The video revealed more details of a chaotic scene in Twin Falls last weekend. The gunman walked up to the drive-thru window four times and opened fire, killing an In-N-Out employee, police said.

A total of 10 people were shot — inside the restaurant, directly outside, on an adjacent busy road and at a nearby visitors center lot, Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said.

Hicks said at a news conference that investigators still don’t have a motive for the shooting. The gunman, Chad Williams, 24, killed himself.

“What happened here was violent, frightening and deeply traumatic,” Hicks said.

It should have been a “normal Saturday afternoon,” he said. “Employees showing up for work. Visitors coming to see our beautiful city. Instead they were confronted with chaos, fear and now loss.”

As the shooting unfolded, employees from nearby stores fled to a walking trail. When the gunman headed to the trail, he came across two people, including one with his hands in the air talking to him, according to the video.

He distracted the gunman from possibly pursuing others on the trail. Williams subsequently killed himself as police chased him. His body was found near a canyon.

“To that young man, you are a hero,” Hicks said. “Your courage, your composure, your selflessness in that moment likely gave others the time they needed to escape harm. This community is grateful for you, and we will never forget what you did that day.”

Hicks also praised the work of an off-duty state trooper and a former police officer, A.J. James, who was wounded while confronting Williams.

James ran toward the sound of gunfire from the drive-thru window and was shot and wounded, while the off-duty officer inside the In-N-Out exchanged gunfire with Williams through the window and directed workers out of the building, Hicks said.

He acted “heroically and unbelievably” to try to slow down the shooter, the police chief said, declining to release the off-duty officer's name.

The In-N-Out had opened in July as part of the chain’s expansion into Idaho.

Police identified those killed as Ashley Garibay, 23, of Stockton, California; Dale Schultz, 66, of Salt Lake City; and Christopher Claunch, 59, of Hagerman, Idaho.

His first public appearance in costume was at a local protest on March 23, 2025. Nearly a year later, on March 9, 2026, he began homeless outreach patrols.

He says he initially worried people would be uncomfortable with a masked stranger, but the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“The classic Spider-Man look is very disarming and friendly to most everyone,” he said, adding that many people have told him his outreach has inspired them to help others.

His motivation came from two lifelong passions: Spider-Man and serving his community.

Seeing people struggling on the streets often left him feeling powerless. After getting into cosplay, he discovered the Real Life Superheroes (RLSH) community, including figures like Batman of San Jose and Crimson Fist of the Bay Area Superheroes, who showed him he could combine his love of comics with meaningful community service.

“This was something I could do to merge my love of comics and cosplay with the desire to help people in my community,” he said.

While the viral videos introduced many people to Metro Detroit’s Spider-Man, he hopes the focus stays on helping those in need—one outreach patrol at a time.

The bipartisan legislation, which passed the Senate 86-11, would penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports seeking to deprive Putin of revenues fueling the war. It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Capitol hours after Graham’s funeral, met with senators from both parties and watched from the gallery as the Senate took the first procedural votes last week on the sweeping legislation.

“Today, President Zelenskyy is watching from Ukraine — and Putin is watching from Moscow,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who had worked with the late South Carolina senator on the package.

“I would like to think Lindsey Graham is watching, too,” he said. “Today we say to the people of Ukraine: You are not alone. And today we say to Vladimir Putin: You will not conquer Ukraine.”

The sweeping show of force from the Senate is the most substantial move yet during President Donald Trump’s second term to shift the dynamic of the more than four-year war, which has now churned longer than World War I. Congress has struggled to ensure U.S. funding and munitions flows to Ukraine, but Trump has given a nod to the sanctions package, putting pressure for the House to take it up for a vote and send it to the White House for his signature.

Graham and Blumenthal had announced a deal with the White House on the sanctions legislation on July 10 after more than a year of negotiations with the White House. Graham, who had just returned from Ukraine, died suddenly the next day, likely from an aortic tear.

The bipartisan package that carries Graham’s name allows the president to impose tariffs on the world’s top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas, including China and India. It provides exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce those imports.

The legislation also includes sanctions on Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, Russian financial institutions and Russian energy projects. It would expand U.S. sanctions to target older, reflagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and energy revenues.

Democrats and some Republicans have been wary of giving Trump broad authority to slap tariffs on imports that have spiked prices for goods, worried about inflation and high costs of living for Americans. Those voting against the final package were mostly progressive Democrats.

The negotiated bill also includes waiver authority for the president, allowing the White House to waive sanctions or restrictions if the president certifies to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest.

Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who was appointed by the state’s governor to fill her brother’s seat, said he was determined to bring an end to the Ukraine war, and she was honored to carry on his work. “This legislation hits Putin where it hurts,” she said.

Bill sends ‘a moral signal’ to Ukraine and its allies

Zelenskyy told senators during last week’s private meeting at the Capitol that Ukraine is making gains in the war, but still needs more help from the U.S. He publicly thanked them for the sanctions package and said it would send a “big signal” to Ukraine and its allies of U.S. support.

Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, who attended the meeting, said the sanctions legislation “is important as a moral signal to a country that is weary and tired, though holding its own.”

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said advancing the legislation now, ahead of Russia’s own elections, will put pressure on Putin to seriously revisit prospects for a peace deal. And she warned that every time the U.S. backs away from tough actions, Russia ramps up its attacks.

“If we can’t shut down the funding for the war machine that Russia is using against Ukraine, then they’re going to keep at it,” she said.

Some say the bill would give Trump too much tariff power

The Senate defeated an amendment by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon that would have removed the new tariff authority for Trump. Paul says it would be too costly for taxpayers, while Wyden and other Democrats say they don’t want to give Trump any new authority to impose tariffs.

“We’ve got folks who are walking an economic tightrope here in America,” Wyden said.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who had held up passage of the package over the tariff authority, said he received a written commitment from the Trump administration through U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that ensures guardrails. The tariffs would be lifted once the countries are no longer on the lists of those purchasing Russian oil and gas, or helping to evade sanctions, he said.

“We should not have to choose between putting a check on Putin’s aggression and putting a check on this president’s tariffs regime,” Warnock said. If Trump “oversteps his power, we will see him in court.”

Other Democrats say that while they are wary of giving Trump any new powers, they don’t want to jeopardize the help for Ukraine.

“Weighing that against the boost for Ukraine, I think it’s important to support Ukraine right now,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Package next goes to the House

The momentum from the Senate is expected to press the House to act swiftly on the Russia sanctions package when lawmakers return to session at the end of the month.

The House had already passed a separate measure in June that would provide security and reconstruction aid to Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy.

That package pushed by Democrats drew bipartisan support from Republicans, overriding objections from GOP leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.

Trump doesn’t have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom where the White House’s East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall, according to the decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Republican president said in a post on social media that he would be appealing what he called an “unjust decision” to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Friday's ruling marked the second time this week the Trump administration has made headlines for construction plans that have been called into question. An assessment by the National Park Service found that a 250-foot-tall (76-meter-tall) triumphal arch that Trump has proposed building could compromise the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location on a traffic circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

In a 2-1 decision on the ballroom, the appeals court sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction of the massive structure, which has begun to rise aboveground on the east side of the White House, according to the most recent aerial photos of the site. The court said it would stay its ruling for two weeks to give the administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the court wrote.

“This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom.

“What it does mean,” the court continued, “is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorization, as the Constitution and laws require.”

Trump insists Congress' approval is unnecessary

The president reacted to the ruling with a lengthy post on social media in which he quoted from a dissenting opinion issued by Judge Neomi Rao, whom he nominated. He also described the plans for the facility to include bomb shelters, a hospital and medical facilities, “Top Secret Military Facilities” and other security features.

“The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents,” Trump wrote.

After the lower court earlier this year ordered a halt to aboveground construction, the president argued that permission from Congress to build the ballroom was unnecessary because public money was not being used to pay for it.

Trump has said he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations and wealthy people, including himself, to cover the construction costs.

But the Trump administration requested $1 billion for the ballroom, which Congress refused in May. In June, Democrats warned that $350 million in funds from a tax cuts law appeared to have been redirected for the ballroom.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit organization that brought the lawsuit against the Trump administration, said Friday's decision affirmed “the American people's right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish,” including the White House.

“From the beginning, our position has been clear and consistent: the law states that only Congress can authorize the construction of a ballroom at the White House,” Brent Leggs, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement. "We are pleased with the DC Circuit Court’s decision to uphold the District Court’s preliminary injunction, which although stayed for 14 days will block any above-ground ballroom construction unless and until Congress takes action.”

The divided appeals court panel upheld an April 16 order from Leon for the Trump administration to halt aboveground work on the ballroom. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, allowed construction to continue on underground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.

The appeals court case was assigned to Judges Rao, Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia. Millett was nominated to the court by Democratic President Barack Obama. Garcia was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden. Both Millett and Garcia backed the decision, while Rao opposed it.

Preservationists challenge Trump in court

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to challenge the project in December 2025, a week after completion of the East Wing demolition to make way for a ballroom that Trump says would hold 999 people.

Government lawyers have argued that the project — the biggest structural change to the White House in more than 70 years — must move forward because it includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards.

“These upgrades, alterations, and improvements are essential to protecting the President, his family, and his staff, as well as the White House itself, and the entire project flows from them,” government attorneys wrote in a court filing.

Attorneys for the preservation group countered that the lack of a White House ballroom doesn’t constitute a national security emergency.

“That commonsense conclusion is not clearly erroneous, and there is no basis to disturb it,” they wrote.

In an initial ruling that the government also appealed, Leon barred aboveground work on the ballroom from proceeding without congressional approval. In response, the appeals court instructed the judge to reconsider the national security implications of stopping construction.

In his most recent decision, Leon ordered a stop only to the aboveground construction of the planned ballroom. The judge stressed that the White House is free to proceed with underground work, including the construction of any bunkers, military installations and medical facilities.

On April 2, Trump’s ballroom won final approval from the 12-member National Capital Planning Commission, which is charged with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region.

___

Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Gary Fields and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

Not everyone will see rain, and there will be dry breaks between storms, but the combination of lingering moisture and atmospheric disturbances will keep rain chances in the forecast. Any thunderstorms that develop could produce brief heavy downpours, although widespread severe weather is not expected.

Temperatures will remain seasonable through the weekend, with afternoon highs mainly in the 80s. Humidity will remain noticeable at times, keeping conditions feeling more summery despite the occasional shower or storm.

Looking ahead to Monday, the potential exists for better coverage of showers and thunderstorms as another disturbance moves through the Great Lakes. Forecast details will become clearer over the weekend as the timing and track of that system come into better focus. If you have outdoor plans over the next few days, keep an eye on the sky and have a backup plan ready for passing showers and thunderstorms.

Chabert says the show’s central “what if” premise is what drew her in immediately. “I love a what-if story,” she said. “What if I had turned left instead of right? Like, it offers up such a fun perspective. And while doing so, she realizes the love of her life may be standing right in front of her.”

The series is adapted from a bestselling novel, and Chabert - who read the book before signing on - praised the writers’ work translating it to screen. “It made me laugh, it made me want to turn the page,” she said. “So it was a joy to bring to life.”

Foster, who plays Knightly, describes his character’s dynamic with Chelsea as one that slowly shifts from friction to something more. “Their relationship’s a little bit tenuous,” he explained. “They butt heads a little bit - a little bit of a rivalry at the office - but then, over time, they realize that they’ve got quite a bit more in common.”

Production took the cast through Paris and San Sebastián, Spain - which stood in for both Ireland and Southern Spain. Foster called the shoot a surreal experience from start to finish. “It was like a pinch-me moment the whole time we were there,” he said.

For Chabert, the show represents something bigger than a romantic adventure. “That guaranteed uplifting happy ending is something I’m really proud to be a part of because I feel like it adds just a little bit of goodness back into the world,” she said. “And I think we need that now more than ever.”

Foster hopes audiences feel transported. “I want people to come away and say, ‘Wow, that was exhilarating just to watch that show,’ and feel like I was able to go on a journey myself afterwards,” he said.

New episodes of Paris Is Always a Good Idea drop every Thursday through August 27th on Hallmark+.

FEMA also denied a statewide request for hazard-mitigation funding.

Four tornadoes, ranging from EF-0 to EF-3, hit Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties, killing four people.

Michigan State Police said the state will keep working with communities out there and connecting survivors with resources.

Catholicos Karekin II and six other senior clergymen are accused of defying a court order to reinstate a defrocked bishop. The case is widely seen as a part of long-simmering tensions between Pashinyan, who was reelected earlier this year, and the church, which has called for his ouster.

If convicted, Karekin and the other clerics could face up to two years in prison.

Relations between the powerful church and Pashinyan’s government have deteriorated rapidly since 2024, when tens of thousands of demonstrators, led by a high-ranking cleric, called for his ouster. They were angered by Armenia's agreement to hand over control of several border villages to Azerbaijan and normalize relations with its neighbor after being locked for decades in territorial disputes.

Many clergy bitterly opposed the handover of the villages and criticized Pashinyan, who came to power in the South Caucasus nation amid a wave of hopeful, pro-democracy protests that swept Armenia in 2018. Some senior clerics have since faced a crackdown by the government.

The judge in the trial recuses himself

The first court hearing took place Friday in the central city of Vagharshapat, also known as Etchmiadzin, which is Armenia's spiritual capital and the headquarters of the church.

Shortly after the hearing, Karekin's lawyer Ara Zograbyan told reporters the judge in the case has recused himself.

“I welcome this move by the judge, because in effect he refused to become a part of this shameful proceeding,”Zograbyan said, adding that the case will be assigned to a new judge.

Hundreds of Karekin's supporters gathered outside the courthouse in Vagharshapat, which is located about 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of Armenia's capital, Yerevan. Members of opposition parties, clergy leaders and representatives of nongovernmental organizations also came for the hearing.

Samvel Karapetyan, head of the pro-Russian opposition party Strong Armenia, called the case against Karekin a “national disgrace.”

“It seemed that maybe the authorities would come to their senses and stop their attacks on the church, but they're keeping at it,” local media quoted him as saying.

The case of a defrocked bishop led to the charges

The charges arose after the church in January defrocked Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, who had previously called for Karekin's ouster. The church accused Saroyan of abuse of power. Saroyan contested the move in court, which sided with him and ordered his reinstatement.

The church refused, and Armenia's Prosecutor General's office launched the case against Karekin and the other clerics in February, accusing them of defying a court order and barring them from leaving the country.

Two other top clergymen were arrested last year. Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was convicted of calling for the overthrow of the government, and Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who led the anti-government protests in 2024, is currently under house arrest awaiting trial on charges of attempting a coup, fomenting mass unrest and preparing a terrorist attack.

Earlier this year, an appellate court overturned Ajapahyan's conviction and ordered a new trial.

Clerics denounce the case as an assault on church autonomy

During an evening service at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Karekin denounced the case against him.

“These days the authorities take steps to undermine the church's authority, restrict its autonomy and subjugate it to their will,” he said, adding that the institution's autonomy is at the core of Armenia's prosperity.

Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan, head of the Department of External Relations and Protocol of the church and one of the defendants, said the church is not an entity that can be “nationalized, expropriated and have a manager appointed.”

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Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia.

The Ice Cream Man

Eli Roth’s latest horror film centers on an ice cream man in a small town who serves up a special brew - but only to kids. The results? “It makes the kids turn into vicious people,” Russell said. He even got a personal preview scare when an ice cream truck rolled past his house during his interview with Roth. His verdict: “Very scary, very chilling.” Russell gave it 3.5 out of 5 reels, noting that “if you like the scary stuff, you’ll get into it.”

The Last House

A family wakes up one morning to find they can’t escape their own home - and neither can their neighbors. Russell noted the film taps into something uncomfortably familiar: “This is like COVID. We can’t go outside, we can’t do anything.” It’s a survival thriller that keeps you guessing - though Russell warned “there’s certain parts where the story does get a little different, you know, near the end.” Still, he matched his Ice Cream Man score with another 3.5 reels.

One Night Only

For something lighter, Russell reviewed this romantic comedy with an unusual premise: “single people cannot get together with each other 364 days of the year.” On that one night, “everybody’s out trying to meet someone” - including two friends who end up finding each other in “just the most bizarre thing.” Predictable? A little. Russell gave it a solid 3 out of 5 reels.

For more of Greg Russell’s Hollywood interviews and exclusive giveaways, visit MovieShowPlus.com.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters at a military testing range in Michigan that the effort will cut months and sometimes years of the red tape that typically stifles military contractors. He pledged to grant companies access to ranges in the U.S. or those belonging to allies abroad within 30 days of them making a request through an online marketplace that went live Friday.

“It can take 12 to 18 months for a company that wants to go test the thing that can make a soldier’s life better, that can increase their lethality and that can keep them safer," Driscoll said. "That is not sufficient.”

The announcement comes as warfare rapidly changes around the globe, from the swarms of Shahed drones that Iran launched against American forces in the Middle East to Ukraine's innovations in drone technology while defending against Russia's invasion. But the Army is also opening its ranges as the Pentagon grapples with the costs of the Iran war, which has diminished the nation's stockpiles of advanced weapons that sometimes cost millions of dollars for a single missile or interceptor.

Driscoll told The Associated Press that policy changes such as making test ranges more accessible were driven in part by his observations of the war in Ukraine and how quickly that country has moved to produce new weapon systems. The Army secretary had been a key interlocutor during talks between Russia and Ukraine last year before those negotiations stalled.

Pentagon leaders have been trying to increase the tempo of production by incentivizing smaller companies to enter the market to build cheap and effective weapons. Driscoll told reporters that the Army aims to “break down every single barrier that we have put up over the last 20 or 30 years.”

“We are inviting industry to get in the mud with our soldiers, to innovate, to invest behind them,” Driscoll said in a roundtable call. “And then our commitment as an Army is we will purchase the things that will make our soldiers more lethal, more safe, and keep our country safer.”

The first company to take advantage of the new program has tested a new cruise missile at the Army’s missile test range in Morocco.

Abby Denburg, an executive with Covenant Industries, said the company “demonstrated not only the performance of the Anthem missile but also a repeatable pathway now available to every company.”

The program allows drone and missile companies to use five Army ranges to test new rockets, drones and anti-drone weapons even if that company does not have a military contract.

The effort to get weapons faster to the battlefield comes as a recent think tank analysis found that the conflict with Iran has used up more of the U.S. military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced interceptors such as Patriot and THAAD missiles that are used to defend against air threats such as missiles and drones.

The analysis, conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also noted that this shortfall could force the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defenses.

President Donald Trump has pushed back on media coverage about the issue, telling reporters Thursday that “we need more all the time.” He claimed that certain kinds of munitions are in “virtually unlimited supply” and others are “a little bit tighter.” He didn’t offer more specifics.

Driscoll deflected questions about the nation's munitions stockpiles. He said that “we have a larger arsenal than any nation in the history of the world, and we will have an even larger arsenal with new and different and layered defenses.”

___

Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

“I don't know how old he is. Isn't he past 35?,” the offensive coordinator asked Friday before being told Smith is actually 35. “It feels like he's 28. I'm telling you, it feels like physically, I see no ... like, he is in his prime, physically.”

Not bad for a quarterback entering his 14th NFL season, a journey that began as a second-round draft pick of the Jets in 2013 and has included several ups and downs on the field along the way.

“Like his arm, the way he moves, his feet in the pocket, he’s physically in his prime,” said Reich, in his first season running the Jets' offense. “So he takes great care of himself and that’s going to help this team.”

New York certainly hopes so. The Jets acquired Smith in the offseason from Las Vegas to add a veteran quarterback to an offense that struggled mightily during a 3-14 season. The Jets ranked last or near the bottom in several offensive categories as the likes of Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook took turns calling the signals for then-coordinator Tanner Engstrand. Their 8 yards per completion was the lowest mark in the NFL, and that's something that's expected to improve significantly.

Smith has always been able to stretch the field, especially during three straight seasons of at least 3,500 yards passing in Seattle from 2022-24. He threw for 3,025 last year in a down season with Las Vegas that included an NFL-leading 17 interceptions.

Back with the Jets, Smith has had a mostly good training camp. And he has thoroughly impressed Reich, who said during minicamp that the quarterback has an “elite” football mind. Reich was back gushing about Smith on Friday.

“Geno’s the leader,” Reich said. "He’s the leader of the offense, make no mistake about it, in every way, shape and form. And to me, what has become crystal clear in this early time in training camp, the attribute that sticks out to me is his laser focus. This man is laser focused like people don’t understand. Like, he comes to work and he is locked in.

“And I feel like the whole offense plays off of that. That’s a really big deal.”

Reich has seen what leadership looks like from a quarterback. He was a longtime backup to Jim Kelly as a player and has coached Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan.

The offensive coordinator also knows what good quarterback play looks like. And he sees all of that in Smith, granted, still in the protected, no-contact confines of training camp.

“I remember when he was coming out (of college), I had a high grade on him,” Reich said. “His throwing mechanics, if I'm just talking pure upper-body mechanics, they're pure. There's only a couple guys in the league that I would say are pure. Geno's one of them.”

Smith has also been drawing positive reviews from his teammates, who have praised his leadership since re-joining the Jets.

“Geno is a legend to guys like me,” fifth-year tight end Jelani Woods said. “He’s been in the league for a long time. You look up to him, just the professionalism he has, it’s something that you look into and he’s one of those guys that you go up to and talk to him at any time. He sits with you at the lunch table, he sits with anybody at the lunch table and you just have a simple conversation with him and just talk about life outside of football.

"And, you know, stuff like that goes a long way.”

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

Walter Smith, 31, faces 10 charges in connection to the June 3 incident, which occurred overnight outside Henry Ford Hospital near 12 Mile and Hoover roads.

Prosecutors allege that Smith approached the ER workers around 1:30 a.m. while they were taking a routine break. He then began threatening the employees and ordered them not to move while pointing a gun in their direction, police said.

The workers managed to flee and call 911, however the suspect fled the scene before police arrived. Henry Ford Health says the hospital was placed on a brief lockdown, and Smith was located and arrested by Warren police later that afternoon.

After waiving his preliminary exam, Smith was bound over to the Macomb County Circuit Court Thursday by 37th District Court Judge Steven Bieda on the following charges:

• Carrying a concealed weapon (five-year felony)
• Weapons possession by a prohibited person (five-year felony)
• Two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (five-year felony)
• Three counts of felony firearm (two-year felony)
• Brandishing a weapon in public (90-day misdemeanor)
• Operating a vehicle without a license (90-day misdemeanor)
• Habitual offender - fourth offense

He is being held at the Macomb County Jail on a $500,000 cash/surety bond and is scheduled to be arraigned before Judge Joseph Toia at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24.

Salita Promotions, Wynn Records and Zeus Network announced an all-star lineup of hip-hop artists set to participate in August 15 fight card, transforming the championship event into a summer entertainment experience.

Leading the night’s star-studded walkouts, GRAMMY-nominated superstar Latto will accompany undisputed heavyweight champion Claressa “The GWOAT” Shields to the ring as Shields makes history as the first woman ever to headline a boxing event at State Farm Arena.

Undisputed heavyweight champion Shields will move down in weight to challenge Unified WBC and WBA World Champion Kaye Scott live on DAZN at 8:30 p.m. The Zeus Network coverage will feature a mix of professional boxing and celebrity influencer bouts beginning at 4 p.m.

The night’s cultural crossover continues with:

• YG walking out undefeated KO Artist Ernesto “Tito” Mercado on DAZN
• Sauce Walka accompanying Ray J for his highly anticipated influencer boxing debut on Zeus Network
• Diamond The Body (DTB) walking out power-punching boxing contender Atif Oberlton on Zeus Network

The artist lineup further reinforces the card as far more than a traditional boxing event, bringing together world championship competition, chart-topping music, influencer entertainment and celebrity culture for a one-night-only spectacle in the heart of Atlanta.

“Combining star boxers with star music artists helps grow both the sport of boxing and the athletes we promote,” said Dmitriy Salita, President of Salita Promotions. “Our partnership with Wynn Records is about building the individual brands of our fighters while delivering an unforgettable experience for fans. Blockbuster events, competitive fights, and world-class entertainment are what August 15 is all about.”

“This has always been about creating an event that reflects where sports and culture are today,” said Ruben Branson, CEO of Wynn Records. “Atlanta deserves more than a fight card—it deserves an experience. Bringing together world champions, major recording artists and some of entertainment’s biggest personalities under one roof is exactly the vision behind this partnership.”

“At Zeus, we’ve always believed the biggest moments happen when culture collides,” said Lemuel Plummer, Founder & CEO of Zeus Network. “August 15 is exactly that—a night where championship boxing, music, entertainment and some of the most recognizable personalities in the world all come together on one stage. Partnering with Claressa Shields, Salita Promotions and Wynn Records allows us to create something that goes far beyond a fight card. This is a cultural event, and fans are going to witness an experience unlike anything boxing has seen.”

Fans can expect celebrity appearances, unforgettable artist walkouts, championship boxing and crossover bouts throughout the evening, making August 15 one of the most anticipated nights on Atlanta’s entertainment calendar.

Presented by Salita Promotions in partnership with Wynn Records, Claressa Shields Promotions and Route 30 Promotions, and presenting sponsor Zeus Network, the historic event marks the first women’s headliner at State Farm Arena. Remaining tickets for Aug. 15 are available on Ticketmaster.com.

Margaret Feely, 58, of Bingham Farms, will also be required to serve two years probation in connection with the Feb. 24 OWI-third offense charge.

According to prosecutors, witnesses reported seeing Feely smoke what appeared to be marijuana before driving her car along the base of the slopes at the White Lake Township ski resort while reportedly wearing snow boots.

Police officers who attempted sobriety tests reported Feely showed poor balance, slurred speech, and was hostile — at one point referring to an officer as “Nazi dude,” prosecutors said.

“This defendant endangered children with her irresponsible actions,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said. “There is no excuse to drive impaired, even once. If you’ve had too much to drink or are under the influence of marijuana or other drugs, call a friend, call an Uber, just don’t drive. If you do, we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

Feely is also prohibited from driving for one year and will be required to pay roughly $700 in court fees.

“On average sometimes, it can take 12-18 months for a company that wants to go test a thing that can make a soldier’s life better, that can increase their lethality and can keep them safer,” said U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll. “That is not sufficient.”

The new online platform will provide private defense companies with “concierge access” to four U.S. Army test ranges — including Camp Grayling — in hopes of streamlining the development cycle for new military products and bringing them to market faster.

The other three domestic military sites named include Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Hattiesburg, Miss., the Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Ariz., and the Dugway Proving Ground in Salt Lake City, Utah — though Driscoll said the overall goal of the program is to extend the defense industry’s access to all U.S. test ranges.

“Our goal and what we will publicly hold ourselves accountable to is, within 30 days of a request, a company that is capable of getting to a range will get access to either one of our domestic ranges, or one of our international ranges abroad,” Driscoll said.

Through the online portal, testrange.army.mil, eligible companies will be paired with a live representative who can assist with the necessary paperwork to test products at a participating range site and help determine which site is ideal.

In addition to the four domestic test ranges announced on Friday, Sec. Driscoll says the Army is partnering with the Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center in Tan-Tan, Morocco, which hosted its first successful product test with U.S. defense contractor Covenant Industries Inc. last month.

“What we the Army are trying to do is break down every single barrier that we have put up over the last 20 or 30 years,” Driscoll said. “We are inviting the industry to get in the mud with our soldiers to innovate, to invest behind them; and then our commitment as an Army is, we will purchase the things that will make our soldiers more lethal, more safe and will keep our country safer.”

At a press briefing on Friday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the state is ready “to work with anyone, and compete with everyone” to build on the progress Michigan has made in the military technology space, calling it “a big day for Michigan.”

“We’re excited for this designation, and we are absolutely committed to being a great partner moving forward on this and any other opportunities and needs that the DOW has,” she said.

The news was shared amid one of the Department of War’s largest reserve component readiness exercises, Northern Strike (NS) 26-2, which kicked off Aug. 3 and runs through Aug. 14 at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center.

The multi-domain training exercise brings more than 9,000 military personnel from 36 states and territories to the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) at Camp Grayling.

“The character of warfare continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, and our training must evolve with it,” said Col. Todd Fitzpatrick, land exercise director for Northern Strike. “...Every training event is designed to strengthen interoperability, accelerate innovation and ensure our forces are prepared for the missions they’ll face tomorrow.”

Employers cut 23,000 jobs in July. And Labor Department revisions slashed 103,000 jobs from May and June payrolls.

The unemployment rate fell but for the wrong reason: Thousands of people dropped out of the labor market so fewer people were competing for work.

The July jobs numbers from the Labor Department Friday marked a sharp setback for the American labor market and for Trump less than three months before his Republican party seeks to keep full control of Congress in the midterm election.

Forecasters had expected job creation to approach 100,000 last month.

Local public schools cut 50,000 jobs in July, restaurants and bars 26,000, retailers 19,000.

The 4.1% unemployment rate was the lowest since June 2025 – but it only fell because 264,000 people dropped out of the labor market last month. The share of those working or looking for work fell to 61.4%, the lowest since February 2021.

“We can't really put lipstick on a pig here,'' said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the jobs website Glassdoor. ”This is not a great report for July.''

Manufacturing up, but public schools down

The Trump administration, which has imposed massive tariffs in an attempt to protect American industry and create manufacturing jobs, noted that jobs were up 22,000 at construction companies and 5,000 at factories.

“The Trump industrial resurgence is on schedule," said White House spokesman Kush Desai. "Manufacturing and factory construction jobs grew again in July even as government payrolls continued to significantly shrink.’’

Trump has long bragged that jobs have been increasing for native-born citizens in his economy, but that talking point was undermined by the July numbers. The White House declined to comment on why Friday's report showed that employment for native-born Americans dropped by 720,000 over the past 12 months. Those numbers can be quirky. They’re not adjusted for seasonal changes and are not seen as a reliable measure of total native-born employment. But the administration had latched onto them as evidence that Trump's immigration crackdown was benefiting people born in the United States.

To raise or not to raise

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have been divided over whether to start raising interest to combat inflation that has exceeded their 2% target for more than five years. The Fed kept rates unchanged at its meeting last week — but three officials dissented from that decision in favor of a rate hike. Wall Street traders were expecting rate hikes later this year. Friday’s report may at least delay higher rates.

“The Fed has to consider the health of the job market as they debate whether a hike is justified,″ said Glassdoor’s Zhao. ”The softness in today’s report is going to have to give the Fed a little bit of pause.″

July wage gains were modest. Average hourly pay was up 3.2% last month from July 2025, the smallest year-over-year increase since May 2021. The smaller wage gains are coming at a time when American families are squeezed by the high cost of living.

“This is a bleak jobs report," said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. "The U.S. labor market is stalling again and that is going to make the Federal Reserve’s job harder and life for job seekers rough.''

Women lost 32,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reports, accounting for all the job losses in July. But that marked a reversal in women’s fortunes: They still gained 321,000 jobs over the past 12 months; men lost 5,000 over that period.

Economists noted that private payrolls continued to grow in July and that the big drop in public school payrolls might have been a statistical glitch caused by seasonal adjustments.

Rebounding from a miserable 2025

Hiring had rebounded this year from a lackluster 2025 in the face of the conflict in the Persian Gulf that has sent energy prices surging and put a strain on family budgets. Job growth had been solid, if unspectacular. Some businesses are having trouble filling vacancies. Others are using technology to do the work humans used to do.

Americans who have jobs are enjoying unusual job security. Layoffs are low by historical standards. Companies, scarred by the surprise labor shortages that followed COVID-19 lockdowns a few years ago, don’t want to risk giving up the staff they have.

One week in July the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in more than 50 years. The jobless rate tumbled to 4.2% in June, the lowest in a year, and is expected to have stayed there last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

But Americans who have lost their jobs – or are seeking to bust into the job market for the first time – are struggling to catch a break.

Economists have used the term "no hire, no fire'' to describe the unusual job market conditions.

Hiring in the year to date remains weak

So far this year, employers are adding 61,000 jobs a month, up from 9,700 in 2025, the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. But job creation this year is well below the 2023-2024 average of 166,000 jobs a month — and it had been even higher during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed the end of COVID-19 lockdowns.

At least the United States doesn’t need as many jobs as it used to to keep the unemployment rate from rising. Trump’s immigration crackdown and the ongoing retirement of baby boomers mean fewer people are competing for work. So the “break-even’’ rate of monthly hiring, 155,000 in 2023-2024, has dropped, perhaps to nearly zero, according to a Federal Reserve study.

The jobs outlook is clouded by the ongoing fighting in the Persian Gulf, which has pushed up energy prices and squeezed family budgets, and by the rise of artificial intelligence, which could either make workers more efficient and better-paid -- or take their jobs.

In a report out this week, researchers Ingrid Chen, Marianna Kudlyak and Riva Mikhlin of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that landing a job has gotten tougher in the past couple of years – surprisingly so.

Normally, this deep into an economic expansion – it's been more than six years since the last recession – employers would need workers so badly that they’d be taking chances on young people and on those with less education. Not this time. “Instead of being pulled in, the pipeline into employment is shrinking such that the recovery is no longer reaching workers at the margins,’’ Chen, Kudlyak and Mikhlin write.

Moreover, the unemployed people who normally get back to work the fastest – those in their prime working years (25 to 54) and with college educations – are struggling to find new jobs. The San Francisco Fed researchers aren’t sure what’s making the job search so tough. They suspect it might have to do with the immigration crackdown, hiring slowdowns specifically at tech companies and government contractors, uncertainty over the direction of government policy or “early signals of broader labor market deterioration.’’

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AP Business Writer Claire Savage in Chicago contributed to this story.

Roadkill Nights returns to M1 Concourse in Pontiac on Saturday, Aug. 8, running from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Now in its 11th year, the event draws car enthusiasts from across the country for a rare opportunity: legal street racing on Woodward Avenue.

Karen Brown, Vice President of Events and Experiential Marketing for MotorTrend said the event is designed for all ages and interests. It is, she said, “a family-style festival with racing and vendors and merchandise and a whole bunch of fun activities for everybody.”

Attendees can expect “racing here on Woodward Avenue,” Brown said, noting organizers have also “added a new track shootout on the inside of M1 Concourse,” with “food trucks, celebrities, all sorts of activities for anyone of any age. Kids 12 and under are free.”

For the new closed-course shootout, Brown said, “we’ve got about 75 racers coming out so fans can go take a seat at it. We built them a 20-foot viewing platform to watch the race.” She also confirmed that “Ram is going to be here with us this year. They’re bringing out some NASCAR trucks along with some of their drivers.”

David Freiburger, a co-creator of the Roadkill franchise, called it the “largest event of its type, meaning street-legal drag racing, actually legal on Woodward Avenue, and everybody from around the country wants to come to this deal, so it just keeps on growing.”

Freiburger said the event carries deep historical resonance for automotive fans. “There’s so much legacy here with the OE car manufacturers testing their cars illegally way back in the ’60s, and now we’re doing it legally.”

A major draw this year is the Dodge-sponsored Grudge Match celebrity race. “This whole thing is powered by Dodge,” Freiburger said. “That is the brand new Charger with the Hurricane twin turbo inline-6 engines. They’ve given them to a bunch of celebrities who have built these cars up, and they’re doing heads-up drag racing here for the win.”

Freiburger added that fans can also expect “a big tire shootout, small tire shootout” and “a bunch of well-known celebrities off of the internet and TV coming to do a Dodge influencer race. It’s going to be a good time.”

Free shuttle parking is available at UWM, with drop-off at the front entrance. Tickets are available at this link.

“That’s my hometown team, them and the Baltimore Ravens,” Diggs said Friday. "I always played with a chip on my shoulder, but the chip got really big when I’d go home because I felt like they passed up on me, didn’t give me a chance, and I was right in their backyard.”

Washington, and every NFL franchise, passed on Diggs multiple times in the 2015 draft before Minnesota selected him in the fifth round. After stints with the Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans and New England Patriots, and four Pro Bowl selections later, Diggs signed with his hometown Commanders earlier this week.

It's a full-circle moment for Diggs, a Gaithersburg, Maryland, native who played for youth programs in the area growing up. A five-star recruit with scholarship offers practically anywhere in the country, Diggs chose to stay home and play for the University of Maryland.

“I can’t write a better story,” Diggs said. “At this point in my career, being healthy, coming off an ACL (injury), having success, going to your hometown team and wanting to shine for them. ... I want to put on for my city.”

His homecoming is more than just a feel-good story. The Commanders entered training camp with a massive hole at No. 2 wide receiver opposite Terry McLaurin, and Diggs figures to fill it as an instant upgrade.

Stylistically, Diggs is an excellent fit opposite McLaurin, who is a more traditional “X” receiver. Diggs has experience playing on the perimeter and in the slot and was one of the league's best chain-movers in 2025 — 51 of his 85 receptions went for first downs.

“When you see him work inside as a slot player, he’s got great feel,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “He’s a great competitor. … He’s somebody certainly that can move the chains, and you know how important that is — to have somebody that has the detail of option routes and specifics.”

Diggs said he didn’t have a personal relationship with McLaurin before his arrival, but admired his new teammate's game and intensity from afar and called it “real similar to myself.” Diggs praised the rest of the Commanders’ receivers, specifically rookie Antonio Williams, who he said "can hoop a little bit.”

Quinn said the plan for Diggs was to ramp up over the next two days, but the 32-year-old arrived in great shape and participated in individual and team drills on Friday. His immediate focus is in the classroom, hoping to learn new offensive coordinator David Blough’s system quickly.

Throughout his career, Diggs has earned the reputation of helping elevate young quarterbacks. After a so-so rookie year, New England’s Drake Maye finished second in MVP voting last season with Diggs as his top target. Josh Allen took a major step forward in 2020, Diggs’ first year in Buffalo.

“Quarterbacks got a lot on their plate, so I bring it down a notch and talk to them brother to brother,” Diggs said. “With young quarterbacks, making plays for them gives them confidence. That puts a battery in their back to feel like, ‘Man, I can do anything out here.’ That’s how I try to help them: just by playing well.”

With Washington, Diggs joins Jayden Daniels, who proved himself as AP Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024. The duo started building their chemistry on Friday.

“They got a great young quarterback,” Diggs said. “He’s a star. He’s a superstar. I’m excited for him, excited for this team.”

In Buffalo and Houston, Diggs was selected as a team captain. Quinn said the receiver’s leadership skills have already stood out in their brief time together.

For now, Diggs’ goal is to earn the respect of his teammates and coaches through his play and experience.

“I always try to push the guys around me to be the best version of themselves,” Diggs said. “At the same time, more show than tell. I can say a bunch of hoopla, but I’d rather just go out there and hoop and show you why I did what I did or communicate through the actions.”

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

The now-finalized rule, which was unveiled Thursday and kicks in Sept. 10, applies to certain aircraft under three Boeing 737 Max models: the 737-8, 737-9 and 737-8200. The FAA estimates this covers 471 planes — and said it is using this directive to address “the unsafe condition" tied to prior reports.

So far, no cracks have been found in these specific Max models. But when proposing the rule back in November, the FAA noted it had received reports of cracks in a forward bear strap for several older, “Next-Generation” 737 planes. Bear straps are metal sheets that reinforce areas on planes like doorways and emergency exits.

The Max jets have “a similar design and build process” to the older models, “making those airplanes susceptible to the same crack condition,” the FAA wrote in November. The agency warned that the issue could “adversely affect the structural integrity of the airplane" if not addressed.

In a statement, Boeing said that it previously identified and reported this issue — and “has been working with operators on it over the past six years.”

The Virginia-based aircraft maker said it sent operators inspection instructions for the affected Next Generation 737s back in 2019, and the FAA later mandated those checks in 2021. The company added that it had already expanded those inspections to Max jets — and the FAA's latest directive now similarly mandates that process.

“We support both directives and continue to support our airline customers,” Boeing said in a statement.

The FAA noted Thursday that its directive also requires inspections of the fuselage skin of planes with existing repairs.

Boeing has been battered by years of safety, quality and production challenges — notably in the aftermath of two deadly crashes involving the larger Max 8 that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, as well as a 2024 incident in which a panel flew off one its Max 9 planes operated by Alaska Airlines midflight.

Just last month, the FAA said Boeing would again be allowed to take responsibility for certifying all of its 737 Max and 787 planes.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and is hovering around the record it set on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97 points, or 0.2%, as of 12:43 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Every major index is on track for weekly gains.

Technology stocks, with their big market values, did much of the heavy lifting for the broader market. They are often the heaviest weights determining the market’s direction. Nvidia jumped 1.6% and Broadcom rose 1%.

The bond market reacted more strongly to the weaker signal on the job market, which can be seen as allowing the Federal Reserve more time before raising interest rates to fight inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.65% from 4.67% just prior to the jobs update. It was as low as 4.60% before recovering a bit.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action on interest rates, fell to 4.20% from 4.22% prior to the report's release. It was as low as 4.15% before edging back up.

“Although the stock market is likely to welcome the dovish implications of the report, investors should be wary of the future growth potential of an economy where fewer people are working,” said Peter Graf, chief investment officer at Amova Asset Management Americas, in a research note.

Overall, the report paints a dimmer picture of the jobs market, which has been one of the brighter areas of the economy amid rising inflation and worries about household spending. It included a revision to the figures for June and May that involved slashing a combined 103,000 jobs from payrolls for those months.

The Fed has been holding interest rates steady amid worries about hotter inflation, fueled by a rise in oil prices because of the U.S. war with Iran. Wall Street expects at least one rate increase by the end of the year, with forecasts shifting for the next meeting. Expectations for a rate cut in September are down to 44%, from 55% on Thursday and from 67% a week ago, according to CME FedWatch.

A weakening jobs market could make matters more complicated for the Fed, which has to balance supporting job growth with fighting inflation. Raising interest rates can help tame inflation by slowing economic growth. A weaker jobs market, though, could become even shakier under higher interest rates as businesses find it more difficult to expand under increased borrowing rates.

Businesses, and Wall Street, prefer lower interest rates because it can help boost investments. That might bolster a weakened jobs market, but it could worsen already stubborn inflation.

Wall Street will get several important inflation updates next week. The most closely watched will be the consumer price index, or CPI, which measures costs for consumers. Wall Street expects it to show that inflation in July rose at a 3.4% rate, which would be a slight easing from the 3.5% rise in June. Interest rates have held stubbornly above 3% for most of the year.

“Today’s weak payrolls print may ease the pressure on the Fed to raise rates at its September meeting, but next week’s inflation data will still likely be the deciding factor,” said Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, in a research note.

The jobs report caps a week dominated mostly by corporate earnings and concerns about the ongoing U.S. war with Iran.

Corporate earnings for the second quarter are on track for the strongest growth since 2021. Nearly 90% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported their results and analysts expect profit growth of 50% overall. That has helped allay some concerns on Wall Street about whether big gains for stocks in 2026 are justified. Strong profits help support those gains in stock values.

It was a light day for earnings as companies near the close of the latest round of reports.

Airbnb jumped 15% following the vacation-rental company's report late Thursday that showed stronger profit and revenue for its most recent quarter than analysts expected.

Oil prices gained ground. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.5% to $83.70 a barrel.

Rising oil prices have been behind hotter inflation. Prices were as high as $113 per barrel at one point during the now five-month U.S. war with Iran. That raised prices for gasoline and shipping for a wide range of products. The U.S. and Iran have both said they are working on deals that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas once passed through.

Markets in Europe gained ground and markets in Asia were mixed.

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Associated Press Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The agreement represents the Bills’ latest major investment in keeping much of their offensive line intact for the long term.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been announced by the team.

Torrence was selected in the second round of the 2023 draft out of the University of Florida, and was entering the final season of his rookie contract. The 26-year-old has been a starter since his rookie season and part of a line that’s played a key role in protecting Josh Allen and helped James Cook to lead the NFL in yards rushing last season.

Torrence has 57 career starts, including playoffs, and was part of a line that allowed the NFL’s fewest sacks in both 2023 and 2024.

The group has been mostly together since 2024. The only change entering this season is at left guard, with Alec Anderson and Austin Corbett competing for the starting job left open following David Edwards’ free-agent departure to New Orleans in March.

Otherwise, the four returning starters, including left tackle Dion Dawkins, are now under contract through at least the 2027 season.

In March, the Bills signed center Connor McGovern to a four-year, $52 million contract to prevent him from entering free agency.

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

Harris County Criminal Court Judge Alex Salgado in Houston dismissed the criminal charge Thursday at the request of the Harris County district attorney's office following Harden's completion of an alternative resolution program. Such programs allow defendants to avoid a criminal conviction by doing community service. Court documents don't detail the terms of Harden's agreement.

Harden was arrested June 13 in Houston after police found that he had a handgun in his vehicle. Texas law makes it a misdemeanor to have a gun “in plain view” in a vehicle without a license, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.

Neither the district attorney's office nor Harden's attorney in Houston immediately responded to email and phone messages Friday seeking comment. The Cavaliers also did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Harden, 36, finished his 17th NBA season in May when the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks swept the Cavs in four games in the Eastern Conference finals. He averaged 23.6 points per game during the regular season, playing in 70 of 82 games.

He has said he'd like to remain with the Cavaliers, but he declined to exercise a $42.3 million option to return next season in favor of a longer contract. A deal has not been finalized.

Harden is an 11-time All-Star and an eight-time All-NBA selection. He earned MVP honors in the 2017-18 season while playing for the Houston Rockets, averaging 30.4 points per game while the Rockets won the Eastern Conference championship but lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals.

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

Blanche’s prospective confirmation appeared threatened earlier Friday, when Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced her opposition. Murkowski cited concern that the administration could proceed with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies, despite Blanche formally terminating it.

Also, an appeals court has ruled Trump must seek approval from Congress to build his proposed White House ballroom, saying construction must stop. The U.S. Court of Appeals sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction. The court said it would stay its own ruling for two weeks to allow the administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here's the latest:

National Trust for Historic Preservation reacts to ballroom ruling

Brent Leggs, the nonprofit organization’s president and CEO, said the appeals court ruling affirmed “the American people’s right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish,” including the White House.

“This is a great day for our country,” Leggs said. “From the beginning, our position has been clear and consistent: the law states that only Congress can authorize the construction of a ballroom at the White House. We are pleased with the DC Circuit Court’s decision to uphold the District Court’s preliminary injunction, which although stayed for 14 days will block any above-ground ballroom construction unless and until Congress takes action.”

Army pushes for faster weapons development under new test range initiative

The U.S. Army says it’s opening up test ranges to private companies developing missiles, drones and other weapons in hopes of buying them more quickly for use on the battlefield.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters Friday at a range in Michigan that the effort will cut the red tape that can stifle military contractors. He pledged to grant companies access to ranges within 30 days of making a request through an online marketplace.

The announcement comes as warfare is rapidly changing around the globe, particularly with the use of cheap drones in Ukraine and Iran. The Pentagon also is grappling with the costs of the Iran war, which has diminished the nation’s stockpiles of advanced weapons.

Trump says he kept Ogles endorsement out of loyalty

The president tried to explain away why Rep. Andy Ogles, one of his handpicked endorsements, lost his primary in Tennessee on Thursday night.

“Last night was another good night for Endorsements, 8-1, and the 1 was a person who I remained loyal to even though he had virtually no chance of winning,” Trump wrote on social media on Friday, referring to Ogles.

Trump takes great pride in his endorsements and the mostly winning record he has in Republican primaries.

Ogles was defeated by former state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher. The president said Friday that Hatcher is a “Great ‘Trump’ Candidate” and that he now has his “Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Cassidy acknowledges political tightrope on Blanche vote

The senator nodded to the realities of being a Republican who doesn’t reflexively align with Trump.

“Mr. Blanche has become a referendum on how people feel about President Trump,” he said. “This process should be about Mr. Blanche.” He added, with emotion, “I’ll be criticized for this vote, but what’s new.”

Cassidy criticized Blanche for initially approving a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Jan. 6 rioters, among others, and for endorsing a tax immunity deal for Trump.

“Mr. Blanche is not perfect,” Cassidy said, before arguing essentially that Blanche is likely better than anyone else Trump could nominate.

Cassidy didn’t acknowledge Trump’s saying in an interview released Friday that he’d keep Blanche as acting attorney general if the Senate rejected him.

In either instance — Blanche’s confirmation or continuing as acting chief — the president could fire him at any point, a legal reality Cassidy glossed over in his stated reasoning.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued over the ballroom project in December

That came a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing to make way for a ballroom Trump said would fit 999 people.

Government lawyers have argued that the project — the biggest structural change to the White House in more than 70 years — includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards.

“These upgrades, alterations, and improvements are essential to protecting the President, his family, and his staff, as well as the White House itself, and the entire project flows from them,” government attorneys wrote in a court filing.

Attorneys for the preservation group countered that the lack of a White House ballroom doesn’t constitute a national security emergency.

Cassidy says confirming Blanche is better than Trump picking someone else

The Louisiana senator seemingly secured confirmation for the president’s acting attorney general after weeks of Senate wrangling.

Cassidy affirmed on the Senate floor that he still worries about Trump’s influence over the Justice Department, especially the prospects of a $1.8 billion fund for possible payouts to the president’s supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But Cassidy said, essentially, that confirming Blanche is better than allowing Trump to pick another potential Justice Department chief.

“This is not a referendum on President Trump, it is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,” Cassidy said.

Republicans Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine had already said they wouldn’t support Blanche’s confirmation, effectively leaving his confirmation up to Cassidy.

Cassidy voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges in 2021. He lost a Republican primary earlier this year after the president endorsed his opponent.

Appeals court orders halt to White House ballroom construction

An appeals court has ruled President Trump must seek approval from Congress to build his proposed White House ballroom, saying construction must stop.

The U.S. Court of Appeals sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction. The court said it would stay its own ruling for two weeks to allow the administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the court wrote.

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Sen. Cassidy supports Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said Friday he’ll back Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, likely paving the way for Blanche to be confirmed to lead President Trump’s Justice Department.

The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche’s confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Blanche’s path to confirmation has been complicated over a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that’s drawn intense scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats alike.

The settlement called for the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits.

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ICE will release body camera video only when seen in the agency’s ‘best interests,’ policy says

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to equip officers with body cameras in the next two months but the agency’s policy gives it broad control over what footage will be made public by specifying any releases must be in its “best interests.”

After years of delays, ICE said its field officers nationwide will have body-worn cameras by the end of September. The rollout comes after recent fatal shootings by officers enforcing President Trump’s immigration crackdown have intensified pressure for accountability the cameras could provide.

But the agency’s body-worn camera policy could mean taxpayers who are pitching in tens of millions of dollars to pay for the cameras may be kept in the dark about some high-profile confrontations, at least in their immediate aftermath.

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‘I’m very good at grass.’ Why Trump goes into the weeds on one of his favorite topics

President Trump will tell you: The grass is always greener on his side of the fence.

And tell you. And tell you.

Trump has spoken repeatedly of his prowess with green lawns since returning to the White House — at some events even spending more time talking about it than the war in Iran, the economy or November’s midterm elections.

It was on the president’s mind just five weeks after his second inauguration, when he pointed out the Oval Office window during an interview with The Spectator. “You see the grass outside, right?” he asked before detailing his plans to pave over much of it. “Some people would like to leave it. But the problem is, you can’t.”

Trump has kept on the topic constantly ever since. All told, he’s mentioned grass in at least 45 public events or interviews over the past 18 months — or at least once every 12 days. That doesn’t include the numerous social media posts he’s also made on the topic.

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Trump bounces between confidence and pragmatism on midterms

The president maintained that Republicans can hold onto control of Capitol Hill and he told Punchbowl News he’s “working hard” to make it happen.

“I’m going to fight,” he said, noting this week’s trip to western states and the upcoming GOP midterm convention that was his idea.

Still, Trump noted the historical trends that go against Republicans. “Even good presidents, they tend to lose in the midterms,” he said.

He even called House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries a “nice guy” and recalled a “good meeting” with him, even though he and the would-be speaker have been “harsh” with one another publicly.

Trump also pushed back against the idea that his presidency would effectively end if Democrats win a majority in the House, Senate or both.

“To some degree,” he said. But he nodded to the presidential veto. “I have great blocking power,” he said. “I’m a great blocker.”

A deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz may require a compromise from Trump

Any concession would be tough for the Republican president, who’s insisted there’s no truth to his sagging poll numbers, the sluggish economy and the U.S. military’s dwindling stockpiles of key weapons following the Iran war he launched with Israel more than five months ago.

“He divides the world into winners and losers, and this would make him a loser,” said Eliot Cohen, who served as counselor of the State Department in the George W. Bush administration. “And the image of being a loser, I think, would be intolerable for him.”

The sticking point has been over control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows. While both sides say a deal is close, the Trump administration has ruled out any arrangement that would cement Iran’s grip over the waterway, including Tehran charging fees.

But Iran has insisted on some measure of control, saying the strait will not go back to being an open international waterway as it was before the war.

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Trump backs Johnson as House leader but is less enthusiastic about Sen. Thune

The president praised House Speaker Mike Johnson, a stalwart Trump loyalist, and said he should be the Republican leader even if the GOP loses its narrow majority.

“He’s great. We work together great,” Trump told Punchbowl News. Sometimes, the president mused, “we’re one heart attack away from losing the House in Congress,” yet Johnson has still delivered major pieces of Trump’s agenda.

“I don’t think there’s even a thought of anybody challenging him,” Trump insisted.

Trump wasn’t so effusive about Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

“I don’t want to get into that. It’s early,” Trump said when asked whether he’d support Thune’s reelection as leader.

Trump said he gets along with the South Dakota senator but lamented the leader’s opposition to scrapping the filibuster and the Senate’s inability to pass the president’s proposals to expand federal power over elections.

“It’s a shame he doesn’t have the votes,” Trump said.

Trump says Republican voters are frustrated with Congress — but not him

The president’s job approval rating of 33%, according to the latest AP-NORC polling, is as low as it has been in his second presidency — the kind of numbers that hurt a president’s party in midterm elections. But Trump insisted to Punchbowl News that he isn’t the real target of voter frustration, especially among Republicans.

“They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans” on Capitol Hill, he said.

He cited voter turnout in presidential elections, alluding to analyses that show he’s attracted sporadic voters and flipped some historically Democratic-leaning voters.

“The question is, will they vote? Because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans to be honest with you,” Trump said.

The president maintained that Republicans can hold their House and Senate majorities this November. But his overall argument was clear: If they don’t, it’s not his fault.

US employers unexpectedly cut 23,000 jobs last month amid strain from the Iran war

And Labor Department revisions shaved 103,000 jobs off payrolls in May and June. But the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% as Americans left the job market.

The June jobs numbers from the Labor Department on Friday marked a sharp reversal for the American labor market.

Hiring had rebounded this year from a lackluster 2025 in the face of the conflict in the Persian Gulf that has sent energy prices surging and put a strain on family budgets. Job growth had been solid, if unspectacular. Some businesses are having trouble filling vacancies. Others are using technology to do the work humans used to do.

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Trump promises he’ll tap his campaign chest to help Republicans

The Republican president is sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign money but told Punchbowl News in an interview released Friday that he’ll unleash the funds to help GOP candidates ahead of the November midterms.

Trump says he has as much as $800 million to spend.

“I control it,” he emphasized.

Notably, he did not offer any details about when or where he’ll distribute the campaign cash.

Many Republicans have been counting on Trump’s super PAC being a key part of the GOP’s defense of their House and Senate majorities. The president’s political funds are a key part of Republicans’ overall financial advantage in the midterm campaign, despite individual Democratic Senate and House candidates outraising their Republican opponents in many key races across the country.

Trump says he’d leave Blanche as acting AG whatever the Senate decides

The president told Punchbowl News he’ll leave his acting attorney general at the Justice Department even if his nomination fails.

“It’ll be very sad,” Trump said, but, “we’ll all survive. Todd will survive.”

Trump called Blanche “fair” and said he’s “not a radical flamethrower.” But he acknowledged the political realities.

He singled out Sen. Murkowski as one of his Republican critics but said he has no regrets about his relationship with the Alaska Republican or other GOP senators, including Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, who could now determine whether Blanche is confirmed.

“You do what you have to do,” Trump said. “Just so you understand, they voted to impeach me. ... In all fairness, you think that I’m going to support somebody that voted to impeach me?”

Cassidy and Murkowski were among the Republicans who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’ll oppose Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination

The Alaska Republican announced on social media that she’ll vote against confirming the acting attorney general for the permanent job.

Murkowski complimented Blanche personally after private meetings with him but said she’s concerned he cannot lead an independent Justice Department under President Donald Trump.

“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

Murkowski’s decision puts Blanche’s nomination on the brink of failing in a chamber where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. She joins Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in opposition, and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has missed Senate votes since early June because of health problems.

That leaves Sen. Bill Cassidy as the potentially deciding vote given that all Democrats are expected to vote against Blanche.

The agreement was signed in the Saudi holy city of Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to statements from all three countries.

The so-called “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement” between the three Sunni Muslim-majority states brings together oil-rich Saudi Arabia and nuclear power Pakistan as well as Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a rapidly growing defense industry. It would increase cooperation and deterrence at a time of increased regional uncertainty and threats from the war in Iran.

Commitment to joint deterrence

"The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all," the statements read.

“It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defense cooperation among the three States,” the statements said.

Saudi Arabia, whose critical infrastructure and oil facilities have come under attack as part of the war in Iran, has been looking to diversify its defense partnerships.

In September, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact that also defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both.

The agreement also comes amid rising tensions between Turkey and Israel over Gaza and other regional conflicts, including the war in Iran and Lebanon.

The deal highlights how far relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have shifted toward alignment and partnership, after being highly strained just a few years ago, including over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul by Saudi operatives.

Iran criticizes the deal

In Iran, Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, criticized the deal on X, saying it would not bring security to Saudi Arabia.

“The Saudis should know that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided ‘milking’ by the Americans did not bring them security. Change your policies so that you do not have to #BegForSecurity from others,” he wrote.

Saudi Arabia says deal is not a military axis or religious bloc

A statement from Saudi Arabia insisted that the agreement does not amount to a military pact and would not affect the kingdom's existing partnerships.

“The agreement does not represent any orientation toward building a military axis or sectarian/religious bloc, and it is not linked to nuclear endeavors or an arms race, but rather to building sustainable self-reliant capabilities,” the statement read. "The agreement does not come at the expense of the Kingdom’s strategic and strong relations at the Gulf, Arab, and international levels."

Erdogan said the agreement was based on “collective deterrence” and would deepen cooperation in defense, support joint defense industry projects and bolster efforts to combat terrorism.

“The agreement, which also reaffirms the right of defense as defined in Article 51 of the UN Charter, targets no country and is open to the participation of all brotherly countries that aim for the peace, prosperity, and stability of our region,” the Turkish president said on X.

A Turkish government official described the agreement as “purely defensive in nature” and “not against any specific actor.” The deal does not annul or replace any bilateral or multilateral agreements between these states or with other states and organizations, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

Long‑standing security ties

Sharif described the agreement as a “historic pact” that would serve as a “shield of peace” for the three countries and the wider Muslim community.

In a post on X, he also praised Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, saying his “untiring efforts and utmost dedication” had contributed significantly to the agreement.

In Islamabad, defense analyst Abdullah Khan described the agreement as a natural evolution and formalization of decades of strategic ties among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, saying a changing regional security environment and the evolving nature of warfare had increased the need for closer cooperation.

Khan said the pact was “purely defensive” and not directed against any country, with collective deterrence intended to raise the cost of aggression and prevent conflict.

The analyst said the three countries bring complementary strengths to the arrangement: Pakistan’s military experience and expertise in managing escalation, Saudi Arabia’s economic strength and regional influence, and Turkey’s advanced defense technology and industrial capabilities.

Abdolreza Davari, an Iranian analyst and former politician, downplayed the risks the new defense pact poses to Tehran as it seeks to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has already shown it can stand up to two of the world’s leading military powers – the U.S. and its ally Israel, he said.

“What difference does it make? Will it be more difficult than the pressure the U.S. and Israel have created on Iran? Is the power of the U.S. and Israel greater or these three countries?” he said in a phone call from Tehran.

Turkey and Pakistan unlikely to engage in large troop deployment

Hamish Kinnear, a Middle East analyst for the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said Turkey and Pakistan were unlikely to send large numbers of troops to assist Saudi Arabia. The deal was expected to allow deeper coordination in diplomacy, defense production, and technology transfer.

“Token deployments are possible, but it is doubtful that Ankara and Islamabad want to become heavily involved in an anti-Houthi military operation. Pakistan, which already held a bilateral collective defense pact with Saudi Arabia, has not been a significant partner in anti-Houthi operations so far,” Kinnear said in an emailed note.

“More likely is increased Ankara-Islamabad-Riyadh coordination on diplomacy, weapons development and technological transfer, with Saudi capital boosting the defense sectors of Turkey and Pakistan,” he added.

Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the Ankara office for The German Marshall Fund think tank, said the agreement was the culmination of the countries’ shared concerns over regional fragmentation, civil conflict, and armed non-state groups.

“This is a reflection of their growing desire for greater regional stability,” Unluhisarcikli said.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Amir Radjy contributed from Washington.

But a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association says that for most adults, moderate caffeine intake — especially from coffee — appears safe and may be linked to cardiovascular benefits in some people.

“Caffeine has always gotten a bad rap when it comes to cardiovascular health,” said Dr. Kelley Chen, an interventional cardiologist at Henry Ford Health Genesys Heart Center, who reviewed the new guidance with me.

The AHA statement, published in the journal Circulation, concludes that up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day — roughly up to five eight-ounce cups of regular brewed coffee — is generally safe for most adults.

The group cautioned that very high doses, including some energy drinks and energy shots, may raise the risk of high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms.

“Up to four or five drinks of coffee a day was OK — and, in some cases, beneficial,” Chen said.

Researchers also emphasized that coffee is more than caffeine.

It contains a complex blend of antioxidants and other compounds that may contribute to potential health benefits.

And many studies of “caffeine” are actually studying coffee, which makes it harder to tease out what comes from caffeine versus coffee’s other ingredients.

Related --> Less-invasive heart valve procedure now an option for more patients, including those at lower surgical risk

What the AHA says is “safe” for most adults

The statement defines a typical upper limit as 400 mg of caffeine per day for most healthy adults.

A regular brewed, non-specialty coffee generally contains about 9.4 to 20.6 mg of caffeine per fluid ounce, meaning caffeine can vary widely based on the brew and serving size.

The authors note that evidence is strongest for plain coffee — and that added sugars and flavored syrups can undercut any potential benefit.

Blood pressure: An unexpected split by intake

Coffee can increase blood pressure in the short term. But longer-term patterns vary.

The statement highlights research suggesting that among people with optimal blood pressure, drinking 1 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day was linked to a higher risk of developing high blood pressure.

At the same time, drinking more than three cups per day was associated with a lower risk of high blood pressure.

Type 2 diabetes: Black coffee showed the strongest association

For Type 2 diabetes, the statement points to evidence that drinking black caffeinated coffee — without cream, sweeteners or flavorings — was linked to a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Researchers caution that caffeine can reduce insulin sensitivity in the short term, and that the protective association could be related to other compounds in coffee, not caffeine alone.

Cholesterol: Filtered coffee appears better than unfiltered

When it comes to cholesterol, how you brew coffee matters.

Data from randomized trials suggest cafestol, a compound present in coffee, can raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.

Cafestol is found in unfiltered coffee such as espresso, French press, Turkish coffee and boiled coffee, but is largely removed by paper-filtered coffee and is not present in instant coffee, the statement said.

Heart rhythm: No added AFib risk at 1–3 cups, but PVCs may increase

The AHA statement says analyses found that drinking 1 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day was not associated with a higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib) or abnormal heart rhythms.

However, randomized trials also found that caffeine in coffee was associated with a higher risk of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) — extra beats that are generally harmless but can be uncomfortable or worrisome for some people.

A key caution: Energy drinks and energy shots aren’t the same

Because coffee is the most commonly consumed caffeinated drink worldwide, much of the research focuses on coffee.

McGeorge noted that caffeinated energy drinks are not as well studied, and that caffeine recommendations aren’t necessarily meant to extend to every caffeine source.

The AHA statement also warned that energy shots may contain far more caffeine per ounce than standard coffee and have been associated with increased risk of high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms.

The bottom line

For most adults, the AHA says up to 400 mg of caffeine per day from coffee is generally safe and may be linked to lower risk of heart disease, stroke and heart failure in some people — particularly when coffee is consumed without added sugar and high-calorie mix-ins.

People who feel palpitations, have sleep disruption, are pregnant, or have uncontrolled high blood pressure should talk with a clinician about what’s appropriate for them.

But cardiologists say a less-invasive procedure that was once reserved for the sickest patients is now available to a broader group — including some people considered low risk for traditional surgery.

The procedure, called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, allows doctors to replace a failing aortic valve without opening the chest.

Instead, physicians thread a catheter through a blood vessel — typically from the leg — and guide a replacement valve into position inside the heart.

“It started with possibly open heart surgery, but I wasn’t real keen on that because of all the pain that goes along with it,” said Chuck Young, 70, who underwent the procedure at Henry Ford Health after learning his symptoms were more serious than he initially believed.

Young said he chalked up his fatigue to aging.

“I just assumed I was just getting old,” he said. “That’s what I was feeling.”

Related --> Coffee and heart health: Why cardiologists’ view of caffeine has shifted

A common condition that can be easy to miss

Aortic stenosis develops when the aortic valve becomes stiff or narrowed, forcing the heart to work harder to push blood to the rest of the body.

Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, and a noticeable decline in activity level.

Doctors say some patients minimize those changes, gradually adapting by slowing down.

“He had a very stenotic valve, which means tight, and he was actually more symptomatic than he thought,” said Dr. Nikhil Ambulgekar, a cardiologist at Henry Ford Health. Ambulgekar said that while Young did not initially report classic warning signs such as chest pain or shortness of breath, further discussion revealed he had reduced activities he previously did with ease.

From high-risk option to broader use

TAVR is not new. The Food and Drug Administration first approved the technology in 2011, but it was initially limited to patients considered too high risk to tolerate open-heart surgery.

Over time, clinical trials and longer-term follow-up data have supported expanding eligibility.

Physicians now consider TAVR for additional patients, including some who are at low surgical risk, depending on factors such as anatomy, overall health and life expectancy.

For patients, the appeal is clear: less trauma, shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries.

Young said he was discharged quickly — and felt well enough to return to projects at home sooner than expected.

“I was out the next day,” he said, adding that he “started building a shed” shortly after the procedure.

“It’s very unbelievable how easy it was and how good I felt after it was done,” Young said.

Benefits — and an important tradeoff

In TAVR procedures, the replacement valves used are bioprosthetic valves, which are made in part from treated animal tissue.

Experts say those valves tend to be flexible and do not require long-term blood-thinning medication.

But they do not last as long as fully mechanical valves commonly used in open surgery.

Bioprosthetic valves typically have a usable lifespan of 10 to 15 years, physicians say, though durability can vary depending on a patient’s age, health and other factors.

That reality makes the initial decision between TAVR and open surgery an important one — particularly for younger patients who may outlive the first replacement valve.

If a bioprosthetic valve wears out and a patient remains healthy, doctors may be able to place another valve through a catheter in some cases. Otherwise, the patient may need open-heart surgery to replace the older valve.

A shifting landscape in heart care

Doctors say the evolution of TAVR reflects a broader trend in cardiovascular medicine: using less-invasive approaches when evidence shows outcomes comparable to traditional surgery for selected patients.

Still, cardiologists emphasize that treatment choices should be individualized. Valve anatomy, other medical conditions, lifestyle and long-term planning all play a role, and many hospitals evaluate patients through a “heart team” approach that includes cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.

For Young, the expanded availability of TAVR meant avoiding an operation he hoped to sidestep — and returning quickly to the routines he enjoys.

For doctors, it is one more sign that a procedure once reserved for only the most fragile patients is becoming a mainstream option for many others.

Here’s a look at developments across the Middle East on Friday. Full coverage can be found here.

Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia sign a mutual defense agreement

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, nuclear power Pakistan and Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a rapidly growing defense industry, signed a mutual defense agreement on Friday.

The deal stipulates that an armed attack on either of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against them all. It was signed during a meeting in Saudi Arabia between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

“The Agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression,” the ministry said in a statement.

The deal comes at a time when Saudi Arabia, whose critical infrastructure and oil facilities have come under attack as part of the war in Iran, has been looking to diversify its defense partnerships.

Houthi rebels blamed for attack on eastern Yemen

Iran-backed Houthis launched attacks on Marib province in eastern Yemen Friday morning, in the latest escalation with Saudi-backed forces, a military official with the forces in Marib said.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media, said the missiles were fired from west of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Qassem Bahaibah, health minister in Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said in a statement on social media that the attacks targeted a refugee camp and residential areas, killing at least two people and injuring 14 others.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack.

Separately, the rebel group struck the Najran region in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border on Thursday, the official spokesperson of the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, confirmed in a statement on X overnight.

He said the attack wounded 11 civilians, including a woman and a child who suffered second-degree burns, and accused the rebels of carrying out “indiscriminate shelling against civilian objects.”

The rebel group did not claim responsibility for the attacks in Marib or Najran. A spokesperson for the Houthis, Nasruddin Amer, said on X on Friday that the group will continue to target gatherings of Saudi-backed forces.

The attacks mark a major escalation since a truce in 2022 largely halted fighting. The civil war pits the Iran-backed Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition allied with Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

—By Ahmed Al-Haj in Aden, Yemen and Fatma Khaled in Cairo

Israeli strike wounds Lebanese soldier

The Lebanese army said the soldier was lightly wounded on Friday while he was in a bulldozer opening roads in the southern village of Mansouri.

Mansouri was subjected to Israeli shelling earlier this week, according to Lebanon’s state news agency.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The Israeli army launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire and called on residents of Mansouri to flee — the first such warning Israel has issued in Lebanon for weeks.

The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche's confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Cassidy said Blanche “is not perfect," citing concerns over a proposed $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies, a tax audit immunity deal for the Republican president and investigations targeting the president's political opponents.

But Cassidy said no other nominee may be able to run the department better under Trump, and he added that Blanche's role as Trump's former criminal defense lawyer can make him more effective at pushing back on the president's demands.

“This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances," Cassidy said. Cassidy, who lost his Republican primary after Trump endorsed his rival, appeared to choke up as he described the criticism he expected to face for his Blanche vote, adding: “What’s new?”

Blanche's nomination came after Bondi was ousted

Blanche would become Trump’s second confirmed attorney general since the president returned to the White House last year with a stated desire to use the law enforcement agency to investigate his perceived enemies. He has been serving as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April after she failed to deliver on criminal cases against Trump's foes.

Blanche's path to confirmation has been complicated over a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that has drawn intense scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats alike. The settlement called for the creation of the $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits.

Republican senators cites concern about Blanche

Murkowski, in announcing her opposition to Blanche, cited concerns over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the sweeping tax audit immunity deal and the proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” The Alaska senator said she is worried the Trump administration could proceed with the fund despite the administration's promises that it is dead, noting that the Senate has leverage over the fund only because Blanche’s nomination is pending.

“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration," Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Blanche's nomination only after a deal reached last weekend with two other Republican senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — who had been threatening to block his confirmation over aspects of the settlement.

Under the deal, Blanche formally rescinded the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” writing in an order that “there is no Fund.”

The Justice Department also clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement applies only to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect Trump from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit — Trump, two of his sons and the Trump Organization — are covered by the tax agreement.

Democrats accuse Blanche of prioritizing his allegiance to Trump

But Democrats say Blanche's order doesn't stop the Trump administration from reviving the fund after his confirmation and have called for legislation to permanently bar it. Trump has repeatedly defended the fund and has threatened to push forward with it if Republicans don't support Blanche's nomination.

Lawmakers and legal experts have also questioned the lawfulness of the tax protections for Trump. A federal judge who oversaw the IRS case has described Trump’s lawsuit as an improper exercise in self-dealing, and on Thursday the union representing IRS workers asked another judge to block the immunity agreement.

Democrats have accused Blanche of prioritizing his loyalty to Trump above all else through investigations against Trump foes such as former FBI Director James Comey and a radical reshaping of a department that historically prided itself on its independence from the White House. Under Bondi and Blanche’s leadership, the department has lost thousands of employees through firings, resignations or voluntary departures.

Blanche’s supporters say his experience as a federal prosecutor and the trust he earned from Trump in the courtroom makes him better equipped than Bondi to explain to the White House the legal constraints of its demands. Republicans have also touted his efforts to bring down violent crime, tackle illegal immigration and combat violent cartels and drug trafficking.

Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it would be a “serious mistake” to confirm Blanche, begging his colleagues not to be on the “wrong side” of history.

“If there is ever a moment in history when we need an attorney general above reproach, who is clearly dedicated to ending corruption, even at the highest level of our government, it’s right now,” Durbin said.

Judges in the northern Moroccan city of Tetouan found the taxi drivers guilty of “facilitating the illegal exit of Moroccans and foreigners through unauthorized border points” and “transporting passengers without a license,” after they drove clients to the Moroccan border town of Fnideq, according to excerpts of the ruling on the Justice Ministry website.

The drivers were sentenced Monday after appearing before prosecutors without defense representation due to a nationwide lawyers’ strike. They retain the right to appeal. One vehicle was confiscated by authorities.

Dozens in pre-trial detention

The Moroccan Association of Human Rights said on Friday that 111 people are in pretrial detention following the recent Ceuta events. Charges include mass rebellion, assaulting public officials and obstruction of traffic, it said.

Morocco’s Justice Ministry and the public prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Labor unions, including the national taxi union, condemned the sentences as “shocking and harsh,” noting in a statement that “no official decision was issued imposing restrictions on passenger transport.”

“Taxi drivers cannot be held responsible for what happened,” Ali Younes, secretary general of the Tetouan branch of the national taxi union told The Associated Press. “They were punished simply for providing a public service.”

Fueled by false social media rumors that the border was open and economic hardship, tens of thousands of Moroccans crossed or swam into Ceuta, a Spanish city that sits on the North African coast, triggering a crisis resonating across Europe.

More than 80 people died on both sides of the border. Nearly all of the migrants who survived were expelled by Spanish authorities or returned voluntarily after seeing they were unwelcome. An estimated 1,000 minors remain, their future uncertain.

Officials in Spain take apart a major trafficking network

Meanwhile, European Union police agency Europol on Friday announced that an international police operation led by Spanish authorities dismantled a major criminal network involved in trafficking migrants, drugs and weapons across the Western Mediterranean. The operation resulted in 78 arrests in Spain and Algeria in June, weeks before the migrant surge into Ceuta.

The change comes a year ahead of schedule. Kellogg said last August that it would remove synthetic dyes from its cereals by the end of 2027.

But the company said Thursday it has identified fruit- and vegetable-based juices that will give cereals like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks their distinctive colors. The Battle Creek, Michigan-based company said it has also invested in equipment that will allow it to transition to natural colors.

The company said it is also removing BHT, an artificial preservative, from the small number of cereals that still contain it.

“More and more consumers are looking for foods made with simple, recognizable ingredients and we are proud to meet those expectations even sooner than planned,” Kellogg’s Chief Growth Officer Doug VanDeVelde said in a statement.

Kellogg has faced pressure for years to remove artificial ingredients from its cereals, which it has already done in other countries like Canada. In 2024, dozens of people rallied outside Kellogg's headquarters and delivered petitions with 400,000 signatures asking the company to remove artificial dyes and BHT.

That pressure has grown under President Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has urged food companies to phase out petroleum-based artificial dyes. Last August, Kellogg also signed an agreement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton saying it would “permanently remove toxic dyes” from its cereals by the end of 2027.

Retailers are also forcing companies to act. Earlier this year, Target said it would stop selling cereals that contain artificial colors by the end of May. Walmart has also said it will remove artificial colors from its store brands by January 2027.

The defense attorneys filed a motion for release in Miami federal court, where a judge will next week determine if the brothers should stay in jail or be released during what could be a monthslong extradition process.

The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors must file a response to the motion by Monday.

The detention hearing is likely to be the first time the Tates leave the Federal Detention Center in Miami since making a brief court appearance two days after their July 18 arrest. The Tates have become among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities with their promotion of wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire. The new allegations are the latest in the Tates' long-running international legal saga spanning the U.S., Britain and Romania.

The brothers claim special circumstances for their release

The defense motion acknowledges there is a presumption against bond in extradition proceedings but argues that release can be granted in special circumstances. It says the Tates’ high profile makes it nearly impossible for them to flee, and that they regularly post updates about their locations on social media.

Prosecutors call the brothers a flight risk but their attorneys said they have proved they are not, by complying with all pretrial restrictions in Romania, where they are accused of luring women for sexual exploitation.

“Every prediction the government now asks this Court to make about the brothers’ future conduct — that they will flee if released — has already been made and answered by three years of data showing that they do not flee,” the motion says.

The U.K. has until mid-September to provide evidence to the State Department to support extradition, meaning the brothers could spend months in FDC Miami before the proceedings are resolved, the motion says. No date has been set for an extradition hearing. They are being held in a special unit for their own protection.

“The Tates have limited contact with their families, no television, no radio, and no commissary access,” the motion says. “They sleep without pillows, on bunks shorter than they are tall.”

It says holding a detainee who hasn't been convicted of a crime under such conditions violates due process.

They have a history of legal troubles

The brothers have long claimed that their violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.

The former professional kickboxers, who have dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship, have millions of social media followers and are vocal supporters of President Donald Trump. The White House has said the brothers shouldn't expect any help from the president.

British prosecutors said the new charges relate to four new accusers and were brought after authorities received evidence from police in Bedfordshire, in southeastern England. The allegations, which span from 2010 to 2017, include rape, assault, trafficking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.”

The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other accusers in the U.K. between 2012 and 2015.

The brothers moved to Romania in 2016 and were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations, and the Romanian case hasn't moved forward due to legal and procedural problems.

The Tates' attorneys have said the Romanian court has granted a U.K. request for extradition that will take effect after Romanian proceedings conclude.

“What the United Kingdom seeks now is to shop for a second forum and a second judge in order to jump ahead of the Romanian proceedings and bypass the Romanian order that deferred surrender of the brothers,” the motion said. “The Court should decline and release the brothers on conditions.”

Andrew Tate, 39, became famous a decade ago when he was a contestant on the U.K. reality television show “Big Brother.” He was ejected from the show when a video appeared to show him assaulting a woman.

He has amassed over 10 million followers on X but has been banned from other platforms, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, for violating hate speech guidelines. He has made widely condemned comments, such as saying women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for the attacks and sharing graphic descriptions of how he might attack women.

Tristan Tate, 38, has worked with his brother on multiple businesses, including the production of online webcam pornography.

It was Shavuot, the Jewish holiday commemorating God giving the Torah to Moses. Hallegua reached the 458-year-old Paradesi Synagogue where he knew he would pray alone — without a minyan, the quorum of 10 males required for a communal service there.

Hallegua is the synagogue's last local congregant — the only Jew left in Jew Town.

Across the city at the centuries-old Kadavumbagam Synagogue, Elias “Babu” Josephai remembered the “chukkunda" — fried dough balls his grandmother used to make for Shavuot.

“It wasn’t much,” he said, wiping away tears. “But at that time, it was everything."

They ache for what’s already gone and work to preserve what's left.

In the 1950s, much of the Jewish community in Kochi (historically known as Cochin), a seaport on India’s southwestern coast, immigrated to Israel, leaving behind their homes, synagogues and cemeteries.

The burden of being the last Jews

Hallegua and Josephai stayed. Now they represent the final chapter for the Cochin Jews who have lived peacefully — and without fear of antisemitism — for centuries alongside Hindu, Muslim and Christian neighbors. There are now fewer than 5,000 Jews in all of India, the world's most populous country.

But the Cochin Jewish community's complex history includes both religious freedom and internal divisions over class and colorism. Hallegua is a Paradesi Jew, the once-dominant group whose fair-skinned, Sephardic ancestors from Spain and Portugal fled the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century. They brought enslaved people with them, and their freed descendants, known as the Meshuchrarim Jews, were relegated to a lower social status and had to fight for religious equality.

Josephai is a Malabari Jew. The group's darker-skinned ancestors trace their roots back more than 2,000 years, to King Solomon’s time. They also faced past discrimination from the Paradesi community. While these divisions didn't survive after the Cochin Jews migrated to Israel and elsewhere, the bitter remnants still haunt the community's legacy.

Though Hallegua and Josephai rarely meet, both are intensely proud of their ancient heritage.

Josephai spent years resurrecting Kadavumbagam Synagogue, the last functioning Malabari house of worship. Services are rare; it's up to Josephai to light the lamps and keep the prayers going, often alone. He weeps for the past, when the synagogue was filled with people, prayers and songs.

“That will never come back,” he said.

Hallegua is the last local member of Paradesi Synagogue, which now relies on tourists and visitors to have a quorum for services.

“Quite often, I walk to the synagogue and I ask HaShem (God), why have you done this?” Hallegua said. “I never hear a response.”

Locals and global community strive to preserve history

On a recent morning, tourists crowded the Paradesi Synagogue and Synagogue Lane, the street it anchors. Former homes are now occupied by spice warehouses and stores selling antiques and handicrafts. Historically, the Jewish community played a major role in the spice trade in Kochi, a hub for black pepper, cardamom and nutmeg.

The synagogue’s entryway leads to a main hall with blue and white Chinese porcelain tile floors. Nineteenth century Belgian crystal chandeliers and colorful glass lanterns adorn the sanctuary. A carved teakwood Torah ark stands at the western wall facing Jerusalem. As in other Kochi synagogues, the women’s section is upstairs. Visitors slip off their shoes, in keeping with regional etiquette.

Synagogue trustee M.C. Praveen says his life's mission is protecting Cochin Jewish history. Praveen, a Hindu, spent his childhood in Jew Town, attending school with Hallegua's family members, eating Shabbat dinners, playing cricket near the synagogue.

“I want to make sure future generations know the history of this town and the people who lived here,” said Praveen, who seeks guidance from the community's former residents and their far-flung children.

The connections transcend geography. Trustee Shulamit Kotzer, 55, was born in Jew Town and spent vacations there after moving to Israel at age 2. She dreams of opening a hotel in the neighborhood.

“I consider Cochin not a second home, but my home,” she said.

Earlier this year, synagogue leaders opened a museum showcasing Kochi's Jewish history. It features the settlement's original deed: two copper plates bearing a Hindu king's charter from 1000 CE granting the community religious freedom.

Preservation efforts transcend religious ties

Praveen is not the only non-Jew trying to ensure the community's culture survives.

Thaha Ibrahim, a Muslim, forged a profound connection with the late Sarah Cohen, one of the neighborhood's Jewish matriarchs. He now runs her embroidery shop on Synagogue Lane. Cohen, or “Sarah aunty” as he calls her, taught him how to do Cochin Jewish embroidery.

“I'm teaching my son to do this embroidery so he can continue Sarah aunty's legacy,” he said.

Ibrahim lights Shabbat candles on Fridays and closes his shop on Saturdays. Muslim-Jewish tensions elsewhere in the world are not a deterrent, he says.

“This is not about religion, it's about human connection."

Across the city in Ernakulam, Josephai shoulders the preservation of Malabari Jewish heritage. The 12th century Kadavumbagam Synagogue, which he saved after vandals destroyed it, is tucked behind the store where he sells aquarium fish and plants. The renovated interior features hand-crafted tile and a red-and-gold Torah ark.

Josephai is proud that people of different faiths helped him rebuild. A Muslim donated the lamps, a Christian gave a Ten Commandments plaque, a Hindu foundation paid for the chandeliers.

An oil lamp hangs in front of the ark, its flame kept burning by Josephai. He also keeps the synagogue prayers going, a promise made to his grandmother after his siblings moved to Israel in 1972.

“Every Jew has a dream that his last breath should be in Israel," he said. “I believe my last breath should be inside this synagogue.”

Josephai, 70, hopes a Jewish organization will take over the synagogue, along with the library and museum he is building.

“Once I’m gone, there is no one who can tell these stories,” he said. “But this is our fate and that’s how it is.”

Thapan Dubayehudi, a Malabari Jew who moved to Vienna in 2022, called Josephai “a one-man army” keeping the history alive. He remembers sitting with Josephai as they assembled and lit hundreds of lamps in the sanctuary during Hanukkah.

“I’d carry that memory with me if God gives me 90 years of life,” he said.

A strong identity that is both Indian and Jewish

Keith Hallegua also stayed to fulfill family responsibilities.

“Never did I ever think that I would be the last Jew in Jew Town,” said Hallegua, who remained to care for his brother and mother.

His mind teems with memories. Singing the Paradesi Jewish tunes that blended Sephardic chants with local folk elements. The aroma of his mother's chili chicken. His grandmother's frantic cleaning ahead of Passover, Hallegua’s favorite season. The new clothes for Rosh Hashanah.

“That’s never going to come back,” Hallegua said.

He realizes his memories will vanish with him. It's deeply painful, and some days he wants to leave Jew Town. But he is grounded by his homeland and its history.

As he once explained, “I was born a Jew in India and I shall die in India, a Jew.”

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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.

Firefighters used helicopters to drop water on the blaze sweeping through pine forests near Deliblatska Pescara, a protected nature reserve about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the capital, Belgrade. Another major fire raged near the central town of Kraljevo.

The blistering heat wave bearing down on Europe in recent weeks has set national temperature records in multiple countries, led to droughts that have strained national energy systems and fueled wildfires from Western Europe to the Balkans.

Fires in Serbia rage close to settlements

Fires in Serbia rage close to the settlements of Cardak and Sumarak in the Deliblatska Pescara area. Regional television reported that villagers from Sumarak have been asked to leave their homes as a precaution. Authorities said that no houses had caught fire and no casualties had been reported.

Days of dry weather and scorching heat reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104F) have worsened the wildfire risk. Strong winds across the Balkan nation on Friday complicated firefighters’ efforts to contain the blazes.

After an emergency meeting Friday, Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the army had been brought in to help emergency efforts. The government urged all state companies to provide any equipment and human resources they can spare to help tackle the blazes. Dacic added that despite nine wildfires affecting various parts of the country, the situation was “not critical.”

Firefighters were also tackling blazes on Friday in neighboring Montenegro near the town of Cetinje, and other locations in the Adriatic Sea nation.

Heat wave breaks records in Europe

The extreme weather across Europe has pushed temperatures above 40 C in many countries, prompting health warnings for millions of people. Scientists and officials warn that such events are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms.

In Central Europe, Slovakia and Austria both recorded all-time high temperatures this week.

In Dolne Plachtince in southern Slovakia, temperatures soared to 42.2 C (108 F), while the Austrian village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near the Slovak border recorded 41.2 C (106.2 F). Hungary also recorded its warmest overnight temperature on record, with temperatures falling only to 28 C (82 F) in the capital, Budapest.

In Italy, officials placed all its major cities under the highest heat alert on Thursday, signaling a health risk for the entire population, not only vulnerable groups.

Severe droughts hit major European rivers

Prolonged droughts have left major European rivers such as the Danube River and Rhine River at significantly low water levels, and multiple Central and Eastern European governments are facing energy emergencies as a result.

On Friday, Romania continued an operation to sink four rock-laden barges into the Danube near the Bala Canal to redirect water downstream toward its state-owned Cernavoda nuclear plant, which relies on river water to cool its reactors. The aim is to buy more time before the second reactor is likely forced offline after its first reactor was shut down last week.

In neighboring Hungary, operators of the country’s only nuclear power plant were also forced to reduce output to about 10% of normal production due to the Danube’s low levels, prompting the government to ask businesses and the general public to cut down on their electricity use, particularly during peak hours.

On Friday, Hungary’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar told a news conference that slightly cooler weather and water level increases of around 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) on the Danube meant that energy-saving measures could be suspended. He praised Hungarians for successfully reducing the burden on the electrical grid.

“We would like to thank everyone who, during the difficult week that’s behind us, joined in this unprecedented national cooperation,” he said. “We have preserved Hungary’s energy and water security.”

Magyar said some rainfall could raise water levels on the Danube further and bring “temporary respite” in the coming days, but warned that more hot and dry weather in the forecast would likely lead to levels dropping again.

Over the past week, Slovakia’s biggest hydroelectric power plant in Gabčíkovo was forced to shut down seven of its eight turbines, and Germany also faced growing concerns over the impact of drought on transportation and industry as water levels on the Rhine and other rivers continued to fall.

In Moldova, which relies heavily on imported electricity, including from Romania, authorities have urged citizens to voluntarily reduce usage during peak hours.

—

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England. Justin Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary.

Zendaya’s angelic strapless gown with feathered white wings was the work of Matières Fécales — yes, in English, Fecal Matter — the Paris-based, high-end fashion house founded in Montreal over a decade ago that’s, seemingly suddenly, everywhere.

Why Matières Fécales is called ... that

The design duo behind Matières Fécales, Steven Raj Bhaskaran and Hannah Rose Dalton, have aimed to subvert beauty with their own alien-like personal style, including dramatic white makeup, shaved heads and eyebrows, and skin boots made to look like realistic feet.

Bhaskaran and Dalton started the brand as students at Collège LaSalle Montréal, going from selling designs on the secondhand shopping platform Depop to showcasing collections at Paris Fashion Week. The designers have said the name reflects their view of the fashion industry, a perspective they initially summed up with a more vulgar word.

“There’s no other word for it, but how can we say it in a glamorous way? So we’re like, ‘fecal matter’ is the scientific word for it,” Dalton recalled to Vogue last year, adding they translated it into French, which “sounds way more glamorous.” Bhaskaran told the “Fashion Neurosis” podcast in March that the name was also intended to “challenge the wasteful side of fashion.”

A representative for Matières Fécales said the designers were not available for comment.

Despite the visceral name, tastemakers from Lady Gaga to Kylie Jenner are embracing their designs.

“There is this beautiful tension in their work between the finesse and the decaying, and the strong and the soft,” celebrity stylist Brad Goreski told The Associated Press.

And after years of building a cult following, they were taken under the wings of Dover Street Market in 2024, after first meeting its president, Adrian Joffe, backstage at a Madonna show. The global retail and concept stores offer emerging brands development support, from production and distribution to sales.

Kristen Bateman, a longtime fashion and culture writer who has attended all three of the designers’ Paris Fashion Week shows, said their rise is driven by the industry’s desire to see something new.

“If you’re looking at the high-fashion brands like Chanel and Dior, it all sort of starts to blend together,” she said. “And this feels like it’s in its own category. ... You can’t replicate it.”

From cult status to Paris Fashion Week

Milan Tanedjikov, a Collège LaSalle Montréal design teacher, had a front-row seat to Dalton and Bhaskaran's rise and says they have finally found the balance between their art and fashion.

“They have created this, like, very interesting organism together,” he said.

The designers were invited onto the official calendar for Paris Fashion Week last year, debuting “The Other,” a collection they described as an ode to being fearless with identity. It featured a collaboration pairing their striking curved-heel design with Christian Louboutin’s signature red sole.

“At their very core, what drives them is absolute freedom of expression, and they want to push the boundaries of what is human,” Tanedjikov said.

In March, during Paris Fashion Week, the duo unveiled “The One Percent,” with models theatrically strutting with red paint on white opera gloves and wearing eye masks made of dollar bills. The collection showcased how “power affects us all,” they wrote on Instagram.

“What they were able to build in such a small amount of time is really insane in terms of world building and creating their world,” Augustin Maunier, Dover Street Market's director of brand development, said. “There’s real storytelling behind it.”

The show's theme was a stark contrast to the billionaires who had been sitting front row at other fashion week shows. At this year’s Met Gala, where Jeff Bezos was an honorary chair, actor Sarah Paulson wore a voluminous, gray, distressed ball gown from the collection, paired with the eye-covering money mask.

Goreski pulled from “The One Percent” for Demi Moore's wardrobe as a Cannes Film Festival jury member, telling the AP he wanted something new for Moore. Moore's frayed, full-volume, Barbie-pink ball gown with a distressed bow was a break from her usual structured looks. In 20 years of dressing Moore, Goreski said she hardly ever chooses a full-skirt “cupcake” shape, but that she fell for the designers’ artistic vision and storytelling.

“They’re designing clothes for themselves,” he said. “That’s authentically them, but they’re bringing it to like a whole other audience.”

Find their clothes on Lady Gaga and a Dunkin’ ad

Early supporters of the brand fittingly included boundary-breaking performers Madonna and Lady Gaga. Madonna even invited them to DJ on her tour in 2023 and they've designed custom looks for Gaga’s live performances, including Coachella. At this year's Grammys, Gaga wore a high-neck, feathered, black gown from the designers, a dark angel to Zendaya’s heavenly “Odyssey” look.

Now, though, their bold designs are going beyond red carpets. In a television ad for Dunkin’, Kylie Jenner wore a blush-pink, satin, structured blazer with over-the-top shoulder pads, a designer choice that generated some amusement online from those previously unfamiliar with the brand's name.

The designers created a distressed Victorian-style dress for model Gabbriette Bechtel's wedding to musician Matty Healy, a first for the brand. With their next Paris Fashion Week show set for September, fashion connoisseurs are eagerly waiting to see what’s next.

“We’re rooting for them because they’re younger designers who have something to say,” fashion commentator Hanan Besovic, who posts online as @Ideservecouture, said.

Infantino is facing a revolt after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.

The Norwegian federation held a meeting on Thursday and president Lise Klaveness said the decision had been made to ask Infantino to resign.

“When trust is gone, leadership must also be assessed. We therefore believe that Gianni Infantino’s time as FIFA President should be over, and ask him to resign," Klaveness said via translation.

The announcement is the latest blow for Infantino as the fallout continues over his controversial plan to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

European soccer's governing body UEFA said Thursday its threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions remained in place despite FIFA abandoning and apologizing for its failed plan.

It reiterated its stance that it had lost confidence in Infantino.

Earlier this week Infantino appeared to have held off the potential of an internal revolt during a summit meeting with top staff in Rabat, Morocco.

FIFA said the president had been given the full support of those in attendance.

But UEFA's response, followed by Norway's direct call for him to resign shows the sense of anger from Europe, in particular, remains strong.

The English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election next March.

He did, however, receive backing from Mexico’s federation.

The Norwegian federation said it would raise concerns with FIFA regarding FFE, the peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and the suspension of Folarin Balogun's one-match ban at the World Cup.

“FIFA needs new leadership to rebuild trust, strengthen good governance and ensure that the organization’s own reforms are actually implemented," Klaveness said.

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

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

It is called Obon. A Japanese festival rooted in Buddhist tradition and a deep belief that every summer — the spirits of those who have passed return to visit the living.

Obon is the celebration to welcome them home. At the heart of it is a dance called Bon Odori.

The story goes that hundreds of years ago — a Buddhist monk freed his mother from suffering. He was so filled with gratitude — he danced with joy. That dance became a tradition that has lasted centuries.

On Friday, people dance to say thank you, to remember loved ones and to celebrate the gift of being alive. And on Saturday, the annual MI Bon Summer Festival brings that beautiful tradition right here to Michigan.

It is free. It runs from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cranbrook Japanese Gardens in Bloomfield Hills.

Expect thundering taiko drumming. Bon Odori dancing that everyone can join in on. Amazing food trucks. And cultural booths where you can learn about Japanese history and the story of Obon.

This festival was created by two women right here in Michigan — Kyoko Johnson and Noriko Maidens. They joined Local 4 Live on Friday to talk more about the festival.

You can watch the full interview in the video at the beginning of this article.

Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who narrowly beat establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in a contentious primary for an open Senate seat, will be the most closely watched candidate at the event.

With less than three months before the general election where El-Sayed will face Republican Mike Rogers, the Democratic Party is under pressure to close ranks in a race that will help determine control of the Senate.

“The things that unite us are so much bigger than the things that divide us,” El-Sayed said in a Wednesday speech.

Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, a potential presidential candidate who lives in Michigan, is also slated to attend on Friday.

Current Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ decision to not seek reelection left the seat open. Michigan is a perennial battleground state, having voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump again in 2024.

Stevens, who lost the primary by just under 1 percentage point, told CBS News on Thursday she was willing to campaign with El-Sayed.

“Whatever he wants me to do," she said.

Gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, who easily won her primary, is scheduled to attend the event as well. She will face Trump-backed Rep. John James in the general election.

Also slated to attend will be Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is running for secretary of state; Eli Savit, who is running for attorney general; and Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.

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

That background sounds ideal for a U.S. Senate hopeful in a Deep South state run for generations by white conservatives.

Except Colom is a Democrat. And a Black man.

So, he's an underdog in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a white Donald Trump acolyte seeking her second full term. Yet several variables — Colom’s biography, Mississippi’s demographics, lingering inflation and Hyde-Smith's understated profile — make for a wildcard matchup as Republicans defend their 53-47 Senate majority at the midpoint of Trump's second presidency.

“Mississippi matters,” Colom insisted throughout a recent day of campaigning.

He told The Associated Press he has a rare opportunity to flip the state's usual script by casting Hyde-Smith as a rubber stamp while deflecting broadsides that he's a liberal misfit.

“I’m going to fight the corruption that we’re seeing in D.C. that’s making everything less affordable,” he said, zeroing in on Trump’s tariffs, the Iran war and the Republican-controlled Congress’ capitulation on both. “Our junior senator has totally given away our voice. She’s not worried about us at all.”

Through aides, Hyde-Smith declined an interview. But her campaign manager projected confidence.

“No one believes in Scott Colom except for Scott Colom,” said Jake Monssen, tagging the challenger as a stooge of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and billionaire donor George Soros, whose family backed Colom's district attorney races.

Schumer recently held a fundraiser for Colom, and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Maryland's first Black senator, traveled to Mississippi to support him as Democrats look for every path to Senate control. She predicted more senators will follow.

“I can guarantee you one thing,” Alsobrooks said, "I’m not the last.”

As they campaigned together, Colom cited a famous biblical long shot while alluding to his state's history at the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement.

“We know a little something about David and Goliath in Mississippi," he said.

The outcome hinges on ‘simple math’

Mississippi’s fraught history with racism is never far below the surface.

Colom’s weekend featured a voting rights discussion at Jackson’s Farish Street Baptist Church, where Medgar Evers, the NAACP leader killed by white supremacists in 1963, held organizing meetings. One of Evers’ successors embraced Colom's candidacy as the next step in a long struggle.

“Mississippi is not just a moral argument,” said state NAACP Executive Director Charles Taylor. “It is simple math.”

Black voters make up a larger share of Mississippi's 2.95 million residents (about 37%) and typical November electorate (about a third) than in any other state. More than 9 out of 10 of them typically vote Democratic but turn out at a lower rate than white voters, especially young generations, according to strategists in both major political parties. White voters opt by a 4-1 ratio or more for Republicans. Younger white voters trend slightly less Republican, but they're also less likely to vote.

That makes most Mississippi elections closer than in neighboring Alabama and Louisiana. In 2018, Hyde-Smith won a special election runoff over Mike Espy, Mississippi's first Black congressman since Reconstruction and a former U.S. agriculture secretary, by 7 percentage points. She notched a 10-percentage-point rematch win in 2020 but trailed Trump’s 16-percentage-point margin over Democrat Joe Biden.

Three years later, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves managed just a 3-percentage-point reelection margin and finished less than 1 percentage point over the majority threshold that Mississippi law requires to avoid a runoff in statewide general elections.

Taylor said registration and turnout efforts by the NAACP and other groups could draw 75,000 more Black voters, enough to close recent gaps.

Wilbur Colom, who once lost a state treasurer’s race as a Republican, enjoys gaming out turnout scenarios for his son.

Scott Colom can hit a winning sweet spot, his father said, by increasing Black share of the electorate to 35% and get closer to one out of four white votes rather than the typical 20% or less.

“That’s hard,” Wilbur Colom said. “But demographics are our friend here.”

Scott Colom leans on contrasting records

Colom mostly sidesteps Mississippi history or electoral math unless asked.

“We’ve made a lot more progress than we get credit for,” he said.

“A lot of Mississippians,” he added, “want somebody that’s going to look out for them,” regardless of race.

On Republican gerrymandering after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a last key Voting Rights Act provision protecting minority voting strength, Colom steers the conversation to economics. Republicans, Colom said, “don't want to be held accountable” for how things are going.

Asked about Biden tapping him for a federal judgeship only for Hyde-Smith to block the nomination, Colom says the campaign isn't about that. He avoids personal shots at Trump, instead emphasizing Mississippi farmers harmed by the Republican president’s tariffs and “400,000 Mississippians that don’t have health insurance” because the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid and Republicans, Hyde-Smith included, let expanded insurance premium subsidies expire.

Colom mentions crime victims and their families in his jurisdiction, promising voters will see them vouch for him. And he criticizes Hyde-Smith for using campaign funds at Las Vegas hotels.

“Voters in Mississippi were promised America first. They were promised lower grocery prices, no more endless wars, concepts of a healthcare plan,” he said. “We’ve been betrayed on all three fronts, and Cindy Hyde-Smith won’t even do a town hall to justify any of it.”

Hyde-Smith's team targets Colom as too liberal

The senator's aides note that she travels regularly to community events around Mississippi — and only annually to Las Vegas for a national campaign fundraiser the onetime state agriculture commissioner plans around a professional rodeo event.

Hyde-Smith, in turn, frames Colom as beholden to extremes beyond Mississippi. Monssen said voters will see a challenger trying “to transition kids’ genders,” raise taxes and give “healthcare to illegal immigrants” to please his “socialist supporters” from the coasts.

It’s a play-it-safe strategy that presumes Republicans like Steve Rogers, a 73-year-old from Brandon, still make up Mississippi's majority.

“I like how she votes, and I think any Democrat’s wasting their time,” Rogers said. He still gives Trump high marks and hasn't even heard of Colom. Trump’s slide “may give her some trouble,” he allows, “but I think she coasts.”

Colom acknowledged financial support from the Soros family but said no candidate controls outside political action committees. He pointed to his prosecution of a Democratic sheriff for sexual abuse of a prisoner as proof that partisanship doesn’t guide him. Voters, including many who've backed Trump and Hyde-Smith, “are smart enough,” he said, to “see through the lies.”

Democrat Judy Weiner, a 72-year-old poll worker in Hinds County, added that Hyde-Smith distinguishes herself only by her fealty to Trump, while not establishing a reputation for securing appropriations and helping rank-and-file Mississippians, as did her predecessor Cochran.

“He made his decisions based on what was good for all the people in Mississippi, not because the president whispered in his ear,” she said, noting Cochran attracted votes from Black and white Democrats.

A little cash could go a long way

The candidates' campaign accounts and Mississippi's inexpensive media markets intensify the unknowns.

Through June, Hyde-Smith had raised $3.8 million this cycle, with $2.5 million left. Colom pulled in $2.8 million and had $850,000 remaining. But Colom outpaced Hyde-Smith among individual contributors, $1.9 million to $1.8 million, from the start of 2025. More of his money ($536,000) came from Mississippi than any other state, despite Monssen's broadsides.

There is no statewide TV advertising yet, but Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Lauren French said the group is “watching closely.” And it doesn't take seven figures per ad buy to penetrate the electorate, unlike in more populous states like Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. That means that either national party or super PACs could make late investments that matter.

“We need to be working for every single seat,” said Alsobrooks, the Maryland visitor, “and you know what, it always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Ukraine has regularly hit targets in the distant Urals this year and has even struck a Russian oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from the border. The attacks are examples of how Kyiv has used drone innovation as a key part of its response to the invasion by its much bigger enemy more than four years ago.

Its successes have drawn international interest and drone cooperation agreements with nine countries, with further deals being negotiated with 15 other countries, according to Kyiv officials.

Wildberries said its warehouse in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, was set ablaze by the attack. Most merchandise wasn’t damaged, the company said, unlike at some of the more than a dozen other Wildberries depots struck by Ukraine in recent weeks that have burned down.

The regional governor, Denis Pasler, said three drones hit the warehouse’s roof. Artyom Zhoga, the Kremlin’s representative in the region, said that 800 people were evacuated from the warehouse and nobody was hurt.

Kyiv is trying to rattle the Russian public and the Kremlin with the attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting Friday of the country’s Security Council. He said in televised opening remarks that the meeting would focus on additional measures to “strengthen … protection of infrastructure facilities” but gave no further details.

Ukraine presses on with plans for new weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing for his country to keep up the pace of technological development, especially in air defense systems to help stop Russian ballistic missiles that are exploiting Ukraine’s shortage of American-made Patriot interceptor missiles and battering civilian areas.

A joint European anti-ballistic development program is already underway, Zelenskyy said late Thursday, with 10 countries engaged in developing an anti-ballistic shield. Europe is concerned about Moscow’s ambitions on the continent beyond Ukraine.

“Ukraine is capable of producing its (anti-ballistic) missile and launcher, while our partners will provide the necessary components and critical elements — radars, sensors, and everything else required,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “An anti-ballistic program of our own — one that is truly large-scale — will greatly benefit everyone in Europe.”

At the same time, Ukraine is working on manufacturing its own ballistic missiles to use against Russia. “The tests have shown strong potential. We need to turn this into a real weapon,” Zelenskyy said.

Defenders are under pressure in eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian front-line defenses in eastern regions, meanwhile, remain under strain as Russia’s bigger army looks for a breakthrough after months of minimal advances that Western analysts and officials say have had a high cost for Moscow in troop casualties.

Ukraine has been evacuating children from Kramatorsk, one of the four eastern Donetsk region cities that make up the Ukrainian so-called Fortress Belt. The line of four large and heavily defended cities, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) long, has been key to denying Moscow its goal of seizing Ukraine's industrial heartland.

The head of the Donetsk region’s regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, said Friday that more than 800 people, including 91 children, were evacuated over the previous 24 hours.

Ukraine has been deploying midrange strike drones to disrupt Russia’s supply lines and slow its advance.

Zelenskyy said that the recently appointed commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, reported to him Friday about the military situation in Donetsk.

He said in a social media post that they reached “an understanding of how to strengthen” Ukraine’s defenses there but gave no details.

Russia and Ukraine sustain nightly drone attacks

Russia’s air defenses downed 203 Ukrainian drones from late Thursday through early Friday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.

Over the past week, the Russian military struck 31 bulk cargo vessels and three tugboats that operated “in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces,” it said.

It added that late Thursday two ships were hit by Geran-4 drones in the Black Sea east and southeast of Odesa and one was struck in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk.

In other attacks, the ministry said that the military hit a facility assembling long-range drones in Okhtyrka in the Sumy region on Thursday. It also released a video of a train purportedly carrying military equipment struck by a Geran drone and then an Iskander ballistic missile near Vyshneve in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 147 long-range strike drones overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

In Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, a Russian drone struck a busy market Friday morning, wounding 10 people, authorities said.

Russia also launched glide bombs and drones of various types at the regional capital, according to the head of regional administration, Oleh Hryhorov.

The attack targeted residential buildings, transport and infrastructure, wounding two people, he said.

___

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

Michigan State Police provided an update Thursday evening on the ongoing search for two women and a 9-year-old child reported missing after going tubing on the Muskegon River.

Police say they are actively searching for Jazmin Hock, 28, of Muskegon; Sarah Vida, 28, of Muskegon; and Kayden Kovalcik, 9, whom have been missing for 48 hours since heading out on the river from the Maple Island Boat Launch on Tuesday.

The investigation began when the father of one of the missing women found her car at the boat launch with the window broken out. No family members have heard from the missing individuals and police say two inflatable tubes believed to be theirs have been located.

Search teams also found footprints that are being evaluated as part of the investigation, police said.

MSP is asking the public to avoid the area as search operations continue, and noted they will seek out public’s assistance if it is needed.

In the meantime, police are asking anyone who may have spotted the three individuals or has any information that could assist investigators to reach out to the Michigan State Police Hart Post at 231-873-2171 or the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office at 231-689-7303.

And tell you. And tell you.

Trump has spoken repeatedly of his prowess with green lawns since returning to the White House — at some events even spending more time talking about it than the war in Iran, the economy or November's midterm elections.

It was on the president's mind just five weeks after his second inauguration, when he pointed out the Oval Office window during an interview with The Spectator. “You see the grass outside, right?” he asked before detailing his plans to pave over much of it. “Some people would like to leave it. But the problem is, you can’t."

Trump has kept on the topic constantly ever since, saying as recently as Monday at a White House event with military spouses: “Grass is like humans. It has a life.”

All told, he's mentioned grass in at least 45 public events or interviews over the past 18 months — or at least once every 12 days. That doesn't include the numerous social media posts that he has also made on the topic.

Trump's gravitation toward grass speaks to his decades as a New York real estate developer and personal love of building things and overseeing construction projects. But it is also an indication of how much time he spends on the golf course and his extensive, second-term efforts to revamp the White House and greater Washington in his own image. The president has already far outpaced the 26 times he mentioned grass during the entirety of his first four-year term.

The White House didn't answer questions for this story. But the Republican president has made clear where his interest in — and knowledge of — grass comes from.

“I know a lot about grass because I own a lot of golf courses," he said while announcing the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors last August. "And, if you don’t have good grass, you’re not in business very long.”

A week later, while visiting park police officers in Washington, the president declared, “I know more about grass than any human being, I think, anywhere in the world.”

Trump frequently touts his Washington overhaul and Rose Garden patio

Matt Koch, the lawns research fellow for gardening giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, met recently with the president to discuss planting new grass on the White House’s South Lawn. He proudly considers himself a “grass nerd” and came away convinced Trump is an honorary one.

“An amazing dialogue, talking grass for half an hour,” Koch said of the Oval Office discussion. “Going back and forth about grass.”

Trump has managed to bring up grass at events as varied as the signing of an executive order on TikTok and the 2025 White House celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. He mentioned it while pardoning turkeys last Thanksgiving, while addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, and while signing a directive on quantum technology.

Last September, while hosting Republican lawmakers for dinner, he pledged of green spaces around Washington, “We’re gonna re-grass them with the best guys in the country.” That same month, during an event announcing the intended renaming of the Department of Defense, Trump assured attendees, “I’m very good at grass.”

Trump most frequently mentions grass while promoting his Washington beautification efforts. In May, he spent 10 minutes of a Cabinet meeting detailing his efforts to fix fountains and give D.C.'s parks and monuments a face-lift — sometimes sounding more like a small-town mayor than the leader of the free world.

Ironically, the president brings up the topic while defending his decisions to remove grass for new construction — like when he covered the lawn near the White House's Rose Garden with a stone patio.

“Problem with the grass, you couldn’t do anything with it,” he said during a 2025 Oval Office tour for hosts of the “All-In” podcast.

The president also frequently recounts that hordes of women, including journalists, Cabinet members and administration officials, used to complain to him about their high heels getting stuck in the mud in the old, grassy Rose Garden.

“The women would be lifting up their shoes, saying, ‘You’ve destroyed my shoes,'” he said during a luncheon last fall. When hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers in July, he relayed that women in heels “would go down like quicksand.”

Trump's helipad is wiping out even more grass

Erecting a UFC octagon to mark his 80th birthday in June reduced large swaths of the South Lawn to dusty dirt. In the weeks since, crews have been building a sprawling helicopter landing pad, meaning even more grass has been removed from the lawn.

Trump said the helipad was needed because the new, more powerful fleet of helicopters now being used as Marine One tore up the previous sod.

“When you land on the grass, it’s not that the grass gets discolored — it gets ripped out,” he said in June. Trump even described tufts of turf going “all over” and said, “Half of the grass was sitting in front of the Oval Office front door.”

Scotts Miracle-Gro donated $1 million in monetary and product support to the National Park Service to restore the South Lawn after the UFC fight, and Trump used the meeting with Koch in June to select a custom turfgrass blend of four kinds of tall fescues and four Kentucky bluegrasses. The company's former CEO, James Hagedorn, is a Trump supporter.

Trump, Koch said, asked good, detailed questions as he was shown carpet sample-like swaths of each grass variety.

“You can tell he spends a lot of time on golf courses," Koch said. “He obviously owns courses, and he knows grass from being around it.”

Koch returned to the White House last week as crews began resodding some areas of the White House lawn outside the helipad construction area. There are plans next spring to plant seeds from the grass blend Trump selected. By then, growth will be optimal, and the helipad work should be complete, making the lawn restoration easier.

Many golfers are obsessed with grass

Also key to the president's grass fixation is his love of golf.

Bert McCarty, a Clemson University professor of turfgrass science and management, said golfers like how top courses are so different — from incorporating the ocean in places near beaches to relying on inclines in the mountains.

Trump, McCarty said, is “like most golfers. He likes the challenge of the course and the differences of the course to add variety."

Last August, Trump pledged that, after his administration's various improvements, parks in Washington will “look like Augusta" — a reference to the home of the iconic Masters tournament, where aesthetics are so important that bags from the pro shop and food wrappers are green so that any possible litter blends in with the grass during TV broadcasts.

McCarty said most people “look at the beautiful flowers and the striped-up fairways, and they just think it’s heaven." But “Augusta basically spares no expense to achieve the look they're after," he added, and municipalities “can't compete with that.”

Cost aside, though, Trump may be thinking even bigger than Augusta, pointing to his own golf course in Northern Virginia.

“It’ll look like, more importantly, Trump National Golf Club,” he said. “That’s even better.”

The 14-year-old shooter took his own life at the school, officials said.

Five school staff members, including teachers and administrators, died in the shooting around 10 a.m. at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of Bangkok, Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said at the scene.

The boy also killed his grandparents at the home he shared with them prior to the school shooting, Polapee said.

Bangyai Hospital, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the school, said 23 people were wounded, of whom 10 were in critical condition, with most suffering gunshot wounds. Earlier reports gave conflicting casualty numbers.

A witness said students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building.

Amporn Niamfuang, who owns a restaurant 50 meters (160 feet) from the school, said there was the sound of a single gunshot and then a pause.

“And then there were multiple continuous shots,” Amporn said, recalling the narrow road outside the restaurant filling with fleeing students. “Students were running scared and pouring onto the street. Young girls were holding each other’s hands and crying. I went inside to hide.”

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking after touring the school, confirmed reports that the shooter was 14 and had killed himself. He said the student had shown signs of stress connected to school.

The gun, described by police as small and compact, was legally registered to his grandfather, he said.

About an hour after the shooting, people stood outside comforting one another as police and first responders walked around the co-educational state school, which has an enrollment of about 3,000 students ranging from 12 to 18 years old.

All classes will be suspended between Aug. 10 and Aug. 14 and school staff have been instructed to work from home during that time, the school said.

Police find grandparents dead at family home

After the shooting, police went to his home and found both grandparents dead of apparent gunshot wounds, regional police Commander Wattana Yeejeen said.

The student appeared to have shot them before attending school as normal. He waited until classes started and began shooting inside his classroom before walking out and firing more shots, Police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan said.

The boy fired more than 20 shots and police found he still had 30 rounds after shooting himself, he said.

Several family members, including his uncle and sisters of the grandfather who were at the family home while police investigated, said he usually kept to himself and was a good student.

The family members said they were unaware of any troubles he faced at home or school.

Thailand has high rate of gun owners

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia, second only to Pakistan and far surpassing its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org in their last extensive international study found civilian gun ownership in Thailand was about 15.1 guns per 100 people, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia.

Thailand had 3.49 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people, according to 2023 statistics published by World Population Review. That puts it well behind parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, but relatively high in Asia. Only the Philippines is higher in Southeast Asia.

In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others.

A 14-year-old boy was accused of a 2023 shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall.

___

Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok and Kaweewit Kaewjinda in Nonthaburi, Thailand, contributed to this report.

Inflatable tubes found as search for missing women, child on Muskegon River continues

Michigan State Police provided an update Thursday evening on the ongoing search for two women and a 9-year-old child reported missing after going tubing on the Muskegon River.

Police say they are actively searching for Jazzmin Hock, 28, of Muskegon; Sarah Vida, 28, of Muskegon; and Kayden Kovalcik, 9, whom have been missing for 48 hours since heading out on the river from the Maple Island Boat Launch on Tuesday.

Read more here.

Wayne County must appoint Woodhaven council member after resignations leave City Council without quorum

The Wayne County Election Commission will have to appoint a new member to the Woodhaven City Council after recent resignations have made the council unable to form a quorum.

City officials confirm Woodhaven City Councilmember Don Belcher has resigned due to health concerns, marking the fourth resignation from the council in recent months.

Read more here.

LB Jack Campbell says Jahmyr Gibbs’ return makes Detroit Lions defense better and his job tougher

Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell said that having running back Jahmyr Gibbs back on the practice field is a boost for the team, even if it makes life more difficult for the defense.

Gibbs, who recently agreed to a contract extension that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid running back by average annual value, returned to practice after participating in meetings during training camp but spending limited time on the field.

Read more here.

List of back-to-school giveaways across Metro Detroit

As summer winds down, it’s almost time for kids across Michigan to head back to school.

For those in Southeast Michigan who are dreading back-to-school shopping and the costs that come with it, there are plenty of back-to-school giveaways planned throughout Metro Detroit.

Read more here.

4Warn Weather Alert: Patchy fog possible Friday morning before scattered storm chances continue through the weekend

Patchy fog will remain possible across Southeast Michigan during the early morning hours, especially north of I-69. Any fog that develops should be short-lived, with visibility improving quickly after sunrise. Once the fog lifts, the overall weather pattern remains unsettled. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible across Metro Detroit later today and continue periodically through the weekend.

Not everyone will see rain, and there will be dry breaks between storms, but the combination of lingering moisture and atmospheric disturbances will keep rain chances in the forecast.

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Five Democrats and four Republicans are seeking their parties’ nominations to succeed embattled Democratic Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who pleaded not guilty in July to bribery charges stemming from her 2022 campaign when she was a state lawmaker.

Hawaii’s lieutenant governorship has long been a steppingstone to higher office in the state. Democratic Gov. Josh Green and Democratic U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz all served as lieutenant governor. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected individually and do not run on the same ticket.

The Democratic field includes Kauai County Mayor Derek Kawakami, state Rep. Della Au Belatti and former state Deputy Attorney General John Choi. Kawakami has led in fundraising. He also has the backing of a political action committee tied to the carpenters union that has spent roughly $2 million on his behalf, according to state campaign finance records.

Republican Daniel Anthony was the top spender among his primary opponents for the first few weeks of July, but at about $6,900, it was a fraction of spending by the leading Democratic candidates.

Luke has been on an unpaid leave of absence since April. Green named state official Keith Regan as acting lieutenant governor. Regan isn’t running for a full term.

Green is seeking reelection as governor. He faces three Democratic primary challengers. Republicans have a two-way primary.

In the 1st Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Case seeks a seventh full term but first must overcome four primary challengers, including state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole.

Keohokalole has criticized Case for crossing party lines in April 2025 to support Trump’s signature election legislation, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act. The Republican president's legislation would, among other things, require voters to prove their U.S. citizenship when registering for federal elections.

Case has said, including in a recent Hawaii Public Radio interview, that the version of the SAVE Act he voted for provided accommodations for voters who don’t present the required documentation, including signing a written attestation of their citizenship. He has voted against subsequent versions of the bill that didn’t provide those accommodations.

Case and Keohokalole were evenly matched in terms of campaign fundraising and spending, although Case had a sizable advantage in terms of cash in the bank heading into the campaign’s final stretch.

The winner will face Republican Adriel Lam, who is unopposed in the primary.

Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District is heavily Democratic. Case won reelection in 2024 with about 72% of the vote. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris received about 62% of the district vote in the presidential election against Trump.

About half of Hawaii's 25 state Senate seats and all 51 state House seats are up in 2026. Democrats hold overwhelming majorities in both chambers.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 1 a.m. ET Sunday.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. House, state Senate and state House.

Who gets to vote?

Any registered voter in Hawaii may participate in any party’s primary.

How many voters are there?

As of the November 2024 general election, there were about 861,000 registered voters in Hawaii.

How many people actually vote?

About 195,000 voters cast ballots in the 2024 Democratic U.S. Senate primary and about 54,000 in the Republican primary. Turnout was higher in the 2022 primaries for governor. About 251,000 Democratic primary voters and about 76,000 Republican primary voters cast ballots that year.

About 91,000 voters cast ballots in the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary in 2024.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

Hawaii conducts its elections primarily by mail. Ballots are mailed to all registered voters. Less than 2% of 2024 state primary voters cast their ballots in person.

As of Tuesday, about 179,000 ballots had already been cast in Saturday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

All four counties in Hawaii tend to release most of their results from early in-person and mail voting in their first vote updates of the night, before any in-person Election Day votes are released. Almost all results are released by the final election night vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

Hawaii typically has three vote updates after polls close: the first at roughly 1:30 a.m. ET, the second at roughly 4:30 a.m. ET, and the third and final in the early hours of the Monday following the election.

In the 2024 state primary, the AP first reported results at 1:22 a.m. ET, or 22 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 4:48 a.m. ET, with about 92% of total votes counted.

In the 2022 state primary, the first results were available at 1:58 a.m. ET, and the last election night update was at 4:45 a.m. ET, with about 86% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Recounts in Hawaii are automatic if the vote margin is 100 votes or less, or 0.25% of the total votes cast for a contest, whichever is smaller. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Saturday, there will be 87 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

About 1 in 5 Americans who have sought financial advice in the past year turned to AI, the survey found. But among U.S. adults overall, only about 3 in 10 have “a great deal” or “some” confidence in its expertise for managing money, according to the survey, including just 3% who trust AI “a great deal.”

The poll, which was conducted in the spring and looked at the views of adults who are at least 21, found a disconnect between the resources Americans trust for financial advice and the ones they actually rely on. About 8 in 10 U.S. adults have at least “some” confidence in financial advisers. But only about one-third of U.S. adults who sought financial advice turned to a professional financial adviser, with far more, 73%, saying they relied on their own internet research.

As the use of AI increases, financial experts say consumers should be cautious about fully trusting these tools. Using AI as a tool at the start of a learning journey and then combining this knowledge with other trusted sources can be the best way to engage with new and traditional financial guidance tools, said Taha Choukhmane, associate professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

“I would encourage people to use AI to explain and define,” Choukhmane said. “If you’re interested in knowing what the stock market is, what the difference between a mutual fund and an index fund is. Using AI to explain these concepts can be very useful because it can empower people to get the most out of these methods.”

Most Americans have sought financial guidance from at least one source in the past year, the survey found. In addition to those who said they used internet research, financial advisers, or AI, 35% went to a parent, sibling, or relative, while 26% got information from news, media or social media. About 2 in 10 said they turned to a friend or an author, speaker, or influencer, and fewer relied on an employer or retirement plan provider, a robo-advisor or a teacher or professor.

Younger generations are more likely to say they’ve used AI for financial advice, while older adults are more likely to have turned to a professional financial adviser.

Affordability can often deter younger adults from hiring a financial adviser. While doing research online, asking family and friends and using AI can have minimal costs, hiring a professional can require a bigger financial commitment. About a quarter of Gen Z and millennial adults who looked for financial advice in the past year went to AI, compared to 16% of Gen Xers and just 7% of baby boomers. But while only 14% of Gen Z adults and 21% of millennials who sought guidance turned to a professional financial adviser, that rose to 34% of Gen X adults and about half, 55%, of baby boomers.

Since AI interacts with specific user prompts, the advice can vary depending on how questions are asked. But asking general questions about personal finance can help people understand complex financial terms. Choukhmane also recommends asking AI to provide references to trusted sources to verify the information provided.

While AI can be utilized for research, some financial experts are skeptical about the legal responsibilities of the technology. Certified financial planners have a legal responsibility to give the most fitting advice while AI tools don't. Ultimately, the decisions a person makes based on AI advice are their responsibility.

“Fiduciary responsibility is very real," said Bobbi Rebell, certified financial planner and founder of Financial Wellness Strategies. “There’s no AI that is a fiduciary. It doesn’t really know your life; it’s not asking you all the questions."

___

Amelia Thomson-Deveaux, AP’s editor for polling and surveys, contributed to this report from Washington.

___

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

___

The poll of 5,075 U.S. adults ages 21 and older was conducted March 20-April 6, 2026, using a sample drawn from Gallup's probability-based panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for U.S. adults overall is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

Here’s a list of back-to-school giveaways across Metro Detroit:

Aug. 7

• City of Southfield, 26000 Evergreen Rd, Southfield, MI 48037 - Free Backpacks w/School Supplies, Food, Games, Music, Giveaways, K-12 (4-7 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 26310 Eastgate Blvd, Roseville, MI 48066 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More (3 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 19620 Middlebelt Rd, Livonia, MI 48152 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3PM)
• Center of Family Development, 2995 E Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI 48202 - Backpack giveaway, Free Diapers, Family Immunizations (12-4 PM)
• Back-to-school fair in Southfield
• • Where: Southfield Municipal Campus, 26000 Evergreen Rd. in Southfield
  • What: The Southfield Public Schools is holding its annual back-to-school fair, where there will be free backpacks and school supplies, entertainment, food, prizes, and more. For more information, email communications@southfieldk12.org.

Aug. 8

• Abundant Life Church, 29863 Dawson St, Garden City, MI 48135 - Free Backpacks & School Supplies, Food, Family Fun, Bounce House, Face Painting, Community Resources (2- 5 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 34873 Ford Rd, Westland, MI 48185 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Detroit Police Dept 11187 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, MI 48213 - Free Backpack w/School Supplies, Food, Music, Bounce Houses. (12- 4 PM)
• 12-4 PM -- Tuff Elites Back to School, Heilmann Community Center, 19601 Crusade St, Detroit, MI 48205

Aug. 9

• Greater Missionary Church, 2533 Carpenter, Detroit, MI 48212 - Free Backpacks/School Supplies, Dental Services, Food, Community Resources, Bounce Houses, Fun (1-4:30 PM)

Aug. 10

• Em Urgent Care 8030 N Middlebelt Rd, Westland, MI 48185 - Free School Supplies, Bounce Houses, Food Trucks, Giveaways (3:30-7 PM)

Aug. 11

• Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. Seven Mile, Detroit, MI 48219 - All Free: Backpacks, School Supplies, Eye Exams, Glasses, Dental Care, Shots, Physicals, Zoo, Bike Helmets, Bike giveaway, Community Resources (11 AM- 2 PM)
• MI Dept Human Services, 4733 Conner, Detroit, MI 48210 - School Supplies Giveaway RSVP: (313) 926-8343 Mrs. Thurman (9 AM-1 PM)
• 4–6 PM -- Backpacks & Beats 2026
• • 400 Martin Luther King Jr. St. SE
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49503
  • Free school supplies while supplies last, including backpacks, notebooks, crayons, markers, colored pencils, dry erase markers, highlighters, pencils, pens, folders, scissors, calculators, sticky notes and glue sticks. Also includes a bounce house, hot dogs, ice cream, and community resources including healthcare, education, and food security information. Weather permitting.

Aug. 13

• Boost Mobile, 7451 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48213 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 19085 Eureka Rd, Southgate, MI 48195 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)

Aug. 14

• Boost Mobile, 9169 Telegraph Rd, Redford, MI 48239 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 19100 Van Dyke Detroit, MI 48234 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More (3 PM)
• Kemeny Rec. Center, 2260 S. Fort St, Detroit, MI 48217 - Free Backpacks w/School Supplies, Lunch, Community Resources, Bounce Houses, Music, Face painting (12- 4 PM)

Aug. 15

• Boost Mobile, 352 N Telegraph Rd, Pontiac, MI 48341 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 22844 John R. Rd, Hazel Park, MI 48030 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Boost Mobile, 6042 Rawsonville Rd, Belleville, MI 48111 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• John F. Kennedy, Jr. Library, 24602 Van Born Rd, Dearborn Heights, MI 48125 -Backpacks with school supplies K-12 (11 AM)
• Levagood Park 801 N. Denwood St., Dearborn, MI 48128 - Backpack w/School Supplies, w/Ice Cream - Free Backpacks. (12- 2 PM)
• Douglas Ramsay Park, 14800 Longacre St, Detroit, MI 48227 - Free Backpacks w/ School Supplies, Free Books. Vendors Welcomed. (10 AM-1 PM)
• Magical Touch Quick Lube, 10700 Seven Mile W, Detroit, MI 48221 - Free Backpacks, Food, drinks, DJ (12-4 PM)
• Unity Baptist Church, 7500 Tireman Ave, Detroit, MI 48204 - Free Backpack w/School Supplies (11 AM- 2 PM)
• Beechwood Center, 421 Beechwood St., River Rouge, MI 48218 - Free Backpacks w/ School Supplies, Tacos, Pizza, DJ (2- 5 PM)
• 2-4 PM -- Back-to-school giveaway in Detroit
• • Where: 10700 W. Seven Mile Rd. in Detroit
  • What: The Peace Over Pistols event will provide 400 free backpacks for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Children must be present at the event to receive a bag.
  • The event will also include a DJ, popcorn, cotton candy, and hot dogs. For more information or to donate school supplies, call 313-658-4391.
• 10 AM – 2 PM
• • Where: 12227 Findlay Ave. in Detroit
  • What: The Refuge Temple Cathedral of His Glory Church of God in Christ will host a free community day featuring free backpacks and school items distributed (while supplies last), free food, music, bounce houses, face painting, immunizations, a gaming truck, and more. For more information or to make donations, call 248-508-2182.
• 19493 Joann Detroit, MI 48205
• • What: Back-to-school event with bounce house, food & drinks, live DJ & music, and fun games. Giveaways and more.
  • Contact: 214-899-3100

Aug. 16

• Penn-Vassar Park 3600 Pardee St., Dearborn, MI 48124 - Backpack w/School Supplies, w/Ice Cream - 125 Backpacks given away (12-2 PM)

Aug. 20

• Boost Mobile, 12042 E 10 Mile Rd, Warren, MI 48089 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Joseph Center, 8431 Rosa Parks, Detroit, MI - Backpacks w/School Supplies, Free Food, Haircuts, Braiding, Kids Zone, Health Screenings, Community Resources (2-6 PM)

Aug. 21

• Admire Dental 13219 Eureka Rd, Southgate, MI 48195 - Free Backpacks w/School Supplies (3 PM)

Aug. 22

• Boost Mobile, 866 Dix Hwy, Lincoln Park, MI 48146 - Free Backpack, Food, Giveaways, More! (3 PM)
• Schoolcraft Browns, 12416 Indiana Street, Detroit, MI 48204 - Free Backpack 1st 100 People (2 PM)
• Freedom Missionary Church 2228 Lakeview St, Detroit, MI 48215 (Watch) - All Free: Backpacks, school supplies, Face painting, food, haircuts, bounce house, & more! (1-4 PM)
• True Love Christian Ministries 6138 East Nevada St. Detroit, MI 48234 - Free: Food, Backpacks, school supplies, haircuts, community resources, bounce houses, activities Volunteers Welcomed, RSVP: Impact Detroit Youth
• Community Hub’s 3rd Annual Back-to-School Event Tickets, Saturday, August 22 • 1 PM - 5 PM | Eventbrite (1-5 PM)
• Taylor Christian Church, 11425 Telegraph Rd, Taylor, MI 48180 - Free backpacks, school supplies, face painting, giveaways, haircuts and inflatables (11 AM)
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After years of delays, ICE said its field officers nationwide will have body-worn cameras by the end of September. The rollout comes after recent fatal shootings by officers enforcing President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown have intensified pressure for accountability that the cameras could provide.

But the agency's body-worn camera policy could mean taxpayers who are pitching in tens of millions of dollars to pay for the cameras may be kept in the dark about some high-profile confrontations, at least in their immediate aftermath.

The policy says ICE will promptly release video of shootings and other encounters in which its agents cause death or serious injury only after determining “it is in the best interests of the agency” to do so. That gives its director discretion to release recordings that reflect well on the agency’s image while working to keep others secret, experts on body camera policies said.

Such selective releases are routine in some law enforcement agencies but usually not so clearly contemplated in policy, according to professor Christopher Schneider of Brandon University in Canada, a co-author of the new book “Police Body-Worn Cameras: Media and the New Discourse of Police Reform.”

“In some ways, ICE is saying the quiet part out loud,” he said. “Body-worn cameras are being used as contemporary image-work tools to present the police to the public in the most favorable way possible.”

Body camera policy allows withholding some video

The policy requires officers to activate cameras during routine enforcement activities, including while making arrests, executing search warrants and responding to emergencies.

After shootings or other serious confrontations, a committee that includes top ICE officials and lawyers will review footage and recommend whether to release it promptly, according to the body camera policy issued in February 2025.

If the answer is yes, the recording could be released within 72 hours. But if the ICE director finds that “specific and compelling circumstances” justify withholding the video, they have the authority to block or indefinitely delay the release, the policy says.

The policy does not elaborate on such circumstances, and ICE did not respond to a question from The Associated Press about how it would make such decisions.

Practices vary widely in the U.S. In Chicago, a police watchdog agency routinely releases body camera video of shootings and other serious use-of-force incidents within 60 days. In Philadelphia, the police department very rarely uses its discretion to release video of specific incidents and has no policy for when to do so.

Even when footage is released, ICE’s policy will require the redaction of all officers’ identifying features such as their faces, names and badge numbers to preserve their privacy.

Schneider, who has studied body cameras since their use began spreading a decade ago, said he does not expect ICE to release footage of fatal shootings like those last month in Houston and Maine.

He noted ICE’s sister agency, Customs and Border Protection, has not released footage of the January shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis even though it was captured on agents’ cameras. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott told lawmakers in February that the video and other materials were under investigation and would be made public “when it’s appropriate.”

ICE says all officers will have cameras by end of September

ICE spent $30.9 million in July to purchase body camera equipment from Axon, the Arizona-based company that also manufactures Tasers, federal spending records show.

The spending began one day after the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old motorist in Maine by an ICE officer with a history of violent behavior. Days earlier, another ICE officer shot and killed a homebuilder in Houston who was driving to work.

Neither shooting was recorded with body cameras. That news angered members of Congress, who had given ICE $20 million to purchase body cameras in a bill passed to end a partial government shutdown on April 30.

ICE said body cameras have been sent to more than half its field officers and the rest will receive them by the end of September. That timeline pushes back estimates from earlier public statements. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who backed funding for cameras, said last month that the agency informed her they would be deployed by the end of August. ICE had said earlier that they would be issued by mid-September.

ICE officers working in the Houston area, where the agency sent more than 800 cameras, are among those who have started training, according to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat and member of the House Appropriations Committee.

At least one member of every arrest team will be required to have a camera, the agency said.

“I think the American people need to see what that officer sees and hears,” White House border czar Tom Homan said July 19 on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “And if you look at the data, body cameras actually exonerate agents more than they, you know, provide evidence of wrongdoing.”

Schneider said he expects ICE to release recordings that promote the agency’s mass deportation program by portraying officers as brave and immigrants as dangerous criminals.

“Much of what law enforcement does is convince the public that we need them and feel safe and they do all this good stuff for us,” he said. “The more bad stuff the public sees, the more angry the public gets. And this causes problems for the police brand.”

ICE has taken years to adopt body cameras

ICE began testing body cameras in 2021 during President Joe Biden's administration and distributed 1,400 devices three years later, saying use would expand as funding became available.

After returning to office in 2025, President Donald Trump rescinded a Biden order that required federal law enforcement agencies to use body cameras.

ICE did not buy body cameras even after it received a historic $75 billion infusion in Trump’s signature policy bill in 2025 and began hiring thousands of new officers. The two July purchases from Axon were made through an existing government contract that began in 2023, records show.

“This is not hard to deploy, but they’ve slow-rolled it,” said Jason Houser, who was ICE chief of staff under Biden and helped implement the agency’s pilot program.

Houser said the Trump administration should have equipped officers with body cameras when it expanded mass arrests and traffic stops. Doing so only after several shootings and pressure from Congress “is clearly a political response” that will not make officers or the public safer, he said.

“This doesn’t fix the problem of putting officers in a place where they’re not trained or equipped to carry out the style of operations that the administration is asking them to do,” he said.

___

AP reporter Valerie Gonzalez contributed to this report.

Politicians from Prime Minister Andy Burnham to London Mayor Sadiq Khan have piled in to decry the idea from Westminster City Council, which is responsible for licensing pubs and restaurants in the West End, a nightlife hub popular with tourists and locals.

A feature of many of those pubs is the crowd of drinkers who mill around sharing drinks with friends, often spilling out into the street on warm spring and summer evenings. Lesley Lewis, who has run the French House pub in Soho for 37 years, said discouraging that tradition would only drive customers to other parts of the city.

“We rely on those people standing up with the rents and the rates (taxes) put upon us,” she said. “People want to enjoy themselves in Soho, they want to have a drink outside, they want to dance. They don’t want to sit down and just be where they are, they want to meet people and chat.”

With British newspapers filled with headlines such as “Sitting room only at pubs?” and “Soho’s pubs won’t take clamp down on ‘vertical drinking’ lying down,” the Westminster council hit back at “confusing” news stories that misrepresented its plans.

Council leader Paul Swaddle issued a press release stressing that the proposal was part of a draft policy that is still open for public comment. The council’s goal is to reduce noise and disorderly behavior by encouraging bars and restaurants to serve more people at their tables, not bar anyone from having a drink while standing, he said.

“Let me be clear about what we’re trying to achieve,’’ he said. “This is about safety, not stopping anyone standing at a bar with a pint in their hand.’’

The council’s draft licensing policy includes a proposal to discourage “excessive drunkenness” by encouraging business owners to provide more opportunities “for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high volume vertical drinking.”

Westminster has more pubs, bars and restaurants licensed to sell alcohol than any other local authority in the U.K.

While the council’s policy statement stresses the important role the hospitality industry plays in the local economy, it also says local leaders must ensure Westminster is “a great place for residents to live.”

That didn’t stop the criticism from more senior government officials, who have been focused on bolstering a hospitality industry that still hasn’t recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A spokesman for Burnham said pubs full of people standing around sharing a pint isn’t a nuisance, it’s a part of “British life.” The prime minister is encouraging local leaders to work with the hospitality industry so that pubs can thrive, he said.

“The pubs that we’ve got are at the heart of high streets, and I think it’s really important to signal at the start of my time in office that I will be a defender for them,” Burnham told reporters last month while visiting a pub called the Hare in Harlow, Essex. “I will speak up for them and act.”

Khan suggested he would use new powers that will be granted to his office later this year to review the Westminster policy.

“You can’t run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset,” Khan said on X. “London’s hospitality and nightlife support jobs, culture and growth.”

Knox, now 39, said Thursday in a post on Instagram that her show “honors Meredith Kercher’s memory and calls out the violence that was done to her and to me.”

The show is called “Cartwheel,” a reference to a story that claimed Knox did cartwheels in the police station after Kercher's death. The show debuts Friday evening and is due to run for 11 straight nights at the annual mish-mash of stand-up, theater and musical offerings in the Scottish capital.

The show is being marketed as a woman “approaching forty, juggling motherhood and finally getting around to being furious about the whole wrongful-imprisonment thing. Especially when half the world is telling her to get over it, while the other half still thinks she’s guilty.”

Knox was a 20-year-old student in Perugia when Kercher was found stabbed to death on Nov. 2, 2007, in her bedroom in the apartment they shared with two Italian women.

The case made global headlines as suspicion quickly fell on Knox and her boyfriend of just days, Raffaele Sollecito. She served nearly four years in prison during the investigation, initial murder trial and when she was freed by an appeals court in Perugia. The couple were acquitted by Italy’s highest court in 2015.

Another man, Rudy Hermann Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was eventually convicted of murder after his DNA was found at the crime scene. He was freed in 2021, after serving most of his 16-year sentence.

Knox returned to the United States in 2011, after being freed by the appeals court in Perugia, and has since established herself as a global campaigner for the wrongly convicted. She has a podcast with her husband and last year published a memoir titled, “Free: My Search for Meaning.”

Knox's post follows an interview that Meredith Kercher's sister, Stephanie Kercher, gave to the BBC during which she said the show “normalizes and trivializes violence against women.”

While insisting that Knox is “naturally free to continue with her life as she wishes,” she said “the problem with this particular project is that it is comedy.”

“It’s not about whether people think she’s guilty or innocent, if someone else was doing the show specifically against Meredith, I would still feel the same, it is obviously an added wound that it’s coming from her at the same time, but I do feel very strongly that it should be something that’s not given a platform,” she said.

An online petition calling for the show to be canceled has been launched and so far has more than 4,400 signatories. It states that the show “mocks the horrific events surrounding Meredith’s murder and aims to somehow turn this tragedy into entertainment.”

Knox said “a petition to cancel a show no one has seen, on the grounds of false accusations intended to shame and vilify a wronged woman into silence, is not an argument against Cartwheel.”

The Edinburgh Fringe, she added, “is the perfect place for a show like this.”

Authorities said Toney was charged July 31 with assault “causing actual bodily harm.” The alleged incident took place in December at a nightclub in the Soho district of London.

Police did not immediately give any other information about what happened.

BBC Sports said a spokesperson for Toney said the player “acknowledges the charge and although he is naturally shocked, he looks forward to being given the opportunity to clear his name in court.”

Toney, who plays for Al-Ahli in the Saudi Arabian league, is expected to appear in court on Sept. 24.

The 30-year-old Toney was a member of England's squad that finished in third place at the World Cup last month.

___

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

🍇 Grapevine

🌅 Good morning! On this day in 1782, General George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, created the “Badge for Military Merit,” now widely known as the Purple Heart.

Here are a few things to know about for Friday, Aug. 7, 2026:

🌦️ 4Warn Weather: Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible across Metro Detroit later today and continue periodically through the weekend. Check out the 10-day forecast.

💰 Unemployment Fraud: Investigators say a Metro Detroit duo filed hundreds of suspected bogus jobless claims across 32 states totaling over $4 million. Read more.

✅ Council Shakeup: The Wayne County Election Commission will have to appoint a new member to the Woodhaven City Council after recent resignations have made the council unable to form a quorum. Read more.

🥬 Lettuce Rejoice: Michigan residents can resume routine guidance on eating lettuce and salad greens, state health officials said Thursday, as cyclosporiasis cases begin to decline. Read more.

🔥 ‘God is still in control’: In the aftermath of the massive fire that leveled Troy Church of Christ on Thursday, the congregation is hoping to rebuild. Read more.

🏊 Morning Dive

Good morning ☀️

A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association says that for most adults, moderate caffeine intake — especially from coffee — appears safe and may be linked to cardiovascular benefits in some people.

“Caffeine has always gotten a bad rap when it comes to cardiovascular health,” said Dr. Kelley Chen, an interventional cardiologist at Henry Ford Health Genesys Heart Center, who reviewed the new guidance with me.

The AHA statement, published in the journal Circulation, concludes that up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day — roughly up to five eight-ounce cups of regular brewed coffee — is generally safe for most adults.

The group cautioned that very high doses, including some energy drinks and energy shots, may raise the risk of high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms.

“Up to four or five drinks of coffee a day was OK — and, in some cases, beneficial,” Chen said.

Researchers also emphasized that coffee is more than caffeine.

It contains a complex blend of antioxidants and other compounds that may contribute to potential health benefits.

And many studies of “caffeine” are actually studying coffee, which makes it harder to tease out what comes from caffeine versus coffee’s other ingredients.

Get the full story here.

🗞️ Other headlines to know today

• Detroit men convicted in 2025 shooting of 6-year-old killed by stray bullet on city’s west side
• Police seek public’s help identifying person of interest in fatal shooting on Detroit’s east side
• Monroe County man accused of sexually assaulting children
• Something sweet is brewing at Fourgrounds in Plymouth
• Michigan State Police release 2025 traffic crash data: What to know
• Frontier Airlines flight from Houston to DTW evacuated after passenger makes verbal bomb threat
• Jahmyr Gibbs back on the field for the first time since Detroit Lions training camp started
• Detroit Public Schools hosts Summer on the Block event, highlights new resources for families
• Michigan Science Center launches new weekend dissection program, ‘Insides Out’
• Fox Theatre boxing event spotlights Michigan talent in marquee matchups
• Macomb County man ‘still in disbelief’ after winning $1 million prize
• Monroe woman, 10-year-old killed in multi-vehicle crash
• Fecal Matter — the fashion brand, that is — is suddenly everywhere
• Find more Local News headlines here
• Find more Entertainment headlines here
• Find more Health headlines here
• Check out the latest ClickOnDeals here
• Introducing the ClickOnDetroit Help Desk: How it works and how to use it

🌎 Meanwhile

News from around the world via the Associated Press:

A man charged with starting one of the wildfires in Spokane, Washington, that have destroyed hundreds of buildings planned the crime for weeks and researched when the weather would be best for igniting it, police said.

In an interview after his arrest, Aaron Farinacci said “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau wrote in a court filing Wednesday.

Farinacci, 37, is charged with starting the Old Trails fire, one of three blazes in the Spokane area that have burned more than 850 buildings, destroying whole neighborhoods and streets. (Read more)

----

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new kind of flu vaccine for older people, the first made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturer Moderna said.

The shot, named mFlusiva, is intended for adults age 50 or older. Other brands of flu shots already have begun arriving in pharmacies ahead of fall vaccination season, and Moderna said late Wednesday that it expects some of its new version to be available soon at select retailers.

While there already are multiple flu vaccine options in the U.S., including three specifically recommended for people age 65 or older, tens of thousands of Americans die from influenza every year and older adults are among the most vulnerable. (Read more)

----

Italy placed all of its major cities under the highest heat alert Thursday as a blistering heat wave gripped Europe, setting a national temperature record in Austria, fueling wildfires in France and disrupting energy and transport systems across the continent.

The extreme weather has pushed temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in several countries, prompting health warnings for millions of people.

Across Europe, authorities are grappling with the consequences of extreme heat: health alerts for millions in Italy, record temperatures in Austria, drought-related disruptions to energy and shipping in Central Europe, and wildfires stretching from France to the Balkans. (Read more)

---> Find more headlines from around the world right here <---

📝 Word Up

Today’s Word Up is: Torpid / ˈtȯr-pəd / (adjective) -- defined as “Lacking in energy or vigor; sluggish.”

Example: “The torpid sloth refused to budge from its tree branch.”

🧹 Housekeeping

Hey, if you like this newsletter, let us know. We’d love your feedback. We also offer several other newsletters, including 4Warn Weather, All 4 Pets and more. Hopefully, we have one that caters to your interests — unless you’re only interested in plastic alternatives. We don’t have one for that, sorry.

✍🏽 Written and curated by: Jenny Sherman (Have something to say? Feel free to send an email here.)

Investigations are ongoing into how cyanide found its way into an ecosystem where wild and domestic animals coexist. Growers have disputed claims that cyanide from their tomatoes killed the elephants.

The elephant deaths and disputes about the cause have intensified concerns over growing human-wildlife conflict in the region due to expanding agricultural activities near Amboseli park. Kenya has until recently been widely recognized for rebuilding its elephant population from historic lows to more than 36,000 individuals by reducing poaching.

Sixteen elephants died in one month

Kenya's Wildlife Service said last month that 15 elephants had died in the Amboseli ecosystem in a span of a month. The service updated the numbers to 16 on Friday. Preliminary laboratory tests detected cyanide, while postmortem examinations found tomatoes in the animals’ stomachs.

The wildlife service on Friday said it requested the Pest Control Products Board to establish a team to investigate whether the chemical “may have been improperly used, stored, or disposed, and whether water, soil, or grass may have been contaminated.”

The head of veterinary services at Kenya's wildlife agency, Dr. Isaac Lekolool, said the elephants had shown signs of “paralysis and difficulty breathing” before they died. Initial tests pointed to cyanide poisoning, although further laboratory tests are being done to determine the concentration of cyanide.

“We are yet to find out where this cyanide came from,” Lekolool said, adding that the elephants had also consumed watermelons. He urged caution over the handling and use of pesticides on farms.

Farmers skeptical that cyanide from their farms was to blame

Elvis Muchai has farmed on the edge of Amboseli for two decades. In all that time, he said, he has never heard of farmers poisoning wildlife, and he was skeptical that farmed tomatoes believed to have been contaminated with the chemical were to blame for the elephants' death.

Muchai, who farms tomatoes in Kimana area, said local communities have long coexisted with elephants despite suffering repeated crop losses when the animals cross the park’s electric fence and raid farms, particularly during the dry season.

“We are used to the animals eating from our farms,” he said.

One of Kenya's most productive farming regions

Kimana, which borders Amboseli, is one of Kenya’s most productive agricultural areas, growing tomatoes, onions and French beans that are transported to markets to the capital, Nairobi.

The samples tested for toxic chemicals were obtained from the elephants' stomach contents and the analysis of blood samples is ongoing, Lekolool said. He disputed earlier claims that cyanide, which is regulated by the government for use in mining, may have been present in the park due to illegal mining.

Farms have expanded near the park and conflict between people and elephants remains the second leading cause of deaths after poaching, according to Kenya’s National Elephant Plan. Between 2000 and 2020, at least 1,160 elephants died in incidents linked to self-defense or retaliatory killings as communities sought to protect their crops, property and lives, the Plan notes.

But Duncan Juma, communications director of Kenya’s wildlife service, ruled out human-wildlife conflict in the death of the elephants, saying “the community loves these animals.”

Urgent need to tackle human-wildlife contact

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW, said the recent suspected cyanide poisoning highlights the urgent need to tackle the underlying causes of human-wildlife conflict.

“As people and elephants increasingly share space, protecting wildlife and safeguarding communities’ livelihoods must go hand in hand,” IFAW wrote in a statement.

IFAW’S East Africa director Ben Wandago said the reported cyanide poisoning must be “urgently and thoroughly investigated” and recommended that coexistence solutions to protect communities living near the park be implemented.

“This tragedy also underscores the urgent need for the strict control and responsible handling of highly toxic substances to prevent them from entering the natural environment,” he said.

Farmers are doubtful that the cyanide could have originated from commonly used agricultural inputs.

Muchai said he has never encountered cyanide among the pesticides or chemicals sold to farmers in the area and insisted that products available on the market are regulated by the Kenyan government.

“The chemical they are talking about, we’ve never seen it or heard of it here,” he said.

Last season alone, Muchai said elephants destroyed about half an acre of his tomato crop, costing him an estimated 500,000 Kenya shillings ($3,800).

“We have lived with these animals for years. They eat our crops, and many of us have never received compensation,” he said.

Another farmer, Rymondy Mrosso, also questioned whether pesticides used by local farmers could explain the deaths and wondered why only elephants appeared to have been affected.

“We have goats, cows and other wildlife such as gazelles that also feed in these areas,” he said. “If the crops were poisoned, why were only the elephants affected?”

___

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Customs data released Friday showed China’s trade surplus narrowed to $112.5 billion from $125.6 billion in June.

Exports rose nearly 24% in July from a year earlier, compared with a 27% increase in June. Imports climbed 27.5% year-on-year, but that was lower than June's jump of 36%.

Disruptions to port operations due to typhoons helped to slow trade, though the actual figures were slightly better than analysts had forecast.

“The boom in Chinese trade slowed a touch in July but the big picture is that export and import values remain elevated, helped by soaring global demand for electronics and green tech products,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report.

The Iran war interfered with shipments of aluminum from the Middle East, leading to an increase in Chinese exports of the metal, he noted.

Trade data show China has fully transitioned from providing mostly low cost manufacturing to supplying vital machinery and components for advanced manufacturing.

China’s exports of high-tech items surged nearly 41% in January-July from the same period the year before, while shipments of vehicles, many of them electric, jumped 55%. Exports of electronics and machinery rose 26%.

Sustained demand for such goods, despite rising tariffs and other trade barriers in the U.S. and some other countries, helped push its trade surplus to a record high of nearly $1.2 trillion in 2025.

After U.S. President Donald Trump boosted tariffs on imports from China and many other countries, China’s exports to the U.S. slowed precipitously. They climbed just 2.6% year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, while imports from the U.S. grew 1.4%.

But trade issues and restrictions on China's access to advanced technology are likely to be high on the agenda during a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the U.S. next month.

In key industries such as autos, its leaders have been adjusting policies to counter price wars due to brutal competition and slack demand, while the U.S. and some other major trading partners have complained Chinese exporters are flooding global markets due to massive excess manufacturing capacity inside China.

Still, the government issued a report last week condemning what it said was the “myth of overcapacity.”

A commentary issued by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, pointed to a surge in exports of air conditioners to Europe due to skyrocketing demand during a ferocious heat wave.

“Europeans are buying these products, and for good reasons,” the Xinhua commentary said. “These products solve problems local brands often fail to address.”

The data released Friday showed exports to the European Union were up nearly 17% in January-July, while exports to Southeast Asia, which as a bloc is now China's biggest trading partner, surged 25%.

Among other key categories, the total volume of China's crude oil imports fell 13.2% in the first seven months of this year, though due to higher prices the value of those imports rose slightly. Imports of natural gas slipped 3% by volume and 1.6% in dollar terms.

China's exports of strategically vital rare earths fell 10% by volume in January-July, but they jumped 58% in value.

That's when 72-year-old Leidis Rodríguez frantically cooked beans after the lights switched on this week following hours of uninterrupted blackouts.

“The power has come back on, everyone go!” Rodríguez shouted.

In the wake of sometimes dayslong blackouts in Cuba — fueled by the oil blockade imposed by the Trump administration in January — Cubans are planning their lives around the lights turning back on.

Those small bursts of relief last a few minutes or a few hours. They come at any time, day or night. Increasingly, electricity flicks on when Rodríguez and her 41-year-old daughter, Yaimara Matos, would normally be asleep.

When the power comes on, the family stops everything they're doing.

“You want to do everything at the same time — wash clothes, iron, cook, tidy the rooms, because it’s impossible in the dark, and even get a little relief from the heat," Matos said. “What we used to do in 10 hours, we now have to do in two.”

Life transformed by crisis

That’s the case for Cubans across the island, whose lives have been transformed by one of the worst crises the island has seen since the Cuban revolution. Daily life has turned into a tangle of compounding crises families have to unravel.

Public transportation and cultural events have come to a standstill. So has tourism, the country's economic engine, especially as tourism companies have withdrawn, leaving 25,000 hospitality jobs vacant. Flights to the island are regularly canceled and workdays have been shortened to adjust to the new reality of a Cuba without power. Medicine shortages have worsened and food rots in fridges without power.

"If there’s no electricity, there’s no water because it doesn’t get pumped to the tank. When there’s water, there’s no electricity,” Rodríguez lamented.

Power outages are nothing new to the Caribbean nation. Endemic blackouts began to worsen five years ago as a result of a crumbling energy grid, decades-long U.S. sanctions and failed economic reforms by the communist-run government.

But the quality of life began to rapidly deteriorate when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide it with oil, Cuba's main source of power. The move, combined with even more rigid sanctions, was aimed at pressuring Cuba's government into political change. The worst effects have been felt by average Cubans.

Previously, most blackouts were scheduled by the government to save power, so each family knew how long they would be without electricity — usually two or three hours. Now there is no longer any predictability: an outage can last 12 hours, 30 hours or longer. Increasingly, the entire island goes dark. Last weekend's grid collapse marked the sixth time this year.

‘I try to carry on with life’

Cubans like Rodríguez and Matos, long accustomed to adapting to crisis, have found ways to cope. The family bought a small power generator, which they're only able to run a few hours a day.

Others install solar panels — often sent by relatives abroad. Some purchase rechargeable fans or solar-powered vehicles since gasoline is also unavailable.

Lianet Barroso once cooked with a gas stove. Now she cooks over a wood fire. Unsure of when she will next get water when the power does go on, she fills up as many plastic bottles as she can.

“Life for Cubans has become difficult, harsh and sad,” Barroso said.

In several municipalities, particularly in Havana, residents staged neighborhood protests after blackouts lasting more than 48 hours, banging pots and pans and burning garbage piled up on street corners.

Meanwhile, with inflation surging as Cuba's currency is increasingly devalued against the dollar, many people are struggling to even pay for food that could later go bad in a blackout.

At 10 p.m. on Tuesday, 64-year-old Caridad Delgado was preparing food for her cat during a blackout under the light of a rechargeable lamp, something the family bought with remittances from her three children, who had emigrated from the island.

Months ago at this hour, she said, “ I’d probably be watching a soap opera. Now I can’t even dream of it.”

“There’s just too much anguish, too much desperation,” she said. “I try to carry on with life.”

——

Associated Press writers Megan Janetsky in Mexico City and Milexsy Durán and Ariel Fernández in Havana contributed to this report.

Police executed search warrants in the 10300 block of Crocuslawn Street and in the 14400 block of 7 Mile Road. During the searches, a total of 10 people were arrested.

The following items were recovered during the search:

• 104.34 grams of cocaine
• 74.61 grams of methamphetamine
• 50.81 grams of fentanyl
• 2.36 grams of heroin
• 1.68 grams (5 pills) of alprazolam
• One firearm
• $3,041 in cash
• Manufacturing and packaging supplies

According to police, the narcotics seized were worth a total street value of about $16,698.60.

The sophomore quarterback, expected to lead the Wolverines this fall, said during his interview with NBC Sports that his focus is on leadership both on and off the field after spending the offseason building trust with teammates.

“I want to prove that I’m the best me I could possibly be,” Underwood said. “Leadership. Just being true to myself and being the best me I could possibly be in school, football, anything.”

Underwood said he has grown into a more vocal leader over the past several months.

“For the last six or seven months, we’ve been working every single day, bonding off the field and on the field,” Underwood said. “Those guys built a bond with me, and I trust those guys with everything I have.”

The Belleville native described his first year at Michigan as a valuable learning experience.

“It was a great experience,” Underwood said. “I’m glad I got my feet wet. I’m just excited for this season. It’s a blessing to have my first year in college as a quarterback at the University of Michigan.”

Underwood also praised first-year head coach Kyle Whittingham, calling him “a winner” and “a savage.”

“He wants us to be a player-led team,” Underwood said. “He told me, ‘This is what I need from you. I want you to be the face of that leadership.’ I appreciate him for trusting me.”

Despite coaching changes following last season, Underwood said transferring never crossed his mind.

“My blessing was to come to the University of Michigan,” Underwood said. “God’s plan was for me to be here, and I stayed here.”

The former five-star recruit said he has always been driven by competition and hopes to leave his mark on one of college football’s most storied programs.

“My mindset was always to be the best,” Underwood said. “No matter what I do, I want to be the best I could possibly be.”

That mentality began early.

Underwood said he initially wanted to play running back because he admired former NFL star Marshawn Lynch before his father encouraged him to become a quarterback.

“My dad saw me more as a leader than just a guy running the football,” Underwood said. “Quarterback was the way we went.”

Underwood credited quarterback trainer Jordan Palmer with helping him simplify his game this offseason.

“My game is going to look easy and simplified,” Underwood said. “Staying calm under pressure has been my main focus.”

He has also spent months studying new offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s system.

“My main goal has been picking his brain, watching how he calls plays and understanding his expectations,” Underwood said. “We’re getting to the point where I’m figuring it out.”

While Underwood has individual aspirations, he said Michigan’s goals remain team-oriented.

“If we’re talking in December,” Underwood said, “I hope we’re talking about Michigan being on the way to a national championship.”

Asked whether Michigan is being overlooked entering the season, Underwood replied, “I feel so.”

He said he hopes his legacy in Ann Arbor will be defined less by statistics than by leadership.

“I want people to say I was a great leader, team first, willing to do anything for the team,” Underwood said.

Michigan opens its 2026 season Sept. 5, and Underwood had a brief message for Wolverines fans eager for kickoff.

“Just get ready,” Underwood said.

Gibbs, who recently agreed to a contract extension that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid running back by average annual value, returned to practice after participating in meetings during training camp but spending limited time on the field.

→ Detroit Lions star Jahmyr Gibbs signs record $67.5M deal, becomes highest-paid running back in NFL history

Campbell joked that seeing Gibbs back immediately reminded him of the challenges the star running back presents.

“When I saw him back out there, I was like, ‘Gosh, now I’ve got to go one-on-one against him in routes,’” Campbell said. “It’s awesome to have Jah back out here.”

Campbell and Gibbs entered the league together in 2023 after the Lions selected both players in the first round of the NFL draft.

Campbell praised Gibbs not only for his playmaking ability but also for the impact he has had as a teammate.

“He’s electric,” Campbell said. “He’s been nothing but good to me and my family the whole time I’ve been here. He’s just a fantastic human being.”

Entering his third NFL season, Campbell said he expects to continue embracing a heavy workload on defense and special teams if needed.

“I want as many reps as I can get,” Campbell said. “Ones, twos, threes, fours, fives, I don’t care who’s it against. Just let me get my body going.”

Campbell said there are no excuses for slowing down after special teams plays, adding that players must be prepared to contribute whenever called upon.

The linebacker also praised rookie defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard, saying the young lineman has shown versatility at the three-technique position.

“He can do a lot of things at the three-technique position that a lot of guys can’t do,” Campbell said. “He’s done a good job. He just needs to keep going.”

Campbell also discussed Detroit’s defensive outlook as offenses across the NFL continue evolving.

While many teams have relied heavily on three-receiver formations in recent years, Campbell believes more offenses will return to using multiple running backs and tight ends this season.

“I know it’s coming,” Campbell said. “A lot of teams are going to get back into two-back personnel.”

He said heavier offensive formations create different challenges for defenses and could influence how often Detroit uses its nickel package.

Campbell noted that the responsibilities for Detroit’s nickel defender and third linebacker are largely interchangeable, allowing the defense to remain flexible regardless of personnel.

Veteran linebacker Devin White has also made a strong early impression after joining the Lions, according to Campbell.

“He’s been great,” Campbell said. “He’s a true vet. He’s been in the league twice as long as me. He’s learned the system so fast and has done a fantastic job.”

Campbell said leadership throughout Detroit’s defense has continued to grow during training camp.

He highlighted former Michigan Wolverines star and current defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, cornerback D.J. Reed Jr., linebacker Derrick Barnes and several veterans for helping establish accountability throughout the roster.

“We’ve done a good job on that front,” Campbell said. “But there’s more to be had.”

They are a curious distraction from the summer heat crisis. The Danube’s record low water levels also have forced power plants to the brink of shutting down, and governments across Central and Eastern Europe are taking steps to conserve electricity.

In the middle of the river separating Serbia and Romania near the Serbian port of Prahovo, a rusty hull is now visible along with a broken mast where the Nazi flag used to fly.

The ships, some still laden with weapons, belonged to Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet that the Germans deliberately sank as they retreated from Romania and as Soviet forces advanced deeper into Europe near the end of the war.

Historians say up to 200 German warships were scuttled in September 1944 near Prahovo in the Danube gorge as they came under Soviet fire. The idea behind the deliberate sinking was to slow down the Soviet advance in the Balkans. But Nazi Germany surrendered months later, in May 1945.

The sight of the old warships is a reminder that the Serbian government, with European Union financial support, has long been trying to do something about them. Some were removed from the river by Communist Yugoslav authorities, but most have remained because of the explosives they carried.

Now, however, authorities are trying to keep traffic flowing on the Danube, which flows through 10 nations, as the dropping water levels create dangerous conditions. Experts have linked the unusually hot weather to global warming and other factors.

Krsta Brandic, a Prahovo resident, said the low water levels have almost stopped ship traffic: “As you can see, the (big) ships can’t pass anymore."

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Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

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This story was first published on Aug. 5, 2026. It was updated on Aug. 7, 2026, to correct that the ships being exposed because of low water levels are warships and not battleships, which are a specific type of very large vessel.

Any concession would be tough for the Republican president, who has insisted there is no truth to his sagging poll numbers, the sluggish economy and the U.S. military’s dwindling stockpiles of key weapons following the Iran war he launched with Israel more than five months ago.

“He divides the world into winners and losers, and this would make him a loser,” said Eliot Cohen, who served as counselor of the State Department in the George W. Bush administration. “And the image of being a loser, I think, would be intolerable for him.”

The sticking point has been over control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows. While both sides say a deal is close, the Trump administration has ruled out any arrangement that would cement Iran’s grip over the Persian Gulf waterway, including Tehran charging fees.

But Iran has insisted on some measure of control, saying the strait will not go back to being an open international waterway as it was before the war. Despite thousands of U.S. strikes, Iran can still fire drones and missiles at vessels, giving it a chokehold over commercial shipping.

Cohen said yielding ground to Iran would be difficult for the president, even if the conflict keeps gasoline prices elevated and poses problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.

But David Schenker, a former State Department official in the first Trump administration, said the increasing economic pressure may actually prompt Trump to compromise on the strait, even if it's likely to have profound implications on global trade.

“There will be a lot of spin both ways, but my guess is that the president has tipped his hand as to the urgency for him of resolving the crisis,” said Schenker, now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “This is a concession he may very well be willing to make.”

Trump says weapons stockpiles are ‘a little bit tighter’

Trump, however, has so far conceded little about the war.

He posted on social media Thursday that the U.S. military still has “massive amounts” of weapons and that large amounts are being manufactured. He threatened jail time for the alleged “leakers” of information on the nation's weapons stockpiles.

Trump was referencing a Washington Post story that reported his frustration with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the shrinking inventories of advanced weapons, as the Cabinet had gathered at Camp David last week.

A senior administration official said there had been a “robust and healthy” discussion about Iran in the Cabinet meeting and would not provide additional details except to say there had not been a "knock-down, drag-out fight” over the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.

Experts say the U.S. military is running short on weapons like advanced missile interceptors that have defended American troops from Iranian attacks. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, has released reports on declining inventories based on budget documents and other public information.

When asked later about weapons stockpiles, Trump told reporters that “we need more all the time.” He claimed that certain kinds of munitions are in “virtually unlimited supply” and others are “a little bit tighter.” He didn't offer more specifics.

He insisted that “we’re in great shape. But, with that being said, we always want more. We have to have more,” noting that the military could tap into U.S. supplies of munitions around the world if needed.

Hegseth was on Capitol Hill this week, meeting privately with Republican senators as he makes the case for billions of dollars in additional Pentagon spending as part of a major GOP budget package.

Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and former Navy pilot, said the weapons shortfall stems from a war that lacked a well-defined goal and strategy beyond striking more than 14,000 targets.

“My contention on this is, if you knew what the goal is, maybe the target list would have been 500 targets. Maybe it would have been 200 targets," Kelly said, adding the Pentagon wants "billions and billions of dollars to fix their self-inflicted problem.”

Trump has made a dubious claim about polling

Trump also has claimed in a social media post Tuesday that his polling numbers are the best “they have ever been.” He cited accomplishments including employment numbers and the “Denuclearization of Iran.”

But about two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran has not been worthwhile, according to a poll from late July by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.

On employment, the United States had nearly 159 million jobs in June, not including farmworkers, which was a record. In Trump’s second term, however, job growth has slowed considerably.

Trump also continues to claim that the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial shipping. He said Thursday that the strait is “sort of open right now” and pointed to the Navy's blockade of Iranian ports.

“But they can always shoot something, they always have something or drop a mine,” Trump said of Iran. “And if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up because people don’t want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine.”

At least two ships were hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the past week, while several others reported near misses or warnings from entities claiming to represent Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Vessel traffic through the strait increased to 84 transits last week, up from 45 the week before. But traffic is still far below the more than 700 transits seen in a typical week before the crisis, Lloyd’s List said.

A deal over the Strait of Hormuz could hinge on fees

U.S. and Iranian officials say they are close to reaching an agreement to reopen the strait. That is even as the U.S. military insists the strait is open through a route it helps oversee near Oman’s coast, saying this week that it “remains free and open for all commercial vessels seeking to transit the international waterway.”

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the potential deal is being portrayed as a temporary solution to the dispute over the strait, and that it would allow ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through an Omani-controlled route.

The Trump administration has said repeatedly that it is strongly opposed to any arrangement that would see Iran charge fees.

Any temporary routes through the waterway will not have tolls, charges or other impediments, according to a U.S. official not authorized to comment publicly who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity. The official said Trump’s preferred choice is diplomacy and he “holds all the cards” in dealing with Iran.

____

Associated Press reporters Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

The extreme weather has pushed temperatures above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in several countries, prompting health warnings for millions of people. Scientists and officials warn that such events are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms.

The current heat wave has exposed vulnerabilities in public health systems, power generation, transportation networks and tourism infrastructure, forcing governments and businesses to adapt to more frequent periods of extreme weather.

Italy's red alert in all major cities is a first

Italy’s Health Ministry placed all 27 cities monitored under its national heat surveillance system on red alert Thursday — the first time this year that the entire network has been under the highest warning level simultaneously.

The alerts stretch from Trieste in the northeast to Palermo in Sicily and signal a health risk for the entire population, not only vulnerable groups such as older adults and people with chronic illnesses.

Authorities urged residents and tourists to avoid direct sunlight during the hottest hours of the day, remain indoors where possible and drink plenty of water.

The heat has also forced adjustments at major tourist attractions. The ministries of tourism and culture extended evening opening hours at landmarks including Rome’s Colosseum and Pantheon.

Mist fans and an 'urban beach' set up to cool residents

Cooling mist fans have been installed at the Colosseum’s entrances and additional medical stations have been made available.

Rome has also introduced another unusual response to the heat emergency: a free municipal “urban beach” along the Tiber River in the Marconi neighborhood, where residents can cool off in swimming pools, water fountains and shaded areas.

The site, known as Tiberis, has become a refuge for families and children seeking relief from record temperatures. Residents praised the initiative, saying it allowed them to better cope with the heat and offered a rare opportunity to escape the city’s scorching asphalt and concrete.

“It is excellent, it is a great initiative. They did the right thing, specially with such hot days it is important to cool down with water, specially for children," Rome resident Claudio Rocchi said.

Austria and Slovakia break national temperature records

Later on Thursday, Slovakia recorded another all-time high temperature. The new record set at Dolne Plachtince in the south was 42.2 C (108 F), the Slovak Meteorological Institute said.

In Slovakia, the low levels of water in the Danube forced the country’s biggest hydroelectric power plant in Gabčíkovo to shut down seven of its eight turbines, the TASR news agency said.

So far this year, the power plant produced 15% less electricity than a year ago due to a lack of water in the river.

The authorities recorded the lowest flow of water in the Danube for July on record, the Academy of Sciences said.

An all-time high temperature of 41.2 C (106.2 F) was also recorded in Austria on Wednesday in the village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near the Slovak border, according to GeoSphere Austria.

Austria is also facing severe drought. Rainfall from Jan. 1 through June 30 was 27% below the long-term average nationwide, while some eastern regions received only half their normal precipitation.

Climatologist Alexander Orlik said some parts of the country had not experienced such dry conditions since 1885.

Hungary cuts power use as drought hits nuclear plant

In Hungary, prolonged drought and record-low water levels on the Danube River have severely affected the country’s only nuclear power plant, which relies on river water to cool its reactors.

Plant operators have reduced output to about 10% of normal production, prompting the government to introduce emergency conservation measures as a record-breaking heat wave grips the country.

Authorities have asked major industrial users and households to cut electricity consumption, particularly during peak demand hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Freight trains have been barred from operating during those hours, while decorative lighting on landmarks in Budapest has been switched off.

Several major companies, including energy company Mol, pharmaceutical maker Gedeon Richter and automakers Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW have announced plans to curb electricity use.

The government also canceled parliamentary sessions this week in an effort to conserve power.

The heat wave has shattered temperature records across the country. On Wednesday night, Budapest recorded its warmest overnight temperature on record, with temperatures falling only to 28 C (82 F), underscoring the persistence of the extreme heat.

Germany worries about shrinking rivers

Germany faced growing concerns over the impact of drought on transportation and industry as water levels on the Rhine and other rivers continued to fall.

Transport Minister Steffen Bilger met affected organizations Thursday and warned that low water levels posed major challenges for inland waterway shipping, industry and the broader logistics chain.

Environmental group BUND urged authorities to focus not only on the economic impacts but also on making rivers more resilient to climate change by retaining more water in landscapes and reducing withdrawals during periods of drought.

France remains on high wildfire alert

In southeastern France, firefighters maintained a large presence in the Var region after authorities said a major wildfire there was no longer spreading but remained capable of reigniting.

The blaze, which began July 20, has burned more than 60 square kilometers (23 square miles), making it the largest recorded in the region in recent decades.

Authorities warned that strong winds and extremely dry conditions left southeastern France at very high risk for additional wildfires.

Temperatures cooled in England, but the impact from the driest July on record was on display as a grass fire temporarily shut down the southern runway at Heathrow Airport in London on Thursday.

Balkans battle fires and drought

The heat wave reached its peak across the Balkans on Thursday as temperatures neared 40 C (104 F) and authorities battled drought and wildfires.

In Serbia, firefighters struggled to contain several blazes after days of dry weather. One major fire burned through pine forests west of Belgrade, while another spread near the central town of Kraljevo, where difficult terrain complicated firefighting efforts.

In neighboring Croatia, tourists in Dubrovnik sought refuge in shade and avoided beaches during the hottest hours of the day as temperatures soared along the Adriatic coast.

———

Associated Press journalists Paolo Santalucia in Rome, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, Karel Janicek in Prague and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.

Then she took the blame for the Indiana Fever's stinging 86-84 overtime loss to defending champion Las Vegas.

“Obviously, it just can't happen,” the three-time All-Star said just hours after she was one of 12 players named to the FIBA Women's World Cup team. “Those are free throws I usually make and certainly frustrating. Obviously, one of them gives us a two-possession lead and kind of caused my pain there, for sure, so that's on me.”

It wasn't a great night for Clark by any measure. While she scored 20 points, had eight assists and made two go-ahead 3-pointers in the final 4 1/2 minutes of regulation, it was the miscues she rued after first watching a 20-point first-half lead slip away and then failing to protect a three-point lead in the final seconds of the fourth quarter and a two-point lead at the end of overtime.

Jackie Young took advantage of the first opening by scoring a franchise-record 15 consecutive points to finish the second quarter and start the third. Chelsea Gray then made the Fever pay for their late miscues — making a buzzer-beating 3 to tie it at 75 following the missed free throws and then making another buzzer beater to win it following Clark's final turnover, forced by A'ja Wilson.

Clark went 7 of 20 from the field, 2 of 10 on 3s and had more fouls (four) than rebounds (three). Still, she didn't make any excuses.

“I didn't know we scored nine points in the third quarter, but you know we still battled, still fought, we put ourselves in position to win the game,” Clark said. “And then, honestly, it was me that made the costly errors for us. So that's on me to helps us win. That's my job. That's what I get paid to do.”

As usual, though, it wasn't just Clark.

Kelsey Mitchell, July's WNBA Player of the Month, missed one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. And then, instead of fouling to prevent the tying 3-point attempt, or corralling the loose ball, Gray got her chance to tie the score.

“Aliyah Boston read it perfectly, her timing was perfect,” coach Stephanie White said, noting they gave up 18 points on turnovers, too.. “It's a loose ball and it bounced their way. We've got to come up with that play.”

White also acknowledged making her own mistake — not calling timeout at the end of overtime when they were struggling to get a shot, which led to Clark's turnover.

And, though, that seemed of little solace to Clark, White saw it another way.

“Players already hate that they miss free throws, right? They hate that they miss plays,” White said. “You've just got to keep them positive in those moments."

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

The rookie quarterback ran in from the 5 on the final play to give the Carolina Panthers a 33-30 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the Hall of Fame game that kicked off the NFL preseason on Thursday night.

King, who was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year last season at Georgia Tech, was 21 of 34 for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for 39 yards and the winning score.

“Well, that was a lot of fun. Just the back and forth of it. Just a really good game,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “The guys were resilient and finish is what we preach as a team. We practice for these situations, end of half, end of game. ... Haynes did a fantastic job, just keeping the play alive, doing whatever he had to do, run it, throw it. Really proud of the group.”

Carson Beck also had an impressive debut for Arizona.

After Beck left, Kedon Slovis tossed a 1-yard TD pass to Bryson Green with 1:55 remaining to give the Cardinals a 30-27 lead.

But King rallied the Panthers on a night when both teams didn’t play their starters. Bryce Young was King’s biggest cheerleader on the sideline.

King’s 4-yard TD pass to Anthony Tyus III in the opening minute of the fourth quarter put Carolina ahead 24-20. King threw a 15-yard TD pass Ja’seem Reed in the second quarter. He had a 26-yard run on third-and-14 to keep the final drive going.

“These are things that he did throughout his career,” Canales said of King. “The bottom line is move the chains.”

Both teams gave their backups and reserves opportunities to shine.

Beck, Slovis and King took advantage.

Beck, a third-round pick from Miami, completed 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown. After leading the Hurricanes to the national championship game — a loss to Fernando Mendoza and Indiana — Beck wasn't overwhelmed by the national stage.

“It was a cool environment and for him to just kind of, it’s just another game and that’s the way he took it and he’s been in big ones and that’s how his mindset works,” rookie Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said.

Slovis was 9 of 10 for 106 yards.

Veteran Jacoby Brissett is the Cardinals' starter and their backup is journeyman Gardner Minshew. But expectations are low for Arizona in a division that includes the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, Rams and 49ers.

So Beck may get a chance to play at some point if he develops under LaFleur. Canales raved about what he saw from the opposing sideline.

“He operated like a professional. He looked fantastic,” Canales said. “He was accurate. He was on time. Our rush was decent. He got the ball out, threw some really beautiful passes down the field, up the sideline on some double moves, over the middle, to keep the drive alive in some third-down situations, so tip my hat to him.”

King is expected to be Carolina’s No. 3 QB behind Young and veteran Kenny Pickett.

The Panthers won the NFC South last season at 8-9 and lost to the Rams in a wild-card game.

Pickett started and was 8 of 11 for 62 yards before King replaced him.

Beck completed all six of his passes on a 98-yard touchdown drive that included a 35-yard strike to Jalen Brooks on third-and-7 from Arizona’s 7.

He threw a perfect deep ball to Brooks for a 49-yard gain and finished that drive with a 5-yard TD pass to Simi Fehoko.

Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, sat out even though he hoped to persuade LaFleur to let him play.

Gold jackets

Quarterback Drew Brees, running back Roger Craig, kicker Adam Vinatieri, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and linebacker Luke Kuechly make up the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

Tomlin makes his TV debut

Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made his first appearance with the NBC broadcast crew. Tomlin left Pittsburgh after 19 seasons and became the lead studio analyst for “Football Night in America.”

Brissett and McBride in the Hall

Brissett and All-Pro tight end Trey McBride stopped by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Museum to see their jerseys displayed for breaking records last season. McBride set an NFL record for receptions by a tight end in a season with 126. Brissett set a record for completions in a game with 47 against San Francisco last Nov. 16.

Honoring Fitz

Cardinals players wore red T-shirts with Larry Fitzgerald's No. 11 in warmups and on the sideline.

“It's a great feeling to know your organization stands behind you,” Fitzgerald said. “I'm really happy they would honor me like this.”

Up next

Panthers: At Buffalo on Aug. 15.

Cardinals: At Las Vegas on Aug. 13.

___

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

Not everyone will see rain, and many communities will spend more time dry than wet. Still, it is one of those patterns in which it will be a good idea to keep an umbrella nearby, especially if you have outdoor plans.

Thursday night

Showers and thunderstorms will remain scattered, with some downpours possible.

Temperatures will remain mild, with lows settling in the mid- to upper 60s.

Friday

Friday will bring a mixture of clouds and sunshine, with temperatures climbing into the lower 80s in the Thumb and mid-80s in Metro Detroit.

Humidity levels will remain elevated, allowing scattered showers and thunderstorms to redevelop during the afternoon and evening.

The atmosphere will contain enough instability to produce a few stronger storms capable of gusty winds up to 40 mph and intense rainfall.

However, other atmospheric ingredients remain limited, which should help keep the overall severe weather threat relatively low.

Saturday

Skies will become partly sunny Saturday, and highs will climb into the mid- to upper 80s.

While a few scattered showers or thunderstorms could develop during the afternoon, many neighborhoods should remain dry for much of the day.

If you have outdoor plans, Saturday morning and early afternoon currently look like the most favorable time frame.

Sunday

Sunday will begin with sunshine and seasonable temperatures before another round of scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms develops.

Rain coverage should remain fairly limited, meaning outdoor events will still have opportunities to continue uninterrupted between passing showers.

Monday through Wednesday

The forecast has several storm systems tracking through the Great Lakes next week.

Periods of showers and thunderstorms remain possible Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

At this point, confidence remains much higher in the overall pattern than in the exact timing and location of the heaviest rain.

What this means for weekend plans

• Friday: Keep indoor backup plans ready for the afternoon and evening.
• Saturday: The best opportunity for outdoor activities, although an isolated shower remains possible.
• Sunday: Expect another low chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms.
• Early next week: Plan for additional interruptions from scattered rain and thunderstorms.

The good news is that temperatures will remain comfortable, with highs generally holding in the lower to mid-80s through much of the coming week.

Share your weather photos with Local 4 at MIPics.

City officials confirm Woodhaven City Councilmember Don Belcher has resigned due to health concerns, marking the fourth resignation from the council in recent months.

The latest shakeup comes as Council members Preston Abadie and Janet Sikes stepped down to run for mayor, creating vacancies that have caused the city to have to navigate charter and election-law requirements.

In a Facebook post on July 17, Mayor Patricia Odette said Councilmember J.C. Moczydlowsky had submitted his resignation effective immediately, creating a third vacancy at the time and halting planned appointments.

Odette wrote that because of the additional vacancy, two candidates, Tim Podlewski and Joseph Cotton, could no longer be nominated or appointed at the July 21 meeting and the openings instead must be handled through the election process required by the city charter.

In a resignation letter, Moczydlowsky told Odette and the City Council his decision was not directed at any individual, but stemmed from concerns about “the process” and the prospect of appointments.

He wrote that with multiple council members resigning to pursue office, “the opportunity to choose who represents them on the City Council” should be decided by voters.

He also said that while he understands resignations create vacancies and delays, residents should have the chance to fill the seats “through an election rather than long-term appointment.”

Moczydlowsky didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Local 4 Thursday (Aug. 6) evening.

Filling the vacancies

City Attorney Brandon Fournier said that under the Woodhaven City Charter, a special election for three city council seats will occur in November. Since a fourth council member has now resigned, Fournier said the city has notified Wayne County of the requirement under Michigan law to appoint a council member to restore a quorum if the legislative body is reduced to less than a quorum.

The statute requires that the county board of election commissioners appoint the number of members needed to constitute a quorum, with appointees serving until a successor is elected and qualified at a special or regular election held on the next regular election date at least 60 days after the appointment.

Fournier said it’s unclear at this time if Belcher’s successor could be elected in the November election.

Vacancies shake up City Council elections

Both Tim Podlewski and Joseph Cotton, who were both planning to run for City Council, said in separate Facebook posts that they don’t have the necessary filings to be on the November ballot because the city was anticipating the City Council vacancies to be filled through a separate special election.

Fournier said it was determined that state law requires these types of elections to be held in the next regular state election in November, May, or August.

Fournier said this law supersedes the city charter.

City charter required Abadie and Sikes’ resignations

Both Preston Abadie and Janet Sikes confirmed that the city charter required them to resign from City Council in order to run for mayor.

In a statement after Councilmember Belcher’s resignation, Abadie said he was grateful for Belcher’s “many years of dedicated service,” calling Belcher “a respected public servant and longtime member of our community.”

Abadie said the city must now work with the Wayne County Election Commission and follow legal procedures to fill the remainder of Belcher’s term, adding he is confident officials will ensure the process is “transparent, lawful, and focused on the best interests of Woodhaven residents.”

Abadie has lived in Woodhaven since 1991 and is a veteran, previously serving in the U.S. Army as a combat medic.

“By Charter, I had to resign in order to run for the office of Mayor,” said Sikes, a longtime city public safety leader.

Sikes also outlined her reasons for running, citing decades of service in the community.

She said she has been a Woodhaven resident for 50 years and served 19 years as fire chief, 11 years as a firefighter/paramedic, and 11 years on the City Council.

She said her leadership experience in the fire department taught her the importance of listening, teamwork, and “always putting the needs of the community first.”

Voters also picked a pair of Memphis-area lawmakers to square off in another vastly reconfigured U.S. House district. Trump-backed state Sen. Brent Taylor will face Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson, who gained national prominence when he was expelled from the Tennessee House for protesting in support of gun control measures and then reelected by voters.

The primaries provided the first test of a new U.S. House map that was redrawn in May by Republican state lawmakers after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. Trump cheered along the redistricting as part of a broader national plan to try to hold on to a slim House majority in the midterm elections.

Republicans already hold eight of the state’s nine congressional seats and will be going for a clean sweep of the districts in November.

The previously compact 9th Congressional District, based in Memphis, had a majority Black population and is represented by a Democrat. But it was cracked apart by Republicans this year, causing a ripple of changes that also reconfigured Ogles’ 5th District.

A Trump-endorsed candidate is defeated

Ogles, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, had faced controversies related to his campaign finances and his resume, among other things. But Trump gave him an early endorsement last fall — and praised him on Election Day as “a Conservative Warrior” — as Ogles sought a third term.

Ogles capitalized on a previous redistricting in the 2022 elections, winning a formerly Democratic-held seat that was reshaped to Republicans’ advantage by splitting the Nashville area among three districts.

The new 5th District stretches from Ogles’ base in central Tennessee to the northwest corner of the state before snaking south along the Mississippi River to Memphis — with 82% of its voters new, according to an Associated Press estimate.

Although he lacked Trump’s endorsement, Hatcher was backed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, under whom he served for seven years. Hatcher campaigned as pro-Trump while emphasizing his farming background.

“The message resonated, and the message was: Work like a farmer, get things done and serve others,” Hatcher told the AP after winning the primary.

Ogles' campaign declined to comment.

Ogles' controversies have included the FBI seizing his cellphone in 2024 as part of an investigation into his campaign finance reporting. The Justice Department recently agreed to return the device, signaling that it was abandoning the probe, which began under the Biden administration.

In 2023, Ogles acknowledged that he had graduated with a liberal studies degree from Middle Tennessee State University, saying he was “mistaken” for previously describing it as an international relations degree.

Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder won the Democratic primary in the 5th District.

Pearson and Taylor to face off in revamped Memphis district

The new 9th District stretches about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east from Memphis across rural areas before reaching north toward Nashville. It previously favored Democrats but now tilts Republican, with 71% of voters new to the district, according to an AP estimate.

After the redistricting, longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen announced that he would no longer seek reelection.

Pearson noted to supporters Thursday night that it was 61 years ago to the day that the Voting Rights Act was signed. He said the Supreme Court and Tennessee lawmakers have effectively undone portions of it, leading to the redrawing of the formerly majority-Black district.

“The political dilution and degradation of our rights is happening,” Pearson said. But he added: “We’re one step closer to Washington, D.C.”

Taylor said in a statement to supporters that “Pearson is the face of the extreme left in this race — the same activist who has repeatedly put chaos over order.”

While Pearson opposed Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to address crime in Memphis last year, Taylor joined other Republicans in supporting it, calling it “an investment.”

Taylor also sponsored a 2024 law that required law enforcement agencies to communicate with federal immigration authorities if they discover people are in the country illegally.

Memphis voters voice dismay over redistricting

For decades Memphis, the most populous city in Shelby County, formed the base of its own congressional district. Now the county is split among three districts that extend outward like spokes into rural areas.

Lonzo Taylor, a retired postal worker and military veteran, said Black voters like himself have had their voices diluted.

“We only had one district in the whole state of Tennessee, and you don’t even want that to be fair? It’s just terrible,” said Taylor, 72. “I love this state, but I am very disappointed in our governor,” who called lawmakers into a special session for the redistricting.

Terrice Thomas, 45, an educator who votes for Democrats, had to learn a lot more about the candidates when she got switched from District 9 to District 8. She is concerned Memphis constituents could get overlooked.

“Is everybody going to have an equal say on what’s happening in their communities or even the people that you’re voting for?” Thomas said. “Are they going to really take into account the different areas and what makes us unique?”

Garrett wins Republican primary for open seat in the 6th District

Republican U.S. Rep. John Rose opted not to seek reelection in the 6th to run for governor instead. That created a contentious primary for the GOP-leaning district, which stretches east from Nashville.

State Rep. Johnny Garrett won a Republican contest that included Rose’s recent chief of staff, former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary. Mike Croley won a five-way Democratic primary.

Republican voters pick Blackburn for governor

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn defeated Rose in the GOP primary to succeed Gov. Lee, who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection. Memphis City Council member Jerri Green won for the Democrats.

Republicans have held the governor's office since 2011 and won every U.S. Senate election since 1994.

Sen. Bill Hagerty won the Republican primary without opposition and will face Marquita Bradshaw, who won the Democratic nomination, in November.

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The story has been updated to correct the day of the primary election to Thursday, from Tuesday.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri. AP writer Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, New Jersey, contributed.

The event was held at Earhart Elementary-Middle School on Thursday (Aug. 6) in southwest Detroit as part of the district’s summer outreach series aimed at preventing learning loss and connecting families with school and community resources.

Families received help with student enrollment, literacy activities, parenting resources and information about programs available through the district.

The event also featured free food, children’s activities, book giveaways and community resource tables.

During the event, Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti outlined several initiatives designed to reduce costs for families and improve student transportation for the 2026-27 school year.

“We’re going to put no burden on our families going into this school year,” Vitti said. “We don’t expect them to buy any supplies for the classrooms, whether that’s Kleenex, pencils or notebooks. We’re increasing the supplies provided going into this school year.”

Vitti also announced the district will launch a pilot program offering yellow school bus transportation for students at Cody and Pershing high schools.

Detroit Public Schools Community District is continuing enrollment for the 2026-27 school year, with classes scheduled to begin Aug. 24.

District officials encouraged families to complete enrollment as soon as possible before the start of school.

Summer on the Block is an annual districtwide initiative that brings together students, families, educators and community organizations through free neighborhood events focused on academic support, family engagement and access to community resources.

Detroit Public Schools Community District is Michigan’s largest public school system, serving approximately 50,000 students across more than 100 schools.

The incident occurred on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, at approximately 11:50 p.m. in the area of Burns and Goethe streets.

According to police, the person of interest and the victim, a man in his 50s, were seen together before the victim was fatally shot.

Detroit police have not released additional details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting or the identity of the victim.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Detroit Police Homicide Unit at 313-596-2260, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SpeakUp, or submit an anonymous tip through DetroitRewards.TV using report number 2608040071.

Police said a $5,000 reward is available for information that helps move the investigation forward.

The investigation remains ongoing.

A Wayne County jury found Demontrel Benard Wilson, 30, guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person on Thursday (Aug. 6).

Terrance Jaland Blue, 28, was convicted on all charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to discharge a firearm from a vehicle causing death, and discharging a firearm from a vehicle causing death, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

The convictions stem from the July 27, 2025, killing of Rylee Love, who was six years old.

Previous coverage → 1 of 3 charged in connection with shooting death of Detroit 6-year-old pleads guilty

Prosecutors said the defendants fired multiple rounds from a vehicle into a group of people gathered near the intersection of Anglin Street and Stender Avenue on Detroit’s east side.

Authorities said stray bullets entered a home in the 17400 block of Anglin Street, where Love was playing in a bedroom, and struck him in the head.

Detroit police officers responding to reports of gunfire around 8:58 p.m. were flagged down by the child’s relatives.

Love was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

The investigation led to the arrests of Wilson, Blue and Deonate Cornealous Cherry, 28, on Aug. 20, 2025.

Cherry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on July 21, 2026, under a sentencing agreement calling for 20 to 40 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21.

Wilson and Blue are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 2.

Update: Detroit men convicted in 2025 shooting of 6-year-old killed by stray bullet on city’s west side

Demontrel Benard Wilson, 30, Deonate Cornealous Cherry, 28, and Terrance Jaland Blue, 28, were charged with multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree murder, and conspiracy to discharge firearms from a vehicle causing death.

Previous coverage --> ‘My world is crushed’: Dad says 6-year-old was inside Detroit home when stray bullet hit him

The shooting happened on July 27 just before 9 p.m. at the intersection of Anglin Street and Stender Avenue.

When officers responded to the shooting, they were flagged down by relatives from a home on Anglin Street, saying a child was struck with a stray bullet.

Love was found in a bedroom of the home with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

About a month later, Wilson, Cherry and Blue were charged.

On July 21, Cherry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a sentence agreement of 20 to 40 years in prison.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21 at 1 p.m.

Clark missed two free throws with seven seconds left in regulation and Indiana up by three, then lost the ball with seven seconds to go in overtime and the Fever a point ahead. Clark had 20 points and eight assists along with eight turnovers.

A’ja Wilson had 26 points, 13 rebounds and the key defensive stop against Clark that set up Gray’s winner. Jackie Young added 22 points, including a franchise-record 15 in a row to close the first half and open the second. Gray had 11 points, hitting three 3s.

Las Vegas overcame a 20-point first-half deficit, a three-point deficit at the end of regulation and a two-point deficit at the end of overtime to salvage a win in the three-game season series.

Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 28 points, but missed a late free throw in regulation before Clark's misses. Aliyah Boston added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Las Vegas erased its big deficit by closing the first half on a 15-0 run to cut a 42-22 deficit to 42-37. Young scored the final 13 points of the half, the first basket of the second half and five of the first seven points in the second half to give the Aces a 44-42 lead.

Indiana finally found its shooting touch midway through the fourth quarter.

It rallied from a 64-55 deficit with 6:16 left and led 75-72 when Gray hit the first of her two buzzer-beaters. Gray did it again in overtime knocking down a shot to erase an 86-84 deficit. Both plays withstood replay reviews.

The game was stopped for several minutes with 4:38 left in the third quarter when security escorted a woman, who was sitting in the front row directly across from the Aces bench, out through a tunnel. A few minutes later, she assisted back to her seat and two men who were seated near her were taken out.

The Fever issued a statement that said one fan was removed then elected not to return when it was determined the fan conduct policy had not been violated. Young told reporters someone had been “chirping" all night and at that point, she thought he had crossed the line. Young declined to elaborate on what was said.

Up next

Aces: At Minnesota on Saturday.

Fever: At Chicago on Saturday.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

After the Rams held their final practice of camp Thursday, McVay said Donald's formal workout with the team went well at their regular training complex in Woodland Hills on Wednesday.

“He looked great, and he's still continuing to go through his process,” McVay said. “No new news on that front. ... We've had a plan in place for a while, and the workout was one of those things. (Calling it an official workout) was kind of semantical to be able to use the equipment and things like that under the (rules) of the CBA. He's very deliberate and intentional about what this looks like. I'm careful to say things are going in the right direction. He's feeling good, but we're not to where we're able to say he is or isn't ready to do it. But he's doing great, and he looked outstanding, as I think all of us would expect.”

McVay reiterated that the Rams will wait indefinitely for Donald's decision on whether to end his 2 1/2-year retirement. McVay also wouldn’t speculate on whether Donald would entertain the notion of returning to the Rams later in the regular season.

“He has earned the right to be able to say how he feels,” McVay said. “I saw (video of) the workout. I've been seeing the things that he's been doing. He and I probably talk every day, so it's one of those deals that if he wants to do it, we'd be excited about the possibility. And I think it's really important to acknowledge that if he doesn't, this guy gave this organization everything he had for 10 years. So if he is going to do it, he's going to do it the right way.”

Donald only began to entertain the notion of a comeback in early June after the Rams traded for Myles Garrett, and he has been working to get in football shape for several weeks. He has worked out at the Rams’ complex and at home while the team went through the past two weeks of training camp, which formally ends Friday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that they arrested Ángel Aguirre, Guerrero's former governor, on accusations of “concealing evidence to determine the whereabouts of the students" of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College.

The former governor, belonging to a party that gave rise to Mexico's ruling Morena party, is the highest-profile arrest in the case to date since the detention of former federal Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, who is facing criminal charges of forced disappearance, obstruction of justice and torture. Aguirre governed Guerrero from 2011 until he resigned in October 2014, one month after the students disappeared.

The disappearance of the students from the rural teacher’s college of Ayotzinapa after they commandeered several buses on their way to a protest shocked Mexico and the international community, and continues to fuel outrage as the truth of the case continues to trickle out nearly 12 years later.

According to Mexican authorities, a cartel in Guerrero state's city of Iguala attacked the students in collusion with security forces as well as local, state and federal authorities, including the military. Officials were presumably involved by taking part in the crime or concealing it.

Ernestina Godoy, the Attorney General of Mexico, stated that two testimonies gathered this year indicate that Aguirre not only requested that officials hand over the security camera footage from one of the locations of the attack that night but also ordered the destruction of any evidence related to the events.

“The Attorney General’s Office has evidence proving that this order to conceal the evidence was issued directly by the then-governor, with the participation of high-level state officials,” she said.

“Far from being an isolated act or a technical oversight, the concealment of the recordings was the result of a malicious operation, deliberately orchestrated from the highest levels of the State Executive Branch.”

Godoy did not explain why the testimonies of a collaborator and a protected witness, collected in January and May 2016 respectively, were obtained more than a decade after the events. She only indicated that when she arrived at the Attorney General’s Office at the end of last year, she began a “reanalysis” of the case with a “new investigative approach.”

Hours later, the Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, which represents the families, stated in a social media post that neither the students’ parents nor their attorneys had been notified of the arrest and that they were unaware of the charges. “If it is solid and in accordance with the law, the process that is beginning could help settle a debt of justice for the families,” the center said.

The current federal administration had committed to inform parents first of any developments, a key demand from families for years.

Clemente Rodríguez, the father of one of the students, recalled that from the beginning families asked for Aguirre to be investigated. “He has to tell everything he knows,” he told The Associated Press.

After three administrations, dozens of arrests and an investigation plagued by irregularities, key questions remain unanswered. Authorities believe the students were killed, but only bone fragments from three of them have been found, and the motive for the attack remains unclear, although it is believed to have been linked to heroin trafficking in buses to the U.S. operated by the local cartel in collusion with authorities.

On Sept. 26, 2014, students were attacked in a coordinated manner at various locations. In one instance, cameras recorded the moment when security forces stopped one of the buses outside the Palace of Justice, the seat of the courts, but initial official statements claimed that this footage did not exist. Now, the federal prosecutor’s office confirms what investigators from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) denounced years ago: that these recordings were hidden or destroyed to conceal evidence.

The administration of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who served from 2018 to 2024, described the Ayotzinapa case as a “state crime.”

During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, which began in October 2024, the president said that new lines of investigation were reopened, some of which, according to the prosecutor, have led to the arrest of the former governor.

In an interview after his arrest, Aaron Farinacci said “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth," Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau wrote in a court filing Wednesday.

Farinacci, 37, is charged with starting the Old Trails fire, one of three blazes in the Spokane area that have burned more than 850 buildings, destroying whole neighborhoods and streets. Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate and many still can't return home. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.

Farinacci is also charged in connection with four smaller fires ignited in the summer of 2025 and last month.

He was scheduled to be arraigned on five first-degree arson charges Thursday, but his lawyer asked for a competency evaluation before he enters a plea. Spokane Superior Court Judge Jeremy Schmidt said he would review that request. He set bond for $2 million, ruling that Farinacci was a risk to community safety, a flight risk and that there was potential for a violent offense.

Defense attorney Colin Charbonneau did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Farinacci denied starting the Old Trails fire when police initially contacted him, but during an interview with Drapeau, he confessed to that fire as well as others last year and last month, the detective wrote. That led to the four additional arson charges.

He told the detective that he always carries marijuana or cigarettes so he would have a legitimate reason to have a lighter and matches.

“He knows arson is an easy crime to get away from if you have time, and he had time,” Drapeau said.

Farinacci researched the weather to predict a day that would be hot and windy and have low humidity for starting the Old Trails fire, Drapeau said. He also looked up the work of a well-known serial arsonist and purchased items to make a “time delay device” for igniting a wildfire, using notebook paper, matches, a cigarette and a rubber band, the detective said.

Farinacci picked Saturday, Aug. 1, to start the fire because he knew there would be strong winds — reaching 50 mph (80 kph), the detective said.

Farinacci said he knew it was going to get bad but claimed he didn’t intend for it to grow as much as it did, Drapeau said.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said Thursday that it’s going to be weeks before people can safely return to their homes in areas burned in the Spokane fires. The other two major blazes, the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires, were also started by people, though not necessarily deliberately, investigators have said.

Paul Child, 64, has been credited with leading police to Farinacci. He was driving with his grandson along some railroad tracks when he saw a man standing there and looking toward nearby trees. About 10 minutes later, the man was still there.

“He was bent over in the brush, acting nervous,” Child told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “You get the feeling this guy’s up to something.”

Drapeau said Farinacci also admitted responsibility for 25 fires near his apartment building in summer 2025. Most were near the Spokane River or the Centennial Trail.

Farinacci admitted to starting the Aubrey White fire that ignited on July 6, 2025, near the Centennial Trail and threatened homes and structures, the court filing said. It led to evacuations and road closures. An investigation determined it was caused by arson, but police didn't have any suspects at the time.

Farinacci also faces arson charges for the Meenach fire that started on July 8, 2025, the Fort George fire on Aug. 11, 2025, and the Indian Bluff fire on July 24, 2026.

Farinacci served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Mesa, Arizona, in 2010. He also shot himself. He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty in 2012 to manslaughter and aggravated assault. Farinacci’s lawyer repeatedly raised concerns about his mental health during the case.

Drapeau said Farinacci indicated that he moved to the Copper River Apartments in the Spokane area in October 2022.

The detective said Farinacci's son was born in 2025, and he started having difficulty dealing with “life issues” and began smoking marijuana.

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Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden contributed to this story from Seattle.

But when he arrived Tuesday at a mobile clinic in the West Bank village of Iktaba, pulling the tattered prescription from his pocket, a local aid group finally gave him the medication he needs.

Musleh, who has a pacemaker, is one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians struggling to get healthcare in the West Bank, where a report released Thursday by Physicians for Human Rights Israel warns that Israeli policies have pushed the territory's health system to the brink of collapse.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began nearly three years ago, Israel has withheld billions of dollars of tax and customs revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, the government body that administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Without those funds, the PA has struggled to pay health workers, buy medications and support public hospitals, pharmacies and clinics, 75% of which have reduced operations and are functioning just once or twice a week.

At the same time, Israeli military raids and a surge in new checkpoints are also impeding the ability of Palestinians to get adequate medical care, with life-threatening consequences.

“If this continues, it is patients — not institutions — who will pay the price,” said Milena Ansari, PHRI's director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department, who wrote the report.

Israel has withheld at least $2.5 billion in revenues from the West Bank

Because Palestinians don't control their own borders, the PA relies on Israel to collect taxes on goods that enter the West Bank through Israeli ports. But rights groups for decades have accused Israel of weaponizing the funds as a means of political pressure.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stopped sending monthly clearance revenues to the PA last year and, as of June, Israel had cumulatively withheld at least $2.5 billion from the PA since 2023, according to the International Crisis Group.

Smotrich's office and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.

In an interview with the AP, Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan said that unpaid staff aren't showing up to work, creating a backlog of cases and delaying routine surgeries. Earlier this year, Palestinian doctors went on strike and some primary healthcare centers closed.

Some of the most impacted are those with cancer, kidney and heart problems, older people and those who have been displaced, health officials said.

At PHRI's mobile clinic in Iktaba, hundreds of people streamed in seeking treatment.

Mohammed Sarris said it's been weeks since he's been able to get the eye drops he needs for irritation caused by his diabetes.

The 64-year-old has been relying on the mobile clinic since he was forced from his home last year in the Nur Shams refugee camp, where he had easier access to healthcare provided by UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees.

A retired government worker, he earns a meager pension, often rationing medicine so he can afford food.

"It's degrading. ... All of this has affected us a lot,” he said.

The UN and other aid agencies say more patients are coming to their clinics

Physicians for Human Rights Israel said the number of patients at its mobile clinics has doubled in the last two years, from about 250 a day to around 500.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA's West Bank director, said there's been a marked increase in patients at its health centers across the territory. The agency is trying to bridge the gap, but lacks funds to scale up health services and faces Israeli restrictions on imports of medications, he said.

Earlier this year, Israel revoked the licenses of more than three dozen humanitarian organizations, among them Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF.

Last year, MSF had 12 mobile clinics operating in the South Hebron Hills. But because they could no longer coordinate their movements with the Israeli military, the group reduced the number of clinics it runs by half, impacting more than 40,000 people, said Joan Tubau, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

More Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks prevent Palestinians from accessing care

The lack of medicine, staff shortages and reduced services are being compounded by harsher Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement in the West Bank.

In recent years, the military has erected new barriers, checkpoints and roadblocks, closing off towns and cities, sometimes with little warning.

In July, at least two women gave birth in ambulances because checkpoints were closed, said Aseel Baidoun, deputy director of advocacy and campaigns for Medical Aid for Palestinians, or MAP, an international organization. One of the babies was stillborn.

She said three others also died trying to get to hospitals this year, including two more infants and a 30-year-old woman who died of a heart attack after an ambulance was stopped at a checkpoint near Sinjil, outside Ramallah.

The Israeli military has denied that it prevents medical treatment for civilians and said there is no intention to delay treatment or medical evacuations.

In response to questions about the stillborn infant, who was delivered in an ambulance near Nablus, the army said the emergency vehicle hadn’t completed “required coordination” prior to arriving at the checkpoint. It said the military conducted a security check, which only lasted a few minutes.

Dr. Leen Ibrahim, who works with MAP, said one of the consequences of this crisis is the impact on mental health.

“People here feel suffocated by everything they’re going through," she said.

At the clinic Tuesday, some Palestinians broke down waiting for hours to be seen.

“The line is so long,” said Asala Wawi, 65, wiping tears from her face as she got her eyes checked. “I'm tired."

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Associated Press journalists Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah, West Bank, and Koral Saeed in Herzliya, Israel, contributed.

“We did not arrive at this conclusion or this action lightly,” said Brian Gamble, president and CEO of Karmanos Cancer Hospital.

The services include laboratory operations, operating room access, scheduling, IT integration and dietary services.

“We took this action as a preemptive action to preserve and protect our patients,” Gamble said.

Background: Karmanos, DMC separate but remain tied

The dispute has roots in a 2005 agreement signed when Karmanos separated from DMC and became Michigan’s only independent, freestanding cancer hospital. Under that agreement, Karmanos leases space on DMC’s downtown Detroit campus and is required to purchase certain services through DMC.

Karmanos says the relationship has grown increasingly strained — citing rising costs and declining service quality.

“We are lacking transparency, and we are not satisfied with the solutions and the service levels we are getting,” Gamble said.

From $28M to $82M: Costs at the center of the dispute

At the heart of the lawsuit is a dramatic increase in service fees.

According to the filing, Tenet was charging Karmanos approximately $28 million annually for services. Karmanos alleges Tenet is now seeking $82 million.

Karmanos also claims that although it accounts for only 25–30% of operating room utilization, DMC allocates approximately 75% of related costs to the center. The lawsuit states multiple requests for an explanation have gone unanswered.

What this means for patients

For now, services have not been disrupted as a judge weighs both sides of the dispute.

“Despite our contractual disagreements with Tenet and DMC, there will be no disruption to patient care,” Gamble said.

Karmanos is one of fewer than 60 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country and the only one in metro Detroit. The center treated nearly 16,000 new cases in fiscal year 2025 — the most in its history.

The lawsuit argues that financial resources that could support enhanced patient care have instead been directed toward payments to DMC, and that DMC has repeatedly blocked Karmanos’ efforts to expand and build new facilities.

“Bottom line — we’re fighting for the future of cancer care in Detroit and our region,” Gamble said. “This is about protecting patients, supporting our teams and ensuring Karmanos can continue to grow to improve the quality of service provided and invest and serve the community for generations to come.”

“For more than 100 years, the Detroit Medical Center has been this city’s healthcare safety net. Thousands of patients are being seen and treated on our campus every day.

Karmanos is owned by McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, and has no other presence in our city, preferring to center their broader healthcare services in wealthier suburbs of Michigan while relying on the DMC to subsidize its operations locally.

Karmanos was built here, on DMC’s campus, with DMC, for Detroit’s patients. DMC supplies to Karmanos what a cancer hospital cannot run without: laboratory, medical records, and operating room services among others.

McLaren made a long term commitment with Karmanos in Detroit and now files a frivolous lawsuit as a disguised attempt to renege on their commitments on the DMC campus.

For more than a year, McLaren decided on its own what to pay for the support services it uses every day and paid a fraction of the cost.

McLaren, as one of the wealthiest hospital systems in America that also owns an insurance company spent over a year asking a Detroit safety-net hospital to subsidize it.

We absorbed the loss rather than let a payment dispute reach a single bedside. When finally asked to pay fair market value, McLaren sued, skipping the private mediation its own agreements require. That was a choice about publicity, and not about principle.

DMC honored its agreements. To this day, despite subsidizing the cost of these services for Karmanos, all necessary care remains available from the DMC.  

We expect McLaren to honor its own commitments. We reject the allegations and will answer them in court.

We will not be taken advantage of. Not when the people of Detroit are the ones who pay for it.

Detroit Medical Center

Four other soldiers were seriously wounded, the military said. An Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the army's policy, said that “an explosion was detonated” when the soldiers entered a site in the village of Majdal Zoun and that the nature of the explosive was under review.

Israeli media reported the two deaths a day earlier.

The Israeli army launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire and called on residents of the village of Mansouri to flee — the first such warning Israel has issued in Lebanon for weeks.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said one person was killed and 12 wounded in an Israeli strike in the town of Tebnine Wednesday and another eight wounded in overnight strikes on the village of Burj al-Shemali. Artillery shelling also targeted the areas of Mansouri and Majdal Zoun, the state-run National News Agency said.

There was no statement from the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets across the border two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on Iran. More than 4,000 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since then, including hundreds of civilians. About 40 soldiers and three civilians — including a military contractor — have been killed on the Israeli side.

A precarious truce between Israel and Hezbollah has largely held since June 20, but Israeli forces have continued to occupy swaths of southern Lebanon and to carry out periodic airstrikes and shelling.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL said it had recorded 113 projectiles launched by the Israeli military on Wednesday, the highest number recorded since June 21.

The latest escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome to discuss implementation of a June 26 deal reached between Israel and the Lebanese government under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese army to take control, in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Hezbollah has refused to disarm and opposed the direct Lebanon-Israel talks. It was not a party to the deal. The group has accused the Lebanese government of making too many concessions without guaranteeing an Israeli withdrawal.

Wednesday’s talks ended early due to the escalation on the ground, but resumed on Thursday.

The talks in Rome have focused on implementation of “pilot zones” where Israeli forces would withdraw and the Lebanese army would take control. Implementation began last month with an initial pilot zone in an area that wasn’t occupied by Israeli forces but had previously sustained Israeli fire.

The Lebanese army entered the town of Zawtar al-Gharbieh and some civilians returned, although many came only to find their homes destroyed and left again.

A diplomat familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly said earlier this week that Lebanon had asked for the next pilot zone to be either in the town of Khiam or Bint Jbeil. Both areas saw heavy fighting in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war and are currently occupied by Israeli forces.

But U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa suggested ahead of the three-day talks that no new pilot zones would be immediately implemented, saying that “moving too quickly risks jeopardizing the very civilians this process is meant to protect.”

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Saeed reported from Herzliya, Israel. Associated Press writer Maria Grazia Murru in Rome contributed to this report.

Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh said in a statement Thursday that Immigration Minister Tony Burke swore them in the day before at a citizenship ceremony in their Australian home city of Brisbane.

Friends and supporters from the local Iranian community attended the ceremony.

“Yesterday was a truly special and unforgettable day for me. I feel proud and deeply grateful to become an Australian citizen. Australia has given me the opportunity to build my life and my future, and I feel, more than ever, that I belong here,” Ramezanisadeh said in the statement.

Ramezanisadeh said her Iranian roots and memories would always be part of her.

Pasandideh said Wednesday had been “one of the happiest days of my life.”

“I’m incredibly proud and grateful to officially become an Australian citizen. After everything we’ve been through and all the challenges we faced, this moment means more than words can express,” Pasandideh said.

When The Associated Press asked Burke's office for an explanation for why the women’s citizenship was fast-tracked, his department said it could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

The Refugee Council of Australia, a nonprofit umbrella organization representing asylum-seekers, said refugees usually must live in Australia on a valid visa for four years before they can apply for citizenship.

Their citizenship could potentially have been fast-tracked under Australian law to make them eligible to play soccer for Australia.

The Iranians joined Brisbane Roar, a soccer team which plays in Australia’s elite A-League Women’s domestic competition, after they were granted asylum when Iran dropped out of the Women’s Asia Cup that Australia hosted.

They were among seven Iranian women who initially accepted asylum, but five changed their minds within days and returned to the team for reasons undisclosed.

The team had arrived in Australia before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February.

Concerns for the team’s welfare at home were raised when players decided against singing the Iranian national anthem before their first match of the tournament.

Protesters demanding asylum for the team widely cited Iranian sports commentator Mohammad Reza Shahbazi calling the women “wartime traitors” in a television broadcast.

U.S. President Donald Trump used social media to call for the team to be granted asylum and telephoned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the issue.

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

Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the federally funded preschool program, said the proposed changes would encourage more local decision-making. But the proposal has sparked alarm across the Head Start community, where advocates say it threatens the backbone of the antipoverty initiative. Head Start centers serve around 700,000 of the nation’s most vulnerable children, including those who are homeless, in foster care or disabled.

The Associated Press previously reported on the proposed rule, which became public Thursday when it was posted online. Americans have 60 days to weigh in before it goes into effect, though it could face legal challenges that might delay implementation.

Alex J. Adams, an assistant secretary at Health and Human Services, said the department is hoping to give Head Start centers flexibility to change the way they operate by eliminating most of the program's regulations, such as standards for low staff-to-student ratios.

"Federal mandates can certainly hinder local decision-making, drive up costs and limit the program’s reach,” Adams said on a call with reporters.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy spoke reverently about Head Start, which was started by his uncle Sargent Shriver under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

“It’s a program that works for the most vulnerable of the poorest kids in our society, and it’s really important we protect it,” Kennedy said.

But the changes would undermine many of the things that make Head Start distinct from other early education programs, according to current and former Head Start leaders.

“This version of Head Start is a shell of the program,” said Khari Garvin, who oversaw Head Start under Democratic President Joe Biden. “This is a deeply diluted version of the program, which, in my view, will cause child and community outcomes to wane.”

What makes Head Start different

Head Start is governed by more than 100 pages of regulations. They require centers to have low staff-to-student ratios, a research-backed curriculum and bevvy of wraparound services for kids in poverty, including medical and dental screenings.

The Trump administration wants to toss out nearly all of that rule book, erasing some 1,400 regulations. Instead, Head Start’s operators — which include nonprofits and school districts — would look to state and local childcare licensing requirements for guidance, including on matters of child safety and class sizes. The proposal also scraps detailed requirements on preventing lead exposure in Head Start facilities.

Other aspects of the program would be scrapped entirely. Family engagement requirements, which mandated that staff meet with parents to help them set and achieve goals, would be erased. So would deadlines for providing health and developmental screenings. Gone, too, is a mandate that children brush their teeth at school.

But parents say these comprehensive services are what made the difference in their lives — and the lives of their children. Lori Pittman, an advocate from Washington state, said her family was in crisis when she enrolled her son in Head Start, with a husband struggling with substance abuse. Head Start staff encouraged her to go back to school and eventually employed her. She credits the preschool with helping her family escape poverty.

“I was given the opportunity, while my child was in Head Start, to learn about leadership, to go back to school,” Pittman said. “I know Head Start works.”

The proposal was cheered by conservatives, who believe Head Start should be shuttered because it should be states — not the federal government — overseeing preschools.

“If the goal here is to make it more efficient for taxpayers, then the type of regulatory changes they’re thinking of here are good steps,” said Jonathan Butcher of the Heritage Foundation.

While the proposed rules largely loosen requirements, Adams emphasized centers have the option to continue to operate as they had in the past. He estimates deregulation could save the program more than $2 billion, money that could be reinvested back in to the program to create more than 200,000 new slots. That savings would be driven in part by cutting staff, including teachers, and allowing class sizes to rise, the Trump administration says.

But Head Start advocates are skeptical the changes could help grow the program. Head Start enrollment has been declining for a decade, in part because of rising costs that have outpaced federal funding, forcing programs to scale back the number of children they serve. Staff shortages have also contributed, and they aren't likely to improve if programs start asking teachers to supervise more students.

Advocates also worry financial pressures will force programs to forgo aspects of the program that would become optional under the Trump administration rules.

“They're saying they're going to serve all these other kids,” said Jenny Mauer, head of the Wisconsin Head Start Association. “What are you going to lose to do that, to serve more children without more money?”

Alongside the deregulation, the proposal would add some new requirements. Staffers would have to deliver all instruction in English, except in tribal communities that run immersion programs in native languages. There would be a 5% cap on administrative expenses, down from 15%. The proposal also includes a requirement for 30 minutes of physical activity — outside if the weather permits — for every three and a half hours of the program. New nutrition standards, championed by Kennedy, would require programs to provide more nutrition education for families, including warning them of “the negative health consequences of sugar-sweetened beverages and grain-based desserts.”

State rules are more lenient

Overall, experts emphasize, state childcare licensing requirements are far more lax than Head Start's current regulations. State rules are largely focused on ensuring children are healthy and safe. They generally do not require centers to provide things like medical screenings, they don't specify ways to engage with parents, and they don't speak to what — if anything — should be taught in childcare settings.

Shantel Meek, who heads the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University, co-authored an analysis that compared state licensing requirements with Head Start standards and found massive gaps.

“Whereas licensing is, like, the bare minimum to keep kids safe, Head Start includes keeping kids safe but also ensuring that kids are developing, growing, learning well,” Meek said. “It’s a totally different purpose.”

Critically, states allow adults to care for far more children than is allowed under Head Start standards. If the proposal goes through, about 80% of Head Start students would have worse staff-to-student ratios, Meek's analysis found. In Mississippi, for example, one Head Start teacher is only allowed to teach up to four 2-year-olds. State childcare regulations would permit up to a dozen 2-year-olds to be supervised by one adult.

Head Start, which operates in all 50 states, has long had support from Democrats and Republicans. But it has faced repeated threats under the Trump administration. Not long after Trump, a Republican, took office again in early 2025, some Head Start programs had to briefly shutter because they had problems accessing their federal money. Later, a budget draft eliminated Head Start’s funding, but it was restored after widespread backlash.

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

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

The new penalty is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties that jurors ordered against Meta in March after determining the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. In the second phase, prosecutors asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

The total amount Meta is responsible for — $942 million — is a small fraction of of its annual profit, which was about $60 billion in 2025. Investors seemed to shrug off the New Mexico ruling in after-hours trading Thursday, sending Meta’s stock down less than half a percent to $589.44.

Still, the ruling is another setback for Meta, which faces an avalanche of lawsuits from thousands of families of children harmed by social media.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said it sends an unmistakable message that companies will be held accountable when their product designs knowingly put children at risk.

“Today’s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online,” he said in a statement.

Meta vowed to appeal.

“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content," the company said in a statement. "We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

The look of Meta's platforms could change

The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to build banner and informational screens to clearly explain its protection features, best practices and tools to address inappropriate comment, for example, and display them regularly. Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.

The court said federal children’s privacy laws prevent Meta from applying age-verification tools to children under 13. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, means it cannot order Meta to request children to submit personal data or be passively tracked online, even for age verification purposes.

The court also noted that ordering verification of children’s ages only for Meta and not other social media companies would be “inequitable and unduly injurious” to the company.

Instead, the court ordered Meta to continue to improve its age assurance tools in New Mexico, which include using artificial intelligence to determine people’s age based on signals such as who their friends are and what types of content they post and consume. Meta must also attempt to develop a dedicated “under-13-years-of-age prediction model” in the next two years.

Additionally, Meta should also request proof of age for Instagram and Facebook users in New Mexico it estimates to be under 13. If it determines a user to be under 13, or under 18 but without being able to estimate a specific age, Meta must treat the user as under 13 or under 18 until the user verifies their age.

The company must also partner with schools or a child safety organization to create a reporting portal where school staff can flag users who may be under 13. And it must delete personal information it has collected on users under 13. The court also ordered Meta to report on its progress twice a year on how it’s complying with the abatement measures.

Meta is gearing up for a trial this month in California amid flood of lawsuits

Meta is also gearing up for a trial later this month in federal court in Oakland, California. Here, Meta will face the first four of 29 states that sued it in a federal multi-district lawsuit filed in 2023 for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

Eight states, including Tennessee, where a trial is currently ongoing, filed lawsuits in their own state courts.

And late last month, Meta, along with TikTok, Snap and Google’s YouTube, were sued by the families of four teenagers who died by suicide over what they describe as “years of escalating harms” from using their platforms that eventually resulted in their deaths.

What comes out of New Mexico is the first of many dominoes that will fall for Meta, said Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University focusing on social media and cybersecurity.

“America is not going to pass a law that bans social media," Edelson said. "But if companies like Meta know they’re causing harm to users by product design, the states are finally finding a way to rein this in.”

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This story has been updated to correct the judge's last name to Biedscheid, not Biedcheid. ___

Ortutay reported from Oakland, California, and Yu from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Mikella Schuettler in Phoenix contributed. Schuettler is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Nearly half of the Team USA athletes who competed in Italy came to the East Room reception, according to the White House, along with coaches, staff, and other representatives.

Among those attending was speedskater Jordan Stolz, whom Trump said was the single most-decorated American Olympian of the 2026 Games while marveling at his “very strong legs.” Stolz, during a rally with the president in Wisconsin earlier this summer, briefly placed a gold medal around Trump's neck.

“Today, we’re truly honored to welcome to the White House perhaps the greatest group of Winter Olympians in American history,” Trump said, as athletes in USA windbreakers filled rows of risers behind him.

They gave Trump a Team USA jacket and sneakers, and the president promised to hand out special coins and invited attendees to a post-event tour of the Oval Office.

Three hundred U.S. athletes participated in this year’s Winter Olympics and Paralympics, winning 57 medals in total. Thursday's event was originally scheduled to be held in the stone patio area that Trump had built near the Rose Garden, but was moved indoors as heavy evening rains fell.

“These men and women sacrificed years of their lives and countless early mornings to be the best in the world,” Trump said.

Then, apparently recalling himself as a one-time athlete, the president added, “That’s right. I guess you get up early in the morning, don’t you? I remember those days. But I didn’t do it as well as you. Not quite.”

Trump also asked who was already training for the next Olympics and most the athletes raised their hands. He noted that the 2034 Winter Olympics will be held in Salt Lake City and that Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Summer Games.

The Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team visited Trump at the White House in February and later received about a two-minute bipartisan standing ovation during his State of the Union address that night. Members of the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's hockey team declined an invitation to attend the speech, citing previously scheduled academic and personal commitments.

Trump said at the time that the women's hockey team would be honored at a later date, and two of its members, Abbey Murphy and Joy Dunne, attended Thursday's celebration and got shout-outs from Trump. He also spoke at length about the men's team, even though its members didn't make a return to the White House trip.

In a video posted earlier Thursday on social media, ice dancers Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik indicated that they did not want to come to the White House.

Trump stayed mostly focused on the Olympics and not politics in his remarks, though he told those assembled, “We’ve done a lot to help save women’s sports,” drawing only a muted reaction from some athletes. At his “Make America Great Again” rallies, Trump often gets cheers for declaring his opposition to transgender rights.

Trump also said Thursday that we’re “saving college sports” and called on Congress to pass legislation overhauling the way such sports are governed, promising to sign it.

“We’re doing everything we can to protect the cherished sporting traditions that have long been part of our nation from the beginning,” the president said.

Durian lovers prize the Malaysian premium varieties such as Musang King and Black Thorn, but their growers face a harsher reality. Climate change, caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal, is making it costlier for growers like Chow to produce quality durians, adding pressure as they compete with Thailand and Vietnam, which dominate a booming export market to China.

Extreme weather has dealt repeated blows to Chow’s orchard, which is in Karak, a small town about an hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. In 2021, heavy rainfall triggered flooding that damaged about 100 of his durian trees and his machinery. Over the following three years, persistent rain during flowering season caused pollination failure, cutting into his yield. And now, Chow is facing other challenges.

“Breaking even would already be very good. Most likely there’ll be a loss this year,” Chow said.

Between February and April, afternoon temperatures hit 33 to 35 degrees Celsius (91 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit), and rain fell mostly at night, he said. Such weather favored flowering, and Chow responded by pruning to prevent deformed or small fruit while stepping up watering and fertilization because of the heat. A rise in fuel and fertilizer prices because of the Iran war, however, meant those extra efforts came at a higher cost.

An oversupply of durians in Malaysia — driven by hot and dry weather and more orchards reaching maturity — also pushed prices down. Grade A Musang King durians from his orchard sold for the equivalent of $8.6 per kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) in local currency in early July, about half compared to the same period last year and roughly one-third of the peak price in 2024.

China's love for durians fueled boom

Durians' overpowering smell is fragrant to those who love it and foul to those who don't. Beneath a spiky shell, their flesh offers a rich, creamy texture with varying flavors. Some taste like sweet custard with fruity flourishes, others carry a hint of bitterness, an alcohol tinge or even a peanut butter-like flavor.

Official data showed Malaysia's durian crop covered 92,100 hectares (227,600 acres) in 2024, up almost 40% from 2016, a size even larger than the total land area of Singapore, the city-state island just south of Malaysia. During that period, Malaysia's production grew nearly 90% to 568,800 tonnes.

The boom was fueled by China beginning to import whole frozen Malaysian durians in 2019. Fresh durians followed in 2024, as Beijing expanded what has been dubbed “durian diplomacy” by welcoming more Southeast Asian countries to export the fruit.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said China procured about 95% of global durian exports between 2020 and 2022. It imported 1.87 million tonnes of fresh durians worth $7.5 billion in 2025, with the volume jumping six times in the past decade, according to China's customs data.

Consumers there can find the fruit in supermarkets, grocery stores and durian specialty shops. Shanghai resident Song Xiaohua, in her 30s, said she would eat durians once a week instead of once a month if it weren’t for the high calorie count. To her, durians taste creamy and are like both fruit and dessert.

“It feels like celebrating Lunar New Year every time I have a durian,” Song said.

Malaysia lags far behind Thailand and Vietnam in exports to China. But the Malaysian industry touts its durians as higher quality. Unlike their counterparts, Malaysian growers typically do not harvest early, instead collecting only naturally ripened fruit.

Delivering quality durians requires resilience

As global average temperatures rise, extreme weather events like heat waves, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense worldwide, often forcing farmers to scramble to adapt.

Peninsular Malaysia recorded a significant jump in average temperature from 1969 to 2025, with an increase of 0.24 degrees Celsius (about 0.43 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade, according to the country's meteorological department.

Ooi Teik Hock, whose orchard in Perak state is near the border with Thailand, said there were fewer fruit quality problems when temperatures were lower two decades ago. Concerned about the heat, he moved his orchard from the plains to the highlands about 10 years ago, where nights are cooler and air is more humid.

Still, global warming remains a threat, fueling the proliferation of once-rare pests and forcing Ooi to use pesticides more frequently, which he said have jumped some 30% in price from three years ago.

For the first time, Ooi didn't see fruit bats, a main pollinator, at his orchard during this year's flowering season. He said it could be a result of extreme heat or the widespread use of pesticides for pest and disease control.

The weather changes also affect overall quality, especially for the Musang King variety, which is sensitive to weather conditions, said Lim Chin Khee, an adviser to the Durian Academy, which trains durian growers in Malaysia.

Too much rain during the fruit's rapid development period can cause white and grayish patches on golden yellow flesh, while water shortages during that time can cause some black spots around the flesh, he said.

Some growers turn to technology

With expectations that El Nino, a periodic warming of Pacific Ocean that leads to warmer temperatures, could bring Malaysia record-high temperatures between March and May, Lim advised farmers to expand water reservoirs or prepare to install tube wells as a backup if their ponds dried up.

He said producing good fruit depends equally on the weather and the farmer’s effort. Extreme weather events would reduce supply while simultaneously driving up prices, he said.

“So for those farmers (who) are well prepared, actually when any disaster strikes, that is an opportunity,” he said.

Grower Kie Kim Hwa learned how to farm durians from his grandfather at a young age. When he took charge of the orchard in Penang Island off Malaysia's western coast, he chose to do things slightly differently than previous generations.

He installed sensors and instruments to track rainfall, humidity and wind speed, among other data, which was sent to a cloud drive for him to review anywhere and keep a record. Some were placed among the trees and grass, and others deep in the soil. Not everything required high technology: he also checked the surface of a bucket of water for insects to gauge pest levels.

The data allowed Kie to intervene early before problems arose and ultimately control fruit quality and quantity to match market demand.

“We live and die by the weather,” he said. “But we can still prepare.”

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Associated Press writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this report.

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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.

Towle was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer in the bile ducts, in August 2023. Her mother, Elizabeth Morrow, and brother, Austin Towle, posted a video to her TikTok account confirming she died Wednesday.

“Syd went peacefully last night after an almost three-year long battle with cholangiocarcinoma,” her brother said. “She fought really hard, and we’re so proud of her, and we thank all of you for your support over the years.” Towle's mother said they appreciated the messages of support and that “she will not be forgotten.”

Her family described her as “an endless ray of sunshine” and a friend to many. Sydney Elizabeth Towle was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on Nov. 15, 1999, and grew up in Hobe Sound, Florida, according to the New York Times. The newspaper reported that she died at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

At the time of her diagnosis, Towle already had a presence on social media where she shared videos from her everyday life. She often posted from the beach and loved the outdoors. She was an avid surfer and runner.

Once she received the diagnosis at age 23, she began posting her unvarnished reality of the disease and treatment while holding fast to her hobbies, style and positive attitude. She had over 1 million followers on TikTok alone.

In a video posted days after she was diagnosed, Towle said, “I’m in good spirits, I’m smiling. If anything, it just makes me appreciate life more.” That essentially became the ethos that guided her online presence, where she shared videos of herself running, going out with friends and traveling alongside videos from a hospital bed or at chemotherapy appointments.

In a column this year advocating for increased funding for research of the rare disease, Towle’s mother wrote that she had seen her daughter become “a beacon of hope for so many” through her candid online presence. “Thousands of people send her messages, stop her on the street and leave comments on her videos, describing how her vulnerability has helped them through their own struggles,” Morrow wrote in February.

Towle graduated from Dartmouth College in 2022, where she studied government and environmental studies. She worked as a social media manager at Epic Games.

She had posted on her LinkedIn account about plans to run the 2026 New York City Marathon in November to raise money for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. She had raised more than $10,000 for the nonprofit that advocates for research and provides patients and caregivers with resources.

“I know it might seem crazy to try to run a marathon with everything going on,” she wrote on the platform months ago. But she noted the importance of hope in her experience with the disease. “Hope keeps us alive, it keeps us going, it makes the impossible seem possible.”

Towle is survived by her mother and brother. Her father, Philip Towle, died in 2016.

Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times at the hearing.

Also, Iran said Wednesday it's in the “final stage” of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said a deal could be announced this week. The agreement is likely to be contingent on the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.

Here's the latest:

Trump honors Winter Olympians and Paralympians at White House

Nearly half of the Team USA athletes who competed in Italy attended the reception in the East Room, according to the White House, along with coaches, staff, and other representatives.

Among those attending was speedskater Jordan Stolz who, during a Trump rally in Wisconsin earlier this summer, briefly placed his gold medal around the president’s neck.

“Today we’re truly honored to welcome to the White House perhaps the greatest group of Winter Olympians in American history,” Trump said.

Two of the athletes presented Trump with a Team USA jacket and sneakers, and he gave them special coins and invited them to join him in the Oval Office.

Judge dismisses Reflecting Pool case against ex-Olympian

The former athlete, David Hearn, had been charged with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which had turned an algae green after renovations were made to keep it a deep blue.

But last week, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the case against Hearn, saying that newly received evidence suggested that a “rushed and botched installation” was the likely culprit, and not vandalism.

Hearn’s attorneys also asked for the dismissal, but retorted that evidence that the flaw was the installation was “readily available” all along.

Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the case on Thursday.

Trump says some US munitions supplies are ‘a little bit tighter’

The president was asked by a reporter why his administration’s budget request includes $21 million for munitions stockpiles while disputing on social media reports of munitions shortages.

Trump said, “We need more all the time” and said there are some types of munitions of which the U.S. has a “virtually unlimited supply.”

But, he said, “We have others where it’s a little bit tighter.”

He did not specify which.

Trump won’t say whether Rep. Max Miller should step aside

Trump is declining to say whether Rep. Max Miller of Ohio should withdraw his reelection bid following domestic abuse allegations leveled against him by his ex-wife.

Trump was asked about the embattled Republican congressman while taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office at a Thursday signing event.

“Well, I’m not going to get involved in that,” Trump said. He echoed his earlier comments, calling it a “very sad situation.” Miller was a senior adviser to Trump during the president’s first term.

Miller’s ex-wife is the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, who has said Miller should not be serving in the House. Ohio’s other Republican senator, Jon Husted, on Thursday called for Miller to resign and not seek reelection.

Under Ohio law, Miller would need to withdraw by Saturday to allow enough time for the replacement process to play out before the 4 p.m. Monday deadline.

Trump says the Strait of Hormuz is ‘sort of open’

Asked if a deal has been reached with Iran to reopen the vital waterway, Trump said he didn’t want to say.

“It has been sort of open right now,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump signs immigration orders on ‘birthright citizenship’

The president says he’s signing two executive actions on immigration.

Trump signed an executive action that he says will limit the number of people eligible for U.S. citizenship after being born in the United States.

A second order seeks to curb what Trump called “birth tourism” by increasing restrictions on visitors to the U.S. obtaining visas if they want to give birth while in the country.

Details weren’t provided, but Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional.

In June, the Supreme Court upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump’s previous efforts to declare that children born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily aren’t American citizens.

Trump says it’s way too early to think about endorsing Vance in 2028

The president told reporters at the White House that he heard about a report in the Washington Post on Thursday that he has privately told donors they need to back Vance for president in 2028.

Trump didn’t deny the report but said, “No, no,” when asked if that was his official endorsement of his vice president.

“I think he’s great, but we’re way too early to even be thinking about that,” Trump said.

Trump says he’s taking action to boost US polysilicon industry

Trump says he’s ready to impose tariffs and minimum prices on imports of polysilicon to help increase domestic production of the material.

Polysilicon is important to the chip-making industry and to manufacturing solar panels.

Trump discussed his plan during an appearance in the Oval Office but didn’t immediately provide details.

Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio says Rep. Max Miller should leave House and fall campaign

Sen. Jon Husted is calling on Rep. Max Miller of Ohio to resign his House seat and abandon his fall reelection bid.

Husted’s comments on the social platform X on Thursday pile onto pressure from Ohio’s senior senator, Republican Bernie Moreno, Miller’s former father-in-law, who Sunday said Miller is unfit to serve.

Miller is facing a congressional ethics investigation related to domestic abuse allegations leveled against him by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, but is insisting he won’t withdraw.

Miller has vigorously defended himself against the allegations made in a custody fight over their 2-year-old daughter.

Husted said stepping aside as a candidate and legislator is in the best interest of the child.

Miller’s determination to push ahead comes as a Monday deadline looms for replacing him on the November ballot should he change his mind. The second-term congressman’s actions in a parade of public appearances — beginning with a livestream from his X account on Sunday — are heightening concerns among Republicans that his reelection chances are vanishing.

Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Sen. Mitch McConnell says he’s been discharged from rehabilitation center

The Kentucky Republican and former Senate leader was first admitted to the hospital on June 14. He disclosed weeks later that his hospitalization was the result of a fall and said he was undergoing physical therapy.

McConnell in a statement Thursday, gave no specific date for his return to the Senate.

“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” McConnell said.

McConnell’s absence was felt in the Senate as Republicans were unable on Thursday to advance a farm bill out of committee without his vote.

Last week, Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear urged McConnell to either prove that he is fit to continue serving in office or resign.

Brazil’s president to call Trump after his ambassador to Washington had visa revoked

Two days after the U.S. government revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador in Washington, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said late Wednesday he intends to call Trump.

Lula’s comments came during a podcast in which he discussed the war in Ukraine and the United Nations’ inaction. In the same interview, he said the latest move by the U.S. government against his administration is “irresponsible.”

“Last week, I called (Chinese President) Xi Jinping to speak about the need for the (U.N.) Security Council to meet. Yesterday (Tuesday), I spoke with my friend (Russian President Vladimir) Putin so they would meet, and I am going to speak with Trump as well,” said Lula, who is bidding for reelection in October.

The Trump administration revoked the visa of ambassador Maria Luiza Viotti in retaliation for Brazil’s denial of visas last month for two American diplomats who sought to visit ahead of the elections.

Trump administration will buy back company’s offshore wind leases off 3 states in $1.2B deal

An offshore wind company says it’s reached a $1.2 billion deal with the Trump administration to walk away from projects under development off New York, California and Louisiana.

RWE U.S. Offshore says its leases represented years of planning, investment and partnership with federal agencies.

But the company determined there was no path forward to permit the projects for the foreseeable future. In exchange for $1.22 billion, RWE is relinquishing the wind power leases.

The president often talks about his hatred of wind power. His administration has been buying back offshore wind leases to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuel development.

States that are losing offshore wind energy are suing. California intends to sue.

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Vance to meet with Senate Republicans on Thursday

The vice president is joining the Senate GOP’s lunch, where he’s expected to discuss a government funding bill and a proof-of-citizenship voting bill Trump is pushing to pass, according to a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The person said the vice president wants to ensure that Republicans are working to get as much of the SAVE America Act passed through the budget reconciliation process. That would allow grant money tied to voting rules to pass the Senate by a simple majority.

Vance also planned to thank Senate Republicans for working to try to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general.

Trump denies report that he is upset with Hegseth

The president’s post on social media was a response to a Washington Post report that Trump angrily confronted the defense secretary last week at Camp David over the U.S.’s depleted defense stockpiles in the wake of the Iran war.

“The Fake News, as usual, is spreading false and completely unfounded rumors. I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He added that the war with Iran “is going very well!” and said he believed the newspaper’s reporting of the alleged disagreement was “treasonous.

Trump’s ‘Golden Fleet’ of battleships to cost $275 billion, CBO says

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the first ship in the Navy’s new nuclear-powered battleship program would cost about $23 billion. The other 15 ships that would be purchased through 2056 would average slightly more than $18 billion each, it said.

“Congress cannot throw hundreds of billions of dollars at Trump’s ‘Golden Fleet,’ including plastering his name across a new battleship,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, who requested the assessment.

The White House had requested $1 billion for early work on a new “Trump-class” battleship as part of a government funding package that the Senate is considering this week to prevent a government shutdown this fall. Democrats blocked that provision from the package.

For contrast, the last of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers cost around $11 billion to build, while the newer Ford-class carriers will cost the Navy between $13 billion and $15 billion.

Trump’s IndyCar race: Doing 200 in a 25 mph zone with manhole cover-displacing torque

The president is hosting an IndyCar street race in Washington, D.C., as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, set for Aug. 22 and 23, will see cars speeding down Pennsylvania Avenue at up to eight times the usual 25 mph speed limit.

It is the latest — and the fastest — of the major events Trump has hosted against the backdrop of America’s birthday.

The IndyCar event will be 250 miles over 147 laps on a 1.66-mile track featuring seven turns. Race chair Bud Denker says Penske Corporation is paying for the “vast majority” of the race, while the city handles “very limited” repaving.

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Democrat says Paul would upend long-standing congressional respect for Fifth Amendment protections

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the committee’s top Democrat, also questioned whether the referral would be valid if Paul bypassed the entire Senate, where the 60 votes needed to pass the resolution are seen as unlikely.

“If this committee now seeks to punish a witness for asserting their constitutionally protected Fifth Amendment rights, future witnesses will argue that appearing before Congress exposes them to punishment regardless of whether they comply with a subpoena and invoke a constitutional protection,” he said.

Fauci’s lawyer accuses Paul of abusing his power by trying to ‘weaponize the Justice Department’

“Today’s partisan committee vote is a crude political stunt intended to punish Dr. Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights,” Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, said in a statement. “The Senate should reject Senator Paul’s meritless and politically-motivated contempt resolution. For years, Senator Paul has proclaimed to anyone who would listen that Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted and put in prison. Dr. Fauci has committed no crime — and Senator Paul knows it.”

Iran war renews concerns about the lasting toll of traumatic brain injuries to US troops

The lasting effects of traumatic brain injuries are raising fresh concerns about the toll of the Iran war on American troops who are suffering those wounds during a conflict without a clear end. Nearly 700 U.S. service members have been wounded by drone and missile attacks on bases in the Middle East and other fighting. Most have experienced traumatic brain injuries and returned to duty, according to public statements from military officials.

The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, last month called the vast majority of injuries over a two-week period “minor concussions.”

Concussions often are termed “mild” TBIs, and many people recover within weeks. But sometimes those with seemingly mild initial symptoms go on to have problems persisting for months or years, such as headaches, dizziness or difficulties with memory or attention that’s sometimes called “brain fog.”

Doctors have no way to predict who will suffer lasting problems, a vexing enough question that there’s medical debate over whether to retire the term “mild TBI.”

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Kennedy Center board to vote on closure next week

The board for the performing arts venue will meet Aug. 13 to consider whether to move forward with a two-year closure to allow for renovations, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting hasn’t been made public.

A federal judge blocked a closure that was slated to take effect July 5, saying the board vote authorizing it was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.” The judge also ruled that President Trump’s name was illegally added to the building, ordering its removal.

As the board, which is largely composed of Trump allies, moves toward another vote, management is expected to provide several options for consideration. They include a complete closure, a partial closure with the resumption of some programming or “phased closures” that would allow the full return of programming.

— Steven Sloan

Trump to welcome Winter Olympians to the White House

The president is hosting dozens of Winter Olympians and Paralympians for a Rose Garden reception later Thursday to honor their accomplishments in the 2026 Milano Cortina games.

Nearly half of the Team USA athletes who competed in Italy earlier this year will be at the reception, according to the White House, along with coaches, staff and other representatives.

Three hundred U.S. athletes participated in the Winter Olympics and Paralympics this year, winning 57 medals in all.

“President Trump will proudly celebrate Team USA’s historic achievements at the Winter Olympics with a special reception at the People’s House,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. “Our patriotic athletes showed the world American excellence, and their extraordinary performances united us all in our love of country.”

Trump administration moves forward with Head Start overhaul, proposing to eliminate regulations

President Donald Trump’s administration said it plans to overhaul Head Start, tossing out many of the regulations that are the hallmark of the early education program for the nation’s poorest children.

Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the federally funded preschool program, said the proposed changes would encourage more local decision-making. Early childhood policy experts argue the deregulation could undermine Head Start’s position as the gold standard in early education.

Head Start centers serve around 700,000 of the nation’s most vulnerable children, including those who are homeless, in foster care or disabled. That wouldn’t change under the overhaul.

But Alex J. Adams, an assistant secretary at Health and Human Service, said the department is hoping to give Head Start centers the flexibility to change the way they operate. That means eliminating most of Head Start’s regulations, such as standards for low staff-to-student ratios or requirements to provide services to preschoolers’ families.

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Pirro’s office is the next stop for Fauci’s contempt charge

The Senate has typically considered contempt charges even when they originate with a committee. But Paul is sending the matter directly to the Justice Department, bypassing the full Senate in a move Democrats decried as illegitimate.

That means the referral will land in the office of Washington’s U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

That’s notable given how Pirro has drawn fire recently from President Donald Trump over her effectively disputing the president’s false claims that vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Pirro dropped charges against a man accused of damaging the pool’s new lining, saying it was instead the result of shoddy contractor work.

So, now, Pirro could end up deciding whether to prosecute Fauci.

Senate committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress

The Senate committee on Thursday voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held the vote one week after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times when he appeared before the panel.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the committee chairman, has said that constitutional protection did not apply since Fauci last year received a pardon from Democratic President Joe Biden and thus did not have to worry about the threat of prosecution. Fauci and Democrats who opposed the contempt resolution say he had a well-founded fear of self-incrimination given a public desire by Republicans to seek his prosecution.

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UEFA on Thursday reiterated that it had lost confidence in FIFA president Gianni Infantino and said conditions to withdraw its boycott threat had not been met.

“UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non participation in FIFA competitions," it said in a statement. "First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.

“These conditions have not been met. In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds.”

It was another bruising day for Infantino, with global soccer players union FIFPRO accusing him of "a profound abuse of presidential power.”

The English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino's re-election.

Even Amnesty International said the “current crisis spotlights the need for governance reforms."

FIFA and Infantino tried to present a united front following a high-level summit in Morocco on Wednesday when it announced the president had the full support of top staff in attendance.

The world governing body also apologized for errors made over its controversial plan to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary and committed to “ensure they do not happen again.”

FIFA said it hoped its meeting would “help restore confidence” in the organization after the turbulence created by Infantino’s now abandoned project, which provoked widespread condemnation.

UEFA voted to abandon FIFA competitions if it went ahead. And even after Infantino’s hasty change of course, Europe’s governing body said it had lost confidence in FIFA’s leadership — paving the way for a challenge to his presidency.

In its defiant statement, UEFA made it clear its position still held.

"Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA president (and whose careers depend on his favor) agree with him changes nothing,” it said.

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

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

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

Iran says a deal with Oman is close

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, has said an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, which lies on the other side of the waterway, is in the “final stage” of drafting. Speaking Wednesday, he said a joint statement will be issued “if certain parties do not obstruct this process,” apparently referring to the U.S.

The agreement is likely to be contingent on the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly said Thursday that any temporary routes through the Strait of Hormuz will not have impediments such as approvals, permissions, tolls or charges.

Asked Thursday if a deal has been reached with Iran to reopen the vital waterway, U.S. President Donald Trump said he didn’t want to say.

“It has been sort of open right now,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

The strait is crucial to global shipping and energy supplies. Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

— Michelle Price in Washington

Ships struck over the past week in the Strait of Hormuz

At least two ships were hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the past week, while several others reported near misses or warnings from entities claiming to represent Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

The company added that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels continued to claim attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The claims could not be independently verified.

Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz increased to 84 transits during the week of July 27 to Aug. 2, up from 45 the previous week. But traffic is still far below the more than 700 transits seen in a typical week before the crisis, Lloyd's List said.

Yemen’s Houthis kill 30 government forces in major attack

More than 10 civilians, including a 4-year-old child, were injured in Saudi Arabia on Thursday after a series of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to the Saudi military.

The attacks, which took place in the southern region of Najran, near the Yemeni border, came hours after the Iran-backed rebels claimed responsibility for another series of strikes in central and eastern Yemen that killed at least 30 government troops and wounded at least 50 others.

The back-to-back attacks mark a major escalation since a truce in 2022 largely halted fighting. The civil war pits the Iran-backed Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition allied with Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

A Houthi leader said Saudi-backed troops were targeted in the attacks and that “hundreds” were either killed or injured. The assaults hit camps for forces of the internationally recognized government in the provinces of Marib and Hadramout, the Yemeni officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi military, said the later attack wounded seven Saudi nationals, one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani expatriate. The Houthis did not release any statement.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year.

— Samy Magdy in Cairo and Baraa Anwer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon as negotiators meet in Rome

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and another four were seriously wounded in an explosion in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said Thursday. The deaths are Israel's first since a shaky truce was implemented in June between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli army launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire and issued a call for residents of another village to flee — the first such warning Israel has issued in weeks.

The escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome to discuss implementation of the June deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon, in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Uganda approves sending troops for international force in Gaza

Ugandan authorities won parliamentary approval Thursday to deploy troops as part of the International Stabilization Force for Gaza.

The 20,000-strong force, proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in February to ensure “future prosperity and enduring peace,” has not yet materialized.

Several other countries pledged troops to the mission, including Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Albania and Indonesia, which has since put its commitment of troops on indefinite hold.

The Gaza ceasefire has stalled, as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed.

Israeli settler charged in West Bank killing of Palestinian activist

Israeli prosecutors have charged a settler with the killing of a Palestinian community leader last year in the occupied West Bank.

Prosecutors accuse Yinon Levi of reckless manslaughter in the death of prominent Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in July 2025. The charge holds a lesser punishment than murder under Israeli law. The indictment also charges Levi with armed trespassing and malicious property damage.

It is extremely rare for Israel to charge settlers with violence against Palestinians. Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the charges against Levi mark the first time since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that an Israeli has been indicted for the death of a Palestinian in the West Bank.

In that time, the group said, Israeli settlers and soldiers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians in the territory.

Iraq moves to crack down on armed militia groups

Iraq said Thursday that any armed activity outside of state authority after Sept. 30 will be prosecuted under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law, the latest move in a push to bring all weapons under government control.

Several powerful, Iran-backed armed factions have rejected calls to surrender weapons or dissolve their organizations, saying they remain committed to the “option of resistance.”

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. launched strikes on Iraq last week after Riyadh accused Iraqi militias of using drones to attack its oil facilities.

The retaliatory strikes in Iraq hit bases of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of armed groups close to Iran that are officially part of Iraq’s security forces but often operate outside of state control.

Frontier Flight 1958 was preparing to push away from the gate at George Bush Intercontinental Airport for service to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on Thursday (Aug. 6) when the passenger made the threat, according to a statement from the airline.

As a precaution, passengers were removed from the aircraft while local and federal law enforcement agencies conducted a security sweep.

Authorities found no items of concern during the inspection, Frontier said.

Passengers were being accommodated on another flight later Thursday evening, according to the airline.

Authorities are still investigating the incident. No additional details about the passenger involved or possible charges were immediately released.

“Earlier today, as Frontier flight 1958 was preparing to push out from the gate at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for service to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), a passenger made a verbal bomb threat.

As a matter of precaution and in coordination with local and federal authorities, passengers were deplaned and law enforcement conducted a security sweep of the aircraft.

Law enforcement found nothing of concern, and passengers are being reaccommodated on a flight later this evening.”

The president said he was signing two executive actions on immigration, including one limiting the number of people eligible for U.S. citizenship after being born in the United States, while another focused on stopping people from coming to the U.S. to give birth.

The written executive order released later Thursday was narrower in scope than the previous one shot down by the Supreme Court and appeared to focus on restricting automatic citizenship to specific categories of people, including children born to adults with connections to foreign embassies or organizations as well as anyone considered an “alien enemy” of the United States.

It also aimed to restrict birthright citizenship to anyone whose parents “engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship."

A second order seeks to curb what Trump called “birth tourism” by increasing restrictions on visitors to the U.S. who want to obtain visas to give birth while in the country.

It was not immediately clear how successful the president's most recent attempt to restrict birthright citizenship would be. Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional and his drive to reopen the question reflected the administration's zeal to restrict who gets to become an American.

“I thought we were going to win it at the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, we had a bad decision, very unfair decision. Our country suffers because of it and we’re ending it a different way,” Trump said.

The Migration Policy Institute noted in a 2026 article that it’s already considered fraud and grounds to restrict a visa if someone seeks a visa specifically to come to the U.S. and obtain citizenship for a child. Previous administrations have also sought to prosecute so-called “birth tourism" schemes that helped women hide their pregnancies while traveling to the United States to give birth.

Birthright citizenship has become a key rallying point in the president’s second term anti-immigration agenda, with the president and supporters arguing it makes the country a magnet for immigration and that American citizenship should be reserved for those who truly value it, as opposed to just being given to anyone born here.

But immigration advocates and many legal experts say that the Constitution is clear in outlining who is considered a citizen. They've also argued that birthright citizenship is a benefit to the U.S. by giving everyone an equal stake in the country's future and that restricting who can become a citizen would create a second-class of people in America.

The Trump administration has painted birth tourism as a widespread problem. There's no official estimate of how many births can be considered “birth tourism” births, but an estimated 26,000 might fall into that category out of the roughly 3.5 million births in the U.S. every year, MPI wrote in its 2026 article.

In June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s previous efforts to declare that children born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily aren’t American citizens, and upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship.

The American Civil Liberties Union predicted that Trump's second attempt would also be rejected.

“The Supreme Court already decided this issue: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution. Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, in a statement Thursday.

On Trump’s first day in office of his second term, he signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, which allows anyone born in the United States to automatically become an American citizen.

Trump’s administration was immediately sued by opponents who said the executive order went against the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, which makes anyone born in the country a citizen, with very limited exceptions.

The executive order was blocked by several lower courts and never took effect.

In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s order by a 6-3 vote. But the vote was too close for many immigration advocates and legal observers who felt the legal question of birthright citizenship was a long-settled issue.

When it came to the legal question of whether birthright citizenship was protected by the Constitution, the vote was even narrower. Only five justices said it was enshrined in the Constitution, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected the executive order, but did so specifically on the grounds that federal law conveys birthright citizenship.

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Santana reported from Sacramento.

The final tournament of the regular season determines the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the postseason.

James, the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking that came with a tour card, has to win to reach the top 70. He was tied for the lead until a bogey-birdie-bogey finish for a 62, both bogeys coming after he missed 6-foot par putts.

Koivun earned his card from the accelerated PGA Tour University program for underclassmen — he clinched his card as a sophomore and deferred it one year — and is in much better shape at No. 70. Koivun missed some birdie chances coming in and shot 67.

Hossler is at No. 122 in the FedEx Cup and also has to win to reached the first playoff event next week. He ran off four straight birdies early in his front nine at Sedgefield Country Club, and played the the final holes in 4 under with a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th.

“Try and win a golf tournament,” Hossler said. “That's all there is to it.”

James, the 36-hole leader at the Canadian Open in his professional debut before crashing on the weekend, made a 15-foot eagle putt on the 15th that allowed him to catch Hossler.

With the chance at another 59 at Sedgefield, he three-putted from just inside 25 feet on the par-3 16th, birdied the 17th and then came up short of the green from the first cut on the 18th, chipped to 6 feet and missed the par putt.

Still, it was an impressive start at a tournament where so many players know they have to go low and finish high if they want to advance.

“Every week someone always shoots anywhere from 63 to 60 or 59 the first day, so it’s always there. You just try to put yourself in position, play the best you can,” James said.

No one had a more bizarre round than Sahith Theegala, whose postseason is safe at No. 43. He didn't make a par on the front nine — eight birdies and one bogey. And then all he could manage were pars on the back nine until stuffing his approach tight on the 18th for a birdie and a 62.

“Pretty wild,” Theegala said. "I've never had a round like that. I think historically I’ve always struggled to start rounds really well, so that was the first time I ever started a round with six (birdies) in a row. That was an incredible start. It didn’t feel like a fluke or anything, either.

“Got to the back nine and just stopped hitting fairways,” he said. “And really that cost me a lot of opportunities. Yeah, it was an interesting round.”

Eric Cole shot 63 and was in fourth, and the six players at 64 included five of them who are outside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup. The exception is Matti Schmid at No. 67, far from safe.

“I feel like I’m in a decent position if I play the golf that I know that I can play,” Schmid said. “I don’t really think about it. I just want to put three more good rounds on the board.”

Brooks Koepka, who returned to the PGA Tour this year after four years at LIV Golf, needs a high finish to reach the postseason and had to settle for a 67, which was closer to the cut line than the lead on a course that yielded 36 rounds of 66 or lower.

The focus is on those who risk finishing out of the top 70. That wouldn't be the end of their seasons, but most would need to play in the FedEx Cup Fall to make sure they finish in the top 100 to simply keep a full card for 2027.

James doesn't face those prospects because his No. 1 ranking in PGA Tour University makes him exempt through 2027. Even so, it would be a big feat to go from the library to the postseason in just over two months. Koivun put himself in that position by winning the 3M Open two weeks ago.

Hossler knew he had to win if he wanted to play next week in the playoff opener, but he is trying to keep it all in perspective.

“There's lots of players that this week’s performance does impact moving on or not or whatever,” Hossler said. “Obviously, every week that we play out here has implications for future years. I think if you let that consume you, it’s a dangerous thing.

“I'm going to go try and play great golf and kind of see where the cards fall.”

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

In a findings letter to the school, the department said that while administrators paid lip service to being race-neutral in admissions, they used other factors as stand-ins for race, including personal essays and whether someone was a first-generation college student.

The Durham, North Carolina, school said in an emailed statement it was reviewing the letter and is committed to following the law “in a manner that is consistent with our academic mission.”

“Duke Law School doesn’t get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division said in a news release. “Using ‘diversity’ essay questions to identify preferred races for admission is still illegal discrimination based on race.”

Affirmative action in college admissions has been illegal since a 2023 Supreme Court ruling. The same ruling said colleges could continue to assess how applicants’ backgrounds might speak to broader characteristics, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused colleges of using other proxies to maintain racial diversity, which conservatives view as illegal discrimination.

The department recently found that the medical schools at Yale University and the University of California, Los Angeles, illegally considered race in admissions. It announced in June that it was launching similar investigations into 15 other medical schools.

The Trump administration previously targeted undergraduate admissions at selective colleges, demanding they collect data to show they are complying with the Supreme Court ruling.

In its findings against Duke Law, the DOJ said Black or Hispanic applicants were much more likely to be admitted than white or Asian applicants with the same academic credentials. Further, it said, in 2024 and 2025, the median Law School Admissions Test scores of rejected white and Asian applicants exceeded the median scores of admitted Black applicants.

The department said it was seeking to reach a settlement with Duke Law.

The truck dumped the ducks from one side of a half-raised bridge. After forming a yellow pool in the river, the ducks floated for around 15 minutes before a winner and runner-up were plucked from the water.

The annual event, a fundraiser for Special Olympics Illinois, draws thousands of participants. At an accompanying festival, participants snapped pictures with inflatable ducks and doodled on a chalkboard under the prompt, “I adopt a duck because …” Some sported rubber duck-printed shirts.

Becky Cavanagh, the Ducky Derby ambassador and a 13-year Special Olympics athlete, held up the winning duck to the cheers of crowds packed on both sides of the river.

Cavanagh said her favorite part about the Special Olympics was “making new friends.” Asked before the race how she felt about picking the winning duck, she cheered. “Woo!”

Special Olympics Illinois organizes competitions across the state for people with disabilities and special needs. It costs $10 to sponsor a “lone duck,” which will feed an athlete lunch at a competition, and $30 for a “quack pack” of six ducks, which supplies gold medals for a team. The competition has raised more than $480,000.

The sponsor of the fastest duck wins an SUV, and the runner-up will win $2,500 in cash, said Pete Beale-DelVecchio, president of Special Olympics Illinois.

“It really is a fantastic day for our athletes,” he said ahead of the race at an area next to the river, where derby attendees posed with inflatable rubber ducks and bopped along to a live DJ.

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

According to the data, 1,065 people were killed in crashes on Michigan’s public roads in 2025. The number of fatalities in Michigan crashes has been relatively unchanged since 2004.

Recent crash data shows us that the total number of crashes have been pretty steady since 2023.

We spoke to Michigan State Police Lieutenant Ty Howard, who shared the department’s top concern with us.

“What we’re concerned about is the 18% increase in pedestrian fatalities along with bicycle deaths as well too. There’s been numerous individuals within our state struck on e-bikes and also pedestrians being struck,” Howard said.

Michigan State Police call bicyclists and pedestrians “vulnerable roadway users.” Here’s the 2025 data on them:

• There were 35 bicyclists killed in 2025. That’s up 21% from the year before.
• There were 184 pedestrians killed in 2025. That’s up 18% from the year before.

It’s worth noting that deadly crashes involving commercial vehicles were also up in 2025. There were 128 people killed. That’s up 16% from the year before.

Here’s a look at some more crash data released by MSP:

• Distracted-driving crash fatalities dropped to 44 people killed. That’s down 32%.
• Drug-involved crash deaths dropped to 210. That’s down 23%.
• Teens killed in crashes fell to 61. That’s down 21%.

“If you’re driving the vehicle, put the phone down. You need to focus on what’s in front of you, and that’s the roadway,” Howard said.

The data also revealed which holiday is the deadliest for motorists. In 2025, that ended up being Labor Day. There were 15 deadly crashes and 17 people were killed.

The second-deadliest holiday for motorists was Memorial Day. Thirteen people were killed. You can find a more in-depth look at holiday crash statistics here.

Michigan’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission is working to make roads safer. They launched the Safer by 2030 initiative in December 2025 with the goal of reducing crash fatalities by 30% using “awareness, engagement, and enforcement.”

The state has an interactive dashboard to look at crash data online. You can find it at this link: michigan.gov/msp/divisions/cjic/dashboard-portal/crash-dashboard.

That's why Miller said she is voting in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary for David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive endorsed by two-term Gov. Tony Evers. He faces democratic socialist Francesca Hong in a contest that will be the latest test nationally of how far Democrats are willing to swing to the political left.

Wisconsin's primary comes a week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, setting up a crucial test for progressives in November in a key battleground state. Also on Tuesday, voters in Minnesota will decide another U.S. Senate contest featuring a centrist and a progressive.

In a year where voters upset with the Democratic Party mainstream have propelled outsider candidates to victory across the country, Crowley is hoping to buck the trend in Wisconsin. He's banking on the support of Evers, one of the state's most popular elected officials, to make up ground in the waning days of the chaotic primary.

Crowley said that El-Sayed’s slim margin of victory “does give me a little bit of hope.”

“We’re going to focus on those undecided voters,” Crowley said.

Wisconsin Democratic voters grapple with electability, chaotic primary

“The divide is real,” Miller, 49, said of the struggle between progressives and more mainstream Democrats. But her focus remains on November, when the winner of the primary will face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and one of the most conservative members of Congress.

Miller, who described herself as a progressive, called Hong a “very, very weak candidate" and described her popularity as “a little bit of a mirage.”

“I don't think she can win,” Miller said at a Crowley campaign stop a week before election day at a winery in the rolling hills of New Glarus.

Crowley is banking on more voters feeling that way. A Marquette University Law School poll of Wisconsin Democratic primary voters conducted in late July, before former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out, showed Hong with a significant lead over the other candidates. More than 112,000 absentee ballots had already been returned by the day the poll was released.

Complicating the path for Crowley is the fact that he withdrew from the race on July 8 and only got back in 10 days later, with the backing of Evers, after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez ended her candidacy. Then, 12 days later, Barnes also ended his campaign amid allegations of inappropriate behavior.

Barnes and Rodriguez, who were both seen as potential front-runners, remain on the ballot and votes already cast for them can't be undone.

“We've created a mess,” said Michael Gebben, a 64-year-old Democrat who voted absentee for Rodriguez before she dropped out. “Hopefully we can get out of it.”

Hong bats down controversies as Crowley makes a final sprint

As Crowley sprinted across the state to capture undecided voters, Hong was batting down controversies.

Hong, a single mom and former restaurant cook, faced questions about past social media posts where she called for canceling Thanksgiving because “we should stop celebrating colonialism,” disparaged Valentine’s Day as “another day capitalism tells you how to show love” and repeatedly called for defunding the police.

She has backtracked or clarified many of those past statements in recent days, now saying that she does not support abolishing the police.

Tiffany pointed to Hong’s comments on Thanksgiving and said she wants “to destroy the traditions and culture that unite us.” Tiffany, who had 10-times more cash on hand than either Hong or Crowley did entering August, has portrayed the race as a contest between chaos and common sense.

“Wisconsinites can’t afford for November to come down to the most extreme things Tom Tiffany and Francesca Hong have said online,” Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said this week in a social media post explaining why the governor endorsed Crowley.

Crowley's mention of the Evers endorsement drew a round of applause at both of his campaign stops in New Glarus and Madison this week, but similar votes of confidence haven't always been decisive in other primaries. In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed the moderate Stevens who came up short.

Even with Evers' backing, Crowley insists he is not an establishment Democrat despite having served more than three years in the Legislature and as the top elected official in Milwaukee County, the state's largest, since 2020.

“When people try to call me the establishment, I look at that as a slur, particularly as an African American candidate,” said Crowley, who is looking to become Wisconsin's first Black governor. “I have never run for office to protect the establishment. I’ve always been here to protect people.”

Voters say message from progressive candidates resonates

Hong supporter Chris Vestin has heard the concerns about electability before.

To him, the fears about Hong's chances against Tiffany in November sound like a repeat of those who pushed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Sanders defeated Clinton in the Wisconsin primary by 13 points that year, before Clinton went on to lose the presidential race to Trump. Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016, lost it in 2020 and then won it again in 2024.

“It frustrates me when they say that person is unelectable,” Vestin said of Hong, who is vying to become Wisconsin’s first woman governor and first Asian American governor. “A lot of times it’s racist, it’s sexist.”

Vestin, 54, called Evers' endorsement of Crowley “counterproductive.”

“Establishment Democrats want to take the choice away,” Vestin said.

On Tuesday in Minnesota, voters will choose between moderate U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate that's playing out in the aftermath of Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement surge in the state.

But the stakes are even higher in Wisconsin.

Democrats are trying to hold onto the governor's office and flip both chambers of the Legislature to have full control for the first time since 2010.

Republicans transformed Wisconsin by enacting a wide array of conservative priorities, including effectively doing away with public worker collective bargaining, when they had full control from 2011 to 2018.

“We need a trifecta,” Crowley told his supporters at the New Glarus rally. “And who is at the top of the ticket matters."

Crowley supporter Lindsey Lee, 61, of Madison said before the rally there that he believed previously undecided Democrats were coalescing around Crowley.

“It’s like the last 50 yards of a horse race," Lee said. "Hong is obviously in the lead but Crowley is coming up on a side lane. I think it will be a photo finish.”

The deal, first reported by ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter on X and confirmed by Gibbs’ agent Todd France, includes $51.5 million guaranteed and can reach a maximum value of $75.75 million.

Extensions handed out by the Lions:

🏈Jahmyr Gibbs: 3-years, $67.5M
🏈Aidan Hutchinson: 4 years, $180M
🏈Jack Campbell: 4-years, $81M
🏈Jared Goff: 4 years, $212M
🏈Amon-Ra St. Brown: 4 years, $120.01M
🏈Penei Sewell: 4 years, $112M
🏈Jameson Williams: 3 years, $80M
🏈Kerby… https://t.co/XXBWMOm11d

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 6, 2026

Gibbs’ contract averages $22.5 million per season, surpassing the league’s previous top running back salaries.

The deal puts him ahead of Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson ($22.25 million), Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor ($22 million) and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley ($20.6 million).

Jahmyr Gibbs is now the highest paid RB in NFL history.

The #Lions star gets a 3-year, $75.75M deal with $51.5M guaranteed — the highest APY and the highest guarantee ever for a RB. The deal is confirmed by his agent Todd France of @AthletesFirst on IG (Toddfrance_). pic.twitter.com/Atw3g3ZFno

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2026

The agreement comes during a changing landscape for NFL running backs.

Before this offseason, only one player at the position had reached the $20 million-per-year mark.

Now, Gibbs, Robinson and Taylor have all joined that group.

Gibbs, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, has quickly developed into one of the NFL’s most dynamic offensive players since Detroit selected him No. 12 overall in the 2023 NFL draft out of Alabama.

In his first two seasons with the Lions, Gibbs became a key piece of Detroit’s offense, using his speed, receiving ability and versatility to create mismatches for opposing defenses.

Entering his fourth NFL season, Gibbs has been participating in team meetings during training camp, but Thursday (Aug. 5) marked his first day back on the practice field.

Gibbs had a breakout 2025 season, rushing for 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns while adding 77 receptions for 616 yards and five receiving touchdowns.

The new contract keeps one of Detroit’s most important offensive weapons under contract as the Lions continue building around a young core that has helped establish the team as a consistent playoff contender.

Gibbs’ deal also reflects the growing value of versatile running backs who can impact the game as both runners and receivers.

In the second week of her Massachusetts murder trial, prosecutors brought more friends, a former work colleague and her former father-in-law to testify about Clancy's mental and emotional state. They said she was mostly open about her postpregnancy mental health struggles but seemed like a loving mother who cared for her kids.

Clancy has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan.

Defense attorneys don't dispute that she killed her children on Jan. 24, 2023, after sending her husband out on errands, but they argue that she was too mentally ill to bear criminal responsibility for her actions.

Prosecutors, however, said that sending her husband out of the house was a ruse and that the 35-year-old former labor and delivery nurse acted intentionally. She remains paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from the home’s second-story window that night.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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A friend recalls a difficult reunion after the killings

Much of the week has been dominated by witnesses detailing their memories of Clancy in the days, weeks and months before the killings.

Outwardly, Clancy appeared normal, most said, attending family functions, lunches with friends and activities with her children. None of the witnesses Thursday testified they heard Clancy express suicidal or homicidal thoughts, talking of hearing voices or wanting to harm her children.

But after the birth of her third child, she told a friend she was having trouble sleeping and noted harmful side effects from medications she was taking. Another former colleague at Massachusetts General Hospital, Andrea Hennigan, recalled a lunch where Clancy said she wouldn't return to work because she “was not in a mental state to take care of patients.”

“She talked about insomnia and not feeling herself,” she said. “I believe she might have used the words brain fog or something like that.”

The month of the killings, Clancy texted Hennigan that she was experiencing “bad or negative side effects” from her medications. She told another witness, Amy Bevins, around then that the medications had “caused her to have some dark thoughts.”

Another witness, Bethany Decollibus, attended a birthday party for Clancy's daughter, Cora, in January 2023. Asked about her sleep troubles, Clancy said “things haven’t gotten better and that she feels like a zombie.”

Lindsay Clancy's former father-in-law testifies

Christopher Clancy praised his former daughter-in-law's mothering skills. But he admitted knowing she was having issues. At one point, he suggested the grandchildren stay with him and his wife, but his son declined.

“I knew she was having a hard time sleeping,” Christopher Clancy said. “I knew she just didn’t feel well. I knew she went to the emergency room where my wife was working. Those types of struggles.”

Lindsay Clancy's attorneys in criminal and civil cases have said that she had postpartum psychosis, a condition that a small fraction of women exhibit after childbirth, and that she had bipolar disorder that wasn’t fully diagnosed until after the killings. Her attorneys say her condition seemed to worsen on the psychiatric medications, some of them problematic for bipolar patients.

If convicted of murder, she faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

Another case that echoes Clancy’s is going back to court

Meanwhile, the judge and the district attorney learned Thursday that they face a retrial in another case involving a mother’s mental state when she killed her two school-age children in 2018.

Massachusetts’ top court threw out Latarsha Sanders’ murder convictions in the stabbings of sons Edson “Marlon” Brito, 8, and La’son Brito, 5.

Sanders told police in a recorded interview that she stabbed the boys because “bad people” text-messaged her commands to carry out a “ritual” connected to “Voodoo stuff” and the Illuminati. The latter is a purported powerful secret society at the center of various conspiracy theories, and Sanders’ family said she had become obsessively fearful of it.

Like Clancy’s lawyers, Sanders’ defense argued she was mentally ill and shouldn’t be held criminally responsible, while prosecutors said she acted deliberately.

A defense neuropsychologist diagnosed Sanders with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, among other conditions, and testified that she was “grossly psychotic” when she killed the children.

The appeal turns on psychiatric evidence

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court faulted the judge for not letting jurors hear many specifics from Sanders' medical records. They showed, among other things, that clinicians at a prison and a psychiatric hospital suggested similar diagnoses after Sanders’ arrest.

Withholding the records from jurors “impermissibly stripped” the defense of its medical foundation, Justice Frank M. Gaziano wrote in a unanimous decision.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz's office said in a statement that it was thinking through next steps. Messages seeking comment were sent to a clerk for Superior Court Justice William Sullivan and to a court system spokesperson.

Sanders’ lawyer, Robert F. Shaw Jr., said he looked forward to retrying the case.

“The hope is that those records and that evidence will be able to be viewed by a jury with fresh eyes,” he said by phone.

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Peltz reported from New York.

DOGE began posting its estimated savings on a web page known as the Wall of Receipts. Lawmakers asked the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the accuracy of the estimates, and the watchdog found them lacking in some cases.

Auditors found that 108 of 264 leases identified for termination on the Wall of Receipts were already in the process of termination when DOGE was established. In another case, DOGE reported $1.7 billion in savings on a Department of Defense contract for IT services, but in the end, no action was taken to terminate the contract, so no savings were achieved.

More broadly, DOGE was not transparent regarding the methodologies used to calculate savings. The GAO said DOGE officials did not respond to requests for information. The report concluded by saying the data quality issues found limit the value of the Wall of Receipts for policymakers.

“In addition, when government data are not reliable, it can hinder the public’s trust in government,” the report stated.

DOGE began posting its estimated savings on Feb. 17, 2025, and had reported savings of $110 billion as of July 7 across a wide range of contracts, grants and leases. President Donald Trump's executive order establishing DOGE sunset its operations on July 4. Billionaire Musk initially led its operations, but stepped back from that role after just a few months.

Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut requested the GAO report. Peters said everyone supports rooting out waste and fraud, but DOGE was a slapdash and deceptive effort that did real damage to the government's ability to serve Americans.

“Elon Musk and the Trump Administration claimed billions of dollars in savings it could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show its work, all while putting Americans’ sensitive data at risk and hollowing out critical agencies,” Peters said in response to the report.

At least 345 people in 27 states have been reported getting sick from the salmonella strain linked to the jalapeños. Most have been in Minnesota and Colorado. No deaths have been reported, but officials say 36 people have been hospitalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that the chili peppers were moved into the U.S. by Coast Citrus Distributors. The company has recalled the peppers and is notifying its customers, which include some prominent Mexican food restaurant chains, officials said.

Coast Citrus Distributors didn't immediately respond to a Thursday voicemail seeking comment.

The Food and Drug Administration said that of the 191 people interviewed in the outbreak investigation, 177 — or 93% — reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant, including Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba, from June 14 to July 14.

Chipotle Mexican Grill said Tuesday that it had removed jalapeños from some of its restaurants. Qdoba on Wednesday said the company had proactively removed jalapenos from all of its restaurants.

“Given their actions to remove product from their stores, neither of these establishments are considered a current ongoing risk to consumers in this outbreak,” CDC officials said in a statement.

Salad chain Sweetgreen said Thursday it also removed jalapeños from its menu, where they are an ingredient in two of its 15 dressings. It was more bad news for Sweetgreen, which also saw sales plummet in July because of customer concerns over the cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce. Sweetgreen doesn't serve iceberg lettuce but said Thursday that customers are generally concerned about fresh produce.

The FDA is investigating whether any of the jalapeños went to grocery stores. The agency may announce additional actions on its recalls webpage, health officials said.

Health officials in Mexico said they opened an investigation and made a field visit Thursday to a packing plant in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections in the United States every year, and outbreaks have been tied to sources such as cucumbers, eggs, unpasteurized milk, fresh basil, geckos and pet bearded dragons.

Within hours or days of being exposed to the bacteria, infected people can suffer from diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.

Young children, retirement-age adults and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for more severe illness, according to the CDC.

Shares of Chipotle, based in Newport Beach, California, tumbled nearly 10% on Tuesday and have not recovered. Sweetgreen shares dropped 14% in after-hours trading Thursday.

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Associated Press reporter Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this story.

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

Kassidy Holly has known what she wants to be when she grows up for most of her young life.

Her mother, Kristina Holly, said the passion started early.

“She wanted to be a firefighter for Halloween. We wore that costume for the next three, four years straight,” Kristina said.

Now, Kassidy is trading in the costume for the real thing.

Through Detroit PAL — where Kassidy cheers — she got a chance to tour Engine 59 on the city’s northwest side, getting up close with the equipment and the women who use it every day.

“I want to put her in the right circles with the right people so she can see what this is all about,” said David Greenwood, director of community engagement for Detroit PAL.

Learning from women in the field

Female Detroit Fire Department firefighters led the tour, giving Kassidy a firsthand look at what the job really involves.

Senior firefighter Naomi Rasschaert said the visit was just as meaningful for the crew as it was for Kassidy.

“Just seeing her light up makes my day,” Rasschaert said.

Kassidy proved she wasn’t just along for the ride — she already knows her stuff. When a bell rang during the tour, Rasschaert quizzed her.

“What does that mean?” Rasschaert asked.

“The engine,” Kassidy answered.

DFD Community Relations Chief James Harris was impressed — and made it official.

“She’s honorary DFD,” Harris said. “This engine house is hers.”

For Kassidy, the day only confirmed what she’s always known.

“This is exactly why I want to be a firefighter when I grow up,” Kassidy said.

Athletes First announced the deal Thursday, hours after Gibbs took the field for the first time since the Lions' training camp started. His agents also noted the new contract includes $51.5 million guaranteed for the Pro Bowler.

Two days earlier, Atlanta briefly made Bijan Robinson the NFL's highest-paid running back.

Gibbs had been participating in meetings at camp, but Thursday was his first appearance on the field, an indication the Lions and his agents were close to a deal. Gibbs held his right arm high and gave a thumbs-up when asked if an agreement was close as he walked off the practice field.

He rushed for 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns and had 77 receptions for 616 yards and five scores in 2025.

Colts running back Jonathan Taylor got a two-year, $44 million deal earlier Thursday.

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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.

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

Athletes First announced the deal Thursday, hours after Gibbs took the field for the first time since the Lions' training camp started. His agents also noted the new contract includes $51.5 million guaranteed for the Pro Bowler.

Two days earlier, Atlanta briefly made Bijan Robinson the NFL's highest-paid running back.

Gibbs had been participating in meetings at camp, but Thursday was his first appearance on the field, an indication the Lions and his agents were close to a deal. Gibbs held his right arm high and gave a thumbs-up when asked if an agreement was close as he walked off the practice field.

He rushed for 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns and had 77 receptions for 616 yards and five scores in 2025.

Colts running back Jonathan Taylor got a two-year, $44 million deal earlier Thursday.

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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.

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

One thing would make it even better: scrimmaging with or against the Falcons, something Sanders is hoping the NCAA will soon allow teams to do in the offseason as he first suggested a couple of years ago when Syracuse wanted to visit Boulder for a spring scrimmage.

“That's something I've been suggesting for quite some time,” Sanders said after Thursday's practice. "And the NCAA felt compelled to allow FCS schools to do what we thought of quite some time ago. So, we're not involved; they won't allow that. But even if we could just practice at the same location would do it justice. We don't have to compete against one another.

“But I wish one day we could have a spring game against one another. It would be wonderful for the state. It would be wonderful for the cities if we did home and away. It would be a great look, I think for college football and Colorado football. I would love that.”

This is the first time in Sanders' four seasons with the Buffaloes that he took his team out of town on an NFL-style training camp trip away from the distractions and responsibilities in Boulder.

“We wanted to go somewhere away that was significant, not around the corner like 30 minutes, 45 minutes,” Sanders said. "We wanted to get away so they couldn't have really the contacts or urge to drive back home — even though we're on buses, they're not doing that — no visitations or anything like that, no outside foot coming in. They're doing a great job of feeding us.

“They're off the phone. We monitor that and they're really getting to know each other and really getting a bond. Like, I sat at a table with a group of guys yesterday and they they were telling me stories about some of them were sleep-walking and walking out of the room and one of the coaches fell out of bed ... there's been some wonderful stories that have transpired.”

Sanders even has his story to tell, about “coming face to face with a deer” and quickly turning around on his morning walk.

“So, we love it,” Sanders said. “We're bonding. We're getting closer. We're getting to know each other a lot more because we are one unit night and day. It's been phenomenal.”

Sanders reminisced about some of his NFL training camp days, although, being a two-sport star, he missed some of them altogether.

“Well, I was thankful not to go through many because of this game called baseball,” Sanders said. "But, we bonded. man, and we had a good time. It was hot, extremely hot with the Cowboys in Texas. But it was a bond that you can't replace by anything because you're just there thinking, ‘Football, football, football. You’re waking up together, you're going to sleep at the same locations. It's a beautiful thing.

“It really is a beautiful thing and I'm glad we're able to come here and do it.”

The Buffaloes are coming off a trying 3-9 season that began with Sanders undergoing surgery to remove his cancerous bladder. He's now cancer-free, has his energy back and is leading a staff that features new offensive (Brennan Marion) and defensive (Chris Marve) coordinators.

“This is not to demean any of the former coaches, but this is the best staff I've had ever in my coaching career, from youth football all the way up,” Sanders said. "These guys are good, fundamentally sound, creative, innovative. They're born leaders. They're head coaches who are coaching the offense and defense.

“The young men are responding to them. Even special teams, we're doing that in a collaborative effort. We're unified on that. ... It's been great. I love the energy that these coaches are providing and a new group of kids helps out tremendously.”

The Buffs feature 45 players who transferred into the program this season.

Sanders bristled when asked if he feels pressure to bounce back in 2026: “I apply pressure, I don't feel pressure.” He said pressure is being a single mom trying to make ends meet. “This is football; I'm really good at this. I can play this. I can coach this. I can do this."

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football