on its Facebook page. In her obituary, she was described as “a devoted and loving wife, and a caring and dedicated mother.”

“She was known for her beautiful smile, warmth, kindness, and the positive impact she had on so many — both in and out of the classroom and on the court,” the school district said.

According to her online obituary, the Tipp City High School and Lee University graduate also volunteered at her church, Christian Life Center, and was part of a program that teaches the Bible to public school students.

“Ashley was known as a shining light of joy to all who crossed her path, effortlessly encouraging others along the way,” the obituary said. “Her genuine care for people reflected the selfless love we all strive to share.

Caleb Williams was inactive with a right hamstring injury, leaving coach Ben Johnson to choose between Keenum and Tyson Bagent. The 26-year-old Bagent returned to practice on Saturday and cleared the NFL's concussion protocol on Sunday.

The 38-year-old Keenum is in his second season with Johnson and Chicago after signing with the team in April 2025. It was his first regular-season action since he started for Houston in a 36-22 loss to Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2023.

Keenum has played in 81 regular-season games, including his NFL debut in 2013 with the Texans. He was 30-36 as a starter going into the matchup with the Eagles.

Williams left last weekend's 9-3 loss to Minnesota after he got hurt on a scramble midway through the fourth quarter. Johnson has said the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft is week to week.

Williams threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards while leading Chicago to the NFC North title last season. He had 27 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.

Bagent was 5 for 9 for 54 yards after he replaced Williams against the Vikings. He was sacked by Dallas Turner on the final play of the game.

Bagent had a record-setting career at Division II Shepherd University before signing with Chicago in May 2023 as an undrafted free agent. He made four starts while appearing in five games as rookie, passing for 859 yards and three touchdowns with six interceptions.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Military cybersecurity experts have routinely helped monitor systems and deter potential hackers since election equipment was designated “ critical infrastructure ” in 2017.

But Hegseth's announcement comes after President Donald Trump gutted the civilian agency specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure, a division of the Department of Homeland Security called the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. That agency last week released an election infrastructure security plan that lays out potential threats to election systems and lists services it would offer to election officials to protect the vote.

Both announcements come just weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3 and with early voting already underway. The short timeline “suggests this is just theater,” said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.

“If the administration was serious about assisting state and local election officials, they shouldn’t have dismantled all of the federal government’s election cybersecurity capacity and fired all their experts in early 2025,” he said.

Though cybersecurity assistance from the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command is routine, many elections experts, civil rights groups and Democratic election officials are on guard for signs of meddling in voting or ballot counting by the Trump administration. The president continues to push false claims that elections are rife with fraud while trying to interfere with longstanding election procedures.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked an attempt by Trump to restrict mail voting but has allowed the use of a federal database to check the citizenship of voters.

In a memo dated Sept. 22 and publicly announced Monday, Hegseth directed defense intelligence officials to mobilize every resource “to defend our election infrastructure from foreign malign influence and ensure that every lawful voter can cast their ballot free from foreign intimidation, coercion, or fear.”

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Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

MLB and the players' association have played a handful of regular-season games away from the 30 big league ballparks in recent years, including in the Iowa corn fields made famous by the movie “Field of Dreams.”

An MLB official familiar with the discussions confirmed Monday that the league approached the Trump administration about possibly hosting a game in a national park. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league hadn't authorized comment on the matter and said it was among several ideas MLB has explored.

A White House official said MLB asked the administration whether hosting a game at a national park would be possible but emphasized it was not a presidential directive and was not driven by the administration. The National Park Service has not granted any permits, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to speak on the record.

MLB's special event games have included games at Dyersville, Iowa, in 2021, 2022 and 2026, with another scheduled next August between Boston and Kansas City.

In addition, regular-season games were played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2024 and at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, in 2025, and games have been held since 2017 in conjunction with the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

MLB also has played international games in London; Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico; Seoul, South Korea; Sydney; and Tokyo; plus some in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Grand Teton includes a commercial airport — the busiest in Wyoming — and a vast expanse of Jackson Hole bottomlands with spectacular views of the Teton Range. There is no shortage of flat terrain where a temporary ballpark could be built.

The possibility of building a baseball field on national park land quickly raised a host of questions.

“It’s abhorrent,” Mike Gierau, a Democratic state senator and baseball lover who represents Jackson and nearby Grand Teton, wrote in a text message. “Baseball is the American game. The national parks are America’s greatest idea. But a national park is to be protected for its undeveloped and scenic values.”

Environmental groups also came out against the idea, first reported by The Washington Post.

“Americans want to see protections for our national parks and public lands strengthened. Bulldozing these lands for a baseball stadium does the opposite, destroying the magnificent landscapes that millions of people come to experience,” Chris Kassar, the group's Wyoming director, said in a statement.

A message left with Grand Teton officials seeking more information wasn't immediately returned.

The work shows that major wildfires, which are worsening with the planet’s warming, could have lasting effects beyond immediate exposure.

Post-wildfire air quality needs to be monitored longer term, the research suggests, and recovery efforts need to consider what might remain in contaminated soot, residue and dirt well after burning stops.

The wildfires, caused by wind spreading a brushfire spurred by downed power lines, burned on the Hawaiian island of Maui in August 2023, destroyed the town of Lahaina and killed more than 100 people. They were among the deadliest in U.S. history.

New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday found higher metal levels, associated with respiratory harm, in nearby residents up to a year and a half after the fires.

University of Hawaii researchers studied the urine of 1,400 adults and found substantially elevated concentrations of metals such as arsenic, cadmium, copper and antimony.

Burned buildings, cars and electronics can release harmful chemicals

These metals could be the result of burned buildings, vehicles, electronics and other materials lost in the wildfires, the researchers say. They can cause a different human impact than simply the burned vegetation that is typically studied after fires of this magnitude.

“What we’re dealing with, especially in the aftermath of what we experienced in Lahaina, is a much more complicated mixture of these chemical exposures,” said Alika Maunakea, the study’s co-author and an anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology professor at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

The researchers found antimony nearly 40 times higher in the Maui participants than U.S. biomonitoring data. They found manganese 3.8 times higher, barium 2.3 times and arsenic 2.2 times.

Having more metals in the body was more likely to result in abnormal lung function, such as having less breathing capacity and difficulty moving air in and out of one’s lungs, during standard breathing tests, the study found.

Those lung effects aligned with the geographic distribution of smoke and ash; those nearest to Lahaina, and Wailuku and Kahului, experienced a different impact than in those near Kula.

“It’s really important to identify potential sources of these exposures and to mitigate and reduce potential risks for re-exposures that might be contributing to these effects,” Maunakea said. “What happens to the land and environment can shape what people breathe, take into their bodies, and develop over time. The consequences of that can unfold over many years.”

Warming planet can worsen wildfires

Wildfires are getting larger, more intense, faster-moving and more frequent in certain parts of the globe, experts say, in part due to the warming and drier weather associated with climate change. Human-caused climate change has upped the likelihood of many major fires around the world in recent years and led to fires in regions that typically do not see them as often.

The researchers did note a limitation of the study in that it cannot assess exactly how much of the impact came directly from the wildfires versus chronic or other exposures — such as Hawaii’s geology, diet, historic agricultural and industrial activity and environmental sources — given there is no comparable data from before August 2023.

However, previous studies have also found significant long-term human impacts from wildfires and other environmental crises. The impacts have included lung issues and mental health issues such as depression.

“This is bigger than wildfires. These climate-related disasters can change the environment in ways that continue after the immediate emergency is over,” said Ruben Juarez, study co-author and professor of health economics at the university. “Floods, hurricanes, fires, and other disasters definitely can disturb soil, debris, buildings, and legacy contaminants that we have in Hawaii, creating these pathways for exposure. … Disaster response should not stop when visible danger is gone.”

Dr. Kekoa Taparra, a physician and assistant professor who studies chronic diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the research expands our understanding of the health burden of the fires, particularly over an extended period.

“This type of work echoes that climate-related disasters affect human health well beyond the immediate injuries and deaths we see during the event itself,” said Taparra, who was not involved in the study released Monday but has studied the health impacts of disasters. “Historic wildfires in Lahaina and even Los Angeles have highlighted how these disasters can produce longer-lasting consequences through displacement, disruption of healthcare and social networks, environmental exposures, and potentially increased mortality.

“As these events become more frequent and severe, understanding and measuring their full health impact will be essential to building more resilient communities and health systems.”

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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Read more of AP’s climate coverage.

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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.

The video posted on Sunday shows Dawkins' pregame walkout as he chants “The time has come,” followed by a series of big hits. The DHS post includes the caption “Our time has come.”

“The league has requested the DHS take down the video,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Monday.

Dawkins was a nine-time Pro Bowler and five time All-Pro safety during 16 NFL seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos before retiring in 2011.

DHS released a statement saying the United States Border Patrol “is actively tracking" a group of migrants coming from Honduras and used football jargon to add the department "is playing lockdown defense" at the border.

The statement did not address the NFL's request to take down the video, which had not been deleted as of Monday evening.

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South Carolina coach Shane Beamer suspended Stewart indefinitely on Sunday for punching Alabama tight end Josh Ford in the helmet in the fourth quarter of the Gamecocks’ 49-18 loss at No. 7 Alabama on Saturday. Beamer already ruled Stewart out for Saturday's game against No. 24 Kentucky prior to the one-game suspension issued on Monday.

“Dylan Stewart’s egregious contact reflects behavior that is unacceptable and not aligned with the standards of the Southeastern Conference,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “Such action against an opponent carries a serious risk of injury and has no place in our conference competition. This suspension is appropriate, and any future misconduct by Dylan Stewart will result in more severe disciplinary action.”

The one-game suspension is separate from Beamer's indefinite suspension.

Stewart was an Associated Press preseason All-America first-team pick and is widely projected to be a first-round pick in next year’s NFL draft. He missed the first two games of the season because of a back injury.

“Our expectation at South Carolina, is that our student-athletes conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity at all times,” South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati said. “Keeping one’s composure, even in the most competitive environments, is our standard. That standard was not met in this instance and we support the league’s decision along with our head coach’s decision regarding the current disciplinary measures enacted in this case.”

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Pike and her boyfriend were convicted in the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, their classmate at Knoxville Job Corps. Prosecutors said Pike feared Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to a secluded area where she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer. The case got widespread attention because of the brutality of the killing, the ages of the people involved and because a satanic symbol was carved into the victim’s body.

Pike does not deny her guilt, but her attorneys and supporters argue a death sentence is not appropriate for a crime committed at that age by a teen with untreated mental illness after a childhood of brutal sexual abuse and neglect. Slemmer’s mother wants the lethal injection to go forward, saying she has waited decades to see Pike’s sentence carried out.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that he would not grant clemency. Pike’s attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution.

The request for clemency points to Pike's traumatic past

Pike's attorneys said she experienced an exceptionally traumatic and abusive childhood.

Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike was sexually abused starting from when she was a toddler and that she was raped at ages 11 and 17. He said Pike's lawyers at the penalty phase of her trial did not present the jury with what he said was critical information about her past or argue that her age should be a consideration.

Pike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Pike told police she initially only wanted to fight Slemmer but ended up killing her in a frenzied attack. In her clemency petition, Pike’s attorneys said her untreated mental illness and background made her unable to “put the brakes on.”

“I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime,” Pike said in a statement included in her clemency petition.

Ferrell said more today is known about adolescent brain development and that Pike's death sentence is an outlier. He noted that Pike's boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole because of his age. He was denied parole last year. A third teen admitted to being an accessory and received probation.

In the modern death penalty era, Ferrell said, other 18-year-olds who were sentenced to death in Tennessee have since had their sentences reduced.

The Death Penalty Information Center said 275 people nationwide have been executed for crimes they committed at age 18, 19 or 20 in the modern death penalty era, but that death sentences for those in that age group have become increasingly rare.

“If Christa Pike was tried today, I do not believe a jury that knew about the documented sexual abuse and neglect she experienced as a child would sentence her to death,” Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said.

The victim’s mother wants the execution to go forward

Speaking by telephone from Florida, Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, also pointed to her daughter's age and said Slemmer never got a chance to grow up.

“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” Martinez said.

Martinez said her daughter volunteered with the Special Olympics, loved roller skating and wanted to pursue a career in computers.

“She was easygoing. She was a computer geek to begin with. She and my husband would build and tear apart the computers constantly,” Martinez said. “She trusted everybody, and that was her downfall.”

She said her daughter called her from Job Corps on the night of the murder, but the call was dropping because of bad reception. When Martinez called back, her daughter had already gone out.

“Not a day goes by, or a minute goes by that I do not think about Colleen. Holidays are the worst. Colleen’s birthday was last week. She would have been 51,” Martinez said.

The killing rocked the city of Knoxville. Prosecutors said Pike cut Slemmer with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt. Elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and 1990s. Shipp, Pike's boyfriend, has admitted that he was the one who carved a pentagram, a star-shaped symbol associated with Satanism, into her body.

Executions of female inmates are rare in Tennessee and nationwide

If Pike’s execution proceeds as scheduled, it would be Tennessee’s first execution of a woman since 1820, Maher said.

Executions of female inmates are also rare in the U.S. Since 1976, 18 women have been executed in the country, representing about 1% of all executions, according to the center.

Most recently, Missouri in 2023 executed Amber McLaughlin, a transgender woman, for a 2003 killing, in what is believed to be the first execution of a transgender woman in the U.S. In 2021, the federal government executed Lisa Montgomery, marking the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put a female inmate to death. Georgia executed a woman in 2015.

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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama.

The commanders of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, were found guilty of recruiting boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 17. Prosecutors said that some of the girls were sexually abused.

Sentences handed to the rebel leaders ranged from 11 years to 20 years in prison. Some of them recently participated in peace talks with Colombia’s government.

The trial was conducted in absentia because the commanders haven't been captured by Colombia’s government.

One of the leaders who was convicted, Israel Ramírez Pineda, also known by the alias Pablo Beltrán, now lives in Cuba and recently led a delegation that held peace talks with Colombia’s government.

The government canceled peace talks with the ELN last year after the group staged a string of attacks in the northeastern Catatumbo region in which at least 80 people were killed.

Human rights groups have pointed out that the recruitment of children by rebel groups and gangs in Colombia continues to be a problem, with these organizations now using social media to lure youth into their ranks.

In 2016, almost 14,000 fighters laid down their weapons following a peace deal between Colombia’s government and the nation’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

But violence has resurfaced in some rural areas where there is little state presence and where groups like the ELN are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes, extortion rackets and illegal mines abandoned by FARC.

According to Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, with 625 cases reported in 2024. Recruits are given a wide range of tasks that include serving as messengers, gathering intelligence, cooking or engaging with the enemy — while girls are sometimes forced into sexual acts with commanders.

The United Nations has called on social media platforms to share evidence with Colombian prosecutors and take actions aimed at blocking rebel groups from using social media to recruit children. Its human rights office in Colombia welcomed the sentence against the ELN leaders, noting that recruiting children into armed groups is prohibited by international law.

“This is a very important development in the fight against the recruitment of girls and boys,” said Scott Campbell, the representative in Colombia for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We have urged the Colombian justice system to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for the recruitment of girls and boys, and welcome this step forward.”

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

Sidelined since Sept. 16 by a strained right calf, the Yankees captain took live batting practice on the field Monday, a day ahead of the series opener. He walked twice, hit a comebacker to the mound and took a called third strike against teammates Ryan Weathers and Elmer Rodríguez.

“I’ve been doing a lot of convincing, I feel like, so I’m going to keep doing that,” Judge said. “The most important thing is just making sure I’m healthy and ready to go for this long stretch. We've got another month of baseball to play.”

A three-time AL MVP, the 34-year-old slugger had a platelet-poor plasma injection Sept. 21. He was sidelined by a fractured rib from May 31 to Sept. 8 and played in just seven games before the latest injury.

“He’s making progress. We’ll continue to see where he’s at,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Speaking in front of his locker, a diamond-and-garnet pendant of a judge’s gavel hanging from his neck, the outfielder said he hasn't run the bases since the injury but had been working on an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill.

“I’ve been hitting for a while, so it feels great, which is definitely a big step forward because you kind of produce a lot of weight on that back leg,” he said.

Judge was limited to 66 games this season. He hit .241 with 18 homers, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS, including .174 with one homer and three RBIs in September.

He hopes not to be limited to designated hitter — teammate Ben Rice was the DH in 96 games.

"I’m trying to come back as an outfielder because I think it helps our team the most, but however they see I fit in the best, I am going to try to do that," Judge said.

Judge didn't express concern about trying for a quick return from an injury to his soleus muscle, which is part of the Achilles tendon.

“Guys take risks every single day. I know a lot of guys in here are banged up and dealing with stuff,” he said. "So, yeah, I understand the risks."

In his 11th big league season and still without a World Series title, Judge is sensing the passage of time as motivation for pushing to get back on the field.

“The biggest thing is just understanding how short I get. The time I get to be a Yankee and play this game of baseball is a very short window,” he said. “Ten years have gone by since I debuted out here. Time flies and I just think about that more than thinking about age. I feel like I’ll still be a good baseball player at 45. So, yeah, it’s more just, your window to play this game is short so you don’t want to miss an opportunity."

Stanton, Grisham and Weathers

Giancarlo Stanton, out since April 24 because of strained calf muscles in both legs, also is a roster possibility along with center fielder Trent Grisham, sidelined since straining his right hamstring on Sept. 4, and Weathers, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 22 because of a left forearm flexor strain. Weathers appeared unlikely since he threw BP to Judge, Stanton and Grisham.

“There’s a few roster decisions still that we keep kind of bouncing back and forth, thinking about lineup construction," Boone said. "So those are still things that I’m wrestling with to some degree. Ultimately, we’ve got to settle on it tomorrow and go let it rip.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Trump on Monday acted confused when a reporter asked him about Ambassador David Perdue's remarks over the weekend, suggesting the diplomat was confusing China with Taiwan. But then Trump said “maybe it’s a good idea” to make such an offer to China.

The whiplash over the prospect of arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival underlines the Trump administration's often uncoordinated and contradictory approach to China, including Xi's pomp-filled state visit to Washington last week during which Trump appeared to get little in return on key issues.

Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on Fox News Channel's “Fox News Sunday” days after the summit, didn’t specify when the offer was made. But such a proposal, if realized, would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and expose U.S. technology to a potential foe.

Trump administration disavows ambassador's comments

The State Department on Monday looked to distance the Trump administration from Perdue's comments, saying that “U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.”

Hours later, Trump seemed to be doing the same.

“To China? You mean to Taiwan?” he said when a reporter asked him about Perdue's account.

“I never heard of that one. I’m going to have to ask him," Trump said.

He then mused that China would probably like to buy U.S. equipment, which he said was superior, and added: “So maybe it’s a good idea. But we didn’t discuss it. He may have been talking about Taiwan. I think he was probably talking about Taiwan.”

Perdue said Sunday that the Republican president was downplaying longstanding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan — which have drawn protest from Beijing for years — by couching it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world, and even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. weaponry.

Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that seeks to defend itself from China’s threat to invade the island. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying arms to Taiwan to appease the Chinese president.

Perdue pushed back on the suggestion, stating that Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody” and has sold it plenty of weapons. Perdue also said Trump and Xi continue to talk about future U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.

“But President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,’” Perdue said. “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point.”

Experts point to Trump's transactional approach

If so, that offer “speaks to (Trump's) treatment of China in almost exclusively commercial terms, even at the potential expense of the U.S. military position in Asia,” said Evan Sankey, an analyst focused on U.S. policy toward China at the libertarian Cato Institute.

He said the U.S. last sold arms to Beijing in the 1980s and resuming those sales would be “a shocking policy change.”

Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the hawkish think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the anecdote that Perdue told offers “a revealing window into Trump's transactional worldview.”

“He tends to see weapons, tariffs and market access as instruments of leverage, even across the traditional dividing line between allies and adversaries,” Singleton said.

Such an offer to Xi also would clash with U.S. obligations under a domestic law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and deter an invasion from Beijing, which has vowed to seize the island by force if necessary. While not recognizing Taiwan as a country, the U.S. is the island’s strongest informal backer and primary arms provider. But multiple U.S. leaders have left ambiguous whether they would commit military force to defend the island should China invade.

China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales, most prominently during a previous summit in May between Trump and Xi in Beijing. After that meeting, the United States paused the sale of a record-breaking $14 billion package — and Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

In their private talks at the White House last week, Xi pressed Trump to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media.

In Beijing, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun did not confirm Perdue's remarks when asked about the matter on Monday. But he told reporters that China has always strengthened its national defense capabilities based on its needs and is committed to maintaining world peace and stability.

“Don’t let the Fake News get away with their lies about our epic Public Service Announcements that have been running on tv,” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X on Sunday.

But the Republican administration's ads attracted mounting criticism on Monday, including from members of Trump’s own party.

“It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters.

“It would not have been something that I would have done. And I know that the White House is not covered by the same guidance that we are, but it’s not something that I would have done," said Sen. Mike Rounds, another South Dakota Republican.

Multiple legal experts consulted by The Associated Press said the ads appear to run afoul of federal statutes, including a law against congressionally appropriated funds being used for “publicity or propaganda” and a law that limits the partisan political activities of government employees.

They said the new ads, which are airing on network and cable TV and streaming, differ from other administrations’ PSAs because they aren’t designed to help Americans access any specific program.

“You watch all three ads, they’re sheer propaganda,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics czar under Republican President George W. Bush. “This is increasingly looking like what authoritarian governments do to promote their leaders.”

The heightened scrutiny comes as the Trump administration has increased spending on the ads and bought time on popular TV shows, including college football and National Football League programming. It remains unclear which part of the government is supplying the funds.

With both chambers of Congress led by Republicans, any oversight would likely have to come from Trump's allies, decreasing the likelihood of hearings or other accountability efforts before November's midterm elections.

Three ads have aired in less than a week, totaling well over $1M

The first ad in the campaign, which began airing last Wednesday, features clips of Trump talking about defeating communism interspersed with onscreen text promoting the “largest tax cuts in history,” “reigniting American manufacturing” and a call to “defend law and order and police.”

Later in the week, a second ad began running, showing scenic videos of Mount Rushmore at night with quotes and clips from Trump’s Fourth of July weekend speech there honoring the country’s 250th anniversary.

The latest of the ads, a spot first aired over the weekend, is virtually identical to an ad for Trump’s Republican reelection campaign in 2024. It shows him walking down a hallway as his voice can be heard warning of a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers.”

All three ads end with a message that says: "Paid for by the U.S. Government.” The White House hasn't responded to inquiries about which part of the government is paying.

According to AdImpact, which tracks media spending, the spots have so far cost more than $1.4 million and run across a wide range of TV networks around the country. The actual amount spent could be significantly more, depending on whether networks classified the ad as a political ad.

The ads are different from past PSAs, experts say

In defending the campaign, the White House published a list of PSAs from recent Democratic and Republican administrations.

Among the examples it cited were Bush’s Republican administration touting a Medicare law, Barack Obama's Democratic administration promoting Affordable Care Act subsidies and Joe Biden's Democratic administration running ads promoting COVID-19 vaccinations.

“The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action,” the White House wrote. “Instead, the announcements are a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending — at home, at the border, and abroad.”

Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said in her view the new ads differ from the examples the White House provided because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.

“These ads are nothing more than government propaganda, aimed at helping Trump,” she said.

Painter, who joined the Bush administration after the Medicare PSAs went out, said that ad campaign toed the line on appropriateness because it included misleading information about Medicare Part D. But he said Trump's campaign is a far more egregious violation of the statute that blocks congressionally appropriated money from being spent on publicity or propaganda.

“There's nothing in here about a particular policy that's at all focused," Painter said of Trump's ads. “One of them is just about the evils of the deep state. Another one of them is about communists and Marxists.”

In its support for the ads, the White House also referenced the administrations of President Woodrow Wilson and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, both of whom used posters, radio and film to rally the country during World Wars I and II.

James Kimble, a communication professor at Seton Hall University who studies domestic propaganda, said it's true that Wilson's Democratic administration used propaganda to rally Americans. But he said most Americans no longer view its actions in a positive light.

“By almost any objective measure, looking back, we find what they did pretty repulsive," he said.

Skepticism of the campaign grows on the Hill

Top Democrats on the Senate and House appropriations committees last week wrote to the White House demanding the ads be taken down and requesting more information on how much money was spent to create and air them.

In the days since, more than a dozen Democrats and a handful of Republicans have spoken up to further criticize the ads. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the latest ad “an absolute violation of what a democracy is supposed to look like.”

“Americans sat down to watch football, not to be force-fed Trump’s propaganda on their own dime,” he said in a Senate floor speech Monday.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, said on CBS's “Face the Nation” on Sunday that no public official should spend public money on private ads for themselves.

And Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, had his own harsh words for the administration on Monday.

“Don’t worry, using taxpayer dollars to run ominous campaign ads of the President has been done before and is completely legal… in banana republics,” he wrote in an X post.

The Republican chairs of the Senate and House appropriation committees didn't respond to requests for comment.

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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Steven Sloan contributed to this report.

The shooting happened Sunday morning on Prest Street, where Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said there was an after-hours spot at a home, “allegedly dancing type of activities, imagine a strip club,” the chief said Sunday when addressing the media.

He also mentioned the shooting started after a fight.

On Monday afternoon, a notice of violation was posted on the front of the home.

The form did not specify the violation, but the “other” box was checked, and the notice states the homeowner has 15 days to address the issue and schedule an inspection.

A small memorial has grown in front of the home, where friends and loved ones have been stopping to grieve.

Mandy, a friend of one of the men killed, said she had no idea their last hug would be a final goodbye.

“I hugged him. I didn’t know that was gonna, I said, ‘I’ll see you later.’ I didn’t know that was gonna be my last time seeing him,” Mandy said.

She placed balloons and flowers on the porch of the home.

Another man, who identified himself as Karondi, said he knew all three of the men who died.

“People are hurt because these guys are deceased,” he said. “These are good guys; a lot of people came to see.”

He said he had been coming to the house for parties for about 20 years. Mandy said the same thing.

Local 4 spoke with neighbors off camera about the shooting on Prest Street.

Three of them mentioned the parties had been going on at the home where the shooting happened, for what they believed to have been 20 years.

They said they’ve complained before and said there would be loud noises and cars lined up and down their street from Friday night to Sunday morning.

The three also said there would be problems at the home.

However, Karondi disputed the claim that things would get out of hand.

“We’ve always known it’s a party. Come to a party, have a good time. And all this time there’s never been no violence,” he said.

According to police, officers have received seven calls this year for the home.

Teferi Brent, with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety, said they are going to do a drill-down, or review, the nature of the calls police received for the home where the shooting happened.

If they determine there was a history of violent behavior, they will look at bringing additional resources and neighborhood programming to the area, including a block club or helping to reestablish one.

“Some of the work that he’ll be doing is getting with the block club leaders, neighborhood associations and training them on how to set up listening circles, conflict resolution and mediation with violent conflicts,” Brent said.

Brent said residents who believe there is a problem property on their street can report it to the city’s office of neighborhood and community safety online.

Local 4 also reached out to the Detroit Police Department asking for the reason for the seven calls for service to the home and if residents had reached out to them about the after-hours spot, at least 20 years ago. We have not heard back yet.

The QVF helps election officials confirm who is eligible to vote, where voters live and which voting district they belong to. It includes more than 8.3 million registered voters, according to state officials.

“It is updated 24/7 across the state by all of our local election clerks. We are always making steps to make sure that someone passes away, that we remove them from the rolls. We take steps to ensure that only eligible citizens are on the rolls,” said Aghogho Edevbie, Michigan’s deputy secretary of state.

Each year, Michigan removes about 100,000 people who have died from the voter rolls.

The state checks records from sources including the Social Security Administration and Michigan’s vital records system.

Voter registrations may also be canceled when a voter moves away from their voting jurisdiction, when duplicate registrations are identified or when a voter requests that their registration be canceled.

An empty parking lot. A locked privacy fence. An empty field.

The church that once stood at 4285 McCandlish Road is gone.

But on Monday, exactly one year after the attack, the congregation will break ground on a new church on the same property.

For Dr. Bridger Frampton, returning to the site carries a weight that is difficult to describe.

“There’s a reverence… this is where we worship, this is where we feel God’s love… and I think reverence is deeper,” Frampton said.

A Sunday morning turns to terror

It was about 10:25 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, when a 40-year-old Burton man drove his pickup truck into the church as hundreds of people gathered for worship.

Authorities said the Burton man got out of the truck and opened fire on worshippers before setting the building on fire.

Four members of the church were killed, and eight other people were injured. The gunman was shot and killed by responding law enforcement officers minutes after the attack began.

The FBI later said the attack was a targeted act of violence believed to have been motivated by the gunman’s anti-religious beliefs against the Latter-day Saint community.

Frampton, an emergency medicine doctor at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, was inside the church with four of his five children. His wife, Lindsey, was outside in the parking lot with their baby, getting snacks for the kids.

When Frampton heard the crash, his instincts as a doctor took over. He ran toward the sound, initially believing someone might be having a medical emergency.

Then he saw the gunman.

“I can see him. His back is to us and he’s loading his gun… and then it hits… and I remember the gunshots starting and the thought that went through my mind is which one of my friends is getting hit.”

In that instant, Frampton was no longer simply an emergency physician trying to help.

He was a father trying to find his children. Four of them were missing. For the next 31 minutes, Frampton searched.

Along the way, he rescued a man with a gunshot wound, helped pull more than a dozen people through broken windows and repeatedly went back into the smoke-filled church.

Even after the gunman was killed by police, Frampton’s search continued. Two of his children were still missing.

As the minutes passed, Frampton and his wife fell to their knees and prayed.

“We need to say a prayer… ‘Heavenly Father, help us find Lillian and Wesley.’ … Right after that, I had the impression to call a guy I’d never called before… and all of a sudden we hear, ‘Mom, they’re right here.’”

All five of their children were safe.

The doctor becomes the patient

Frampton survived the attack, but breathing smoke and ash while repeatedly entering the burning building had taken a toll.

He was hospitalized and spent four days intubated. His own colleagues at Henry Ford helped save his life.

Eventually, Frampton was reunited with his wife and children.

Four members of his church did not survive: Craig Hayden, John Bond, Thelma Armstrong and William “Pat” Howard.

Hayden was a former Latter-day Saint bishop, father and grandfather. Bond, 77, was a U.S. Navy veteran and grandfather. Armstrong, 54, was a mother who attended the service with her daughter. Howard, 77, was a Vietnam War veteran, husband, father of five and grandfather of 13.

Eight others were injured in the attack, according to the FBI.

Nearly a year later, Frampton has returned to the property where those lives were lost — and where his family experienced another moment that has stayed with him.

Finding faith in the ashes

It took some time after the attack before Frampton brought his daughter Lillian back to the church property.

As father and daughter walked the grounds, Lillian began finding pages among the ashes that had survived the fire — pieces of hymns and scripture.

Then she picked up one particular page.

“She pulls this page up and it says — and she points right to it — and it said, ‘Let no mortal man change the Master’s plan.’ … Dude, I had tears and she like was just like totally got it… you couldn’t have orchestrated it on your own.”

For Frampton, the moment became part of his daughter’s healing.

“I could not have orchestrated that any better… and she after that was able to sleep better.”

Today, even the ashes are gone.

What remains is an empty property carrying the memories of what happened there — and anticipation for what comes next.

“This is not a place to fear, this is a place to revere and to reverence… I’m excited to be back here. I’m excited for the groundbreaking,” Frampton said.

Church prepares to rebuild

On Monday, Sept. 28, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will officially break ground on a new Grand Blanc Stake Center at 4285 McCandlish Road, exactly one year after the attack.

The new building will be larger than the previous stake center, which was dedicated in 1981 and served the Grand Blanc Ward and the wider Grand Blanc Michigan Stake until it was destroyed.

Construction is expected to take about 14 months.

Once construction is complete, church leaders plan to hold a community open house and celebration, welcoming first responders, neighbors, community leaders and the public.

Giving back to Grand Blanc

The rebuilding comes as church members also look for ways to thank the community that supported them after the attack.

On Sept. 24, the church delivered a semitruck of food and household goods to FISH of Grand Blanc.

It was the church’s second such delivery since the attack, following an initial donation last November. Each delivery contained about 40,000 pounds of food and household goods for the community.

Church leaders described the latest donation as a thank-you to the community for the support members have received over the past year.

For Frampton, rebuilding on the same property represents something more than replacing a building.

“There was one individual with a ton of hate. There were hundreds of people with so much love. And that, I think, is the message… there was some darkness, there’s a lot more light.”

Where there was fire, a new church will rise.

And on the ground where his daughter once found faith among the ashes, a congregation is preparing to build again.

Reeve's record fifth WNBA Coach of the Year trophy, she said, would not have materialized without Miles and her performance at point guard this season that made her an unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year.

“What I was reminded of with Liv is the importance of letting greatness be great,” Reeve said, “and not getting in the way.”

Miles received all 74 votes for the award from a national panel of sports writers and broadcasters covering the league, after she set the WNBA rookie scoring record. The second pick in the draft out of TCU played in 40 of 44 games and averaged 19.8 points, 6.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals while shooting 49.2% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range and 87% from the free-throw line.

Reeve, who is in her 17th season as head coach of the Lynx and fourth as president of basketball operations, was sold on Miles and her curiosity and humility during the pre-draft interview process and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly she became comfortable on the court. The coach and the player realized they see the game through a similar lens, thanks to Reeve's degree from La Salle in computer science and the mindset Miles shares with her father, Yakubu, a software engineer.

“It was important for me to have someone who was humble,” said Reeve, who guided the Lynx to WNBA titles in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. “I think a lot of players come in feeling like they know and they don’t need to be told or have others around them to guide them.”

Miles became the sixth winner of the award in Lynx history, following Betty Lennox (2000), Seimone Augustus (2006), Maya Moore (2011), Napheesa Collier (2019) and Crystal Dangerfield (2020).

Just like Reeve became a better coach with her on the floor, Miles found the ideal place to land in the league with a core of welcoming veterans on and off the court in Collier, Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams and an accomplished coach in Reeve with such high standards.

“I truly think that her method to her madness, what she refers to it as, will lead to success if we trust in it,” Miles said. “I knew it was going to be hard. I didn’t know it was going to be this hard. I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity I’d have right away, so I kind of just took that and ran with it. She’s given me a lot of grace as well.”

Reeve, who received 40 of 74 votes from media panel, previously won the award in 2011, 2016, 2020 and 2024. She became the WNBA’s all-time leader in regular-season coaching wins this year. Golden State’s Natalie Nakase, who won the award last year, finished second with 20 votes. Washington’s Sydney Johnson was third with 14 votes.

Miles, a native of New Jersey who started her college career at Notre Dame, led all rookies in points, points per game, field goals made, defensive rebounds, assists, assists per game and efficiency rating.

The WNBA announced the awards on Monday, before the Lynx traveled to New York for an elimination game in their best-of-three first-round playoff series on Tuesday. The top-seeded Lynx lost the opener at home 91-75 to the 2024 champion Liberty on Sunday, when Miles had just 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting with four turnovers and four fouls in her postseason debut.

Even for one of the most precocious rookies to join the league lately, the playoffs are another level of competition.

“I think she’s feeling it right now, but it’s what we expected and it’s not easy,” Reeve said. “She’s a smart player, and she’ll figure it out.”

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

“Just get the money back. Like, seriously, this could be so simple,” Samantha Boyer, who booked with Sip of Eden, said.

“I was in tears because I was so overwhelmed and I was like what are we going to do,” Madison Mund, who says Sip of Eden canceled on the day of her wedding, said.

“Just jaw dropping, appalling,” Mariah Meier, who also booked with Sip of Eden, said.

Boyer, Mund and Meier are just three of the brides from across several states who say Sip of Eden either canceled on their wedding day or is not refunding the money they paid for the company to work at their upcoming weddings.

“When I see more people get added into the group chat, I am continuously shocked,” Mund said.

Sip of Eden is owned by Eden Regula. The Metro Detroit business advertises mobile bartending services for wedding receptions across multiple states.

“She was on The Knot, she was on the ‘Michigan Brides’ page,” Boyer said. “She had lots of great reviews, super reputable.”

Mund saw the same reviews, that’s why she booked Eden. Prior to her September wedding, she had paid Eden $750.

Then the big day came.

“I get a text about 9 a.m. of her saying, ‘this is the bartender, I come with unfortunate news,’” Mund said.

Eden was canceling.

With the clock ticking, Mund’s family scrambled to find another bartender and save the celebration.

Mund says Eden told her that her father had died. Other brides who were canceled on tell Local 4 that they were given different explanations — including a car accident and emergency surgery.

“Her dad passed away in 2021,” Boyer said. “The surgeries and things were not true because she was at the weddings on those dates, just not all of them.”

Soon after, Madison found a post on Facebook from another bride describing a similar experience. She commented about her experience.

Then came a message: Eden claimed she was no longer the business owner and that a cease-and-desist had been filed.

Then, just a few days ago, a new post appeared on the Sip of Eden Facebook page — from another business claiming it had purchased Sip of Eden.

Boyer, a bride with a May 2027 wedding, saw that post — and read about another bride’s experience.

“I reached out to get some understanding, some confidence about my own wedding,” Boyer said.

Boyer tells Local 4 that she believes she was blocked by text and on Facebook Messenger.

Meier says she still hasn’t heard anything.

“What is wrong with you? Like what made you wake up one day and say, ‘You know what? I am just never going to show up to any of these weddings and I am just going to keep taking all of their money,’” Meier said.

Local 4 reached out to Eden via email, text, call and Instagram – specifically with the number she’s communicated on with brides before.

Today, Local 4 went to what we believe is her house to ask if she planned to pay everyone back.

She didn’t answer and the number has been disconnected.

Local 4 asked the brides what they’d say to Eden.

“Just uphold your contract. Any vendor, period,” Boyer said.

Local 4 also reached out to Bartenders Elite LLC, who says they’ve acquired Sip of Eden, and received the response below.

“I have acquired the business Sip of Eden and I will honor any contract that these brides have that were paid in full at no charge to to me. Also any that have just paid a deposit I will cover them as well for the remaining balance,” he said.

Thompson is under contract through 2030 at an annual salary cap hit of $7.15 million, a steal for his production and size. Robert Thomas at $8.15 million with St. Louis and Frank Nazar at $6.6 million with Chicago are on similar team-friendly deals.

They are among players who signed long term before this past summer of high spending, when Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet set off a domino effect of big-money deals. Suddenly this group looks grossly underpaid, perhaps with a tinge of regret, but also generally happy with prioritizing security for themselves and their families.

“It’s tough to kind of gauge where the cap’s going to go and honestly where your career’s going go,” Thompson said. “Do I think there’s guys that wish they would have held out a little bit? And am I one of those guys? Yeah, obviously you would have liked to sign a big ticket and get as much money as humanly possible. But at the end of the day, you’re still talking about (a lot of money).”

Thompson’s father, Brent, bounced around during his career on a series of one- and two-year contracts that moved the family around North America. That played into his decision to choose stability over the risk of something shorter.

“When you sign it, too, there’s a big weight off your shoulders,” Thompson said. “There’s so many things that go on inside your head. I think when you sign one of those long-term deals, it just kind of frees you up to just focus on what you can do to just help the team win and not have to worry about that next contract.”

Thomas signed a few weeks before Thompson in 2022 and joked that he wished he could predict the future.

“If anybody could predict the future, then I don’t think there will be guys signing eight-year deals,” Boston captain David Pastrnak quipped. “But it’s timing. It’s a little bit of luck.”

Nazar signed for $46.13 million a little over a year ago, knowing the cap was going up and that he could have waited and made a little more. He, too, set career highs with 15 goals, 26 assists and 41 points.

“Obviously, no matter what, you’re going to think about it,” Nazar said. “If anything, it’s a good thing. Leave some money on the table for other guys, and hopefully we can bring in some guys and do something really special.”

That’s how Montreal’s Cole Caufield views his situation in the middle of his eight-year, $62.8 million contract. Having forwards Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky all making less than $8 million annually through 2030 and No. 1 defenseman Lane Hutson at $8.85 million through ’31 is a big reason the Canadiens could be good for a long, long time.

“Obviously, money’s money, and we get paid a lot of it to do what we do,” Caufield said. “Right now it’s probably the biggest five, six years of our careers, and based on what we’ve built, I think what’s more important is winning.”

Coming off winning the Stanley Cup with Carolina, Jaccob Slavin may be the best value in the league at an average annual cap hit of under $6.4 million through 2032-33. Not an offensive defenseman like Colorado’s Cale Makar, whose $163.2 million contract is the richest in league history, Slavin joked that “defense doesn’t pay” and isn’t worried that he should have held out for a few more bucks.

“I don’t kick myself for signing when I did,” Slavin said. “I wanted to be in Raleigh. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Jack Eichel, who won the Cup with Vegas in 2023 and helped the Golden Knights reach the final before losing to the Hurricanes, is just beginning his eight-year, $108 million contract signed last October. During that process, he and agent Pat Brisson were in touch with the union and saw the rising cap coming, yet Eichel harbors no regrets.

“It’s an incredible deal for me and my family,” Eichel said. “There’s no signer’s remorse. Yeah, I’m a happy guy.”

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See AP’s full NHL coverage here

“We’ve been talking about it ever since, I think, Jaxson got hurt, that we would need to add a quarterback — quarterbacks,” Giants coach John Harbaugh said. “We’ve been turning over every stone. This was an opportunity that kind of came up and able to finish the deal off.”

McCarthy, the 10th pick in the 2024 draft, gets a change of scenery after losing the starting job in Minnesota to Kyler Murray and falling behind Carson Wentz on the depth chart. McCarthy started 10 games last season, completing 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

“Nothing about this changes the way I feel about J.J. or the hopes I have for him," said Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, who had what he called an emotional 1-on-1 meeting with McCarthy about the trade. "I think it’s a good opportunity in New York and, as I told him, I’ll be pulling for him like crazy to see him go and do well and apply a lot of the things that we talked about in his period of time here.”

McCarthy missed what would have been his rookie season after injuring his right knee. He was picked a year ahead of Dart, but each was born in 2003, with McCarthy being just four months older.

Long term, that sets up a fascinating situation for New York, with Dart, Jameis Winston and McCarthy all under contract for next season. For now, McCarthy joins in a reserve role to learn the offense, while Harbaugh reiterated that Winston will start again Sunday against Arizona after beating Tennessee despite not scoring a touchdown and having just 238 yards of offense.

By making this aggressive move, Harbaugh, general manager Joe Schoen and the Giants are doubling down on trying to contend now, even after losing Dart and linebacker Brian Burns to season-ending knee injuries.

“You need another quarterback, in our situation, and you want to go get the very best quarterback you could get, which is what we did,” Harbaugh said. “Very talented player and is going to make us a stronger football team.”

There is familial familiarity with McCarthy, who won the national title at Michigan in his final college season playing for John's younger brother Jim Harbaugh.

“He always had good things to say about J.J.,” John Harbaugh said. “When Jim was there, that was a team I watched closely, so I’ve watched J.J. play a lot.”

It is still possible the Giants bring in another quarterback, though they did not hold tryouts Monday, according to the league's transactions report. Jake Haener backed up Winston during the Titans game and figures to stick around on the practice squad, with either he or McCarthy serving in that role this weekend.

“You never know,” Harbaugh said. “I would say all options are on the table.”

For the Vikings, the trade served as yet another reminder of the quarterback carousel the franchise has continually found itself on. Murray and Wentz are set to be free agents next spring, so the organization will yet again be forced to make multiple decisions and evaluations about who to build around for next season and beyond. Murray became the ninth different starting quarterback since Kirk Cousins took the field at Green Bay on Oct. 29, 2023, and tore his Achilles tendon.

“A lot of the decisions that we make and that we’re forced to make in football we have to make in a moment in time as opposed to hypotheticals in the future," GM Nolan Teasley said. "And so that’s really reflective of this decision, that we think it’s in the best interests of the Minnesota Vikings right now.”

McCarthy was the fifth quarterback taken among the record six selected in the first 12 picks in the 2024 draft, when Caleb Williams went to Chicago, Jayden Daniels to Washington and Drake Maye to New England with the first three spots. Michael Penix was picked eighth by Atlanta, followed by McCarthy at No. 10 and Bo Nix to Denver at No. 12.

McCarthy lost only three games as the starter through high school and college, including a 27-1 record at Michigan on the way to the championship, but he came to the Vikings with minimal experience as a pro-style passer after being in Jim Harbaugh's run-heavy offense. The energy and toughness that helped McCarthy become a winner and a leader at the lower levels worked against him at times last season, with a tendency for recklessness and a pattern of inaccuracy that contributed to his disappointing debut.

“Sometimes things don’t work out how you envisioned or how you planned or how you hoped, and that doesn’t change the intent," O'Connell said. “That doesn’t change the work that got put into it by J.J. himself and what he’s meant within this building since the time we first got him. So, I believe in the collective work that was put in, and I believe in J.J. and the intent and the work that he put in. This is just where we are.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Italy stormed to a dominant 4-1 win at Turkey in the Nations League on Monday with the Azzurri’s best performance for a long time, in Mancini’s second match in charge.

It was a far cry from Friday’s 2-0 loss at home to Belgium when Italy looked to still be struggling, six months on from failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

Italy will no doubt face a much tougher test in its next match, however, when it plays France away on Friday.

France also has a new coach in Zinedine Zidane, and he saw his team — without the injured Kylian Mbappé — snatch a 1-0 win at Belgium.

“These boys deserved the win, especially what so many have been saying over the past three days,” Mancini said. “They didn’t deserve that kind of talk. We are on a long journey. ... Besides the victory itself, the boys did some really good things.”

Dream debut for Kayode

Brentford defender Michael Kayode scored one goal and set up another in an impressive Italy debut for the 22-year-old.

Italy took the lead with less than nine minutes on the clock when Zeki Çelik scuffed an attempted clearance on a corner and the ball fell to Alessandro Bastoni, who swept it into the roof of the net.

It was a sort of redemption for Bastoni, who was sent off in the first half of Italy’s World Cup qualifying playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina — which the Azzurri went on to lose on penalties.

Davide Frattesi doubled Italy’s lead in the 22nd minute, tapping in the rebound after Kayode’s shot had been parried by Turkey goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, following a well-worked team move by Italy.

Kayode got on the scoresheet five minutes later, following a similar move, with Pio Esposito sending him clear to fire into the bottom right corner.

It was the first time in five years that Italy scored three goals in the opening half-hour of a competitive match.

Barış Alper Yılmaz caught Italy napping to pull one back for Turkey right at the start of the second half but Esposito restored the visitors’ three-goal advantage three minutes later, nodding in a rebound after Sandro Tonali’s curled effort had come off the post.

Esposito had been joined in the starting lineup by his older brother Sebastiano, who was making his debut, marking the first time since 1915 that two brothers had started a match for Italy.

Epic Zidane celebration after late Olise stunner

France dominated and hit the woodwork twice but needed a stunning, late goal from substitute Michael Olise to finally break the deadlock.

France was without Mbappé, who has already returned to Real Madrid, after limping off with an injury to his left knee moments after scoring a record-extending 67th goal for his country in Friday’s 1-0 victory against Turkey.

It took something special to break the Belgians down and that happened two minutes from time, when Olise — who had only come on in the 75th minute — received the ball inside his own half and sprinted down the right before cutting in and driving into the bottom left corner.

Zidane celebrated by running down the touchline screaming, before fiercely kicking a ball that was in his path.

“I went along with the play — I wanted to be part of it," Zidane said with a smile. “I saw him go on a dribbling run and thought to myself: ‘He’s going to score!’ I was fully behind him, anyway.”

Zidane had made nine changes to his starting lineup, including handing debuts to Jérémy Jacquet, Andy Diouf and Lucas Da Cunha.

Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens made a number of important saves, while Désiré Doué hit the crossbar in the 12th minute and Da Cunha saw a fierce effort from 25 yards come off the post.

Sweden stays perfect

In League B, Sweden made it two wins out of two with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Poland, while Bosnia-Herzegovina won 4-2 at Romania.

Both games in Group B2 ended in goalless draws. Northern Ireland drew 0-0 against Hungary, while Ukraine’s match at Georgia ended in the same scoreline.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Mirhad Cehic, 57, was working as a vendor at the County Line Trade Center when police say he got into an argument with two customers. His family says the dispute involved a refund.

Witness Dustin Peek said Cehic was a familiar face at the flea market, where he regularly set up his booth on weekends.

“He used to set up every weekend on the corner of the building,” Peek said.

Police: Van struck vendor

Police say the customers’ van struck Cehic during the confrontation.

“I watched a man in a white van take somebody’s life, and then smashed him to the wall,” Peek said.

Cehic was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Family friend Leo Tufek said Cehic’s brother witnessed the incident.

“His brother saw the whole thing unfold,” Tufek said.

Police arrested the two customers involved in the dispute.

Family remembers Cehic as devoted husband

Cehic was a Bosnian immigrant who spent many weekends working at the flea market to help provide for his family.

His wife, Sanela Grcic, said the loss is especially difficult because her father died just two months ago.

“My father died for two months. Now my husband died,” she said.

Grcic described her husband as a kind man and devoted husband.

“He’s 57 years old, sweet old guy. He (was) a good husband,” she said.

Cehic leaves behind his wife, three adult children and two teenagers.

Family wants justice

As family and friends prepare to say goodbye, Tufek said they want the people responsible to be held accountable.

“I hope the people get what they deserve. I hope they get justice,” he said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral expenses and support his family.

The new rules were released shortly after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring.

Also, Trump disputed that he asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping if he wanted to buy weapons from the United States, contradicting an account from the U.S. ambassador to China. The whiplash over the prospect of arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival underlines the Trump administration’s often uncoordinated and contradictory approach to China.

Here's the latest:

FBI chief salutes outgoing deputy Andrew Bailey

FBI Director Kash Patel is praising Andrew Bailey, his outgoing deputy director who is leaving his post at the end of the week.

In a post on X, Patel said Bailey may be leaving the bureau but “his fantastic contribution instituting critical reforms which resulted in our historic success will live on.”

Bailey was named co-deputy director in August 2025 to serve alongside Dan Bongino, who also held the title. Bongino resigned months later but Bailey remained in the job even after the FBI added another co-deputy director, veteran agent Christopher Raia.

Bailey said he was returning to Missouri, where he served as the Republican state attorney general, to be with his family.

Review finds 8 noncitizens have voted in Arizona

An investigation of 60 registered voters in Arizona who were suspected of being noncitizens has concluded that 52 were U.S. citizens.

The remaining eight were noncitizens who were in the United States legally, said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, whose office hasn’t yet decided whether to charge the eight with a crime.

The problem is attributed to a flaw in Arizona’s motor vehicle division system that was discovered in 2024. People who got their first driver’s licenses before proof of citizenship was required in order to vote were later grandfathered as if they had provided such proof when they renewed their licenses.

Mitchell examined the voter registrations after County Recorder Justin Heap informed her of 207 registered voters who were suspected of being noncitizens.

In February, Heap’s office used a controversial federal voter database in a bid to confirm voter eligibility of the registered voters in question.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on the SAVE database before November’s elections. It’s a program that has drawn scrutiny for its tendency to wrongly flag some eligible voters as noncitizens.

Pope Leo says artificial intelligence safety concerns should be taken seriously

Pope Leo XIV said Monday that concerns about artificial intelligence going rogue are not “fake news” and should be taken seriously, insisting that safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on.

Leo, who dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity in its wake, was asked during a press conference about what the United States and China especially should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity. President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax.”

Trump has been a champion of AI, often warning that the United States must remain ahead of China in the technological arms race. He has said efforts to limit the technology were part of a “conspiracy” by his political opponents.

Several AI giants, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to give safety measures time to catch up to the fast-moving technology.

Judge blocks federal effort to use counterterrorism grants to pressure states over election practices

A federal court judge on Monday blocked the authority of President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold some federal counterterrorism funding from states that don’t meet its election administration demands.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., wrote in a 24-page opinion that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t have the authority from Congress to make such demands on the grants, and that the demands it made didn’t meet legal thresholds requiring it to be related to the underlying grant purpose.

The plaintiffs were Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, El Paso and Harris counties in Texas and Columbus, Ohio.

Over the summer, a Federal Emergency Management Agency antiterrorism grant announcement included a list of election-related requirements, saying that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until they comply.

The list of items for states includes verifying the citizenship of all registered voters and election workers.

Places that use electronic voting systems that use bar codes or QR codes to count votes would have to submit plans to switch to hand-marked paper ballots. Every jurisdiction would have to show it audits results.

Trump disagrees with bail for men arrested near US-run air base in UK

Trump said he was “surprised” that the five young British men arrested Sunday on explosives and terror charges near the base in England were allowed to be released.

A U.K.-owned base, RAF Fairford has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year’s war with Iran.

The men were released on bail on Monday, and counterterror detectives said they were investigating “multiple lines of inquiry,” including whether there was a link to Iran.

“I know the answer,” Trump said, when asked if there were a connection to Iran. “I can be very specific, but I’d rather not say it.”

Trump says US ambassador to China ‘probably’ meant US selling to Taiwan — not China

Asked about ’David Perdue’s comment on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday,” Trump said, “I never heard of that one.”

On Sunday, Perdue said that Trump had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping if he wanted to buy weapons from the United States. Such an offer would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and expose U.S. technology to a potential foe.

Perdue’s remark came days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington. Perdue didn’t specify when the offer was made.

On Monday, Trump said he was “going to have to ask” Perdue about the comment, trying to correct the reporter who asked about it — and suggesting that surely Perdue had meant arms sales to Taiwan, not China.

Trump says he’ll stump in Iowa again ahead of midterms

“I’m going to come to Iowa,” Trump said in the Oval Office announcing a new $15 billion steel plant there, after talking with Rep. Ashley Hinson about her Senate campaign there.

“We’re going to do a great rally and we’ll all be there together,” Trump said. “We have to get you all elected.”

Both Trump and Vance have already campaigned with GOP candidates in Iowa, and their continued attention on the state reflects the administration’s understanding that governor and Senate races have become competitive.

Trump has vowed to campaign in 35 of the most competitive battleground races in the final sprint to November’s midterm elections. He plans on Saturday to visit Ohio in support of Sen. Jon Husted, following stops in Oklahoma and Alabama in the preceding days.

“I love Iowa,” Trump said.

Oval Office gathering of Iowa officials for steel plant announcement shows Trump’s midterm focus on the state

In the room as Trump announced a new $15 billion steel plant in Iowa being built with backing from an Indian conglomerate were a veritable phalanx of Republican officials from the state that’s drawn elevated focus from the White House this midterm cycle.

Trump was joined by outgoing Sen. Joni Ernst, who’s not running for reelection. Trump said he’s “really going to miss Ernst,” his longtime ally. Trump said he had seen some “good polls” for the GOP nominee to replace her, Rep. Ashley Hinson, who was also in the room, as was Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both touched down in the state this year to shore up Republican enthusiasm, trying to energize voters ahead of governor and Senate races that have become competitive.

Trump credits his ‘powerful’ steel tariffs for the opening of the steel plant

The president touted the 50% tariffs on steel imports that he imposed last year as the impetus for the steel plant that officials were announcing Monday will be built in Iowa by Mesabi Metallics.

“Our steel industry is roaring back to life. Everyone is building their plants here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “It’s really not that complicated.”

US revokes visas from 27 Latin American officials and their families, including Bolivia’s attorney general

The Trump administration is revoking the visas of 27 Latin American officials, former officials and their families, including Bolivia’s current attorney general, on corruption charges.

The officials and their families come from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – the last three of which Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited earlier this month. The administration says the revocations are part of broader efforts to clamp down on corruption, particularly related to the drug trade and human trafficking, by the so-called “Shield of the Americas” bloc, which President Donald Trump created earlier this year.

The State Department announced the revocations on Monday.

The 27 targeted include Bolivian Attorney General Roger Mariaca and several other Bolivian prosecutors and judges. Two Colombians, a business mogul and a lawmaker, along with two Ecuadorians, and one Peruvian judge are also affected.

US is skeptical of any promises made by Iran and wants nuclear issues addressed

The U.S. is having talks with Iran through mediators that are seen as positive and constructive, but it will not reach a deal with Tehran until nuclear issues are addressed, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment directly to the media.

Trump is willing to grant sanctions relief to Iran, along with the release of some frozen funds, for concrete progress on nuclear issues, and Iran has indicated it is flexible on nuclear issues, but the sides remain far apart on timing and which side makes the first moves, according to the official.

The official said the U.S. is skeptical of promises from Iran after it broke the memorandum of understanding by firing on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, so Washington is looking for signs that Iran is serious this time. It was not immediately clear what those signs might be.

U.S. officials feel their position is getting stronger as Tehran feels the impact of sanctions.

—By Michelle Price

Mediators working to broker US-Iran deal even after Trump rejected latest Tehran proposal

Mediators are still working with Iran and the United States on brokering a deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz — even after Trump publicly rejected Iran’s latest proposal, four officials familiar with the matter, including a senior U.S. official, told The Associated Press.

The indirect talks were expected to resume Monday and come as the conflict that’s caused global economic damage and badly battered Iran enters its eighth month. Multiple efforts to allow safe shipping on one of the world’s most crucial waterways have failed.

The officials divulged that the behind-the-scenes efforts continue even after Trump spurned an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait in a week if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iranian assets and waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

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— Samy Magdy and Matthew Lee

Democratic campaign chair says party has ‘momentum’

The leader of the Democratic effort to retake control of the U.S. House insists the party is well positioned heading into the final stretch of the campaign even as President Trump and his allies begin to unleash a massive amount of cash.

“This isn’t about having the most money,” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told reporters Monday.

She said it was more important that Democrats have enough money to get their message out “and we do.”

Still, she said “we take nothing for granted.”

“Democrats across the battlefield are going to run hard until the very last moment,” she said.

Trump administration lowers fuel economy standards, critics say at a significant environmental cost

The Trump administration on Monday released new fuel economy standards that relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. The new rules were released shortly after Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring.

Fuel economy requirements set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. The change furthers Trump’s promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.

The Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that the finalized standards would correspond to a combined industry fleetwide average of roughly 34.9 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.

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FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey says he’s leaving his position

And he says he’ll be returning to Missouri to be with his family.

Bailey made the announcement in a post on X on Monday morning in which he thanked President Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel for the opportunity to serve. He says the FBI has “delivered historic results.”

Bailey was named in August 2025 to be a co-deputy director, the No. 2 job, at the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. He initially served alongside Dan Bongino and, once Bongino resigned, remained in his position as the FBI named another deputy director, Christopher Raia.

The FBI did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about Bailey’s departure.

Trump to announce $15 billion steel mill planned for Iowa

The White House said Trump on Monday will announce a new steel plant in eastern Iowa that would be one of the largest in the United States.

The president is expected to host steel executives at the White House for the event at 2 p.m. ET.

The mill is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India-based Essar Group. The announcement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The White House is framing it as part of Trump’s push to revitalize American steel. It comes as Trump is trying to energize Republican voters as his party faces challenging midterm elections. Iowa has found itself with competitive races for the Senate and the governor’s mansion this year.

Trump’s former Army secretary pens essay on military innovation, skips reason for exit

Former Army Sec. Dan Driscoll has written a 3,400-word essay in Foreign Affairs magazine that delves deeply into how the U.S. military can better prepare for the modern battlefield, including drone warfare.

But Driscoll’s article sheds no more light on why he resigned as the Army’s civilian leader in early September. Tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were widely reported, but Driscoll praises the leadership of Hegseth and President Trump in his article.

Driscoll argues the U.S. still needs to build nuclear submarines and stealth fighters. But he says the military must get better at rapidly producing cheaper weapons, such as the drones used by Iran and Ukraine. The solution lies in private industry innovation, Driscoll writes, with “software developers in the mud with soldiers.”

US and China release reciprocal $30 billion product lists for tariff cuts after Trump-Xi meeting

The United States and China released Monday reciprocal lists of products worth about $30 billion each that will see tariff cuts, from American hair products to Chinese toys, in a deal expected to boost bilateral trade.

The details came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President Trump in Washington in his first state visit to the U.S. since 2015. The U.S. had already reduced tariffs against China after Trump’s tariffs reached as high as 145% at one point last year, as tensions between the two countries eased.

China’s commerce ministry said in a statement the agreement will help strengthen trade cooperation.

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Iran denies involvement in suspected plot targeting a US-operated air base in England

Iran’s embassy in London on Monday denied any involvement in a suspected plot targeting a U.S. operated air base in England.

The embassy said in a statement that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” surrounding the arrest of five men near the base in western England.

Five British men have been arrested on suspicion of planning a terror attack.

The men were detained early Sunday after three vans were spotted near RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that’s been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East.

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Trump asked China’s president if he wants to buy US arms, ambassador says

Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday.

David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that, if consummated, would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday,” didn’t specify when the offer was made.

Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy, to defend itself from China. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying arms to Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump last week. Perdue pushed back on the suggestion, stating that Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody” and has sold it plenty of weapons.

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The announcement of the company's Open Agent Safety Platform follows a series of revelations from top AI companies about their models escaping and breaking into other organizations.

The disclosures sparked furious debate about the safety of advanced artificial intelligence systems, including self-improving models that some fear could race out of human control.

Nvidia executives said in a media briefing the new, open-source system could have prevented a recent incident involving a swarm of OpenAI agents that autonomously hacked into AI company Hugging Face.

“From what we know, this new security platform could have stopped the breach if it was being used in frontier labs for model evaluation early on," said the company’s vice president of enterprise AI, Justin Boitano, referring to companies at the forefront of AI.

The Hugging Face incident was a high-profile breach that inflamed the safety concerns about AI, which was followed by similar rogue actions involving OpenAI's models including breaching an Australian health department website. Anthropic and Meta have also disclosed that their AI systems hacked into other organizations on their own.

Earlence Fernandes, an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego's computer science and engineering department, called Nvidia's security platform a “step in the right direction.”

“We need more work that seeks to build protections around the model. I’ve been talking about how traditional cybersecurity ideas are necessary to help control and secure AI agents for a while now," he said in an email. “There are however, several challenges that traditional cyber security approaches still cannot currently solve. For example, what is a good security policy to configure the system with? An agent needs access to real resources to be useful, but giving it the minimum amount of access is tricky and non-trivial.”

Fernandes added that to solve the AI security problem, both sides need to cooperate, with companies continuing to invest in alignment efforts and the open source community and academia "creating systems-level solutions to account for when a model does engage in unwanted behavior.”

Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, makes high-end chips that have emerged as the leading building blocks for AI. The company's board has cleared the way for the company to spend $150 billion more in share buybacks, bringing its stock repurchase program to $235 billion, the company said Monday.

Nvidia's security software, called OpenShell, lets developers “formally verify an agent has enough authority to do its job and no more,” Boitano said.

Because it's open source, it can be “extended” to run on rival computing platforms including those from Arm and Intel.

The platform also includes a separate security layer called Sentry that runs onboard chips to continuously monitor AI agent activity and can "intervene instantly" if the agent starts trying to move beyond its target, the company said.

“It can quarantine a suspicious agent in milliseconds,” Boitano said.

“OpenShell governs the agent’s actions, and then Sentry independently monitors and contains suspicious behavior,” he said.

Nvidia said more than 100 organizations are using the platform at its launch, including Microsoft, Perplexity, Accenture and JPMorgan Chase.

The AI safety debate has divided the industry, with the heads of Anthropic and OpenAI championing a coordinated slowdown of AI development to let safety efforts catch up. But others including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang say it should be up to individual companies to make sure their models are safe for release.

Huang, during the annual Salesforce technology conference held earlier this month, characterized AI safety, including the danger of rogue agents, as an engineering problem that software developers can address.

As proof, consider the descriptions offered about their summer vacations.

“It was short,” Wembanyama said.

"The longest, shortest summer ever,” Brunson said.

Short offseasons are the goal for every team in the NBA — because they want to play as long as possible, like the champion Knicks and runner-up Spurs did last season. And the journey toward potential title runs have now started in earnest around the league, with media days being held for most teams on Monday and practices for everybody happening on Tuesday.

“Right now, the best team in the NBA is the New York Knicks,” Miami forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said at Heat media day Monday, tipping his cap to the reigning champions. “And they have one of the best players, Jalen Brunson. ... But we’re going to do our job. We’ve got to do our job, man. If we do our job and we win games, then we’ll see.”

It's not an unheard-of approach, obviously, but it worked wonders for the Knicks last season when they ended a 53-year title drought for the franchise.

“Not being satisfied, I think, is the biggest takeaway moving forward,” Brunson said. “You still want to figure out how you can grow as a person and as a player.”

There is no shortage of teams in the league with confidence that they can contend, especially in this era of parity — with eight different franchises having won titles in the past eight seasons. Among the key moves from recent months: Philadelphia loaded up by adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, Miami added Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson, the Toronto Raptors brought back Kawhi Leonard, LaMelo Ball headed to Minnesota and DeMar DeRozan is set to pair up with Nikola Jokic in Denver.

James — the NBA's all-time leading scorer, entering Year 24 of his career — was asked what he can do for the 76ers.

“Whatever the team needs for me to do,” James said, wearing his new 76ers uniform in public for the first time. “I think the luxury of my game is I can do everything. Literally, I can do everything.”

And while the Eastern Conference is loaded with depth, it's two Western Conference teams — the Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder — that are favorites to win the 2027 championship, according to most sportsbooks.

Here's a good sign for the Thunder and a bad sign for the remainder of the NBA: “I feel like I got better this summer, for sure,” back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said at Oklahoma City media day.

Wembanyama said the Spurs grew from the pain that came with losing to the Knicks.

“I’ve had a few sleepless nights; maybe not sleepless nights, but hard to find sleep sometimes or hard emotions. Haunting, sometimes,” Wembanyama said. "But there’s just a point where you accept that you have to go through it and you have to feel all of it.”

At Golden State's media day, Stephen Curry — a perennial All-Star and the league's all-time 3-point king — said the Warriors' expectations will remain high.

“Championship mentality is always a part of who you are, but we're not putting that type of pressure on ourselves on Day 1," Curry said. “Let’s figure out what good basketball looks like for this team, and we’ll figure that out as we go.”

Indiana, which lost Game 7 of the finals in 2025 to Oklahoma City, now has Tyrese Haliburton back after he missed all of last season with a torn Achilles, and that means the Pacers will also likely be among the many legit contenders in the East.

“I am healthy. I am 100%. There will be no restrictions,” Haliburton said. “That is not news. There is no source. I am the source. I’m good. I’m ready to go for the year.”

Leonard's return to the Raptors — he led Toronto to the 2019 NBA title — came after a year where the end of his tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers was overshadowed by a salary-cap-circumvention scandal that led to massive sanctions against his now-former team such as the forfeiture of five first-round picks, a $30 million fine and a one-year banishment of owner Steve Ballmer.

“I think the best decision is to move forward and focus on my time being a Toronto Raptor," Leonard said. "I already was a distraction for the past 70 days and wasn’t able to meet my teammates, do any of that minicamp stuff with them. Moving forward, I just want to talk about the Toronto Raptors. ... I just want to focus on basketball again.”

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Bailey was named co-deputy director in August 2025 to serve alongside Dan Bongino at a time of high tensions between FBI and Justice Department leadership over the handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The appointment was unusual because the FBI for years has had only one person at a time serve as deputy director and because the position, the No. 2 job at the bureau, is typically held by a career agent.

An ardent backer of President Donald Trump, Bailey was serving as the Republican attorney general of Missouri when he was picked to be deputy director with Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and popular podcaster who also had not previously worked for the FBI. Bailey remained in his position after Bongino announced his departure and as the FBI in January added another deputy director, veteran agent Christopher Raia, to serve under Director Kash Patel.

Bailey announced his resignation from the FBI in a post on X on Monday in which he thanked Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patel for “the opportunity to serve."

“With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri. I am confident Director Patel will continue to reform the FBI, combat violent crime, defend the homeland, ensure strong organizational accountability, and restore public trust in this institution of excellence,” Bailey wrote.

His last day will be Friday, an FBI spokesman said.

Patel in his own post credited him for “dedicated service” and for “instituting critical reforms.”

Bailey maintained a low public profile during his brief tenure as deputy director, though he was present in January when agents executed a search warrant at the main election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of an election fraud investigation.

Trump announced the new plant at an Oval Office event alongside steel executives and Iowa Republicans, including two running for office. The event highlighted Iowa's elevated status for Republicans and for Trump, who on Monday pledged to campaign there in coming weeks.

“We're going to do a great rally. We'll all be there together,” Trump said alongside Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is up for re-election. Also joining him were Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst, who are not seeking new terms in office.

The new steel plant is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India’s Essar Group, an industrial conglomerate. Trump said the project will become the largest steel plant in the United States. It is expected to produce 10 million tons of steel a year after it's fully built out.

The plant was projected to begin production in 2030, supplied by a new $2.5 billion iron ore mine that Mesabi developed along Minnesota's Mesabi iron range. The resulting steel will be produced from start to finish in the United States, the White House said.

Trump said the American steel industry is “roaring back to life,” crediting it to the 50% tariffs on steel imports that he imposed last year.

“Everyone is building their plants here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said. “It’s really not that complicated.”

Trump in June also approved the takeover of iconic American steelmaker U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, a move that had been blocked by Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor, and initially opposed by Trump as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate. After returning to office, Trump later backed a deal that gave the federal government a say in some company decisions.

The Oval Office announcement at times took on the tone of a campaign event. Introducing Hinson, Trump described her as a “young lady who is going to be hopefully elected to the Senate.”

“She's outstanding, one of the top anywhere in the country,” Trump continued. “They talk about her all the time.”

Trump told Ernst she had done a wonderful job in the Senate and said he would miss her: “I can't believe you're leaving,” he said.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance both have touched down in Iowa this year to shore up Republican enthusiasm and energize voters before the Nov. 3 elections.

Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of Iowa's Republican Party, said the announcement was made possible by the state's Republican leadership, including from Reynolds.

“Investments of this magnitude do not come to Iowa by accident,” he said. “They come to states with low taxes, responsible budgets, fewer burdensome regulations, and leaders who understand that the role of the government is to help job creators succeed, not stand in their way.”

Mesabi Metallics is based in Nashwauk, Minnesota. The Essar Group is an industrial conglomerate formed in India in 1969, with ventures in industries from energy and mining to technology and retail, according to its website.

Joe Broking, CEO at Mesabi Metallics, called the announcement a “major moment for U.S. made steel," saying the factory would be supplying a critical product that U.S. national defense, cars and trucks, shipbuilding, household appliances, energy and infrastructure depend on.

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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule had so many problems in 2024 that its two test pilots were stuck at the International Space Station for nearly a year. NASA later reclassified the botched mission as a crew-endangering “Type A mishap,” its most severe ranking.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced Monday that Boeing should be ready to launch a new and improved Starliner to the space station — with cargo but no crew — by December. Astronauts will not strap in until 2028 because of the need for further safety redesigns that will take months, if not years, to complete.

Manager Dana Weigel stressed that everyone must be confident that all of Starliner's problems have been resolved before putting astronauts back on board.

“Bottom line: We’re on the right path," said NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, who will command the next Starliner flight.

Hoburg said Starliner's original test pilots — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, now both retired — are “American heroes and I am deeply humbled to follow in their footsteps.”

NASA always wanted two U.S.-based means of getting astronauts to and from orbit. The space agency shelled out billions of dollars to Boeing as well as SpaceX for ferry service once the space shuttles retired.

Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first private business to send astronauts to orbit in 2020. His company will launch its 14th crew for NASA later this week. After struggling to carry out a pair of empty Starliner test flights, Boeing's Starliner flew astronauts Wilmore and Williams, but they had to hitch a ride back with SpaceX nine months later.

SpaceX intends to phase out its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules in another few years and focus on its newer, larger Starship, which reached orbit for the first time Monday.

That is why NASA is so keen to redeem Boeing’s repeatedly bedeviled ride. The extra Starliner upgrades and new rocket certifications will cost NASA another $359 million, Weigel said. Among the many fixes: new valves and seals.

While the aging space station is due to be abandoned and deorbited by 2031, several private U.S. companies are working on their own orbital outposts that will need reliable taxi service. SpaceX's Starship is way too big to dock and Musk has moon and Mars travel as the company's overriding goals.

Why not simply bag Starliner and shop elsewhere?

“We always were committed to seeing this through with Boeing," Isaacman said, "and now we're on a very good path.”

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The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and 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.

Read: This was just voted the best cider mill in Metro Detroit

But Michigan’s cider mill tradition is rooted in more than seasonal activities. It starts with the state’s apple industry.

Michigan produces roughly 1 billion pounds of apples each year, making it one of the nation’s top apple-producing states. According to the Michigan Apple Committee, the state has almost twice as many apple trees as people.

So, what makes Michigan such a good place to grow apples?

Cool autumns, fertile soil and the moderating effects of the Great Lakes all play a role. Lake effect can help stabilize temperatures, while the glaciers that carved out the Great Lakes also helped create the mineral-rich soil that supports Michigan’s orchards.

Cider mills are deeply rooted in the state’s agricultural history. Michigan’s oldest operating cider mill is older than the Eiffel Tower. It was established during the presidency of Grover Cleveland. The first one.

As orchards became part of Michigan’s rural economy, farms began pressing apples and selling cider directly to the public.

Today, cider mills remain a major fall attraction. Families visit for the cider and doughnuts, but many also come for pumpkin patches, hayrides, petting zoos and corn mazes.

The tradition combines Michigan agriculture, tourism and a taste of the changing season -- making cider mills a core part of fall in the state.

The United Way of Southeast Michigan administers a water bill assistance program called WRAP, which is available to residents in Southfield and many other Oakland County communities.

The program exists with the help of funding through the Great Lakes Water Authority.

“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of people who are seeking assistance right now,” said Sean Scane, director of Utility Services for United Way.

The program offers financial relief for households that have fallen behind on their water bills. Approved applicants can receive up to $1,200 in arrears payments.

“We hear this every day from the people who are calling for assistance,” Scane said. “But we find that people have fallen behind significantly on their bills.”

Demand for assistance surges

In a typical year, the program helps between 800 and 900 households. This year, however, that number has climbed to 1,100 households in Oakland County alone.

Scane says rising costs across the board are putting families in a tough spot.

“I think right now it’s a really difficult time for families here in southeastern Michigan — probably across the United States,” he said. “I think, you know, with prices increasing just across the board — gas prices, utility prices, whatever it is — we’re really seeing families that are, you know, they’re struggling to balance their budget and struggling to figure out how they’re gonna pay their bills.”

Income limits, how to apply

The WRAP program does have income limits. For a family of four, the monthly household income cannot exceed $8,000. For a single-person household, the monthly income limit is $3,900.

Even if it may not seem like you qualify, Scane encourages residents to reach out. Funds are still available despite the higher-than-usual demand.

Residents can apply online through the United Way of Southeast Michigan’s website or call 211 for more information.

Police disclosed Friday that Tasia Fortune, 29, was killed in a drug dispute before her body was placed in a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson.

Fortune was Black, and the discovery of her hanging body stoked fear because the scene recalled actual lynchings in the Southern state, which has a long history of racial violence. Some officials had called for a federal civil rights investigation before a Jackson police detective said the scene was “staged.”

“People justifiably didn’t know if we had a killer on the loose who might hang people for racial reasons,” Judge Jeffery Reynolds said Monday.

He said it was a “heinous” act that shocked the state capital.

Reynolds presided at a hearing for Eric Clark, 45, who turned himself in Friday. The Hinds County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing him, declined to comment. Clark and two other men charged in Fortune’s death are Black.

Later outside the court, Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said Clark approached her at the courthouse last week and hugged her following a hearing for co-defendant Jarques Ratliff.

“He never said he did it, but he said he was there to turn himself in for murder,” Spivey told reporters Monday.

The body was discovered in a tree on Aug. 3. Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said props were left at the scene “as part of the staging” of Fortune's death and that more arrests were likely.

Brackney told reporters that she believes the case has been conflated with that of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Black college student whose July 4 disappearance from an island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast caused speculation that his death could have been racially motivated.

A Mississippi grand jury said it found no evidence of criminal conduct in Wells' death. His family and its legal team have slammed the report and are working to keep the investigation open.

“This has created even more damage in our communities,” Brackney said, referring to the fear that the image of Fortune’s hanging body evoked. “We know we have a very sordid history around lynchings and racial terror across this nation and particularly around the South. That is still a very current narrative. It is still a very raw narrative.”

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AP writer Ed White in Detroit contributed.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and gave back much of its gain from last week, which had brought it to the brink of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 347 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9%.

Stocks felt pressure as the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly topped 5.27% before pulling back to 5.23%, up from 5.17% late Friday. It’s back to where it was in 2007, before the financial crisis and Great Recession sent yields toward zero.

The 30-year Treasury yield rose to 5.55% from 5.49% and is back to where it was in 2004.

Treasury yields have been rising for a range of reasons, from worries about inflation to Washington’s massive debt load to signs that the U.S. economy remains solid despite its many challenges. That pressures the economy because higher yields make borrowing money more expensive for everyone, while also undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

Monday’s rise in yields followed the latest swings for oil prices, which have been yo-yoing on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow tankers to flow freely again through the Strait of Hormuz. That would allow them deliver oil from the Middle East to customers worldwide.

The latest turns came after President Donald Trump said over the weekend he’s rejecting an offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program.

“I’d like to make a deal, too,” Trump said Saturday. “But that deal would not be acceptable.”

The price for Brent crude in the most actively traded part of the oil market briefly climbed above $101 per barrel Monday morning, but it pared its gains as U.S. officials said mediators were still working with Iran and the United States on a deal to end the fighting and open the strait. It settled at $97.83, up 0.4%.

For all its ups and downs, a barrel of Brent remains much more expensive than the roughly $72 it cost before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. That has helped worsen inflation, and the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is up to nearly $4.48 from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA.

On Wall Street, stocks of airlines and other companies with big fuel bills sank because of the rise in oil prices.

American Airlines fell 2.5%, and United Airlines lost 2.2%.

Gold miners were also weak after the price of gold sank 3.5%. Gold has a reputation for helping to protect its investors from high inflation, but its price tends to weaken when rising yields mean bonds are paying investors more in interest. Gold struggles to keep up because it pays its investors nothing.

Newmont, the Denver-based mining giant, slid 4.4%.

One of Wall Street’s bigger losses hit MongoDB, which dropped 18.5% after the database company said its CEO, Chirantan “CJ” Desai, is stepping down immediately to pursue a senior role at Meta Platforms.

Such losses more than offset a 1.7% rise for Nvidia, Wall Street’s most influential stock.

The chip company’s stock climbed after it said its board approved a plan to send up to another $150 billion to its shareholders in a stock buyback plan, bringing the program’s total remaining size to $235 billion.

Nvidia has the power to do so after the frenzy around its chips used for artificial-intelligence technology helped it more than double the amount of cash on its books in the first half of its fiscal year. The company also on Monday unveiled a new security platform that the chipmaker said can stop artificial intelligence agents from going rogue.

AI stocks have broadly come under pressure after leaders of the industry said it needs to slow its development to give safety measures time to catch up.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 59.72 points to 7,683.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 347.11 to 51,481.51, and the Nasdaq composite sank 248.34 to 26,820.38.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes were mixed following weaker performances across much of Asia.

Indexes dropped 2.7% in Seoul and 1.7% in Shanghai for two of the world’s bigger moves.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

The spacecraft reentered over the Pacific and splashed down north of Hawaii three hours after blasting off from Texas. The company had been aiming for a 10-hour flight, spanning six full laps around Earth, to prove its readiness for NASA’s Artemis moon program.

Starship tipped over and erupted in flames upon splashdown, a dramatic end to the mission.

Founder Elon Musk's Starship almost didn't make it to orbit when one of its engines shut down prematurely. But with everything else working well and the bad engine no longer needed, flight controllers decided, after several tense minutes, to proceed as planned.

“Starship is orbital,” Mission Control announced to cheers.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on reaching orbit and “managing every step in a safe, responsible and especially inspirational way.”

Rocket carries 26 of Musk's most advanced Starlink satellites

Musk’s showpiece rocket — the biggest and most powerful ever built — carried 26 of the latest Starlinks to join the 11,000 older models already providing internet service. They popped out of the spacecraft one by one, drawing more cheers from the SpaceX crowd at the Starbase launch site.

The decision to end the flight early came soon afterward. SpaceX said hours later in an online update that the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” because of the early engine trouble.

It was Starship’s 14th full-scale launch from Texas’ southern tip in three years. Earlier test flights ventured no farther than the Indian Ocean halfway around the world, often crashing in flames and briefly skimming space.

This time, the intent was for SpaceX to circle the globe from an altitude of 170 miles (275 kilometers) — not just once but six times over almost 10 hours, ending with a Pacific splashdown near Chile. While Starship achieved the proper orbit, zipping along at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph), flight controllers opted to play it safe and bring it back several hours sooner, after just a couple of laps.

The first-stage booster was never meant to return to the Starbase launch site either, dropping instead into the Gulf of Mexico within minutes of the morning liftoff.

SpaceX wants to ensure that everything works before flying Starship back to Starbase. If the spacecraft breaks apart over land and rains debris onto people, “our popularity would diminish very rapidly,” Musk said at a business summit earlier this month. “That’s why we’re being extremely cautious here.”

Depending on the findings from Monday's orbital debut, the next Starship could return to the launch pad, where giant mechanical arms would grab the hovering spacecraft. If the catch works — Musk gives it even or slightly better odds — then SpaceX will refly the spacecraft by year’s end or early next year.

The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was designed from the start to be fully reusable, a key to lowering launch costs. SpaceX managed to salvage the last Starship from the Indian Ocean in July. Engineers modified the newly launched Starship’s heat shield based on hands-on inspections of the recovered spacecraft, which is being tugged back to Starbase.

SpaceX wants Starship to be certified for orbital flight

SpaceX is pressing hard to certify Starship for orbital flight, a vital step toward moon and Mars travel.

NASA’s Artemis III mission is coming up as soon as next summer, a triple-launch docking exercise in orbit around Earth between an Orion capsule full of astronauts and competing lunar landers. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Moon would blast off first, followed by Orion — which would close in for a linkup — and then Musk’s Starship for a docking with Orion once Blue Moon is unleashed.

The next mission, Artemis IV, is slated for no sooner than 2028 and would have astronauts landing on the moon in either Blue Moon or Starship, whichever is ready first. Subsequent moonshots will alternate between the two billionaires’ landers.

Musk originally developed Starship for Mars, intending to launch scores of them with the red planet’s first settlers. For now, he plans to focus on the moon and use Starship to haul satellites into orbit by the truckload, phasing out the company’s frailer Falcon 9 rocket within several years. A second Starship launch site is nearing completion at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and a third is planned for Louisiana.

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The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and 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.

Congo announced an outbreak on May 15, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine, and has struggled to contain it.

The latest data from Congo's health ministry released Sunday showed that 8,067 cases have been confirmed, with 3,901 deaths as of Sept. 26 across 63 health zones in seven of the country's 26 provinces, with a fatality rate of more than 48%.

“The continuously high crude case fatality ratio, and especially the continuously high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care,” the World Health Organization said in its latest report.

It means that a large percentage of those infected were dying, without taking into account factors like delays in seeking help or hidden cases.

Official of ruling party attacked for defending Ebola measures

An official of Congo's ruling party UDPS, Marie-Célestin Karondwa, was attacked by unknown suspects Sunday for defending the government's measures against Ebola on a radio program and was in critical condition, according to the UDPS.

Karondwa is the acting president of the party’s federal executive in Butembo in North Kivu province, one of the hot spots of the outbreak. He was attacked “by alleged troublemakers from his neighborhood, Vulindi,” the party said. The party called on the government to investigate the attack.

The rapid spread of Ebola has been aided from the onset by widespread skepticism among locals who have dismissed the disease as a hoax, even attacking health workers and health facilities on multiple occasions.

Ebola measures impacting other health services

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday that the outbreak has begun to have an impact on other essential services in the hot spots as resources are mobilized toward fighting Ebola. According to OCHA's report, routine primary healthcare services fell by 13% between April and June in Ituri province alone.

“The indirect impact of the outbreak reflects both reduced health service availability — as a result of staffing and operational pressures — and reduced demand, as fear of infection and isolation discourages care-seeking,” OCHA said.

Last week, WHO said that Congo was running out of health workers to contain the disease. Health workers have complained about delayed or missing payments, triggering several strikes. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 health workers have died since the outbreak was announced.

Some areas have shown signs of improvement, with fewer confirmed cases in the past several weeks, including in Ituri province and Haut-Uele, but officials say the disease is spreading further in other areas, expanding its geographical reach.

According to data from the Africa CDC, the current outbreak has outpaced the two-year West Africa regional outbreak in terms of spread in the same time. By week 19, the regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016 recorded 3,781 cases, while the current outbreak recorded 7,840. WHO said that it's on track to surpass the regional outbreak, which killed 11,000 people.

Containment efforts have also been hamstrung by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements.

"The agreement is good for Greenland, for Denmark, for the United States, for NATO and Europe, and for international peace and security,” Christina Lassen said.

The agreement bolstering the U.S. military presence in Greenland is aimed at strengthening NATO’s security in the Arctic and North Atlantic. It keeps Greenland as part of Denmark and, at least for the moment, eases tensions over President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for the vast island to become part of the United States. The agreement would still apply if Greenland eventually chooses independence.

In brief remarks on the agreement at the end of her speech, Lassen said, “Progress can still be made when we consult the compass.”

Trump expressed his desire to acquire Greenland as long ago as 2019 and, during his current second term, he issued threats to seize the semiautonomous territory from Denmark, a NATO ally. He said the U.S. needed to “take Greenland,” to prevent Russia or China from doing the same, but said he would rather make a deal ” for the mineral-rich territory.

Trump’s designs on Greenland strained relations within NATO, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warning a U.S. takeover would amount to the end of the Atlantic alliance. It also unsettled many of Greenland’s roughly 56,000 people wary of a U.S. takeover and resource grab.

Officials from the U.S., Greenland and Denmark negotiated for months behind the scenes, searching for solutions to address some of Trump’s security concerns about the island and the president gave a thumbs up to the deal..

Just before last Tuesday’s signing, at the U.N., Trump said, “This is tremendous for Europe and for the United States and for everybody. And for Greenland, it’s going to be incredible.” He did not respond to questions about whether a U.S. acquisition of Greenland was off the table.

The United States has had a military presence in Greenland since the end of World War II in 1945, but the numbers decreased from thousands of soldiers on 17 bases and installations to roughly 200 soldiers on the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest today. The base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the United States and NATO.

Addressing world leaders at the General Assembly just before the signing, Trump said the U.S. would “immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations,” including “building two very major military bases.”

“You guys know who I am, right?” James asked.

Sure do. No introduction needed.

LeBron James, the most famous basketball player in the world and the NBA's career scoring leader, was indeed in a No. 23 Philadelphia 76ers jersey. He's happy to play for the Sixers, happy to play with close friend and fellow All-Star Tyrese Maxey and happy to start a record 24th NBA season — with no promises of how long his career is going to last.

James did make one vow: He's not in Philadelphia to lose.

“I didn't leave my family,” James said Monday, “to lose in the second round.”

James, Maxey, Joel Embiid and the other new star Sixers player, Jaylen Brown, were all on hand for media day ahead of the start of training camp and what figures to be the most anticipated season in Philly since Julius Erving's heyday.

James is the undisputed star of the show.

The usual assortment of beat writers and bloggers were dwarfed inside the Sixers' complex in New Jersey by cameras and questions from media entities far beyond the NBA scope. James, naturally, handled himself like a true professional, used to the global spotlight since he was put on a basketball pedestal as a teenager.

“Understand that the noise is going to be the noise,” James said. “What happens outside of this building is going to consistently happen, and it's going to be doubled and triple and quadrupled down on you. It just comes with the territory. I understand it.”

Much as James did for Cleveland when he ended a 52-year championship drought for the city by leading the Cavaliers to the title in 2016, he's in Philadelphia largely to help snap a championship drought for the Sixers that stretches to 1983 — just one year before James was born.

The Sixers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round by the eventual champion New York Knicks.

Enter a summer makeover already boosted by the shocking trade with Boston for Brown and anchored by James’ arrival. The 41-year-old James — new teammate Justin Edwards called him “Unc” — signed a modest $8 million, two-year contract on the veterans’ minimum with the Sixers.

The contract might be the minimum. The outlook is pretty much championship-or-bust for a franchise that has failed to advance out of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs since 2001.

So how will James mesh with Maxey? Pay heed with Embiid? Bond with Brown?

Pretty easily, actually — for now.

“I think the luxury of my game is, I can do everything,” James said. “Literally, I can do everything.”

He can back up the boast. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP and a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

He also is coming off a season with the Lakers in which he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he has averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.

“Him being here is really cool,” Maxey said.

His pull with James had an added benefit — Maxey got him on the team text group chat.

VJ Edgecombe said he organized a thread once Brown was traded, but the idea got complicated once James signed in July.

“LeBron came, and obviously I don’t got LeBron James’ number,” Edgecombe said. “I can’t say, ‘go add 'Bron to the group chat.’ Besides, even if I had his number, why would I randomly add LeBron to a group chat? You get what I’m saying? So I told Tyrese to do it.”

James weighed his career options after flirting with retirement at the end of last season. The pull to stay at his family home in Los Angeles rather than moving to the East Coast was tempting. James noted that one son plays college ball at Arizona, his daughter just started middle school and “my oldest son, my former teammate, is starting his third year in Los Angeles.”

That, of course, would be Bronny James. Don't forget his wife, Savannah, whom James noted “is doing so many unbelievable things right now in her own personal journey.”

After time away with family, and still feeling physically and mentally strong in offseason workouts, James decided he wanted to keep playing.

With key members of Sixers ownership and the front office watching from the side, James declined to get into the issue of how much longer he wants to play. His lone focus, he said, was learning how to play with new teammates — most, like Embiid, haven't won a title — and trying to bring the championship mentality he knows so well from winning titles with the Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers to the Sixers.

“I hope that I can, you know, bring that experience, bring that knowledge, bring the blueprint to the guys that's trying to accomplish some things that they haven't done in their career,” James said. “I've seen everything that this league has to offer on the floor and off the floor, so I hope that every single day with my approach to the game, approach to the work, that it can translate to every single guy."

James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavs before heading to Miami for four seasons — where he won his first two NBA titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, including that title run in 2016, and left in 2018 for the Lakers. He won a title in LA in 2020.

He won't set a timetable on how many years he has left in his career.

“I don't want to speak on the future right now,” James said. “I think that would be doing a disservice to myself on just living in the moment, especially knowing that I am where I am in my career.”

Unbelievably, that's Philadelphia.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

The ruling marks the most significant judicial milestone yet in the decade-long quest for accountability over Giulio Regeni’s death. Rome's chief prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi welcomed the outcome, saying the verdict was achieved despite what he described as a lack of “meaningful cooperation” from Egyptian authorities during the investigation. The defendants were tried in absentia.

“We are satisfied for having brought the case out of the quagmire into which it had risked sinking,” Lo Voi told reporters after the verdict.

Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge, disappeared in Cairo on Jan. 25, 2016, while conducting research on independent trade unions in Egypt. His body was found nine days later on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital bearing signs of extensive torture, according to Italian investigators.

Rome prosecutors had charged the four Egyptians: Tariq Sabir, Hisham Helmi, Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim and Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif with aggravated kidnapping in connection with Regeni’s disappearance. Sharif had also faced charges related to Regeni’s injuries and death.

Helmi, Ibrahim and Sharif were sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for charges related to Regeni’s abduction, but not for his death. Sabir was acquitted.

The case quickly became one of the most contentious issues in relations between Italy and Egypt. Italian prosecutors maintained that members of Egypt’s security services abducted, detained, tortured and killed Regeni, while Egyptian authorities repeatedly denied state involvement and disputed the findings of the Italian investigation.

The investigation was marked by years of disputes over evidence and judicial cooperation. Italian magistrates accused Egyptian authorities of withholding key information requested through international legal channels, an allegation Cairo rejected.

The proceedings faced repeated delays because the defendants remained in Egypt and never appeared before the Italian court.

Italy’s Constitutional Court ultimately cleared the way for the trial to proceed in absentia, allowing hearings to begin in Rome despite longstanding disputes over notification of the accused.

In June, prosecutors sought a life sentence for Sharif, whom they identified as the man who physically carried out the killing, and prison terms of 17 years and six months for Sabir, Helmi and Ibrahim.

For Regeni’s family, the case became a decade-long campaign for accountability. Their calls for “truth and justice” drew broad support across Italy, where yellow banners bearing Regeni’s name became symbols of solidarity and demands for answers over his death.

The ruling marks the most significant judicial milestone yet in a case that has repeatedly tested relations between Italy and Egypt and drawn international attention to human rights concerns in Egypt.

The century-old private Christian girls' camp filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan on Sept. 25 that would auction off the 749 acres (3 square kilometers) it owns and other assets.

The sprawling campus, nestled among rolling wooded hills on the banks of the Guadalupe River, had several single-story cabins that housed some of the youngest campers and a recreation hall near the riverfront. A second campus on elevated ground was not flooded.

The Eastland family has owned the camp for decades and initially sought to reopen this summer. But they faced fierce opposition from victims’ families and some state lawmakers, lawsuits and legislative investigations into what went wrong.

A buyer would likely get a portion of the camp frozen in time. Families of the victims have fought to stop any demolition of damaged cabins and buildings and stop repairs as part of their lawsuits.

The bankruptcy plan said the owners expect a purchaser would be backed by a group of families that support the camp.

“Nothing in the plan requires any buyer to operate the property as a camp,” the filing said, “but the plan states an express preference, in determining the highest or otherwise best bid, for a buyer that will maintain the historic mission of the camp.”

Twenty-five campers and two counselors were killed when the river surged over its banks in the pre-dawn hours of July 4, 2025. Camp owner and director Richard Eastland was also killed. At least 136 people were killed along a several-mile stretch of the river.

Earlier this month, state police investigators sought search warrants for the electronic communications of the camp's owners, saying they could provide evidence of manslaughter, negligent homicide, child abandonment or other crimes.

No charges have been brought.

A probe by state lawmakers determined the camp’s young and inexperienced counselors were not trained for floods and other emergencies. It said an earlier decision to evacuate could have saved every life. Most of the victims were under age 10, and some were attending camp for the first time.

The camp's bankruptcy proposal would have to be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez. Officials with Camp Mystic did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Monday.

All creditors, including the families who have sued Camp Mystic over the deaths, will have a chance to respond to the plan.

“The Eastlands are now attempting to determine the future of the Camp Mystic property, but the victims' families including my clients, will fight to protect their rights and ensure any sale is fair and transparent,” said Tim Ferguson, attorney for the family of 8-year-old Mary Grace Baker, one of the campers who died.

“The Bakers intend to continue fighting for answers, accountability and justice for their daughter,” Ferguson said.

In a message shared by the school’s director, the center reported finding the weapon — which was still in its holster — after the child removed it from their backpack. As soon as staff became aware of the firearm, they immediately intervened and secured the weapon, the message stated.

After contacting police about the incident, school officials discovered that the child’s father is also a police officer.

“Most importantly, no one was hurt or injured,” the statement from the school read. “The supervising teacher remained calm and followed the appropriate safety response.”

The school noted that the family has been disenrolled from the childcare center “as an obligation to maintain the safety and security of all children and staff.”

It’s not yet clear how the child got access to the weapon. Canton police said one of the toddler’s parents has since been arrested.

The incident remains under investigation.

Investigators say the boy was last seen around 10:40 p.m. on Sept. 27 in the area of Albion Avenue and Gietzen Street on the city’s east side.

Detroit police said just before 2 p.m. on Sept. 28 that the child was found safe. The child’s information has been removed from this article.

“We won't play. I'm going to be frank with you,” the New York Yankees pitcher said. “I'm not worried about it. They should be worried about it. There’s a lot of money on us playing baseball. That’s why they pay us a lot.”

Baseball's five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to impose a lockout that would stop trades and free-agent signings, then potentially threaten the start of spring training workouts on Feb. 9 and opening day on March 24.

When management last proposed a cap, it sparked a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994 and '95 that led to the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years. MLB says a cap is needed to alleviate economic disparity, highlighting that no low-revenue team has won the title since the 2015 Kansas City Royals.

“The salary cap and floor proposal levels the playing field, allowing us greater flexibility to address longstanding player priorities while sharing baseball revenue with the players 50/50,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said.

Owners would also gain more financial certainty with a cap, which likely would spark an increase in franchise values.

Players point out teams with low payrolls, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay, had the best regular-season records in their leagues this season.

“Despite MLB claiming they need a salary cap because small-market teams supposedly have no hope, we see Milwaukee with the best record in baseball for the second straight year and Tampa with the best record in the AL," union head Bruce Meyer said. “Milwaukee, of course, is 30th out of 30 in our market-size rankings.”

While this would be MLB's 10th work stoppage, the sport hasn't lost any regular-season games since the 1994-95 strike. Baseball players say they will never accept a cap similar to those that have been in the NFL since 1994, the NBA since 1984-85 and the NHL since 2005-06. Nine of the 10 biggest sports contracts by total value in North America belong to MLB players.

“For me the biggest thing is doing right for the generations forward because the generations before me, for the decades before, they’ve fought for our rights today,” Baltimore first baseman Pete Alonso said. “That’s a sacrifice that not just myself but other men around the league are willing to fight for and put up with.”

Salary cap would cut highest salaries

MLB's proposal would cap team spending next year at $245.3 million, using figures for luxury tax payrolls that include an estimated $23 million for benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool. It also would establish a payroll floor of $171.2 million for 2027 but teams could drop as low as $154.1 million and make up the difference over the following two years. The New York Mets' opening day payroll in 2026 was over $352 million.

Contracts would be limited by service time: $500 million and 12 years for those yet to make major league debuts down to $265 million and six years for free-agent-eligible players. It would outlaw megadeals like outfielder Juan Soto's record $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets.

While MLB proposed to split revenues 50-50, the union says that would lead to a massive decrease in money to players because of the way revenues and expenses are defined and the player portion is calculated. In addition, an escrow provision to set salaries aside in case the players' defined revenue share is above 50% means money in guaranteed contracts could be forfeited.

MLB as part of a cap system would agree to drop service time for free agent eligibility for some players from six years of service to five and to eliminate qualifying offers, but the union maintains that would shift money among players under a cap rather than increase spending.

Cost of lost regular-season games would be enormous

Alonso would lose $165,775 next year for each regular-season day missed and Rodón would forfeit $144,385.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani would give up $374,331 daily and Soto $227,273.

At the other end of the salary scale, players making MLB's proposed $900,000 minimum would lose $4,813 daily. Among the 1,366 players on rosters as of Monday, 549 (40%) started 2026 with less than one year of service time and 893 (65%) had less than three years. Players aren't eligible for salary arbitration until they've completed three seasons, with some exceptions.

Some players are protected financially because of signing bonuses that will continue to be paid during a work stoppage: Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is due $14 million on June 30 as part of his $325 million contract, though he would give up $74,866 daily in salary.

Union leadership changed in February

Tony Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who headed the union since 2013, was forced out in February and replaced by Meyer, his deputy and chief negotiator in 2021-22.

Baltimore pitcher Chris Bassitt, a member of the union's eight-man executive subcommittee, said there had been a transformation this year in communications within the players' association. The subcommittee and the 30 team player representatives form the executive council that makes union decisions.

“Our last CBA from a player’s side was not internally handled great. I think the structure was very archaic, so to speak, like an old-school approach,” he said. “We have made it our mission to kind of get all 30 clubs — 30 reps that genuinely care. And then not just 30 reps that genuinely care, but 30 reps that are making sure all their players are very informed."

There was a split in vote to accept deal in 2022

When players and MLB agreed to a deal on March 10, 2022, that ended the lockout, the executive subcommittee voted 8-0 against accepting it, but the team player representatives favored the agreement by 26-4.

The vast majority of the 1,200 players on 40-man rosters when the lockout starts will not have salary arbitration or free agency rights and will have 2027 salaries under $1 million.

“Their voices matter, what they’re feeling, what they're thinking,” Bassitt said. “When I came in the league it was — I’m going to say it plainly — but it was like: `Rookie shut up and sit in the corner and the veterans are going to take care of this.' I don’t think that's a possible avenue to go down anymore. I think the league’s too young, first and foremost. Second, I think the only way to have veteran guys that are informed and understand the process is to start the education process from day one.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

It was, by Pyongyang's standards, a relatively mild speech that contained no direct threats.

The annual opportunity for the country, whose formal name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, to speak on the world stage fell this year to Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong. Like many nations, he touted the notion of U.N.-focused multilateralism, yet repeatedly insisted that North Korea could — and would, if necessary — go it alone.

“Gone are the days when an individual member state unilaterally imposed its will on the rest of the world and dominated the international political arena,” Kim said. “Instead, multilateralism and multipolarization have emerged as an irresistible aspiration and trend of the times based on justice and equity.”

North Korea is frequently at odds with South Korea, Japan and the United States, which are tightly aligned in matters of security in East Asia. Kim asserted once again that his nation, no matter the external threat, is prepared to defend itself.

“No physical conflict has occurred on and around the Korean Peninsula, a hot spot of the world, and the security index is being maintained at a higher level than any other part of the globe,” he said. “We owe it to the fact that the DPRK has a war deterrent in place powerful enough to break anyone’s will to start a war of aggression against the DPRK and that we are thoroughly containing and managing the hostile forces’ intention to use force.”

A range of remarks across subjects

As is typical for North Korean speeches at the U.N. — and, for that matter, for many nations' speeches — Kim's remarks ranged across the nation's priorities and goals, with special emphasis on its ability to defend itself in a volatile security situation in East Asia. A sampling:

— On Japan: “An A-class war criminal.”

— On the regional balance of power in East Asia: “maintained by the DPRK’s self-defensive capabilities.”

— On the United Nations itself: “The organization still fails to recover from functional paralysis owing to the high-handedness and unilateralism of a handful of countries pursuing only chauvinistic interests.”

— On nuclear weapons: “The DPRK’s nuclear deterrent is the absolute might and irresistible force designed, from A to Z, to safeguard the sovereignty, security and peace against aggression and threat from outside.”

“The DPRK will continue to strictly control and manage every external threat by dint of her supremacy in overwhelming strength,” Kim said.

Intense rhetoric is a hallmark of North Korea

North Korea's rhetoric is often overheated and its criticism of rivals often over the top. Monday was no exception. What seemed noteworthy, though, was how pro forma it felt: There were no threats of anything that might destabilize the region or cause other nations from Japan to South Korea to the United States to brace for any specific moves.

Saying that “a more offensive and aggressive military bloc with a nuclear element” and its activities have provoked North Korea and destabilized the Korean Peninsula, Kim condemned what he framed as the collusion of Tokyo, Seoul and Washington against Pyongyang. He made no mention of North Korea's role in tensions on the peninsula, including sporadic missile launches that send its rivals scrambling.

Two days before the U.N. meeting in which he was speaking began, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, days after it threatened to bolster its nuclear deterrent capabilities.

Kim is a relatively mid-level official in leader Kim Jong Un's third-generation government, and thus spoke as one of the final speakers of the final day of the leaders' meeting, or General Debate.

The Korean Peninsula split in two after North Korea and South Korea fought a bloody war from 1950 to 1953, backed by China and the United States, respectively. Though an armistice was eventually signed, the two countries remain in a technical state of war, and the border between them is guarded by a heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone.

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Ted Anthony, Asia-Pacific news director for The Associated Press from 2014 to 2018, has visited North Korea multiple times.

The Egan Maritime Institute said its exhibits and collections manager would survey the site and send a report to state underwater archaeologists, who then will work with the institute to determine which vessel the wreckage came from.

The splintered timbers, fastened together by rusted iron, emerged near an area where remains believed to be from the Warren Sawyer, a wooden schooner lost in 1884, have been found before.

Officials from Egan, a nonprofit that operates the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, cautioned Monday that the newly exposed wreckage has not been identified with certainty.

The slow-moving nor’easter battered the Northeast coastline over the weekend with heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous surf, flooding low-lying communities from New Jersey to New England and knocking out power to more than 100,000 customers at times Sunday. The storm also raised concerns about coastal erosion as waves crashed into beaches and seawalls.

The Warren Sawyer ran aground on Dec. 22, 1884, while carrying 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons (25.4 metric tonnes) of scrap iron from New Orleans to Boston, according to the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources. Its captain and seven-member crew were ultimately rescued.

The schooner remained intact on the island's Miacomet Beach for two weeks, allowing islanders to save 700 bales of cotton using skids and teams of oxen. Then, on Jan. 6, 1885, another storm tore the ship apart, scattering pieces of its hull, remaining cargo and cordage across more than half a mile (0.80 kilometers) of beach.

More than a century later, remains believed to be from the ship have continued to emerge from the sand.

Jason Graziadei, who has lived on the island for two decades and is editor of the online news site the Nantucket Current, said he went out to the beach Saturday amid heavy winds with his 8-year-old son after he got a tip about possible wreckage on the island's south shore.

He and his son found the wooden beams on a drive-on beach by the town’s wastewater facility that everyone calls the “Sewer Beds." He said they had to park their car and walk down to the beach because erosion from the storm had formed a steep drop-off.

The location made the discovery even more remarkable to him: It was directly beneath a route beachgoers had been driving all summer.

“Given where it was and where it emerged, it means that everyone who was driving onto the beach this summer was just directly over this,” Graziadei said. “I just think it is so funny and so cool.”

Graziadei said his son was excited by the discovery and began asking what had happened to the people aboard the ship and why it had run aground. The two could walk right up to the exposed wreckage.

“It’s amazing to think from, you know, over 100 years old that it’s still there,” Graziadei said.

State archaeologists inspected a roughly 42-foot (12.8-meter) section of hull exposed on Miacomet Beach in late 2022 and concluded it was likely part of the Warren Sawyer. A roughly 15-foot-square (4.6-meter-square) section of the lower stern appeared nearby in February 2023, but shifting sands buried it again before state archaeologists could return to document it.

Nantucket is one of the areas known as the “graveyards of the Atlantic,” with more than 750 wrecks estimated in the surrounding waters.

The institute urged visitors not to disturb the newly exposed wreckage. Massachusetts law prohibits removing, damaging or displacing underwater archaeological resources.

The Santa Clara, California, company said Monday the share buyback increase, which it touted as the largest ever, brings its stock repurchase program to $235 billion.

Nvidia said it expects to “execute” the share buyback plan through its fiscal year that ends in Jan. 30, 2028.

Companies use repurchases, in part, to return cash to investors and support the stock’s price. Earnings per share can increase because there are fewer shares outstanding. Buybacks also signal confidence from leadership about a company’s financial prospects.

“NVIDIA’s growth is being driven by a once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI and accelerated computing,” said Jensen Huang, Nvidia's founder and CEO. “Our cash generation gives us the capacity to invest in the technologies that advance this transformation and return capital to shareholders. This authorization reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead.”

Shares in Nvidia climbed 2.1% in afternoon trading Monday. The stock is up about 24% so far this year.

Nvidia’s high-end chips have emerged as the leading building blocks for AI, and are highly sought after. The company reported quarterly profits of $59.69 billion late last month.

While AI has powered stock market gains and U.S. economic growth in recent years, there’s been growing skepticism about whether AI will justify the trillions of dollars being spent to develop the technology.

The AI industry also faces increasing pushback amid objections to the expansion of data centers and fears that the rapid speed of AI adoption could lead to widespread job losses worldwide.

Debbie Stroup, a licensed Medicare agent with M1 Insurance Group, joined “Live in the D” to explain the significance of the Annual Notice of Change.

“It’s a really important document that you want to take the time to open up,” Stroup said. “It’s going to describe some of the changes of the plan that you’re currently in that are going to happen for next year. So don’t ignore that. Look at it. It could be something as simple as your deductible is going up or your out-of-pocket is going up, but your out-of-pocket could be going up $2,000.”

Stroup also explained that one of the big things to watch out for is whether your current plan is still going to be available in the upcoming year.

The Annual Notice of Change can range from a few pages to around 50 pages.

If you’re meeting with an agent to go over your notice, Stroup recommends bringing information about:

• Your doctors
• Your prescriptions
• Your pharmacy
• Your dentist

For more information about the M1 Insurance Group, you can click here or call them at 248-227-0347.

“It’s consistent with everything we thought it was, a dislocation,” coach Todd Bowles said Monday. “Right now we’re probably talking a minimum of three weeks.”

Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels will start this weekend against the Green Bay Packers. Easton Stick is on the practice squad and likely will be promoted unless the Buccaneers add a veteran quarterback.

Mayfield was injured when his throwing hand hit Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman on a desperation pass on fourth down that was intercepted late in the fourth quarter of a 23-16 loss.

An MRI revealed that Mayfield didn’t suffer ligament damage or a fracture. He avoids surgery and possibly won't be placed on injured reserve, which means he would have to miss at least four games.

Mayfield, who signed a $165 million, three-year contract extension before the season, hadn’t missed a start since joining the Buccaneers in 2023. He has played through various injuries throughout his career, which began in Cleveland after the Browns selected him with the No. 1 pick in 2018.

The Buccaneers (0-3) are off to their worst start since 2014.

Mayfield has struggled behind a woeful offensive line. He has two touchdown passes and two interceptions, has lost three fumbles and has been sacked 13 times.

Daniels played six seasons at Kansas and threw 67 TD passes and 31 interceptions. He beat out veteran Jake Bowning for the backup job in training camp.

“His performance speaks for itself when he’s out there,” Bowles said. "His confidence speaks for itself and they rally around him. It’s going to be like every other rookie. But he played well in the preseason. He’s very bright. He’s not going to be out there by himself. We just expect him to do his job and play at a high level, as he expects of himself.”

Daniels will become the first rookie QB to start for Tampa Bay since Jameis Winston in 2015. Before Mayfield, Tom Brady started every game from 2020-22.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The messages on Resurrection Lutheran Church's sign range from witty to practical to profound. It’s an effort to inspire and attract drivers and passersby that’s uniquely popular in churches across America, the quintessential land of open roads and advertisements.

“This is about people saying, ‘this makes a difference to me,’ and … sensing they’re loved by God,” says Heather Hultgren, who's in charge of Resurrection's daily sign changes.

There’s nothing unusual about posting writings to church doors — that’s how tradition says the Protestant Reformation got started in 16th-century Germany. But for the last few decades, U.S. pastors have gotten creative, aiming to brighten a commuter’s day, spur a reflection while chauffeuring to football practice, and maybe persuade a lapsed Christian or two that it’s not all fire and brimstone inside.

“It’s a way to bring something lighter in the world,” says the Rev. Karna Moskalik of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, in the historic river town of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Moskalik likes “invitational” signs, like the classic — “CH - - CH What’s missing? U R!”

Some humorous messages that get social-media shoutouts across the U.S. originated with “the sign guy,” Our Savior’s pastor in the early 2000s. He published a collection entitled, “If there were no Lutherans, would there still be green Jell-O?”

At Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City, a weather pun during the latest brutal heatwave caught many eyes — “Lord, whatever you’re baking, it’s done.”

Elizabeth Pustinger says people stop to ask about the historic church’s sign as she’s manually changing it weekly, and sometimes later attend services.

“It’s a very powerful ministry,” adds the Rev. Susan Sparks, whose favorite sign is the dark warning to drivers, “Honk if you love Jesus, text if you want to meet him.”

Laughter can help process tragedy or serve as a wedge to probe big questions — that’s why Jewish and Christian scriptures have humorous passages, says Rolf Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“God’s business is turning mourning into gladness, Good Friday into Easter Sunday,” he says.

So chuckle away next time you speed past a church sign. But spare a thought for the sweaty person of God who invented this perennial favorite: “Too hot to keep changing sign. Sin bad. Jesus good. Details inside.”

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

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.

“I feel like we’re 0-4,” Whittingham said Monday. “I can tell you that’s how I feel, but we’re 3-1, one play away from 4-0, one play away from 2-2.”

That narrow margin has made the start of the season an “emotional roller coaster” for Michigan, which suffered its first loss Saturday (Sept. 26) against Iowa on a last-second touchdown to open its Big Ten opener.

Penalties have also plagued the Wolverines, an issue Whittingham repeatedly took responsibility for Monday.

Michigan entered the week ranked 16th among 18 Big Ten teams in penalties, according to Whittingham, and has had penalty totals of roughly 90, 80 and 70-plus in three of its first four games.

The Wolverines had fewer than 50 penalty yards against UTEP last week, which Whittingham said is closer to the standard the team wants.

“We have way too many penalties,” Whittingham said. “We’ve just got to do a better job coaching it, do a better job of heightening the player’s awareness to thoughtless penalties.”

One of those penalties came from defensive back Zeke Berry, whose late hit against Iowa became a significant play in the closing stages of the Wolverines’ first loss.

After watching the replay, Whittingham called the penalty unnecessary but said it was not an egregious play.

“It wasn’t just completely heinous, but something that could have been avoided,” Whittingham said. “Zeke feels bad about it, and we’ll get it corrected.”

Michigan has been particularly concerned about personal fouls.

Whittingham said the Wolverines have committed eight personal fouls through four games.

“That’s too many,” Whittingham said. “And again, coach better, putting it all on us as coaches.”

Whittingham also said Michigan needs to address its formation penalties.

Avery Gach handled the team’s “Rhino” position against Iowa because Manuel Beigel was unavailable and had limited experience there.

Whittingham said Gach played well overall but acknowledged that Michigan needed to prepare him better.

He also declined to blame officials for the penalties.

“I think the officials called a good game,” Whittingham said. “I wouldn’t put anything on the officials in that game.”

The penalties were only one part of Michigan’s frustration against Iowa.

Whittingham identified five areas that he believed could have changed the outcome: penalties, red-zone execution, the turnover margin, a 99-yard kickoff return and the offense’s inability to finish the game with a four-minute drive.

“Any one of those five things were in our favor, we win,” Whittingham said. “But they weren’t, and so you move on.”

Michigan outgained Iowa by a significant margin and held the Hawkeyes to roughly 50 rushing yards, but Iowa won the red-zone battle, and Michigan finished minus-one in turnover margin.

The Wolverines also had a red-zone interception resulting from a communication error.

“We were going in to score,” Whittingham said. “And, you know, there was three or four things that were really disappointing in the game that really tilted the balance of the outcome.”

Whittingham said Michigan’s offense is beginning to find its identity despite the loss.

The Wolverines rushed for roughly 150 yards and produced more than 400 yards of total offense against what Whittingham described as, on paper, the nation’s top defense.

Quarterback Bryce Underwood also drew praise after what Whittingham called his best overall game of the season.

Whittingham said Underwood did a better job working through his progressions, getting the ball out on time and remaining composed in the pocket.

He also praised Underwood’s ability to throw on the move, something Michigan has increasingly incorporated.

“That’s just playing to his strengths as best we can,” Whittingham said.

Still, Michigan’s red-zone offense needs improvement.

Whittingham said the Wolverines are scoring touchdowns on about 58% of their red-zone possessions and have set a benchmark of 70%.

The defense, meanwhile, has largely met expectations, although Whittingham said the unit needs to create more turnovers.

Michigan had several opportunities for interceptions against Iowa but could not secure them, especially on the final drive.

“Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t,” Whittingham said.

The Wolverines also must navigate injury questions along the offensive line.

Whittingham said there was no definitive update Monday on John Henry Daley or Blake Frazier,

but he expects more clarity by Wednesday, when the first Big Ten injury report of the week is released.

“We’re not at a point where we know definitively one way or the other, but it’s starting to come into focus a little bit,” Whittingham said.

Whittingham said Michigan expects Beigel to return if Frazier and Andrew Sprague remain unavailable.

He also said Andrew Babalola is expected to begin practicing next week.

Despite the uneven start, Whittingham said the Wolverines’ goals remain intact with eight conference games still to play.

“By no means” has one loss changed those goals, Whittingham said.

Michigan’s task now is to turn a 3-1 record that feels much closer to 2-2, or even 0-4 in Whittingham’s mind, into a more consistent season.

“We’ve just got to keep together and not fragment,” Whittingham said. “And just continue to battle.”

The unranked Wolverines will head on the road for the first time this season, taking on the Minnesota Golden Gophers at high noon on Saturday.

Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, the chief of the general staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force, on Friday accused Eritrea of mobilizing financial support for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF.

He said that Eritrea and the TPLF would need support from Sudan and Egypt, insinuating external interference, but without explaining further.

The TPLF and Ethiopian federal troops waged war between November 2020 and November 2022, when a peace deal was signed in Pretoria, South Africa. A caretaker administration seen as loyal to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was installed in Mekelle, the Tigray capital. But tensions remained, with the TPLF maneuvering for political control in Mekelle.

Over the weekend, TPLF fighters captured the key strategic town of Erebti in the northern Afar region, a commander told The Associated Press on Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak with the media.

An official with the Tigray Peace Force, a breakaway faction of the Tigray rebels now allied with federal forces in Afar, confirmed that the rebels took control of the town, although he denied that heavy fighting had taken place.

Doctors Without Borders, better known by its French acronym MSF, on Monday said that there had been a surge in the number of wounded receiving treatment in the north.

The number of patients in the Korem and Alamata hospitals rose from around 180 to more than 420 in 48 hours. MSF said that 300 wounded had arrived at northeastern Suhul Hospital last week.

Valerie Browning, the co-founder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, told The Associated Press about 150,000 people had been displaced.

Ethiopian federal authorities accused the TPLF of seeking to build an alliance with neighboring Eritrea to destabilize Ethiopia. Abiy’s push for sovereign access to the Eritrean seaport of Assab has reignited tensions with Eritrea, which shares a border with Tigray. Abiy also angered Somalia by trying to negotiate access to the sea via the territory of Somaliland.

Eritrea accused Ethiopia of shifting blame for the ongoing conflict. Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel wrote on X that Ethiopia’s pursuit of access to the sea had rattled Eritrea and Somalia, while its move to host militia training in support of Sudan's militia had put Ethiopia at odds with its neighbors.

A spokesperson for the Sudanese armed forces, in a statement, rejected Ethiopia's accusations, saying that Ethiopia was offering support to militias fighting the Sudanese military, an apparent reference to the Rapid Support Forces, which have been battling Sudan's army since 2023.

Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian forces against the TPLF in the 2020-2022 Tigray conflict. The civilian death toll was estimated by Ghent University researchers to be 500,000, including from violence, famine and the collapse of health services.

President and CEO of Fieger Law James Harrington is the man helping lead that chapter. He started at the firm as an intern and ultimately became its owner.

During an appearance on “Live in the D,” Harrington talked about how watching Geoffrey Fieger try a case in Livingston County was a defining moment for him.

“I saw Geoff in front of the jury and I saw how he tried it, and it was literally like the sky parted and the light came down. In that moment, I said, that’s what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,” Harrington explained.

Harrington also talked about his pride in the team the firm has built.

“It’s not an individual success. Nothing is done by ourselves... I’m so proud of this incredible team. We have almost 90 employees. We’ve grown quite a bit over the last few years,” Harrington said.

“The number one hiring characteristic that I have is, are you good in the locker room? I don’t care if you’re super talented. What I care about is how do you fit with the team?” he explained.

Harrington said they’ve built the best team he’s ever been on.

If you’d like to learn more about the team at Fieger Law, watch the video above or click here.

Louis Geri declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced him to five years and 10 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Moss said he balanced the danger that Geri poses to the public with the defendant's history of “very serious mental health issues” and his need for adequate treatment.

“This was an extremely serious offense,” the judge said. “It may have been carried out in a bizarre manner, but the threat of violence was a serious one.”

Geri was arrested on Oct. 5, 2025, outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, where police officers were clearing the area before the annual Red Mass. Police said they found in Geri’s possession paperwork that expressed “significant animosity” toward the Roman Catholic Church, Jewish people and the Supreme Court. Some justices usually attend the celebration, but none went to last year’s ceremony.

On steps outside the church, Geri had set up a tent containing more than 100 homemade explosives along with a nine-page “list of written demands,” according to a court filing. Geri told police that he had explosive devices and said “several of your people are gonna die from one of these” if his demands weren’t met, the filing says.

Geri's written demands included requests for money, for an “expatriation flight” to Japan and for the Supreme Court to remove Arizona from the United States.

“The defendant’s intent was clear: If his list of demands was not met, innocent people would die and prominent, historic landmarks, such as the Washington Monument, the Supreme Court, and the White House, would be destroyed,” prosecutors wrote.

Geri's attorney said the Vineland, New Jersey, native, who had traveled to Washington from Arkansas, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder more than two decades ago and had stopped taking his medication in the months leading up to his arrest outside the church.

“His conduct was the product of a treatable medical condition spiraling out of control, not malice or an actual intent to harm,” defense attorney Elizabeth Mullin wrote.

Geri pleaded guilty in March to two felony counts: illegal possession of a destructive device and extortion by wrongful use of force, violence or fear.

Geri and prosecutors agreed that a prison term ranging from five years and 10 months to seven years and three months would be appropriate. Moss wasn't bound by that recommendation, but Geri could have withdrawn his guilty plea if the judge had imposed a longer sentence.

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

The question is: what is the difference between making a return and taking advantage of a return policy?

AJ Williams with the Michigan Chronicle (@missajwilliams), Jason Hall from RiDetroit (@the_jason_of_all_trades), and comedian Dave Mishevitz (@davecomedydave) joined “Live in the D” hosts Kim DeGiulio and Tati Amare to discuss the topic.

Click the video above to watch the entire What’s the Buzz segment and hear what they had to say.

The emergency appeal comes after lower courts blocked officials from immediately carrying out the policy adopted after an executive order from President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the government to continue providing gender-affirming care like hormone therapy.

The Trump administration argues that the policy was properly adopted and the judge overstepped. It halts surgeries, hormones and social accommodations like wigs while allowing mental health therapy to continue.

It was adopted after an executive order required the Bureau of Prisons to revise its medical care policies so that federal funds aren’t spent “for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex."

The government asked the high court to freeze Lamberth's order while the lawsuit continues to play out, saying the Bureau of Prisons had “determined that sex-trait-modification surgeries, hormone interventions in general, and social accommodations could no longer be justified as treatment for gender dysphoria.”

The agency said in 2025 that it was providing hormone therapy to more than 600 inmates.

The bureau doesn’t dispute that gender dysphoria can cause severe side effects, including depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, Lamberth wrote. The Washington-based judge was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan.

An divided appeals court panel left the order in place.

ACLU attorneys for the inmates said the policy is “a direct threat to the well-being of transgender people in federal custody and an open violation of their fundamental rights,” and withholding necessary gender-affirming healthcare constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court has previously upheld state laws banning certain medical treatments for transgender youth, and restricting sports participation by transgender athletes in women's sports.

It has also handed down shorter term decisions allowing the Trump administration to move ahead for now with other policies rolling back protections for transgender people serving in the military and holding a passport consistent with their gender identity.

The stabbing happened at 4 Corner Lakeside Apartments in the area of 8020 Wadi Boulevard at around 9 a.m. on Sept. 28.

According to police, tenants were in the process of moving out when an argument started between friends and family, escalating to a 26-year-old Redford Township man stabbing a 19-year-old White Lake Township man multiple times.

The Redford Township man allegedly ran from the scene before police arrived.

The 19-year-old was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries but is expected to recover.

Police are still searching for the 26-year-old suspect, and the investigation is ongoing.

Now, Larson has won two of the last three after his dominant victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

And he's in the pole position for another championship.

After sweeping each of the first two stages, breaking his own track record by leading 235 laps in the race, and passing Chase Briscoe for the lead with seven remaining and holding it the rest of the way, Larson has a 26-point cushion over Denny Hamlin heading to next weekend's race at Las Vegas, a comfortable margin with only six races remaining in the playoffs.

“I said it kind of in Gateway: I felt like we were close,” Larson said of his drought-ending win outside St. Louis. "I didn't feel like it was 51 races and then, yeah, just it seems like we were just building and ready to kind of capitalize if we got a moment like this, where our car and everything kind of came together.

“So just proud of everybody for working so hard for so long now, and then proud of just the execution that they've put in here.”

Things couldn't have gone much better for Larson

The No. 5 team couldn't have executed a whole lot better on Sunday.

After practice and qualifying was washed out the previous day, Larson began on the outside of the front row, thanks to metrics that combined his second-place finish the previous week at Bristol with ownership points. Larson immediately went to the front when the green flag was dropped and, other than during pit-stop cycles, pretty much spent the day there.

Briscoe did catch him with 30 laps to go, and even got around Larson, but his car began to get so loose that he kept brushing against the wall. That gave Larson the opening he needed to get back around the No. 19 car and drive off to victory.

He wound up with the maximum of 76 points on the day, an almost mythic number in the revamped version of the Chase playoffs, but one that became a reality when Larson took the checkered flag for a record-tying fourth time at Kansas Speedway.

“Nobody wants to go through the struggle,” said Larson's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, "but the struggle can be so constructive, if you let it be, if you lean in the right ways. We have a great company with a lot of great people on the shop floor, that are in teams, engine shop, car shop, leadership — everybody having the check of, ‘OK, we’re not where we need to be, so let’s not play the blame game. Let’s look within, and how do we elevate our process, our setups, just digging into all the things you have to do?’

“The sport goes in cycles,” Daniels continued. “Somebody told me a long time ago, when the sport goes in cycles, when you’re on top, you’ve got to take the best of it, and when you’re not, you’ve got to be patient and be ready when it is your turn.”

Patience and confidence pay off for Larson

That patience — and confidence — has paid off at the perfect time.

Larson heads to Las Vegas having won there three times in the Cup Series, second only to Joey Logano among active drivers, while his Hendrick Motorsports team has reached victory lane nine times, more than any other organization.

“I feel like we’ve shown a decent amount of patience. At the same time, we’ve been patient, just from the emotional level of not letting the struggle keep us down,” Daniels said. “Honestly, my opinion, I still don’t think as a company we’ve peaked yet. I don’t think as a team we’ve peaked yet. There’s still a lot of racing left and a lot of work to do. Am I encouraged about where we sit? Of course, but I would be naive to think that this is just going to carry all the way for the rest of the year.”

Larson likewise understands the playoffs aren't over. He was 49 points behind Hamlin after the opening race at Darlington, but he was able to trim 40 away with his win at St. Louis, took the lead by a point at Bristol and now has a 26-point advantage after Kansas.

That's a 75-point swing in just three races, underscoring just how quickly things can change.

“There's still six races, and I only have a 26-point lead on Denny. That could be swallowed up in a hurry,” Larson said. "Denny could have a max-point day and I could blow an engine, like Noah (Gragson) did in the first stage, and I'm down 70-some points right there.

“I'm just really trying to do the best job I can, and yeah, just show up to the racetrack and kind of block out all that stuff.”

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

“While I was pregnant, I wasn’t really performing...so I wrote a lot of songs in my room and now I’m just really happy to share all of them,” Julia Rose said.

“A lot of these songs are about rebirth, change,” she explained.

Julia Rose is releasing her album “New Skin” on her birthday, December 27th.

She performed her single “My Room” on the show.

To see the full segment, please click the video above.

The storm was located about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) east-northeast of Bermuda and was moving east, according to an advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph (72 kph).

There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Little change in strength is forecast in the coming days.

The storm comes as the Atlantic hurricane season has been unusually quiet this year due to a strong El Niño, which disrupts storm formation over that ocean.

Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average, with Hurricane Polo bearing down on Mexico Monday and Hurricane Nolo edging away from Hawaii.

The Trump administration already has slapped sanctions on 13 of the court’s staff members, among them key prosecutors and nine judges including the court’s Japanese President Tomoko Akane. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has launched what he called a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court.”

“The German government completely supports the court,” Wadephul said in The Hague shortly before his visit, adding that Berlin is seeking to “enable the court to be workable.”

Officials in the court’s host country, the Netherlands, have been warned that sanctions on the entire court are imminent and are looking at ways to help the tribunal keep operating, including paying staff, protecting witnesses and maintaining the detention facility, diplomatic and government officials with knowledge of the briefings told The Associated Press last week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Sanctions could prevent the court from accessing financial and IT services, and even paying its U.S. employees. When the court’s former chief prosecutor was sanctioned in 2025, he lost access to his Microsoft email, his bank accounts were frozen and he was barred from entering the United States.

Earlier on Monday, Wadephul said Berlin is “working together with other states on preserving its ability to function.” The court currently has 125 member states.

One possible measure to mitigate sanctions is the EU “blocking statute,” which could be used to protect European court staff by preventing European companies from complying with the U.S. measures.

It's unclear, however, whether the statute would shield the ICC itself, because it’s an international body, not a European one. EU citizens are entitled to a basic bank account, but that doesn’t provide access to credit cards or U.S. payment facilities.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen called the blocking statute the “nuclear option” in countering possible sanctions, but said the Netherlands has been in talks with the European Commission to ensure that if it is necessary it can be quickly enacted.

“We are ready for that, the commission is ready for that,” he told reporters at a news conference with Wadephul. Berendsen said he also is in talks with the United States in an attempt to head off possible further sanctions.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week, Trump called on ICC member states to quit the court. Days later, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten used the same podium to forcefully defend the court, telling the General Assembly: “I believe there can be only one response. To say: hands off the ICC, and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order.”

The ICC was established in The Hague in 2002 as a court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. It takes on cases when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory.

The U.S. and Israel strongly object to the court’s arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over the war in Gaza. The U.S. also has opposed investigations into its military actions in Afghanistan.

Like Russia, China, India and Israel, the United States is among countries that have never joined the panel, with Washington citing fears of politically motivated prosecutions of its military.

Wadephul said Germany was a principled supporter of the ICC.

“Germany knows from its own history where it leads when state power flouts the law and humanity. So supporting the ICC is not a purely foreign policy question for Germany. It is also part of our historic responsibility,” he said Monday as he set off for The Hague.

The shooting happened in the 29400 block on Sharon Lane at around 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 28.

When Southfield police responded to a report of shots being fired, they found that multiple rounds had been fired into a home through the front door. No one was home at the time, but a dog inside was struck by gunfire and survived.

Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public, and the investigation is ongoing.

MLB said Monday that 61 seconds of this year's increase was attributed to the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, which allows batters, catchers and pitchers to appeal umpire ball/strike decisions to a computer.

MLB’s average fell from 3:04 in 2022 to 2:40 the following year when the pitch clock was instituted and decreased to 2:36 in 2024, its lowest since 1984’s 2:35. It rose to 2:38 last year.

The average game time passed three hours for the first time in 2016. It reached a record 3:10 in 2021 before the introduction of the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device helped bring it down to 3:04 in 2022.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The details came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington in his first state visit to the U.S. since 2015. The U.S. had already reduced tariffs against China after Trump’s tariffs reached as high as 145% at one point last year, as tensions between the two countries eased.

China’s commerce ministry said in a statement the agreement will help strengthen trade cooperation.

Most country-specific tariffs practically eradicated

The lists included 1,619 items of U.S. goods entering China, ranging from agricultural commodities, hair and personal care products to timber and medical equipment. Coal from the U.S. will also be included.

For Chinese goods exported to the U.S., 77 categories were covered, including fireworks, tableware, toys like dolls and puzzles, glass and wooden Christmas ornaments and soccer balls.

Tariff rates on over 90% of the products would be subject to “most-favored-nation” levels, the Chinese commerce ministry said, meaning that country-specific tariffs will effectively be eliminated.

Most-favored-nation rates are the standard tariffs applied under World Trade Organization rules, but they can differ from item to item and are often in the single digits.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a separate statement the product lists focused on “nonsensitive goods on each side that could benefit from more favorable tariff treatment.” The deal could help secure market access for U.S. farmers, manufacturers, businesses and workers, while benefiting American consumers with imports from China including household goods and toys, Greer said.

Both countries said they agreed the list may be adjusted later as needed, but amendments were likely to be no more than on an annual basis.

The Chinese commerce ministry said the two countries agreed to further cooperate in the agricultural sector, forming a group under the Board of Trade established in May to optimize bilateral trade.

Sectors of strategic importance for both countries, such as chips, electric vehicles and batteries, were not covered under the agreement.

A potential boost to US-China bilateral trade

“This is a positive outcome for these affected products compared to a smaller tariff cut, and could lead to a more significant boost to bilateral trade,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank.

The lowered tariffs could be a win for U.S. consumer brands, added Jacob Cooke, CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies based in Beijing, as some of the products covered by China's list of U.S. imports included fast-growing categories like hair care, personal care products and infant formula.

With the U.S. list for Chinese products focused more on consumer goods, it could help lower U.S. inflation while also allowing Chinese firms to export more of their overcapacity, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at French bank Natixis.

Some experts said, however, the economic impact at $30 billion each way may be limited overall.

U.S. exports to China were roughly $68 billion through the first seven months of this year, while Chinese exports to the U.S. were at around $270 billion for the first eight months, said Prashant Bhayani, chief investment officer for Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

A $30 billion deal each way will be “more meaningful” for U.S. exports to China in terms of percentage share, he said.

Even after the deal, the overall average U.S. tariff rate on China is estimated to only drop from around 22% to roughly 20.5% and remain significantly higher than the roughly 11% before Trump’s return to the White House early last year, said Leah Fahy, a senior China economist at Capital Economics in a research report.

Notably, U.S. soybeans were not included in the list of agricultural commodities, she added.

China's trade surplus expected to remain elevated

While the deal did not cover sensitive strategic goods, some analysts believe U.S.-China trade will likely continue to recover for the rest of the year after steep U.S. tariffs on Chinese products last year hit bilateral trade.

The U.S. and China last week also reached a two-month extension of the broader trade truce that was set to expire Nov. 10 to January.

China’s trade surplus, which reached a record $1.2 trillion last year, will likely remain elevated. By August, it stood at about $800 billion, putting this year’s surplus “on pace to exceed the 2025 record,” according to Ecaterina Bigos, a senior market strategist with BNP Paribas Asset Management.

The U.S. is also investigating China among 16 trading partners in its Section 301 probe on excess industrial capacity and could impose additional tariffs on China when the investigation concludes.

However, with more meetings set between Trump and Xi, including at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen in November and at the Group of 20 summit in Florida in December, Song at ING said he would not expect a major flare-up of trade tensions before year-end.

Exporters welcome the tariff deal

Some Chinese exporters welcomed the tariff deal announcements.

“This is positive news,” said Richard Chan of Golden Arts Gifts & Decor, which manufactures Christmas decorations in southern China and supplies to countries including the U.S. “The economy in both the U.S. and China is not really good, and the two sides should help each other more.”

However, because most of this year’s Christmas goods are already being shipped ahead of the peak holiday season, the tariff reductions may have limited effect for them at least for now.

The Wild Card Series begins Tuesday, featuring four best-of-three matchups that include the Boston Red Sox traveling to face their longtime nemesis, the New York Yankees. Also in the American League, the Chicago White Sox are at the Houston Astros, who qualified for the postseason despite an 81-81 record.

Over in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies are at the Atlanta Braves while the Chicago Cubs travel to face the San Diego Padres.

Four teams earned a bye straight to the Division Series, including the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL, along with the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers in the NL. They'll get nearly a week to rest and regroup following the sport's long 162-game regular season.

Here's more of what to know about the wild-card matchups this week:

The Red Sox go to the Bronx. Will Aaron Judge play for the Yankees?

It's the second year in a row the AL East rivals will meet in the Wild Card Series. The Yankees prevailed in last season's matchup, winning 2 games to 1 after a dominant Game 3 performance by young ace Cam Schlittler.

Schlittler has emerged as one of the game's best pitchers this season — he's likely to win the AL Cy Young award — and he'll start Game 1 after a 1.95 ERA in the regular season.

It remains to be seen whether three-time MVP Aaron Judge will be in the lineup against Boston — he's dealing with a right calf strain that knocked him out of the last week of the regular season. That came shortly after he missed more than three months with a broken rib.

The Red Sox had a massive in-season turnaround after they were 32-46 and 15 1/2 games back in the AL East race on June 24. Boston fired manager Alex Cora in April, and his replacement, Chad Tracy, recently had his interim tag removed.

Game 1: Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock

Game 2: Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock

Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN

The White Sox try to continue remarkable turnaround

The White Sox became the first team to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons by reaching the playoffs. Chicago's powerful lineup includes Miguel Vargas, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery, though the latter two have struggled at the plate of late.

The Astros were at one point 11 games under .500, fired their general manager in August and failed to finish with a winning record. Even so, the .500 club was good enough to win the AL West for the fifth time in six years. Houston's roster has some holes, but it also has star slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is the frontrunner to win AL MVP.

Game 1: Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN

Game 2: Wednesday, 5 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN

Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN

The Phillies barely sneaked into the postseason, and now face their NL East rivals

The Braves are regulars in the playoffs and have another strong roster that includes ace lefty Chris Sale and a lineup that features Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuna Jr., Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies.

The veteran Phillies stumbled down the stretch and squeezed into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. With a lineup that includes Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, and one of the best starting rotations in the game, it wouldn't be shocking for them to make a run in October.

Game 1: Tuesday, 2 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock

Game 2: Wednesday, 2 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock

Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN

PCA and the Cubs head to San Diego

The Cubs are led by NL MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong, who finished the season with 45 homers and a .943 OPS. They also have veteran third baseman Alex Bregman, who is back in the lineup despite taking a ball to the face while standing in the on-deck circle last week.

The Padres are back in the postseason for a third straight season, surging down the stretch thanks to big contributions from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill. They've got solid starting pitching and one of the best bullpens in the game, led by closer Mason Miller.

Game 1: Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN

Game 2: Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN

Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN

What is the MLB playoff format?

There are 12 teams that qualify for MLB’s postseason, including six teams from both the AL and NL. The three division winners in each league get seeds No. 1 through No. 3, ranked by win-loss record. Then the three wild-card teams get seeds No. 4 through No. 6, also ranked by win-loss record.

The top two teams with the best record in both the AL and NL automatically advance to the Division Series. The other eight teams play in the Wild Card Series, which is a best-of-three format beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 29. In both the AL and NL, the No. 6 seed will travel to face the No. 3 seed while the No. 5 seed goes to No. 4. The higher seed hosts all three games.

The winners then advance to the best-of-five Division Series, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and a best-of-seven World Series between the winners of the AL and NL.

What is the MLB postseason schedule?

Wild Card Series: Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (NBC/Peacock)

Division Series: Oct. 3-10 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)

Championship Series: Oct. 11-20 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)

World Series: Oct. 23-31 (FOX)

Who are the favorites to win the World Series?

The Dodgers (+210) are the favorites to capture a third straight World Series title while the Brewers (+550), Rays (+800) and Yankees (+800) are viewed as the top contenders.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Iguanas aren't exactly a big problem in Wisconsin. In Miami, well, they're everywhere — including around Antetokounmpo's new pool, which led to a viral moment this past weekend when the new Heat star posted about his family's encounter with the large lizard.

“If the iguanas keep on coming, I'll probably move, maybe get an apartment. No pools, no grass, none of that stuff,” Antetokounmpo said. "When I came here in July somebody told me they were kind of cute. They're not cute. They're not cute. It's scary. But I'll get used to it, hopefully. We'll see.”

The Heat hope that's the worst of Antetokounmpo's acclimation issues.

The two-time MVP who led the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA title in 2021 officially starts the next chapter of his career Tuesday, when the Heat open training camp in Boca Raton, Florida — about 45 minutes north of the team's arena. He was the centerpiece of a massive roster restructuring by Miami this summer, one that saw the Heat add Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Bobby Portis and Tim Hardaway Jr., among others to a core led by Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell.

“This is all new for me," Antetokounmpo said Monday at his first Heat media day. “I’m trying to learn defense. I’m learning offenses. I am trying to fit in the locker room with new faces. I’m trying to be able to play with players that I’ve never played before. It’s all new for me. It’s exciting. I know that I’m going to put in the work. Succeed or fail, I’m going to fail by working, or succeed by working. And the goal is to win a championship. That’s the goal.”

The arena the Heat call home is a construction site these days. Dozens of workers in hard hats, orange reflective vests and steel-toed boots are all over the building, putting the finishing touches on new club spaces and other amenities that will greet fans in a couple weeks.

Seems fitting that the team has gone through a refurbishing of sorts as well.

“I feel like there’s a synergy from a lot of people in the building about this opportunity and the appropriate time," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Some things in this league really are about alignment. And then we’ll see how it all plays out once we get into the competition and the games and all that.”

Antetokounmpo entered the NBA in 2013. His career totals to date: 21,531 points, 8,882 rebounds and 4,484 assists. The point and rebound totals are both fifth best in the NBA over that span, while the assist total is 13th best — and those numbers are just part of the reason why the Heat consider him to still be one of the five best players in the league.

“We brought him here for a reason. He’s here for a reason," Spoelstra said. “We want him to establish himself as in that conversation of being the best player in the league and that can be debated in a lot of different ways. But we’re not bringing him here to take a step back, so we’ll try to maximize his strengths as much as we can and get him as comfortable as possible.”

And if all goes to Miami's plan, iguanas will be Antetokounmpo's biggest problem.

“I really do believe that if not the best, I’m one of the best players in the world," Antetokounmpo said. "I know when I’m at my best, when I'm locked in, when my body is right, I really do believe that I can dominate the game and I can impact the game in both ways, offensively and defensively. I think I’ve shown it over the years.”

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The change furthers Trump’s promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles and ultimately, will expose Americans to more planet-warming pollution from vehicles.

Mileage standards, known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, requirements, have been implemented since the 1970s energy crisis, and set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. Over time, automakers have gradually improved their vehicles’ average efficiency.

The Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that the finalized standards would correspond to a combined industry fleetwide average of roughly 34.9 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks in the 2031 model year. That's up from 30.1 miles per gallon for model year 2024, but down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we have finally ended the illegal mandate that forced automakers to produce more expensive electric vehicles that American families didn’t want,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a statement touting vehicle affordability.

NHTSA had projected last December that the new standards would hover at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon.

The news comes amid ongoing tensions as the war in Iran persists, with Trump refusing a deal with Iran to open the Strait as recently as Saturday, impacting the world's oil supply.

Environmental groups concerned over the rollback

News of the revised standards immediately drew rebukes from environmentalists.

The DOT said Monday that the rule would cut yearly oil consumption in 2050 by about 1.3 billion barrels as compared to yearly oil consumption in 2024.

But when the 2024 standards went into effect, NHTSA estimated they would save 14 billion gallons of gasoline from being burned by 2050. The agency also said that while new fuel-efficient vehicles cost more up front, savings on gasoline over the lifetime of the car or truck would more than make up for that.

Environmental groups estimate now, without stricter standards, cars could produce 22,111 more tons of carbon dioxide per year than under the Biden-era rules in 2035.

The rule also translates to an extra 90 tons a year of deadly soot particles and 4,870 additional tons a year of smog components such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted into the air in coming years, experts say.

Transportation already accounts for much of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet; 28% as of the last estimate in 2022.

It “ignores the feasibility of clean technology and the millions of fuel-efficient cars already on the road,” Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign, said of the rule.

Since taking office, Trump has also pulled back auto tailpipe emissions rules, repealed fines for automakers that do not meet federal mileage standards and terminated consumer credits of up to $7,500 for EV purchases.

The president has repeatedly pledged to end what he falsely calls an EV “mandate,” referring incorrectly to former President Joe Biden’s target that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. No federal policy has mandated auto companies to sell EVs.

According to data from Cox Automotive, EVs accounted for 5.7% of total new-vehicle sales in August, down from 7.4% for all of 2025.

Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, vowed the environmental group would fight the rule.

“Less fuel-efficient cars mean more gas burned, spending more at the pump, and dirtier air in our communities,” Garcia wrote in a statement.

The state of the industry

Automakers and industry groups have said the new rules will increase Americans’ access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford.

“NHTSA made the right call to better align fuel economy standards with the law and current market conditions,” John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the domestic auto industry, said in a statement. He said the previous standards "effectively required a switchover to electric vehicles that was out of step with market realities and customer demand. Today’s final rule is an appropriate course correction."

“What the industry needs is long-term regulatory stability that includes balanced, durable and achievable fuel economy standards that continue to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy,” Bozzella added. “This is the formula for preserving consumer vehicle choice and keeping the U.S. auto industry globally competitive.”

A spokesperson for Ford Motor Company, maker of the top-selling pickup truck, the F-150, said: “We appreciate Secretary Duffy and the Administration’s work to align regulations with market realities. As we evaluate the final rule’s full impact on our business, we’ll continue working with the Administration to build a strong American auto industry.”

A General Motors spokesperson said in a statement the company supports the goals of the rule “and its intention to better align fuel economy standards with market realities.”

Stellantis also welcomed the changes.

“These standards will allow us to offer our customers the freedom to choose from a range of vehicles and powertrains that meet their needs, from brands they love and trust,” a Stellantis spokesperson said in a statement.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social media account Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America” and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car,” while boosting auto production in the U.S.

The DOT reiterated on Monday that the changes will cut the average cost of a new vehicle by $1,300, and save Americans $138 billion over the next five years.

Americans, however, are spending more on gas as Washington’s war with Iran disrupts the global flow of fuel; gasoline prices averaged $4.47 on Monday, according to the AAA motor club, up from $3.13 a year ago. The rising cost of oil weighed on U.S. stocks to start the week.

“Trump is tanking sensible mile per gallon standards at the worst possible time for consumers, who are getting hit with sky-high prices at the pump,” the Center for Biological Diversity's Becker said. “Consumers will pay the price for these reckless rollbacks while Trump’s Big Oil and Big Auto buddies reap the short-term profits.”

Experts have also said that less stringent rules do not necessarily translate to more consumer purchases of new vehicles that may have more safety features.

The average new car in America sold for $50,089 in August, crossing over the $50,000 line for the first time since last December, according to Kelley Blue Book data.

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

Anne D'Innocenzio reported from New York City. Matthew Daly contributed from Washington.

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Read more of AP’s climate coverage.

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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.

He was unimpressed.

“If that is leadership, if that's what we're telling people that our culture and our media portrays as leadership, we're screwed,” Steiner, then the CEO of Waste Management, said during a 2007 speech at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. “If that's leadership, count me out.”

“And for God's sake,” he added to laughter, “if I have to get my hair to look like that, if I have to do that to be a leader, you can definitely count me out.”

Nearly two decades later, Trump has migrated from reality television to the presidency. And onetime detractors — Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, for example — now loyally execute his agenda.

Trump's effort to use the Postal Service as a tool to reshape American elections is testing whether Steiner will follow a similar path.

Independent or a Trump ‘pawn'?

When Trump signed an executive order restricting mail ballots this year, Steiner moved quickly to finalize a rule implementing the measure, arguing he had little choice. But after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the effort, Steiner told The Associated Press that work had stopped on one of the plan's most controversial elements, a government portal for voter rolls.

He refused to endorse the Republican president's order as sound policy, saying he was focused on implementation and letting the courts ultimately decide the matter.

“I don't get to decide what rules that are put on us that I decide to accept or not accept,” he said. “We are an independent agency of the executive branch.”

The episode prompted fierce criticism of Steiner for allowing Trump to deploy an agency designed to be shielded from politics.

Jena Griswold, Colorado's Democratic secretary of state, called him a “Trump lackey.” Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, recently asked Congress to deploy observers to ensure postal workers can scan envelopes holding mail ballots without disruption, saying the Trump administration "has attempted to weaponize federal agencies to interfere in our elections, and the leadership at USPS is going along with it.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., accused Steiner of being a Trump “pawn” during a congressional hearing this summer. Dozens of congressional Democrats have pressed Steiner to reveal his interactions with the White House during the development of the mail ballot rule.

Some Republicans have joined in the criticism. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, incensed by abandoned mail, called for Steiner's resignation and introduced legislation to block him from receiving a bonus.

During a lengthy interview, Steiner seemed surprised at points by his reception in Washington. He insisted he wasn't a “political person” and said he had no intention of stepping down despite the criticism. He dismissed heated congressional appearances as “theater” at odds with more substantive private interactions on Capitol Hill.

Steiner was chagrined, however, at the mention of his 2007 remarks on Trump, delivered well before he launched a political career. Steiner recalled speaking at the university but said he didn't remember his comments, acknowledging a tendency to be “flippant.”

“That's funny,” he said. “I don't recall it.”

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment on Steiner's remarks or his stewardship of the Postal Service.

Steiner didn't follow the traditional path to power in Trump's Washington

The Postal Service dates to Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general, whose portrait and bust are displayed in Steiner's office overlooking the Washington Wharf. The agency has more than 630,000 employees, dwarfing many Cabinet departments.

While the quickest way to top jobs in Trump's Washington is often by writing big checks, the 66-year-old Steiner doesn’t appear to have followed that course. He has largely donated to Republicans but also gave to John Kerry’s Democratic presidential campaign in 2004. Unlike his predecessor as postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, Steiner was not a major GOP donor or Trump backer.

Born in Oakland, California, as one of eight children to a father who spent his career at Chevron, Steiner worked in corporate and securities law before moving to Waste Management in 2000. He became CEO in 2004 and ran the company for 12 years. He was also a longtime director at FedEx, where board chairman Brad Martin recalled him as “outcome oriented” and rarely political.

“He's going to follow the rules. He's going to follow the law,” Martin said. “I don't recall us ever talking politics.”

By the time a headhunter contacted Steiner about the postmaster general job, he was largely removed from daily corporate life and initially demurred.

“I talked to my wife, and we both agreed I was happily retired," he said.

He changed his mind, he said, during a visit to the beaches of Normandy, feeling a sense of civic duty.

Now at the Postal Service, he earns about $346,000 in annual salary along with a relocation bonus that amounts to half his salary, far less than the $17 million in compensation he earned during his final year at Waste Management. His current role is designed to exist one layer removed from the political process, reporting to a board of governors that is selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

He was hired in 2025 by a board that was made up of five members, three of whom were Democrats. All but one were appointed by President Joe Biden. That makeup could change as four Trump nominees — all Republicans — await Senate confirmation. Steiner can be fired only by the board.

Steiner said he first met Trump along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at the board's urging after he was already selected as postmaster general. Since then, he described a minimal relationship with the White House.

“We don't fly on the radar,” he said.

That is, until Trump revived his effort in March to crack down on mail voting. Steiner said he “wasn't in on the development piece” of the order and first saw it about a month before it was signed.

“They gave it to us to say, ‘Have your lawyers look at it, and how do you operationalize it?’” Steiner said.

The portal spurred a massive development effort inside the Postal Service while some states criticized it as federal overreach. A whistleblower report released by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., argued the system was hastily built and riddled with errors, though Steiner said he was confident it could have been unveiled around Sept. 15.

“The heavy lifting was clearly, clearly the IT work,” Steiner said.

Challenges ahead for the Postal Service

Though the Supreme Court dispensed with the rule, the dynamics for the Postal Service don't get easier.

The agency posted a $9 billion net loss last year, and Steiner has warned it could soon run out of cash unless Congress lifts a $15 billion borrowing cap. Political hurdles have prevented potential cost savings from cutting service or closing some post offices.

And while Trump's executive order won't take effect, the Postal Service will still play a critical role in this year's elections. There are mounting concerns that mail ballots could be rejected for late postmarks. Steiner encouraged voters to get their ballots in a week before the election to avoid problems.

The Postal Service is a rare corner of government still viewed favorably with more than half of Americans, 56%, saying it was doing an “excellent” or “good” job in a Gallup poll conducted last year. That could change if the agency is seen as increasingly political.

Steiner, however, said Americans will judge the Postal Service by their experience of it.

“What they care about is when they get that wedding invitation after the wedding or when they send a package and it disappears,” he said. “If we want to have the trust of the American public, let's be the best service provider. Everything else is noise.”

The team will host the New York Sirens on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 12 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) regular season.

PWHL Detroit, whose official team name has not yet been announced, will make its official road debut in the season’s first all-expansion matchup on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. against PWHL Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.

The complete regular-season schedule is expected to be announced on Oct. 2.

Tickets for the home opener are on sale at 11 a.m. on Sept. 28 through Ticketmaster. You can purchase tickets here.

This is a hybrid role ideal for a quick-thinking problem solver who can manage breaking news logistics while supporting digital and social publishing across multiple platforms.

If you’re organized, technically savvy, and passionate about helping deliver news wherever audiences consume it, we’d like to hear from you.

Position overview

The Logistics Coordinator is a key member of the central hub for our daily newsroom operations, ensuring resources are prioritized and assigned to support our content across various platforms effectively. This role involves publishing breaking news and other stories to the website, coordinating field crews, keeping track of their status and locations, and working closely with the news operations and engineering departments to ensure field equipment is operational and adequate for our needs. Problem-solving is at the heart of this role, requiring innovative approaches to logistics management and digital publishing.

Responsibilities

• Prioritize and allocate newsroom resources to support breaking news and daily content across broadcast and digital platforms.
• Coordinate field crews, providing real-time updates on their status and location to optimize coverage and response times.
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• Support digital coverage by writing and editing stories with accuracy, speed, SEO best practices, and AP style.
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• Thinks several steps ahead as breaking news evolves, proactively anticipating which sources to contact, what information is still needed, and which angles to pursue — staying ahead of the story rather than simply reacting to it
• Other duties as assigned.

Key qualifications

• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks and projects in a deadline-driven newsroom.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and sound editorial judgment, particularly during breaking news situations.
• Technically savvy, with a thorough understanding of the technological needs and challenges of field operations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, ensuring clear and effective coordination between departments and teams.
• Skilled at verifying critical information during breaking news, anticipating story developments, and coordinating team coverage.
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• Proven multi-tasking capabilities, adept at handling various operational and digital demands simultaneously.
• Flexibility to work various shifts, including early mornings, evenings, and weekends.

Preferred qualifications

• Prior experience in a role requiring logistic coordination and/or digital, such as an assignment desk, digital producer, and/or multimedia journalist.
• Proficiency with ENPS, INews and Microsoft Office 365 Suite.

Location:

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Leo traveled to the eastern city of Metz, near the border with Luxembourg and Germany, to honor Robert Schuman, a French Catholic statesman regarded as one of the founding fathers of European unity after World War II.

Leo decided to end his four-day visit to France in Metz, at a conference center named for Schuman, to drive home his appeal. The American pope wants Europe to draw from its Christian foundations and traditions to respond to wars and other conflicts, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the challenges of migration.

“Over the past 80 years, Europe has amply demonstrated that it is possible to articulate divergent opinions, claims and interests through encounter rather than conflict,” he said.

“We need to commit ourselves to patient dialogue, to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace,” he said, without naming specific conflicts or positions.

Élysée Palace, the French presidential office, had invited all European Union heads of state and the heads of European institutions to attend the conference. But only a handful, from smaller states such as Monaco, Andorra and Luxembourg, joined President Emmanuel Macron.

Huge crowds and a military escort

Leo’s visit to the once staunchly Catholic and officially secular France has been marked by his appeal for Europe to remember its Christian heritage and apply it to today’s ethical and geopolitical challenges.

It has also been marked by huge crowds at nearly every turn — 800,000 attended Leo’s Mass on Paris’ iconic Place de la Concorde — surprising even organizers and suggesting that the Catholic Church still has a place in an overwhelmingly secular public square.

On Monday morning, Leo's Air France charter received a military escort of two French fighter jets for the flight from Lourdes to Metz in a sign of respect. Macron tweeted a photo of Leo's plane taken by one of the jets while in flight, writing “Welcome to Metz, Most Holy Father.”

Macron joined Leo on stage at the Schuman event, vowing “unfailing” European support for Ukraine and noting that the country is among those aspiring to join the EU and a “space of peace, security, democracy and prosperity.”

“War has come back to our continent and our Europe is rocked by the return of empires,” Macron said. “To guarantee real sovereignty, we must therefore act, act firstly to preserve our security and our values.”

In his final event in France, Leo celebrated Mass in the cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz, a city with a long history of conflict that was part of Nazi Germany during the war.

The cathedral, finished in 1522, is one of the greatest examples of French Gothic style, with its soaring vaults and stained-glass windows, some of which were later designed by Marc Chagall, a 20th-century Jewish artist.

In his homily, Leo said that Metz and its surroundings experienced evil, but now “bear witness to the whole world that reconciliation is only possible when one has the courage to break the chains of resentment.”

The cathedral’s stained-glass windows, designed by a Jew, are “an extraordinary symbol of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue,” where God’s light unites “different histories and cultures into a single marvelous mosaic of peace.”

“As we contemplate these stained-glass windows, we learn that Europe’s future does not lie in uniformity, but in the harmony of differences, where the wounds of the past become openings through which light shines,” he said.

The colored glass has given the cathedral the nickname the “Lanterne du Bon Dieu,” or “The Good Lord’s Lantern.”

As they did in Paris during Saturday's Mass along the Champs-Élysées, priests in Metz set up makeshift confession stands on the streets to accommodate the faithful who packed the squares around the cathedral.

The Vatican estimated that 35,000 people had turned out. Macron changed his schedule at the last minute to attend and sat in the front row.

A statesman who promoted dialogue among rivals

Schuman is best known for the Schuman Declaration of 1950, five years after World War II ended. It proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community to pool production between historic rivals France and Germany.

The idea, as Europe was emerging from the ruins of the war, was guided by the belief that intertwined economic interests would make another conflict between them “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.”

The coal and steel organization was the first among European institutions that were precursors to what eventually became the European Union.

Schuman, a resistance fighter imprisoned by the Nazis, was declared “venerable” in 2021, a step in the Catholic Church's process toward possible sainthood.

Leo praised especially Schuman's respect for international law in pursuing his idea of peaceful integration. It was an indirect reference to how Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as U.S. military incursions in Venezuela and the Iran war, have taken place outside the international legal order.

Leo said international law and multilateralism “constitute the best antidote to the desire for domination, which lies at the root of every conflict.”

He lamented that in its place, relations today between states are becoming “increasingly uncivilized.”

“The value of keeping one’s word is dismissed; instead, people boast of lies and deceit,” he said.

Asked if Leo had crossed a line and entered into the European political debate, the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said that the pope was just preaching Catholic morals.

“He spoke about morality, ethics and the principles of the Church’s moral teaching. If anyone wants to draw political conclusions, they are free to do so,” Gallagher said.

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John Leicester contributed to this report from Paris.

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

First, a special teams blunder. Second, a defensive lapse.

After Brandon Aubrey kicked a 23-yard field goal to tie the score at 31 with seven seconds remaining, the Cowboys chose to kick the ball out of the end zone for the first time in the game. The touchback didn’t run any time off the clock. Lamar Jackson then completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers that set up Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal that gave Baltimore a 34-31 victory in Brazil on Sunday.

If Aubrey kicked the ball in the landing zone, at least a few seconds would’ve run off the clock. But Dallas didn’t want to risk a return for a touchdown and opted for the touchback that gave the Ravens the ball at their 35.

“We felt like, let’s boom it through, put them out there, make them throw the ball short and we’ll be fine,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “Play for overtime. That’s what the plan was.”

It backfired because the defense got beat.

Rookie defensive coordinator Christian Parker inexplicably chose to play man-to-man coverage instead of a deep zone. Flowers won his one-on-one and Jackson fired a perfect strike down the middle for the completion with one second remaining.

Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, an analyst on NBC, criticized the decision to play man coverage during halftime of the Rams-Broncos game.

“I’m really surprised they’re playing man-to-man in this sequence,” Tomlin said. “Most people in these circumstances are going to play what we describe as an umbrella zone.”

The two mistakes at the end ruined an impressive comeback by Dak Prescott and the offense. The Cowboys trailed 24-13 in the third quarter before Prescott led a pair of touchdown drives. But the offense also failed in a clutch spot.

After Jackson and the Ravens took the lead, Dallas had a chance to reclaim it. The Cowboys had a first down at Baltimore’s 2 with 23 seconds to go but failed to score a touchdown. And, they only used up 16 seconds, leaving time on the clock for Baltimore.

Prescott threw an incompletion on first down. He scrambled five yards back to the 2 after a false start penalty on second down. Another incomplete pass forced the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.

Schottenheimer called timeout with 14 seconds left after Prescott's run on second down instead of letting the clock run down a few more seconds.

The Ravens took advantage.

It was one of 12 games that were decided by one score, tying a record for the most such games in a week.

Here are other takeaways from Week 3:

Bo-lieve in Bo Nix

Bo Nix saved Davis Webb’s playcalling duties in the second half, leading the Broncos to a 30-26 comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Nix, with help from defensive penalties on the Rams, engineered the go-ahead drive in the final minutes, scoring on a one-yard leap with 48 seconds remaining.

Webb, who is Denver’s offensive coordinator, is in his first season calling plays instead of coach Sean Payton. He may have lost those responsibilities if the Broncos didn’t get the offense going after getting shut out in the first half.

Raider Nation rejoices

Klint Kubiak and Kirk Cousins have led the Raiders to three straight wins to open the season after Las Vegas won just three games in 2025.

Cousins led a 35-27 comeback win in New Orleans and now has nine touchdown passes in three games. The Raiders don’t have any reason to rush rookie No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza into the starting lineup with Cousins racking up the wins.

Maye’s regression is concerning

It’s hard to believe Drake Maye finished runner-up to Matthew Stafford for the NFL MVP award last season.

Maye’s regression has been dramatic. He now has just one touchdown pass and six interceptions in three games for the Patriots (1-2). He threw 31 TD passes and eight picks last season.

Maye’s troubles began in the playoffs, even though New England reached the Super Bowl. He had eight turnovers (four picks, four fumbles) and was sacked 21 times in four games.

That’s carried over into the first three games, a concerning trend for the Patriots.

Super Bowl champs derailed

Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota led the Commanders to a stunning 33-31 victory over the Seahawks, snapping Seattle’s franchise-record 12-game winning streak.

Filling in for Jayden Daniels, Mariota tossed three TD passes and didn’t commit any turnovers against the “Dark Side” defense.

Winless Texans are in trouble

Another poor performance by Houston’s offense in a 19-17 loss to the Colts has the Texans off to an 0-3 start for the second straight season. There’s little reason to believe they could go 12-2 the rest of the way again.

C.J. Stroud was inconsistent and the offense managed just 223 yards against a defense that came in giving up the most in the NFL.

Houston hosts Dallas (1-2) in the battle of Texas next week. The Cowboys will be coming off a long trip to Brazil so that should benefit the Texans.

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