The confusion and uncertainty in Trump’s mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries.

The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

Whether it is a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions — which could spell problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections if gas prices stay high.

Trump warned Wednesday that a new round of U.S. attacks was coming, even as he attempted to shrug off suggestions of a return to full-scale war. Hours later, the military announced it was carrying out new attacks on Iran that were meant to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said earlier. “We’re not looking for a long time.”

Officials rush to save the ceasefire

A regional intelligence official involved in the mediation efforts said the conflict had reached a critical stage as mutual mistrust rises. But high-level communications are happening around the clock to salvage the ceasefire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Qatar, as well as Egypt’s intelligence chief, are leading the efforts, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — whose country hosted the NATO summit that wrapped Wednesday — and leaders from Saudi Arabia are also involved, the official said.

The U.S. is upset about ships being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and accuses Iran of slow-playing discussions on curtailing its nuclear program, the official said. Nuclear talks were a major next step to try to turn the interim deal announced last month into a lasting end to the war.

Tehran, meanwhile, says Washington is the one violating the agreement regarding the strait and failing to ensure that a ceasefire in Lebanon, including an Israeli withdrawal, is being implemented, the official said.

Michael Eisenstadt, a former U.S. military analyst who now directs the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that “we’re still in negotiating mode, no matter what the president says."

"This is part of negotiating, and declaring that the MOU is over is part of the negotiation as well,” Eisenstadt said, referring to the memorandum of understanding that the ceasefire was built on.

Trump, though, has been explicit in public comments, saying he's lost interest in preserving the ceasefire: “I think it's over.”

“We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal,” he said during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, adding that the U.S. military might “just finish the job.”

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator, said the Trump administration had repeatedly violated the terms of the initial pact, forcing the country to respond appropriately.

“The era of bullying and extortion is over," Qalibaf posted on X. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

Trump says ‘we’ll probably hit them hard again'

Pakistan, which helped broker the ceasefire, said renewed conflict is in "no one’s interest” and urged both sides to uphold their commitments.

“There is no alternative to continued engagement, dialogue and diplomacy to achieve shared goal of peace in the region,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Trump, nonetheless, dismissed Tehran's leaders, calling them “scum" and “sick people." Just last month, Trump said Iran’s leadership was “very rational” and "nice to deal with,” while also calling the country's leaders “smart people.”

Speaking at an event in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance, who led U.S. efforts to reach the initial deal with Tehran, said Iran was “well behaved for about a week.” He added that lately the country had begun attacking the strait and said, “If they shoot at ships, we’re going to knock the hell out of them.”

Could this be another negotiating tactic?

Before the U.S. and Iran reached their first, two-week ceasefire in April, Trump intensified his threats, pledging that American forces would bomb Iranian bridges, roads and power plants. He even posted online, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

He repeated dire threats before the tentative 60-day deal to end the war was reached last month.

Trump likes to seek ways to negotiate from a position of strength, and he could be looking for more leverage with new strikes. But being unequivocal about the end of the ceasefire also could free up Iran militarily — which could again roil oil prices and financial markets.

Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group, argued that escalating threats may be a riskier maneuver this time around, given the domestic and international stakes for the U.S.

“It certainly looks like an effort to turn up the military heat without yet closing the diplomatic door," Vaez said. “But coercive bargaining is a dangerous game: At some point, a pressure campaign can acquire a momentum of its own and become the war it was ostensibly meant to avoid.”

He added, however, that Iran still has every reason to return to the table because it desperately needs the economic relief that was promised under the interim deal.

Trump also has sent mixed signals about the fallout.

He long insisted that rising gas prices for Americans didn't factor into his calculations on Iran — only to say that part of the reason he agreed to the interim deal was to avoid an “economic catastrophe." He has since touted the falling price of oil after the deal was reached.

Elections ahead could scramble Trump's political calculus

The president again resumed his past threats to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, possibly including electric plants and desalinization plants, and to seize the oil-production hub of Kharg Island.

“We may take over Kharg Island," he said. "There’s not a thing they could do about it.”

Still, the midterm elections — when Republicans hope to retain control of the House and Senate — are now less than four months away. Oil prices rising again amid greater uncertainty about the war means Americans will likely continue to see higher prices at the pump.

The president tried to play down such concerns, saying, “Any time we hit them, it goes up a little bit — $2.” In fact, U.S. oil futures jumped far higher and may keep climbing — even as Trump acknowledged, "As oil goes, so goes everything else.”

He argued that an increase in oil prices was worth it to bar Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “It's all right.”

___

Amiri reported from New York and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Back in May, the Tigers needed a forest-fire’s worth of manager ejections to get them out of the funk that saw them record an MLB worst 6-22 record and just 81 total hits.

Now in July, this team has been busy, not just on the field, but off of it too. On Tuesday (July 7th), A.J. Hinch announced to the media the mutual parting of ways with third base coach, Joey Cora. The following day, Justin Verlander sat in the very same press room to express his intention of retiring from professional baseball at the end of this season. The news came just hours before the Tigers defeated the Athletics 6-1 for their seventh win in the last eight games played.

It’s crazy to think about how much the perception of Detroit baseball has changed in the five months since Verlander originally signed a one-year contract worth $13 million. Framber Valdez joined the club just days prior and the arrival of the three-time Cy Young winner, also known as ‘Must-See JV’, pretty much confirmed President of Baseball Operations, Scott Harris, had his eyes on a very large prize for 2026.

Fast forward to mid-summer and the Tigers are trying to dig themselves out of a hole that Verlander didn’t necessarily put them in.

“I came back here with the intention of being a part of a great run of a playoff-caliber team, and to hopefully do something special,” said the two-time World Series champion. ”That hasn’t changed, its just become harder.”

Justin Verlander's historic career will end where it started.

The #Tigers veteran announced that the 2026 season will be his last in MLB.

More from JV on his decision to retire at the end of the year & Tarik Skubal on Verlander's mentorship in the clubhouse.

🎥@Local4News pic.twitter.com/pddi30WSh5

— Hobie Artigue (@HeyItsMeHobie) July 8, 2026

Despite being on the outside of the Wild Card chase in the American League, the vibes have been positive for the most part. Since June 1st, the Tigers have strung together three different four-game winning streaks and lead all of the majors with a 3.17 team ERA.

Believe it or not they even lead MLB with 55 home runs over that time frame. Justin Verlander might not contribute to that part of the game, but he too is optimistic about him and his team being able to keep things trending upward.

“Baseball has a funny way of righting the ship and turning things around. As much bad luck as you run into, sometimes you run into good luck. That’s the beautiful thing about playing 162 games, there’s a lot of time.”

At the time of this writing, and with less than a week before the annual All-Star game break, the Tigers sit 5.5 games out of the A.L. Central division lead and 4.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot. 66 games will remain on his teams schedule when they and the rest of MLB return from Philadelphia. Verlander sees that as a plus rather than a concern.

“Sometimes it feels like time isn’t in your favor, but when start off the way we did, and I think everybody in that locker room understands our potential, then you’re like ‘okay I’m glad we’re playing this many games, like we still have time to right the ship and play the way we know we can,’ and that’s what you’re seeing more of recently.”

Especially now that his career has been given an end date, Verlander shouldn’t bat an eye during the upcoming trade deadline, but a fellow starting pitcher should. Tarik Skubal is healthy and back to contributing to Tigers victories, something he hopes Scott Harris will take into account when mulling over what changes to make with the roster.

“There has to be a sense of urgency, I think, but it’s not like we’re panicking, we just need to win baseball games,” said Skubal on Wednesday. “We obviously put ourselves in the spot that we’re in, but the faith and belief in this team has never changed and it never will and hopefully come decision time the people making those decisions understand that.”

The reigning Cy Young winner made it known how much he valued Verlander’s decision to retire by actually attending his press conference and even making himself available for questions afterwards, which is what produced the quote from above.

A lot of reflection and introspection has taken place in the clubhouse over the last couple of days, but manager A.J. Hinch has always said his players will fight through all 27 outs no matter the circumstances, and he echoed that same sentiment on Wednesday night.

We put the Tigers off day to use with math, history, and wishful thinking on @Local4News.

On this day two years ago, Detroit had a 3.6% chance of making the postseason. In a similar spot tonight, that number is 23.8%.

So we're telling you...there's a chance! h/t @almay_99 pic.twitter.com/sJFnPPs67P

— Joel Sebastianelli (@JJSebastianelli) July 6, 2026

“We have a tough team, we’re going through a lot,” said Hinch after his team’s series win against the Athletics. “Whether it’s the beginning of the season, to the conversation around our team for a few months now and then obviously this homestand, but our guys play the game. I appreciate the resiliency of this group and we’re just going to continue to put one foot in front of the other.”

It was around this time two years ago baseball fans in Detroit were unsatisfied with the direction of a team that ended up making a miraculous run at the ALDS. About one year ago during this time Tigers fans were thinking about their first division title since 2013, just to see it slip away. Just like we were all thinking different thoughts about this team in February than we are now, don’t be surprised if they revert back by the time the calendar turns to September.

Now Francesca Hong, a single mother who has worked as a dishwasher and line cook, is trying to do the same with her campaign for governor in Wisconsin, a swing state known for razor-thin election margins where winning over moderate, independent voters is crucial.

Hong's candidacy has turned the Democratic primary on Aug. 11 into the latest test of just how far left voters are willing to go in the November midterms.

“We do this in Wisconsin, we’re going to change politics across the country,” the 37-year-old Hong said as she headed into the final month of campaigning. "People who are frustrated and have a lot more to lose — and I’m one of those people — are ready to coalesce around someone they can believe in.”

John Ravdabaugh, an undecided independent voter, came away impressed after hearing Hong speak at the retirement home where he lives. Even though the democratic socialist label concerns him, Ravdabaugh said he would consider voting for Hong.

“Every system reaches a point where change is necessary,” he said.

Whoever wins the primary will advance to almost certainly face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, one of the most conservative members of the House, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Tiffany has only token opposition in the primary.

The governor's race is integral to Democrats’ hopes of earning full control of Wisconsin state government for the first time since 2010, and it will send a signal about where the country's politics are headed by shaping a key political battleground that helps decide presidential campaigns.

Trump-backed Republican d

erides Democratic rivals as ‘crazy’

Tiffany has focused much of his criticism on Hong and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, another Democratic candidate for governor.

“This November, the choice is common sense or crazy,” Tiffany posted on social media in June. Tiffany included screenshots of a Barnes post where he voiced support for cutting prison populations by half and Hong's posts where she advocates for defunding and abolishing the police.

As a candidate, Hong has not backed away from her calls to defund and abolish the police. Hong also supports increasing taxes on the wealthy and creating a state-owned bank to help pay for free health care and free child care, a $20 minimum wage, and a moratorium on data center construction.

Hong dismisses concerns that she’s too liberal to win over key independent voters in a state Trump carried twice and narrowly lost a third time.

“I worry that’s a miscalculation of where voters are at in our state, that we’re underestimating what people want,” Hong said in an interview.

There's a history of socialism in Milwaukee

Last month, democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, setting herself up to clinch the office in November.

Then three congressional candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another democratic socialist, defeated establishment-backed politicians.

And just last week, democratic socialist Melat Kiros beat U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in the Colorado primary, a stunning victory for the 29-year-old, first-time candidate against an incumbent who took office before she was born.

But those victories have been in either congressional or mayoral races in large urban centers, a far different landscape than Wisconsin.

In 1910, during socialism’s heyday in the United States, Milwaukee sent the first socialist to Congress and was the first major American city to elect a socialist mayor. Milwaukee elected two more socialist mayors before 1960.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, perhaps the best known democratic socialist, won all but one county in Wisconsin in the 2016 Democratic primary. In 2023, two state lawmakers from Milwaukee revived the socialist caucus in the Legislature, which had been dormant since 1935.

Hong, the first Asian American elected to the state Assembly in 2020, is one of four members of that caucus.

Barnes, 39, served four years in the state Assembly before his four years as lieutenant governor under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. In 2022, Barnes came within 27,000 votes of ousting Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.

“I’ve been around longer than anybody fighting these fights,” said Barnes, who grew up in Milwaukee and is vying to become Wisconsin's first Black governor.

He played down the idea that democratic socialists are surging.

“People aren’t looking for labels, necessarily,” he said. “People are looking for bold solutions.”

Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki, who is not working for any of the Democrats running this year, said Barnes has an advantage as the most well-known candidate in the race.

“I have believed from the day since Mandela Barnes got into the race, he's the favorite,” Zepecki said. “It is his race to lose.”

Hong rival leans into electability argument

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a former nurse and health care executive who is also running for the Democratic nomination, said she'll have broader appeal in November. She cites her experience in the private sector and her flipping of a state Assembly seat in a conservative Milwaukee suburb, and she emphasizes her ideas for lowering costs for working people.

“I’m not worried about other candidates in this race,” Rodriguez said in an interview. “What I’m worried about is making my argument to Wisconsinites about why I’m the best person to lead the state, how I am going to fight for them."

She launched a $1 million television ad campaign this week that features her in nursing scrubs talking about taking on Tiffany and lowering health care costs.

Other Democratic candidates are state Sen. Kelda Roys, who has the endorsement of the statewide teachers union, and Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Evers.

Missy Hughes, the state’s former economic development director, dropped out of the race in June and endorsed Rodriguez. David Crowley, the top elected official in Milwaukee County, dropped out this week but did not make an endorsement.

Mainstream Democrats worry about winning in November

More moderate Democrats worry that nominating Hong could hurt them in the general election, especially in Wisconsin where independent voters are key in statewide races that are often decided by tiny margins.

Neera Tanden, who leads the Center for American Progress, said "it’s especially important in the age of Trump” to select viable candidates.

“In Wisconsin, whoever wins the general election will be the person overseeing elections in 2028 and whether people are seated in 2029.”

Evers won his two races for governor by just over 1 percentage point in 2018 and just over 3 points in 2022. Trump won Wisconsin by less than a point in 2024, and lost by less than a point in 2020.

Dave Smith, 72, a retired doctor from Madison who heard Hong speak Tuesday, said the democratic socialist label will be tough for voters of his generation to accept.

“The platform, much of that resonates well,” said Smith, who is undecided whom he will vote for in the Democratic primary. “My vote will likely go to who is the most electable in the fall.”

___

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

Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar.

The strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of a fragile ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop. That raised concerns that the region could tip back into a war that would engulf several countries and could halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial for the global economy.

In Iran, the two days of American airstrikes have killed at least 14 people and wounded another 78, Iran’s Health Ministry said Thursday — most of those reportedly members of the armed forces.

In Kuwait, the military said falling debris wounded one person as it shot down three ballistic missiles, a cruise missile and 10 drones. Bahrain said it shot down incoming fire, without elaborating. There was no immediate word of damage in Qatar.

US strikes hit more targets

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it hit some 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers.

The U.S. said the strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran’s ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Attacks on ships — and the threat of them — virtually halted traffic in the waterway during the conflict, causing the price of oil to skyrocket and raising prices on many basic goods, including food, far beyond the region.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and southern port cities.

In Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, at least three people were killed Thursday, state media reported. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike killed a firefighter at an airport. Those fatalities followed the deaths of at least nine members of Iran’s armed forces in Wednesday’s strikes, according to state media. It wasn’t clear when the other death happened and who was killed.

For the first time since April, U.S. strikes also appeared to target Iranian bridges. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran’s northeastern Golestan province, and the Revolutionary Guard said two bridges were attacked on the route to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday.

Trump warns that ‘it will get much worse’ if attacks on shipping happen again

After leaving a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote.

Trump said earlier in the day that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in “long-term” military action.

“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said.

Trump also renewed his past threats to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric and desalination plants, and to seize Kharg Island, through which some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass.

The exchange of fire began after Iran attacked three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

The new attacks, despite the ceasefire, could reflect a divide among Iran’s leadership. Hard-liners want to ensure lasting control over the waterway, which is a globally important conduit for fuel shipments and has become a critical lever in confronting the West. Pragmatists want a permanent peace deal to lift international sanctions and provide desperately needed economic relief.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X on Thursday morning: “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: If you strike, you’ll get hit.”

Strikes raise fears that war could resume

Trump fueled concerns that the war could restart by saying Wednesday that the interim agreement to pause the fighting was “over.” He added that he would allow negotiations to continue, though he cast doubt on the outcome.

“They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, also a top negotiator, retorted on X that Trump’s remarks “are not a sign of power but an admission of the failure” of U.S. policy toward Iran.

Negotiations to reach a final deal were due to start after the funeral for Khamenei, who was killed in the war’s first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.

The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Tyler died unexpectedly in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said Thursday in a statement on her website. She was hospitalized in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency intestinal surgery. She had been placed in an induced coma for a period but was reportedly improving last month and expected to make a good recovery.

“Bonnie’s family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for," her family said.

Tyler earned three Grammy nods, represented Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, where she came in 19th. She was honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to music by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, all largely thanks to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which has had more that 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017 and 2024.

The song spent four weeks at No. 1, and when Stereogum reevaluated it in 2020, the music outlet declared it an “extinction-level event rendered in musical form.”

“It’s pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion. It’s sheer spectacle. It’s fireworks and lasers and lightning and thunder. It soars and swoops and barrel-rolls,” the site said.

The song has never really gone away, covered by the English singer Nicki French in 1995, and the band Westlife in 2006. Cate Blanchett sang it while hitting Billy Bob Thornton with her car in 2001’s “Bandits,” it appeared in a wedding scene in 2003’s “Old School” and One Direction sang it in 2010 on a U.K. version of “The X Factor.”

Early life

Tyler was born — as Gaynor Hopkins — a coal miner’s daughter in public housing with an outside toilet in Skewen, Wales, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) outside Swansea. She grew up with three sisters and two brothers.

She adored the Beatles and her first album was “A Hard Day’s Night.” The first song she bought was “Hippy Hippy Shake” by the Swinging Blue Jeans at 13 and watched “Top of the Pops” religiously, according to her memoir, “Straight From the Heart.”

She would record “Top of the Pops” on a reel-to-reel two-track recorder and write down the lyrics of songs she loved. Her favorites were songs by Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.

“I used to sing them into my hairbrush for hours and hours, and that’s how it all started for me. I fell in love with singing just from doing that. Looking back, even then my voice had a husky tone to it, but I didn’t think much of it. I thought everyone’s voices were different from each other’s,” she wrote.

In 1976 she had to have surgery to remove nodules on her throat, leaving her with that trademark vocal sound. Changing her name to Sherene Davis, she was fronting a soul band when she was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell, who brought her to London for demo sessions. Then she waited for a label until RCA said it was interested.

Under her new RCA-sanctioned name Bonnie Tyler, her debut album “The World Starts Tonight” in 1977 contained her first chart hit, “Lost in France,” and she was nominated for a breakthrough artists award at the Brits Awards. She then had a No. 3 hit in 1978 with “It’s a Heartache,” but soon drifted. She then signed with Sony and saw Meat Loaf perform “Bat Out of Hell” on the BBC. Impressed, she requested to work with Meat Loaf songwriter and producer Jim Steinman.

‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’

Steinman introduced her to his song “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which would become the debut single for her fifth studio album, “Faster Than the Speed of Night.” He borrowed one of the song’s lyrics — “Turn around, bright eyes” — from his 1969 musical “The Dream Engine,” written as a student at Massachusetts’ Amherst College. He told her the song was from a prospective musical version of “Nosferatu.”

“Jim liked to put down a basic rhythm track, do nine takes of the song, choose the best one and then put the kitchen sink on there, like Phil Spector used to,” Tyler told The Guardian in 2023. “He gave me a cassette to listen to in my hotel and we both preferred take two.”

Featuring E Street Band members Roy Bittan on piano and Max Weinberg on drums, “Total Eclipse” is a rumination on lost love: “Once upon a time there was light in my life/But now there’s only love in the dark,” she sings.

The video, a staple of early-days MTV, was shot in a frightening gothic former asylum in Surrey, where the guard dogs apparently wouldn’t set foot in the rooms downstairs where they used to give people electric shock treatment. The visuals included slow-motion tossed doves, candles, dancing ninjas, dancing greasers, Tyler in frighteningly big shoulder pads, fencers, gymnasts, wind machines and shirtless boys wearing swim goggles being doused with water.

“Faster Than the Speed of Night” earned a Grammy nomination for best rock vocal performance — losing to Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield” — and Tyler got another nod for “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the best pop vocal performance category, losing to Irene Cara’s “Flashdance — What a Feeling.”

After the ‘Eclipse’

Tyler never reached such dizzying heights again but stayed current with such movie soundtrack singles as “Holding Out For a Hero” — from 1984’s “Footloose” — and “Here She Comes” from “Metropolis” also in 1984.

Her 2019 disc “Between the Earth and the Stars” featured duets with Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Status Quo’s Francis Rossi, and she ended that year performing a Vatican Christmas concert before Pope Francis.

In 2013, she switched gears to make a country-flavored record in Nashville, “Rocks and Honey,” which included the Vince Gill duet “What You Need From Me” and a little ballad called “Believe in Me,” written by American songwriter Desmond Child and British songwriters Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide. “Believe in Me” was picked to represent the United Kingdom at that year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden.

“It was an absolutely wonderful atmosphere there,” she told the San Francisco Examiner in 2023. “I was being interviewed every 15, 20 minutes, and when I walked out onstage behind the British flag, I thought the roof was going to come off! It was awesome, just awesome!”

In 2017, she joined Joe Jonas’ band DNCE for a performance on the cruise ship Oasis of the Seas as part of a “Total Eclipse Cruise.” When the moon passed in front of the sun, they played “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

Tyler was married to property developer and former Olympic judo competitor Robert Sullivan.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that Tyler was honored by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, not 2023.

Storms Increase This Afternoon and Evening

Showers and thunderstorms will spread southward while increasing in both coverage and intensity through the afternoon and evening hours. The primary threats with the strongest storms include:

• Isolated damaging wind gusts
• Locally heavy rainfall, which could lead to ponding on roads and reduced visibility.

The greatest chance for stronger storms will be across the Detroit metro area and points south, although all of Southeast Michigan remains under a Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 5) for severe weather. The highest risk for severe storms will be between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., but scattered showers and non-severe thunderstorms may continue well into the evening and overnight hours.

Improving Weather Friday

A few lingering showers are possible Friday morning as the cold front pushes south of the Michigan state line. Skies will gradually clear through the day, with drier air filtering into the region. High temperatures on Friday will reach the mid-80s, accompanied by lowering humidity and improving conditions by the afternoon.

Picture-Perfect Weekend Ahead

High pressure will settle over the Great Lakes this weekend, bringing dry weather and seasonable temperatures. Afternoon highs will be close to average for mid-July, making for excellent conditions to enjoy festivals, sporting events, and other outdoor activities.

If you’ve been waiting for a comfortable summer weekend, this one is shaping up to be a great one.

Heat May Return Next Week

The break from the heat won’t last long. Forecast models continue to indicate another surge of hot weather next week, with the potential for three or more consecutive days of 90-degree temperatures across Southeast Michigan. If that forecast holds, the region could experience another summer heat wave.

U.S. futures were little changed.

The United States launched more airstrikes on Iran, and Iran responded by firing at Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said their temporary ceasefire was “over.” The prospects for a lasting peace remained uncertain, with high-level talks seeking to salvage an interim agreement on ending the war still underway, according to a regional intelligence official involved in the mediation efforts who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations.

In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.6% to 10,422.75. France's CAC 40 was up 0.3% to 8,280.05, while Germany's DAX traded 0.3% higher at 24,963.05.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 reversed some of its losses from earlier in the week, gaining 1.4% to 67,743.85. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped 5.5%, and artificial intelligence-focused investment holding firm SoftBank Group slipped 0.1%.

South Korea’s Kospi index zigzagged and ended 0.6% higher at 7,291.91 despite falling earlier in the day. Samsung Electronics was up 0.2% on Thursday, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix gained 5.3%.

The Shanghai Composite index traded 1.7% higher at 4,036.59, even as China’s producer price index rose 4.1% in June compared to a year earlier. That was higher than May’s 3.9%, as some economists attribute higher inflation to impacts from the Iran war.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.7% to 24,030.18. Shares of Apple supplier Luxshare fell 1.6% in its trading debut in Hong Kong. Chinese AI company Zhipu, or Z.ai, surged 11.3% after it said it's raising about $4 billion through a share sale.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.3% to 8,762.50.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.8%, and India’s Sensex climbed 0.6%.

Oil prices fell back early Thursday, with Brent crude, the international standard, falling 0.4% to $77.69 per barrel. It briefly topped $80 on Wednesday. Before the Iran war began, Brent oil was trading at around $72 a barrel. Earlier optimism over an interim peace deal recently brought it back to prewar levels.

Benchmark U.S. crude also declined 0.4%, to $73.21 a barrel.

On Wednesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 ended 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.1%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite edged up 0.2%.

U.S. chipmaker Broadcom surged 4.8% after Apple committed to a multiyear partnership with the company.

In other dealings, the U.S. dollar fell to 162.43 Japanese yen from 162.59 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1427, up from $1.1417.

Most of the deaths were in Hengzhou, where the partial collapse of a reservoir dam sent torrents of water into the city and claimed 26 lives, said Ding Wei, the vice mayor of Nanning city, which has jurisdiction over the area. Nine people remained missing in the broader Guangxi region.

Tropical Storm Maysak brought record rainfall to Guangxi starting Saturday, breaching reservoirs and stranding people for days in homes and other buildings. The previously announced death toll on Tuesday was six people.

A second storm, Typhoon Bavi, was at sea on a northwest track that would take it over some remote Japanese islands and then just north of Taiwan before making landfall in China's Fujian or Zhejiang province on Saturday. Fishing boats could be seen tightly packed at ports in northern Taiwan on Thursday in anticipation of heavy rain hitting the island of 23 million people.

Bavi, which brought violent winds to Saipan and other U.S. territories earlier this week, was downgraded Thursday from super-typhoon strength but still had maximum sustained winds of 184 kilometers (114 miles) per hour, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration. Classes were suspended in several cities and towns in the Philippines and ships prohibited from leaving northern ports as the typhoon passed east of the northern island of Luzon.

In southern China, military rescue teams finished bringing out more than 10,000 trapped students and teachers from a cluster of schools in Guigang city, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Hengzhou. Video on state broadcaster CCTV showed the students, wearing bright orange life vests, clambering onto boats that took them away from the surreal scene of school buildings rising out of a lake of muddy water.

Animals were also stranded or swept out by the floodwaters.

A zoo in Guigang said more than 100 animals were missing, including two zebras, four porcupines and dozens of tropical birds. In Hengzhou, encounters with snakes that reportedly escaped from a farm prompted authorities to stock up on antivenom and advise residents what to do if they were bitten.

An animal shelter operator in Binyang country, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Hengzhou, struggled in recent days to rescue about 200 cats and dozens of dogs, bringing the dogs two at a time through deep water. The cats climbed up to the rafters as the water level rose.

Drones and some 5,700 boats have been used in a massive relief and rescue operation to deliver drinking water and other supplies and bring out trapped residents. About 130,000 people have been evacuated.

Ding said the floodwaters are receding but more rain is expected in some areas in the next two days. Crews have been deployed to clear mud and debris and disinfect several towns in Hengzhou.

Road repairs are ongoing and electricity has been restored to more than 60,000 homes, Ding said at a news briefing.

Heavier-than-expected rain battered southern Guangxi for days, with cumulative rainfall of 10 to 40 centimeters (4 to 16 inches) in some areas and more than 90 centimeters (35 inches) in hard-hit areas, the national meteorological center said.

Severe weather also hit central China this week, leaving 11 dead and many others homeless in Hubei province after thunderstorms and tornadoes on Monday night.

Elsewhere in Asia, landslides caused by monsoon rains have killed at least 13 Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh this week. Authorities were moving refugees to safer areas on Thursday.

___

Associated Press video producers Wayne Zhang and Olivia Zhang in Beijing, videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, and writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

The Congolese government's latest report, published late Wednesday, said two new cases were suspected in Kisangani in the Tshopo province, where cases had not been previously recorded. The total number of confirmed cases across the country has now reached 1,759.

According to the report, one of the two suspected cases was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, where the first cases were reported, while the other case “has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks.” Authorities were investigating.

The Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15, after the disease had been transmitted for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organization. The latest outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.

Last week, clinical trials for treatment began after researchers launched a highly anticipated study in the hope of fighting the virus.

Efforts to contain the virus have also been hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centers, and an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Ukraine's strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure across Russia has triggered a widespread fuel crisis with gasoline shortages and fuel rationing reported in multiple regions and drivers waiting for hours to fill their tanks.

The acting governor of Russia’s western Tver region, Vitaly Korolyov, said a Ukrainian drone strike triggered a fire at an oil depot in the city of Tver.

In the southern region of Stavropol, Gov. Vladimir Vladimirov said oil reservoirs has been set ablaze by Ukrainian drones in Vyazniki. He said the authorities ordered the evacuation of residents of several apartment buildings near the facility as the fire expanded.

In the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian drones set two oil tankers ablaze, according to Rostov Gov. Yuri Slusar, who said that one of the ships was still burning and the crews were evacuated. The attack was the latest in a series of strikes on oil tankers in the area in recent days, part of Ukraine efforts to cut fuel supplies to Russia-occupied Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in addition to strikes on oil facilities in Stavropol and Tver, Ukrainian defense forces also hit a reserve fuel storage facility about 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the front line, and an oil-pumping station in Ufa nearly 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Ukraine’s border. He said they also struck an oil-loading terminal in the Rostov region about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the front line, but it was not clear if that was the same strike described by Slusar.

Zelenskyy described the strikes as part of Kyiv’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” carried out in response to Russian attacks and Moscow’s refusal to end the war. "We have long proposed that Russia end this war, and every day of delay should bring the feeling of war to where it all began — to Russia,” Zelenskyy said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 73 Ukrainian drones from late Wednesday until early Thursday.

Ukraine's Air Force said that Russia fired 94 long-range strike drones and two ballistic missiles at Ukraine last night. While 72 drones were jammed or intercepted, 19 drones and both missiles inflicted damages at 13 locations, it said.

During Wednesday's meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot air defense systems to counter missile attacks from Russia in their more than four-year war, a huge coup for Kyiv which has long requested the technology.

The tone of their meeting was a markedly different from an earlier, acrimonious encounter at the White House in February 2025 when Trump berated Zelenskyy. On Wednesday, he praised the Ukrainian leader’s willingness to reach a deal to ending the war, saying he has “done an amazing job” and “been very effective.”

Levin has learned from recent experience that being identified as a Jew, especially one who lived in Israel, can trigger uncomfortable questions from fellow Democrats. Or worse. So, she introduces herself by her middle name, Shelly, which she said feels safer.

“I don’t really feel comfortable in leftist circles anymore,” said Levin, a former librarian. “I just want to be a Jewish American who has a connection to Israel. But I feel like I can’t do that. And it’s very frustrating. And sometimes a little scary.”

Nearly three years after the war in Gaza began with Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, intensifying criticism of Israel within the Democratic Party has left Levin feeling “politically homeless.”

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Jewish adults don't feel well represented by political leaders at a troubling moment for many in their community. Most Jewish Americans, 63%, say prejudice against Jewish people is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem in the U.S. At the same time, few believe that either party is doing a good job supporting Jewish people in the United States.

The new survey of 1,022 Jewish adults — including people who identify as Jewish by religion and religiously unaffiliated people who identify as Jewish through culture, ethnicity or family background — offers a rare detailed accounting of a key demographic that sits at the very center of some of the nation’s most divisive political debates.

It indicates that many Jewish adults feel isolated at a moment when antisemitism is a growing concern across the political spectrum and support for Israel has become a flash point in both parties. The survey found that many Jewish adults, 36%, say supporting Israel is “extremely” or “very” important to their Jewish identity, while another 26% say it's “somewhat” important.

Just 15% of Jewish adults say that the Democratic Party supports Jewish people in the U.S. “extremely” or “very” well, while another 33% say the party supports them somewhat well. About 41% say the Democratic Party supports the Jewish community “not very well” or “not well at all.”

Jewish adults even feel worse about President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, although not by much — a noteworthy finding considering that Jewish Americans overwhelmingly identify as Democrats. About half of Jewish adults say Trump and Republicans don't support Jewish people in the U.S. well.

The poll also suggests a sense of isolation. Despite the Jewish community's widespread concerns about antisemitism, Americans overall are far less concerned, with only 38% of U.S. adults saying prejudice against Jewish people is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem.

Some Jewish adults feel ‘lost politically'

Nearly three years after the war in Gaza began, it's not just Jewish Democrats who are re-examining their political loyalties.

Max Sacher, a 27-year-old Jewish Republican from Austin, Texas, said he was generally pleased with Trump’s support for the Jewish community until he saw the president’s latest diplomatic attempt to end months of conflict with Iran. Trump launched the war in partnership with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s one of the most embarrassing documents I’ve read. It basically cedes everything to Iran,” said Sacher, who is a graduate student in finance. “I feel very lost politically. I used to have a home. Now I feel like I’m on an island in modern-day politics.”

Jewish voters made up 3% of the 2024 electorate, according to AP VoteCast. They overwhelmingly voted Democratic, with 66% casting ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris and 33% for Trump.

On some key questions, Jewish adults see things differently than Americans overall.

U.S. adults in general are more likely than Jewish adults to see Trump as “extremely” or “very” supportive of Jewish people in the United States. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump is highly supportive of Jewish people, compared to about 2 in 10 Jewish adults.

Most Jewish adults, 77%, say there is more prejudice against Jewish people compared with three years ago, before the Hamas attack.

Ellen Kuberski, a 72-year-old Jewish Democrat from Chicago, scoffed when asked about Trump. She described a “general disgust and hatred” for the Republican president. But she’s also upset with the Democratic Party, which she says has been much more supportive of the Palestinians than Israel or American Jews in recent years. She was especially upset when progressive activists were protesting against Israel even when the Israeli hostages were still captive in Gaza.

“I tend to be more in line with the far left in just about everything else. But now the far left is attacking the Jewish community," she said. “There’s enough antisemitism in the world that we don’t need politicians on what’s supposed to be on our side coming out with that crap.”

Jewish Americans are split on Netanyahu, Mamdani and Trump

The Jewish community is divided over some of the people at the forefront of the Israel debate. However, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who is a vocal critic of Israel, is more popular among Jewish adults than Netanyahu or Trump, who promised to be "the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”

About 4 in 10 Jewish adults, 44%, view Mamdani “somewhat” or “very” favorably, while a similar share, 39%, view him “somewhat” or “very” unfavorably. About 2 in 10 Jewish adults don’t know enough to say.

Kylle Epstein, a 24-year-old Jewish Democrat from Clearwater, Florida, cheered Mamdani and like-minded Democrats who have won recent congressional primary elections in New York.

“I think Mamdani is absolutely phenomenal. He makes Democrats think,” Epstein said, calling for "new blood in the party."

On Netanyahu, only about one-third of Jewish adults have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable opinion of the Israeli prime minister, while about 6 in 10 have a “somewhat” or “very” unfavorable view, including 42% who have a “very” unfavorable opinion. About 1 in 10 don’t know enough to say.

Jewish adults have a slightly more negative view of Trump than Netanyahu, with a similar share, 29%, saying they view Trump favorably.

Meanwhile, the poll found that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of the nation's most prominent Jewish Democratic officials, is still unknown by many Jewish adults.

About 4 in 10 Jewish adults have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable opinion of the Democratic governor, while about 2 in 10 have a “somewhat” or “very” unfavorable opinion. About 4 in 10 don’t know enough to say.

Many think the US is too supportive of Israel

In interviews, many Jewish adults indicated that their Jewish heritage does not mean they want the U.S. government to provide unconditional support of Israel.

In fact, about 4 in 10 Jewish adults say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, similar to U.S. adults overall, although about 3 in 10 Jewish adults say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” of Israel, compared to only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults.

At the same time, about 4 in 10 Jewish adults say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” of the Palestinians, similar to U.S. adults.

The issue is salient for Jewish adults in a way that it's not for many Americans. About 6 in 10 Jewish adults say Israel is an “extremely” or “very” important issue to them personally, compared to only 35% of U.S. adults.

“Jews and Israel are connected, but they’re not synonyms,” said Levin, the former librarian from Los Angeles.

She said that the lack of understanding on both sides has fueled a rise of antisemitism, even in a city packed with Democrats.

She was walking along Los Angeles' famed Olvera Street with her husband last month when they came across a spray-painted sign on the sidewalk that read, “Death to Zionists," alongside an upside down triangle that has been associated with Hamas.

Levin said it's getting harder and harder to support Democrats, although she doesn't think she could vote Republican.

“I mostly shake my head a lot and try to breathe,” she said.

___

Sanders reported from Washington.

___

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

The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll included interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and the margin of sampling error for Jewish adults is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points.

Recent research suggests gray foxes may be harder to find than previously thought, the DNR is asking the public to help locate them.

The DNR will accept all reports for mapping, but particularly requests photographs to help wildlife biologists confirm species identification and observation locations.

Sharing sightings and photographs can help provide information to shape future research and conservation efforts.

Research on the Michigan foxes, both red and gray, was conducted through a partnership with DNR, Northern Michigan University, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.

Experts are now trying to understand why the gray fox population may be declining across the Midwest and Northeast states.

Gray fox vs. red fox

Gray foxes can be distinguished from red foxes by their grizzled gray coat, black-tipped tail and reddish coloration on the neck, chest and legs.

Red foxes tend to be more familiar to Michiganders, gray foxes are usually smaller and more elusive.

Gray foxes are also one of the few members of the dog family capable of climbing trees like a cat, due to their semi-retractable claws.

Where you may find a gray fox

Although gray foxes are found throughout the Americas, Michigan is the foxes’ northernmost home.

In Michigan, the gray fox population has mainly been reported in the Upper Peninsula and southern Lower Peninsula.

Researchers hope public reports will help determine whether gray foxes are absent from certain areas, simply difficult to detect or occupy habitats that traditional wildlife surveys may miss.

According to the DNR gray fox data may be hard to gather through traditional methods because foxes live close to people.

Gray foxes often use structures such as garages, sheds and outbuildings near wooded areas.

The DNR advises residents to look for images that may come from trail cameras, doorbell cameras and home security systems of the foxes.

Report a gray fox observation

Click here to submit recent observations of gray foxes.

Click here to submit any information on gray foxes from previous years.

When submitting a report, the DNR asks reports to include any available photographs, observation details and contact information, for follow-up questions.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Detroit said in a federal complaint unsealed June 26, 2026, the case began when a pastor at a church in Ithaca, New York, made a report to the FBI in June of 2025. The pastor said Phillip Benjamin Bonneville, 30, of Macomb had been sending “harassing and threatening emails” to him and two female congregants.

According to the pastor, Bonneville used to be a student at Cornell before he was asked to leave in the summer of 2023. While at Cornell, Bonneville allegedly attended the church, but the church elders banned him from attending due to his “repeated harassment.”

The feds said the pastor and the women provided a timeline and copies of emails.

‘The devil was tempting him to marry her,’ -- then worse

One of the women, also a Cornell student, allegedly told investigators she met Bonneville in the summer of 2021 at church. The FBI said she told them they became friends, but by May 2022 his behavior changed. After Bonneville returned home to Michigan, he allegedly began sending “strange emails” including one where he tried to convince her to date him.

Since May 2022, the woman estimated Bonneville sent her “over 130 emails,” despite her repeatedly telling him to stop.

Beginning May 7, 2022, Bonneville allegedly emailed the same woman saying that “the devil was tempting him to marry her.” Later that month, the FBI said he apologized, saying that his treatment “put him in a weird mental state.”

But the feds said the woman grew increasingly worried as the emails continued. By June 2022, Bonneville was allegedly back in Ithaca and they remained friends, but he kept sending long messages she considered “very strange.” The woman allegedly told investigators it was “inappropriately intense” for their friendship.

On July 22, 2022, according to the complaint, Bonneville texted the woman that it was “God’s will that they be together.” She told the feds that she told him she did not want anything romantic.

The FBI said Bonneville’s behavior “culminated in late July 2022” when he called the woman and confessed that when he originally told her “the devil was tempting him to marry her,” it was “actually that the devil was tempting him to murder her.”

On July 29, 2022, Bonneville allegedly emailed the same woman that “the devil told him” she “is a temptation. Kill her.” Bonneville allegedly said a few days later he “managed to put aside that voice and never heard it again.”

Reports, welfare checks and no-contact orders

In August and September 2022, the same woman told the feds that she reported Bonneville’s behavior to Cornell’s Title IX Office and its Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Office. In fall 2022, she said she told another woman she was being harassed.

On Nov. 18, 2022, the woman told Bonneville his messages were “destructive and caused her a lot of distress” and that she did not want more emails. The other woman, with the reporting woman’s permission, told Bonneville his behavior was unacceptable and that the woman did not want further communication, court records said.

In December 2022, the reporting woman told the feds she met with Bonneville and recommended mental health treatment. Bonneville then reportedly went home to Macomb, Michigan, for Christmas.

On Jan. 16, 2023, Bonneville, according to the feds, requested a welfare check on the woman from the Ithaca Police Department, saying he believed she was being “sex trafficked across state lines” by people using fake identities.

The woman was apparently in Arizona at the time and told police she believed Bonneville was experiencing a mental health crisis. She was then told to get a restraining order.

Days later, Cornell’s dean of students called 911 regarding Bonneville, reporting that Bonneville said some female Cornell students were part of a sex ring and “the devil wanted him to kill them,” the FBI said.

Police said they then went to check on Bonneville. During the second attempt, the feds said Bonneville denied making the comment and ran into his apartment building. With his head sticking out of the door, Bonneville allegedly said he did not wish to harm anyone or himself but was experiencing “a mental health breakdown.” When asked about the sex ring, he allegedly said he did not know the girls involved.

On Jan. 26, 2023, Bonneville is accused of calling Cornell University Police for another welfare check on the same woman. Cornell Police allegedly told the woman Bonneville had been told “not to contact” again.

But later that day, the FBI said Bonneville confronted her at a campus ministry event, followed her around and was told to leave by event leaders. He also allegedly waited for the event to end and confronted her again. Cornell police told Bonneville the woman did not want to speak with him and that a No Contact Order would be submitted through Cornell’s Title IX Office.

Eventually, according to the complaint, the woman got a no-contact order, and campus ministry leaders told Bonneville he could not attend related events. In February 2023, the woman and church elders allegedly told Bonneville to stop attending the church all together “unless he was willing to seek support for his mental health.”

Arrest and an order of protection

Bonneville allegedly violated the no-contact order on April 18, 2023, by emailing the same woman again and claiming the order was on hold. The woman said she confirmed that wasn’t true.

Then, the FBI said, on April 24, 2023, Bonneville was arrested by Cornell University Police on a harassment charge. Bonneville was then ordered by a judge not to contact the woman.

On Sept. 13, 2023, the criminal charge was allegedly resolved with an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal for six months. The order of protection was extended until March 13, 2024, the feds said.

‘Approximately 500 emails’ to church pastor

Then, in March 2024, the FBI said Bonneville began sending emails to the church’s pastor and church elders accusing the pastor of abuse and “secret homosexuality.” The pastor told the feds he asked Bonneville to stop, but said Bonneville “has constantly and consistently emailed” the pastor “approximately 500 emails,” including as recently as June 17, 2026, the FBI said.

Once the woman’s order of protection expired, (also in March 2024), Bonneville is accused of “immediately” resuming communication and “requesting that they begin dating.” She responded that she wished to have no contact, the feds said.

In May 2024, Bonneville allegedly told church elders he would attend a Sunday worship service to protest his case against the pastor and the church. The pastor told him he was not allowed to attend, the feds said.

Taking the dispute to St. Louis, Missouri

Then in July 2024, Bonneville, according to the FBI, arrived at a Presbyterian church in St. Louis before Sunday service and asked to meet leaders to argue his case against the pastor. The FBI said the pastor was previously a member of the Missouri Presbytery and Bonneville had also attended Washington University in St. Louis.

Between August and September 2024, the feds said Bonneville emailed complaints about the pastor’s “alleged misbehavior” to more people, including church members and local Ithaca church leaders of other denominations, often cc’ing the pastor on the emails, the complaint said. The pastor then allegedly requested an investigation by the New York State Presbytery to “clear his name.”

In September 2024, Bonneville was served with a “persona non grata (PNG)” notice barring him from property that included the church and was also served a one-year PNG notice from Cornell University, the feds said.

The pastor told investigators he kept receiving emails through winter 2025. According to the FBI, in April 2025, the New York State Presbytery exonerated the pastor. Bonneville was allegedly notified of the results.

‘God is prepared to act -- dramatically’

In May 2025, Bonneville allegedly emailed “all the churches of the NYSB,” including the pastor and the church. In those emails, Bonneville is accused of writing (in part): “God is prepared to act – dramatically -- in this situation. I strongly advise someone to come forward before He does… He is slow to anger, but he does not leave the guilty unpunished…”

Then in late May and early June 2025, Bonneville is accused of emailing leaders of the Presbyterian Church of America in Atlanta, repeating similar allegations and issuing warnings.

Some of the allegations included:

“I believe this pastor’s actions in this situation have been characteristic of a broader pattern of both pro-homosexual and authoritarian behavior....”

“God is immensely angry with this teaching elder and church, and he is planning something very dramatic at this year’s General Assembly.”

References to Ted Kaczynski and a major church gathering

On June 24, 2025, Bonneville allegedly emailed the pastor and a church elder and included “several references to Ted Kaczynski.” The next morning, the pastor received a forwarded email saying Bonneville would attend the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga on June 27, 2025 -- which, according to the feds, is a gathering of 5,000 church leaders, including the pastor.

According to a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office report, Bonneville was seen at the assembly on June 27. Deputies searched him for weapons with “negative findings,” and he left when asked, the feds said.

‘To stalk or not to stalk, that is the question’

The FBI said in June 2025, Bonneville was linked to Macomb, Michigan through state documentation. The feds also said a screenshot captured in September of 2025 linked to Bonneville, showed in part: “To stalk or not to stalk, that is the question. There is not room in this world for both Bonneville and [reporting woman’s first name]…”

In late September 2025, Bonneville allegedly emailed the pastor again discussing three things that would happen starting in December 2025. One prediction for the pastor was: “Your worst nightmare will happen. (Yes, a nightmare, but not a violent one.)” Bonneville also allegedly wrote (in part): “…you will lose all that you hold dear, including your wife, your children’s respect…”

On Oct. 6, 2025, the pastor said he received a message from Bonneville from a family member’s email that said, in part: “You have a week from midnight…”

Kidnapping references and a welfare check

On Nov. 20, 2025, numerous churches allegedly received an email titled “An Apology to the New York State PCA.” The email said, in part: “God shall destroy all the churches of the NYS Presbytery. He shall not let up until the entirety of the churches lie in utter ruins…”

On Dec. 9, 2025, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said it contacted Bonneville for a welfare check after an email he sent to the pastor allegedly described a plot to kidnap another woman (that was to occur one year earlier). Bonneville allegedly wrote about wanting to “kidnap her,” and give her “‘exposure therapy’ to [him]…”

During that encounter, Bonneville was allegedly told not to contact the pastor, but two days later, Bonneville is accused of emailing him and the sheriff’s office asking for “no further police visits on behalf of [the pastor], unless he presses charges against [him] or there is a true emergency.”

Messages to a second woman

The FBI said Bonneville then began emailing a second woman on Jan. 23, 2023, with the subject “Getting Together,” asking her to lunch and saying he “might be interested in her.” It also allegedly included a lengthy message about how he had come to be “potentially open to crossdressing in a relationship.” He apologized for having previously reported her to police as a possible sex trafficking victim, the feds said.

Bonneville continued emailing her in 2023 and 2024, and In May 2024, the complaint said, he asked her to pass messages to the original reporting woman. By October 2024, he was trying to get the woman’s father’s email address, then allegedly emailed numerous church leaders in Connecticut where her father might be a congregant, the FBI said.

On Aug. 27, 2025, Bonneville is accused of emailing the woman asking her to marry him and saying he loved her.

‘Hearing voices saying to kill a woman named…'

On Oct. 8, 2025, the woman told the FBI she received an email from someone she believed was Bonneville based on the content. It allegedly said in part: “He said he was there because he was hearing voices saying to kill a woman named ‘[her name]’ … threatening that he’d go to hell otherwise.”

The next few days, she said she received more emails from the same address that said, among other things: “Dear beloved, I’ll never stop loving you…” and “God might be calling on him to blow up an abortion clinic.”

FBI search warrant and alleged admissions

On Feb. 10, 2026, the FBI seached Bonneville’s home in Macomb and interviewed him in the presence of his parents. The feds said Bonneville admitted to using several email addresses to contact the victims and said he threatened the pastor “spiritually,” not physically, and that he “developed loose plans to kidnap” the second woman. He also allegedly said he believed God would be violent toward the pastor.

In May 2026, a man in Connecticut reported receiving emails from Bonneville about plans to kidnap the second woman and said Bonneville showed up at his family home in Shelton. The FBI said they learned Bonneville traveled to Connecticut, became unemployed, and then planned to go to Texas.

On May 19, 2026, Bonneville allegedly emailed an FBI agent writing, in part: “Right now I’m in Texas, so very far away from… Ithaca… I’m trying to meet with an assistant professor at Texas A&M.”

After that, Bonneville is accused of emailing more than 100 people, including the victims, saying he was under federal investigation and blaming the pastor. In that message, Bonneville allegedly wrote, in part: “I am writing both to let you know about this prosecution under consideration, as well as to let you know that [the pastor] has once again complained about me to the police and/or court.”

On May 30, 2026, the FBI said images from a license plate reader showed Bonneville near Whitney Point, New York -- about 39 miles east of Ithaca. The car, according to the complaint, appeared “wrapped in black vinyl or painted black,” after previously being seen as a silver car.

More emails and another arrest

On June 17, 2026, the pastor allegedly received an email from the second woman about a message that said: “I look forward to seeing many of you at PCA General Assembly next week.”

The FBI said a search showed the General Conference scheduled June 22-26, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. On June 24, 2026, Bonneville’s car was photographed in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and security encountered Bonneville at the assembly in Louisville. He left the premises, the FBI said.

Records show a federal arrest warrant for Bonneville was filed a day later -- on June 25, 2026. Records also show Bonneville was temporarily detained pending trial.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 10, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at federal court in Detroit.

A Homeland Security Investigations special agent based in Detroit said Robert Rhodes Bailey, 37, stated that, “if all law enforcement had was the one video, that he was not worried.”

Bailey was arrested back in 2019 by a Michigan task force along with 11 others during a sting operation. The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office G.H.O.S.T. task force announced the arrest of “The Dirty Dozen 2.”

‘What’s the youngest you had?’

The feds said they had been running undercover chats on the mobile messaging app Kik as part of a child exploitation investigation. An HSI agent working undercover began posing as the father of an eight-year-old girl. The undercover agent said they spent time in Kik rooms “devoted to” the exchange of child sexually abusive material or “the discussion of the sexual abuse of children.”

Then, the feds said, on May 23, 2026, a Kik user with the name “sinfullyhung” reached out privately.

“Hey into same looking for some,” the message began, the feds said.

By May 24: “What’s the youngest you had?”

And by May 26, the conversation allegedly escalated, with the undercover agent and the user discussing ages, locations, and meeting up. The Kik user said he was in Michigan and asked where the undercover agent was.

The undercover agent responded: “Oh nice Michigan here too” and “Pontiac.”

The Kik user allegedly answered: “Oh that’s not far at all I’m just north in Clarkston” and soon asked: “Would you like to meet up and chat sometime?”

The chat continued over multiple messages, growing more explicit and more focused on sexual abuse, according to the complaint. At one point the Kik user allegedly said: “Man I would love to see what you have…”

“Vid for vid?”

The feds said May 27, 2026, the Kik user told the undercover agent: “So I found a video, but I would like to see one of yours first.”

The undercover agent asked what kind of video it was.

“Vid of her (explicit) and I would nvr. The mean reason I would to meet. Hate sending,” the Kik user replied, court records show.

The undercover agent said they then sent what they described as “an age regressed, gender swapped image of himself.”

The Kik user then sent a still image of a video “depicting what appears to be a nude minor child,” according to court records.

The undercover agent said they pressed again, and the Kik user asked: “Vid for vid?”

When the undercover agent insisted the other person go first, the feds said the Kik user sent a five second video that “appears to depict a nude female child” engaging in a sexual act.

“Let’s see your video,” the Kik user allegedly wrote afterward.

Tracking the username to a Michigan address

The feds said on June 5, 2026, they tied the account “sinfullyhung” from Kik to an email and later, an IP address. The feds said Comcast provided a subscriber name and address tied to Robert Bailey at a home on Bart Ave in Davisburg, Michigan.

On June 22, 2026, the HSI Agent submitted the video to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to see whether it had been previously encountered.

The feds said NCMEC said the file was compared against its Child Recognition & Identification System (CRIS) and that “there was a file that appears to contain a child victim who has been identified by law enforcement.”

The 2019 case comes back

After reviewing reports and Kik chats from the Genessee County Sheriff’s Office involving the undercover sting operation in 2019, the feds said they immediately noticed something similar.

In that case, a sheriff’s deputy was posing as a 15-year-old female and received messages from a user with the username “rhodes2026” and the vanity name “handsome rob.”

According to the complaint, “handsome rob” wrote that he bought beer and said, “I’ll let u r**e me.” The user was allegedly given a hotel address and arrived to meet the “child,” the feds said, and was identified as Robert Rhodes Bailey and arrested.

Bailey allegedly later admitted he was talking to a girl who said she was 15, admitted the chat included sex talk, and admitted he set up a meeting intending “to talk and have sex.” The feds said he brought an 18 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer as requested “in exchange for sex or sexual acts.”

Records show Bailey pleaded guilty to Using a computer to Commit a Crime and received 60 months’ probation. He was discharged, according to court records, in December 2024.

Search warrants and interview: ‘That was me’

On July 1, 2026, HSI agents said they searched Bailey’s home on Bart Ave, then interviewed him. Bailey allegedly said he initially wanted an attorney, but then said he was willing to answer questions without a lawyer.

According to the feds, Bailey initially denied recently using Kik, and when shown a screenshot of the username “sinfullyhung” and the profile picture, Bailey denied recognizing it. Later, the complaint said, Bailey said the account did belong to him and recognized the screenshot, saying: “that was me.”

Bailey allegedly claimed his conversations were “fantasy” and denied hands-on offenses against children. He also said Kik was no longer on his phone because he got a new phone and “I knew what I did was wrong,” according to the complaint, though he added Kik “might or might not be installed” on an old phone.

Bailey allegedly said he received the sexually abusive video from Telegram and then forwarded it, adding that he had “no clue” how old the child was.

The feds said Bailey described his “fantasy conversations” as involving “almost adult” material, and when pressed, defined that as minors who were “18, 17, 16.” Bailey allegedly denied talking to children under 18 on Kik.

When asked how much child sexually abusive material he had seen on Kik, Bailey allegedly said “none,” but when told he had “sent some,” he allegedly responded: “that was from Telegram and I literally just transferred it over.”

The feds said Bailey told them the only child sexually abusive material law enforcement would find on his phones was the video previously sent.

‘If all law enforcement had was the one video…'

In a second interview with another HSI agent, the feds said Bailey admitted to sending a video of a minor female engaged in a sex act that had previously been sent to him.

He allegedly said the conversation happened over a “two-to-three-day span” and that he was aware it was about child pornography.

“Bailey stated that, if all law enforcement had was the one video, that he was not worried,” the feds said.

Federal court records show Bailey was temporarily detained pending trial.

The findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders taken in the spring 2026, and aim to serve as a “vibe check” to compare changing attitudes year-over-year.

While the university itself acknowledges the surveys are steeped in political partisanship — with 65% of this year’s respondents self-identifying as Republicans, 21% identifying as Democrats and 14% as independents — it offers insights into broader trends of political optimism across party lines.

This year’s survey showed that only 26% of local officials believed the state was on the right track, representing a 6-point drop from 2025 and reversing a three-year trend in improving attitudes about the state’s overall direction.

“Michigan local leaders’ increased pessimism about the state’s direction this year seems to be more tied to statewide economic and political concerns, especially with the state legislature, rather than local ones,” said Debra Horner, the survey’s senior program manager. “When asked about the direction of their own communities, 87% statewide say they’re on the right track.”

Other key takeaways include:

• Around 26% of respondents rated Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s performance as “excellent or good” — down three points from the consistent ratings she’s received since 2021
• 41% rated Whitmer’s performance as “poor” — up slightly from 38% in 2023 and 2025.
• Ratings of “poor” for lawmakers’ performance jumped from 28% in 2025 to 40% this year
• Those who view the legislature’s performance as either “excellent” or “good” dropped from 18% in 2025 to 11% this year — the lowest level since tracking began in 2011
• Around 14% of respondents were unsure about the direction the state is headed, consistent with past surveys
• Roughly two-thirds of self-identified Democrats (65%) thought Michigan is headed in the right direction, down sharply from 85% in 2023
• A third (33%) of local officials who self-identify as Independents said the state is headed in the right direction, down slightly from last year
• Only 15% of Republican local officials say the state is going in the right direction, down from the 20% who said the same in 2025.

The survey, first launched in 2011, is facilitated each year by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at U-M’s Ford School of Public Policy. Information for this year was gathered between March and June via its census survey of 1,856 local governments statewide.

Click here to view the full survey results for 2026.

Thirteen of the 25 nominations for HBO Max's drama about a Pittsburgh ER went to its actors in one of the great achievements for a cast in Emmy history.

In its rookie season last year, “The Pitt” got just three acting nominations but it won all three: best actor in a drama for star Noah Wyle, best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa and best guest actor for Shawn Hatosy. The trio was nominated again, but this time had a ton of company.

“It feels really exciting to have more of my colleagues up on the board,” LaNasa told The Associated Press on Wednesday during a break in the shooting of Season 3. “You’re happy when you get acknowledged, but you kind of know that you’re only there because of everybody else. So the more people that are getting acknowledged, the better it feels.”

She said that like her character, Nurse Dana, she has a “motherly feeling” toward her colleagues, who are nearly all first-time nominees.

“I’m very wanting them to have this experience as well," she said.

LaNasa was joined in the supporting actress category by doctor-portrayers Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi, who played a new attending physician reckoning with a seizure disorder that is returning in the stress of the ER.

Hatosy, whose night-shift leader Dr. Jack Abbott won a big fan base and was the object of many crushes in Season 2, was bumped up from the guest actor category to supporting actor, where he's joined by Gerran Howell and Patrick Ball.

The 13 nominees will be competing against one another so much that there are only five acting Emmys they can win. That's one for every drama category except best actress, where it didn't submit anyone. The show makes only Wyle a lead.

In the guest acting categories, Brittany Allen and Jeff Kober both pulled off the coup of getting nominations from self-submissions of their portrayal of patients with heartbreaking arcs. Ernest Harden Jr. got a guest nod for playing the ER's constant presence and struggling alcoholic Louie Cloverfield.

And Tal Anderson, an autistic actor who has been an advocate for neurodivergent performers and portrayals, got her first Emmy nomination for playing Becca King, the younger sister of Dearden’s Dr. Mel King who is striving to be treated as an adult.

“Besides the fact that I get to have a small role in this giant, amazing show with so many talented people in the cast and on the crew, it means so much to me to be able to help this character, Becca, be seen and to have a voice,” Anderson told the AP. “As a disabled person myself, it’s such an honor to be able to, through this role, call attention to issues that are so important to the disabled community. It’s everything to have the opportunity to do that.”

LaNasa's Nurse Dana was already among TV's most beloved characters, but went even deeper on the drama in Season 2, in which she gives a rape kit and emotional counseling to a sexual assault victim.

Nurse Dana went meme-able with her loud pronouncements about the ER's “Baby Jane Doe.” The child also provided a pivotal and heart-wrenching scene for Wyle's Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch that may well win him a second best actor trophy at the September ceremony.

With the numbers “The Pitt” pulled in, it was almost surprising to find the many babies that played Baby Jane Doe didn't get nominated.

___ AP video journalist Brooke Lefferts in New York contributed.

The totals give HBO Max the top spot for both drama and comedy, with “Hacks” breaking the record for most nominations for a comedy series held jointly by “The Studio” last year and “The Bear” in 2024. HBO Max led all outlets with 122 overall nominations and has three shows up for both best drama and best comedy series.

The nominees announced for 118 Primetime Emmy categories included the late Rob Reiner for his guest acting on “The Bear,” Bad Bunny for his Super Bowl halftime show, and newlywed Taylor Swift for “The Eras Tour - The Final Show” concert special.

‘Hacks’ gets a special send-off and ‘The Pitt’ grows up

Emmy voters love a departing show, and have loved the tension-between-comedy-generations “Hacks” since its first season, allowing it to run up the numbers as a fifth-year senior. Star Jean Smart has won best actress in a comedy for all four previous seasons, and it would be stunning if she didn’t claim a fifth.

Her sidekick throughout the series Hannah Einbinder, who last year broke through and won supporting actress in a comedy in her fourth nomination, got a fifth. Her castmate, the show’s co-creator Paul W. Downs, got three nominations, for acting, writing and producing.

The day-in-the-life emergency room series “The Pitt” was a rookie upstart last year with big wins including best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa.

Already a beloved veteran show, it owned this year’s acting categories. Wyle was nominated again for best actor (along with nods for his directing and producing) as was LaNasa. Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi also got nominations, with “The Pitt” taking four of the seven supporting actress spots and three supporting actor slots.

In an era when major Emmy contenders — like 2025’s top drama nominee “Severance” — take years off between seasons, “The Pitt” came right back for another round. And its claim on the acting categories was helped by the between-seasons absence of “The White Lotus,” and its elite ensembles.

A solid showing for Apple TV

Two new shows from Apple TV, the one-woman-against-the-hivemind drama “Pluribus” and the horror comedy “Widow’s Bay,” both scored big in their first seasons.

“Pluribus,” from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” creator Vince Gilligan, got 18 nods. They included best actress in a drama for its only lead cast member Rhea Seahorn, considered the favorite to win.

“Widow’s Bay” got 19, including best actor for star Matthew Rhys, who was also nominated as a producer and for his acting in the limited series “The Beast in Me.”

Two other Apple TV shows are also up for best comedy, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” whose stars Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer got acting nominations, and “Shrinking.”

The “Shrinking” nominations included best supporting actor in a comedy for Harrison Ford. The force could be with Ford, with many prognosticators saying this will be the year the Hollywood legend finally wins an EGOT-tier award. His castmate Jason Segel is up for lead actor.

Big day for Bateman, Short and Brunson

Many close observers also think this will be the year the perennially nominated Martin Short wins best actor in a comedy for “Only Murders in the Building.” He was nominated for three trophies, including nods for his producing of “Only Murders in the Building” and hosting “The Match Game.” A Netflix documentary about him, “Marty, Life is Short,” also got two nominations.

Jason Bateman got four nominations, for his performing and producing on both “Black Rabbit” and “DTF St. Louis.”

ABCs “Abbott Elementary” remained a rare bright spot for the traditional broadcast networks that have been marginalized in top categories by cable and streaming shows. Creator, star and two-time Emmy winner Quinta Brunson was nominated for three more, and the show got seven.

Reiner, Swift, Bunny and Fox are among the notable nominees

The vast range of Emmy categories brings unexpected stars and beloved figures into the mix.

Rob Reiner, who was killed along with wife Michele Singer Reiner in December, has a chance at his third Emmy. He was nominated for guest actor for “The Bear,” about 50 years after winning two for his acting on “All in the Family.”

Five-time Emmy winner Michael J. Fox, also got a nomination in the same category for playing a patient with Parkinson’s disease, which the actor was diagnosed with in the 1990s, on “Shrinking.”

The Super Bowl halftime show is nearly always nominated, but this year's featuring Bad Bunny on NBC went above and beyond with nine nominations.

Swift's “Eras Tour” concert special got five nominations days after her marriage to Travis Kelce, one of them for the singing superstar herself as producer. She has one previous Emmy, for interactive media in 2015, to go with her 14 Grammys.

And after a year of targeting from the Trump administration for late-night hosts and their shows, the now-off-the-air “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” got nine nominations and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” got six.

‘Beef’ and ‘Euphoria’ are back in the mix

Netflix’s “Beef” was tops in the limited or anthology series categories with 16 nominations. “Beef” had a dominant first season in 2023, and the anthology’s all-new grudge holders, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac and Charles Melton, all got nominations.

“Euphoria” made its Emmys return after a long absence and got seven nominations. Zendaya, who won best actress in a drama for the first two seasons in 2020 and 2022, got a nod for the recently aired third season.

Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller announced the nominees at the Television Academy in Los Angeles. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, airing on NBC, will be held Sept. 14. Mariska Hargitay, the longtime star of NBC's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” will host and is a double nominee for directing and producing the documentary “My Mom Jayne.”

Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will be collecting signatures from Labour lawmakers, and needs at least 80 to run – a target he’s likely to well exceed.

Other potential contenders have all ruled themselves out. Former Defense Minister Al Carns, who had been pondering a run, confirmed late Wednesday that he will not challenge Burnham.

“I’d hoped a leadership contest would give us the opportunity for a proper debate,” Carns said in a statement. “But months of internal Labour politics isn’t what the country needs right now. We’ve got to get on with the job. Andy Burnham’s earned this and he’s got my full backing.”

Nominations remain open until July 16. Burnham is highly likely to be announced as the new Labour leader the following day, and to become prime minister after a meeting with King Charles III on July 20.

Starmer announced last month that he would resign as soon as his center-left party chose a successor. He was elected in a landslide in July 2024, but quit after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham spent almost a decade running Manchester in northwest England before returning to Parliament by winning a special election last month. He’s promising sweeping change, vowing to reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” — harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure.

But he will face many of the same political and economic challenges as Starmer, including a sluggish economy, tattered public services and a cost-of-living squeeze.

He also promised continuity in foreign policy, writing in The Times of London that the government’s “commitment to NATO and the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent will remain absolute.” He said Britain will remain a firm ally of the United States and a strong supporter of Ukraine.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the joint announcement after a meeting in Melbourne.

The leaders didn't immediately supply details of how much uranium would be sold, or when. Exports of Australian uranium to India stalled after an agreement to do so in 2014, because of concern that the material could be used to make weapons.

Australia has the world's largest known uranium resources, but the country doesn't use any nuclear power or weapons and all uranium is exported. India, which has a population of 1.4 billion people and a growing middle class, wants to install 100 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2047 — enough to power nearly 60 million Indian homes a year. But obtaining uranium hasn’t been simple.

India has doubled the amount of nuclear power installed in the country in the last decade, but that still makes up just 3% of its electricity.

India isn't a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which recognizes only the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia as nuclear weapons powers. Australia, which is a signatory country, refuses to sell uranium to non-signatories.

India says the treaty is discriminatory because it recognizes as legitimate nuclear weapon states only those that tested nuclear devices before January 1967, which would would disqualify it permanently. The country was hit with international technology sanctions and uranium trade bans after it conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group of countries, which includes the U.S., in 2008 granted a waiver allowing India to buy uranium from its members and Delhi has since pursued bilateral pacts to permit sales of the material. It inked such a deal with Canada in March.

Australia's leaders historically ruled out doing the same until Delhi signed the treaty. Canberra's position has eased, however, and it agreed to allow exports in 2014, subject to International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards and “separation of the Indian civilian and military nuclear programs,” according to a government website.

Thursday's administrative agreement was expected to remove obstacles to enacting the earlier deal.

Modi is visiting Australia for an annual leaders' summit between the two countries. In their joint statement, Modi and Albanese also pledged greater defense and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, “reflecting a step‑change in the depth and ambition” of the relationship, the text of the statement read.

The pledge for closer cooperation on regional security came days after Australia criticized China for test firing a long-range ballistic missile from one of its nuclear-powered submarines into the South Pacific Ocean, an area protected by an anti-nuclear treaty.

The two leaders did not cite China when they announced the bolstered strategic ties, and didn't take questions from reporters after their statements Thursday. Thousands of people turned out in the city of Melbourne in hopes of seeing India's Prime Minister during his visit.

India is Australia’s fifth largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services valued at 54.4 billion Australian dollars ($37.7 billion) in the 2024-2025 financial year, according to Australian government figures.

Earlier this week, Modi visited Indonesia and on Friday he'll travel to New Zealand for his first visit to the country. India and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement in April.

The court upheld an April ruling by the Seoul High Court that found Yoon guilty of infringing on Cabinet members’ right to deliberate before he declared martial law, falsifying the official proclamation to cover up the lapse before later destroying the document, and deploying presidential security forces to illegally resist law enforcement efforts to arrest him weeks after his impeachment.

Martial law lasted only hours before lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police at Seoul’s National Assembly and voted to repeal it, forcing Yoon’s Cabinet to lift the measure.

Yoon remains in detention and did not attend the ruling, which is final. He is still standing trial in other cases, and he has appealed the life sentence he received for the most serious conviction against him, on the charge of rebellion.

In a statement, Yoon’s legal team expressed “deep regret” over the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying the justices concluded a significant case without sufficient review.

The ruling aligned with the views of the Constitutional Court, which, in removing Yoon from office in April 2025, found that his martial law decree lacked legal grounds and failed to follow required procedures.

While Yoon called 11 Cabinet members to his office shortly before declaring martial law on late-night television on Dec. 3, 2024, several participants, including then- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, have testified that Yoon unilaterally informed them of his decision rather than inviting deliberation. The Seoul High Court said Yoon also violated the rights of nine other Cabinet members by failing to call them to the meeting or notifying them too late.

Though brief, Yoon’s martial law declaration plunged South Korea into a political crisis, paralyzing politics and high-level diplomacy while rattling financial markets. The turmoil eased only after his liberal rival, Lee Jae Myung, won an early presidential election in June 2025.

In addition to appealing his life sentence for rebellion, Yoon is appealing a 30-year prison term in a case accusing him of ordering drone flights in 2024 to deliberately heighten tensions with North Korea and create justifiable conditions for martial law at home. Yoon’s lawyers said the drone flights were a response to North Korea flying thousands of trash-carrying balloons into the South.

The conceptual artist, who died at the age of 83, first created the Pindakaasvloer, or peanut butter floor, in 1969. The work will reopen to the public Friday at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam for a two-month show.

Schippers also voiced Ernie and Kermit the Frog in the Dutch version of “Sesame Street,” and created absurdist and silly works that challenged conventional ideas about the meaning of art.

“Isn’t it fantastic that we are all standing here looking at peanut butter?” Schippers told journalists gathered at the Central Museum in Utrecht in 1997 where Pindakaasvloer was on display for the second time.

Schippers created the work as part of a Floor Covering Series, which also included floors covered with glass shards and salt.

“The thing I remember is the smell,” Mieke Weismann told The Associated Press. The food photographer and writer saw the 1997 exhibition as a teenager. She said the pungent scent of peanut butter wafted throughout the museum.

It took two employees of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen several days to spread 40 buckets of peanut butter across a 25-square-meter (270-square-foot) hexagon last week.

The men used drywall trowels to smear the peanut butter to a thickness of 2 centimeters (0.8 inch).

Schippers did not specify the size, shape, thickness, or type of peanut butter the work needs. Dutch peanut butter brand Calvé donated tubs of smooth peanut butter for the work.

Multiple visitors stepped into the sticky artwork when it was on display in 2011. In 1997, the work was “vandalized” when a group of people placed 12 slices of bread and several bags of hagelslag — chocolate sprinkles commonly eaten on bread at breakfast in the Netherlands — on the floor.

“It doesn’t look bad,” Schippers told Dutch newspaper Volkskrant at the time. “The sprinkles have been applied with a sense of proportion and a skillful hand.”

At some moments, the scene turned chaotic, with mourners swarming the coffin, forcing pallbearers to lower it to avoid losing control.

The ceremonies began on Saturday, with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran, Iran's capital, as throngs commemorated the life of the man who led Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West. His body was later taken from Najaf to Karbala before it is to be returned to Iran.

Khamenei was killed in late February in wide-scale U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that started the war. The 86-year-old supreme leader was among several senior Iranian leaders killed in strikes during the war.

Talks on ending the war between the United States and Iran appear to be on hold until after the burial.

However, strikes from both sides in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday and into Wednesday raised risks that the interim agreement to end the monthslong conflict that engulfed the Middle East could completely break down.

The U.S. military attacked Iran early Wednesday after it said Tehran struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran then launched retaliatory strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain.

Khamenei's body arrived on Tuesday in Najaf, considered one of the holiest of cities for millions of Shiite Muslims worldwide. Mourners holding portraits of Khamenei welcomed the body and senior officials escorting it, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The body was placed in a casket draped in the Islamic Republic’s flag and encased in glass.

Some supporters performed self-flagellation on the streets, while others waved Iranian as well as red and black flags symbolizing mourning and revenge.

Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim, a senior scholar at the Najaf seminary, led the funeral prayers at the Shrine of Imam Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.

As the coffin was carried into the shrine, large crowds pushed and shoved their way to get close to it. Some threw themselves onto the casket, as attendants struggled to control the crowd, urging the pallbearers to carry it closer to the ground for fear it might fall.

“We, the people of Iraq, will remain a thorn in the eyes of the enemies,” said Jaafar Jawad, a funeral attendee. “(His body arriving here) is the greatest possible honor, and God willing, we will be loyal and repay a little of his debt in the holy city of Najaf.”

The body later arrived in Karbala, also a holy city for Shiites, where Imam Hussein, the grandson of the prophet, was killed in 680 AD. Thousands of supporters gathered in the desert heat in and around the shrine while Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalaei, a representative of Iraq's top Shiite religious authority, led the prayers there.

In Karbala, also, crowds repeatedly swarmed the coffin, which nearly fell several times in the journey between two shrines. Inside the Imam al-Abbas Mosque, organizers decided to lower the coffin in an attempt to stop people who were pushing forward to seek blessings or to participate in carrying it.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to make an appearance at the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

The facility will be built in Sturgeon County, Alberta, and powered by a natural gas-fired plant being developed by a consortium that includes Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Ltd.

Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish called the project “a big deal for Alberta,” saying the province had created a regulatory framework to attract data center investment.

Alberta has been courting hyperscale data centers as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure surges. But the rapid growth of AI has fueled concerns about the vast amounts of electricity and water such facilities require, as well as their strain on power grids and nearby communities.

Because Alberta’s electricity grid cannot support multiple large AI data centers, the province is prioritizing projects that build or secure their own power generation, as Meta plans to do.

Meta said the data center will use a closed-loop cooling system that won’t draw water from surrounding sources. The company also plans to invest US$42 million in local infrastructure, including roads and water systems.

Last week, Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management announced they would proceed with the Greenlight Electricity Center in Sturgeon County. Meta was identified Wednesday as the customer. The 932-megawatt power plant is expected to begin operating in the second half of 2030.

The National Capital Planning Commission is meeting Thursday, and the Republican president's proposed 250-foot (76-meter) arch is one of the items on the agenda.

In a report, the agency's staff recommends that the commission approve the preliminary site and building plans for the arch. But the staff also recommends that the design be tweaked to comply with a federal law that limits building heights in downtown Washington to preserve the city's famous skyline. The planning commission applies the law during its approval process.

“Staff suggests the Commission request the applicant revise the project design to comply with the Height of Buildings Act and return to NCPC for final approval,” the 185-page report says.

Applying the law "would require design revisions to redistribute the height between the main structure, habitable roof structure and statuary,” the report said. But even with the recommended revisions, the arch, a public observation deck and three gilded topper statues would still reach Trump's desired 250-foot height, the report said.

The staff is also recommending that commissioners seek additional information about vehicular traffic around the arch, the proposed granite exterior and other aspects of the project before the Interior Department, which oversees the park service, returns for final approval. Trump wants to build the arch on a traffic circle on the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge from the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a separate federal agency, approved the design for the arch in May. The National Capital Planning Commission oversees construction on federal land in the city and began reviewing the arch plan in June.

Opponents of the project argue that the arch is too big for the skyline and would disrupt carefully designed views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery that were meant to symbolize the reunification of the North and the South after the Civil War.

But the opposition has done little to influence the members of either commission, both of which include some of Trump's closest allies. Trump appointed Will Scharf, a top White House aide, to lead the planning commission.

A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block the arch construction over concerns about disruptions to the sightline.

The arch would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters) tall, and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, at about 555 feet (169 meters) tall.

Trump had said last year that the arch could be paid for with unused funds from the hundreds of millions of dollars he said he has raised from corporations, donors and other wealthy people to pay to build a new $400 million ballroom at the White House.

But, as it turns out, some public money will be used for the ballroom project, as well as the arch. The White House has not released a cost estimate for the arch.

Defense attorneys fought against the public release of the statements from Tyler Robinson's roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs. They said prosecutors would characterize the statements as a confession, undermining Robinson's right to a fair trial if the statements are broadcast by the media.

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and has not entered a plea. He turned himself in a day after the fatal shooting of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump credited with helping galvanize the youth vote for Trump in the 2024 election.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for Twiggs that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” Robinson also allegedly sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”

Twiggs spoke to authorities on Sept. 12 — two days after Kirk was assassinated while speaking to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University — and again on April 20. He was given immunity for the statements, meaning what Twiggs said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case.

State District Judge Tony Graf will decide at the conclusion of this week’s preliminary hearing if prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial.

Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence but have sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

Attorneys for Kirk’s family and the media had urged the judge to make Twiggs' statements and other evidence public.

“To not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” Kirk family lawyer Jeffrey Neiman told Graf.

Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once through the neck as the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

Investigators found the suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.

Robinson’s lawyers earlier this week questioned the reliability of DNA testing used to link the defendant to the towel and gun.

A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to the evidence. Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions.

“She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,” Burt argued.

But forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use “extremely reliable” tests to determine the probability that a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.

DNA testing “is the gold standard in forensic science,” said Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania.

___

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Stevens flipped a Republican-held House seat in suburban Detroit in 2018 and hasn’t lost since, including surviving a bruising primary against a fellow Democratic incumbent after redistricting in 2022. She says it's what sets her apart from her opponent in the Aug. 4 primary, progressive Abdul El-Sayed.

“It is not a hypothetical that I beat Republicans,” Stevens told The Associated Press after a campaign stop in West Michigan this week. “I win tough races. I have had Republicans throw everything at me and still managed to win.”

Holding Michigan’s Senate seat is essential to any Democratic path back to the Senate majority this fall. That imperative only grew this week after Democrats' nominee in Maine, Graham Platner, said he planned to drop out after he was accused of sexual assault, threatening another seat the party had hoped to keep competitive. While no Republican has won a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan since 1994, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers came within 20,000 votes of doing so in 2024.

That calculation has led Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and influential Michigan Democrats, including former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, to rally behind Stevens, arguing she gives Democrats their strongest chance in November against Rogers, who is running again.

But if electability is the party establishment’s top priority, it’s an open question whether Democratic primary voters agree.

“Democratic leadership should think more in terms of what we want to accomplish, and less about, ‘We’ve got to make it appeal to everybody,’” said Dave Burdick, 71, of Douglas, Michigan. He's backing El-Sayed, who has surged by arguing that Democrats don’t have to run to the middle to win.

El-Sayed has built his campaign around bold policy proposals, rejecting corporate PAC money and casting himself as an alternative to the status quo of the Democratic Party.

“People don’t want a moderate. They want somebody who’s going to come in and effect change,” Burdick added.

Stevens makes the case for retail politics

On a summer afternoon in South Haven, a community along Lake Michigan, Stevens walks into a pet supply store with the ease of a seasoned campaigner. Within minutes, she's chatting with the owner about the area, greeting reporters by first name and striking up conversations with customers. She slips easily between small talk and campaign mode, asking about customers’ lives before mentioning legislation she’s championed and asking for their vote.

“I thought she was great fun,” said owner Roxanne Leder. “She was energetic and had a positive outlook.”

It’s the kind of campaigning Stevens’ allies say has defined her political career. They acknowledge she lacks the viral progressive moments that have fueled El-Sayed’s rise, but say she’s at her best in small rooms, union halls and local businesses — which they say is where elections are won.

Stevens has leaned into that contrast herself.

“Unlike my opponent, I’m not running at the first mic or camera I see,” Stevens said during a debate Tuesday. “We do not need a celebrity senator. We need a workhorse.”

It’s also a style familiar to Michigan Democrats. From former Gov. Jennifer Granholm to current-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, successful statewide candidates have often paired an upbeat, personable campaign style with a pragmatic message centered on economic issues.

But unlike Granholm or Whitmer, Stevens has yet to generate the kind of broad grassroots enthusiasm that defined their statewide campaigns. El-Sayed, meanwhile, has packed rallies with progressive supporters and high-profile endorsers.

Stevens has leaned more heavily on tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, which could become one of Stevens’ biggest liabilities in the primary. Outside groups have spent more than $30 million to boost her candidacy, dwarfing the spending behind El-Sayed. The largest spender, United Democracy Project, the super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has spent more than $13 million on Stevens’ behalf and reserved another $7 million before the primary.

For Burdick, the 71-year-old El-Sayed supporter, that spending is disqualifying. He said he would not vote for Stevens in the general election because of her support from AIPAC.

Leder, by contrast, said she expects to vote for Stevens in August because she’s far more familiar with the congresswoman than with El-Sayed. She said she still plans to do more research before making a final decision.

“I'm just a Democrat,” said Leder. “Please, please no Mike Rogers.”

Michigan has a populist streak

El-Sayed is running on Medicare for All, campaign finance reform, abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and ending all U.S. weapons sales to Israel. He’s also a Muslim who has never held elected office.

To many Democratic leaders in Washington, that makes him a risky nominee in a battleground state often viewed as moderate and centered on manufacturing.

But Michigan has repeatedly rewarded candidates who cast themselves as outsiders challenging the political establishment. In 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the state’s Democratic presidential primary by running against party leaders. Donald Trump later built his own anti-establishment coalition, carrying Michigan in 2016 and again in 2024.

Burdick, a self-described “old white guy living in rural Michigan” who is a democratic socialist, said Trump and Sanders resonated with voters because they were upset.

“Well, you know what? They’re still mad,” he said. “They portray people like Abdul as unrealistic, but I think it’s unrealistic to think that we can continue the way that we’re heading.”

A two-person race changes the calculus

On Sunday, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign. It prompted establishment Democrats to jump off the sidelines and back Stevens, including Democratic group EMILY’s List and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

“Haley is wicked smart, has won multiple highly competitive races, and she connects with people on a level so sincere and genuine that everyone who meets her feels truly seen and heard,” Nessel said in a statement.

El-Sayed has also built support among labor groups that have played an influential role in Democratic politics, including an endorsement from the United Auto Workers.

Fems for Dems, an influential Democratic grassroots group in the state, is not endorsing in the primary. But its founder, Lori Goldman, told AP in an interview that she planned to vote for El-Sayed.

“I personally am not going to have business as usual when I go to the ballot box. I want to vote for people, candidates that are going to go there and fight on our behalf,” she said.

Goldman, who founded the group 10 years ago in the politically important Oakland County, acknowledges the changing dynamics of Democratic primaries.

“Who would the natural choice be 10 years ago? Haley Stevens, right? Because we just followed the party line,” she said.

“People are breaking away from the party line. People want change.”

Wednesday night will be partly cloudy to mostly clear and mild.

Temperatures will fall into the upper 60s to around 70 degrees with a southwest breeze.

A few showers or storms are possible north of I-69 overnight, but Metro Detroit stays dry.

Thursday

Thursday will start mainly dry with temperatures climbing quickly through the 70s and 80s.

Highs will reach the mid to upper 80s before showers and thunderstorms become more likely during the afternoon and evening.

Southeast Michigan is under a marginal risk (level 1 out of 5) for severe weather Thursday.

The highest chance for stronger storms will be during the afternoon and evening hours.

The main threats include:

• Damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph
• Heavy rainfall that could lead to localized flooding
• Small hail
• An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out

Not everyone will see severe weather, but any storms that develop could produce downpours and gusty winds.

Make sure you have multiple ways to receive weather alerts, especially if you have outdoor plans Thursday afternoon and evening.

Rain chances linger Thursday night as the front slowly moves south.

Showers and thunderstorms remain possible through the evening, then gradually decrease overnight.

Friday

A few leftover showers are possible Friday, especially south of M-59.

A few more showers and thunderstorms could fire up in the afternoon.

Otherwise, drier air begins moving in, with highs in the lower to mid-80s.

Weekend

The weekend looks much quieter.

Expect mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies on Saturday, with highs in the mid-80s.

Sunshine continues Sunday with highs in the mid to upper 80s.

Next week

Heat builds again early next week.

Temperatures return to around 90 degrees on Monday and Tuesday.

Humidity levels look manageable for now, which should keep the heat index values below 100 degrees.

Share your weather photos with Local 4 at MIPics.

DTE Energy CEO Joi Harris provided an update Tuesday, July 7, as thousands of customers remained without power days after severe weather swept through the area.

The utility has faced mounting criticism over shifting restoration estimates and the length of time some neighborhoods have gone without service.

In Redford Township, homeowner Julie Neal said she spent nearly a week repeatedly calling DTE after a power line came down in her yard during Friday night’s storms.

“I was given a first restoration date of Saturday, from Saturday it went to Monday, and from Monday it went to Tuesday at 11:30, and at 10:20 last night they changed it to today at 11:30 with no explanation,” Neal said.

Neal said the downed line remained live and repeatedly caught fire, prompting calls to the fire department. She said despite the hazard, DTE crews did not repair the line for four days.

“It’s been the most frustrating experience I’ve ever had with a utility company,” Neal said. “This was the biggest fail on DTE’s part.”

Neal said she and her husband relied on a generator while they waited, but still went without air conditioning.

Even after crews arrived Monday night, Neal said the problem wasn’t immediately resolved. She said the power had to be cut again after the line began smoking.

“They went down to the corner; we had a neighbor come running down the street asking where they were because her backyard was smoking,” Neal said.

Neal said electricity finally returned around 3 p.m. Wednesday.

In Detroit, resident Jeanette Kowolski said she was still without power Wednesday night at her apartment on Tireman Avenue. Hers was the only building in her apartment complex left in the dark.

“It’s devastating,” Kowolski said. “We have to sleep like so we can feel the air come in through the window and we shouldn’t have to do that.”

Kowolski said she received repeated messages from DTE showing her estimated restoration time repeatedly pushed back. Kowolski said the long wait has felt unacceptable.

“We shouldn’t be in the dark since Friday of last week,” she said. “It was Friday of last week and we’re still here.”

DTE said crews were working to restore power to Kowolski’s apartment late Wednesday evening.

In a statement to Local 4, DTE reiterated that its Storm Response Team will continue working until power is restored to all customers.

“We know being without power for an extended period is frustrating, and we’re sorry for the disruption this has created.

Friday’s severe weather caused widespread damage, leaving nearly 400,000 customers without power.

While we have restored service to 99.9% of those impacted, we recognize that does not ease the frustration for customers who may have received multiple estimates and could still be waiting.

In some instances, when we arrive at an outage location, we discover even more damage than anticipated, which can cause additional delays.

Our Storm Response Team, made up of more than 4,000 dedicated members, remains focused on continuing our work until every customer has their power fully restored.

Regarding the reports of live wires that were on the ground, safety is our top priority – and we encourage everyone to stay a school bus length – at least 25 feet – away from all power lines and anything they’re in contact with – always consider them live and dangerous.”

DTE

The shooting occurred on Monday (July 6) in the parking lot of a Sheetz gas station on Eureka Road.

According to Taylor police, officers were alerted to a stolen U-Haul truck after a license plate reader identified the vehicle.

Investigators said the 38-year-old driver was wanted in connection with an alleged robbery in Cleveland.

Police said officers attempted to stop the driver, who refused to get out of the vehicle and instead backed the U-Haul into a patrol car.

Officials said newly released images appear to show the suspect opening the driver’s side door and pointing a handgun toward officers.

Police said four officers then fired their weapons, striking the man.

Officials said a handgun was recovered from the driver’s side floorboard of the U-Haul.

The suspect was taken to a hospital. Police have not released an update on his condition.

As is standard procedure following an officer-involved shooting, the four officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.

Supreme Court judges in London held a hearing Wednesday on a landmark human rights case that could decriminalize gay sex in the eastern Caribbean nation, potentially setting a precedent for the largely conservative Caribbean region.

The case was filed in February 2017 by Jason Jones, who argues that so-called “buggery” laws in the twin-island nation that prohibit gay sex, dating from when the country was a British colony, are unconstitutional. Those found guilty could receive up to five years in prison.

Jones is represented by lawyers including Anand Ramlogan, the former attorney general of Trinidad and Tobago.

“Who are we to volunteer that gay people should starve because we don’t like the meat that they eat?” Ramlogan told the panel of judges. “Constitutional rights exist precisely because majorities are not always right. They ensure that the dignity and equality of every citizen are not left to the changing tides of public opinion.”

A move to protect colonial laws is under scrutiny

Opposing Jones are Trinidad and Tobago’s government, backed by the country’s Council of Evangelical Churches and its largest Hindu organization, Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha.

The case has wound its way through several courts. In April 2018, Trinidad’s High Court found the laws unconstitutional, but a local appeals court partially reversed that ruling in March 2025. Four months later, Trinidad's Court of Appeals allowed Jones to seek a ruling from the final court of appeals in England.

Attorneys representing Trinidad and Tobago's government are seeking a decision that upholds the March 2025 ruling. A majority of justices in 2025 found that the High Court erred by allowing judges to change a law. A provision in some Caribbean constitutions protects colonial laws from legal challenges, including in Trinidad and Tobago.

The case, which is now before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, is being closely watched by activists across the Caribbean.

Trinidad and Tobago is an independent country but also a republic within the British Commonwealth, so the Privy Council is its final court of appeals. The country has pushed for the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice to replace the Privy Council.

In an October 2023 speech, Justice Adrian Saunders, former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice, argued for that change, noting that the provision protecting pre-independence laws is especially tricky in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Caribbean judges being naturally ‘closer to the ground’ than their British counterparts in the (Privy Council) may well be keener to be more sensitive to and proactive in remediating the debilitating consequences of constitutional or legal provisions that deprive Caribbean people of the full enjoyment of their human rights,” he said.

In 1991, the Bahamas decriminalized homosexuality, while the U.K. government repealed such laws in 2001 in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, judges have recently struck down similar laws in Barbados, Dominica, St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

Gay sex remains a crime in Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines — all former British colonies. In the U.K., gay sex was decriminalized in 1967, more than 400 years after buggery laws were passed during the reign of King Henry VIII, with the last executions associated with the crime occurring in 1835.

“Jason Jones asks for no special privilege. He asks that the Constitution protects him as it does every other citizen,” Ramlogan said.

Supreme Court president warns of a complex legal case

Jones, 61, who has been openly gay since age 16, left Trinidad and Tobago in 1996 because of what he described as homophobic violence and discrimination.

“His experience is part of a wider picture,” LGBTQ groups supporting Jones said in a recent court filing. “(He) is unable to fully express his sexuality without being branded a criminal.”

Jones argues that criminalizing gay sex is a moral stance, asserting that “Trinidad and Tobago is a secular society and a multiracial one. Christian morality is neither universal nor superior.”

While the country’s so-called buggery laws have not been enforced in recent history, attorneys and activists say they still send a message.

“A law of this kind operates not only through arrest and conviction, but through the stigma, fear, concealment and exclusion,” according to a recently filed written argument by activists in favor of Jones.

It asserted that criminalizing gay sex “compounds stigma at precisely the stage at which young people may be forming identity, seeking support, accessing education and healthcare, and deciding whether it is safe to disclose abuse, bullying or self-harm risks.”

It's unclear when the Privy Council might issue a ruling. Justice Robert Reed, president of the Supreme Court, said at the end of the hearing that the case is “of great concern to many people on both sides of the debate” and that it raises some very complex legal questions.

The strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of the fragile ceasefire. The U.S. struck a variety of military sites and port facilities early Wednesday following Iran’s targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman, sparking Iranian fire then as well.

But Thursday's attacks appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least twice in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters. There was no immediate word of damage in the three Gulf Arab countries. Kuwait’s military said it was actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.

Military officials said in a social media post that the latest strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran's ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike killed a firefighter at an airport.

For the first time since April, it also appeared the U.S. strikes targeted Iranian bridges. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran's northeastern Golestan province. The Guard said two bridges had been attacked on the way to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday. It wasn't clear if the Golestan attack was the same one mentioend by the Guard.

Trump warns that ‘it will get much worse’ if attacks on shipping happen again

After leaving a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote.

Trump had said earlier in the day that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in “long-term” military action.

“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said, though he also suggested the U.S. military might “just finish the job.”

Trump also renewed his past threats to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric plants and desalinization plants, and to seize the oil-production hub of Kharg Island.

After three tankers were hit Tuesday, the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by targeting American military sites in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has asserted that the interim ceasefire deal gives it the right to manage traffic through the strait. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X on Thursday morning: “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit.”

Strikes raise fears that war could resume

Trump fueled concerns that the war could restart by saying the interim agreement to pause fighting was “over,” although he added that he would allow negotiations to continue.

Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Trump's comments added new uncertainty, and oil prices shot up after he spoke. A renewed conflict could engulf the wider Middle East and would likely again halt energy shipments through the strait.

“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump said when asked about the status of the ceasefire. He added that U.S. representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, also a top negotiator, retorted on X that Trump's remarks “are not a sign of power but an admission of the failure” of U.S. policy toward Iran.

Trump has made other threats to seize Kharg Island, including last month, when he also questioned whether the U.S. “has the stomach for it.” Some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through the island.

The new attacks on ships in the strait, despite the negotiations, could reflect a divide among Iran's leadership. Hard-liners seek lasting control over the waterway, which is a globally important conduit for fuel shipments and has become a critical lever in confronting the West. Pragmatists want a permanent peace deal to lift international sanctions and provide desperately needed economic relief.

Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the funeral for Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 in the war’s first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.

The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

___

Kim reported from Ankara, Turkey. Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Najaf, Iraq; and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

Trump deposited the money in an account shortly after a jury ruled against him in 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money. The initial $5 million award has grown with interest.

The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store, and defamed her after she described it publicly in a 2019 memoir, during his first term as president. Trump called her allegations false and said “ she’s not my type ” in an interview.

Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday they would continue to appeal and accused his political opponents of using the legal system against him. They argued in appellate papers that Kaplan’s decision shouldn't be allowed to take effect because Trump has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.

Late Wednesday, Judge Eunice C. Lee of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request to stop the money from being transferred to Carroll.

“It is time for this case to come to an end,” Carroll’s lawyers wrote in a filing with the appellate court.

“Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid,” they wrote. “She should not have to wait any longer.”

The jury had reached its verdict — in a trial that Trump did not attend — after Carroll testified that their flirtatious and friendly chance encounter at the department store turned violent.

Trump insisted he never knew Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. He accused her of trying to sell books at his expense and of having political motives.

Carroll sued Trump after New York changed its laws to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue over attacks that happened in the distant past.

Trump “has been stalling this case for years,” Kaplan wrote in a memorandum detailing his decision. “It is time for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment.”

Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll by a separate Manhattan jury after a 2024 trial where Trump briefly testified.

At that trial, Kaplan required the jury to accept the findings of the previous jury and only determine how much money, if any, Trump owed Carroll for comments he made about her while he was president.

Trump's lawyers complained that the judge, in setting rules for the damages trial, had barred Trump and his defense team from telling the jury that the encounter with Carroll never happened.

When the 2nd Circuit declined to let all of its judges rehear an appeal of the $83 million award, Circuit Judge Denny Chin wrote that Trump had said multiple times over many years that Carroll lied for political and financial gain and had suggested she was too unattractive for Trump to have sexually assaulted her.

“As a result of Trump’s statements, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years,” Chin said.

“And Trump showed no remorse, continuing his attacks against Carroll during and after two federal trials, and even proclaiming two days into the Carroll I trial that he would continue to defame her ‘a thousand times.’”

Trout, reinstated just in time for the All-Star Game next week in his beloved Philadelphia, missed 17 games with a strained right hamstring suffered while running the bases in a game on June 17. He marked his return with a home run in the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers. This was the 15th anniversary of his major league debut for the Angels at age 19.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki had Trout batting second as the designated hitter.

“We’re going to obviously see how he feels. Maybe in the beginning, I take it out of his hands. Not really sure how I’m going to handle it yet, but he is ready to go," Suzuki said before the game about his willingness to send Trout back in the field.

Trout, who grew up 40 miles from Philadelphia in Millville, New Jersey, was elected by fan voting as a starter for the American League team at the All-Star Game next week at Citizens Bank Park.

The 12-time All-Star has not been able to participate in the showcase event since 2019, having been sidelined by injury after his selections from 2021-23. Trout, the three-time AL MVP and two-time All-Star Game MVP, has enjoyed a bounce-back season with 18 homers in 75 games.

The Angels designated infielder Donovan Walton for assignment to make room on the roster.

___

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

Update: New photos show moments before Taylor police shot armed stolen U-Haul suspect outside of Sheetz gas station

The shooting occurred on Monday (July 6) around 11:40 a.m. in the 20600 block of Eureka Road.

The officers had stopped a U-Haul truck that police said was connected to an armed robbery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Taylor Police Chief John Blair said an officer on patrol received an alert from the city’s Flock camera system and an in-car license plate reader indicating the U-Haul had been flagged in law enforcement databases in connection with the Ohio robbery.

Blair said the robbery occurred on June 30 and that vehicle information was entered into national law enforcement databases and the Flock camera network on July 1.

After confirming the vehicle matched the one sought by Ohio police, the officer waited for backup before initiating a traffic stop in the Sheetz parking lot.

“The officer turned on his emergency equipment,” Blair said. “The driver slow-rolled toward the exit, and other officers moved in to block the vehicle.”

According to Blair, the driver refused commands to exit the truck and backed into a patrol vehicle while attempting to escape.

He then opened the driver’s side door and pointed a handgun at officers.

“At that time, he pointed a gun at our officers, and they protected themselves, firing a number of rounds to subdue that individual,” Blair said.

Authorities recovered a handgun from the driver’s side floorboard, Blair said.

He said he could not confirm whether the suspect fired any shots because the investigation has been turned over to Michigan State Police, which investigates officer-involved shootings involving local police agencies.

The 38-year-old suspect, who identified himself as being from the Canton, Ohio, area, was struck multiple times and taken to a local hospital. Blair said the injuries initially appeared to be survivable.

A female passenger, who police said identified herself as being from Mississippi, was detained and is cooperating with investigators.

Blair said authorities are still working to confirm the identities of both occupants and determine their relationship.

Police said the U-Haul was also listed as stolen and had been used in the Ohio robbery.

Blair said investigators believe the incident involved an armed robbery at a Dollar Tree store in the Cleveland area, during which a suspect allegedly pointed a firearm at an employee and demanded money.

Blair credited the department’s Flock camera system and automated license plate readers with helping officers locate the vehicle.

“While those cameras captured that vehicle, that information popped up on our officer’s computer screen,” Blair said. “The officer checked the area, confirmed it was the wanted vehicle, and called for additional officers before making the stop.”

Michigan State Police are leading the investigation into the shooting, while Cleveland authorities will continue investigating the underlying armed robbery case.

At the scene, investigators placed dozens of evidence markers around the parking lot as they processed the area. Bullet holes were visible in the windshield of the U-Haul.

Witnesses described hearing a barrage of gunfire.

“I heard gunshots and glass breaking,” one witness told reporters.

Another witness, Ken Causey, said he had arrived with his children only moments after the shooting.

“You never know driving anywhere what might happen,” Causey said. “It’s a shame.”

The four officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave, consistent with department policy during officer-involved shooting investigations.

Watch the full presser below

The video showed Robinson standing in a room at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap. There was no audio, but an investigator said he spoke to Robinson that night to get his name and date of birth.

The short clip played as state District Judge Tony Graf sought to keep a weeklong preliminary hearing on track and said he wanted to give both sides time to present their cases.

Instead, much of Wednesday was consumed by arguments over whether prosecutors can play a recorded law enforcement interview with Robinson's roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, in court.

Graf indicated he would allow prosecutors to play redacted audio of those statements Thursday. The judge will decide after the hearing if prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge in Kirk’s Sept. 10 shooting on the campus of Utah Valley University.

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

Robinson’s lawyers said they were concerned about his right to a fair trial if Twiggs’ statements were played in open court and then broadcast by media outlets. They said prosecutors would attempt to portray Twiggs’ statements about what Robinson allegedly told him as a confession from Robinson, which could bias potential jurors.

Attorneys for Kirk’s family and the media had urged the judge to make Twiggs' statements and other evidence public.

“To not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” Kirk family lawyer Jeffrey Neiman told Graf.

Prosecutors allege Robinson sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”

Twiggs was interviewed twice as part of the investigation, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis testified Wednesday. He was given immunity for the statements, meaning what Twiggs said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case, Davis said.

DNA analysis described by expert as ‘the gold standard’

Robinson's lawyers have questioned the reliability of DNA testing used to link the defendant to the suspected murder weapon.

A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found at the college campus, where Kirk was shot while speaking to a large crowd.

Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions.

“She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,” Burt argued.

Forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use “extremely reliable” tests to determine the probability that a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.

DNA testing “is the gold standard in forensic science,” said Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania.

FBI analyst Amanda Bakker said that after Twiggs provided a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her tests and attribute all of the DNA to two people.

Investigators found the towel and suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.

DNA on the towel matched to two people, Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified. One was Twiggs and the other was very likely Robinson, she said.

Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for Twiggs that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

The defense team pushes back

Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once through the neck as the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on the prosecution’s claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.

Robinson’s defense team has pushed back on the idea that he was hostile to Kirk’s politics. Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

The IMF now expects the global economy to expand by a sluggish 3% in 2026, down from 3.5% last year and from the 3.1% it had forecast for this year back in April. The fund expects worldwide growth to rebound to 3.4% next year.

Iran responded to U.S. and Israeli attacks Feb. 28 by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil and natural gas passes. Energy prices soared, squeezing businesses and consumers. The IMF now expects oil prices to be up nearly 32% this year and for global consumer prices overall to increase 4.7% in 2026. That would be up from 4.1% in 2025 and would mean that two years of progress against inflation has stalled.

The IMF forecasts assume that the Strait of Hormuz reopens later this month — even though U.S. strikes on Iran resumed and President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that a ceasefire with Iran was over. They also assume that commerce through the strait returns to normal by next March.

“The world economy has weathered the shock from the war better than feared,″ Petya Koeva Brooks, deputy director of the IMF's research department, told reporters Wednesday. The economic damage from the energy shock has been limited partly because countries could draw on existing oil stockpiles and because oil-exporting countries outside the Persian Gulf stepped up production.

Countries that produce and export their own energy and that benefit from AI investment are insulated from the war's economic damage. Among them is the United States. The IMF expects the U.S. economy — the world's largest — to grow a solid 2.3% this year, up from 2.1% in 2025 and unchanged from the April forecast. President Donald Trump's 2025 tax cuts, big gains in productivity and a strong stock market are also giving the American economy a lift.

The 21 European countries that share the euro currency, hit hard by higher energy prices, are collectively forecast to grow just 0.9% this year, down from 1.4% in 2025.

China, the world's No. 2 economy, is expected to expand 4.6% this year, down from 5% in 2025 but a bit faster than the IMF had expected in April. Weighed down by higher energy prices and a property market collapse, the Chinese economy is getting offsetting help from public works spending, a surge in high-tech manufacturing and booming exports.

India is once again forecast to be the world's fastest-growing major economy, advancing at a 6.4% clip (down from a sizzling 7.7% last year) on strong consumer spending.

The IMF is a 191-nation lending organization that works to promote economic growth and financial stability and to reduce global poverty.

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This story has been corrected to show that China’s economy expanded 5% in 2025, not 2026.

Platner’s exit could exacerbate divisions between the party’s moderate and progressive factions, as Democrats debate who should replace him on the ballot and struggle to unify ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

Maine is considered a key state for control of the narrowly divided Senate, and Democrats were desperate for a candidate capable of defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins while President Donald Trump is broadly unpopular.

In an 11-minute video posted to social media, Platner said the process to replace him needs to be "open, transparent and democratic” and to reflect the will and values of people who supported him. He also lashed out at Democratic leaders in Washington, D.C.

“People in D.C. need to stay in D.C.,” Platner said. “Decisions should not be made by people in places of political power.”

At times scratching his beard and looking off camera as he spoke, Platner seemed to become emotional as he announced his plans, seated on what appeared to be a wooden deck as the noise of nearby traffic whizzed by. He also stressed that his decision was not an admission of guilt.

Although Platner had never before held elected office, progressive leaders promoted him over Gov. Janet Mills, who was favored by the Democratic establishment. Mills dropped out of the race in late April as Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer, consolidated support from primary voters who were eager for a more combative candidate and were willing to overlook his checkered past, which included a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol and online postings dismissive of sexual assault.

Shortly before Platner clinched the Democratic nomination in the June 9 primary, there were reports that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with other women while married and that he had become physical with a previous girlfriend during an argument.

But Platner’s support didn’t crater until Monday, when Politico reported that a woman said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner but cut off contact with him after that night in 2021 and told him the encounter wasn’t consensual. In a CNN interview, she said she had been raped “by definition.”

After the story was published, Platner in a video released on social media denied the allegation as “categorically false” but said he would be “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” for his campaign. High-level backers pulled their support, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said the next day that he spoke with Platner and that “in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

State law includes a provision for Democrats to replace Platner before the general election. The state Democratic Party held an emergency meeting Wednesday, where more than 100 state committee members signed off on holding a nominating convention, in the event of Platner’s withdrawal.

Platner announced he would do just that less than an hour later.

According to the statute, party officials may select a new nominee if a candidate who won the primary withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

Democrats must net four Senate seats to gain control of the 100-member chamber, and party leaders viewed Maine as a critical piece of the puzzle, along with Alaska, Ohio and North Carolina.

Nazi tattoo, Reddit posts and more had already been challenges for Platner

Platner has faced difficult questions almost from the moment he started his campaign last year. News outlets uncovered years-old comments on Reddit that appeared to endorse political violence, dismiss rape in the military, criticize rural Americans and use anti-gay slurs.

There was another controversy over the skull-and-crossbones tattoo, which is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, on his chest. He said he was unaware of the history and chose the tattoo while drunk and on leave with fellow Marines in Croatia. He covered the tattoo after becoming a candidate, and he said in an Oct. 21 interview with the Pod Save America political podcast that he was “not a secret Nazi.”

“Skulls and crossbones are a pretty standard military thing,” Platner added.

However, a former girlfriend told The New York Times that Platner joked about the tattoo being a Nazi symbol and called it “my Totenkopf.”

The revelations about the tattoo and the online comments stirred concern among Democrats that Platner had been poorly vetted as a political candidate and demonstrated questionable judgment. Some party leaders despaired over Platner’s chances to win even before allegations about previous relationships began to surface.

Platner drew progressive buzz and support

Before Politico’s story was published, Platner canceled some town halls planned around the state. Such events were a calling card for his campaign, which prided itself on a willingness to go anywhere to rally voters. Volunteers hosted happy hours and trivia nights that helped generate enthusiasm for a generational shift from Collins, 73, to Platner, 41.

At a time when Democrats have grown dissatisfied with the party establishment, Platner seemed like an appealing alternative. His deep voice could command a room, and voters were drawn to his gruff populism and focus on economic inequality.

They were also willing to look past controversies as Platner portrayed himself as a regular person who had made mistakes and was striving to better himself and his community. Sometimes he talked about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he focused on the power of redemption.

Before the sexual assault allegation became public, some voters said they also wouldn’t want to be judged on their worst moments, such as drunken behavior or crude comments.

Platner was backed by progressives including Rep. Ro Khanna of California, but that support quickly eroded after Racicot’s allegations.

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said Monday. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Sonja Birthisel, a Democrat and data analyst in Orono, Maine, voted for Platner in the primary. But she said he did the right thing by dropping out.

“My hope for the future of our democracy is that we can hold all of our elected officials to higher standards,” she said.

But the 38-year-old said she rejects the idea that the race is a proxy battle between moderate and progressive forces nationwide.

“Maine is a big small town,” she said. “I’d really love to see out-of-state influence and out-of-state money keep out of our beeswax as much as possible.”

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Ali Swenson contributed reporting from New York City.

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

Larry Malone has not been seen since he left his residence in the 5600 block of Bedford Street on Wednesday (July 8) and did not return home.

He was last seen wearing a black knit cap with a small brim, gray shirt, and black pants.

According to his son, he has dementia, PTSD, and diabetes. He also uses a cane to walk.

Anyone with information should contact the Detroit Police Department’s 5th Precinct at 313-596-5540 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up.

All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.

READ: More Missing in Michigan coverage

Owner Vanessa Morse said electricity was restored quickly.

“A lot of times you will hear in the news that other cities are struggling, and our power is on,” Morse said.

Just across the city line in Lincoln Park, resident Jeff Douds said he spent about 27 hours without power.

“No lights, what do you do now?” Douds said.

Douds said the outage was especially noticeable because his mother, who lives across the street from him in Wyandotte, never lost power.

“I could see her lights were on,” Douds said.

Douds said the difference comes down to the utilities serving each community.

“Lincoln Park is DTE. Wyandotte has its own power company here,” Douds said.

The city of Wyandotte owns and operates its own municipal electric utility.

According to the Michigan Municipal Electric Association, 40 communities across Michigan have municipal electric utilities.

Wyandotte is the only one in Metro Detroit.

The city purchases electricity through ITC and distributes it to customers through its own local system.

Wyandotte Municipal Services said about 1,000 of its 14,000 customers lost power Friday night.

By 6 a.m. Saturday, a six-person crew had restored service to all affected customers.

“We were getting quite a few calls Friday. People of Wyandotte, they’re not used to being out,” said Ryan Smith with Wyandotte Municipal Services.

Smith said Wyandotte’s electric service area covers about 5.2 square miles, making it much smaller than DTE Energy’s service territory across southeast Michigan.

“DTE is huge. You’re talking about a whole southeastern part of our state, so we are very small,” Smith said.

The American Public Power Association says municipal electric utilities typically have reliability advantages compared with investor-owned utilities and cooperatives.

Data reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that customers of public power systems generally experience fewer outages and shorter outage durations.

DTE Energy was contacted for comment but did not respond before publication.

Trump offered little clarity on the swap, instead saying he would fly on the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake,” and indicating that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the United States at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by U.S. troops.

The travel switch raised fresh security questions about the new aircraft that the U.S. spent $400 million to retrofit. Images of the Qatari-gifted jet captured since its unveiling show it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.

Trump boarded the new jet at Mildenhall, and it promptly took off for Joint Base Andrews outside Washington after he greeted service members stationed there.

“We just landed and met up with our new Air Force One, which was sent earlier to RAF Mildenhall, so we could show the wonderful Servicemembers, as per the entire Base’s request,” the Republican president said on social media. “They were very excited.”

He said stopping at Mildenhall “was on our way back to the States from Turkey, with virtually no deviation of flightpath.”

During the flight, Trump denied to the reporters accompanying him that security concerns involving Iran were a factor in flying two planes home. Asked if he was aware of any credible threats against Air Force One by Iran, Trump brushed off the question.

“I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list,” he said, repeating comments from earlier Wednesday that he is one of Iran’s top assassination targets.

When the reporters asked Trump if he knew why they were asked to keep their window blinds closed during the flight from Turkey to the U.K. aboard the older Air Force One, Trump replied that it probably was due to the “sleazebags over here” — an apparent reference to Iran. He said he was not asked to close the window blinds in his compartment. Iran and Turkey share a border.

New Air Force One doesn't have same security measures

The swap was also announced less than a day after the U.S. military conducted a series of large strikes in Iran in retaliation for its attacks on merchant shipping in the region, and before a new series of strikes on Wednesday.

Trump first announced in a social media post that the gleaming new plane he had proudly shown off a day earlier would instead visit the U.K. base on the way home so military members could “tour the Aircraft.” Trump said he instead would be flying home in an older plane previously used as Air Force One.

When asked later during a news conference if security concerns had played a role in the switch, Trump didn’t directly answer but said that when it came to Iran, he was “No. 1 on the list for killing.”

When another reporter followed up, Trump said he’d be “going home by normal methods” while the new plane would be shown off to troops.

When asked if the missing countermeasures systems played a role in the jet being swapped out, the U.S. Air Force directed questions to the White House.

“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff," spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. "As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats.”

Plane's transponder was turned off for some of the flight

Trump departed Turkey aboard one of the older Boeing VC-25As that have carried presidents for 3 1/2 decades. Consumer flight trackers were unable to monitor its transponder early in the flight after takeoff, suggesting it had been temporarily disabled by the crew -- a security measure used when ferrying the president to and from high-risk environments like war zones, not a major NATO ally hosting a long-scheduled summit.

Other world leaders’ flights departed with trackable transponders, including those from Germany and the U.K.

The luxurious Boeing 747-800 gifted by Qatar, that was modified to carry Trump, departed earlier Wednesday from Turkey and landed at RAF Mildenhall on Wednesday afternoon, flight trackers showed.

Iran has several missiles and drones in its inventory with enough range to make the roughly 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) flight from its own borders to Turkey, including some of its Shahed drones and Shahab ballistic missiles.

However, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Iran does not possess weaponry that would be capable of effectively striking England at a range of roughly 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers).

The U.S. Air Force, which oversees the running of the fleet of aircraft used by every president, had previously said that they had to prioritize making only some of the necessary upgrades and changes in order to deliver the Qatari jet — also known as the “bridge” aircraft — into service.

The Air Force argued that the rapid conversion of the jet was done “without accepting any risk regarding security, safety, or secure communications,” but did concede that “several highly complex engineering modifications required for the final (Air Force One aircraft) were intentionally excluded from the Bridge aircraft.”

Jeremiah Gertler, a senior analyst for Teal Group, an aviation and defense consulting firm, previously told The Associated Press that the absence of countermeasure systems, as well as a seemingly smaller number of communications antennas, suggested that the Qatari jet was better suited to only work as a domestic aircraft.

Trump's first flight on the new Qatari jet was to North Dakota last week.

The original Air Force One planes were built from scratch near the end of the Cold War and they were hardened against the effects of a nuclear blast and included a range of security features, such as anti-missile countermeasures and an onboard operating room.

The jets are also equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities for contingencies, though it has never been utilized with a president on board.

The pair of Boeing jets that are currently being modified to act as the permanent upgrades to the Air Force One jets have been delayed, and are expected to be delivered in 2028.

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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was working toward securing legal status in the U.S. and knew what to do if stopped by ICE, his son said.

Federal officials said they were stopping the vehicle in an immigration enforcement operation. Ronaldo Salgado said his father may have been scared that the people in unmarked vehicles were coming to steal the tools he had used for 35 years to build homes so he could send his three American sons to college.

“He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot and killed by ICE. He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,” Salgado said during a news conference.

The shooting happened Tuesday in Magnolia Park, a neighborhood that has been a hub for Houston's Mexican American community for a century. On Wednesday night, hundreds of people marched through the neighborhood chanting “ICE out of Houston!”

Federal officials say their vehicle was rammed but don’t provide evidence

Salgado Araujo was shot after he ignored commands and attempted to ram an officer who fired his weapon in self-defense, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. ICE officers were targeting him because he was living in the country without legal permission, according to the department, which oversees ICE. The man’s car struck an ICE vehicle, the department added.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia said Salgado Araujo had no criminal convictions.

Houston firefighters said he was shot in the abdomen. He died at a hospital.

Three other men appeared to be detained as Salgado Araujo lay moaning on the ground, according to his son, who said one of them was his uncle.

Daniel Tirado was one of the other men in the van and called his wife briefly to say they were being followed, Tirado's stepdaughter Juana Degollado told The Associated Press.

“What he remembers is that an ICE agent shot Lorenzo and the van door was closed,” Degollado said.

Tirado wasn't able to contact his family until Wednesday morning, and the call lasted only five minutes, his stepdaughter said. They haven't been able to get additional information from ICE or the FBI.

Jose Rojas was also detained, according to his stepdaughter Griselda Silva. The 51-year-old Mexican national had lived in the U.S. for decades without legal status or a criminal record, she said.

ICE has not released the names of the people detained.

Federal officials have not released video or images of the shooting or the vehicles. Salgado on Tuesday joined civil rights groups and Democratic officials in urging federal authorities to release all the footage and other information it has on the shooting.

In several other shootings involving federal officers, initial descriptions by immigration officials have sometimes been contradicted later by video evidence.

Civil rights groups say ICE can't be trusted with the investigation

The federal crackdown has created a country where officers think they can “shoot and explain later,” League of United Latin American Citizens President Roman Palomares said.

The league offered a $5,000 reward for information and videos from witnesses. Ronaldo Salgado and several civil rights organizations called for an independent investigation. Some begged anyone with videos to not turn them over to ICE.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Salgado Araujo’s family and the community deserve the truth, but federal authorities are exclusively handling the investigation.

ICE and DHS representatives have not responded to repeated requests for additional comment Wednesday.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took over the department in March aiming to keep it away from the controversies that marked the tenure of his predecessor, Kristi Noem.

The shooting was at least the eighth death resulting from an encounter with federal immigration officers since the start of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Son says his father worked hard for decades

Ronaldo Salgado said his mother was told something bad had happened to his dad around 7 a.m. Tuesday. After frantically looking for him at his job site and finding his empty van, he saw a video.

“I recognized him, not from his appearance but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street,” Salgado said.

Salgado Araujo met his wife as a teenager in Mexico. She made his lunch before he left for the day. He would listen to music and pet his dog on his porch, Salgado said.

Salgado said his dad had started the process of obtaining his work permit.

“We dotted every I, crossed every T, filled every document, attended every appointment," Salgado said. "He was close to obtaining his legal status.”

Salgado Araujo had biometric scan and fingerprints done earlier this year and had carefully studied what to do if ICE pulled him over.

“Had my father seen an emblem of ICE or an emblem that says anything about a law enforcement agency, my father would have complied,” his son said.

Crowd marches in Houston, and Mexico's president criticizes the killing

On Wednesday night, a large crowd marched through the city's streets, with some waving Mexican flags or holding a banner that said “Abolish ICE,” while others held signs with Salgado Araujo's face on it.

The crowd started feet from where Salgado Araujo was shot and held a ceremony in his memory and prayer. They also filmed a video for his family of the crowd chanting, “You're not alone!” Garcia announced that she and other lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday to DHS demanding answers.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that the country is “preparing legal measures” over the killing of Salgado Araujo because “we cannot allow the mistreatment of our brothers and sisters in the United States."

In April, Sheinbaum expressed concern about the deaths of Mexican nationals in U.S. immigration detention, saying her government would support lawsuits filed by detainees over poor conditions or by the families of those who died. She raised the detainees' deaths to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and said she was considering an appeal to the United Nations.

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Brook reported from New Orleans and Collins from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press reporters Hallie Golden in Seattle; Gisela Salomon in Miami; Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C.; and Ryan J. Foley in Omaha contributed.

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This story has been corrected to show Sheinbaum’s comments about possibly approaching the U.N. were made in April.

Police were dispatched to the area of Prevost Street and Motor Drive near the 8 Mile service drive around 4:23 a.m. after reports of shots fired.

Upon arrival, police found a man in his 30s inside a crashed vehicle on Motor Drive with airbags deployed. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he reportedly died from his injuries.

At least two individuals have been detained at the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

Check back for more details as this story develops.

Update: Police Chief Todd Bettison updates arrest of 15-year-old in shooting of child on Detroit’s west side

Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison confirmed the arrest during his annual Walk A Mile Wednesday event on July 8.

The shooting occurred Tuesday night at Fargo-Oakfield Playground when the child was riding his bike with his father nearby around 9 p.m., police said.

Officials said shots were fired at random and a bullet struck the boy in the arm.

The child was taken for medical treatment and later returned home to recover.

Bettison said Tuesday night that investigators had identified a person of interest in connection with the shooting and believed a teenager may have been firing shots into the air before the child was struck.

“When you fire a weapon, what goes up must come down,” Bettison said Tuesday.

Police have not released additional details about the minor in custody or potential charges.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detroit police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

This is a breaking news story, and updates will be posted as they become available.

The central government allocated 50 million yuan ($7.4 million) to restore roads, schools and other facilities in central China's Hubei province and another 20 million yuan to help rebuild homes and resettle residents there, state media said. Eleven people died and hundreds were injured Monday night in violent thunderstorms and rare tornadoes.

The government also allocated 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to Gansu province, where the landslide buried the forestry workers.

The money came on top of 100 million yuan ($14.7 million) allocated earlier for schools, hospitals, transport and other infrastructure in southern China's Guangxi region, where severe flooding inundated cities and stranded residents after heavier-than-expected rainfall from a tropical storm.

Lu Xiaofei, who works in Shenzhen, a tech hub near Hong Kong, said her brother’s family was stuck at his house in Lu village in Qintang district. His brother was with his wife, his 9-month-old baby, their parents and grandfather.

“The water in the house is over one person’s height. They have to all move to the second floor. The power has been out since yesterday morning, and now they don’t have running water, either,” Lu told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Lu said her brother told her that the water level rose last night and their situation was so dire that drinkable water would be running out soon, and local authorities had not reached out to them. Many villagers nearby were facing the same challenges, she said.

Others called for help on social media, showing videos of their flooded surroundings and highlighting their lack of resources.

Reservoirs were breached or burst after Tropical Storm Maysak hit the southeastern Guangxi region, sending torrents of water into towns and cities. Six people were reported dead and about 130,000 have been evacuated. More than 8,000 people and about 5,700 boats have been deployed in the rescue operation, according to the Guangxi regional propaganda office.

Unconfirmed local media reports said hundreds of snakes escaped breeding facilities after being washed away, and Beijing News reported that a woman in the town of Yunbiao died after she was bitten by a snake.

The Associated Press could not verify the reports, but a statement released Wednesday from the regional office said “snakes have appeared in some waters” after multiple villages in the Hengzhou area were submerged in water. It did not give details on where the snakes had come from.

It also said a local hospital has increased its stock of snake antivenom to meet treatment needs.

Heavy rain has been battering parts of Guangxi since last Saturday, with cumulative rainfall of 10 to 40 centimeters (4 to 16 inches) in some areas and more than 90 centimeters (35 inches) in hard-hit areas, the national meteorological center said.

Another storm, Typhoon Bavi, is forecast to hit southeastern China over the weekend. In Taiwan, some farmers rushed to harvest their rice ahead of the typhoon, which was moving west-northwest in the Philippine Sea.

Elsewhere in Asia, severe weather also caused deaths. Landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in southeastern Bangladesh killed several Rohingya refugees, including five children. Heavy monsoon rains battered parts of neighboring India, leaving over a dozen of people dead over the past few days.

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AP writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this story.

Detroit police Chief Todd Bettison provided the update during his weekly Walk A Mile Wednesday community event on July 8, saying the child is recovering and remains in good spirits with his family.

“Thank God he’s recovering,” said Bettison. “He’s in good spirits along with his family.”

The shooting happened Tuesday night at Fargo-Oakfield Playground.

Police said the 5-year-old was riding his bike with his father nearby around 9 p.m. when gunfire erupted.

A bullet struck the child in the arm.

Investigators believe the suspect, who is 15 years old, was responsible for firing the shots.

Bettison said the teenager is being held at the Juvenile Detention Facility while the investigation continues.

Police previously said they believed the teenager had been firing shots into the air before one of the bullets struck the child.

Bettison credited community members for providing information that helped investigators quickly identify the suspect.

“Community support absolutely plays a key in it,” Bettison said. “Community and policing makes an unbeatable team.”

Bettison declined to discuss specific investigative details but said tips from the public were instrumental in the arrest.

When asked whether the suspect’s parents could face charges, Bettison said authorities are not pursuing that option at this time.

Bettison also said juvenile crime and youth gun violence victims are down in Detroit compared with the same period last year, adding that the department will continue its efforts to reduce violent crime through increased patrols and community partnerships.

Police have not announced any charges against the juvenile.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Families in the hardest-hit state, La Guaira, have taken to the beach to shower and relieve themselves, with excrement now dotting parts of the once-crowded Caribbean beaches. Others are using the little water that did not spill from their home storage tanks to do dishes and clean themselves. Many are living in temporary shelters or outdoors after 190 buildings collapsed and 856 others were damaged, according to Venezuelan officials, in the back-to-back earthquakes on June 24 that killed 3,811 people.

“We always have water in the tank — water reserved — but with the earthquake, most of the tanks in the houses broke,” Juliani Herrera, 20, said of the large blue plastic tanks that many Venezuelan families use to store water on days when the state-owned utility services the areas. “Now, we have to wait to see if a tanker comes and fills buckets.”

Some of the affected communities only had potable water service once every month or two even before the earthquakes. In Maiquetía, known for being home to the country’s main airport, people lined up Wednesday to receive a box bearing the United States flag containing food, water and a hygiene kit that included a soap, toothbrush and body cleansing towelettes.

Herrera received one of the boxes that were handed out at a tent camp adjacent to the beach. She carried it for several blocks, her chin, upper arm and hands covered with iodine-stained scratches that she got when she fell from a motorcycle as the ground shook violently when the quakes hit.

The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez has estimated that the earthquakes left about 18,000 people without a home. The displaced are now living in schools, sidewalks, parks, plazas and other public spaces.

Beatriz Ochoa, regional head of advocacy for Latin America at the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a statement that improved conditions are necessary to prevent spread of diseases as people are living in densely populated settings under high temperatures and seasonal rains and with limited privacy.

“I have seen families doing everything they can to maintain dignity in extremely difficult conditions,” she said. “In one temporary shelter, I saw families organizing themselves to keep common spaces clean, including through makeshift toilets and basic waste management arrangements. Their determination is remarkable, but families should not have to shoulder this burden alone.”

Rodríguez on Wednesday announced that her government was already working with experts to identify appropriate areas to “build new earthquake-resistant homes and cities.” She added that local and international companies had also been called up “for the rapid and aggressive construction of housing.”

Rodríguez also said she had “decided to send a letter, among others, to the King of England” to request the release of Venezuelan gold reserves frozen at the Bank of England due to economic sanctions.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has estimated direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure around $37 billion.

The U.N. relief chief Tom Fletcher met with Rodríguez and earthquake survivors on Wednesday, when the organization's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued an appeal for roughly $300 million to assist 1.3 million Venezuelans in urgent need of aid.

As people like Herrera lined up steps away from the sea and waited for a box of aid under a bright sky, a shared emotional landscape dominated by exhaustion and disbelief hung over the camp. Among the tents, a hand-painted cardboard sign read “Ciudad Bendita,” or Blessed City.

“The worry is always when people are silent because you can really then see the trauma that they’re going through,” he said. “At many of the sites we visited today we saw people not speaking, in complete hopeless despair, but elsewhere you did also see kids playing football, getting a good meal, and so you can see the humanitarian response also having its impact.”

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

For much of the year, Republican operatives have been quietly considering the real possibility that their party might lose the Senate. No longer.

While much can change before November, Republicans have already begun to rethink their national strategy to take advantage of a political map that suddenly looks much more favorable in the wake of Maine Democrat Graham Platner's announcement that he intends to withdraw from the race. His decision Wednesday follows Platner's latest controversy — an accusation of sexual assault that even his most loyal allies have described as credible.

Platner, who denies the allegation, was under intense pressure to quit the race. And the lineup of potential replacements has hardly inspired fear among the Republicans backing incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, who is seeking her sixth term this fall. The Maine Democratic Party said it's planning a convention to choose Platner's replacement.

The incredible Democratic dysfunction transforms the Maine Senate race from perhaps Democrats' best pickup opportunity in the nation to one where dejected and divided Democrats don't know who their nominee will be four months before Election Day.

“Obviously, expectations are that this certainly will be helpful overall,” said Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Without Maine, Rodriguez added, “Democrats have no path to a majority."

The math suggests she may be right.

Democrats need to flip four seats to claim the Senate majority for President Donald Trump's final two years in office.

Maine stands alone as the only 2026 Senate battleground where a Republican is facing reelection in a state Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024. North Carolina, where Democrats have rallied behind popular former Gov. Roy Cooper, likely represents the party's next best pickup opportunity, while Democrats are fighting to compete in the deeper-red states of Iowa, Alaska, Ohio and Texas. At the same time, Democrats are defending seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire.

To claim the Senate majority without Maine, Democrats must win all the seats they current hold and four of five in states where Trump won by an average of more than 10 points.

“I’m convinced Republicans are holding the Senate,” says New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine, who has hosted fundraising events for Collins and other vulnerable GOP senators. The situation in Maine, he continued, “makes it easier.”

What changes for Republicans

It's hard to overstate how focused Republicans have been on protecting Collins, the last Republican senator serving in New England.

So far this election cycle, Republicans have spent $108 million on her race — more than almost every other Senate race in the nation, but just behind Texas's record-breaking Republican primary, according to data complied by AdImpact.

And the GOP was planning to spend much more in Maine, according to Republican strategist Chris Hartline.

“Republicans were in a situation where we were going to have to go all in on Maine,” he said.

The Platner explosion does not mean that Maine suddenly becomes an easy Republican hold, Hartline noted, but it does give the national party some “breathing room” to shift resources elsewhere.

On Wednesday, for example, the Republican super PAC One Nation announced plans to spend a combined $45 million in three Senate races: Ohio, Iowa and New Hampshire. The Maine contest was excluded from the super PAC's Wednesday list, even though One Nation has already spent $23.5 million in the state, according to AdImpact.

Republicans are not planning to divert all of their money out of Maine in the short term, however.

Operating under the assumption that Platner would quit the race, Republicans were planning a negative ad blitz to undermine Collins' next opponent immediately.

“The candidate we’re running against is largely undefined,” Rodriguez said. “So there will have to be spending and a campaign on behalf of Collins to be sure that that person is defined early.”

Collins, meanwhile, who was already planning for a difficult reelection, was sitting on nearly $10 million in her campaign account near the end of May.

“Fundraising continues on at a strong clip and we are heartened to see support from Mainers and Americans across the nation continue to grow,” said Collins' campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen. “Our cash position remains very strong.”

What's next for Democrats?

The Maine Democratic Party held an emergency meeting Wednesday, where state committee members approved a plan to hold a nominating convention in the event of a vacancy.

Virtually all of his high-profile supporters this week called for Platner to step down, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had stood by the oyster farmer even after revelations of a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, extramarital sexting and controversial social media posts that would have wrecked a typical campaign.

Everything changed this week when a former girlfriend told reporters that Platner drunkenly entered her house and sexually assaulted her in 2021, an allegation the candidate denied.

According to Maine law, Platner needs to file paperwork to formally withdraw by 5 p.m. July 13 before any other contender can replace him.

State law then says the Maine Democratic Party has the authority to choose a replacement, which must be done by July 27 — just 99 days before Election Day.

“Democrats have taken their No. 1 pickup opportunity and completely fumbled it,” said Rodriguez, of the NRSC. “This is the strongest Susan Collins has ever been.”

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was happy to let him try.

“Dylan came in after the sixth (inning) and said, ‘I’ve got 120.’ I said, ‘OK.’ And then after the seventh, he said, ‘I’ve got 130,’” Schneider said.

Cease carried his bid for a second career no-hitter into the ninth inning Wednesday against the Giants before Heliot Ramos broke it up with a line-drive single to center field.

Cease was lifted after Ramos’ hit and got a standing ovation from the San Francisco crowd. Tyler Rogers came on and got the last three outs on four pitches as the Blue Jays won 10-0.

The 30-year-old Cease threw a career-high 118 pitches, 81 for strikes, as he sought the first solo no-hitter in the majors since 2024. The All-Star right-hander struck out 11 to increase his American League-leading total to 148.

“I kept saying, ‘Whatever it takes,’” Cease said. “I guess in my mind I thought maybe 130 at that point was what it was looking like.”

Schneider said he left Cease in the game because of his career durability and because he can get extra rest during next week's All-Star break.

“I’m a fan of baseball,” Schneider said. “I think if a guy has a chance to throw a no-hitter, I think you let him do it and I think you make adjustments after that.

“If I can let a player have that opportunity, I’m going to do it every single time. Maybe not every single time, but as long as I’m allowed to.”

Cease threw a no-hitter for the San Diego Padres at Washington on July 25, 2024. He thought he was in better form Wednesday than he was that day against the Nationals.

“I was really commanding the ball well, mixing the ball well,” Cease said. “I’m just happy it wasn’t Luis (Arraez) that broke it up again.”

While pitching for the Chicago White Sox, Cease lost a no-hit bid on Sept. 3, 2022, with two outs in the ninth inning when Arraez singled for Minnesota. Arraez, now San Francisco’s second baseman and a winner of three batting titles, was the hitter after Ramos.

Eight days after Cease's no-hitter two years ago, Blake Snell threw one for the Giants at Cincinnati.

Since then, there have been two combined no-hitters — including one in March by Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa of the Houston Astros — but no one has done it on his own as managers more frequently pull pitchers in the middle of hitless outings because of concerns over pitch counts and injuries.

Cease had plenty of velocity in the ninth, throwing two 97 mph fastballs to Ramos before giving up the hit on a 96 mph sinker.

“I’m thinking he’s probably going to be looking for a slider at some point,” Cease said. “I figured if I go a couple of heaters and a sinker in, it would surprise him.

“I wish I got it a little more in, but a good batter got a hit. It’s baseball.”

The Blue Jays have gone nearly 36 years without a no-hitter. Dave Stieb threw one on Sept. 2, 1990.

Including playoffs, 35 big league pitchers have thrown multiple no-hitters. Mike Fiers of the Athletics became the last to do it on May 7, 2019.

Cease set down the first 14 San Francisco batters before he walked Willy Adames with two outs in the fifth. Cease also walked Drew Gilbert leading off the sixth and Rafael Devers with one out in the seventh.

Toronto’s defense made two solid plays to sustain the no-hit bid. With two outs in the seventh, Adames sent with a grounder up the middle, and second baseman Ernie Clement ranged to the left side of the bag and made a nice pickup and throw to first.

Leading off the eighth, Bryce Eldridge hit a drive to deep left-center. Center fielder Daulton Varsho raced to make an excellent catch before running into the wall.

Cease then struck out Gilbert and pinch-hitter Drew Cavanaugh.

“When Daulton made that play,” Cease said, “it was like, ‘Man, that’s what happens in no-hitters.’ At that point, I really did it have it on my mind and I thought, ‘All right, we’ve got a shot today.’”

Ramos said Cease “had it going on today. I think we should have done a better job attacking the zone, just being aggressive, but at the end of the day, he’s a really good pitcher.

“I think he’s Cy Young-caliber.”

___

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

Platner announced Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the high-stakes Senate race following an accusation from a former girlfriend that he once sexually assaulted her. The oyster farmer and Marine veteran, who denies the allegation, had secured the Democratic nomination in June to go up against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

In an editorial published in the Portland Press Herald, Dempsey wrote that Mainers are facing challenges including housing, healthcare and education, and whoever is elected as Maine's next senator should work to enact meaningful change.

“As I reflected on all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I truly want to serve in Congress?” Dempsey wrote. “After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no. Not because public service isn’t honorable — it absolutely is. But because I believe I can contribute more effectively through the life I’ve already built.”

Dempsey did not endorse any other candidate from those currently teasing their interest in replacing Platner, nor did he name Platner. Instead, he wrote that the candidate should offer “a new approach to how we govern ourselves.”

“Most of all, I want integrity. That may sound idealistic today, but it shouldn’t,” he added.

Dempsey grew up in the Lewiston-Auburn area and is the founder of The Dempsey Center in Maine, which provides free care to people impacted by cancer.

The complaint, filed Tuesday (July 7) in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, seeks to compel the university to release documents connected to Moore’s alleged inappropriate relationship with a university employee, as well as other records related to the university’s investigation.

Who filed the lawsuit

Plaintiffs Paige Shiver, a former Michigan Wolverines football department employee, and her attorney, Julie Murphy, allege the university improperly denied multiple public records requests submitted between February and June 2026.

According to the lawsuit, the requested records include investigative files related to Moore’s termination, interview recordings and transcripts, communications between university officials and Moore, emails between Moore and Athletic Director Warde Manuel, and messages submitted to a university reporting email account managed by outside law firm Jenner & Block.

What the university is accused of

The lawsuit contends the university cited a variety of reasons for denying the requests, including ongoing investigations, privacy exemptions, claims that responsive records did not exist, and assertions that one request was overly broad.

The plaintiffs argue those denials violate Michigan’s FOIA law, which favors public disclosure of government records unless a specific exemption applies.

The complaint also alleges the university failed to obtain responsive records from Jenner & Block, despite the firm’s role in conducting the investigation and the plaintiffs’ belief that those records are within the university’s control.

Additional allegations

Shiver, who worked in the university’s football department from October 2021 through December 2025, also alleges she experienced sex discrimination and a hostile work environment in violation of federal and Michigan civil rights laws.

The complaint further alleges that unidentified university employees improperly accessed her medical records, violating her privacy rights and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The lawsuit asks the court to order the university to release the requested records, declare the university’s actions unlawful under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, award attorney fees and costs, and impose punitive damages authorized under the statute if the court finds the university acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying the requests.

The University of Michigan had not filed a response to the complaint as of Wednesday.

Shiver speaks publicly about relationship with Moore

Shiver previously spoke publicly about her relationship with Moore during an interview with ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, which aired on “Good Morning America” on Friday, April 24.

Shiver, now 32, told ABC she started as an intern with the football program in 2021.

Her consensual relationship with Moore began in January 2022.

When Moore became the university’s head football coach in 2024, Shiver was promoted to be his executive assistant.

‘Complete control’

During the interview, Davis asked about Shiver’s allegations that she faced years of harassment and manipulation from Moore.

“Here’s a man that had complete control over me,” Shiver said. “Over my emotions. Over my career. And he knew that. And he used it against me. Every time I tried to pull away, every time I tried to get out of even Michigan, he always had a story, always had a way to pull me in and making me feel that I couldn’t leave him because he was so miserable without me.”

Shiver also said she felt pressured to remain in the relationship to keep her job.

“I mean, he and other coaches had control over my career, especially him,” Shiver said. “I mean, he could fire me in a second.”

Pregnancy, rare disease, difficult decision

Shiver revealed during the interview that she became pregnant by Moore during the relationship, a pregnancy complicated by Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition in which a complex sugar called glycogen builds up in the lysosomes of the body’s cells, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The condition can cause severe muscle weakness and, without early detection and treatment, can be fatal.

Due to the diagnosis, Shiver had an abortion.

“Multiple doctors and experts told me that it wouldn’t be right or healthy for me to keep the baby,” Shiver said.

When Davis asked Shiver whether she wanted to keep the baby, Shiver became visibly emotional.

“Yeah,” she said.

When asked how Moore responded to the news, Shiver said: “He said you have to do what’s right for your body.”

Davis also asked Shiver if she had loved Moore.

“Back then, I did, but obviously, looking back at things and really reflecting on what happened, what was happening, yeah, that’s not love at all.”

University’s response when Shiver reported the affair

On Dec. 10, 2025, Shiver reported the relationship to the university.

“They said, ‘You know we’re really sorry about everything you went through, and we’re here to protect you and help you through all of this,’” Shiver said.

After that conversation, Moore was fired. Shiver said former colleagues, including those in leadership positions, knew about their relationship and did nothing.

“He controlled everything that was going on in my life, and they didn’t do anything about it,” Shiver said.

Moore shows up at Shiver’s apartment

Less than an hour after being fired, Moore went to Shiver’s apartment. Shiver shared what happened from her perspective.

“All of a sudden, I hear footsteps, and they’re getting closer and louder, and I’m like crap, so I run to my door to try and lock it,” Shiver said. “He barges in, and he’s standing like this close to me, and he said, ‘You ruined my life. Why would you do this to me?’ And then I start backing up, and he starts following me.”

When Davis asked if she feared for her life, Shiver did not hesitate.

“Oh my gosh, yes,” Shiver said. “I mean, he’s 6′4, and he comes in with his hood up, looking down at me, saying, I ruined his life, crying. Then he starts coming at me, and I tell him to leave, and he’s not supposed to be here. He’s not listening to me. And then he starts grabbing, yes, butter knives.”

Moore’s sentence

Moore was sentenced to 18 months of probation after he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges as part of a plea deal.

The charges he was initially issued, third-degree home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering, were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Davis asked Shiver if she felt Moore should have gone to jail.

“Yes,” Shiver said. “I think he should’ve gotten more punishment for what he did.”

Why Shiver is speaking out

This lawsuit and the April interview mark the first times Shiver has spoken publicly about what happened.

She said she hopes sharing her story will help other women in similar situations.

“I just want other women that are going through this to know that this doesn’t need to happen, this doesn’t need to go this far,” Shiver said.

We reached out to the university, and they declined to comment.

FOIA lawsuit accuses University of Michigan of withholding Sherrone Moore investigation Records by brandon carr

The signal has been out of service for weeks with no replacement in sight, leaving pedestrians at risk every time they try to cross.

“When I walk my dog I have to stand there for a minute and just check the lights before we go out in the road because I don’t want to be on the hood of a car,” said Joel, a concerned resident who lives near the intersection.

Residents say the broken signal is a serious safety hazard — and they want it fixed fast.

“I’m surprised there hasn’t been an accident there yet,” Joel said.

Who’s responsible?

Local 4 went to Redford Township Hall to find out what’s being done. The township supervisor was unavailable, but his secretary said the crosswalk signal isn’t the township’s responsibility — pointing instead to Wayne County.

When Local 4 reached Wayne County, officials said crews are backed up due to recent storms but confirmed the location is on their work list.

“There’s no sign of anybody doing anything about it,” Joel said.

Local 4 also alerted the Redford Police Department about the issue. Police said they would look into it.

In the meantime, residents and pedestrians are urged to use extra caution when crossing at Beech Daly and Glendale.

That may be a TV exaggeration, but tornadoes and other dangerous storms do hit the city regularly. When they do, many people here turn to Nashville Severe Weather.

This group of dedicated volunteers can be found on social media, calmly explaining the storm movement, advising when to take cover and giving the “all clear.” The coverage by Will Minkoff, Andrew Leeper and Tom Johnstone draws tens of thousands of viewers who interact with them in real time. It’s a service that evokes the early promise of the internet, before the rise of the influencer.

This is happening at a time when many people no longer watch local news and weather reports. Yet Kevin Trowbridge, who teaches strategic communication at Belmont University in Nashville, says an informal survey of his students found many are tuning in to Nashville Severe Weather.

“The millennials and Gen Z — and teaching college students, I know this all too well — their source of information is that handheld device,” he says. “It’s not turning on a TV. And it’s not even looking at a traditional media outlet’s online presence. It’s finding sources that provide them quick information when they need it.”

They are ‘prepared, not scared’

The rise of Nashville Severe Weather is a modern case study in multiple areas — a shifting tornado alley, a changing climate, the prevalence of social media and the value of instantaneous, hyperlocal information that can save the day or save lives.

The initiative has evolved over more than a decade from its origins as a Twitter feed and blog. Today, volunteers livestream on their YouTube channel whenever Nashville or surrounding counties face severe weather. Because Leeper, Minkoff and Johnstone all live here, they are facing the same threats as their audience.

“There’s something about Nash Severe Weather that’s different from the hobbyist enthusiast,” Trowbridge says. “I think that’s why people are following them. That’s why they are trusting them. That’s why they’re tuning in and turning to them. ... It is authentic and real.”

Leeper, a church pastor, has a soothing voice and a sign on a shelf behind him that reads “prepared not scared.” He has had to leave the stream to wake up his family and hunker down in their safe space. He did so calmly, modeling the behavior of his motto. After the threat passed, he rejoined the stream.

Katherine Moffat, who works as the executive director of the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants, says local TV weather can be “a little over-the-top” when storms are threatening. Nashville Severe Weather, she says, is different.

“They’re a little more calm and telling it to you straight,” she says. “They don’t get people overly excited.”

Tornado Alley has shifted

The need for their service has never been greater. “Tornado Alley” has been shifting from the Midwest plains to states further east, says Johnstone, a meteorologist who joined the group last year after 33 years with the National Weather Service.

“The mid-South, especially down through Alabama, Mississippi, and into Tennessee and western Kentucky, has been where tornadoes have been most frequent ... and people have been dying in the highest numbers,” he says.

Michelle Stewart gets all her weather information via push notifications from Nashville Severe Weather on her phone. It's a service she found invaluable during an ice storm that left much of the city without power or internet service for days.

“They are very informative about, not just what to expect, but how to be prepared, and just giving everybody the lay of the land without it being too science-y. You know, it kind of feels like you’re talking to your neighbor,” says Stewart, a project manager at a healthcare research company. “They are so calming to me during those live events.”

Brett Withers, a former Nashville city councilman who saw two people die in his district during a 2020 tornado that killed 24 people in Tennessee, calls Nashville Severe Weather a “godsend.”

“We have so many people moving to Nashville, and they might move from places where tornadoes are rare, if they ever happen,” he says.

Low production value with a ‘volunteer heart’

The popularity of Nashville Severe Weather defies much of the received logic about how to build an audience on social media. There's nothing fancy or highly produced about their livestreams. They don't try to play up danger or excitement. They certainly don't try to chase down tornadoes or run around outside in hurricane-force winds.

Their streams are visually dominated by weather radar. Minkoff, Leeper and Johnstone, sometimes joined by other volunteers, each stream from their own homes and appear in little boxes at the bottom or side of the screen. Graphics, when they have them at all, look like they could have been drawn by a 5-year-old.

Take the beloved “Dry Air Monster,” a stick figure with an huge head and chomping Godzilla jaws.

Nashville Severe Weather co-founder David Drobny drew this to explain how dry air could “eat” snow that was headed toward Nashville. In a Southern town that usually sees snow on the ground only a few days each year, many people look forward to it as a mini-vacation. The monster's motto is “No Snow for You.”

Its hyperlocal focus stays grounded

Their hyperlocal focus allows Nashville Severe Weather to fill a niche left open by the local TV meteorologists who have to report on dozens of counties.

“One of the things that Nash Severe can do that even the TV stations have trouble doing is really bring it down to intersection level, school level, church level to let people know where the danger and the threat is,” Johnstone says.

Their coverage is a two-way street. Audience members provide photos and video showing on-the-ground conditions and comment in the chat. Nashville Severe Weather shares that information with the National Weather Service and TV meteorologists. They also try to answer people's questions as they stream.

Leeper remembers a day when schoolchildren were sent home because of a tornado threat. When one child commented in the chat about being home alone, his heart sank.

“We just stopped what we were saying on the stream, and I said, ‘Hey. It dawns on me that we’ve got a bunch of kiddos at home that are maybe by themselves. Hey. Here’s what you do’,” Leeper recalls. “I love those moments where we can just sort of put everything else aside to talk to the people who are listening, in whatever situation they’re in.”

It's moments like that that help them stay grounded.

In 2023, a tornado killed a mother and young child here who lived in a trailer. Leeper didn't know them, but he attended the visitation.

“It just creates a whole other emotion when you walk into a funeral visitation for hurting families when it’s a weather event that you covered,” he says. “It’s not all action and adventure. It really affects people’s lives forever.”

Defense attorneys have also used portions of the weeklong hearing to question the reliability of DNA testing that prosecutors say links the defendant to the suspected murder weapon.

Prosecutors are seeking to convince state District Judge Tony Graf that they have enough evidence to bring Tyler Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge. After the weeklong hearing concludes, Graf must determine if the case should proceed, which experts say is likely.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination on the Utah Valley University campus, for which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

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

Here's the latest:

Kirk family lawyer says video interview, other evidence should be public

A lawyer for Charlie Kirk’s family says they want video footage and other evidence to be made public in the criminal case against the man charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s shooting death.

Kirk family lawyer Jeffrey Neiman spoke Wednesday during a preliminary hearing for defendant Tyler Robinson. Neiman said that “to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system.”

A defense lawyer sought to prevent the publication in open court of an interview with defendant Tyler Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs. Robinson’s lawyer said prosecutors would attempt to portray Twiggs' statements as a confession by Robinson, hurting the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

This week’s hearing will determine if the case will proceed to trial.

Hearing ended for the day, set to resume Thursday

State District Judge Tony Graf ended the preliminary hearing Wednesday slightly ahead of the usual time of 5 p.m. It resumes Thursday morning.

Attorneys argue over whether Robinson’s texts should be shown in court

Defense attorney Richard Novak says allowing the video of Lance Twiggs’ interview to be shown publicly will violate Robinson’s right to a fair trial, in part because prosecutors will characterize the video as a “confession,” based on what Twiggs claims Robinson told him.

The same is true of text messages, discord chats or other communications that the prosecutors say Robinson made, Novak says.

The defense team does not characterize those as confessions, but as communications by an individual, according to Novak.

The judge has not yet said whether the video of Robinson’s roommate or other pieces of evidence will be published — or shown — in court.

____

Correction: This post has been updated to correct that Novak was referring to the roommate’s video and other communications allegedly made by Robinson.

Livestream makes it hard to see Tyler Robinson

The livestream of the courtroom hearing in the case of Charlie Kirk’s killing shows defendant Tyler Robinson from behind, making it hard to see his face unless he turns.

A decorum order issued by Judge Tony Graf requires a photographer and a videographer with the media pool to get images only when court is in session and Robinson is seated with his defense attorneys.

Cameras were at the front of the courtroom when the case began. But Graf moved them toward the back of the court following defense complaints that close-up shots could reveal what Robinson and his lawyers were saying.

Those close-ups led to a story in one outlet that was based on a purported lip-reading analysis of Robinson’s conversations with his attorneys.

Robinson’s attorneys pushed unsuccessfully to ban cameras altogether. They argue that coverage of the trial is biasing potential jurors.

Defense attorney says video of roommate’s interview not admissible

Defense attorney Robert Novak has taken issue with the prosecution’s characterization of his opposition to the videotaped interview with Tyler Robinson's roommate as a last-minute “surprise.”

“There’s no surprise here,” Novak said of the interview conducted with Lance Twiggs, Robinson's romantic partner. “There’s been all of Monday, all of Tuesday evening, this morning,” Novak said.

He added that the defense team created a 20-page transcript of the interview and a proposed redacted transcript of just the admissible portions it thought could be highlighted for the court.

Novak said Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride conducted the interview with Twiggs in a leading manner. He said such leading questions would never be allowed in a court setting.

Novak also said portions of the video weren’t relevant and that allowing the video to be seen by the public would damage Robinson’s right to a fair trial.

David Reymann, an attorney representing the news media, urged Graf to allow the video to be seen by the public if it is admitted, saying there are ways to ensure fair trials even with extensive media coverage.

The judge called a recess afterward to review the issues presented.

Agent says roommate was given ‘use immunity’ for statements

State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis said at Wednesday's preliminary hearing that Lance Twiggs was given “use immunity” for Twiggs’ statements, meaning a prosecutor has agreed not to use those statements against someone in a criminal case.

Twiggs’ April 20 interview was conducted and recorded in lieu of bringing the roommate to the preliminary hearing as a witness, Davis told the court.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Lauren Hunt said she expects the defense team to object to the introduction of the videotaped statements in court, explaining to the judge why she thought the evidence should be allowed.

Hunt also said the defense team proposed multiple redactions at the last minute. But she said redacting a video is complicated and that the defense team should have requested redactions sooner if it had wanted them.

Investigator describes interviews with Robinson’s roommate

Tyler Robinson’s roommate Lance Twiggs was interviewed twice as part of the investigation, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis said Wednesday.

Two FBI agents were on hand for the first interview on Sept. 12, Davis told the judge. The second interview with Twiggs — Robinson's romantic partner — was April 20, Davis said, and he was one of several law enforcement agents and prosecutors present.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Lauren Hunt appeared to be laying a foundation Wednesday seeking to get a recording of Twiggs’ statements introduced as evidence.

Agent describes the night Tyler Robinson turned himself in

State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis narrated a video clip from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, where Tyler Robinson turned himself in the day after Charlie Kirk's shooting.

Davis said at a preliminary court hearing Wednesday that the video clip shows Robinson standing in a room at the sheriff’s office. Robinson is wearing a T-shirt and a baseball cap.

Davis told Deputy Utah County Attorney Lauren Hunt that after Robinson and his parents were interviewed, Robinson was placed under arrest.

Davis said he interviewed Robinson’s mother, and that other law enforcement officers interviewed Robinson and Robinson’s father. A family friend who came in with the Robinsons also was interviewed, Davis said in testimony.

The clip was one of several presented over days of hearing testimony to decide if the case should proceed to a trial.

Judge asks attorneys for a ‘road map’ for rest of hearing

State District Judge Tony Graf reminded attorneys on both sides that the hearing is scheduled to end Friday. And he asked them to give the court a "road map" of their plans for the rest of the proceeding.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander said his office will call Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis to testify Wednesday. If time allows, he said, they may also bring Utah Department of Public Safety Sergeant Jennifer Faumuina back to the stand Wednesday afternoon.

Grunander says Faumuina’s testimony will likely extend into Thursday, and then the prosecution’s presentation will be concluded.

The defense team said it plans to call two remaining witnesses, both from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

DNA expert says it’s a reliable science

Forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use “extremely reliable” tests to determine the probability a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.

Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania, called DNA testing “the gold standard” of forensic science.

A lawyer for Tyler Robinson on Tuesday questioned the reliability of DNA tests authorities said have linked him to the suspected murder weapon – a rifle found wrapped in a towel after Charlie Kirk was shot.

There are ways to challenge DNA evidence, Quarino noted. He said a defense attorney, for instance, could claim DNA material was transferred to a location by an intermediary who shook the hand of a suspect. But he said government labs that analyze DNA have strict quality controls and their science is sound.

Kirk's parents arrive at courthouse, then Tyler Robinson's parents

Charlie Kirk’s parents arrived at the courthouse for the resumption of the preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Robert and Kathryn Kirk have attended every day of the preliminary hearing so far. Sometimes, however, they have left the courtroom to avoid hearing details about their son’s death.

A short while later, Tyler Robinson’s parents arrived at the courthouse. Matt and Amber Robinson have attended every day of the hearing so far, usually seated a row or two away from the Kirk family in the courtroom gallery.

A woman brings a sign in support of the Kirk family

Sydney Young came from Alpine, Utah, to the courthouse with a handmade sign decorated with hearts and the words, “Prayers 4 the Kirks.” She also held a silver star-shaped balloon.

Young, who’s been watching the preliminary hearing off and on via livestream, said she wanted to show support for Kirk’s widow, Erika.

“I recently just lost my father, right after Kirk. He died of a heart attack, and I know from personal experience how horrible it is,” she said, fighting back tears.

Young said her message to Erika Kirk is this: “Erika, I’m so sorry for your loss, and I hope you know this action doesn’t represent all of Utah.”

A law officer told Young signs weren’t allowed on courthouse property, so she moved across the street.

Robinson’s defense disputed the idea that he was hostile to Kirk’s politics

Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA.

“This doesn’t say anything about Mr. Robinson’s state of mind,” Novak said about Turning Point USA board member David Engelhardt's statement. “I don’t think that this court should be deciding — based on the record before it — where, if at all, politics and religion intersect.”

The judge ruled that the Turning Point statement was relevant and would be “provisionally admitted,” with a final decision at a later date.

Robinson’s roommate provided investigators with a DNA sample

FBI analyst Amanda Bakker said after Robinson’s roommate provided a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her tests and attribute all of the DNA to two people.

Investigators found the towel and suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.

DNA on the towel matched to two people, Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified. One was Robinson’s roommate, Lance Twiggs, and the other was very likely Robinson, she said.

Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions

It’s a theme that’s likely to come up again during the weeklong preliminary hearing.

“She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,” Burt concluded.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride countered that the reliability of the DNA testing could be examined if the case goes to trial. He suggested the preliminary hearing was not the time to take up the matter.

“The point is there are explanations that are susceptible to different interpretations and arguments,” McBride said. “The court is going to determine if it meets the threshold of reliability at trial.”

DNA evidence from Charlie Kirk's assassination disputed by defendant’s lawyers

Lawyers for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk are expected to keep questioning the reliability of DNA testing that prosecutors said links the defendant to the suspected murder weapon when a weeklong hearing continues Wednesday.

A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI on Tuesday about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to a rifle found wrapped inside a towel at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was shot in September while speaking to a crowd.

Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions — a theme that’s likely to come up again.

The NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons announced the return of its Youth All-Star Draft initiative for the 2026-27 season.

The program gives students in grades 1-8 an opportunity to earn exclusive basketball experiences through a series of skills competitions and camps.

How the program works

At the center of the initiative is the Motor City Skills Challenge, presented by the Michigan Beef Industry Commission.

Students can earn consideration for the 2026 Motor City Cruise Youth All-Star Draft by participating in the organization’s second annual Mini-Cruisers Pistons Academy Camp, select Pistons Academy camps and community events featuring the Skills Challenge.

Pistons Academy coaches will evaluate participants on basketball fundamentals, effort, teamwork, sportsmanship, and overall engagement.

The Skills Challenge itself includes basketball drills, skill competitions, interactive instruction, and player development activities.

Students selected through the draft will be placed on youth teams and invited to participate in Motor City Cruise Youth All-Star Draft events throughout the 2026-27 season.

Registration details and information about the draft and team selection process will be shared with eligible participants in August.

Mini-Cruisers Camp returns in July

The second annual Mini-Cruisers Camp is set for July 15-17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit.

The three-day camp will feature basketball instruction led by Pistons Academy coaches, Motor City Cruise staff, and the team’s mascot, Nitro.

The camp is open only to registered participants.

Additional Pistons Academy camps featuring the 45-minute Motor City Skills Challenge will be held throughout the summer, with stops in Southfield, Sterling Heights, Brighton, Canton and Northville.

Community events round out summer schedule

The Skills Challenge will also be featured at two community events this summer.

The NW Goldberg Cares HOOPFEST on July 18 in Detroit and the Detroit Youth Sports Showcase on Aug. 15 at Robert C. Valade Park will both offer students a chance to compete and potentially earn a spot in the draft.

The Motor City Cruise said the initiative is designed to encourage youth development both on and off the court and to create memorable experiences for young athletes and their families.

Additional summer camps

Upcoming Pistons Academy camps include:

• Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield on July 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
• An all-girls summer camp at The Compound Athletics in Sterling Heights on July 28 from 9 a.m. to noon ET.
• Legacy Center Sports Complex in Brighton on Aug. 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
• High Velocity Sports in Canton on Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
• Hillside Middle School in Northville on Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Celina’s Bar & Grill in Madison Heights
• Detroit Wing Company
• The Oxford Tap
• Sweetwater Tavern
• Union Woodshop in Clarkston

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

After crews worked through the night to stabilize a section of the building where beams had buckled and floors had sagged, Mayor Zohran Mamdani sought to reassure wary New Yorkers, saying no more movement had been detected in the massive office-to-apartment conversion project at Pfizer’s former headquarters near Grand Central Terminal.

But several other nearby buildings remained off-limits, and the city will conduct a broader inquiry into what went wrong and what can be done to prevent a more devastating development such as a collapse, the mayor vowed.

“As soon as we answer the emergency questions around safety in this moment, we are going to be conducting a full investigation as to how we got to this point,” Mamdani said. “Because this is not a necessary consequence of an office to residential conversion. This, however, is clearly a breakdown in that process.”

Buckled columns and sagging floors triggered collapse concerns

Authorities responding to emergency calls at the building discovered two mangled support columns on the 21st floor as well as multiple cracks and slumping floors early Tuesday, triggering mass evacuations and street closures in a bustling area not far from the Grand Central transit hub and the Chrysler Building.

In the initial hours, officials believed the steel-framed building, which was empty other than the workers, wasn’t at risk of a total collapse, but “more of a localized collapse,” as Fire Chief John Esposito described it.

On-site contractors were eventually allowed to reenter the building late Tuesday to do emergency repairs after city officials conducted a floor-by-floor inspection.

The renovation project is billed as the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history, creating some 1,600 units of housing by adding more than a dozen stories atop one tower in the complex and redesigning the other. Plans also call for adding roughly 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters) of amenities, including a rooftop pool, a fitness center, ground floor retail and offices.

Pfizer, which was originally founded in Brooklyn in 1849, established its headquarters in the building in 1961. A massive mosaic of metal and tile honoring ancient and modern figures in medicine was displayed prominently in the high glass-windowed lobby. The pharmaceutical giant moved out in 2023 after opening a new office near Penn Station, leaving the property vacant.

Spokespersons for MetroLoft, the project developer, didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday but have previously voiced optimism that the project could resume quickly as they’ve stressed that the building is not at risk of collapse.

Nathan Berman, the firm’s founder, acknowledged in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, though, that the added weight from widening the top 15 or so floors of the building likely caused the damage.

Residents and hotel guests return as evacuation orders are lifted

Sally Grant and Margaret Clark were among those Wednesday waiting to be let back into the Hampton Inn near the damaged building.

They had traveled from Scotland to see Bon Jovi perform at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday but were evacuated and told to leave their belongings, including their credit cards, passports and medication.

“They could have given us five minutes to grab our belongings, you know, instead of just saying, ‘Everybody out, everybody out,’” Clark said. “We’ve been left with nothing. We slept in the streets last night. The police wouldn’t help us. It’s been awful. Absolutely it’s ruined our holiday.”

There were signs of things returning to normal Wednesday on the streets surrounding the construction site, with people walking dogs, pushing strollers and riding bikes.

Some streets remained closed for much of the day while gawkers paused to take photos of the now-infamous high-rise. Unionized construction workers staged a protest — complete with a large inflatable rat — slamming the building's developers for using non-union labor.

Elinor Ruskin, 94, was among those redirected by police after trying to get through a closed block in the morning. She took it in stride.

“These things happen. I don’t know if they will catch the mistake or what they will do,” she said. “Anyway, you know, this is New York City.”

More thorough inquiry to come as repairs are ongoing

Temporary shoring and beams were installed throughout the 37-story building as crews made their way to the top.

Photos shared on social media by the city's Department of Buildings showed multiple steel rods inserted side-by-side next to one badly bent column.

The department said the emergency work is being supervised by the owner’s engineer and an independent, third-party engineering firm hired by the owner.

Once the emergency repairs are complete, Mamdani said city building officials will conduct a “rigorous assessment” to ensure the plans and the site are fully compliant with all codes before any non-emergency work proceeds.

New York, along with other major cities, has for years been pursuing ambitious overhauls to transform underused office space into residential buildings, in part to help struggling business districts and take strain off tight housing markets in need of more apartments.

Mamdani, a Democrat, told reporters Wednesday that he considers the conversions “part of our answer to the housing crisis,” but he added that the projects must be done “safely and in a way that is fully accountable.”

Real estate expert thinks project will still find tenants

Joshua Harris, director of Fordham University’s Real Estate Institute, said it remains to be seen whether the building's problems were caused by faulty engineering, a failure to follow design plans or even hidden flaws in the original building's construction. It also remains to be seen whether the developers have the financing to absorb the cost of the delays and added expenses to make the needed fixes, he said.

What is almost certain, Harris said, is that the hulking tower, if completed, would still find willing tenants, given its prime location and the nearly unquenchable demand for housing in New York City.

“There’s no real stigmatization from a death or something that was like tragic,” he said. “It’s probably going to be one of the safest buildings out there when it’s done. You’re not going to cut any corners at this point. There's too much attention on it."

Walking near the high-rise Wednesday, Sabrina DeRizzio wondered why developers keep trying to turn outdated office towers into modern housing, as she lives in one herself.

“It’s not the best,” she said of her building, adding that it’s impossible to hang anything on the concrete walls and the unit never feels properly insulated. “The infrastructure is just not the same.”

___

This story was updated to correct the name of Grand Central Terminal.

___

Associated Press video journalist Ted Shaffrey in New York contributed to this story.

The strikes come a day after the U.S. military hit a variety of military sites and port facilities following Iran’s targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman. Iranian state media reported explosions including in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the strait and in Sirik, another southern coastal city.

Earlier at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump renewed past threats to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure including electric plants and desalination plants and to seize the oil-production hub of Kharg Island.

The U.S. will also, Trump announced, lift sanctions on Turkey that have barred its access to F-35 jets and lift Syria’s terrorism designation.

Here is the latest:

Trump says this won’t be his last trip to a NATO summit

Amid speculation he only attended this week’s gathering as a favor to his ally Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president was asked if this was his last time at a NATO summit.

“No,” he responded, before adding that NATO had made a lot of concessions.

“The meeting today settled a lot of things,” Trump said.

The president also praised Spain after long criticizing that country for not committing to spend 5% of its gross domestic product on its military to be consistent with other NATO members.

Trump said Spain “came back all the way today. Spain was very generous.” He said the country “honored a request of lots of payment,” but without giving further details.

Trump suggests decision on US troop levels in Europe depends on Greenland

“I haven’t made that final determination,” the president said when asked about oscillating on how many troops the U.S. plans to keep in Europe.

“A lot’s gonna depend on Greenland,” Trump added, and on making what he called “a very good deal on Greenland.” He didn’t elaborate.

The Pentagon is still waiting for clarity after Trump recently suggested that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland — weeks after ordering the same number pulled from Europe following a dispute with German officials over the Iran war.

Trump has long caused consternation among U.S. allies by suggesting that Washington should control Greenland, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark.

Trump did not suggest before or during the NATO summit that wrapped up Wednesday that Greenland might help determine troop levels in Europe.

Trump says security concerns involving Iran weren’t a factor in flying 2 planes home

Asked if he was aware of any credible threats by Iran against Air Force One, the president brushed off the question.

“I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list,” he said, repeating earlier comments that he’s one of Iran’s top assassination targets. He said the newer plane was sent ahead to a military base in the United Kingdom so service members there could see it.

Reporters traveling with Trump told him they were asked to keep their window blinds closed during the flight from Turkey to the U.K. aboard the older Air Force One.

Trump replied that it was probably due to the “sleazebags over here” in an apparent reference to Iran, which borders Turkey. He said he was not asked to close the blinds in his compartment.

Trump spoke to reporters aboard the Qatari-gifted Air Force One after it left the U.K. for the United States.

Oil prices rise, and stocks drop worldwide after Trump says ceasefire with Iran is ‘over’

Trading was shaky worldwide after The president raised doubts about the truce.

The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.1% after Trump said the ceasefire was “over,” but the index then trimmed its loss to 0.3% after he said recent fighting did not mean a return to full-scale war. They’re his latest mixed messages on what will happen with the war, which threatens to worsen inflation for the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 576 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% after erasing an early loss.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 5.2% to $78.02 and briefly topped $80.

That’s still below its peak from earlier in the war, when the price for the most actively traded contract reached nearly $120. But the jump is unsettling because oil prices had just dropped back to prewar levels.

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New attacks raise questions about what comes next in the Iran war

Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he’s not sure he wants a deal anymore and the U.S. should “finish the job.” But he also insists that continued attacks do not mean a return to war or long-term action.

The confusion and uncertainty in his mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries.

The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

Whether it is a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions — which could spell problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections if gas prices stay high.

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Trump shares images of apparent explosions in Iran

After landing at a military base in the U.K. following the NATO summit in Turkey, the president posted several videos on his social media site showing what he said were explosions in Iran.

He also issued another warning to Tehran: “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!”

More reports of explosions in Iran

Iranian state media reported that explosions also were heard in Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex.

A day earlier state television said eight members of the army’s air and naval forces were killed in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr.

Explosions heard in southern Iran

Iranian state media are reporting explosions, including in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, and in Sirik, another southern coastal city.

US says it’s carrying out more strikes against Iran

The U.S. military has announced that they have launched another round of strikes against Iran “to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz” in a post on social media.

The strikes come just a day after the U.S. military hit a variety of military sites and port facilities following Iran’s targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman and just hours after Trump threatened to unleash more military action.

The social media post said that “the United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

Trump told reporters at a NATO meeting on Wednesday that the U.S. would “probably hit them hard again tonight” but later added that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in “long-term” military action.

“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said, though he also suggested the U.S. military might “just finish the job.”

US lawmakers meet with Zelenskyy

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is encouraging Trump to follow through on additional security assistance for Ukraine and the tightening of sanctions on Russia.

The lawmakers issued a joint statement after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit.

The group said that some 35,000 Russian soldiers are being killed or wounded each month for no territorial gain and the Russian economy is slowing.

“It is abundantly clear that Russia is not winning this war,” the lawmakers said.

The U.S. lawmakers say Russian President Vladimir Putin is negotiating for time, not peace.

“Putin is at his weakest position in years and real sustained pressure can finally bring this war to a close,” the lawmakers said in their joint statement.

Three Democratic and three Republican lawmakers issued the joint statement.

Trump administration informs Congress of plans to rescind Syria’s terrorism designation

In a statement Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump has told lawmakers that the U.S. will soon remove Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism as part of a yearlong normalization process with the country’s new government.

“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” Rubio said. “A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world.”

In June 2025, Trump signed an executive order ending several economic sanctions before revoking the terrorism designation a few weeks later for President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who took over after the ouster of former leader Bashar Assad in December 2024.

Trump and Erdogan discussed naval defense cooperation

Trump and Erdogan have discussed possible cooperation in the defense industry, the Turkish president said, pointing specifically to the shipbuilding sector.

Erdogan said the two talked about projects including building frigates and submarines, adding that the vessels could be built in Turkish shipyards.

Starmer says Erdogan gave NATO leaders guns as gifts

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave NATO leaders pistols as gifts at their summit in Ankara.

Starmer told reporters that each weapon was engraved with the recipient’s name and came with a box of ammunition.

The guns came with a note from Erdogan waiving export controls. But the British prime minister left his in Turkey to be decommissioned, because it would be illegal to import it into the U.K.

Erdogan says Trump is ‘positive’ on F-35s

Erdogan insisted that Trump has a “positive approach” toward the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey.

In his news conference at the end of the two-day summit, the Turkish leader said: “Hopefully, when the F-35s are delivered to Turkey, the whole world will say America kept its promise.”

Erdogan rebuffs Israeli and Greek objections to sale of F-35s

Erdogan dismissed objections from Israel and Greece concerning the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

Speaking at a closing news conference at the end of the two‑day summit he hosted, the Turkish president said opposition raised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis “have no place in my world.”

Trump had announced during a meeting with Erdogan on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased Russian missile defense systems in 2019. The move led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program.

On Wednesday, however, Trump suggested he hadn’t made up his mind concerning the F-35s.

Erdogan, meanwhile, also renewed Turkey’s long-standing offer to mediate between Ukraine and Russia for an end to the war.

Top UN official warns return to full-scale US-Iran war would have ‘catastrophic consequences’

The secretary-general is alarmed by the renewed military confrontations in the gulf,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for António Guterres, told reporters Wednesday. “These incidents risk derailing the diplomatic progress achieved between Iran and the United States.”

He reiterated “the obligation of all parties to fully comply with international law, including the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure,” shortly after Trump repeated his previous threats to target Iran’s electric and desalination plants.

Judge orders E. Jean Carroll be paid $5M after jury found Trump sexually abused and defamed her

E. Jean Carroll can be paid the $5 million that was set aside after a jury found three years ago that President Donald Trump sexually abused her in 1996 before he became president and defamed her after she publicly revealed the attack, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order that says the money can be paid to Carroll, along with interest that has grown since the verdict.

Carroll’s lawyers had requested the disbursement after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the 2023 civil verdict.

Trump had resumed defamatory attacks against Carroll as his lawyers considered asking the high court to reconsider its decision.

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Iran strikes conducted with jets, but a large Navy fleet is off the waters of Iran

The retaliatory strikes against Iran were conducted by Air Force and Navy fighter jets in the region and lasted about four hours, a U.S. official confirmed Wednesday.

The strikes Tuesday evening hit around eight times more targets than the previous round of retaliatory strikes that were conducted at the end of June — an escalation that was prompted by Iran’s ongoing strikes on merchant shipping in the region.

The official also noted that the Navy’s massive flotilla of warships was not involved in last night’s strikes. The force of 19 ships stationed around the waters of Iran is massive. It includes two aircraft carriers — the USS Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush — as well as an amphibious assault ship carrying over 1,000 Marines, 14 destroyers, a cruiser, and an expeditionary sea base vessel.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing sensitive military operation.

— Konstantin Toropin

Trump gives confusing answer on why he’s changing planes on the way home

Trump flew to Turkey on his new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar.

But he announced in a social media post earlier Wednesday that the plane he had proudly shown off would instead visit Mildenhall Air Force Base in the United Kingdom so military members could “tour the Aircraft.”

Trump said he would be flying home in an older plane used as Air Force One “for old time’s sake.”

When asked Wednesday if security concerns played a role in the switch, Trump didn’t directly answer but said he was “No. 1 on the list for killing” by Iran.

The U.S. Air Force referred inquiries to the White House.

Images of the jet captured since its unveiling show it is not equipped with some of the same missile-detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.

Trump promises quick resolution in Iran even as he says ceasefire is over

“I don’t think it’s going to start again; I think it’s going to go very quickly,” Trump said when asked whether the war was restarting.

He repeated an earlier threat, saying the U.S. “might” strike Iran again tonight, but he insisted it wouldn’t lengthen the war significantly.

“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” he said. “We’re not looking for long-term.”

Trump says there is an ‘oil glut right now’

The president played down the risks that an intensifying war with Iran could drive up oil prices, claiming that the world has an “oil glut.”

“This will end very quickly,” Trump said. “We have an oil glut right now, because we got all those boats out of the strait, and it’s going to drop, and I predicted everything.”

Trump spoke as U.S. oil futures topped $75 a barrel in Wednesday afternoon trading, a daily increase of more than 6%.

The International Energy Agency said this week that oil supplies could exceed demand if there is a durable ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran that keeps the Strait of Hormuz open. It said any surplus would be driven by a 1.1 million-barrel-a-day drop in global oil demand this year.

Trump says of Iran that US military might ‘just finish the job’

“We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal,” the president said. “Just finish the job.”

Trump has said that the tentative ceasefire with Iran may now be off and is threatening a new round of attacks.

His comments about finishing the job came in response to a question about Trump having previously said that Iran’s leaders were rational and acceptable to deal with, only to now suggest they are “crazy.”

The president said he had a change of heart over Iranian leaders because “I got to know them.” He also suggested that leaders who have emerged in Iran after the war began are no longer looking out for the Iranian people.

Trump describes Iran as weakened but alludes to ongoing security concerns

Trump said that all of Iran’s anti-aircraft weapons are “gone” but suggested Tehran still can down aircraft, adding immediately: “That doesn’t mean they’re not going to get a plane at some point.”

He then said, “Everything’s gone,” and remarked on how many of Iran’s leaders were taken out.

“You know what? I may be gone too, because I’m their No. 1 target,” Trump said.

Even before the Iran war, federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump for years. The Justice Department in 2024 announced that an Iranian plot to kill Trump before the presidential election had been thwarted.

Trump exaggerates his TikTok popularity

Trump claimed that he’s “No. 1 on TikTok.” He did not specify which metric he used to make that determination, but it’s not true based on follower counts.

As of Wednesday, the Senegalese-Italian influencer Khabane Lame, known for his silent comedy videos, was the most followed user on the platform with 162.3 million followers.

Trump has 16.7 million followers — that doesn’t even put him in the top 50.

Trump suggests that communist candidates are ugly

During his news conference, Trump said that “all I do is talk about communism” on TikTok and in recent public comments.

The president has spent weeks criticizing progressive Democratic primary winners as communists. But he added a new insult this time, implying that none of those candidates are attractive.

“I don’t see any looker,” Trump said. “I don’t see anyone with the look.”

By way of elaboration, he added, “I guess you need something. They don’t have it and I think they’ll fade fast.”

In reference to more moderate politicians in Europe, Trump said, “These are not social democrats” but instead, “These are communists that are running and they don’t want God.”

Trump says there was a lot of ‘love’ in the NATO working session

The president said “there was tremendous love in that room” that the press didn’t get to witness, including what he said was respect and love for the country.

He told reporters that he didn’t want to say it was for him “because you’ll say, ‘Oh, he’s so conceited. He’s such a conceited person.’”

But he then said that the other leaders like the job he’s doing and “grown people” in the room said, “Sir, we love you.”

Trump then mused on whether what he heard was just flattery, saying: “Maybe they’re trying to get to me. And in a way they did.”

Trump has high praise for summit and its ‘tremendous unity’

Despite repeated criticism that NATO has done too little to help the United States, Trump was effusive about the warmth he felt as leaders met on Wednesday.

Trump said there was “tremendous love in that room” along with “tremendous unity.”

He described his allies as “very smart people — they have a lot of good in their heart, not evil, good.”

It was a remarkable turn after Trump had renewed his criticisms against European allies.

Trump begins his NATO remarks

The president has arrived to give remarks on stage, capping his appearance at the two-day summit. It comes about three hours after his address was initially scheduled.

Merz defends US strikes on Iran

The German chancellor said it was clearly Iran that violated the ceasefire agreement. He said the U.S. military had struck back on Trump’s orders and “that is justified.”

But he added that “in the end, there must be an agreement with Iran that ends the nuclear program permanently and reopens the Strait of Hormuz permanently.”

Trump appears to have cooled on the idea of getting Syria to fight Hezbollah

Sitting across from al-Sharaa, Trump gave a cautious response when asked about his earlier suggestion that Syria should lead the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“They could help, we’ll find out,” Trump said. “I think we’re making a lot of progress.”

Al-Sharaa wasn’t asked about it at their one-on-one meeting.

Trump raised the idea at the G7 summit last month, saying he thought Syria would do a better job than Israel. Days later, he again criticized Israel’s handling of the situation and said he was “close to giving it to Syria.”

Al-Sharaa has previously said he has no interest in taking on that role.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa thanks Trump for lifting sanctions

Al-Sharaa thanked Trump for “the historic decision to lift the sanctions,” saying “the entire Syrian people thank President Trump.”

Trump met al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2025 months after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Since then, his administration has steadily eased U.S. sanctions on Syria.

Ahead of meeting Trump Wednesday, al-Sharaa met with a U.S. congressional delegation that was also in Ankara for the NATO summit, according to Syrian state media.

German leader says the summit contributed to keeping NATO together

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his expectations of the summit were more than fulfilled.

He said he’s “returning to Germany with the feeling that we made a big contribution to NATO staying together, to it becoming stronger, to it becoming more European.”

Merz said there was “a new feeling of European responsibility in the room.”

Trump says oil prices rise when the US attacks Iran

The U.S. president said oil prices were rising Wednesday after military attacks intensified with Iran in a troubling sign for peace talks.

“Any time we hit them, it goes up a little bit — $2,” Trump told reporters. “As oil goes, so goes everything else.”

The president has taken conflicting stances on the energy price bump caused by the Iran war, saying it wasn’t a consideration for ending the war and then touting price declines after an interim deal was announced in June.

But Trump’s math was somewhat off. U.S. oil futures were trading Wednesday morning at roughly $75 a barrel, an increase of about $5.

Update: Minor in custody after 5-year-old boy shot by stray bullet on Detroit’s west side

The shooting happened at Fargo-Oakfield Park around 9 p.m.

The little boy was riding his bike while his father walked with him when they heard shots ring out.

One of them came down and hit the little boy in the arm.

“That’s a traumatic thing for a 5-year-old to go through,” LaRon Kinney said. Kinney, 55, grew up in the neighborhood near 8 Mile and the Southfield Freeway and still comes out to tend to his mother.

“All he’s trying to do is enjoy the summer,” Kinney said. “This is what we have when we don’t have adult supervision around the children”

Detroit police Chief Todd Bettison said that they have a person of interest in the shooting of a teenager who may have been firing off random shots in the air.

“From what I’m being told, it doesn’t appear that he was being shot at the child at all,” Bettison said on Tuesday night. “When you fire a weapon, what goes up must come down.”

Local 4 spoke with the boy’s father on Wednesday afternoon. He says his son is back home and physically recovering from the injury to his arm, but is “traumatized” by the incident and also wonders what else he could’ve done.

“Every day,” Marla Hewin, a neighbor who lives across the street from the park, said on Wednesday. “There’s something going on on Lindsay Street every day.”

Hewin has lived on the corner right across from the park for the last two years after moving there from Mack and Warren on the city’s East Side.

One of the bullets hit the side of her house, just missing her living room window.

Hewin said that she knows the little boy’s family and noted that his father is one of the few on the block who diligently watches his children when they’re outside.

“He’s never outside by himself,” Hewin said. “I feel really bad for him because he does watch his son.”

Hewin says that the issues with teens causing trouble in the neighborhood, which echo concerns about “teen takeovers” in other parts of the city, need to be addressed with increased police patrols and better parental supervision to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

“We as older people can’t even go to the park and walk around because the teens have taken over,” Hewin said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP or the Detroit Police Department’s 8th Precinct.

The letter released Wednesday from Beshear, a Democrat who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, to the former Senate Republican leader says, “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office.”

McConnell, whose physical condition has visibly declined in recent years, was hospitalized June 14. He has not released a public statement, photos or videos since. Aides have disclosed nothing specific about his condition, other than to say last week that McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

That lack of detail has fueled rampant speculation about his prognosis and whether he will return to the Senate when it reconvenes next week. The firestorm was enough that Republican Senate leaders, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, on Tuesday made public statements saying they had talked to McConnell and he was alert and discussing current events.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday evening, as he returned home following the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump was asked about McConnell but said the pair had not spoken.

“I have no idea how he’s doing," Trump said.

McConnell is retiring at the end of his term in January, and the campaign to elect his successor already is underway. Kentucky’s Senate succession law, which Republican legislators have twice changed during Beshear’s tenure, does not give the governor a role in picking a temporary successor should McConnell’s seat become vacant before his term ends.

Under the latest change in 2024, Beshear would call a special election if the seat became vacant. The winner of that election could take office after the result is certified. The general election winner would be sworn in as part of the new Congress in January. But there are unresolved questions about the timing of a special election under the untested law and the possibility the seat could remain vacant until January.

Beshear ended the letter by wishing McConnell “a safe and speedy recovery.”

A look at what an absence from the Senate or a vacancy could mean.

What happens if McConnell isn't able to return?

There is not much, if anything, that Beshear, Kentucky lawmakers or the Senate could do if McConnell remains in office but is unable to perform his duties between now and when the current Congress expires in January.

Senate rules do not allow proxy voting. But there have been extended Senate absences before, and the chamber has continued its business with however many senators are in attendance. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 advantage. Without McConnell, that means a maximum of 52 Republican votes are available.

McConnell had been among the senators blocking war powers resolutions that seek to limit President Donald Trump's military options in Iran. Without him, the administration has less of a buffer. On the other hand, McConnell already had been among the Republicans refusing to support Trump's sweeping elections law overhaul.

Why wouldn't Beshear have a say in filling any vacancy?

The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution calls for Senate vacancies to be filled by popular elections. But it allows state legislatures to empower governors to appoint an interim senator to serve through those campaigns. Most states have taken this option, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Kentucky law allowed interim appointments until 2021, when McConnell and other state GOP leaders persuaded the Republican-run Legislature to make a change. They did not want Beshear to shift the partisan balance in Washington if he got the opportunity. They called for a committee of the previous senator's state party to select three people from whom the governor could choose an interim senator. In this case, that would mean Beshear picking which Republican would fill a vacancy. Several states have this system.

Kentucky lawmakers changed the law again in 2024 to require a special election. The only role for the governor is to call that election.

Beshear vetoed the 2021 and 2024 changes but Republican lawmakers overrode him.

How would a special election work?

The 2024 law says Beshear “shall” issue a proclamation for a special vote but it does not say when he should make that proclamation or what the election date must be. Separate laws require certain minimum windows between a proclamation and the election date, but not necessarily a maximum window.

Some officials have argued that any vacancy after Aug. 3 would mean a special election concurrent with the general. They have even speculated that at some point, it would be impractical to have a special election at all given the regular election already taking place.

The Kentucky secretary of state’s office declined to speculate on a hypothetical time frame.

If a special election was needed, the simplest option would be to hold it at the same time as the regular general election.

For the full Senate term that begins in 2027, Republicans nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and Democrats nominated former state lawmaker Charles Booker. Concurrent elections would be separate, requiring new nominations by the parties, though they could choose Barr and Booker. Regardless, in this scenario voters would be electing the immediate replacement and the full-term lawmaker on the same Election Day.

Multiple vacant House seats have been filled that way with little national attention.

Could there be a legal fight?

Yes. The 2024 law has never been tested. If a vacancy occurred, there could be different interests between parties and even among Republicans about special election timing and whether to hold one at all. That could create any number of legal questions and disputes that have to be settled by the courts.

Beshear's office did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how he interprets the law.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that it depends on what the governor might do to determine whether there might be a special election if there was a Senate vacancy after Aug. 3 and whether the seat might remain vacant until January.

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from several states secured a right-to-repair settlement Wednesday with agriculture equipment giant Deere & Co. — commonly known as John Deere — that requires the company to let farmers and independent shops fix their own equipment.

The Illinois-based manufacturer has faced complaints for years for withholding the software needed for repairs and forcing customers to use authorized dealers instead of independent ones.

This marks the second right-to-repair settlement Deere has reached this year, following a separate $99 million class-action settlement with farmers in April. Though the class-action compensated consumers, the FTC's settlement instead requires Deere to make its repair services available to equipment owners and independent shops.

The FTC and attorneys general from Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin brought the antitrust lawsuit in January 2025, arguing that Deere had illegally restricted farmers and independent shops that might otherwise service them from repairing farm equipment such as tractors. Deere also makes engines and equipment for forestry, landscaping and construction.

Under the order filed in Illinois, Deere will now be required to make diagnostic and repair tools available to equipment owners and independent repair shops, not only its own network of authorized dealers. It also prevents Deere dealers from retaliating against equipment owners or repair shops who choose to fix their own equipment instead of paying for Deere's services. The order is headed to Judge Iain D. Johnston for his approval.

“For too long, Arizona farmers and independent mechanics have been at the mercy of Deere’s monopoly over repair tools, forced to wait — and pay — for authorized dealers just to fix broken tractors and other equipment,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement Wednesday.

Deere must pay $1 million collectively to the five states for antitrust enforcement costs and will be subject to strict compliance oversight for the next 10 years.

In the complaint, the FTC argued that Deere provides a service software tool to authorized dealers but does not provide the full version to equipment owners or independent shops. Deere had said the lawsuit was baseless, denied that its distribution of service tools was anticompetitive and argued that it could not monopolize services since it does not directly provide them.

Deere maintained its commitment to independent repair in a statement Wednesday, adding that the agreement with the FTC reinforces its innovation of more flexible repair options.

“This is good news for our customers and for the future of how Deere equipment is supported,” said Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support.

Right-to-repair has become an increasingly common issue over the years, especially for tech products, with consumers complaining that even simple repairs can only be done by company-authorized dealers.

Fery grew up five minutes from the All England Club and now the 114th-ranked player is a semifinalist at the grass-court Grand Slam.

The 23-year-old British player, who needed a wild-card invitation to enter the tournament, beat ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 on Centre Court in front of roaring home fans and a Royal Box contingent that included Britain’s Queen Camilla on Wednesday.

His run has been dubbed a “Ferytale” and has included a viewing by Kate, the Princess of Wales, earlier in the tournament.

“It gets better and better every match,” Fery said in an on-court interview. “I just can’t believe it.”

The only other wild card to have reached the men’s singles semifinals at the All England Club was Goran Ivanisevic in his run to the Wimbledon title in 2001.

Fery earned a standing ovation after winning the first set. The deafening roar that followed Fery taking the tiebreaker to seal the second set was heard over at Wimbledon’s other main stadium — No. 1 Court, where Alexander Zverev was in the process of beating Taylor Fritz in straight sets.

Fery sealed his memorable victory with an ace and fell onto his back to soak in the applause.

“That last game, I felt emotions that I hadn’t experienced before in my life,” he said.

A short time later, Zverev wrapped up his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win to set up a semifinal against Fery on Friday.

Moments before the start of their quarterfinal match, Fery and Cobolli were surprised to meet Camilla in the hallway moments before they walked onto court.

“She came to say hello, she introduced herself to both me and Flavio,” Fery said. “It’s obviously an honor to play in front of her. Great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end, as well. Playing in front of tennis legends and now the queen, so it’s special.”

Roger Federer had been on hand Monday when Fery ousted Grigor Dimitrov in five sets in a fourth-round match that was also on Centre Court.

A champagne cork popped in the crowd late in the first set and distracted Cobolli during his service motion. The locals will surely pop a few more with a British player to support in Friday’s semifinal.

The 24-year-old Cobolli, who lost the French Open final to Zverev, made 41 unforced errors to Fery's 15 and only broke the British player once — to start the second set, but Fery broke back in the fourth game.

“I felt like I didn’t express even 50% of my tennis. But obviously that had a lot to do with him. He was better than me,” said Cobolli, who also lost to Fery in the first round at this year's Australian Open.

Friday’s other semifinal pits seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic against defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Royal encore for Fery

Camilla wasn't the only royal rooting for Fery on Wednesday. Princess Kate congratulated him in a social media post that noted his “fantastic achievement that has inspired so many.”

The French-born Fery, who said he feels “very British,” also exchanged pleasantries with Camilla after his big victory.

“She was waiting for me at the end of the match. She congratulated me. I told her how much of an honor it was for me to play in front of her,” said Fery, who turns 24 on the day of the men's final. “She just said, ‘Congratulations, keep going.’ I told her it was my birthday on Sunday, so it would be great to play the Wimbledon final on my birthday.”

Zverev ready for Fery crowd

The second-seeded Zverev, who dispatched Fritz in just under two hours, recalled being impressed by Fery's win over Cobolli in Melbourne.

“I watched that match. I was very impressed back then already. He has a very clean technique and very clean groundstrokes,” said the 29-year-old German, who is also into his first Wimbledon semifinal.

“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” he said of Friday's match. “Of course, I know that 99% of the people will be cheering for him. But I also enjoy those kind of atmospheres. I enjoy when the energy is very high.”

Kostyuk to meet Noskova in semifinals

Earlier Wednesday, Marta Kostyuk beat Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinals.

The 24-year-old Ukrainian also reached the last four at the French Open, losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the eventual champion in Paris.

Kostyuk raised her hands and dropped to her knees after Paolini scuffed a shot on her second match point. After shaking hands with the Italian, Kostyuk did a pirouette on court.

Kostyuk will be back on Centre Court on Thursday to face Linda Noskova for a spot in Saturday’s final. Noskova beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court.

It’s the first career Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Noskova, who improved to 10-1 on grass this season.

The other women’s semifinal features Coco Gauff against Karolina Muchova, who like Noskova is from the Czech Republic. They’re up first on Centre Court on Thursday.

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

The three-time Cy Young Award winner, two-time World Series champion and 2011 AL MVP will retire after this season with the Detroit Tigers.

Verlander made the announcement on Wednesday, shortly after he was added as a Legend Pick to the American League All-Star roster.

“While I'm fully committed to giving my team everything I have for the rest of this season, I've decided this will be my last,” Verlander shared on social media. “It's fitting that I get to finish where it all started — with the Detroit Tigers, the organization that drafted me and gave me my first opportunity.”

Oldest player in the majors

The 43-year-old Verlander is the oldest player in Major League Baseball. He signed a $13 million, one-year contract to rejoin the Tigers in February.

Verlander allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings during a 9-6 road loss at Arizona on March 30.

That was his only start this year.

“It’s time for the next chapter,” Verlander said. “But first, I’m excited to finish this season the only way I know how — with everything I’ve got.”

Verlander has dealt with injuries this season

Verlander went on the injured list with hip inflammation early in the season and when the right-hander was nearing a return last month, he pulled a hamstring during a bullpen session.

“It just felt like I was plugging holes in a boat,” Verlander said at Wednesday's news conference. “When you kind of put everything together and consider everything, I’ve been kind of trending toward this decision for quite a while."

He was scheduled to pitch in June and make what would have been his first start with the Tigers at Comerica Park since August 30, 2017 — the day before he was traded to the Astros.

He still intends to make that start, and is scheduled to throw a bullpen before Thursday's game against the Athletics.

“I do want to focus on playing the rest of the season,” he said. “I think there will be a time to really sit here and reminisce and focus more on the actual retirement. Right now, my focus is still to get out there and be the best version of myself I can be for this team. We are playing great baseball right now, and things are going well, and we’re trending in the right direction.

“I’m champing at the bit to be part of it.”

Cy Young winner and World Series champion

Verlander went 183-115 from 2005 to 2017 with the Tigers. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2006 and both the AL MVP and Cy Young Award in 2011. He helped Detroit reach the World Series in 2006 and 2012 along with four straight division titles from 2011 to 2014.

Verlander was the 2017 ALCS MVP in Houston and helped the Astros win the World Series that year and was a key player for them when they won another title in 2022. He won his second and third Cy Young Award in 2019 and 2022.

“I've been fortunate to play with and against incredible players, for outstanding organizations, and compete in front of fans who deeply appreciate the game,” Verlander said.

All-Star Game tribute

While he will not play in the All-Star Game, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Verlander will be at the game in Philadelphia on Tuesday and will be honored during the festivities.

“The opportunity to attend once again is something I'll cherish and it will be an incredibly special moment for me and my family," said Verlander, who is married to model Kate Upton and has two children.

Verlander has a career record of 266-159 with a 3.33 ERA in 556 starts across 21 Major League seasons with the Tigers, Astros, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. He has 3,554 strikeouts while tossing 26 complete games, including nine shutouts.

He joins Bryce Harper of the host Philadelphia Phillies as a Legend Pick for the 2026 Midsummer Classic. Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Clayton Kershaw in 2025 have been recognized as baseball legends at previous All-Star games.

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

Superior Township Supervisor Emily Dabish Yahkind said her office was notified of the failed audit on Tuesday (July 7).

The complex has been under scrutiny for months following resident complaints about sewage backing up into basements, mold, and other unsafe living conditions.

The township previously issued a non-compliance notice to the property.

“I was notified yesterday that the audit, the review for the property, did fail, and with that comes a notice to the property owner and to the receiver that corrections need to be made here at the complex within the next 60 days,” Dabish Yahkind said.

Some tenants said the federal presence has led to early improvements.

Sharon, a resident at Sycamore Meadows, said HUD inspectors documented conditions inside her unit.

“They came in; they were a lot of help,” Sharon said. “They gave a lot of numbers, and they were very upset about the conditions of the homes, so it was nice to see somebody else cares about what’s going on.”

Sharon said sewage previously backed up into her unit, that there is mold in her home, and that there is a hole in her ceiling.

Since the inspections, she said, her drains have been snaked and a new smoke detector installed, but the larger problems remain.

Sharon said the complex still needs to address what she said is mold, fix the hole in her ceiling, and install a railing on the stairs leading to her basement.

“Over the course of the past week, there have been crews out that have been doing pavement work throughout the property,” Dabish Yahkind said, adding that HUD’s involvement has pushed some repairs forward.

The township recently filed to intervene in the court receivership case involving the property and is now an official party to the litigation.

Dabish Yahkind said that status will help Superior Township better enforce local policies and property standards at the complex.

Dabish Yahkind said a HUD action timeline outlining what must be fixed and by when is something she hopes will be released soon.

Sharon said she is wary of new promises.

“It’s kind of hard because we’ve seen so many letters of stuff that’s supposed to get done that hasn’t,” she said. “I think maybe getting a letter like that’s cool, but actually seeing the work being done is going to mean more because we’ve had promises for years.”

Dabish Yahkind said residents should receive letters in the coming weeks, notifying them of the failed HUD Audit Inspection.

Local 4 reached out to HUD about this story; we’re waiting to hear back.

No deaths have been reported and the source of the cyclospora infections hasn't been identified. Meanwhile, investigations into similar illnesses have been going on in 28 other states, including in Ohio, where people just across the Michigan border are also becoming sick.

Michigan officials first announced the outbreak last week, when they were aware of more than 170 cases — all in the southeastern corner of the state — since June 22. Michigan usually identifies only about 50 cases each year.

On Wednesday, the state reported the number had grown to 992, including about 40 hospitalizations. Just across the state line, Lucas County, Ohio, reported 306 cases as of Wednesday. Northwest Ohio has seen more than 500 cases.

Cyclospora surges can be tricky to investigate, and food poisoning sources can be hard to establish. But “there is clearly a linked outbreak happening right now,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Here's what to know about the current situation:

What is cyclospora?

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.

The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.

It’s less common than a number of other kinds of foodborne illnesses, including salmonella and E. coli. For years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported each year. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019. Experts attribute the increases to climate change and better detection.

How does this outbreak compare to previous ones in the US?

Comprehensive data on cyclospora outbreaks is lacking. But available information shows only a small number of documented outbreaks in the last 20 years have surpassed 1,000 cases. That short list includes a 1997 outbreak tied to Guatemalan raspberries that sickened more than 1,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and a 2019 outbreak linked to Mexican basil that sickened more than 2,400.

There are several reasons it's challenging to know the exact toll, said Melanie Firestone, a University of Minnesota foodborne illness researcher. Some tests used to check for types of food poisoning are not geared to detect cyclospora, “so there is a lot of underreporting when it comes to this,” she said.

Other challenges: Technicians aren't able to grow the parasite in labs, making it hard to draw evidence from contaminated produce. And it can be hard to figure out what food sick people had in common, because sometimes it’s a single ingredient that might be common in multiple recipes — like basil or cilantro.

Also, it's possible that food distributors may channel contaminated foods to both grocery stores and restaurants, making it hard to discern where tainted food came from. Investigations can take months and sometimes never find a clear source.

What's the current situation?

Cases seem to be surging in and around southeastern Michigan. But it's not considered a national health emergency.

There's no evidence that the parasite has evolved to become more infectious, said Dianna Blau, the CDC's acting parasitic diseases branch chief.

Thousands of cyclospora illnesses are reported in the U.S. each year and it's not yet clear how unusual this year will be, she added. That said, the case total so far is four times higher than at the same point last year, according to current CDC national data, which lags dramatically from what's being reported by the states.

Michigan appears to be suffering the worst of it, but the state's aggressiveness in investigating and reporting cases may be “part of the reason why this looks like a Michigan problem,” Bagdasarian said.

How can you protect yourself from cyclospora?

People who have diarrhea that hasn’t gone away on its own within a few days should see a health provider and discuss the possibility of cyclospora, officials say.

The best way to prevent infection with a parasite is to avoid food or water that may have been contaminated.

Fresh produce should be thoroughly washed before being eaten. But be aware that cyclospora can really stick to some foods, so washing may not eliminate the risk of infection.

As Michigan officials investigate the potential source, they recommend consumers purchase whole heads of lettuce rather than prewashed, bagged lettuce or salad mixes, and to remove the outer two to three leaves before washing the remaining leaves under running water.

They also say to cook vegetables when possible.

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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.

Prolonged and intense heat is part of a climate change-driven pattern of weather extremes that has also led to intense flooding and prolonged drought. For farmers, this means shorter planting windows and potential loss of crops because of periods of early-season heat followed by a freeze.

“I think it’s pretty safe to assume these kind of heat waves aren’t going away or they’re not freak occurrences,” Woods said.

The recent heat dome, a high-pressure weather system that traps heat and humidity over a region, affected some specialty farmers who produce crops of fruits and vegetables. Human-driven climate change also has brought more intense heat waves and other extreme weather.

These specialty farmers have found ways to adapt, in part by adjusting their harvest schedules to avoid the hottest parts of the day. But they don’t always have access to the same safety net as farmers of traditional commodity crops such as corn and soybeans when extreme weather hits, experts say.

The heat and humidity that comes with a heat dome can be dangerous for farmworkers and is a “serious threat to human health,” said Melissa Widhalm, the associate director at the Midwest Regional Climate Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Woods works in the coolest parts of the day in the morning and evening, taking frequent water breaks. She plants and harvests by hand, unlike larger farms that often rely on machinery. If it gets too hot and she has to harvest, she pitches a tent she uses for farmer's markets in the fields to create some shade.

Heat can affect crop quality, harvest time

Extreme heat coupled with periods of rain and high humidity can also bring diseases and other pests that can destroy crops. Right now the priority is harvesting those most-vulnerable crops, such as tender salad greens. Woods grows vegetables and culinary herbs for restaurants in the region and for a community supported agriculture program. Harvesting crops when it's too hot outside can affect their quality, she said.

She's also concerned for the health of her seedlings that will grow into fall crops. Right now, Woods keeps her seedlings in an enclosed cabinet inside a barn where it's cooler. Once they've germinated, she moves them into a greenhouse with fans running to keep temperatures manageable.

“We have to do a lot of checking on the greenhouse and watering frequently to keep those teeny tiny plants alive,” Woods said.

For some growers, the recent heat also has shortened the harvest window for certain specialty crops.

For Paul Rasch, who owns and operates multiple fruit orchards in central Iowa, the heat has forced his crew of eight workers to step up harvesting of raspberries. Normally, they'd have about three weeks to harvest this perishable fruit, but “we’re scrambling to pick as many as we can,” he said.

They've started harvesting as early as 6 a.m. some mornings to finish before noon when it gets too hot and unsafe to work. He's also installed air conditioning inside buildings and is adding shade outdoors with trees and covered pavilions so customers coming to pick their own fruit can stay cool. And he's testing a few high tunnels so he can keep conditions more consistent for certain crops.

Rasch said that it seems like these heat events are becoming more common, more intense and lasting longer. These events, along with floods, drought and late-spring frosts are all worrisome and can adversely affect crops throughout the year.

“We don’t ever seem to have a typical year anymore,” he said.

Crop diversity protects against losses, insurance can be hard to access

Smaller farms like Woods' and Rasch's often plant and harvest a wide variety of crops throughout the year. Part of that is a business decision, but it's also to protect against losses that might impact one crop, but not others.

“You’re always gonna have something that will thrive while other things might be more challenged,” Woods said.

Rasch also said that crop insurance for specialty crop farmers is different than for commodity farmers. They're more vulnerable to extreme weather, but they aren't as protected, he said. Woods, who also works with the Organic Association of Kentucky, agrees and said she knows farmers like her who have a difficult time accessing insurance because they farm such a wide range of crops on small acreage.

And that's because federal crop insurance programs are designed to insure single crops with one growing season, like corn, soybean and wheat, said Duncan Orlander, a policy specialist with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

For smaller specialty crop farmers, the paperwork required to cover a larger range of crops on small acreage can be too burdensome and coverage for certain specialty crops may not even be available in certain places. Crop insurers are also disincentivized to sell policies with small premiums and potential payouts, he added.

And although there are federal programs that cover a farm's revenue rather than their specific crops, Orlander said these policies are complicated and widely underutilized.

“We’re not keeping up with the losses and the extreme weather that we’re seeing,” he said. “And we have to think a little bit differently about how we are going to mitigate risk and cover losses into the future when these things occur.”

For Woods, the community supported agriculture program she runs gives her flexibility in case one crop fails. Her customers are supporting the farm for the season regardless of what vegetables end up in their boxes. That program and her crop diversity is one way she “hedges our bets” against heat, floods and drought.

“It’s something you have to be aware of and plan for and have a plan to be resilient in the face of these kind of events,” Woods said.

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Follow Joshua A. Bickel on Instagram, Bluesky and X @joshuabickel.

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

The parasite reappeared in cattle in the U.S. in June, more than 50 years after it had been largely eradicated from the country. The pest is actually the larvae of the New World screwworm fly. It eats live flesh and fluids rather than dead material, as the larvae of most fly species do.

Here is what to know about the parasite, the threat it poses to pets and how to protect them:

Screwworm fly larvae can infest any mammal

The fly's migration north from Panama starting in 2024, and through Mexico in 2025, has agriculture officials warning that it poses a threat to the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry, but the larvae can hatch and breed in any mammal, including wildlife, dogs, cats and occasionally humans.

The problem develops when a female fly lays its eggs in open wounds and mucus. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed for about a week before maturing, dropping to the ground and continuing to develop into an adult fly.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says newborn animals and animals with open wounds or who have undergone surgery or other medical procedures recently are especially vulnerable. Even a tick bite can host an infestation, Aaron Grady, executive director of the Houston Humane Society shelter, said during a webinar on the screwworm.

Infestation signs include restlessness and bad smell

Animal health experts say pet owners in areas where the screwworm is present — southern and southwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico so far — should watch their animals closely and examine them for wounds, cuts and bites regularly.

Pet owners should look for any maggots or movement in a wound. Other signs include a foul smell and restlessness or anxiety in an animal, or an animal “hyper-fixating on looking or chewing in a certain area of the body," said Melissa Stansell, a veterinarian at the shelter Austin Pets Alive!

Any one of those is reason enough to go to a veterinarian. The affected animal is likely in a great deal of pain, and that can cause death from shock. The larvae also can cause death if they move into vital organs or by causing infections that turn deadly.

Flea, tick medications can stop an infestation

Humane society officials and veterinarians said shelters across Texas are trying to prevent infestations in animals by giving them prescription flea and tick medications. They recommend that pet owners do the same.

“It will kill the larvae as they ingest the blood and tissue,” Stansell said. “The chemical compositions of those products are what kill the actual larval stages of these flies.”

Veterinarians also can treat infestations and animals can recover if pet owners contact them quickly. Stansell said the treatment could include antibiotics.

“It is only fatal if left untreated,” she said.

An effort to eradicate the fly again is underway

The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species and decades ago would disappear each year when colder weather arrived with the fall or winter.

But state and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials aren't waiting for the weather to turn. They've returned to an eradication method that worked decades ago, breeding sterile male flies and releasing them into the wild. The female New World screwworm fly mates once in her monthslong life, and if her partner is sterile, her eggs won't hatch — causing the population in an area to drop and then disappear.

For years, the only factory breeding sterile flies in the Western Hemisphere was in Panama, but the USDA invested $21 million to convert a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to recently start breeding screwworm flies. The agency also plans to spend $750 million on a new fly factory in Texas, set to open next year.

The aircraft operated by the private carrier K2 Airways had departed from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and reported a navigational system problem before losing contact with air traffic control late Tuesday.

The Pakistani navy and civilian teams in planes and ships found the plane debris after about 12 hours of searching in the Arabian Sea, Pakistan’s Airports Authority said in a post on X.

Retired Rear Adm. Faisal Shah said searchers were dealing with rough seas and that they were still looking for the main wreckage of the plane, which could prove much more difficult to find because the area is believed to be about 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) deep, requiring specialized equipment.

He said recovering debris does not necessarily reveal the aircraft’s exact crash site because ocean currents, waves and wind can carry the floating wreckage far from where the aircraft went down.

In a statement, K2 Airways identified the missing crew as Capt. Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and aircraft loader Muhammad Taufiq Khan.

“We continue to pray earnestly for the safety of our colleagues,” it said.

Ghulam Nabi Bahrani, the father-in-law of co-pilot Faisal Jatoi, said the family was in regular contact with him while he was in Sharjah, and that he had called his wife shortly before departure Tuesday. Bahrani said government officials have been in contact with the family since the aircraft disappeared.

“All we can do is wait and pray for a miracle,” he said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif released a statement expressing sympathy with the families of the five crew members, and directed the government to deploy all available resources for the search effort.

Pakistan’s Airports Authority said earlier on X that radar data showed the aircraft making a sharp change in heading and rapidly descending before radar and radio contact were lost at about 9:21 p.m., approximately 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers, 178 miles) west of Karachi.

Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local broadcaster ARY News late Tuesday that it remained unclear what caused the aircraft to disappear from radar. He said that even if an aircraft suffered an engine failure, it would normally continue gliding rather than plunge suddenly. He said the exact cause would become clear only after investigators gathered more evidence.

In May 2020, a Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 98 people crashed into a densely populated neighborhood near Karachi airport while attempting to land. All but one of the 99 people on board were killed. A government investigation later concluded that human error by the pilots and air traffic controllers caused the crash.

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Associated Press writer Muhammad Farooq contributed to this story from Karachi, Pakistan.

According to reports by multiple media outlets, the NCAA has sent an official letter of inquiry to the school regarding Sorsby, who was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA in April after he placed thousands of impermissible sports bets over the past four years.

Sorsby spent two seasons each at Indiana and Cincinnati before transferring to reigning Big 12 champion Texas Tech in January, and his ineligibility ruling touched off an unprecedented legal battle that Sorsby ultimately dropped. While Sorsby won’t play and plans to enter next year's NFL draft, coach Joey McGuire said this week that he still expects the quarterback to make occasional trips to Lubbock and will have access to the school’s athletic facilities.

Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield, who was Sorsby's coach during his two seasons with the Bearcats, declined to comment on reports about the letter of inquiry at Wednesday's Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas.

Yahoo Sports was first to disclose the existence of the letter and ESPN also reported that Cincinnati had received it, with both citing anonymous sources. Sending a letter of inquiry is a standard procedural step in which the NCAA notifies a school of plans to examine an issue, though it doesn't automatically equate to the existence of a rules violation.

A Cincinnati spokesperson declined to say if the school had received an inquiry from the NCAA.

“We have had continuous conversations with the NCAA since the initial reports related to impermissible sports wagering began," the spokesperson said in a statement to The Associated Press. "As we have stated before, we do not believe any athletics official or staff member was aware of any impermissible sports wagering."

NCAA spokeswoman Meghan Durham Wright said Wednesday that the organization doesn't comment on pending or potential investigations.

The NCAA declared Sorsby ineligible for making bets worth at least $90,000 during his college career.

Sorsby made at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, but none of those bets came on games in he played. He acknowledged placing at least 165 impermissible bets on college and professional sports totaling at least $38,000 in 2024, including three wagers on Cincinnati men’s basketball made on a FanDuel account he shared with a friend. He provided more than $60,000 to the friend to deposit in the shared account between December 2023 and June 2025.

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The 1938 execution was the first since Michigan abolished the death penalty nearly 100 years prior. Now, in 2025, there is one Michigan man on death row for a crime committed on federal property.

In this article, we have put together information on the case of the 1938 execution as well as information about the death penalty in Michigan today.

Read: May 4, 1846: Michigan becomes first state to abolish death penalty

Tony Chebatoris: The last man to be executed in Michigan

Tony Chebatoris was first convicted on July 20, 1920, for armed robbery of a Packard cashier. Sentenced to 20 years, he was let out on parole after only six and a half years.

Months after being released from prison, he was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, for armed robbery and stealing an automobile, violating the Dyer Act.

The Dyer Act, also known as the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, made stealing a vehicle a federal crime. It was enacted in 1919 with the goal of preventing organized thieves from trafficking stolen vehicles across state lines.

Chebatoris was re-imprisoned at Jackson State Prison to serve his full sentence for the armed robbery.

Jack Gracey and the bank robbery

During his time at Jackson State Prison, Chebatoris befriended fellow inmate Jack Gracey. The two conspired to escape and were both consequently transferred to Marquette Branch Prison in the Upper Peninsula.

Chebatoris was released from prison in December 1935. After more legal trouble in Pennsylvania, Tony moved back to Detroit in 1937. It was then that he and Jack Gracey became reacquainted and began formulating plans for a bank robbery.

On September 29, 1937, Chebatoris and Gracey attempted to rob the Chemical State Savings Bank in Downtown Midland, Michigan.

Gracey entered the bank at 11:30 a.m. with a sawed-off shotgun while Chebatoris guarded the door with a revolver. Gracey approached the 65-year-old bank president, Clarence Macomber, and shoved the shotgun into his ribs.

Chebatoris shot Macomber in the shoulder after he and Gracey struggled over the shotgun. Paul Bywater, the bank’s cashier, was shot in the back above the hip by Chebatoris. Both survived their gunshot injuries.

The men decided to abort their robbery plan and fled the bank. Chebatoris drove the getaway car.

Dr. Frank Hardy, whose dental practice was adjacent to the bank building, had heard the gunshots. He used a hunting rifle to fire at the getaway car from his office window and struck Chebatoris’ arm and Gracey’s leg. This caused Chebatoris to lose control and crash into a parked car.

Chebatoris and Gracey exited the car, looking for the source of the gunshots. Truck driver Henry Porter, of Bay City, whose uniform could have been confused for a police uniform, was a bystander in the area. Chebatoris shot Porter.

Hardy fired again, hitting Gracey’s elbow. When Gracey tried to commandeer a truck, Hardy shot him in the head from a distance of over 100 yards. Chebatoris was apprehended by a road repairman in Midland County.

FBI agents arrived at the scene shortly after the shootout. It was made clear from the beginning that Chebatoris would be charged with a federal, not a state, offense. He had violated the National Bank Robbery Act, passed in 1934, in response to the increase of bank robberies during the Great Depression.

Through that act, the federal government had jurisdiction over an incident that occurred in a bank that was a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Federal Reserve System. Chemical State Savings Bank belonged to both.

The National Bank Robbery Act also provided for the death penalty in the event an innocent person was killed.

Trial and execution

There was a three-day trial in Bay City, and the case against Chebatoris was pretty solid.

The jury returned a guilty verdict and imposed the death penalty. He became the first person in the nation to be sentenced to death under the Bank Robbery Act. He was also the first to face death for a crime committed in Michigan in nearly 100 years, and the first-ever to be sentenced to death by a Michigan jury.

The judge gave the official sentence and set the execution date for July 8, 1938. The last execution to take place in Michigan had been in Detroit on Sept. 24, 1830 -- seven years before Michigan became a state.

Two weeks before the scheduled hanging, Michigan governor Frank Murphy pleaded with President Franklin Roosevelt to move the execution to another state. Roosevelt determined the law to be fairly clear and that little could be done to prevent the hanging in Michigan. Even though Frank Sain, the warden of Chicago’s Cook County Jail, had offered one of their electric chairs to carry out the execution.

After refusing a customary last meal and turning away the prison chaplain, execution day was upon Anthony Chebatoris.

On the morning of July 8, 1938, Chebatoris was officially pronounced dead at 5:21. He was one of only 36 people to be executed in the 20th Century by the U.S. government.

Michigan is one of only 23 states without the death penalty.

Michigan man on federal death row

There is only one Michigan man on the list of federal death row prisoners.

In 2002, Marvin Charles Gabrion was convicted of murdering Rachel Timmerman on federal property in Michigan.

Timmerman and her 11-month-old daughter vanished in June 1997. Timmerman’s body was found a month later, on July 5, 1997. Her daughter has never been found.

Gabrion is suspected of, but has not been charged with, killing Timmerman’s daughter and three other people. During the Timmerman murder trial, at least 58 witnesses testified against Gabrion.

Gabrion was sentenced to death. He has continued to appeal that sentence over the years. An execution day has not been set.

---> Update: Biden commutes sentence of Michigan death row inmate

The federal death penalty today

There have been 50 federal executions carried out since 1927.

There were no executions carried out in the 1970s through the 1990s or in the 2010s.

The Trump administration carried out 13 federal executions -- an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

The Justice Department, under Trump, resumed federal executions in 2020 after a 17-year hiatus. No president in more than 120 years had overseen as many federal executions.

Dustin Higgs was the last person executed by the federal government. He had been convicted of ordering the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996 -- a crime he denied doing.

“I’d like to say I am an innocent man. ... I am not responsible for the deaths,” the Associated Press quoted him as saying. “I did not order the murders.”

According to the Associated Press report, the women were shot by another man, who received a life sentence.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are three prisoners currently on death row. There are currently no federal executions scheduled, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Biden dialed back executions during his term and commuted the death sentences of 37 out of 40 people facing execution, giving them life in prison without parole.

On the first day of Trump’s second term on Jan. 20, one of the dozens of executive orders he signed was a call to restore the federal death penalty, calling it “an essential tool.”

Read: More Michigan history coverage

The tip came in Wednesday evening and led the Ribbon Farms 4-H Club to a vacant lot more than a dozen blocks from the coop. It is not yet clear who took the birds or how they ended up there.

Two break-ins over the holiday weekend

The coop sits inside Full Circle Foundation’s edible garden on Detroit’s east side. The Grosse Pointe Park-based nonprofit built the garden about 10 years ago to serve young adults with special needs and later partnered with Ribbon Farms 4-H Club to add the chicken coop.

On July 3, thieves broke in and stole 10 chickens — including a hen sitting on eggs that were just beginning to hatch. The club managed to rescue two newly hatched chicks.

Then on July 5, the thieves came back. They broke into the locked coop again and took the remaining chickens along with two geese.

“By the notice of the feathers in there, that normally wouldn’t look like that. So, there was some kind of struggle to get these 20-something chickens,” said Alexis Johnson, whose sons are part of the 4-H club. “It’s a very odd theft.”

The club confirmed the thefts were not the result of an animal attack. At the time, the coop had no cameras, power, or Wi-Fi — something the organization had been working to address.

‘They were our family’

These weren’t ordinary backyard chickens.

They were show birds raised through the 4-H program, some of which had already won ribbons at last year’s fair.

Brothers Apollo Johnson, 13, and Xavier Johnson, 12, are members of the club and helped raise two of the stolen chickens.

“We raised them until they were like six weeks old, and we gave them back to the coop here,” Apollo said.

Xavier had been counting on this year’s fair to compete for the top prize.

“This now means I can’t get master showman,” he said.

Apollo’s message for whoever took the birds was simple: “Just give them back.”

Mary Fodell, founder of Full Circle Foundation, called the theft senseless.

“We were trying to do good and give back, and the fact that someone would just take them from us, we are stunned,” Fodell said.

How to help

Detroit police are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detroit police or Full Circle Foundation directly.

The organization is also accepting donations to help repair and reinforce the fence, install security cameras, and, hopefully, bring more chickens to the coop.

It's been the same for much of Kostyuk’s run to the semifinals.

On Monday, after Russian missiles struck residential buildings close to where Kostyuk's parents live, she had to block that out to play her fourth-round match at the Grand Slam tournament. Last week, Russia hammered the Ukrainian capital with an 11-hour drone and missile attack that killed at least 21 civilians.

For Kostyuk, every day is about finding a way to focus on tennis while not shutting her eyes to what is going on at home.

“It’s not easy to disconnect entirely,” Kostyuk said after beating Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last four at Wimbledon for the first time.

“It was really tough for me last week when the first big attack happened," the 24-year-old Kostyuk continued. "Then on Monday they ruined like four streets of residential buildings. It was like five kilometers away from where my parents live. Again, another difficult night and a lot of dead people, innocent people, kids. It’s not easy. I try to be aware of everything that’s going on. Of course, I try for these things not to influence me too much.”

The 12th-seeded Kostyuk is in her second straight Grand Slam semifinal after losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in the last four at the French Open. The two did not shake hands before that match, which has become the standard procedure for meetings between Russian and Ukrainian players since the war broke out in 2022.

Like in most sports, Russian players have competed as neutrals on the men's and women's tennis tours since then. But the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday provisionally lifted its ban on Russia and recommended that individual sports drop the neutral status for athletes.

The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed that decision as an “important step” toward reinstating the rights of Russian athletes.

Kostyuk had a different take.

“My thoughts are that it’s terrible,” Kostyuk said. “I think it’s very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine. I 100 percent don’t agree with this decision. ... I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics.”

There are no Russian singles players left in the Wimbledon tournament. Kostyuk will face Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday. In the other semifinal, American Coco Gauff takes on another Czech player, Karolina Muchova.

Kostyuk is the second woman from Ukraine to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon after Elina Svitolina did it in 2019 and 2023.

Svitolina lost on both occasions. So what would it mean for Ukraine if Kostyuk becomes the country's first finalist?

“I’m hoping,” she said, “it would mean a lot.”

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

The 34-year-old Contreras has 20 homers in 306 at-bats, which stands just a few shy of the career best of 24 he had for the Chicago Cubs in 2019. He is looking to become the first Red Sox player to win a Home Run Derby since David Ortiz in 2010.

Contreras and the 23-year-old Caglianone join Ben Rice from the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero in the competition. The other four participants have not yet been announced.

Five Kansas City players have previously participated in the event: Bo Jackson (1989), Danny Tartabull (1991), Mike Moustakas (2017), Salvador Perez (2021) and Bobby Witt Jr. (2024). None have come away with the title.

Witt was the runner-up in 2024 when he hit 50 home runs in total. He hit 13 HRs in the final round, one shy of Teoscar Hernandez’s 14.

In his first full season with the Royals, Caglianone is hitting .258/.322/.455 (77-for-299) with a team-high 14 home runs and 33 RBIs in 85 games. His 14 home runs have averaged 418 feet in length, which is tied for the best average in the majors this season.

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

There were plenty of surprises and some snubs from Wednesday’s nominations, including some hits and misses for “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” and a first nom for Connor Storrie – just not for the show most people know him for.

If “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White attends the Emmy Awards this year, it won’t be as a nominee. The acclaimed series got several nominations for its final season, just not an acting nod for its head chef.

Read on for more noteworthy nominees and those who got overlooked.

‘The Pitt’ becomes an Emmys juggernaut

Last year, Shawn Hatosy won best guest actor in a drama for “The Pitt.” This year, he’s gotten bumped up to supporting actor status and has an Emmy nomination to show for it. He is competing against co-stars Patrick Ball and Gerran Howell in the same category. Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi received their first nominations for best supporting actress in the HBO Max medical drama.

While the cast racked up numerous nominations, two actors ended up being their own best cheerleaders. Brittany Allen and Jeff Kober each guest starred as ER patients on Season 2 and self-submitted their work for nominations. Now, they’re Emmy nominees in the guest-acting categories.

Another commonality: Allen and Kober have each won Daytime Emmy Awards for “All My Children” and “General Hospital.”

The 25 nominations for “The Pitt” are nearly double what it received for its first season. Besides acting categories, it's nominated for best drama and behind-the-camera work like directing and casting.

Other fresh faces are nominated

In a sea of regular nominees like Jean Smart, Quinta Brunson and Martin Short, some new names managed to squeeze in.

Less than one month after “Widow's Bay” completed airing its first season, the comedy horror starring Matthew Rhys is planting a flag at the Emmy Awards. Kate O'Flynn, Kevin Carroll, Stephen Root and Dale Dickey are cast members among the first-time nominees.

The newlywed characters in “Beef” Season 2 split when it came to Emmy recognition. Charles Melton got his first nomination, while Cailee Spaeny was overlooked.

“Monster: The Ed Gein Story” didn't have the buzz of previous monster stories about Jeffrey Dahmer or Lyle and Erik Menendez. Its star, Charlie Hunnam can count himself an Emmy nominee though. His work as the serial killer brought him his first nomination.

File this next one under, “We'll take what we can get.” While Connor Storrie of “Heated Rivalry” also received his first Emmy nomination, it's not for the show that made him a star. There's a technicality where shows financed outside the U.S. are ineligible for Emmys, and the same goes for their cast. Storrie is instead a contender for guest-hosting “Saturday Night Live.”

While it's no surprise that Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs got recognized for the final season of “Hacks,” a nice addition to the list is co-star Meg Stalter, who is up for her first Emmy as best supporting actress.

Sorry, you've been snubbed

Let's start with the big one. After receiving two Emmy Awards for best actor in a comedy, Jeremy Allen White was not nominated for the final season of “The Bear.” The show got nominated, however, as did Ayo Edebiri for best comedy actress.

Sarah Pidgeon is nominated for her portrayal as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” but that love only goes so far. Paul Anthony Kelly, who played Kennedy, was shut out.

“The Four Seasons” is about a group of friends but Colman Domingo is the standout this year. Domingo was nominated for best supporting actor in a comedy while Tina Fey, who created the series and also stars, got overlooked.

Apple TV's “Your Friends & Neighbors” stars Jon Hamm as a man who secretly steals from his wealthy neighbors. The show got a drama series Emmy nomination. Hamm did not.

Paramount+ may have Taylor Sheridan but it doesn't have any acting nominations to celebrate. The star power of “Landman” nor “The Madison” didn't wow Emmy voters. The streamer is competing in a mere two categories: stunt work on “Tulsa King” and choreography in “Noah's Arc: The Movie.”

From reality drama to Emmy nominations

The 2023 breakup that shocked the Bravoverse known as “Scandoval” has led to very good things for Ariana Madix. After splitting with her longtime boyfriend, she’s performed on Broadway, competed on “Dancing with the Stars” and is now nominated for an Emmy as outstanding reality TV host for “Love Island USA.”

A second Bravo breakup has been a big win for the network. The uncoupling of “Summer House” stars Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke had viewers tuning in to Season 10 to see their marriage crumble. But when Batula then began dating one of their co-stars and Hamptons housemates, West Wilson, who used their other castmate Ciara Miller, it reached a whole new level of pop culture fodder. Voters were paying attention because it’s received a surprise Emmy nomination for unstructured reality show.

Soon, the Mirrorball Trophy may not be the only award linked to “Dancing with the Stars.” Season 34 of the celebrity dance competition show received an Emmy nomination for best reality show after getting shut out for a decade.

The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.1% after Trump said the ceasefire agreement was “over,” but the index then trimmed its loss to 0.3% after Trump said recent fighting did not mean a return to full-scale war. They’re his latest mixed messages on what will happen with the war, which threatens to worsen inflation for the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 576 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% after erasing an early loss.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 5.2% to $78.02 and briefly topped $80.

That’s still below its peak from earlier in the war, when the price for the most actively traded contract reached nearly $120. But the jump is unsettling because oil prices had just dropped back to where they were before the war.

The worry is that a continuation of the war will block the Strait of Hormuz and prevent the delivery of crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That could worsen inflation, which economists expected would ease with oil prices, and in turn force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

On Wall Street, stocks of companies in the housing industry helped lead the way lower. They were hurt by worries that rising Treasury yields in the bond market will mean higher rates for mortgages and chill the industry.

Builders FirstSource, which sells countertops, windows and other building supplies, fell 5.4%. Homebuilders PulteGroup fell 5.4%, and D.R. Horton sank 4.6%.

Companies with big fuel bills also sank. American Airlines lost 4%, and cruise operator Carnival fell 3.9%.

Helping to offset those losses was a steadying for some influential stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry. They’ve been under pressure in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high and that AI may not produce enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chips and data centers worth it.

Their swings carry a lot of weight on Wall Street because AI stocks have grown into some of the U.S. market’s biggest, giving their movements more effect on the S&P 500 than other stocks.

Nvidia rose 3.7%, for example, and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because it’s the largest stock on Wall Street.

Close behind was Broadcom, which climbed 4.8% after Apple announced a multiyear commitment where Broadcom will design and produce custom components for its products. Apple said the agreement’s value could top $30 billion.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 21.14 points to 7,482.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 576.76 to 52,348.39, and the Nasdaq composite rose 51.96 to 25,870.65.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose with the price of oil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly got near 4.60% before pulling back to 4.57%. That’s up from 4.55% late Tuesday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began.

In stock markets abroad, European markets turned sharply lower after Trump said, “For me, I think it’s over” about the status of the ceasefire. He added that U.S. representatives can continue negotiations, “but I think they’re wasting their time.” Germany’s DAX lost 2.2%, and France’s CAC 40 sank 2.2%.

In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 5.3% and continued its sharp swings amid seesawing worries and euphoria about the AI stocks that dominate its market.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was an outlier and rose 3%. Shares that trade there of Chinese AI startup Zhipu, known also as Z.ai and traded as Knowledge Atlas Technology, jumped 13.4%.

A six-month lock-up period for “cornerstone” investors following its January trading debut in Hong Kong expires this week. China National Radio reported late Tuesday that nearly 70% of Zhipu’s cornerstone investors are committed to stay on, despite previous worries that the lock-up period expiration could trigger a sell-off.

Zhipu’s share price has risen more than 1,300% since its debut.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Chan Ho-him and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Team physician Michael Terry said Bedard is expected "to make a full recovery in an approximate timeline of four months.” The NHL hasn't announced its regular-season schedule, but the Blackhawks played their first game last season on Oct. 7.

Bedard, who turns 21 on July 17, got hurt while skating with a group of NHL players last week in western Canada. It's a major blow for a Blackhawks team trying to emerge from a painful rebuilding process.

Bedard set career highs with 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games in his third NHL season. He missed 12 games after he hurt his right shoulder on a draw during a 3-2 loss at St. Louis on Dec. 12.

“He’s so important to our team,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in April. “He took such a big step forward this year in every facet.”

Bedard is a restricted free agent, and it remains to be seen if the injury has any effect on the negotiations for his next contract. He missed nearly six weeks of his rookie season with a broken jaw.

Chicago went 29-39-14 last season, an 11-point improvement and still nowhere near playoff contention. It has finished No. 31 in the NHL each of the past three years.

Defenseman Bowen Byram was acquired in a trade with Buffalo on June 23, and the Blackhawks signed forward Cole Smith and defenseman Ian Cole on the first day of NHL free agency.

Bedard reached out to Byram, Smith and Cole after they were brought in by the team.

“Obviously a superb young talent,” Cole said Wednesday when asked about sharing the ice with Bedard. “Unfortunately, yeah, it sounds like it’s going to be a little later than originally anticipated, but you know he seems like a great guy.”

The Blackhawks haven’t made a postseason appearance since the NHL used an expanded playoff format after the 2020 season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bedard has been the centerpiece of the team since he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. He made his anticipated NHL debut that October and won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. He had 23 goals and 44 assists while appearing in all 82 games in his second season.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Letters to states and grant application details are the latest in a line of actions by Trump’s administration to shape details of running elections that have long been the job of states.

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

“The overall point is that Trump is trying to use whatever levers of power and persuasive power that he might have to try to interfere with how states and localities are going to conduct the 2026 election,” said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor and the director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project. “Some of this is aimed at changing how the rules are conducted. Some of it appears to be aimed at undermining voter confidence in the integrity of the election process.”

Justice Department warns election officials of prosecution

In letters sent Tuesday, to election officials for all 50 states and the District of Columbia — often secretaries of state — the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division said they and other election administrators could face criminal charges if they knowingly allow nonvoters to vote or remain on voting rolls.

It also called on the states to tell the federal government within five days how they intend to comply with the law.

Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in election law, said it’s not clear the 50-state letter means anything except to restate some parts of the law, with a request to follow up, “which I’m sure many states will ignore.”

The letter also warns that anyone who knowingly and willfully gives false information in registering to vote or voting would face criminal prosecution.

Robert Weiner, director of the voting rights project for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the rate of voting by noncitizens is “infinitesimally small,” and he suggested the government's actions are motivated by factors other than securing elections.

"I predict that the president is trying to create chaos and then use that chaos to take drastic measures in states that oppose his policies or to refuse to recognize the results of the elections in those states,” Weiner said.

Antiterrorism grants include election requirements

A Federal Emergency Management Agency antiterrorism grant announcement in June includes a list of election-related requirements, saying that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until they comply.

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

“Recipients can ensure that their efforts contribute to a secure, transparent, and resilient electoral process, thereby reinforcing public trust and the integrity of democratic institutions,” the grant announcement says, noting that securing election infrastructure is a national security priority.

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

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

UCLA's Hasen said it could be difficult even for states that want to comply. It's too close to the midterm election to make some of the changes, he said, and some would require state legislatures to pass new laws.

The White House on Wednesday referred questions to FEMA, which did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Response from states appears to be partisan

Some states are pushing back, while others are defending the latest actions.

They seem to be breaking along party lines.

Oregon’s secretary of state, Democrat Tobias Read, accused the Justice Department of “knocking on our door again with more threats and no evidence to back up their fever dreams about non-existent voter fraud.”

Oregon elections are secure, accurate, and fair, he said, adding that he isn’t “intimidated by political threats or manufactured controversy.”

The Michigan secretary of state’s office, headed by Democrat Jocelyn Benson, said it has discussed its work repeatedly with the Justice Department and in public statements, congressional hearings and court testimony — information that it said “is either in the DOJ’s possession or easy reach.”

“We will be happy to provide it again to help address any confusion,” the office said in a statement.

In a statement, Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose defended the Justice Department’s missive to states, saying it’s reminding them of their legal obligation regarding election integrity. A lot of states aren’t taking it seriously, he said without giving examples or citing evidence. He said Ohio has worked with the federal government to ensure that its voter rolls are accurate and that only U.S. citizens vote.

Georgia's secretary of state's office says the state has already taken many of the actions required in the FEMA grant, including a citizenship audit of voter rolls.

Several of Trump's election actions have faced resistance

Trump has repeatedly and wrongly asserted that fraud cost him reelection in 2020, and his administration has put forth a series of policies and actions aimed at how elections are run.

In recent days, courts have rejected the Justice Department's effort to collect the names and contact information for every election worker in Georgia in the 2020 election and others trying to force New Hampshire and Pennsylvania to turn over detailed information about registered voters. With those rulings, the federal government has lost similar cases more than 10 times around its requests for details from 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Last week, a group of Democratic governors asked the U.S. Postal Service to withdraw its proposed rule seeking to implement an order from Trump to create a list of eligible voters — and potentially limit who can receive a ballot in the mail. A court previously put the order on hold, saying it was unconstitutional.

Also last week, the Supreme Court rebuked Trump and ruled that states can count mailed ballots that arrive after Election Day.

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Associated Press reporters Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Bill Barrow, Kate Brumback and Josh Kelety contributed to this article.

Verlander, 43, spent 13 years with the Tigers from 2005-2017 before he was traded midseason to the Houston Astros. He returned this offseason as a free agent, but has missed all but one start due to injuries.

Verlander won 183 games with Detroit while posting a 3.49 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 2,511 innings from 2005-2017. He struck out 2,373 batters.

Verlander made six All-Star teams in Detroit and won the 2011 AL Cy Young and MVP awards. He finished top-five in Cy Young voting four times from 2007-2012.

When he went to Houston, Verlander got even better. He won two World Series rings and posted a 2.71 ERA and 0.918 WHIP across 810.1 innings.

Last season, Verlander got off to a rough start, going 0-8 with a 4.99 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. But from July 23 onward, Verlander posted a 2.60 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP while striking out 70 batters in 72.2 innings.

It was a fun signing, and one that could have bolstered the Tigers’ rotation. But it ultimately hasn’t worked out.

Verlander allowed five earned runs across 3.2 innings in his first and only start of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 30. He hit the injured list afterward and was set to return in mid-June, before another injury.

“I’ve always said that I want to play until the wheels fall off,” Verlander said at the time. “And, I don’t know, maybe they are falling off. I hope not.”

On Wednesday, July 8, Verlander was named to the American League All-Star team as the commissioner’s “Legend Pick.”

Verlander posted on X shortly afterward, announcing his impending retirement.

pic.twitter.com/7mBzftMH4V

— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) July 8, 2026

Since he currently sits at 266 career wins, Verlander will fall short of the increasingly rare milestone of 300.

Watch the full presser below

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in October 2020, names Wayne County and County Treasurer Eric Sabree, arguing that the county illegally seized surplus proceeds from foreclosure sales, often resulting in significant losses for the homeowners.

The injunction issued on Tuesday found that the county’s failure to notify past homeowners of the pending class action lawsuit — combined with the county’s practice of having tax foreclosure claimants sign waivers that deny their right to any surplus proceeds in the sale — constituted a “material omission,” as they may be eligible to join the action.

“When Wayne County sells a foreclosed property for more than what is owed, the homeowner is entitled to all the surplus proceeds under the law. That’s not a gift; it’s their money,” said Jason Thompson, interim co-class counsel in the case. “The court found that Wayne County was not telling homeowners the full story or that the federal lawsuit was on file.”

As part of the ruling, the county must contact the tens of thousands of homeowners foreclosed upon who signed waivers to notify them of the pending litigation. It also requires the county to notify any future homeowners entering foreclosure agreements of the case, so they can make an “informed decision regarding whether to proceed with a settlement, join this putative class, or pursue another option,” the ruling said.

The injunction, entered by U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker, will be valid as long as the class action lawsuit is pending.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced Wednesday (July 8) that Jordan Ellington, 34, was sentenced to 20 to 48 months in the Michigan Department of Corrections after being found guilty in May of assault with a dangerous weapon.

The assault occurred on March 28, 2025, when prosecutors say Ellington placed a belt around his grandmother’s neck and threatened her, saying that “next time” he would tighten it even more.

During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Caitlin Sahlaney argued that the severity of the offense warranted a sentence above the state’s recommended range of two to 17 months.

Macomb County Circuit Judge James M. Biernat agreed, departing upward from the guidelines and imposing a prison sentence of 20 to 48 months.

Ellington was convicted by a jury in May 2026 on the assault with a dangerous weapon charge.

Ruth Ellis, a 28-year-old single mother and nightclub hostess, was hanged on July 13, 1955, for the murder of race-car driver David Blakely. She shot him outside the Magdala pub in the Hampstead neighborhood on April 10, 1955.

“While the pardon does not claim she was innocent of killing David Blakely, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment to recognize a profound injustice in this exceptional case,” Lammy said.

A sensational case that caused an outcry

The killing and trial caused a sensation, and became a cause celebre after she was sentenced to die. When she went to the gallows, 1,000 people held a silent vigil outside Holloway Prison in north London.

Her case is believed to have changed British law. At trial, she was not allowed to argue that she acted because of the emotional impact of abuse. Two years after the hanging, Parliament passed a law allowing a diminished responsibility defense.

The pardon was sought by her grandchildren, who have long fought to reduce her conviction because the repeated sexual, emotional and physical abuse Ellis endured was not considered during the trial or afterward, when she could have been granted a reprieve from the death penalty.

“Justice has finally been done," Laura Enston, a granddaughter, said in a statement. “This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken — the children left behind, the years lost. But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed; that the justice system failed her. That acknowledgment matters profoundly to our family."

Evidence showed Ellis was badly beaten

Lawyers working pro-bono for the family applied for the pardon last year by presenting evidence that Ellis likely suffered from what became known as “battered woman syndrome.”

Ellis and witnesses, including her friends and doctors, said Blakely threatened to kill her and she was covered in bruises from assaults in public and being pushed down stairs. They said she was once struck so hard in the abdomen that it caused a miscarriage.

Jurors in her case, however, were told not to consider that she had been “badly treated by her lover.” The trial lasted just over a day, and the jury reached its verdict in less than half an hour.

If Ellis had been tried two years later, after the diminished responsibility law was in place, at most she would have been convicted of manslaughter and not been sentenced to death, said attorney Grace Houghton, who works for Mishcon de Reya, the firm whose founder tried to win a last-minute reprieve for Ellis in 1955.

The U.K. suspended the death penalty in 1965 and abolished it in 1970.

Case left a dark and lasting legacy

“Her case serves as a haunting reminder of a time when our justice system ignored the realities of domestic abuse and coercive control,” said Pam Cox, a Labour member of Parliament who requested the pardon on behalf of the family.

Enston said her mother and uncle, Ellis' two children, never recovered after the execution.

“My uncle took his own life; my mother’s trauma left her unable to be the parent we needed," Enston said. “The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.”

The case continues to draw attention in popular culture and in local history.

It was the subject of several films and TV dramas, including 1985's “Dance with a Stranger,” and a miniseries that aired on ITV last year called “A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.”

Visitors to the pub where the killing took place are often pointed to two indentations on the tile wall outside that are said to be bullet holes from the shooting, though that may be apocryphal.

Neil Titley, an actor who researched the history of the pub, told the Camden New Journal in 2017 that he was present in the 1990s when a former owner who wanted to capitalize on the Magdala’s notoriety had the holes drilled in the wall to draw tourists.

The marks are darkened and smooth from the many people who have stopped to touch them and imagine the fateful night.

The IOC provisionally lifted a suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and advised Olympic sports bodies they no longer need to be vetting its athletes for permission to compete as neutrals.

“It is an important step toward reinstating our athletes’ legitimate rights to participate in international competitions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday. “Work will continue through our sports authorities. They are conducting this work constantly and consistently, this work will continue.”

Peskov added that “now, it’s very important that all our athletes have the opportunity to compete in major international events.”

Ukraine has strongly objected to the IOC's move to lift restrictions imposed shortly after Russia invaded in 2022.

Ukraine's latest tennis star, Marta Kostyuk, condemned the IOC's “terrible” decision as being “very, very far from fair play” as she reached the Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday.

The IOC’s guidance to reintegrate Russians in international events is not binding for the governing bodies of individual sports.

Track and field has already said it will not follow suit and there is no sign yet of changes which could let Russia return to major soccer events like Euro 2028 or a future World Cup.

“FIFA has been made aware of the decision taken by the IOC to provisionally lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee,” soccer's governing body said. “FIFA will analyze the decision before deciding on next steps in coordination with the relevant stakeholders.”

FIFA last year invited Russia to send a team to the inaugural boys’ Under-15 Football Festival in Azerbaijan starting Oct. 22. That came soon after the IOC recommended allowing Russian youth teams to compete with the country's flag and anthem.

European soccer body UEFA declined to comment on the IOC decision in an emailed response to The Associated Press.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

“Hardaway 10” sways, commemorating his father's time with the Heat and the jersey they retired in Tim Hardaway Sr.'s honor.

“Coming here when I was an opponent, I felt like it gave me a superpower,” Hardaway Jr. said.

It's his jersey now.

The Heat formally introduced part of the family on Wednesday, with the 34-year-old Hardaway getting his welcome-back-to-Miami news conference — and getting handed a No. 10 Heat jersey, only this one with “Jr.” after the family surname on the back.

“This is really bizarre,” said Heat President Pat Riley, who coached the elder Hardaway in Miami.

The younger Hardaway used to run around the Heat practice floor as a kid while his dad played games, or hang out in the family room partaking in video games. As Hardaway Jr. got older, Riley would ask someone on the staff to put him through workouts on the practice court.

That staffer was Erik Spoelstra, now the Heat head coach.

“I think things are going to be a little bit more serious now than before,” Hardaway said. “But I mean, I’m very comfortable and confident to be able to go up there and talk to coach anytime I need some guidance or assistance on anything. I feel like he’s a great person in order to do that.”

Miami entered the offseason with a slew of wishes and needs. It wanted a superstar; it landed one by getting Giannis Antetokounmpo (and, like the rest of the league, is waiting to hear where former Heat star LeBron James wants to play this coming season). It also wanted to find shooting and durability; Hardaway is coming off a season where he had career-bests in 3-pointers made (224) and 3-point percentage (nearly 41%), and he's played in 236 of a possible 246 regular-season games over the last three seasons.

His role in Miami, whether as a starter or off the bench, will be simple: Make life easier for Antetokounmpo and Heat center Bam Adebayo.

“Once the call came, I think it was kind of a no-brainer,” Hardaway said. “It's the right fit, not only for this franchise, but for me personally — especially when you have two guys out there that definitely need spacing for them to go out there and operate and do what they do best. My job here, it’s just to make their life easy and that’s to knock down shots.”

And he gets to come home to do all that. Born and raised in Miami, the Heat will be his sixth NBA team — in the city he still calls home.

“I've been praying for this day,” Hardaway said. “I've always wanted this day to come, ever since I was a kid.”

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

It was their first visit to Kennedy Space Center since they blasted off in April. The last time the four saw the pad, the massive Space Launch System rocket had stood upon it.

“It's a lonely place without that rocket on it,” commander Reid Wiseman said. He and his crew spent the day thanking all those who helped send them on the flight.

The three NASA astronauts and one Canadian set a new record for distance travel during the lunar fly-around — 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). It was humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than half a century.

Public enthusiasm over the mission is still high, Wiseman noted. While boarding a plane in France about a week ago, he said, a woman handed him her boarding pass with this message written on it: “Thank you for reminding us about joy and hope in the universe again.”

They're excited about handing off to the next Artemis crew: three NASA astronauts and one Italian announced last month. Set for next year, the Artemis III mission will remain in orbit around Earth and practice docking with lunar landers in development by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Artemis IV will follow as early as 2028 with a moon landing by two astronauts not yet identified.

The entire Artemis III crew is male, something that doesn't faze Artemis II's Christina Koch, who became the first woman to fly to the moon. What would be worse, she said, was someone overruling NASA's crew selection for Artemis III just “to make it look a certain way.”

“I am so glad and so proud that that's not the situation we have,” she told reporters.

Wiseman and Koch flew to the moon alongside pilot Victor Glover and Canada's Jeremy Hansen. Hansen announced earlier this week that he will leave the Canadian Space Agency in September, but remain a reservist in the Royal Canadian Air Force and continue supporting the Artemis program.

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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.

Allowing foreign manufacture of Patriots, which the U.S. had resisted, was a turnaround for Trump that mirrored his day at the NATO meeting: Upon arriving, he lashed out at European partners for resisting his efforts to take control of Greenland and for not supporting his war in Iran. But by day's end, he described a gathering of unity and “tremendous love," and praised member nations on their progress in increasing their defense spending.

NATO’s European members plus Canada have scrambled to meet the alliance's increased defense spending targets, which Trump has demanded as the U.S. draws down troops in Europe and insists the continent take more responsibility for its own security.

Trump had reopened old wounds among the 32 NATO leaders by insisting again ahead of the summit that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. That led Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to say her country is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory.”

Trump also blasted some European countries for refusing to participate in the Iran campaign, singling out Spain as “a terrible partner in NATO” and renewing his threats to cut off trade.

Trump strikes a positive tone on Zelenskyy

But the tone of Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a break from earlier encounters which ended in acrimony, and Trump praised the Ukrainian leader's willingness to reach a deal on ending the fighting in Ukraine.

“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe,” Trump said during a news conference with Zelenskyy, adding that he believed a deal on ending the war was on the horizon and that the U.S. would “work on some kind of security package” to provide to Ukraine.

Trump said the Ukrainian president has “done an amazing job” and “been very effective” in the war as he pledged to grant Ukraine a license to manufacture the Patriot defense systems.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”

Patriots are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to produce. Zelenskyy has for years been asking for more of them, and more recently for a license so that Ukraine can manufacture its own.

NATO chief backs latest US strikes on Iran

Ahead of the summit, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump for the series of U.S. strikes on Iran overnight, after Tehran struck three merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I think what you did last night was absolutely necessary,” Rutte said to Trump. “It was a very strong response, and I’m with you on this.”

The U.S. strikes, as well as the revoking of a license allowing Iran to sell its oil on global markets, underscored the fragility of an interim deal to end months of fighting.

Trump said of the interim agreement with Iran: “For me, I think it’s over” — but added he will allow talks to continue.

“It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” he said.

NATO leaders sought to show Trump they were boosting defense

Rutte has dedicated a huge amount of energy to keeping Trump's support for NATO and to holding the summit together. On Wednesday, he sought to tamp down the president’s ire by giving him credit for recent increases in defense spending from NATO allies.

“Grab the win. It’s there,” Rutte told Trump on Wednesday.

The NATO chief pointed to countries including Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Denmark that are investing more in defense, but noted that the Trump administration expects “the Europeans and Canadians will equalize their spending with the United States.”

Last month Rutte went to Washington to hail the “Trump Trillion” — the $1.2 trillion that European allies and Canada have added to defense spending since Trump came to power in 2017.

As leaders converged on Ankara, Rutte hosted a “big reveal” event to showcase the many deals planned for the increased spending — much of it to be spent on U.S. companies, creating thousands of jobs for Americans.

At last year's summit, the allies agreed to invest 5% of their gross domestic product on defense — 3.5% on their defense budgets and 1.5% on infrastructure so troops and equipment can move faster in times of conflict.

Yet figures released by NATO on Tuesday showed that Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic have struggled to meet the alliance’s old spending target of 2% of GDP.

The Trump administration wants to see a leaner “NATO 3.0,” with Europe taking responsibility for its own security, including Ukraine, with conventional weapons while America would continue to provide its nuclear umbrella.

The Pentagon has launched a six-month review of U.S. military presence in Europe, leaving allies to seek clarity on just how deeply Trump intends to cut U.S. force numbers.

Zelenskyy pushes for NATO entry

Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal Tuesday for Ukraine to be allowed to join the alliance, saying Ukrainian armed forces are highly experienced and would only boost NATO’s defense capabilities. Russia is vehemently opposed to that.

Zelenskyy has highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia. He said Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.

In a declaration following Wednesday's summit, NATO leaders pledged to provide Ukraine with $80 billion to help meet its defense needs this year and next, noting “the long-term threat Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security.”

Concern has been mounting among some countries with borders near Russia that Moscow might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

Trump administration to lift Syria's terrorism designation

Trump also met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that unseated autocrat Bashar Assad in December 2024. Despite having once been an al-Qaida fighter, al-Sharaa has won Trump’s backing as he seeks to rebuild Syria and restore its shattered ties with the West.

Later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Trump has told U.S. lawmakers that the U.S. will soon remove Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism as part of a year-long normalization process with the country’s new government.

“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” Rubio said.

In June 2025, Trump signed an executive order ending a number of economic sanctions before revoking the terrorism designation a few weeks later for al-Sharaa, though the designation for Syria remained.

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Associated Press journalists Collin Binkley and Michelle L. Price in Washington and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman fined her $5,000, describing the case as a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment.

Dugan, 67, was convicted of felony obstruction in December. Her lawyers argued during her trial that President Donald Trump’s administration sought to “crush” Dugan in an effort to ensure judicial compliance with the ICE strategy of targeting immigrants as they showed up for court hearings.

Dugan resigned the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship she had held for nine years in January amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers who labeled her an activist judge. In her resignation letter, she said her prosecution threatened "the independence of our judiciary." Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a fierce Trump loyalist running for Wisconsin governor, had urged authorities to “lock her up.”

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin emphasized that the jury's verdict last December and Adelman's sentence reflect Dugan's abuse of her position to obstruct law enforcement officers.

“Law enforcement officers need to be able to carry out their lawful responsibilities in the manner that is safest for them, the public and the individual they are attempting to detain,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel. “Dugan’s reckless and illegal actions interfered with that goal and created unnecessary risks for all involved. For that there needed to be serious consequences.”

Dugan says she was just trying to do her job

Dugan addressed the court, saying she tried to do her best as a judge, and that her actions that day in April 2025 were not done maliciously but rather to maintain the “decorum and safety of the courtroom.”

"I have been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither,” Dugan said, adding that she was trying to do her job. She said she has had to retire from public life because of threats against her and her family.

Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling acknowledged that Dugan has experienced collateral consequences but said “judges can't choose to disregard the law.”

The judge said Dugan lost her job, now has a felony conviction and experienced threats that forced her to move and stop attending community events. He also noted that Dugan’s actions didn’t stop the ICE agents from arresting the defendant outside the courthouse.

“This conviction affirms that no one is above the law,” Adelman said.

Prosecutors had pushed for a ‘serious sentence’

Prosecutors had argued in a sentencing memo that Dugan violated her oath as a judge and put both law enforcement and the public at risk.

“Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,” Frohling wrote. “The defendant crossed that line.”

Dugan’s attorneys argued she has been “punished enough,” and should not be sentenced to any jail time beyond the hours she spent in federal custody.

Federal sentencing guidelines called for 15 to 21 months behind bars, but the judge, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997, wasn't bound by them. Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence, but Frohling wrote that "this was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence.”

Attorney Jason Luczak said after the sentencing that they would still appeal Dugan’s felony obstruction conviction. Jurors acquitted her at trial of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.

What happened in the courthouse that day

On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.

Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge's office, saying their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz. Her attorneys said during her trial that she was following protocols that called for court employees to report any immigration agents to their supervisors.

After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.

Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.

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Associated Press contributors include Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.

The trial for Brian J. Cole Jr. is set to begin Feb. 16 and last about two weeks. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali set the trial date during a brief hearing Wednesday.

Zachary Lawson, one of Cole’s lawyers, told Ali that defense attorneys and prosecutors have not discussed the possibility of a plea deal to resolve the case.

On Monday, the judge ruled that Trump's mass pardons for Capitol rioters did not apply to Cole. Ali refused to dismiss Cole's case before trial, rejecting defense lawyers' arguments that their client qualifies for a pardon because his alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events near the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Ali, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, concluded that Trump’s blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the attack.

Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump, a Republican, pardoned, commuted the prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession when FBI agents questioned him after his arrest.

Cole is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters near the Capitol on the night before the riot. The devices did not detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them on Jan. 6.

A grand jury indicted Cole on four counts: interstate transportation of explosives, malicious intent to use explosives, an act of terrorism while armed and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction.

Afrobeats star Burna Boy, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the PS22 Chorus — a choir of elementary school students based in Staten Island, New York — will also perform, the last joined by Coldplay.

The 11-minute halftime performance, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin, will take place during the final outside New York on July 19. The show will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is raising $100 million to help children access education and soccer.

“The FIFA World Cup brings the world together in a way nothing else can,” Bieber said in a statement. “I’m grateful to be part of this Halftime Show, and even more grateful knowing it’s already helping expand access to education for children around the world.”

Of all the performances, the addition of Burna Boy is particularly noteworthy: He’s one-half of this year’s official song for the World Cup, “Dai Dai,” led by Shakira. The song is a mesh of their musical landscapes: Afrobeats and Latin rhythms, an undeniably global, multilingual pop track. In one verse, they name a number of the world’s most famous soccer players and countries competing in this year’s World Cup: “Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia,” Shakira cheers. “Mexico, Japan, Korea, Netherlands.”

“The FIFA World Cup is one of the few moments that truly brings the entire world together,” Burna Boy said in a statement. “To represent Africa on the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show is a privilege and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.”

And while the Super Bowl is famed for its halftime show, such performances are not commonplace in soccer, with events like the Champions League final featuring a pre-match concert.

This year's World Cup halftime performance will also feature some characters from “Sesame Street,” as well as Muppets like Kermit and Miss Piggy.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Emanuel’s condemnation of Israel’s leadership shows how far centrist Democrats have shifted away from historic support of Israel, three years after the war in Gaza began. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has curried favor with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Israel’s standing with the Democrats has plummeted.

About 58% of Democrats say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024. Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, a charge Israel vehemently denies.

Jewish adults, who overwhelmingly skew Democratic, have a slightly more favorable opinion of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, than of Netanyahu, the poll found.

“You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight,” Emanuel told a packed auditorium of students and supporters in a speech hosted by the university's Center for the Study of the United States. “You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity.”

A plan to end the pariah status

Emanuel offered a slate of tough love for Israel to “bust it out of its strategic pariah status,” focused on strengthening Israel’s diplomatic ties with Arab states and economic ties with the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, to provide an economic alternative to China’s sprawling multinational infrastructure program.

Specifically, he wants to end U.S. subsidies to Israel’s defense budget, arguing the country should pay for American defense like any other ally. He also wants to sanction Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property, along with politicians who offer their support for that violence. He added that America turning a blind eye toward Israeli injustices had “engendered the worst of your domestic politics.”

The speech was well-received by the liberal Tel Aviv University crowd, who applauded even when Emanuel condemned Israel's policies, such as Netanyahu's role in not preparing for the day after in Gaza. He said “true friends tell each other the truth.”

Israeli media, however, preoccupied with the NATO conference in Turkey and a possible flare-up of conflict with Iran, barely registered Emanuel’s visit.

Rather than a two-state solution, Emanuel wants to push a 23-state solution, involving 21 Arab states, that would hold the Palestinians accountable for progressing toward a sovereign nation while accepting the historic Jewish connection to the land. The new, three-pronged U.S. policy would leverage the Arab world’s desire for stability, Israel’s need for security, and Palestinian demands for sovereignty, he said.

Emanuel arrived in Israel on Sunday, and visited several projects prior to his speech. One was a partnership between hospitals in Tel Aviv and Nablus where Israeli and Palestinian doctors train together. He also met researchers who recently published a report finding that sexual violence was systematic against Israelis in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks and their aftermath.

Emanuel also visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum and memorial in Jerusalem, and met with President Isaac Herzog.

He told The Associated Press earlier in the week he is avoiding meeting with political leaders before the country’s elections in the fall. Israel’s presidency is a largely ceremonial position that is meant to unify the country and be above party politics. The country's president is elected by the 120-member Knesset for a single 7-year term.

A country abandoned by its government

Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the speech. Netanyahu famously called Emanuel a “self-hating Jew” over Emanuel's condemnation of Israel’s expansion of settlements in 2009, when he served as President Barack Obama's chief of staff. His denunciation so incensed far-right Israelis that a number of activists were detained while protesting his son's bar mitzvah in Jerusalem the next year, Emanuel recalled.

One of the activists police detained was Itamar Ben-Gvir, who today serves as Israel’s public security minister and oversees the police, which Emanuel dryly noted was representative of Israel's overall political direction in the past 15 years.

Emanuel, whose father was born in Jerusalem and fought in the 1948 war that led to the founding of Israel, also took time in his speech to acknowledge the toll of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in which Hamas-led militants launched air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts.

In his conversations with Israelis over the past several days, the intensity of feeling that the country had been abandoned by its government surprised him, Emanuel said before his speech. “This sense of post-Oct. 7 vulnerability, I had read about it, but you don’t feel the visceralness of this and the rawness of this until you sit across the table from people,” he said.

While no prominent Democrat has formally entered the 2028 presidential contest, that is likely to change soon after the November midterms. Emanuel, who also served as a congressman, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan, has been one of the most direct about his intentions as a possible candidate. For example, he's done bike tours of early voting states like New Hampshire.

Emanuel, who said he still hadn’t officially decided to run, was emphatic Wednesday that the Democrats do not need to give up on Israel in order to win the White House in 2028. But Americans need to take a new direction when it comes to Israel, he said.

“The status quo is unacceptable, where you can’t say anything negative, which is an implicit endorsement,” he said. ___

This story has been corrected to reflect that Israel's president is an elected by the 120-member Knesset.

___ Associated Press writer Steven Sloan contributed from Washington and Steve Peoples contributed from New York.

Detroit police said someone was renovating an apartment building in the 5200 block of S Clarendon on Wednesday, July 8, at around 10:30 a.m., when they discovered possible adult human remains.

Detroit police are investigating. No further details were provided.

We started losing only seconds of daylight on June 22nd after the summer solstice. Today, July 8th, marks the first day of the year that daylight is lost at more than one minute per day.

Metro Detroit has about 15 hours and 6 minutes of daylight today. Our last day with at least 15 hours of daylight will be on July 13th.

The rate of daylight loss does start to slow around the autumn equinox, continuing until the winter solstice in December before we’ll go back to gaining daylight.

We still have plenty of warm days and sunshine to enjoy, including the near forecast.

This evening will be beautiful with a few clouds and a light breeze. Tonight’s temperatures fall only to the mid 60s before highs tomorrow are back into the mid 80s to near 90°.

Scattered rain develops later-day Thursday and lingers into Friday before we dry out again. Highs Friday and Saturday will be around 85° before warmer weather moves in next week.

In the first set of minutes released under new chair Kevin Warsh, “many” of the Fed's 19 officials said its key rate would be unchanged from or slightly below its current level of 3.6% by the end of this year. But “many” also said that it would likely be higher by year-end.

Forecasts released after the meeting ended June 17 showed that half of the 18 policymakers who submitted projections supported lifting rates by the end of this year, while the other half supported keeping them unchanged or reducing them. Warsh did not submit a forecast, reflecting his view that doing so can lock policymakers into a specific approach that is harder to change if the economy shifts direction.

Half support a hike by end of year, half don't

The minutes underscored the deep divisions among Fed officials, particularly over the future path of inflation. The policymakers generally expected inflation would decline as gas prices cooled and the effect of tariffs faded. Yet many officials also worried that massive investment in the artificial intelligence buildout would keep inflation elevated by lifting prices for semiconductors and other technology goods.

The minutes, released three weeks after the June 16-17 meeting, also said that a few officials believed there was “a case for raising” the Fed’s rate at that meeting, but they agreed to keep it unchanged, a decision that was approved by a unanimous vote. The minutes don't disclose the identities of which officials supported which outcomes.

Warsh was appointed by President Donald Trump earlier this year to replace Jerome Powell, whose term ended in May. Trump had repeatedly criticized Powell for not reducing borrowing costs quickly enough, but for now there's little sign Warsh is moving to cut rates. Powell, meanwhile, is still on the Fed's policymaking committee, serving a term as a Fed governor that lasts until January 2028.

During a news conference June 17, Warsh emphasized that the Fed will return inflation to its 2% target, which it has missed for more than five years. His comments were interpreted by economists and Wall Street investors as evidence that the Fed may hike rates later this year.

AI likely to be an inflation driver, minutes say

A key concern for many Fed officials is the potential for the AI buildout to contribute to higher inflation by pushing up prices for semiconductors, computer equipment, and electricity. Data centers require significant power to operate.

“Many participants noted that ongoing strong demand for AI infrastructure would likely sustain upward pressure on prices for technology products and electricity,” the minutes said.

Last month, Apple said it would increase the price of laptops and iPads because of more expensive memory chips.

Consumers are worried inflation will stay high

Inflation has worsened since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, reaching a three-year high of 4.2% in May. As the conflict has eased, gas prices have fallen back and inflation is likely to cool when June’s figures are reported next week.

But another concern for the Fed is whether Americans are increasingly expecting prices to stay high. If consumers and businesses assume inflation will remain elevated, such an outcome can become self-fulfilling. Businesses then are more likely to raise prices in anticipation of higher costs and more workers are likely seek higher pay to offset rising costs.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that its measure of consumer expectations for inflation one year from now rose to 3.7%, the highest in nearly three years. Expectations for inflation in three years rose to 3.3%, a four-year high.

Most Fed officials, including Warsh, say they closely monitor expectations, though many put more weight on financial market measures. Those measures have been lower and more stable than those based on consumer surveys.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Balam Coffee & Wine in Ferndale
• Cellar 59 Wine Bar in Clinton Township
• Ladder 4 Wine Bar in Detroit
• Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room in Royal Oak
• Tennerra Winery in Sterling Heights

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

Department of Homeland Security officials said in a statement that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, ignored commands while trying to evade arrest during an enforcement operation. They say he attempted to ram his car into an agent, who opened fire in self-defense.

Araujo's family said he was on his way to work at a construction job. He died on the way to the hospital.

The fatal shooting drew immediate criticism from immigrants rights groups and some Democrats who called for an independent investigation and for all footage, communication and evidence to be preserved.

Video footage in several previous shootings has contradicted the accounts of federal officers. No immigration officers have been charged in those fatal encounters.

Man shot during vacation trip traffic stop

A fatal late-night traffic stop in Texas in March 2025 marked the earliest deadly shooting by federal officers during the nationwide immigration crackdown. It took almost a year for records in the fatal shooting of the 23-year-old U.S. citizen to be disclosed.

A Homeland Security Investigations team was conducting an immigration enforcement operation with local police when agents stopped Ruben Ray Martinez on his way from San Antonio to South Padre Island. Family members said he had just turned 23 and was with his best friend on his way to celebrate.

DHS officials said Martinez was told to exit the vehicle, refused and instead “intentionally ran over” an agent. Another agent fired shots through the open driver's window, striking Martinez, who died at a hospital. The HSI agent was treated for an undisclosed knee injury.

Martinez's mother said she was contacted by investigators with the Texas Rangers who told her there was video that contradicted the account given by federal agents. Federal and state authorities have declined to comment on potential discrepancies.

Nurse shot during Minneapolis protest

A Border Patrol officer shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, during a Jan. 24 protest against the Metro Surge immigration operation in Minneapolis.

Federal authorities immediately described Pretti, a U.S. citizen, as an armed agitator who was a threat to officers. But bystander video showed Pretti was on the ground and had been holding a cellphone during the interaction with officers.

The video showed an officer appearing to pull a gun from Pretti's waistband and step away before the first shot was fired by another officer, followed by more shots. Pretti had a permit to possess a firearm.

State and local officials pushed back against the federal officials' initial characterizations of Pretti, with Gov. Tim Walz calling the comments “despicable.”

Driver shot behind the wheel of an SUV

Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, was repeatedly shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Videos show she was turning the wheels of her car away from officer, Jonathan Ross, when he opened fire. Trump administration officials have repeatedly defended Ross, claiming his life was at risk from the moving vehicle.

Good’s death caused a firestorm across the country. The U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn’t share information on the shooting with state authorities.

State and local officials subsequently sued to try to stop the immigration sweeps. Protesters with whistles trailed officers who, in response, deployed tear gas and other chemical irritants.

Cook from Mexico shot during a traffic stop

ICE agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop Sept. 12 in suburban Chicago. Relatives said the 38-year-old line cook from Mexico had dropped off a child at daycare that morning.

At the time, DHS officials said agents were pursuing a man with a history of reckless driving who was in the country illegally. They alleged Villegas González evaded arrest and dragged an officer with his vehicle.

Homeland Security said the officer opened fire fearing for his life and was hospitalized with “serious injuries.” However, local police videos showed the agent walking around and dismissing his injuries as “nothing major.”

DHS has said the death remains under investigation.

Farmworker fell from greenhouse roof during ICE raid

Authorities were arresting dozens of farmworkers July 10 at Glass House Farms in southern California when Jaime Alanis fell from the roof of a greenhouse and broke his neck. The 57-year-old laborer from Mexico died at a hospital two days later.

Relatives said Alanis had spent a decade working at the farm in Camarillo, about an hour east of Los Angeles. During the raid, Alanis called family to say he was hiding. Officials said he fell about 30 feet (9 meters) from the greenhouse roof.

Homeland Security said Alanis was never in custody and was not being chased by immigration authorities.

Man struck on California freeway after running from officers

A man fleeing from immigration officers outside a Home Depot store in southern California died after being hit by an SUV as he tried to cross a freeway on Aug. 14.

Police in Monrovia, northeast of Los Angeles, said ICE agents were conducting enforcement operations when the man was hit while running across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210.

The man, identified by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, 52, of Guatemala, died at a hospital.

Homeland Security said Montoya Valdez wasn’t being pursued by immigration authorities when he ran.

Gardener from Honduras killed on Virginia interstate

A pickup truck fatally struck Josué Castro Rivera on a highway in Norfolk, Virginia, as he tried to escape authorities during a traffic stop on Oct. 23.

Castro Rivera, 24, of Honduras, was heading to a gardening job with three passengers when ICE officers pulled over the vehicle, according to his brother, Henry Castro.

State and federal authorities said Castro Rivera ran away on foot and was hit by a pickup truck on Interstate 264.

Homeland Security said Castro Rivera’s vehicle was stopped as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and that Castro Rivera had “resisted heavily and fled.”

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Lauer reported from Philadelphia. AP reporters Ed White in Detroit; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed.

In posts that sometimes included photos and videos of their attacks on unconscious victims, they referred to women as “cars,” sedatives as “fuel” and rape as “driving,” according to court documents. They called their victims “dead pigs.”

Investigators have been poring through several years' worth of posts in roughly two dozen group chats on the popular messaging app that authorities believe served an online predator network of mainly Chinese men targeting mostly Chinese women in Germany. Their investigation has already led to the convictions of three alleged inner circle members on rape and other charges. A fourth was convicted Wednesday in Berlin.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of sexual violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-656-4673 in the U.S., 116 016 in Germany or 15117905157 in China.

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“The perpetrators were characterized by a particular ruthlessness, an objectification of the victims, and the perfidious planning of their crimes,” Frankfurt chief prosecutor Dominik Mies told The Associated Press.

Major details of the investigation remain unknown, at least to the public, including how many attacks and perpetrators have been linked to the German Telegram chats and how the chats, some of which reportedly had tens of thousands of members, could have operated for so long. It's also unclear if the chats are linked to a ballooning investigation in Europe and the Americas into drug-facilitated sexual assaults by misogynist online communities.

Chinese community rallies to support the victims

Under German privacy laws, prosecutors are limited in what they can say outside the courtroom, documents are restricted and, in the ongoing case in Berlin, members of the public have been forced to leave the courtroom during parts of the trial.

This may be why the investigation into the Telegram group has garnered less attention in Germany than might be expected. But members of the country's Chinese community, mostly women, have been attending court proceedings to show support for the victims even if they don't know them.

“What makes one really angry is to see that such groups hate women, they have no respect,” said Fu Xiao, who traveled roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) to Berlin last week to attend the trial. “Women aren’t seen as people.”

In China, state media has covered the cases comprehensively, but wider discussion about the prosecutions on Chinese-language social media like Rednote has been partially censored. Certain tags have been more likely to get a post deleted or banned on Rednote, screenshots and searches show. But posts using less direct language have survived the censors, including ones that refer to “date rape” or the euphemistic “students studying abroad in Germany.”

China’s Ministry of Public Security and Rednote didn't respond to requests for comment.

Cases echo a landmark French trial

The German cases have drawn comparisons to the attacks on Gisèle Pelicot, a French woman who, over the course of nearly a decade, was repeatedly drugged and raped by her then-husband and strangers he invited to their home. The trial — and Pelicot’s decision to waive her anonymity — prompted a reckoning over rape culture in France and beyond.

“Pelicot is not an isolated case,” Judge Markus Koppenleitner said during a hearing in Munich for one of the Chinese men convicted in the German investigation. “This is not a Chinese or French phenomenon, but one that also exists in Germany and, ultimately, worldwide.”

Similar cases to the “German driving school” investigation have been popping up around the globe. Although authorities haven't publicly linked them to the German prosecutions, some investigators have cited tips from German authorities and journalists as crucial to their progress.

In Los Angeles, German investigators last year reached out to police about a potential suspect in drug-facilitated sexual assaults. The defendant, a graduate student from China, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting three women in LA after he allegedly procured the drugs from a Chinese national in Germany.

In the Netherlands last month, police arrested four men suspected of drugging and sexually abusing women after hearing from authorities in Germany and the U.K. Dutch police said the alleged perpetrators used social media chat groups to disseminate videos showing the abuse and discuss how to drug victims.

And Europol, the European Union’s police agency, last week announced “Project Medusa,” an international operation designed to dismantle online networks that promote drug-facilitated sexual assaults. Law enforcement from Germany and the U.K. are leading the operation, which has already netted 57 arrests.

Cases raise questions about Telegram

The German predator network managed to thrive despite clear violations of Telegram’s terms of service, again raising questions about how the platform has been used for criminal activity.

In 2024, the app’s founder was arrested in Paris over allegations that the platform was being used for illicit activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images. He denied wrongdoing, blaming surging numbers of Telegram users that he said “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.” The investigation is ongoing.

“Sexual violence is explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and such content is routinely removed,” the company said in a statement. “Telegram fulfils all of its legal obligations in relation to such harmful content, including everything set out by” the European Union's Digital Services Act.

The company didn't respond to questions about the German cases, including how photos, videos and comments about sexual crimes were posted for years in the app, whether Telegram was aware of the activity and what, if anything, it did to alert the authorities.

Some of the German Telegram chats date back to at least 2020, court documents show. Attorney Magdalena Gebhard, who represented a victim in a previous Berlin trial that led to a conviction, said there was an inner circle of eight perpetrators but that some of the chat groups had up to 50,000 members.

Police only became aware of the network in 2024 after a man in Frankfurt, referred to by German courts as Dapeng Z., changed his tactics from drugging and sexually abusing female acquaintances to targeting strangers he met online, according to prosecutors.

German police arrested Dapeng Z., whom German and Chinese media have reported is the group's ringleader, in 2024 in cooperation with Chinese law enforcement, according to the Chinese consulate in Frankfurt and the Beijing News, a state-run media outlet.

He was sentenced in February to 14 years in prison for aggravated rape, attempted murder and other offenses, though he has appealed. His attorneys didn't respond to a request for comment.

Although authorities haven’t publicly said how many women were victimized by the “driving school” network, they have said their investigation is ongoing, meaning there could be further arrests and additional victims. Gebhard’s client, for example, only learned she had been sexually assaulted after investigators discovered video footage.

Another defendant convicted in Berlin

On Wednesday, Zhiting S., a 32-year-old trained medic, was convicted of being an accessory to rape, among other charges, and sentenced to five years in prison. The defense plans to appeal the verdict.

The Berlin state court found that in the chats, Zhiting S. had pointed to a particular sedative before an assault by the man convicted in Frankfurt, though he wasn't alone in offering such advice.

Zhiting S. also was convicted on three charges of sexual coercion related to alleged abuse of his partner in China. Video recordings led investigators to those crimes.

Defense attorney Ehssan Khazaeli said earlier that his client has admitted being part of a chat group but did not offer any significant advice.

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Wu reported from Bangkok. Associated Press reporters Geir Moulson and Fanny Brodersen in Berlin, Molly Quell and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

It's another setback for the board of trustees, of which Trump is chairman, in a saga that began earlier this year when the Kennedy Center became: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

The conspicuous addition, and ensuing legal battle, became symbolic of Trump’s broader push to imprint his legacy — and, in this case, his actual name — on the nation's capital in his final term.

The panel of judges wrote Wednesday that the board of trustee's request "failed to show how they will be irreparably injured” if Trump's name remains off the building through the appeal process.

The board had argued that the removal “threatens to impede" fundraising efforts, but the judges found that claim came without the support of “specific facts or evidence.”

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

“His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people,” said U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio who filed the lawsuit. "Now it is time for the Trump administration to accept this, comply with the law, and take the tarps down.”

She was referring to tarps hung on scaffolding that had obscured the removal of Trump's name, and which still veil that part of the building's marble facade.

When Trump first took office in 2025, he replaced the Kennedy Center's board of trustees, who then named him chairman. His name was quickly added to the building. A federal judge then ruled that the name change was illegal, prompting the ensuing legal battle.

Oil prices rose to their highest point in weeks after President Donald Trump declared the U.S. ceasefire with Iran over, responding to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and on American military sites in other Gulf nations. Costlier crude oil could lead to costlier gas station fill-ups as drivers in many countries were getting a break from elevated prices brought on by the war.

“Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has essentially stopped, which tells you more about risk perception right now than any statement from Washington or Tehran," said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, in an email. “Oil markets reacted quickly to the renewed geopolitical risk."

U.S. gasoline prices increased slightly Wednesday to an average of $3.80 for a gallon of regular, up from $3.79 the day before, but still well below the month-ago average of $4.16, according to motor club federation AAA.

Crude oil makes up the bulk of the price of gasoline, so when oil prices rise, gasoline eventually follows. But it can take weeks for consumers to feel the full impacts. That's because refiners make gasoline with oil purchased in advance. The finished product then has to travel through a system of pipelines and trucks to reach gas station pumps.

Gas station owners set prices at the pump, and to stay competitive, they sometimes absorb the impact of higher oil prices instead of immediately passing it along to customers.

To suppress high oil prices during the war, the U.S. and other countries released oil from their emergency stockpiles starting in March. But those stockpiles won’t last forever.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 319.5 million barrels as of July 3. The last time the inventory was that low was in 1983, when the reserve was initially being filled up.

“Unfortunately, the drawdown of strategic stocks means that there is a lot less ammunition in Trump’s holster,” said Michael Lynch, a distinguished fellow at Energy Policy Research Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts.

A barrel of U.S. benchmark crude was selling for $75.80 on Wednesday, the highest price in more than two weeks. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed close to $79 per barrel, its highest level since June 19.

The market reaction "highlights how sensitive prices remain to any escalation around the strait, given its role as a critical transit route for global oil flows,” Leon said.

Shipping uncertainty increases after fresh strikes

A day after the U.S. accused Iran of striking three commercial vessels and revoked the country's ability to openly sell crude oil on the world market, some advised the shipping industry to reconsider whether it was safe to send crewed ships through the Strait of Hormuz — and the wider Middle East.

International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez condemned attacks on ships in the strait.

“As long as the safety and security of crews cannot be assured, I urge flag states, shipowners, operators and all relevant authorities to avoid exposing seafarers to unnecessary danger by transiting the strait,” Dominguez said Wednesday. “The situation in the region remains volatile.”

Some traffic traversed the strait on Tuesday, according to data and analytics company Kpler, which verified 41 crossings compared to 36 on Monday. It was unclear if the crossings happened before or after the strikes. Some vessels also are going “dark” to pass through the strait and not broadcasting their locations, further complicating a complete count.

With the central route through the strait uncrossable due to mines, ships have been using two other routes, the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters. The three ships struck Tuesday appeared to be using the Omani route.

An economist at advisory firm Oxford Economics said the ceasefire probably would continue to be on-and-off and Washington and Tehran could still deescalate the latest tensions instead of returning to war.

“The question is whether the latest developments merely represent a bump in the road or if we’re emerging from the ‘eye of the storm,‘” Ben May, the firm's director of global macroeconomic research, wrote in a research note. “While Trump said negotiations with Iran were a ‘waste of time’, he maintained an off-ramp by noting that U.S. negotiators would continue talks with Iran, suggesting the truce hasn’t been irrevocably broken.”

The new doubts about the Strait of Hormuz came after two of the biggest shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, announced Monday that their Gemini Corporation joint partnership would gradually resume service in the Suez Canal, which was paused due to attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthis.

Recent stability in the Middle East created the conditions for the companies' decision, but "the recent deterioration could put this resumption in jeopardy once again,” said Judah Levine, head of research at freight booking platform Freightos. “The said.

Hapag-Lloyd said in a Wednesday statement that it made the joint decision after “thorough assessments of the security situation in the Red Sea area” and “if the situation changes or deteriorates, contingency plans are in place.”

It came despite a fresh storm of old Trump criticism toward U.S. allies that seemed to put his commitment in doubt. In the end, Trump told reporters, “There was a lot of love in that room. A lot of unity."

"We’ve had a tremendous time and I think a great success," Trump said later at a news conference.

In a declaration, the leaders said their pledge to Article 5 of NATO’s treaty is “ironclad.” They said that “an attack on one is an attack on all.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said U.S. allies “warmly welcomed President Trump’s leadership.” It jarred after Trump had insisted his America should take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous part of ally Denmark.

“The message from this summit is simple. NATO delivers,” Rutte said.

Here are some takeaways from the summit.

Iran strikes and a possible NATO role

Most of the time, U.S. military strikes are ordered up while the president is close to home.

So Trump’s decision to authorize retaliatory strikes on Iran shortly after leaving a NATO leaders’ dinner was unusual, and underscored a beef he has with the alliance.

Trump has complained bitterly that allies didn’t help him keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

Intriguingly, Rutte refused to rule out a future role for the alliance in the war.

“Obviously Iran is outside NATO territory,” Rutte said. He added: “If helpful, NATO is always willing to play a role. But first now, let’s see what happens over the coming days and weeks.” It’s something likely to please Trump.

NATO prides itself as a defensive alliance focused on protecting the transatlantic area. Its last venture outside, into Afghanistan, ended in chaos and allies are reluctant to get drawn into any other war.

Let them have Patriots, and perhaps F-35s

Trump said the U.S. will give a license for its Patriot air defense systems to be made overseas for Ukraine to counter Russian missile attacks — a huge coup for Ukraine, which sorely needs the technology for a war now in its fifth year.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”

Patriots are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to produce. Zelenskyy has for years been asking for more, and recently for a license so that Ukraine can manufacture its own, and faster.

In an uplifting moment for the summit host, Trump announced that the U.S. was prepared to lift sanctions on Turkey, opening the way for the possible sale of F-35 jets to the country, despite objections from Israel.

"I haven’t totally made up my mind,” he said.

Ankara purchased Russian missile defense systems in 2019 and was kicked out of the F-35 program.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has developed a close relationship with Trump, gave a thumbs-up after an interpreter relayed the news.

Good news for Ukraine; a softer Trump tone and a big loan

Beyond the Patriot announcement, Trump dropped his usual critical tone with Zelenskyy and praised his willingness to reach a deal on ending the fighting in Ukraine.

Trump said the Ukrainian president has “done an amazing job” and “been very effective” in the war.

“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe,” Trump said.

NATO leaders, meanwhile, agreed on a 70 billion euro ($80 billion) package of military support for Ukraine both this year and in 2027.

The figure involves 30 billion euros each year from a European Union loan program for Ukraine plus 40 billion euros from NATO allies. The Trump administration has all but stopped U.S. spending on Ukraine, and the United States will not take part.

NATO diplomats say that most of the 40 billion euros for 2026 has already been raised.

More cash and defense deals, and a stronger Europe

The meeting was marked by Rutte’s high-energy sales pitch to Trump. The former Dutch prime minister estimated that European allies and Canada would spend almost $300 billion more on defense this year and last.

At a “big reveal” defense industry event, backed by thumping techno music and slick videos, Rutte hailed the “tens of billions” of dollars that were being spent on weapons and military equipment contracts.

“I would argue that without you in this chair, this would not have happened,” Rutte told Trump in a tete-a-tete just before the meeting began. “Grab the win. It’s there.” Trump appears to have done so.

In their summit declaration, the leaders marked the start of a major transformation at the world’s biggest military alliance, saying that they are “building the future: a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO.”

Mystery surrounds NATO’s next summit

Albania was left wondering when, and perhaps even whether, it will host NATO’s next summit.

The Balkans country had been due to host one in 2027, but instead of referencing that rendezvous as they usually do, the leaders only said: “We look forward to our next meeting.”

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, a former professional basketball player, is generally well liked by his fellow leaders, but some NATO allies have cooled on the idea of holding a summit in Albania given his country’s low rate of defense spending.

Others want to avoid another potentially divisive meeting with Trump. Rutte said that Albania would be the venue, "but of course we still have to decide on an exact time.”

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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Ankara, Turkey, and Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

An attorney for Krystal Clark filed an emergency motion on Tuesday (July 7) requesting that she be moved to a secure medical facility, alleging she is not receiving the care she needs while incarcerated.

The motion claims Clark suffers from a documented mold allergy, ongoing fungal infections, respiratory problems, and hearing loss.

Clark’s attorney said her condition has continued to worsen while she remains housed at Huron Valley.

The request comes as scrutiny grows over conditions at the prison, where four incarcerated women have died since mid-May.

Clark’s attorney said her case is not connected to those deaths but argued the recent fatalities make her request more urgent.

“Crystal’s condition is getting worse,” Clark’s attorney, Shiraz Khan, said at a news conference. “Every day she’s in that same facility where she’s not getting the treatment that she needs.”

Clark’s family said they fear they are running out of time and have watched her health decline for years.

They said they believe she needs to be transferred before her condition worsens further.

“No matter what crime someone commits, they should still have access to proper medical care, safe living conditions, and they should be treated and respected as a human being,” said Clark’s son Larry Evans. “We cannot say that has been done at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility.”

Advocates also released photos they say show the progression of Clark’s condition, claiming a fungal infection has spread significantly over the past year.

They further alleged prison staff failed to provide appropriate medical care as recently as Tuesday, though those claims have not been independently verified.

The Michigan Department of Corrections has previously said it provides medically necessary care to people in its custody and has disputed broader allegations about conditions inside the facility.

A judge has not yet ruled on Clark’s emergency motion.

Read more --> Warden at Huron Valley women’s prison goes on ‘personal leave’ amid controversy over deaths

Trailing 2-0 against Egypt with 11 minutes of regulation time to play on Tuesday, the defending champions rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.

“We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity. We’re always together,” said Enzo Fernandez, who scored the winning goal in stoppage time.

Argentina will play Switzerland in the next round on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.

For much of Tuesday's game, it looked like it would be a painful exit for the 39-year-old Lionel Messi in what might be the last of his six World Cups.

Egypt led after goals in each half from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico and could have been ahead 3-0 if not for a video review that ruled out another score.

Argentina looked down and out, its bid to be the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 all but dead.

Cue a monumental comeback.

“The heart of Argentinians is always something that pushes, that we keep going no matter what, that we give everything until the end. And honestly, with the score 2-0, we looked a bit beaten,” Argentina striker Julian Alvarez said. “There was little time left, but we always manage to get something more by fighting until the end.”

Cristian Romero started the rally by scoring with a header in the 79th minute. Messi, who was in tears after the final whistle, scored his eighth goal of the tournament and record-extending 21st goal at the World Cup in the 83rd to level the score at 2-2 and Fernandez completed the comeback in injury time.

“Four years have passed since Qatar, and we’ve come to enjoy another World Cup — and we want to win it again. That’s what we’re aiming for,” Fernandez said.

Argentina is no stranger to heroic matches at the World Cup.

There was the 3-2 win over West Germany in the 1986 final. Then the 3-3 draw and eventual shootout victory against France to reclaim the title four years ago.

Cape Verde pushed Argentina to the brink in the last round before the defending champions eventually won 3-2 in extra time.

Tuesday's match was even more dramatic, with Messi having a first-half penalty saved and another effort hit the post.

“I’m so emotional,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “What a group of players, brother.”

Egypt took a surprising lead in the 15th minute when Ibrahim got ahead of Lisandro Martinez to meet Marwan Attia’s cross and head the ball into the bottom corner.

Argentina was quickly given the chance to level the match when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico in the box moments later. Referee François Letexier pointed to the penalty spot and Messi stepped up with an expectant crowd waiting for him to score.

Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir had other ideas, diving to his left to block the shot for Messi’s second penalty miss of the tournament after also failing from the spot against Austria in the group stage.

Despite being the all-time leading scorer at World Cups, Messi has now missed four of eight penalty kicks at the tournament.

After Messi hit the post later in the half, Shobeir pulled off another great save to stop Julian Alvarez from close range.

Egypt thought it had doubled its lead in the second half when Mostafa Zico finished off a sweeping attack. But the wild celebrations were cut short when a foul earlier in the move was confirmed on video review and the goal was disallowed.

That second goal for Egypt did come in the 67th from a similar break, and this time Zico’s effort counted. It just wasn't enough.

“We looked better compared to the reigning champions. We were better in everything, but the result,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said.

Hassan said he would not watch any further games at this year's World Cup, believing his team should have had a penalty before Argentina broke away for the winning goal.

“I’m not convinced with this outcome. I’m not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match,” he said. “I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selected wording, and saying hard luck and so on and so forth.

“We have been treated unfairly today,” Hassan said. “We have suffered injustice.”

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

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The blast that killed Mohamed al-Wahidi, an official with Egypt's relief arm in Gaza, turned what was supposed to be a moment of celebration — the live screening Tuesday of a potential upset against Argentina by an Arab team — into a reminder of how the near-daily Israeli strikes are continuing to kill civilians despite a truce reached in October.

In the months since the ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed 1,084 people, including nine killed by strikes and gunfire across Gaza on Wednesday, according to local health officials. Among the dead were two children, as well as a truck driver who was gunned down at a roadblock along the Philadelphi Corridor, an Israeli-controlled strip of land that runs along Gaza's border with Egypt.

The Israeli military said it shot the truck driver after he “ran towards the troops.” Another man was killed on the street by a drone in Gaza City.

The strike that killed Wahidi on Tuesday hit a car in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City at dusk, according to Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital. He said three others were killed in the attack, including the driver, Ahmed Daghmush, 33, and two brothers, 10-year-old Hamza al-Deri and 8-year-old Fari.

The Israeli military said Wahidi, who helped organize the soccer screenings in Gaza on Tuesday, was not a target of the strike. It said the attack was aimed at a Hamas militant and that it was checking whether Daghmush was the target. Abu Selmiya said he was a taxi driver without any known links to militant groups.

The committee for which Wahidi worked is the relief arm of the Egyptian government, which provides food, shelter and other assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.

Many in the Palestinian diaspora live across the border in Egypt, which was a key mediator of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Team Egypt's Gaza fan base has only grown since the start of the tournament, with coach Hossam Hassan spotlighting the plight of the Palestinian people in press briefings and on the pitch. He dedicated his team’s victory over Australia on Friday to both Egyptians and Palestinians and waved a Palestinian flag.

In a Monday briefing before the match against Argentina, Hassan urged the world to do more for the Palestinian people.

“I urge you, I urge all media officers, all athletes worldwide, regardless of their identities, maybe we can convey a collective message that is as follows, let the Palestinian people be, let them exist, let them live a life of their own," he said.

Israel’s military says its strikes target militants and it regrets harm to civilians. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect in October.

The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war stands at 73,110, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government and is staffed by medical professionals who maintain detailed records viewed as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Frankel from Jerusalem. Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed.