The Department of Homeland Security can now end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

The Supreme Court also voted 6-3 to clear the way for the Trump administration to potentially revive an immigration policy once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The court overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day.

Meanwhile, a liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service said.

Heres' the latest:

Merchant vessel hit by Iranian drone today

The merchant vessel that was attacked earlier today was hit by an Iranian drone, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, said that the merchant vessel Ever Lovely was attacked by a drone being flown by the Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the attack earlier on Thursday but only said that the ship was struck by a “projectile off Oman near UN-approved route for Strait of Hormuz.”

The center noted that there were no causalities nor any environmental impact.

U.S. says no Iranian funds have been released

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that no frozen funds have been released to Iran and will not be done until Iran meets the requirements of Trump’s interim Iran agreement.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC’s Squawk Box this week that Treasury would oversee how unfrozen funds would be spent.

“A very large percentage of it will go to buy U.S. foodstuffs and medicines,” he said.

U.N. agency pauses evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz

A U.N. maritime agency has paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz after the British military said a vessel was hit Thursday by a projectile off the coast of Oman.

The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.

It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using a U.N.-approved route through the strait without Tehran’s permission.

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Reflecting Pool liner was cut with a sharp knife or razor, National Park Service says

A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service says.

The agency reported the June 9 incident to U.S. Park Police, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration’s work on the project.

The police report indicates damage to the pool, “including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,″ Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.

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‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center in Florida is officially closed, governor says

The immigration center built in the Florida swamps known as “Alligator Alcatraz” is closing after nearly a year of holding thousands of immigrant detainees, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.

DeSantis said the center was always supposed to be temporary and now federal officials have enough ability to handle detention and deportation in more permanent facilities.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep the detainees in the Florida Everglades. All the of people kept at the isolated airstrip had been sent to other facilities.

Immigration advocates said the tents were never safe or humane to hold people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers, and have described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

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Homeland Security touts TPS win at Supreme Court

The top legal official at Homeland Security praised the Supreme Court’s decision on temporary protected status.

“The Court vindicates DHS yet again,” said James Percival, the department’s general counsel in a statement on X.

“The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense,” Percival said.

DHS secretary says the department is reevaluating warehouses purchased for ICE detention

Markwayne Mullin says his department is reevaluating the eleven warehouses his predecessor purchased to use as immigration detention facilities.

Mullin says some just “probably won’t work” and suggested a lack of “due diligence” when it came to purchasing the warehouses. They were purchased under Mullin’s predecessor, Kristi Noem.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement received huge pushback around the country after the purchases became known.

When Mullin came into office, he paused any new purchases and federal officials have been looking at ways to offload some of them.

Federal judge halts Trump’s election executive order seeking to create a federal voter list

The executive order also sought to limit who can receive a mail ballot.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president’s order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year’s midterm election cycle.

Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits, both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump’s order should be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, noting in her ruling that the provisions of Trump’s order “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.”

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Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.

The decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

The Trump administration argued judges can’t second-guess immigration officials’ decisions about the protections, which were intended to be temporary.

Immigration attorneys said the countries remain unsafe to return, and the administration ended them in an unlawfully hasty process tinged by racial animus. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

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Supreme Court clears way for the Trump administration to revive a restrictive immigration policy

The policy was once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The justices overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day under the Obama administration and during Trump’s first term.

Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe makeshift shelters to await their turn. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase of asylum seekers at the border.

The policy isn’t in place now, though authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers.

The administration argues that metering is a critical tool that’s been used by presidents of both parties and should stay available.

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Trump’s showdown with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy

President Trump was attending a private lunch Wednesday with the Senate GOP when he wondered aloud how anyone could have voted for a war powers resolution a day earlier that sought to block further U.S. military action against Iran.

Cassidy, one of the four Republicans who backed the measure, was ready with an answer.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, recounted to reporters afterward. “This is supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

Things deteriorated from there.

When Cassidy told Trump he would continue voting for war powers resolutions until there’s a congressional briefing on developments in Iran, the senator recalled that Trump “did not particularly care for my comments” and “raised his voice.”

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic,” the person said.

Cassidy acknowledged losing his temper, which he said was “not appropriate.”

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— Steven Sloan and Lisa Mascaro

Oil tankers use new route through Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian threats

Several tankers made their way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday using a new route promoted by a U.N. maritime agency. Iran has threatened vessels using the path, which runs along the coast of Oman.

The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing talks about the interim deal signed last week with the United States.

Traffic through the strait has increased but is still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 a barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.

The two sides are still debating terms of the deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

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Key inflation gauge jumps to 3-year high in latest sign of affordability challenges

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked, a sign rising costs could pose political problems for President Trump as midterm elections near.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March.

The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI build out. Rising prices have caused the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to keep their key rate unchanged this year, a reversal from January when they had penciled in two cuts. Some economists forecast the central bank could lift rates this year instead.

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Lawmakers demand answers as turmoil over Reflecting Pool repair continues

Congressional Democrats called for investigations Wednesday into renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as the ongoing drama over the president’s problem-plagued, $16 million rehabilitation project continued to roil the capital.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate demanded answers about the saga that’s been highlighted in the news cycle for weeks, even as the White House has repeatedly blamed — without evidence — unidentified vandals for peeling paint and other problems. Six people have been arrested, President Donald Trump said, without providing details, and a local wildlife nonprofit conducted necropsies on dead ducks found near the Reflecting Pool. The president has said the pool may need to be drained once again for additional repairs.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, challenged the Trump administration over no-bid contracts for work on the Reflecting Pool, saying they were awarded to vendors with previous relationships to Trump.

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Senate Republicans reject war powers resolution after Trump berates them at Capitol meeting

Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.

Trump harangued GOP senators face-to-face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

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The reaction comes after emails show the township was in talks with a data center developer about what would need to happen for the project to become reality -- and how “excited” the township supervisor was about the project.

The conversations were happening behind the publics back, and the residents who exposed those emails say they show unethical behavior.

Washington Township supervisor Sebastian “Sam” Previti has held that position since 2020. His profile page on the Washington Township website promises increased transparency and open communication. Communication residents say they were kept in the dark about until this emails came out.

The Investigators at Local 4 sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Washington Township to obtain our own copies of those emails. The township released 1,642 pages to us.

Corinne Graper, the leader of the Stop the Washington Township Data Center Committee, spoke to us about what this means to the people who live in the township.

“Our town has been through enough, and we just want transparency, and we want the truth to come out,” Graper said.

Washington Township is located in northern Macomb County. It’s known for its rural character -- a character residents have said is important to them and worth preserving.

“We have hundreds of acres of open land in our towns. So we are very vigilant to make sure that these ordinances get in place, that there’s honor and integrity at our township, and so that this never happens again,” Graper said.

The “this” Graper is talking about involves the scandal surrounding the plots of land at 32 Mile and Powell Roads -- and communication between the township and real estate company Prologis.

The discussions started in 2024, when the land was being considered for a Stellantis warehouse. That plan didn’t work out, but Prologis and the township stayed in touch -- and began floating plans for a data center.

A June 9, 2025, email from Prologis asks for a “telephone conversation” with “DTE that Washington Township supports a data center campus.” It lays out a plan to ramp up energy use to “800MW” over five years. A hyperscale data center draws at least 100MW.

The next day, an email from a senior planner with the township lays out zoning, saying, “the majority of the site you are considering falls within the Industrial/Research/Technology future use category.”

The future land use map of that area actually shows it’s a majority recreation, rural, and multi-family zoning. That means it would need to be re-zoned.

On Sept. 3, 2025, Previti made a motion for the planning commisison to investigate the area for potential re-zoning.

In June, it was announced that Prologis has withdrawn their application. That means, there won’t be a data center. At least not for now.

Then there’s this social media post from Previti. On June 11, 2026, he posted a long message announcing a 6-month moratorium on data centers to “ensure Washington Township is properly protected from incompatible future development proposals.”

Dear Residents,

To continue lines of communication and transparency, as of last night I was informed that Prologis has notified our Planning and Zoning Department Director Dana Berschback verbally that they are no longer under contract with the property owners along 32 Mile Road between M-53 and Powell Road.

The proposed project included the possible purchase of property owned by the Meiers, Blakes, and Karam families for the development of a data center. However, Prologis has indicated that DTE Energy has informed them it will not be able to provide the necessary power capacity to support such a facility within the timeframe they were anticipating.

This news will undoubtedly come as a relief to many residents who have expressed concerns and remained actively engaged and vigilant throughout this process.

As many of you may recall, Prologis first approached Washington Township in 2024 regarding a potential Stellantis warehouse project. Stellantis ultimately relocated that project to Van Buren Township. Since that time, Prologis has explored several potential uses for these properties and remained in communication with the landowners regarding a possible acquisition, but never purchased.

Prologis previously presented a rezoning proposal at the December 11, 2025 Planning Commission meeting. That proposal was later placed on hold, and the rezoning application was officially withdrawn on May 19, 2026.

Following the withdrawal of the application, I was proud to make the motion on May 20, 2026 to establish a 6-month moratorium to allow our Planning Commission, consultants, engineers, acoustical expert, fire professionals, and environmental specialist the opportunity to thoroughly review our ordinances and ensure Washington Township is properly protected from incompatible future development proposals.

I am equally proud to report that this important work continues. Although this particular proposal appears to have been removed from consideration for the time being, our Planning Commission and consultants will remain actively engaged in developing strong, enforceable, and legally defensible ordinances addressing not only just data centers but also large scale industrial uses.

Our next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 11, at 6:30 p.m. I encourage all residents to attend, stay informed, and hear firsthand the progress being made on these proposed ordinances.

I am proud to have board approval that we have engaged a reputable acoustic engineer, water engineer, fire and safety engineer, and we are now in the process of reviewing an environmental engineer to help complete and solidify this ordinance with our legal and planning consultants..

This has been a long several months for our Planning Commissioners, Board members, consultants, and Township staff. I would like to sincerely thank each of them for their dedication, professionalism, and perseverance throughout this process. I also want to thank our residents for their patience, engagement, and advocacy.

We must remain focused and continue the important work of protecting the future of Washington Township as technology continues to evolve.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Thank you & God Bless You All!

Sebastian 'Sam' Previti (Facebook Post from June 11, 2026)

But there’s this email from Previti to DTE almost exactly a year prior, where he says just how “excited” the township is about the possibility of working with Prologis and how they’ll “help in any way to facilitate this project.”

So, does Previti want a data center or not? Previti says these communications with Prologis were “preliminary and exploratory” and that the township has a responsibility to listen.

“I think he has a lot of trust to rebuild with the community and that starts with taking accountability for his actions and apologizing and admitting that either he wanted a data center developer to come in or he didn’t do his due diligence,” Graper said.

It’s worth noting that the reason Previti says Prologis backed out was because DTE told them they wouldn’t be able to support the facility in the time frame they wanted.

The Investigators at Local 4 reached out to Previti requesting an interview, but did not hear back. He did post a video on social media on June 15, 2026, offering up a timeline to residents. You can watch that here.

Washington Township FOIA documents

Turns out family might really be the biggest factor behind Williams’ decision to return to the pro game after nearly four years away.

Her two daughters, eight-year-old Olympia and Adira, who is almost three, have been with her every step of the way as she played two doubles warmup matches before accepting wild card invitations to both the singles and doubles (with older sister Venus) competitions at Wimbledon, which starts Monday.

“Just finished a mean game of duck duck goose,” Williams said on X shortly after her singles wild card was announced last weekend.

A big hint about Williams’ return came when she posted a video of a training session last month with Adira on court helping with a resistance band.

“Rumor has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams said in her Instagram caption.

Christopher Eubanks, a recently retired pro turned Tennis Channel commentator, saw up close how Williams interacted with her family at her first tournament back at Queen’s Club, where he performed an on-court interview with the American great and doubles partner Victoria Mboko.

“There’s no changes to her legacy that will come as a result of this return. I don’t see anyone changing their mind about where Serena Williams stands all-time,” Eubanks told The Associated Press on Thursday of the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion.

“This is about more than just records. At this point, it’s more about family," said Eubanks, who will be working for ESPN at Wimbledon. "Not just playing in front of her daughters, but having her daughters sit there and watch her train every day and have to wake up and put in the long, hard yards and doing fitness and doing treatment. For her daughters to have to watch her be super disciplined, that has to be just as much of a factor."

When Williams last played in singles at the 2022 U.S. Open, Olympia had just turned five and Adira wasn’t even born yet.

“They will forever know (Williams) as, ‘Oh, you know, mommy is the GOAT of tennis,’" Eubanks said, using the acronym for “greatest of all time.”

"But then if they have memories of being able to actually watch her go through that training, to me, that feels like what this is about more than anything else,” Eubanks added.

He seems to be on to something, because the daughters did not seem overly enthusiastic about her match at Queen’s.

“Adira wanted to go to the toy store, and Olympia wanted to know what was for dinner,” Williams said.

Court-side seat

Eubanks had a court-side seat for Williams’ match with Mboko and felt like her ball striking was “as good as it’s ever looked.”

He was also “really impressed with her serve."

“A lot of times that can be a very difficult thing to get back after having an extended time off and her serve looked great,” Eubanks said. “She had one serve up near 120 mph. And the purity with which the ball comes off of her strings off the ground on both the forehand and the backhand side looks as dialed in as I’ve seen.”

Decelerating difficulties

The biggest challenge for Williams in singles will likely be her fitness and movement, which on grass is more nuanced than on other surfaces.

“The hardest part for me I always felt was the decelerating and the stopping because you have to take extra steps in order to come to a stop,” said Eubanks, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2023 and a career-high ranking of No. 29 that year.

Williams won the last of her seven Wimbledon singles titles a decade ago

“Whereas on a hard court you can kind of plant your foot, you can slide, you can decelerate a lot easier," Eubanks said. "But on the grass it takes a lot more steps and a lot more pounding on the body before you can change direction. So that’s going to be the biggest thing to watch: Her ability to decelerate and stop out of the corners in order to change direction.”

Williams might come forward to the net more and attempt to end points more quickly than she used to — kind of how Novak Djokovic has used his volleying skills more in recent years.

“That would be," Eubanks said, “what I would expect to see.”

Richard Williams

Eubanks is only 30 and the Williams sisters were role models for him as a kid.

“They were always kind of the guiding light,” he said. “They’ve been a huge influence on me personally.”

Before last month's French Open, Eubanks was invited to a dinner for Black players hosted by Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend.

Coco Gauff, retiring Frenchman Gael Monfils and doubles specialist Asia Muhammad also attended.

The Williams sisters and their father, Richard Williams, were a big conversation topic.

“Everybody in that room, at some point their parents were heavily involved in their tennis,” Eubanks said. “Our parents all mentioned Richard Williams and the Williams sisters and how they did it and everyone kind of bonding over, ‘Man, Richard Williams, his name went all over the world.’”

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

Now, his mother is speaking out, hoping her son’s story saves another family from the same heartbreak.

A life cut short

Justin Bernath loved sports, music and giving back to his community. By all accounts, he was a kid who lived life fully and loved every moment of it.

“He would have never wanted to die, never. He loved his life, loved life to the fullest. And he would never want that,” said his mother, Erin Bernath.

Justin died June 9 of this year after participating in the dangerous online trend. The “Choking Game” encourages kids to briefly restrict their breathing for a quick rush — a stunt that can cause permanent brain damage or, as in Justin’s case, death.

Not a new danger

The “Choking Game” isn’t new — it’s been around for decades. But social media has given it a wider, faster reach, putting it in front of younger and more vulnerable audiences. Across the country, news organizations are tracking deaths linked to the dangerous challenge.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Rose Moten says the appeal isn’t hard to understand when you consider how the adolescent brain works.

“As adults, we can look at these challenges and say, ‘Why would you engage yourself in something so dangerous?’ But they haven’t reached that stage of development where they understand the consequences of their behavior,” Moten said.

Why kids say yes

Moten says the drive to fit in plays a major role in why children take part in risky online trends.

“Social belongingness is a powerful motivator for children, and it should be,” she said.

She encourages parents to build open, safe relationships with their kids — creating space for honest conversations about the pressures kids face online before a dangerous dare becomes a tragedy.

Justin’s mom becomes his voice

As painful as it is to relive, Erin says her son would have wanted her to speak up.

“Kids are supposed to be kids. They’re not supposed to be doing these crazy things that you know aren’t healthy. ‘But, it’s cool.’ It’s not cool. It’s not cool. I think life is cool. I think my son living is cool, you know?” she said.

Surrounded by family and friends who chant “Justin Strong,” Erin is spreading that message — and calling on social media platforms to do more to remove harmful content before it reaches another child.

Justin’s grandmother, Lori Danek, echoed that call with a simple, powerful hope.

“If we can help one family not feel the grief that we have, it will be worth it,” Danek said.

Through it all, Erin draws strength from the boy she lost — and the words he left her with.

“He used to call me his warrior and say, ‘Mom, you can do anything.’ So it’s helping more and more,” she said. The family has set up a GoFundMe to honor Justin’s legacy. Click here to donate.

TikTok, Meta and YouTube were contacted about their practices regarding the removal of dangerous content. As of publication, none had responded.

Watch the full interview below

Oscar Torres and thousands of others spent the last 24 hours keeping up with a flurry of messages posted to a WhatsApp group that connects people in Venezuela with their families. He lives in Doral, Florida, a city outside Miami that's home to the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S.

“Already this morning, I was looking at the group in Doral and everybody’s pitching in — money, medicine, water. First, necessity items,” said Torres, a sales manager who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela in 1995. “They’re talking about making the first shipment ASA

In Washington, the Trump administration said it’s sending $150 million to support relief efforts by aid groups and the United Nations, according to a U.S. State Department news release.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government was mobilizing a disaster response team to Venezuela that includes two urban search and rescue teams from fire departments in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. The U.S. military, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro in a surprise January drug arrest, will provide aircraft to help assess damage, assist searches and deliver aid.

Other countries including Mexico and Colombia also promised assistance.

People in the US scramble to reach their families in Venezuela

The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes Wednesday night caused severe damage to the country’s main airport in the capital of Caracas, which could hamper efforts to get aid into the country quickly. The quakes were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century.

In photos of the aftermath, injured children, animals and civilians covered in dust and blood were pulled out of concrete rubble.

In addition to those killed and injured, thousands more were missing — leaving many families members in the U.S. scrambling for updates. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities settling in Texas and Utah, in addition to Florida.

In the Houston area, home to a large Venezuelan community, residents used community Facebook groups and other social media to spread the word about local donation sites. First aid and medical supplies such as gauze, bandages, antiseptics, disposable gloves, face masks, syringes, thermometers and blood pressure monitors all were in demand.

Local resident Daniel Arenas translated a Spanish-language post into English and shared it Thursday on his LinkedIn page hoping people across Houston would step up and donate.

“I came to this country 10 years ago, built a life here, but my heart is still in Venezuela,” Arenas said. “It’s devastating what’s happening over there. They don’t have the resources to handle this.”

Arenas, a maritime industry consultant, said that his wife is concerned about her aunt, who lives in a high-rise apartment in Caracas and sent a distraught message on WhatsApp after the quakes hit.

“She was crying and screaming and saying she was in pain but not sure from where,” Arenas said. “She said she lost everything. She was desperate.”

Arenas said his wife was later able to reach her aunt.

In Venezuela, people are trapped in their homes or forced to sleep outside

Many of the sites mobilizing donations are in Katy, a suburb about 30 miles (48 km) west of downtown Houston that’s earned the nickname “Katyzuela” because of its high concentration of Venezuelans.

Luis Angarita, who lives in Katy, said his younger sister and family were forced to sleep outside in a park after their home was damaged in the mountain community of Caribia, some 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Caracas.

Angarita’s sister told him in a WhatsApp message that she’s trying to get everyone to their father’s home on the other side of the capital. But no taxis or buses are running and roads leading out of their mountain community are closed.

“Thank God they’re safe,” Angarita said in Spanish. “There are many displaced people and others are stuck in their homes, unable to leave. They need help.”

In Florida, workers for the Doral-based aid group Global Empowerment Mission on Thursday packed medical supplies, toiletries, cases of bottled water and nonperishable foods to be sent to Venezuela.

Despite damage to airports and roads, the aid group doesn’t foresee delays getting supplies into Venezuela, said Billy Richardson, the group’s U.S. logistics director.

“Sometimes it means using other airports, other means of transport, or even coming into other countries,” Richardson said by email.

Torres planned to contribute money for relief efforts. He still has uncles and cousins who live in Caracas and Valencia, another hard-hit Venezuelan city. He said some of them were injured as they fled buildings during the quakes.

“Their homes are destroyed and a few buildings have collapsed,” Torres said. “Thankfully, I don’t know anyone who passed away.”

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Marcelo reported from New York.

This week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Strategic Fund Board approved a $270,678,999 Transformational Brownfield Plan to support redevelopment of the former mall site.

$1B project takes shape

The plan calls for approximately 1,545 residential units across nine multifamily buildings, 154,007 square feet of new retail space, a central community park, green space and a mix of parking options. When complete, the project is estimated to generate more than $621 million in total capital investment.

“In order to get a billion-dollar investment in a community, it’s going to require some incentives at the local level and at the state level and that’s taken years,” said Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool. “It’s taken about three years just to get through that process.”

Vanderpool says the city’s vision for the project actually began more than a decade ago, making this approval a long time coming.

“We wanted to control our destiny. We wanted something that would be everlasting and last for generations. That’s why we’ve been so focused on this master plan and hard at work. To see it start to come to life is super exciting,” Vanderpool said.

What comes next

The project, led by Miami-based developer Lionheart Capital through its subsidiary Lakeside OOTB Ventures, LLC, will move forward in phases.

Demolition of the 1.5 million-square-foot structure is projected to begin in early 2027.

Before construction can begin, the city must first build out new infrastructure -- roads, sidewalks, paths, utilities and sewer systems. The City of Sterling Heights also intends to issue approximately $27.6 million in bonds to help cover those infrastructure costs.

Community reaction

For many residents, the memories tied to Lakeside Mall run deep.

Kevin Kmiec, who lives in Clinton Township, was there to witness both ends of the mall’s story -- when it opened and closed.

“I remember going there. I remember going here. I remember a good deal over there,” Kmiec said.

Not everyone is eager to see the mall go. Renee Torres, who lives in Shelby Township, says she wants her mall back.

“I think in the long run, people are going to miss their malls,” Torres said.

But Kmiec says he’s optimistic about what’s ahead.

“It’s going to really look nice when it’s over,” he said.

On social media, residents had mixed reactions. Some were sad to see the shopping destination go, while others were excited about what a walkable downtown could mean for the community.

Regional impact

City and state leaders are calling this a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

“Lakeside Town Center is one of the most transformational projects in Sterling Heights’ history, and really for the entire region,” said Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor. “This is the kind of once-in-a-generation investment that creates thousands of jobs, drives major economic activity and turns a former retail site into a vibrant mixed-use, walkable destination for living, working, shopping and gathering.”

Detroit Street Soccer has created a unique space where players of all ages and skill levels can come together for free pickup games. The goal is to help grow the game, build soccer culture and create a welcoming community centered around the sport.

The organization holds matches at The Lincoln Factory and offers an accessible way for people to stay active, meet new players and enjoy soccer without the barriers of league fees or formal competition. Pickup games are offered on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but the soccer celebration doesn’t stop there.

Detroit Street Soccer will host a World Cup Final Watch Party on July 19th, giving fans the chance to play pickup soccer and watch the championship match with fellow supporters.

For more information about the watch party and pickup soccer hours, visit Detroit Street Soccer’s website, where additional details are posted.

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

The 6-3 decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

It marked another victory at the high court for Republican President Donald Trump's sweeping crackdown on immigration. Though the conservative-dominated court has put the brakes on some of Trump’s immigration policies, it handed him a second win Thursday in a decision clearing the way for the revival of a policy restricting immigrants seeking asylum.

The court’s conservative majority found that immigration authorities have sole authority over the program, and the law doesn't allow judges to intervene.

The majority opinion from Justice Samuel Alito also brushed aside arguments that Trump's derogatory comments about Haitians showed the decision was unlawfully tinged by prejudice. He called the statements “insufficient to show that the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was based on the race of the Haitian people.”

Justice Elena Kagan forcefully disagreed, calling Trump's comments “so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print.” Her dissent pointed out that Trump had said Haitians in the U.S. “probably have AIDS,” and he also amplified false rumors during the 2024 campaign that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

Federal authorities deny that prejudice played a role, and argued that TPS was supposed to be temporary but has lasted over a decade in some cases.

James Percival, DHS general counsel, applauded Thursday’s ruling. He said the program had become “de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense.”

In a Fox News interview Thursday, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called it “a victory 10 years in the making," saying it allows Haitian migrants to “finally” be removed.

Lawyers said Haitian immigrants would be in danger if they are sent back. “Simply put, the Supreme Court’s ruling will directly result in thousands of innocent people dying violent, needless deaths,” Geoff Pipoly and Andy Tauber said.

They urged the Senate to approve an extension of deportation protections for Haitians that passed the House on a rare bipartisan vote in April.

“Families are here, kids are going to school, parents are going into work, folks are trying to commute, and it’s like the Supreme Court just put all those activities on stop and put folks in limbo,” said Viles Dorsainvil, who runs a support center for Haitians in Springfield, Ohio.

People with TPS are also a key part of the workforce in long-term care facilities, an industry group said. “This would be a dreadful loss for all seniors in our community,” said Rita Siebenaler, a resident at Goodwin Living, a senior living community in Virginia.

The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court after judges postponed the end of the program for about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The high court sided with the administration before and allowed the end of the program for people from Venezuela.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, Homeland Security has moved to end the protections, including some that had been in place for more than a decade, for people from 13 countries.

Immigration lawyers said the terminations were made through an improperly fast process, even though countries such as Haiti and Syria remain dangerous. Four Haitian women who were deported from the United States in February were later found beheaded and dumped in a river several months later, lawyers said in court documents.

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, called the ruling “a devastating betrayal of Haitian families who have lived, worked, and contributed to this country for years — only to be cast out based on anti-Black immigration sentiment.”

The United States first granted protections to Haitians in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and extended them multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.

Syrians were first granted protected status in 2012, during a civil war that lasted for more than a decade before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in late 2024.

“Today, many of our community members, they feel lost,” Farrah AlKhorfan of Immigrants Act Now said about Syrian immigrants losing TPS protections. “They are trying to understand … what this decision means for them and how it will be implemented and how much time they will have to prepare for what comes next.”

The program was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife and other instability. It allows people already in the country to stay with work permits in increments of up to 18 months, but it does not provide a path to citizenship.

___

Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

The law firm said on Thursday (June 25) that it has launched its own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incidents, including whether proper safety protocols were followed and whether preventable failures contributed to patients’ injuries.

“Our hearts are with every patient and family impacted by these tragic events,” James Harrington, president and CEO of Fieger Law, said in a statement. “Individuals receiving dialysis place immense trust in their healthcare providers. Something went wrong, and families deserve answers.”

Fieger Law encouraged anyone who became seriously ill or experienced complications after treatment at the Novi dialysis center to contact its office as the investigation continues.

No criminal conduct found

The legal announcement came hours after the city of Novi said police found no evidence of criminal conduct in connection with the incidents.

“Since the initial investigation, the Novi Police Department has worked closely with local and state health officials to review all available information,” the city said in a statement Thursday. “At this time, no evidence of suspicious activity, foul play, or criminal conduct has been identified.”

The investigation is now being led by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

How the investigation began

Police began investigating on June 21 after receiving a report of a missing 71-year-old dialysis patient who failed to return home following an appointment at the DaVita Novi Dialysis Center near Grand River Avenue and Beck Road.

Officers responding to the facility found the patient dead inside a vehicle in the parking lot.

Police said there were no signs of foul play.

During the investigation, Novi police learned that several patients who had recently received treatment at the facility sought medical care at Henry Ford Providence Novi Hospital.

Four patients were identified at the hospital, including one who remained in intensive care.

A fifth patient who had received treatment at a DaVita facility in Southfield was also hospitalized.

As a precaution, the Oakland County Health Division requested that the Novi dialysis center temporarily close while the public health investigation continues.

DaVita, state agencies respond

The city said Thursday that, because the matter is no longer being investigated criminally, it does not expect to issue further updates.

DaVita previously said it could not comment on the specific incident because of patient privacy laws.

“We are aware of the incident and out of respect for patient privacy, we are unable to comment on its specifics,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “Our unwavering focus remains on delivering exceptional care for our patients, many of which are medically vulnerable with complex care needs.”

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said it is working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and local health officials “to help ensure the health and safety of patients at this facility.”

No cause for the illnesses or the patient’s death has been publicly identified, and health officials have not released a timeline for when the Novi dialysis center may reopen.

It happened with 6:52 left in the second quarter and was deemed to be a non-basketball act. The league gave Thomas a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty for it. No foul was called on the play by officials.

The WNBA is allowed to review a game to reclassify a Flagrant foul or to classify as Flagrant any foul not called as such during a game.

Thomas will serve her suspension on Saturday when the Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.

“It was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call … You got to call it,” said Fever coach Stephanie White after the game. “You’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that (expletive) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable.”

The Fever renewed their call for player safety in a statement Thursday.

“Player safety should be paramount in our league,” Fever team president Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. “We appreciate the WNBA’s review of last night’s incident and the action taken. Right now our focus is on Caitlin and our entire team as we prepare for Saturday.”

The Fever host Los Angeles on Saturday night.

This isn’t the first time the league has upgraded a foul against Clark. Last season Marina Mabrey, when she was with Connecticut, received a technical foul in a game against Indiana. The league later upgraded it to a Flagrant 2. Over the years the NBA has had a few instances where the league upgraded a play that resulted in a suspension.

The two teams also played on Monday night and there were six technical fouls called and one ejection. Clark picked up her fifth technical of the season in that game. The team petitioned the league to have it rescinded, but the WNBA confirmed that the technical will stand.

The physical play carried over to Wednesday's game which the Mercury won 111-109.

Clark left the game in the third quarter as she was dealing with a back issue. She appeared to tweak her back in the second quarter when she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the second quarter. She fell to the ground and was rubbing her back as she stood up. In the first quarter she went back to the tunnel and returned to the bench wearing a wrap around her back.

She finished the game with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

At 5:23 p.m. EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Capac, moving east at 25 mph. The storm is radar-indicated and poses a threat of quarter-size hail, with damage to vehicles expected.

The severe thunderstorm is expected to move near Yale, Capac and Emmett around 5:30 p.m. before reaching Lakeport around 6 p.m. and Port Huron around 6:10 p.m.

The National Weather Service urged residents in the warning area to seek shelter immediately by moving to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.

Officials continue to monitor the storm’s movement, and conditions could change rapidly.

Click here for the latest forecast from our 4Warn Weather team.

Here’s a list of the alerts by county.

Wayne County

• No active weather alerts.

Oakland County

• No active weather alerts.

Macomb County

• No active weather alerts.

Washtenaw County

• No active weather alerts.

Monroe County

• No active weather alerts.

Livingston County

• No active weather alerts.

Lenawee County

• No active weather alerts.

Lapeer County

• No active weather alerts.

Genesee County

• No active weather alerts.

St. Clair County

• Thunderstorm warning in effect until 6:30 p.m.

Sanilac County

• No active weather alerts.

It turned out that the three, including Arnold's personal driver, had nothing to do with the theft in February, investigators said.

Two people charged alongside Arnold have pleaded guilty in the attack and agreed to cooperate with Tampa-area authorities, court records show.

“Fame doesn’t get you out of criminal charges or our pursuit of justice and holding criminals accountable,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said.

Three men in their late teens were held at gunpoint, battered, pistol-whipped and robbed in a Tampa apartment on Feb. 4, police said. It was three days after Louis Vuitton bags and shoes, Rolex watches, a Bible, cash and more were reported stolen from Arnold at an Airbnb rental in Largo, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west.

Arnold, 23, was the “primary conspirator” in the attack, police said.

“He’s absolutely denying these allegations,” defense attorney R. Timothy Jansen said in Hillsborough County court.

Arnold briefly appeared in court by video as a judge announced charges of kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy, crimes that carry a sentence of up to life in prison. He surrendered to authorities Wednesday and will remain in jail at least until a detention hearing Monday.

Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, an agency that represents Arnold, said there's “no credible evidence” against him, only accounts from others who may have an incentive to get a lighter sentence.

At least six other people face charges, including two women who pleaded guilty Wednesday and are cooperating. Jasmine Randazzo, 19, was immediately sentenced to four years in prison for kidnapping, conspiracy and robbery with a gun, records show.

The victims told police that Arnold’s friends lured them to an apartment, held them at gunpoint and hit them, all the while streaming the attack to Arnold. Police said he was giving orders in a group chat and later arrived at the apartment.

“No one has the right to take the law into their own hands. A dispute over missing property does not justify kidnapping, violence or retaliation,” State Attorney Suzy Lopez said.

Arnold, a cornerback on Detroit's defense, was a first-round pick in the 2024 draft after playing at the University of Alabama. He had 31 tackles and an interception last season for the Lions. The Lions and the NFL said they were aware of the arrest but declined to comment.

Police in Largo spent weeks investigating the thefts from Arnold's Airbnb stay. One neighbor said there were “pretty wild parties” there that seemed to last until dawn, with multiple people coming and going, according to a report released to The Associated Press. The Airbnb host told police that 20 bags of trash were removed.

Police said they declared the investigation inactive on March 25 because Arnold and others whose property was also reported stolen did not want to pursue it.

MLB's plan would eliminate deals such as Juan Soto's $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets. The league said just seven players this year exceed the proposed maximum and 98% of free agent contracts would not have been impacted.

"There’s no question that we’re very far apart,” union head Bruce Meyer said during an online news conference.

During a bargaining session Thursday at the union's office, MLB said it would accept the union's proposal granting free agency a year early for players who have reached age 30 if the union accepted the league's salary cap system. MLB also proposed boosting the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million for those with two years of big league service.

MLB also proposed increasing the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million to $65 million next year and $75 million by 2032, the sixth season of MLB's proposed seven-year deal.

Meyer said “the debate got a little more vigorous today.”

“The league has done us a favor because their proposals are in fact so obviously and extremely bad for players at all levels that it’s actually been a benefit for our unity,” Meyer said. “Anybody’s who’s banking on Major League Baseball players cracking, it’s never happened. It’s not going to happen. That’s why we’re the only ones who don’t have a salary cap.”

MLB also said it would agree to eliminate the qualifying offer for free agents that since its inception in 2012 has restricted the market for some players.

Bargaining started May 13 for a contract to replace the five-year deal that expires Dec. 1, and owners proposed a salary cap for the first time since the union fought off the system during a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95. MLB is expected to impose a lockout in December, halting free agent signings and trades.

After the prior agreement expired in December 2021, intensive bargaining did not start until late February as the threat approached of losing regular-season games — along with revenue and salary. The sides reached an agreement on March 10, the 99th day of the lockout, preserving the 162-game schedule.

In the league's cornerstone proposal, made last month, team spending would be capped next year at $245.3 million, using figures for luxury tax payrolls that include $20.1 million for benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool. It also would establish a payroll floor of $171.2 million, forcing several teams to spend more. The two-time World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s biggest spenders, had a $415.2 million payroll on opening day this year — around $170 million over the proposed cap.

“The biggest issue baseball fans want solved to strengthen the game is fixing the payroll disparity that leaves too many fans without hope of their team competing for a World Series title," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “Every other major U.S. sport has tackled this problem, and every year more small market teams in those leagues have a chance to win. The salary cap and floor proposal levels the playing field.”

Meyer took issue with that.

“It’s appalling that the stewards of the game, the people whose job it is to grow the game primarily and promote the game have for whatever period of time now in the last couple of years been saying nothing but the game’s broken,” he said.

As part of the plan, MLB would establish a “cornerstone player” similar to the NBA's Bird rule, which would allow a team to re-sign a player at 16% of the cap. A free agent switching clubs would be limited to a $36.8 million salary next year and a re-signing player to $39.2 million.

Salaries for free agents in additional seasons of a multiyear contract would be limited to 5% increases, as would salaries for younger players in multiyear deals that cover potential free-agent seasons.

Contracts would be capped by service time: at $500 million and 12 years for those yet to make major league debuts, $461 million and 11 seasons for those with 0-1 years of service, $421 million and 10 years for 1-2, $382 million and nine seasons for 2-3, $343 million and eight years for 3-4, $304 million and seven years for 4-5, and $265 million and six years for free-agent eligible players.

Banning deferred compensation would eliminate a business practice used most prominently by the Dodgers, who owe just under $1.1 billion to 10 players from 2028-47. In addition, MLB would restrict bonus provisions in player contracts and mandate a standard award bonus package.

MLB said it would accept the union's proposal to drop free-agent eligibility to five seasons of service from six for those turning 30 by the Nov. 1 of the offseason. MLB said 354 players on big league rosters as of Thursday would reach free agency a year earlier. MLB would start the change in the 2027-28 offseason.

As part of the minimum salary proposal, MLB said players with less than two years of service would have a $900,000 minimum and if earning a full year of service would get an additional $100,000 from the pre-arbitration bonus pool. Minor league minimums for players with major league contracts would increase from $63,600 to $73,400 for initial big league deals and $127,100 to $146,700 for additional contracts.

Players made proposals on allowances and gambling.

___

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

The battle, one of the most famous and symbolically charged events in American history, marked its anniversary Thursday. Allied tribes came together on that hot day near the banks of the Little Bighorn River in present-day Montana to hand the U.S. Army a rare defeat as they fought to preserve their way of life in the face of westward expansion. Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and more than 200 his troops were killed.

Reenactments will illustrate the battle. Horse riders from the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and elsewhere are traveling hundreds of miles to the Crow Agency area in Montana to mark the occasion. Families are being encouraged to share their oral histories. At the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, horse races and traditional songs and dances are planned.

Gathering at the battlefield area in Montana means “we’re still here,” said William Good Bird, a traditional singer from the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation in North Dakota who woke up the camp where hundreds of people were gathered from numerous tribes with a song and drumming.

“Today I am celebrating the victory of our people, celebrating my life as a human being and my spot on this earth,” he said.

Native warriors overpowered divided U.S. Army forces

The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in what is now South Dakota by a Custer expedition just years earlier spurred a military campaign against Great Plains tribes that aimed to push them onto reservations, or what were known then as agencies, said historian Dakota Goodhouse.

There were bigger, longer battles and other Native victories between March 1876 and June 1877, but Goodhouse said only the Battle of Greasy Grass — named by Native Americans for the slick grass along the river — gained national recognition because the commanding officer was killed.

At the time, the Lakota were one of the largest and most powerful tribal nations, with strong leaders in Sitting Bull and warriors like Crazy Horse. Native warriors quickly overwhelmed Custer's men as the U.S. forces were spread miles apart over the hilly area.

News of Custer's defeat stunned Americans, who were celebrating their country's centennial.

The federal government accelerated efforts to subdue resistance, bringing years of hardship and upheaval for Native Americans. Crazy Horse was killed in 1877, and starvation brought about the surrender of others in 1881.

Sitting Bull didn’t surrender as history books tell it, said Jon Eagle Sr., a former Standing Rock tribal historic preservation officer from the Hunkpapa band of the Oceti Sakowin.

“Our people say that he looked at his son Crow Foot and said, ‘My boy, if you live, you can never be a man in this world because you can never own a gun or a pony,’” Eagle said. “I think that he understood that things were going to change for his children, his grandchildren and those not yet born.”

Sitting Bull was killed with about a dozen other people when agency police attempted to arrest him in 1890.

Custer is remembered as a polarizing figure

Biographer T.J. Stiles described Custer as one of the most distinguished combat officers in the Army at the end of the Civil War. But he said the “Boy General” with his long hair and flamboyant battlefield wardrobe often bristled at the chain of command and did not take to the management side of leadership.

“Custer was someone who whenever he got into the frying pan, he immediately started looking for the fire,” he said.

In 1873, Custer was assigned to lead the Seventh Cavalry at Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. From there, he led military expeditions, including one that confirmed the gold in the Black Hills, a sacred place to the Lakota.

Seen in the U.S. as a tragic hero and memorialized for his military feats, Custer could also be considered progressive even as the federal government sought to displace Native Americans and stamp out Native languages through boarding schools, Goodhouse said. He learned to speak Arikara and Lakota and became fluent in sign language used by tribes in the region.

Still, as many Americans are celebrating the 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, for many Native Americans it's not a reason to rejoice.

“It’s just a mark to me of 250 years of injustice to the Native people,” Crow tribal member and reenactment coordinator Jim Real Bird said.

Eagle agreed: “That’s one of the things that we always tell our people when we come together, is they failed at their attempts to rub us out. We’re still here as ancient people deeply connected to our environment.”

Commemoration keeps history alive for future generations

For more than 30 years, reenactments featuring hundreds of warriors have marked the anniversary near the battlefield. The choreography is based on Northern Cheyenne oral history and highlights horsemanship and language preservation.

“All the other things that are Native American don't mean nothing if you don't know your language,” said Real Bird.

The atmosphere at the battlefield area was celebratory as hundreds of people from numerous tribes had gathered. Several hundred horse riders charged up a hill and circled at the top as they whooped and yelled. The sun shined on the battlefield area, a wide-open grassland with few trees, mountains in the distance.

Elders wore headdresses. People sang and played drums as flags flew from various tribal nations. The camp with dozens of tepees stood along the Little Bighorn River, with people there from tribes in the Dakotas and as far away as Washington state.

“This is our fuel for the year. We come here and this is a renewal for us, too, you know, personally,” said Theresa Long Turkey, of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

At Standing Rock, Eagle said the races honor the horse nation that carried their ancestors to victory 150 years ago. The commemoration also includes oskáte, a traditional celebration of oral histories, victory songs and tribal dancing.

“It's just an opportunity for us to share with the generations coming behind us that they’re descendants of a very powerful nation and ancient people that are still here despite everything that was done to us,” said Eagle, whose great-great-grandfather, Sunka, fought that day. His father, Charging Thunder, also was there.

Goodhouse recalled stories his grandfather would tell him of their ancestors who were in the Hunkpapa camp when troops attacked. His grandfather’s great-grandfather, Striped Face, was shot but mounted his horse and joined the fight.

“There’s this kind of energy there that still lives on because we have this direct narrative that was handed down,” he said.

___

Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

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This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1% after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.

Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 15.7%. The maker of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.

Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years. They’re the latest signals of the deluge of dollars heading into AI data centers and other investments.

Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.8%.

But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that’s driving profits and stock prices higher for producers is also leading to higher costs for customers. Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock slumped 6.1% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1% to drop below $153 for its lowest finish since its ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month.

All told, the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 to 7,357.49 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.72 to 51,960.62, and the Nasdaq composite fell 118.03 to 25,358.60.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.

The report said that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.2% to $75.50 Thursday. But it’s still well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil. Earlier Thursday, it dropped near its roughly $72 price from before the war.

That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.39% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.

“As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.

Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan’s Nikkei 225 and 0.7% for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.

___

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The investigation began on June 21 after Novi police officers received a report of a missing person, a 71-year-old patient who was last seen earlier that day at the DaVita Novi Dialysis Center, located near Grand River Avenue and Beck Road.

Previous coverage --> DaVita Dialysis center in Novi closes after patient found dead following treatment, illness reports

Family members were concerned when the patient failed to return home following their appointment. When officers arrived at the dialysis center, they found the patient dead inside a car. Police said there was no indication of foul play.

Novi police contacted emergency personnel at Henry Ford Providence Novi Hospital and learned that several patients who had recently received treatment at the DaVita Novi Dialysis Center had sought medical care.

Four patients were identified at the hospital, including one who is in the intensive care unit. A fifth patient was also hospitalized following treatement at a DaVita Southfield location.

The DaVita Dialysis Center in Novi is closed at the request of the Oakland County Health Division as a precautionary measure during the ongoing public health investigation.

The City of Novi released a statement on Thursday, June 25, regarding the investigation.

“Since the initial investigation, the Novi Police Department has worked closely with local and state health officials to review all available information,” Novi city officials said in a statement on Thursday. “At this time, no evidence of suspicious activity, foul play, or criminal conduct has been identified.”

The investigation is now being handled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

As there are no further updates from a law enforcement perspective, this will serve as the final public statement from the City of Novi regarding this incident.

Local 4 reached out to the DaVita Dialysis center in Novi on June 23 and received the following statement:

“We are aware of the incident and out of respect for patient privacy, we are unable to comment on its specifics. Our unwavering focus remains on delivering exceptional care for our patients, many of which are medically vulnerable with complex care needs. We are proud to be part of the Novi community and care for our patients with the same intensity and commitment we bring to our teams.”

DaVita spokesperson

Local 4 is working to learn when the center could reopen to patients and what the next steps are in the investigation.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs previously released a statement regarding the investigation:

“LARA, MDHHS, and local health officials are working collaboratively to help ensure the health and safety of patients at this facility.”

LARA spokesperson

This is a developing story.

According to prosecutors, Arnold coordinated and directed several co-defendants to lure three men to an apartment where they were allegedly robbed, assaulted, and held at gunpoint.

Previous coverage --> Florida prosecutors to charge Detroit Lions CB Terrion Arnold in robbery, kidnapping case

Investigators said Arnold believed the victims were responsible for the theft of more than $200,000 worth of personal property from an Airbnb rental he was using in the Tampa Bay area.

Prosecutors said their investigation found no evidence linking the victims to the reported theft.

Authorities further allege the robbery and kidnapping plot was organized just hours after Arnold reported the missing items to police.

Charges

Bokai Hilton Jr., Freddie Hughes III, Christion Williams, Lyndell Hudson II, Arianna Del Valle and Jasmine Randazzo face multiple charges of kidnapping and robbery.

Del Valle and Randazzo pleaded guilty on June 24. Hilton, Hughes, Williams and Hudson remain in jail without bond.

Arnold was charged with three counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Arnold was arraigned in court on June 25, 2026. He was held without bond and is expected to return to court on Monday.

Arrest report

Local 4 received Arnold’s arrest report on June 25, which includes a detailed timeline of when the victims were kidnapped and assaulted in an apartment in Florida.

According to the police report, Arnold -- along with the six others charged, the three victims and other associates -- were periodically staying at an Airbnb in Largo, Florida, which was rented by Arnold between Jan. 30 and Feb 1, 2026.

On Feb. 1, someone stole multiple pieces of personal property belonging to Arnold, Hilton, Hughes and a witness within the Largo Airbnb. Arnold suspected that two of the three victims were responsible for the thefts. Police said they were not.

It’s alleged that Arnold, Hilton, Hughes, Williams, Hudson, Del Valle and Randazzo all conspired to lure the first victim to an apartment and threaten him to return the stolen property.

On Feb. 3, Arnold and Hilton allegedly coordinated and directed Del Valle and Randazzo to contact the first victim and lure him to the apartment of Del Valle and Randazzo to have sexual relations with Randazzo.

Williams and Hudson then arrived at the apartment to meet with Del Valle. Williams and Hudson then allegedly hid in a closet in one of the bedrooms.

The three victims drove to the apartment at around 12 a.m. on Feb. 4. When they arrived, the first and second victims went upstairs to greet Del Valle.

The first victim asked Del Valle where Randazzo was. Del Valle said Randazzo was not home.

The first and second victims looked around for Randazzo, opened a closet door, and found Williams and Hudson hiding. Williams was armed with a semi-automatic firearm, and Hudson was armed with an AR-15 style rifle.

Hudson allegedly jumped out of the closet, pointed the rifle at the first victim, grabbed him and began striking him. Williams also allegedly jumped out of the closet, held the second victim at gunpoint and began assaulting him.

Del Valle sat on the bed and used her phone to FaceTime the assault to Arnold, Hilston and Hughes, who were en route from Tallahassee. At the same time, a group chat was created, which was joined by Del Valle, Hudson, Williams and Randazzo.

Arnold, who was sitting next to Hilton, allegedly gave directions to Del Valle, Williams and Hudson as the assault against the first and second victim continued.

After several minutes, the third victim, still in the car outside, became concerned for his friends and went up to the apartment. When he opened the apartment door, he heard a commotion and loud yelling from a man inside. He went to the bedroom and was immediately pistol-whipped by Williams, allegedly.

Williams and Hudson allegedly continued to batter and question the three victims about the alleged stolen property for about an hour.

At around 1 a.m. on Feb. 4, Arnold, Hilton, Hughes and a witness arrived at the apartment complex.

Arnold allegedly told Hilton, Hughes and the witness to go up to the apartment. There, Hughes joined Williams and Hudson in the bedroom where the three victims were being held and continued to allegedly batter the victims with their fists and feet, and threatened them with death.

Hughes, Williams and Hudson allegedly stole the victims’ wallets, phones, jackets, cash and jewelry, which totaled to $6,260.

At around 1:40 a.m., the first victim was escorted out of the apartment by Hughes, who was armed with a semi-automatic firearm.

The second and third victims were forced from the bedroom to the living room. and were then escorted out by Williams and Hudson, who were also armed.

All three victims were forced into their car, and they drove away.

Del Valle, Williams and a witness went into Arnold’s car, and Arnold allegedly drove away.

After the victims reported the assault to police, Del Valle was arrested, and she admitted to her alleged role in the crime. After further investigation, Randazzo was arrested, and she, too, admitted to her alleged role in the crime.

The victims were later able to positively identify Hudson, Williams, Hughes and Hilton.

On Feb. 15, Del Valle gave testimony, accusing Arnold of devising the original plan to lure the victims to the apartment. She said Arnold instructed her to contact Randazzo so she could contact the first victim to lure him to their apartment.

Randazzo gave testimony on March 20 and accused Arnold of being in the car with Hilton during the FaceTime call with her, directing her on what to say to lure the first victim to the apartment.

The movie mogul still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California, and he remains behind bars. But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries.

Jessica Mann, a hairstylist and actor, spent days on the witness stand at all three trials, telling jurors that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013 and being questioned extensively about the complex relationship she had with him before and afterward. The Oscar-winning producer denied the charge and said everything that happened between him and Mann was consensual.

In a letter that prosecutor Nicole Blumberg quoted in court Thursday, Mann said she could “no longer endure going through this,” adding that the 8-year-old case has “put me through more harm than good.”

Blumberg told the court that prosecutors believe Mann and hail her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” to other survivors, but given her feelings about proceeding, “dismissal is appropriate.” With that, Judge Curtis Farber formally dismissed the case.

Weinstein left court with a neutral expression, returning to jail to await a September sentencing on a New York sexual assault conviction involving a different woman. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term.

Once Weinstein finishes whatever punishment he gets in New York, he's due to serve 16 years in California, where he was convicted of raping a third woman, who's an Italian actor. He is appealing both convictions.

Weinstein's lawyers said he was relieved by the dismissal of the case surrounding Mann's allegation.

“These charges should never have been brought to begin with,” lawyer Jacob Kaplan said outside court. “He is innocent.”

Mann has testified that she had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with Weinstein, who was married at the time.

But she told jurors she repeatedly tried to leave and said no to any sexual activity as he cornered her in a hotel room on March 18, 2013. They had planned to meet in the lobby for breakfast, but he had spontaneously taken a room.

She said he persevered, demanding that she undress and grabbing her arms, until she was afraid to keep protesting.

The latest trial, this spring, took a visible toll on Mann, 40. During five days of testimony, she was questioned for the first time about a diarylike, soul-baring note she wrote two days after the alleged rape, which the note did not mention. At one point during her testimony, Mann said she was struggling to focus, prompting court to wrap up early for the day.

In her letter to the court Thursday, she said she had suffered a concussion shortly before her testimony, had headaches and other symptoms on the stand and ultimately “disassociated.” It was a humiliating addition to an already crushing experience, she wrote.

“I have been fragmented, silenced, defamed and traumatized. I’ve paid the price of my reputation,” Mann wrote. Slamming the court, the media and Weinstein, she said her experience showed that "pursuing justice is better left a pipe dream.”

Weinstein was one of the movie industry’s most powerful figures, a producer of such tastemakers and hits as “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Chocolat.”

Then a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public in 2017, fueling the #MeToo campaign for accountability and eventually leading to criminal charges in New York and Los Angeles.

He denied all of them and was acquitted of some, even as he was convicted of others.

During a series of trials, Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of raping Mann. Then an appeals court overturned that verdict for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Jury deliberations broke down at a 2025 retrial, and jurors deadlocked again at this year's retrial.

The rape charge in this case was a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison — less time than Weinstein, 74, already has served.

Weinstein didn’t testify at any of the trials, though he complained during and after the 2025 New York retrial that it was unfair; the judge disagreed.

His lawyers have maintained that all his accusers had completely consensual sexual liaisons with a movie studio boss who could help them go places in show business. Weinstein himself has said he “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.”

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they choose to be named, as Mann has done.

Detroit police say the suspect is still at large, but authorities have a solid lead and do not believe there is any ongoing danger to the public.

The 9-year-old boy, identified as Jacquise, was shot multiple times in the stomach and leg and is currently fighting for his life. Police have confirmed the two victims were cousins, though they have not released additional information about them at this time.

Residents in the area say they are still searching for answers.

“Why was a 9-year-old out here. There’s nothing on the block for a 9-year-old to be doing,” said Darius Hardrick, who lives down the street.

Burgess Street is largely boarded up, with just a few homes still standing. When shots rang out, the typically empty block quickly filled with the sounds of sirens. Neighbor Michael Williams said the shooting hit close to home.

“I don’t want to see this happen in any neighborhood -- this is an atrocity,” Williams said.

Police say there was no 911 call. Instead, authorities learned about the shooting through multiple ShotSpotter alerts. Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison says the investigation is fully resourced, with federal agents assisting local officers.

“Understand this, I have my federal agents working with me as well, so it’s all hands on deck -- don’t just think it’s the DPD -- we are going to bring this suspect into custody,” Bettison said.

Bettison says he has a good idea about a possible motive but cannot discuss details while the investigation is ongoing. The suspect remains at large.

For many residents, the tragedy is both heartbreaking and a call to action.

“The city of Detroit, the people of Detroit, we all need to come together and do better,” Hardrick said.

Police are working closely with the victims’ families. This is a developing story.

Latoya Washington was charged with involuntary homicide and released on a $20,000 bond on Tuesday, June 23.

Prosecutors believe her 4-year-old son’s death was caused by a “grossly negligent failure to provide necessary medical care.”

According to authorities, emergency crews responded to the French Quarter Apartments on reports of a 4-year-old who wasn’t breathing on Jan. 25, 2025, where they found Curtis Washington unconscious and unresponsive.

Curtist was given aid and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators say that just two days earlier, Curtis had been hospitalized after suffering multiple seizures on Jan. 23, 2025. He was reportedly removed from the hospital against medical advice after his mother believed his condition was improving.

Curtis was prescribed medication to help prevent more seizures at home, but police believe he was not provided them at home, leading to more seizures on Jan. 24 and 25.

Despite these medical emergencies, the prescribed medications were allegedly never given to the child.

Washington was arraigned and released on a $20,000 personal bond with GPS tether monitoring.

Royal officials stressed that the king and Queen Camilla would continue to work out of the palace, which will remain “the ceremonial and operational center” of the monarchy. But for the rest of Charles’ reign, the king and queen will remain in nearby Clarence House.

“It is and will remain Monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings,” said James Chalmers, the senior royal official responsible for managing the king’s financial affairs.

The decision was announced Thursday during a briefing on royal finances at which Charles became the first British monarch to reveal the taxes he paid to the government. The king paid 12.9 million pounds ($16.1 million) in income and capital gains taxes in the 2024-25 financial year, up from 11.7 million pounds the previous year.

The royals are trying to respond to criticism

The announcements come as the royal family tries to shift the narrative after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.The public’s focus on Mountbatten-Windsor has overshadowed the king’s efforts to modernize the monarchy and show that the 1,000-year-old institution can evolve.

Built in the 1820s, Buckingham Palace has been the London home of every British monarch since Queen Victoria. With 775 rooms, the palace also provides office space for the royal bureaucracy and hosts lavish state dinners for visiting presidents and potentates.

The palace is also a focal point for the public, with crowds gathering under its famous balcony to cheer as kings and queens announce the end of wars, celebrate their marriages and mark historic events, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne. It also provides the backdrop for parades down the broad ceremonial avenue known as The Mall.

Buckingham Palace needed some love

But after all the wear and tear, the palace was starting to show its age. In 2017, the royal household began a 10-year program to update obsolete plumbing, wiring and heating and upgrade the building so it could continue to house the monarchy for another 50 years. The project is scheduled to be completed next year.

But now the king and queen have decided to live at Clarence House, a stately home close to the palace where Charles has lived since he was Prince of Wales.

That decision will allow the palace to increase access public access, hosting more events and expanding the number of visitors and tours of the building, Chalmers said. The palace already receives about 700,000 visitors a year.

Royal watchers are waiting for more details about plans for the palace. Ed Owens, author of “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself,’’ said it would be a shame if, for example, the building lies vacant for much of the year.

“I’m hoping for a second act in terms of this decision,’’ he told The Associated Press. “I’m waiting to see whether there will be a sort of a more radical proposal for what Buckingham Palace might be in the future.”

The palace recognizes it needs more transparency

The other big news of the day was the announcement on royal taxes.

While Charles released the details of his personal taxes when he was Prince of Wales, this is the first time he has done so since ascending the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022.

While monarchy receives funding from a number of sources, the king pays taxes only on his personal income, much of which comes from his privately owned estates, Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham on the east coast of England. Charles also paid capital gains taxes related to the sale of assets.

Prince William, the current Prince of Wales, also released his tax details on Thursday. William paid 7.76 million pounds in income and capital gains taxes in the 2024-25 tax year, down from 8.34 million pounds the previous year, his office said.

The figures for the first time give the public a concrete idea about the King’s personal wealth, as opposed to the castles, jewels and artwork that go with the job but aren’t the monarch’s personal property.

Charles didn’t have to do this. The king’s tax affairs, like those of any citizen, are strictly confidential. But he decided to give up that right to privacy as the monarchy tries to put as much distance as possible between itself and Mountbatten-Windsor.

It also underscores the idea that the monarchy is a public institution and its workings should be public, said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.

“If they’re open and as transparent as possible, then the contrast with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor becomes all the greater,” he said.

The U.S. Park Police responded June 9 to a complaint by the park service, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration's work on the project.

His statement does not say when exactly the damage occurred or whether it was a suspected case of vandalism and does not identify anyone who might have been involved.

The police report indicates damage to the pool, "including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,'' Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.

The statements are the first time the Republican administration has offered specifics for when and how the Reflecting Pool may have been damaged after work on the project was substantially completed.

Interior Department thought the reported damage was an ‘isolated incident'

A spokesperson for the Interior Department said Thursday that public notification about the damage was delayed because, “at the time of the June 9 incident, the vandalism was under investigation and believed to be isolated. So as not to encourage deranged individuals, we did not announce what we hoped to be an isolated incident.”

Around the same time, park service staff "discovered another incident where fencing around the pool had been forcibly removed and thrown into the pool,'' the spokesperson said in an email.

The department soon noticed that "recurring cases and videos of people ripping at the coating began to circulate. We then knew this was not an isolated incident, but a new trend to attempt to damage the Reflecting Pool,'' the email said.

President Donald Trump and other officials have repeatedly blamed, without citing evidence, unidentified vandals for peeling paint as well as a “350-foot gash” in the liner and other problems. Six people have been arrested, Trump said this week, without providing details.

The Interior Department said Thursday there have been seven arrests, seven federal citations and 18 police reports filed. The department did not specify what the charges were or identify anyone cited by police.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations, draining its water and directing the bottom to be painted a color he called “American flag blue.” But since the site was restored, its water has been plagued by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

His administration faces a self-imposed deadline to complete the renovation before July Fourth. Trump also has said the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump said Wednesday that “sick people” had used razors and box cutters to slice portions of the lining.

Reflecting Pool was refilled between June 4 and June 9

The Associated Press reviewed videos showing that the Reflecting Pool was refilled between June 4 and June 9, meaning the alleged cut reported to law enforcement on June 9 could have occurred before the basin was fully refilled. Days later, pieces of the new blue liner were observed peeling up from the bottom.

The Park Police posted surveillance footage Wednesday evening and asked for help “identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation.” The grainy, 30-second video appears to show a person kneeling down, reaching into the reflecting pool and removing something from the water. Police said it was taken on Friday afternoon.

In his statement to the court, Lands said the parks agency plans to begin draining the Reflecting Pool following Independence Day celebrations to conduct repairs, including assessing and repairing any damage to the lining.

The park service completed more than two months of renovations at the Reflecting Pool in early June. The 2,000-foot-long basin was drained and a tinted, plastic-like liner was installed to waterproof and protect the concrete pool surface, and the pool was refilled with water, Lands said.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy group that sued in May to halt work on the project, asked a federal judge to block further renovations.

“It is also not too late to correct course,” the group wrote in a filing Monday. It urged the administration to “engage with experts and the public, and make an informed decision about what is best based on the consultations mandated by the law, instead of once again rushing ahead with half-baked ideas.”

Democrats call for investigations into the pool renovations

Congressional Democrats have called for formal investigations into the pool renovations, saying no-bid contracts for the project were awarded to vendors with prior ties to Trump.

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations panel overseeing the Interior Department's budget, said the pool renovation appears to be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.

“After railing about waste, fraud and abuse, Donald Trump spent more than $16 million on a renovation of the Reflecting Pool that’s now peeling and chock full of algae,” Merkley said Thursday. He said this is a "massive waste" of tax dollars and the public deserves "swift answers — and a refund.”

Merkley is one of about 10 Democratic senators and House members investigating the pool project.

"Taxpayers deserve a full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable for correcting them,'' said another letter, signed by New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and five other senators.

Heinrich is the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Interior Department.

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Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.

Selected with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft, Okorie was welcomed at the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center alongside family members, friends, and team officials on Thursday (June 25).

Pistons had Okorie in sights early

Langdon said the Pistons identified Okorie early in the college basketball season, well before his rise onto NBA draft boards.

“Ebuka was a player that we’ve been tracking all season,” said Langdon. “He was the target for us in this process.”

Langdon credited Detroit’s scouting staff for recognizing Okorie’s potential before he became a nationally known prospect.

“As we started peeling back the layers through the process of the season, we started understanding how special a player he was,” Langdon said. “Not only the basketball player, but as you start to get to know the young man. He’s high character, comes from a great family, hard worker, very passionate about the game, and a student of the game.”

The Pistons executive highlighted Okorie’s speed, playmaking ability, and upside as key reasons the organization believes he can contribute to the franchise’s future.

“We think the things that he brings to this organization, not only as a human being but as a basketball player, with his pace and speed with the ball in hand and his ability to create for not only himself but teammates, are going to help take this organization to the next level,” Langdon said.

Trade up lands explosive scorer

Detroit made an aggressive move to land Okorie, trading up four spots during the draft.

The Pistons acquired the No. 17 overall pick from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the No. 21 selection and three second-round picks.

Okorie, a 6’2” guard, wrapped up a standout freshman season at Stanford in which he emerged as one of the nation’s top offensive players. He averaged 23.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 46.5% from the field, 35.4% from three-point range, and 83.2% from the free-throw line.

He broke the ACC freshman scoring record, finished seventh nationally in scoring, and earned first-team All-ACC and ACC All-Rookie Team honors.

Okorie became the first Stanford player since 2002 to score 40 points in a game, doing so against Georgia Tech.

He also posted a 36-point, nine-assist performance in an upset of North Carolina and hit a game-winning three-pointer against Virginia Tech.

Okorie totaled 719 points in his lone college season and had eight games of 30 or more points, establishing himself as one of the most electrifying freshmen in the country.

A former Brewster Academy standout and New Hampshire’s Gatorade Player of the Year, Okorie originally committed to Harvard before enrolling at Stanford, where his impact was immediate as a starter.

‘I’m blessed to be a Detroit Piston’

Okorie said he plans to focus on earning his role while helping a team that finished atop the Eastern Conference last season continue its success.

“I’m blessed to be a Detroit Piston,” Okorie said. “I’m going to give it my all every time I step on the court, every time I get an opportunity.”

The rookie said he is eager to join a roster featuring stars such as Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson while learning under head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

“Really, I’m just looking forward to competing with everyone on the team and everyone just getting together and playing for the right goal of just winning,” Okorie said.

Overcoming the odds

Okorie’s journey to the NBA included overcoming limited recruiting attention earlier in his basketball career.

Asked about his rapid rise to becoming a first-round pick, he credited his work ethic and focus on what he could control.

“I can’t control rankings or how much recruitment I’m getting, but I can control things like how much I’m in the gym and how much I’m working hard and trying to get better as a player,” Okorie said.

When reflecting on those who helped him reach the NBA, Okorie pointed to his family, specifically his brother.

“His belief in me from an early age has really helped me get this far,” Okorie said.

The 19-year-old, who is the son of Nigerian immigrants Charles and Ijeoma Okorie, grew up admiring former Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

He compared his own playing style to that of another former Cavaliers star, veteran NBA guard Colin Sexton, citing Sexton’s intensity on both ends of the floor.

Scouts see two-way upside

Scouts have praised Okorie’s combination of speed, strength, and ball security.

Despite being the focal point of Stanford’s offense, he limited turnovers and showed an ability to score at all three levels, consistently pressuring defenses by getting downhill, finishing through contact, and drawing fouls.

Defensively, his quick hands, long wingspan, and physical frame project him as a capable perimeter defender at the next level.

Okorie said his competitive fire and desire to win will help him fit into Detroit’s culture.

“It really just comes down to competing and wanting to win,” Okorie said.

The Pistons hope that mentality, combined with his athleticism and playmaking ability, will help strengthen a young roster looking to build on its recent success.

Mateo Chávez and Julián Quiñones scored in a six-minute span early in the second half, and Mexico beat the Czech Republic 3-0 on Wednesday to complete wins in all three of its World Cup group-stage matches for the first time.

The 22-year-old Chávez, in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 55th minute and Quiñones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st. Alvaro Fidalgo added a goal in stoppage time.

“It was something very beautiful, and I’ll take it with me to the grave,” Chávez said of his goal. “I imagined it many times; I dreamed of this.”

Mexico's previous best group-stage performance was two wins and one draw, done in 1986 and 2002 and both featuring Aguirre, the first as a midfielder and the second as El Tri's coach. Aguirre is now in his third stint leading the national team.

After topping Group A, Mexico will play again at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday in a round-of-32 match against an opponent to be determined.

“Now comes the knockout stage; statistics and data don’t matter. We’re achieving things, but what lies ahead is what counts,” Aguirre said. “Neither the players nor I dwell on what we’ve just done; we’re thinking about what’s next.”

Mexico is undefeated at nine World Cup matches at the massive stadium, which was packed with 80,824 fans on Wednesday. El Tri has only two losses at Azteca, most recently in World Cup qualifying against Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.

The match Wednesday included nods to Mexico’s past and future. Gilberto Mora, at 17, became the youngest Mexico player to start in a World Cup. And 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa entered in the 77th minute, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to appear in six World Cups.

“It’s like a dream come true after everything I’ve worked for,” Mora said.

“Now we have tough opponents ahead,” he added. “We’re going to keep working to stay on this path. We want to keep advancing because the Mexican national team can become champion.”

Mexico's triumph was marred, however, by the return of a homophobic chant by fans that has previously led to fines and other sanctions against its soccer federation. The chant, a one-word slur, was heard near the end of the first half when Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar took a goal kick.

The Czech Republic was eliminated, finishing with one point in three games.

Mexico is unbeaten in 11 games dating to a friendly loss against Panama last November. And Aguirre has made the most of his roster, using 25 of 26 players in the tournament. Chávez was one of five starters Wednesday who didn't start in the previous win over South Korea.

“Twenty-five of the 26 have played — that is no small detail — nor is it a small detail that everyone celebrates the goals,” Aguirre said.

Ochoa makes history in his likely farewell

Ochoa, who wears No. 13, played the last 13 minutes in regulation, plus stoppage time, in what's likely to be his last appearance for Mexico. He turns 41 on July 13 and plans to retire from international competition after the World Cup.

“Life — football — had this farewell in store for me, to cap it all off perfectly. For my part, I’ve left it all out there; I gave everything,” Ochoa said. “I leave with nothing left because I poured it all into my teams and the national squad.”

He was a substitute in the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and started for Mexico in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

“I felt Memo had to play (but) for how long? I never knew until I said, ‘This is the moment,’” Aguirre said. “These are coaching decisions, but it was a night for Mexico to honor its legend, Memo.”

Raúl Rangel is the starter this year, stepping in for the injured Luis Ángel Malagón, who helped Mexico win the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup last year. Malagón's injury opened the door for Ochoa's return.

Ochoa became the oldest Mexican to play in the World Cup. The previous record holder was Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who was 37 when he played in South Africa in 2014.

After the match, the veteran goalkeeper kissed the goal post before kneeling down and was hugged by the rest of the squad.

“Regarding Memo’s appearance, we don’t know if he’s going to say goodbye or not, but it was a nice tribute for his six World Cups,” Aguirre said. “He is a legend — he is Mexican.”

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

The justices, in a 6-3 decision, overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day, first under the Obama administration and then expanded during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe makeshift shelters along ports of entry to await their turn for days or months. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase in asylum seekers at the border.

The policy is not in place now, and crowds are much thinner as authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers. The Department of Homeland Security did not say if it plans to revive it, but applauded the ruling. “This decision opens up an important tool to continue securing our southern border,” said James Percival, the agency's general counsel.

The administration argued that metering is a critical tool used by presidents of both parties and should remain available. Federal attorneys say people turned away at the border could come back later, though lines were thousands of people long when the policy was in place before.

The case is one of several immigration suits the court is considering this term, including Trump’s push to restrict birthright citizenship. The high court also allowed his administration to end deportation for migrants fleeing instability and armed conflict on Thursday.

Under federal law, migrants who arrive in the U.S. must be able to apply for asylum and be screened for fear of persecution in their home countries.

The Justice Department argued that people stopped by authorities haven’t arrived in the country, so immigration agents don’t have to let them apply.

The court's conservative majority agreed. “A guest does not arrive in a house when he knocks on the front door,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote.

But attorneys for people seeking asylum say the law has long meant anyone arriving at a port of entry should be screened, and blocking arrivals disregards the nation’s ideals.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the bench, saying that the majority’s opinion “regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty.”

The decision could also give people a “perverse incentive” to enter the country illegally if they can't count on being able to legally apply for asylum at a port of entry, she said, a concern that Alito's opinion said was overblown.

In an unusual exchange, Alito voiced a response after she finished speaking. He expressed surprise that she had read her dissent aloud and defended his opinion by noting that the policy had been used under two presidential administrations. “I won’t add anything more to that,” Alito said.

Metering was first used under President Barack Obama when large numbers of Haitians appeared at the main crossing to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico. It was expanded to all border crossings from Mexico during Trump’s first term in the White House.

Customs officers often cited reaching maximum capacity in holding cells at the port of entry as a reason for delays in processing asylum seekers waiting to be accepted for inspection, but those claims were refuted by official data that was disclosed in a lawsuit in 2020. Many waiting in Mexico were exposed to violence by organized crime, severe heat during the summer and cold conditions during the winter. The queue was managed differently at each port of entry, sometimes by Mexican authorities, volunteers or migrants.

The policy ended in 2020 when the government introduced greater restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, and President Joe Biden formally rescinded it in 2021.

The same year, a California-based federal judge found that metering violated the asylum seekers' rights and the law requiring screening. A divided appeals court panel affirmed the ruling, but nearly half of the judges on the full San Francisco-based court voted to rehear it, a strong signal that might have caught the attention of the Supreme Court.

Since Trump returned to the White House, crowds at international bridges have decreased significantly. In May, the government reported an average of 114 immigrants encountered by customs officers along the southwest ports of entry. Those numbers reached a daily high of 1,703 immigrants in May 2024.

Attorneys with the group Democracy Forward first brought the case, and condemned Thursday's ruling. “We are disappointed in the Court’s decision and call on all Americans to demand that our government protect the families the Court today decided to keep in harm’s way,” said President and CEO Skye Perryman.

They represented the group Al Otro Lado, whose executive director said the decision would mean a “hardening of borders to keep out the most vulnerable" that is "sure to result in many more lives lost.”

U.S. law allows people seeking refuge to apply for asylum once they are on American soil, regardless of whether they came legally. To qualify for asylum, they must show a fear of persecution in their homeland for specific reasons, like race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

People who are eventually granted asylum can’t be deported. They can legally work, bring in immediate family, apply for legal residency and seek citizenship.

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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Rebecca Santana in Washington, as well as Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.

Thousands of people have been reported missing and about 1,500 people have been injured. Some of the heaviest damage and casualties were in La Guaira, a coastal region north of the capital, Caracas.

Here’s what to know about the earthquakes and the search for survivors:

Two earthquakes in less than one minute

The powerful 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart along the San Sebastian fault on Venezuela’s northern coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

They were among the strongest in the South American nation in more than a century.

The first earthquake, a 7.2-magnitude foreshock, hit west of Morón on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas, with a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles).

The second, a 7.5-magnitude mainshock, was centered 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Morón, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles).

The back-to-back earthquakes — known as a doublet because of their similarities in magnitude, time and proximity — resulted from shallow strike-slip faulting near the complex plate boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Many people are dead, injured or missing

The death toll in Venezuela is likely to climb as rescue crews comb through buildings toppled by the earthquake.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said authorities have deployed rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, where dozens of buildings have collapsed.

The city, about 165 kilometers (103 miles) east of the 7.5-magnitude quake’s epicenter, is a “disaster zone,” she said.

Civilians and authorities pulled survivors out of concrete rubble, some of them covered in dust and blood. Families sobbed in front of destroyed homes.

Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for.

Significant damage in Caracas and beyond

The earthquake destroyed buildings in Caracas and led to evacuation as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) away.

In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

Parts of the city lost power and cellphone service. Venezuela’s main airport in Caracas was damaged and closed, subway service was suspended and natural gas was shut off.

Classes will also be canceled for several days as schools are used as shelters and donation centers.

Rodríguez said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes.

Another challenge for Venezuela’s leader

The earthquakes are yet another crisis for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the U.S. captured former President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are jailed in New York City while awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges.

Rodríguez inherited a country that has been in economic turmoil for more than a decade.

Many Venezuelans reject the legitimacy of her political movement, while some loyalists have criticized her leadership and warming relationship with the U.S.

Help from other nations and Venezuelans abroad

The U.S. said Thursday it is sending two specialized urban search and rescue teams to Venezuela and will provide $150 million in assistance through nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The United Nations said Thursday that international search and rescue teams are expected to start arriving “in the coming hours.”

Other countries sending aid to Venezuela include Qatar and Mexico.

Venezuelans in the U.S. are rushing to organize donation drives. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities in Florida, Texas and Utah.

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

The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.

It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission.

The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the U.N. agency’s secretary-general.

Following reports of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority — a new government agency established to control shipping in the strait — wrote on X that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental effects from the attack off the coast of Oman.

An alternative passage would relieve pressure on economy

The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route and ensuring that ships are able to transit the strait.

“If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” Rubio said Thursday before the report of the strike on the ship.

Traffic through the strait increased in recent days but was still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.

The U.S. and Iran are still debating terms of an interim peace deal, including issues such as getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the U.S. and Iran have 60 days to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies.

Meanwhile, a flare-up of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants threatened the wider truce. Lebanon says five people have been killed by Israeli strikes over the past two days. Iran says the tentative deal to end the war would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has rejected.

More ships pass through the strait, but far fewer than before the war

Oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early Thursday, passing by Oman's Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and the International Maritime Organization.

North of the route is a corridor in the center of the strait where ships moved freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.

Iran said it mined that passage after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. At least one mine has been sighted there.

Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with U.S. military support, the U.N. agency's effort was the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday.

Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

According to S&P Global, Wednesday saw 78 transits, the most since the war began, but still below the daily prewar average of 130 or more.

Iran says the new shipping route is ‘unacceptable’

The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning Thursday against using the new route.

In a statement carried by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, naval officials said the route was established without notice or coordination with Iran, calling it “unacceptable and completely dangerous.”

“The only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”

“Violators will be dealt with,” it added, without elaborating.

On Wednesday, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, with a soldier warning, “You are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you,” according to the private security firm Ambrey.

Rubio says the US will ensure there are no tolls on ships

Rubio met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to assure them that their interests would be protected in any agreement with Iran.

Those countries, including major energy producers reliant on the strait for exports, came under attack by Iran after the start of the war.

“There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” Rubio said at the meeting in Bahrain.

Bahrain’s foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, said the agreement brought a glimmer of hope but stressed that it was “critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations.”

Lebanon remains a flashpoint

A lull in fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that started Sunday began to show cracks after Israel said it targeted Hezbollah militants.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday that three people were killed by an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has called the recent strikes a ceasefire violation but has not retaliated. The Israeli military said Thursday that it fired on two separate groups it suspected of being Hezbollah members. The strikes came as Lebanese and Israeli officials were in Washington discussing a proposed phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

Israel’s military also said Thursday that a reservist soldier was killed in southern Lebanon.

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Lee reported from Manama, Bahrain. Associated Press writers David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

More were feared dead from the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening — among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and felt throughout the region. Some 1,500 people were injured, thousands were reported missing and buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon.

In cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured out into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris. Injured children, animals and civilians covered in dust and blood were pulled out of concrete rubble.

One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of missing loved ones. Some stood in silent shock.

The coastal region of La Guaira — north of the capital, Caracas — suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties, and it’s there that the country’s main airport was damaged and closed, complicating aid efforts.

Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.

“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mendaño. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”

Offers of help poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.

The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Maduro's capture. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodriguez represents.

Rescue teams head to heavily damaged coastal region

Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters; a 1999 mudslide there, considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters, killed thousands.

Rodríguez appealed to businesses Thursday to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, while a United Nations spokesperson said search and rescue teams were just hours away.

“We are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” said Rodríguez, who referred to La Guaira as a “disaster zone.”

Jorge Rodriguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and brother of the acting president, gave updated figures for the numbers of dead, trapped and injured.

While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.

The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.

“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.

Venezuela residents reeling from two strong quakes

During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings. Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.

“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, said she was desperate because her 8-year-old son was missing. Delgado asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbors were the ones digging through the rubble.

“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said.

Authorities warned people against returning to homes with structural damage. In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said María Cristina Díaz, a 41-year-old janitor. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t sleep a wink.”

“It was awful. We cried, we screamed. Thankfully, we’re alive,” she added.

Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone service, Rodríguez said. Subway services were suspended and natural gas was shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.

Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for. Venezuelans living abroad struggled to make contact with relatives.

Shortly after U.N. officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024, in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential elections.

Several governments offered assistance

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.

Countries from across the world — from Qatar to Mexico — began to send aid to Venezuela.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had spoken to Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States is “immediately" deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources other assistance, though he acknowledged the closure of the country's main airport was creating some logistical challenges.

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Garcia Cano reported from Bogota, Colombia, and Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Andry Rincón, Mauricio Savarese, Anna-Catherine Brigida, Danica Coto, Clara Preve, and Alexandra Olson contributed to this report.

The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against Bayer, a German agrochemical manufacturer that acquired Roundup’s original producer, Monsanto, in 2018.

The decision is a victory for President Donald Trump's administration, which argued in support of Bayer. But it provoked outrage from allies in the “ Make America Healthy Again” movement who want to rein in pesticide use.

The high court, in a 7-2 ruling, held that Roundup cannot be sued in state courts for failure to warn because federal regulators have found a cancer link unlikely and do not require a warning label. Federal law also bars states from imposing additional or different labeling requirements, the opinion from Justice Brett Kavanaugh states.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Neil Gorsuch, dissented, saying that Monsanto could have added a warning without violating federal law.

Though focused on Roundup, the ruling could affect similar health claims against other pesticide products.

“This decision is good for American farmers who help feed the world,“ Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said. ”It provides the regulatory clarity necessary for innovators like us to develop the agricultural tools that guarantee an affordable food supply.”

Though Bayer said the ruling should result in the dismissal of failure-to-warn lawsuits, the company said it plans to proceed with a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement intended to resolve many of the remaining claims.

The ruling was denounced by environmental groups and lawyers representing people who believe they were harmed by Roundup.

“This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides," said attorney Christopher Seeger, who is a claimant’s representative in the settlement. But he said a settlement still would allow some people to receive compensation.

The decision “is a tragic setback for public and environmental health,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, a health and environmental group.

A sickened gardener had won $1 million

The case before the Supreme Court was filed by Missouri resident John Durnell. He developed a cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after more than 20 years of serving as the neighborhood association’s “spray guy,” using Roundup on parks in his historic St. Louis community.

A jury agreed that the company failed to warn him about possible cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million. But Durnell never received the money as his case was appealed. Durnell, 75, said Thursday that his cancer is in remission, and he will be fine without the money.

But “there are thousands of cases that are like mine that will not see court now," Durnell said. "So that is the biggest disappointment for me.”

There is still fierce debate about whether Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, causes cancer. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as “probably carcinogenic” in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that it’s not likely to cause cancer in humans when used as directed.

The agency approved a label without a cancer warning, and Bayer argued that it was required to follow those federal standards. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that separate warning requirements cannot be compelled by state laws and courts. The ruling still leaves room for other lawsuits alleging problems with the product’s design, and Durnell said he is considering bringing a new case on different grounds.

Bayer has pledged billions for settlements

Bayer disputes the cancer claims but previously set aside $16 billion to settle cases, and earlier this year proposed a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. A federal judge recently ruled that the proposed settlement will be heard in a Missouri state court, where many of the lawsuits have been filed.

At the same time, Bayer has tried to persuade states to pass laws shielding it from liability in failure-to-warn lawsuits. North Dakota was the first to do so, followed by Georgia and Kentucky.

About 200,000 Roundup-related claims have been made against Bayer, mostly from home users. It has stopped using glyphosate in Roundup sold in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market.

The company had said it might have to consider pulling glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets if it keeps getting sued. Agricultural industry groups have said Roundup is important for a strong food supply.

"Today's decision protects our access to the tools that let us care for our soil, protect our crops, and keep food affordable for your family and mine,” said Blake Hurst, a corn and soybean farmer who is a former president of the Missouri Farm Bureau.

The court ruling runs counter to the MAHA movement

Pesticides have created a rift between the administration and members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s MAHA movement, who were frustrated by an executive order aimed at boosting glyphosate’s production.

Kennedy has said repeatedly that glyphosate causes cancer, even as he says he recognizes the executive order was necessary for food supply and national security reasons.

After the high court's decision on Thursday, prominent MAHA activist Kelly Ryerson, known to her supporters as “Glyphosate Girl,” called the Trump administration's participation in the case “unforgivable.”

Some health advocates contend the EPA's approval of glyphosate-based weedkillers was based on limited information and that lawsuits in state courts have turned up additional evidence against it.

“The fact that EPA approved a pesticide label does not mean a product is safe, and it should not become a shield for companies that fail to warn about cancer risks, neurological harm, and other serious dangers,” said Patti Goldman, senior attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental legal organization.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.

When he was about five, his father bought him a Spider-Man basketball hoop that went on the back of his door.

“I loved Spider-Man growing up. So I just started shooting from my bed, started shooting from my bed with this miniature ball. Then I started playing in the YMCA leagues ... ended up falling in love with the game," Dybantsa said. "So Spider-Man is the reason why I love basketball.”

The Washington Wizards are certainly glad Dybantsa took up the sport and committed himself to it. Two days after taking the 6-foot-9 star out of BYU with the top pick in the NBA draft, the team introduced him Thursday at a hotel overlooking the Potomac River, about 1 1/2 miles south from where the Wizards play their home games.

“Nothing comes easy, but I want to be a piece of the puzzle that is part of the rebuild,” he said. “Obviously, Wizards fans have been waiting for a long time.”

This was the first time the Wizards have picked first in the draft since 2010 when they took John Wall. Dybantsa joins a team that hasn't won 50 games in a season since 1979 — and more recently managed only 50 victories over the past three seasons combined.

One issue of uncertainty was resolved at the news conference. Dybantsa wore No. 3 in college, but in Washington that belongs to Trae Young. Dybantsa will change to No. 4.

“Previously wore No. 3, but I was the No. 1 pick,” he said. “Wanted to add those up, and we got four.”

Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points per game in college, becoming the first freshman to lead the nation in scoring since his new teammate, Young, did it at Oklahoma in 2017-18.

Washington fans will have a chance soon enough to see what Dybantsa brings on the court, but Thursday's event was an opportunity to see the type of person they'll be investing so much hope in. Dybantsa was personable and confident, and he seemed eager to get down to business. That much was clear back at the combine before the draft.

“It was like a job. My dad was like, ‘This is your first job interview,’” he said. "So we decided to dress up. I went to a suit and tie in every single interview. Media availability, that was in a suit and tie. So I just wanted to treat it like a real job.”

That made quite an impression on Wizards general manager Will Dawkins.

“It was a pretty fun first introduction, just to learn the maturity that he brings," Dawkins said. "We allow opportunities to ask questions. Sometimes you get the standard questions from guys. We didn’t get that from AJ. He’s just curious and mature and asked some really deep questions.”

Dybantsa said he intends to graduate college, finishing his studies online, and he has big plans for how he can make a difference away from basketball. The 19-year-old has already started a foundation aimed at empowering young people.

“My mom’s from Jamaica, my dad’s from Congo. We’re going to start off just sending 20 kids from there to different universities," he said. "If that’s universities in the continent of Africa, if that’s different universities in Jamaica, if that’s universities in the States, we’re going to try that. But after those two, we’re just going to expand all around the world. We just want to help kids all around the world.”

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

Dusty Ray Spencer is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for his conviction in the 1992 killing of his wife Karen.

Florida Department of Corrections records dating to 1924 show the oldest state inmates to be executed were both 72 — Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 death of a state representative, Charles Schuh Jr.

Nationwide, the oldest person executed in modern times was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83, who was put to death in Alabama in 2018 for sending mail bombs during a wave of Southern terror, killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney.

If carried out, Spencer's execution would be Florida's ninth to date this year following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.

Another 74-year-old Florida inmate, Dennis Sochor, is set to be executed July 14. He was convicted of killing a woman just hours into 1982 after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.

Court records show Spencer was arrested after choking and threatening to kill Karen Spencer in December 1991. While in jail, Dusty Ray Spencer called his wife and warned her that when he got out, he was going to finish what he had started.

On Jan. 18, 1992, Spencer beat his wife's teenage son with a clothes iron when the boy tried to stop Spencer from attacking his mother, officials said. Then about a week later, the son responded to a commotion outside their home and found Spencer hitting his mother in the head with a brick, according to officials.

Court records show the teen tried to shoot Spencer with a rifle, but the gun misfired. Spencer threatened the teen with a knife, and the boy ran away to get help. When police arrived, they found Karen Spencer dead with several stab wounds to the chest.

Spencer was initially sentenced to death in 1992 after being convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court ordered his new sentencing after finding that the trial court had mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Spencer was resentenced to death the next year, and subsequent appeals were denied.

Last week, the state Supreme Court rejected Spencer's appeals. His attorneys had argued that he has health issues such as liver disease that pose a heightened risk of pain and suffering and argued that executing him at his advanced age would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the inmate’s late appeal without comment.

Spencer awoke at 5:30 a.m. and remained compliant, Corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland said at a news conference. Spencer had a visit from a spiritual adviser and was given a meal of pizza, french fries and a milkshake.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each last year.

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

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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.

The decision, which comes amid a record heat wave in France, fell short of requests from the climate organizations who brought the lawsuit to force the company to reduce its oil and gas production.

The court scheduled a new hearing for January to consider TotalEnergies’ new assessment under a 2017 law that requires companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental risks. It's the first time that the so-called corporate duty of vigilance law is being applied to climate change.

The law is not intended to make companies “responsible for the risks linked to climate change, which result from all human activity on the planet since the Industrial Revolution” the court said in a statement, but rather requests them to act “according to their own situation.”

TotalEnergies expressed "satisfaction" that the court didn’t ban it from pursuing new oil and gas projects or force it to reduce oil and gas production.

In a statement, the company said it will update its climate policies following the ruling. It also said it has expanded development of other energy sources and reduced emissions of its operations by 28% since 2015.

It's a landmark case for environmental campaigners

Environmental groups Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA, France Nature Environnement, together with the city of Paris, launched the proceedings in 2020.

The groups said that they were happy that the court decided that climate change was included in the 2017 duty of vigilance law.

“This decision marks a significant step forward, confirming that the duty of vigilance fully applies to climate risks generated by multinational corporations,” they said in a statement.

They claim that TotalEnergies is one of the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gas and asked the court to require the company to reduce oil production by 37% and gas production by 25% by 2030. The lawsuit also asked for a halt to all new fossil fuel projects.

Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, told The Associated Press that including the effects of climate change in the duty of vigilance law could set a precedent across Europe. This legislation “is a key legal path to corporate accountability,” he said, adding that the French law has “served as a model for other laws of the same nature in other countries and at the EU level.”

Europe is feeling climate change this week

The court's decision comes as Europe is experiencing a heat wave. Punishing temperatures extended to the United Kingdom and Spain, where weather agencies issued red alerts — like France — about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.

The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum have been forced to restrict visiting hours, and school and transportation schedules have been interrupted across the continent.

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasingly extreme weather, and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years are likely to shatter more heat records.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of those deaths were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month.

Court cases about the climate are on the rise

The decision is the latest in a series of rulings in climate change cases. Last year, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, said that countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change. In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.

In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right, and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.

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Quell reported from The Hague, Netherlands.

DeSantis said the center, which opened in July 2025, was always meant to be only temporary until more permanent detention centers could be secured and federal officials now have that capacity.

“We stepped up because there was a gap, but my hope is that they’ll be able to handle that,” the Republican governor said at a news conference at the facility.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June and sent all of the detainees to other facilities, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep them in the Everglades.

Immigration advocates said the center's tents were never safe or humane for holding people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that didn’t flush, floors flooded with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

They described large white tents with rows of and rows of bunk beds surrounded by chain-link cages. The air conditioning could shut off abruptly in the sweltering Florida heat. Detainees could go days without showering or getting prescription medicine.

Advocates for immigrants said the closure of “Alligator Alcatraz” does nothing to stop the harm to people who spend months in custody as their families suffer. The Florida Immigrant Coalition said the only winners were corporations and contractors who profited millions of dollars as Republicans pushed an immigration emergency that does not exist.

The detention center of tents and trailers was built by DeSantis’ administration in a matter of days. The governor and President Donald Trump said the center was critical to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally back to their home countries.

“There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer," said DeSantis, noting that 21,000 people were deported through the facility.

Even with the closure of the facility, Florida continues to play a key role with other detention centers and an increased role in helping with immigration enforcement, White House border czar Tom Homan said at Thursday’s news conference.

“Gov. DeSantis did a good job, and he’s going to continue doing what he’s doing to help us make this country safe again,” Homan said. “This isn’t the end of relationship. This is a continuation.”

Lawyers for the immigrants at the facility said their clients suddenly started leaving for other facilities in South Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas earlier this month, disappearing for about a week before their attorneys and families were told where they were sent.

DeSantis said the Everglades airstrip the facility was built around will continue to be used.

Environmental groups sued over the detention center, saying Florida officials never got the proper permits or did required reviews on its impact.

The state and federal governments built the site with no oversight and closed it with no input, but they will still be held responsible even with the site is closed, said Paul J. Schwiep, an attorney for Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.

"The administration believes it can quietly walk away and leave its mess for others to clean up. The law will not allow them to escape accountability. We will ask the courts to ensure that the environmental damage is fully addressed," Schwiep said in a statement Thursday.

The pontiff has been given the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. It was unclear when exactly the exchange occurred, but Pierzynski posted pictures on social media on Thursday showing the moment at the Vatican.

“7 year old me, at my First Communion, would have never thought that I would get to meet The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV,” Pierzynski wrote on Instagram. “I was honored to give him the last out ball from Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, the game he attended.”

Leo is a White Sox fan dating to his days growing up in Chicago. He was known as Robert Prevost or Father Bob when he went to the World Series opener 21 years ago, a 5-3 White Sox victory that ended when Bobby Jenks struck out Houston's Adam Everett with Pierzynski behind the plate.

There is a graphic installation at Rate Field that marks the section where the pope sat for Game 1. The White Sox went on to a four-game sweep for the championship.

The first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church has received several sports-related gifts since he was elected last May.

He was given a pinstriped No. 14 White Sox jersey with “Konerko” and “Pope Leo” written on the back and signed by former White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, who wore No. 14 during his playing career. He also has a bat that once belonged to Hall of Famer Nellie Fox, who spent most of his career with the White Sox.

Shortly after he became the pope, Leo was given a custom Chicago Bears jersey from Vice President JD Vance. He was presented with a Chicago Bulls jersey with No. 14 and “Pope Leo” on the back from Bulls radio broadcaster Chuck Swirsky in November.

The White Sox plan to pay tribute to Leo at their Aug. 11 game against Cincinnati, handing out pope-themed hats to fans. The hats are shaped like the pope’s miter, with the team’s sock logo in the middle.

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

The request came days after an Associated Press investigation found agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — major shipments of the synthetic opioid in a bid to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.

In a letter sent Thursday to the U.S. Justice Department's Inspector General, DEA administrator Terry Cole wrote that an internal probe was necessary because “the allegations have generated significant public attention and have raised questions regarding DEA’s operational decisions, supervisory oversight, and response to concerns.”

Cole wrote in a public statement that his request “should not be interpreted as reflecting any lack of confidence in the professionalism or integrity of DEA personnel or in the investigative decisions made during this matter.”

“If improvements are identified, DEA will implement them,” he added. “Strong institutions are sustained — not diminished — by objective oversight and a willingness to continuously assess and improve.”

Current and former DEA agents told the AP the investigative strategy — known as letting the counterfeit painkillers “walk” — amounted to a gamble with public safety in a state ravaged by the fentanyl epidemic and may have violated Justice Department rules intended to safeguard communities from a drug the White House last year designated as a “ weapon of mass destruction.”

The AP investigation cited three current and former agents and government records, including an internal report of a 2023 delivery of 74,000 pills the DEA watched happen at a mobile home park in Albuquerque. One of those agents, David Howell, first raised serious concerns about this strategy in a 2023 whistleblower complaint. He continued to raise his objections internally and spoke at length with the AP about what he described as a strategy that “poisoned our community to make cases."

In an earlier statement to AP, a DEA spokesperson said "public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts."

The DEA's request for the watchdog investigation came just a day after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the state’s attorney general to examine whether the agency’s actions violated New Mexico law, an extraordinary challenge to a federal law enforcement agency at a time when fentanyl remains one of the country’s deadliest public health threats.

“There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway.”

The Saharan Air Layer as its most known is most notable for helping to suppress tropical activity due it’s dry, dusty and hot atmospheric conditions.

By the upcoming weekend, some dust will try and sneak into Florida.

Unless really thick, you’ll only know it’s there by the milky haze in the sky or dirt residue left on outside objects from rain carrying dust particles to the ground.

The dust is usually suspended thousands of feet in the air.

The thickest concentration of the plume is expected to head toward Texas. This is where air quality would be most impacted.

Florida Impacts

While extremely sensitive groups may notice lower air quality, most will not be impacted.

The dry, dusty airmass is expected to move in Saturday into Sunday. As a result rain chances will drop and temperatures will soar.

Highs will top out in the upper 90s with rain chances falling to 30%.

In the areas that do receive rain, keep an eye out for the dusty spots on cars or outdoor porch furniture.

Florida may see just the right amount of dust to help enhance the sunrise and and sunset Sunday and Monday.

The extra particles in the atmosphere will help to scatter light more enhancing the red color in the sky.

What’s The Deal With The Dust?

There are several good and bad things that comes with the dust.

Limits tropical development

During the months of May, June and July, when the dust is most prolific, it helps to keep tropical development at bay in this part of the world. The dust tends to a much lower impact during August, September and October.

Amazon rainforest fertilizer

The dust cloud contains phosphorous, among other things, which is then transported more than 5,000 miles across the Atlantic often settling in the Amazon. The phosphorous helps to fertilize the soil in the rainforest.

The bad side of this is it can help fuel algae blooms and red tide.

Poor air quality & dirty rain

The dust typically hangs out anywhere from 5,000 feet to 20,000 feet above the ground. Rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds can bring some of this dust down to the surface, aggravating allergies and impacting those with respiratory ailments. Air quality when the dust is thick could become unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Some of the raindrops could also contain the dust leaving dirty marks on your car or porch furniture when the raindrops evaporate.

Vibrant sunrise/sunsets

When the sun is low on the horizon in the morning and evening, the sun’s rays have to travel through more of the Earth’s atmosphere. The light scatters more, producing beautiful red, orange and pink colors in the sky. When small dust particles are introduced, more scattering takes place, enhancing the already vibrant colors.

---> Current weather alerts

The warning went into effect at 3:15 p.m. and is expected to expire at 3:45 p.m.

Full Forecast: Showers exit early, but isolated strong storms possible this afternoon

The investigation involved the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the Detroit Police Department Bomb Squad, the Garden City Police Department and the Garden City Fire Department.

What was seized

According to authorities, roughly 12,000 pounds consisted of overloaded explosive devices falsely labeled as 1.4G consumer fireworks. An additional 5,000 pounds were federally regulated 1.3G display fireworks.

These professional-grade explosive materials require specialized training, licensing, storage and handling under federal law.

Additionally, seized materials included professional display fireworks as large as 12-inch aerial shells, which are intended only for use by trained, licensed professionals.

Authorities warn that improper storage or use of these materials can result in catastrophic fires, explosions, serious injuries, loss of life and significant property damage.

The investigation is ongoing, and additional enforcement actions may follow.

The high court's 6-3 decision means people can carry guns onto privately owned property like shopping malls and gas stations, unless the owners specifically say guns are banned at their establishments. It comes shortly after the court found that marijuana users can't be completely banned from owning firearms.

It's a win for President Donald Trump's Republican administration, which argued the law violates the Second Amendment. The measure was sometimes referred to as a “vampire rule" because it required people with guns to get permission to enter, according to vampire lore, bloodsuckers need an invitation to enter a home.

Hawaii argued that the 2023 measure ensured private owners could decide whether they wanted firearms on their property. The state passed the law as thousands more people got legal permission to carry guns in the wake of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that found the Second Amendment gives most people the right to have guns in public.

About four other states have enacted similar laws, though presumptive restrictions for guns on private property open to the public have also been blocked elsewhere.

Hawaii also restricts guns in places like parks, beaches and restaurants that serve alcohol, but those rules weren't before the court. They are being challenged in lower courts, however.

The suit before the Supreme Court was filed by a gun rights group, the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, and three people from Maui. A judge originally blocked the measure, but an appeals court allowed it to be enforced. Trump's Republican administration backed the Supreme Court appeal.

The Second Amendment Foundation applauded the ruling. “This law was nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to disarm peaceable citizens, and we’re grateful the Supreme Court saw through the ruse," said Alan Gottlieb, its founder and executive vice president.

The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General said they are disappointed, but will “continue to pursue common-sense regulation of firearms, consistent with the Second Amendment, for the safety of our people.”

The gun-control group Everytown Law pointed out that business owners can still post signs forbidding firearms on their properties. “The Supreme Court may have changed the default rule, but it cannot take away a private property owner’s authority over their own land," said Janet Carter, managing director of Second Amendment Litigation.

The two Second Amendment decisions this term are the latest in a series of gun cases that have come before the Supreme Court in the wake of its 2022 ruling, which led to a flood of challenges to firearm restrictions across the country. The justices have since struck down a ban on bump stocks, gun accessories that enable rapid firing, but upheld a federal gun law intended to protect domestic violence victims as well as strict regulations on firearms known as ghost guns, which are nearly impossible to trace.

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Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

“Who do you think you are trying this after 17 years?" Di Liberto recalled asking herself. "You have no business doing this.”

The fear and uncertainty she felt is familiar to many people seeking work after an absence from the job market. Whether they lost a position during mass layoffs or needed to leave one to care for an ill loved one, job applicants can expect questions about employment history lapses to surface during screenings and interviews.

“You have to address it honestly and directly,” said Andy Decker, CEO of Goodwin Recruiting, a candidate recruitment and placement firm. “Make sure that you’ve included anything you did during that time. Did you get certifications? Did you volunteer?”

Extended periods between jobs have become far more common and are less stigmatized than they were before many people worked from home or took time off during the COVID-19 pandemic to take care of children or relatives, Decker said. Some people note these periods on their resumes as a “career break” or “family responsibility,” he said.

Here are strategies suggested by a recruiter and workers who have been there for addressing a career gap.

Highlight transferable life skills

Employers are more focused on skills or results than a perfect career path, and volunteering your services at a nonprofit organization is a good way to keep those skills fresh, Decker said.

Di Liberto, 57, was a classically trained opera singer before she got married and became a mother. While her husband built a chiropractic practice, she set aside her music career ambitions to raise their children.

Once she decided to reenter the workforce, Di Liberto didn’t have 9-to-5 job experience to feature on her resume. Instead, she reviewed activities beyond family life for skills that would translate into a work environment.

Serving as PTA president at her children’s school, for example, required managing budgets and presenting project plans to the school board. She also helped with budgeting, software rollouts and hiring for her husband's business.

Even so, she kept hearing as she applied for administrative support roles that she wasn't qualified. However, one person who interviewed Di Liberto was intrigued, saying, “This resume was so different than anything I had ever seen. I needed to see the person who created this."

Determined not to walk away empty-handed, Di Liberto proposed a monthlong trial run as an administrative assistant. Her pitch was: “I recognize that you probably are getting resumes of people who are far more qualified than me, but I would challenge that they are not as tenacious and driven as me. If you give me 30 days, I’ll prove to you that I can learn this job and I can do this job.”

The company hired her. Over the next decade, she was promoted and recruited away by other employers and worked her way up to head of client services at an artificial intelligence company. Di Liberto said she was asked about her employment lull each time she interviewed for a new position.

“I was fortunate enough to stay home for 17 years and raise amazing humans,” she tells potential employers. "And I worked from the ground up to be where I am today."

Laura Sandvik, who left a marketing job to care for her mother and later her children, highlighted in her LinkedIn profile the soft skills she gained from her experiences.

“I have no regrets about those choices. They strengthened my patience, perspective, and sense of responsibility. In returning to formal roles, I have done so intentionally,” she wrote.

Practice telling a layoff story

If you lost a job due to restructuring or layoffs, you don't need to volunteer that information on a resume but be honest if an interviewer asks why you left, Decker said.

“I would simply say, ‘I was one of 270 people caught up in this reduction of force,’ or if you made it through a few rounds of layoffs, say, ‘Over two years we had five rounds of reductions in force, I made it through four, I was caught up in the fifth,’" Decker suggested.

Practice your response before the interview, and avoid negativity such as blaming the employer. “Own it, acknowledge it and move on,” Decker said.

Baura Zia, 35, was laid off in 2022 shortly after returning from maternity leave. She was upset initially but says losing her job “was honestly a blessing in disguise" because she spent the next three years raising her two children full-time.

On her resume, Zia describes those years as a “parenting gap,” and states that she also moved across the country in that time. When she decided to find a part-time job after her son's first birthday, she explained during interviews that the organization she previously worked for didn't let her go over performance issues but because it lost the contract she was working on.

“Having grace with yourself is really important," Zia said. "It’s not a flaw to have a career gap. If anything, you’ve grown so much from that.”

During her job hunt, Zia sometimes sent messages to people she found online to ask about their experience working at the company where she'd applied. Many didn’t reply, but some did. She also reached out to contacts from a networking group for women in public relations she joined years ago.

“When I was ready to go back to the workplace, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, only because I had my network to tap into,” Zia said.

Own your accomplishments

Addressing resume gaps due to major employment barriers such as incarceration can be especially difficult.

Ryan Cuellar, 29, who was charged with felony possession of stolen property at age 18 and sent to jail a month before he expected to graduate high school, is proud of his perseverance and record of overcoming hurdles.

“Don’t reflect on your mistake but take pride in what you learn from it and what you are doing about it," Cuellar advised.

After being incarcerated for a few months, Cuellar returned to high school to repeat his senior year. Then he took a string of odd jobs that didn't require background checks, including acting gigs and working as a machine operator, while also taking college classes.

After receiving certification as a paralegal, Cuellar said he used the training to petition to have his criminal record sealed. That meant he did not have to disclose his legal history on job applications or worry about getting asked about it following background checks.

Cuellar chose to tell potential employers about it anyway, even though doing so often hurt his chances of getting hired. He also volunteered at the jail, helping people held there acquire skills to help them succeed after their release. He recently landed his first full-time job, working as a salesperson for a company that provides online tutoring services.

“It’s part of my story,” Cuellar said of his incarceration. “At the end of the day, I think that you need to know that about me as a person to understand my side and where I come from and my perspective.”

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of a subject's surname to Di Liberto, not De Liberto's name.

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Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to join other leaders from the 32-member alliance for the July 7-8 summit in the Turkish capital, during which allies will, among other issues, debate defense spending and attempt to project unity.

Turkish journalists from news organizations viewed as opposition‑leaning or independent — including Halk TV, Sozcu TV, Cumhuriyet newspaper, T24 news website and ANKA news agency — have been excluded from covering the summit, the Turkish Journalists' Association and other media solidarity groups said.

The journalists were neither given a reason for the rejection nor offered the opportunity to appeal the decision, the association said.

“Preventing certain media outlets from covering events of public importance undermines freedom of information and reporting,” the association said. “International organizations must act in line with the democratic values they claim to uphold.”

NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said in a statement posted on X that for summits held outside of its Brussels headquarters, the trans-Atlantic alliance relies on the host country to assess and approve journalists from that country.

“We are in contact with Turkish authorities on accreditation for the NATO Summit in Ankara. It is very important for NATO that media can attend major events in person,” she said.

Turkish officials haven't commented on the accreditation issue.

Turkey is implementing wide‑ranging precautions in the lead‑up to the summit. Earlier this week, security forces detained more than 200 people suspected of links to extremist groups, the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said.

But opposition parties and media reports said that a politician, an academic, a journalist and prominent LGBTQ activist, and lawyers were among those detained, calling for their release.

In a statement on Thursday, Human Rights Watch also criticized the detentions and urged NATO to ensure that basic democratic rights are respected during the summit.

“The misuse of terrorism laws to conduct mass arrests and silence people in the run-up to a NATO summit flies in the face of the founding values of the alliance,” said Benjamin Ward, the group’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia. “The authorities should immediately release those detained, and NATO should insist that peaceful expression and assembly must be permitted around the summit.”

The Turkish government's Communications Directorate insisted on Thursday that those who were detained “were assessed to have been involved in activities connected to various terrorist organizations.”

September 2017 — Mexico: An 8.1 earthquake and a 7.1 earthquake hit Mexico within about a week, devastating southern and central Mexico, including Mexico City, and killing nearly 500 people.

April 16, 2016 — Ecuador: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck coastal provinces, flattening towns and killing more than 650 people.

Feb. 27, 2010 — Chile: A magnitude 8.8 earthquake shook central Chile, rattling the capital for about a minute and a half and triggering a tsunami. 523 people were killed.

Aug. 15, 2007 — Peru: A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck near the central coast, killing more than 500 people.

January and February 2001 — El Salvador: A 7.7 earthquake off El Salvador's coast on Jan. 13, 2001, and a 6.6 earthquake a month later — and the ensuing landslides — killed 1,200 people or more.

Jan. 25, 1999 — Western Colombia: A magnitude 6.0 earthquake devastated the city of Armenia, killing about 1,170 people.

April 22, 1991 — Costa Rica: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake killed more than 80 people in Costa Rica and Panama. About 30,000 people were cut off from food, water and medical supplies for days.

Sept. 19, 1985 — Central Mexico: A magnitude 8.1 earthquake killed about 12,000 people, though the true toll remains unknown.

Feb. 4, 1976 — Western Guatemala: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake killed more than 22,700 people.

Dec. 23, 1972 — Nicaragua: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 6,000 people, with some estimates as high as 9,000.

May 31, 1970 — Northern Peru: A magnitude 7.9 earthquake killed more than 66,000 people.

May 22, 1960 — Chile: A magnitude 9.5 earthquake, known as the Valdivia or Great Chilean earthquake, was the largest earthquake ever recorded. It killed more than 1,655 people, many in a tsunami, and left 2 million homeless.

Aug. 5, 1949 — Ecuador: A magnitude 6.8 earthquake killed about 5,050 people.

Jan. 24, 1939 — Chile: A magnitude 8.3 earthquake killed about 28,000 people in Chillan, with some estimates closer to 30,000.

Jan. 31, 1906 — Ecuador: A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck near Esmeraldas in 1906. Known as the Ecuador-Colombia earthquake, it generated a powerful tsunami that killed about 1,500 people and reached as far north as San Francisco.

Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March.

The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI buildout. Rising prices have caused the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to keep their key rate unchanged this year, a reversal from January when they had penciled in two cuts. Some economists forecast the central bank could lift rates this year instead.

“Underyling inflation is closer to 3% rather than 2%,” said Mark Vitner, chief economist at Piedmont Crescent Capital. "It does suggest to me that the next Fed move, whenever it comes, is more likely to be a hike than a cut.” The Fed probably won't raise rates until next year, he added.

Oil and gas prices have fallen substantially since Trump agreed to a peace deal with Iran earlier this month, but the conflict lifted gas prices to nearly $4.50 a gallon on average nationwide in May. They have since fallen back to $3.92 as of Thursday, according to AAA, but that's more than 20% above prices at this time last year as the driving season gets underway.

Declining gas prices will likely pull down headline inflation next month, yet measures of underlying inflation remain stubbornly elevated and will be a concern for the Fed. Excluding the volatile energy and food categories, core prices rose 3.4% in May compared with a year earlier, up from 3.3% in April and the largest increase since October 2023. On a monthly basis, they rose 0.3% from April to May, the same as the previous month.

Higher gas prices aren't the only thing worsening inflation. The AI buildout has made computer components more expensive, and Apple announced last week that it would raise prices for its computers and iPads because of the higher costs. Services prices also rose sharply last month, lifted by more expensive restaurant meals, hotel rooms, auto repairs, and health care.

At the same time, consumers appear willing to keep spending and boost the economy. Adjusted for inflation, spending rose 0.3% from April to May. And inflation-adjusted incomes rose for the first time in four months, picking up 0.3%, which could bolster consumer spending in coming months.

A separate report Thursday showed that the economy expanded at a 2.1% annual rate in the first three months of the year, an upgrade from a previous estimate of 1.6%. And the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign that layoffs remain low.

New Fed chair Kevin Warsh last week underscored the central bank’s determination to drive inflation back to its 2% target, but he gave no sign of what steps the Fed might take. Some economists, however, now expect the central bank to increase rates this year. Those expectations upended U.S. markets this week, hammering fast-growing sectors like tech.

Inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for more than five years, leaving many Americans more gloomy about the future. Vitner points out that inflation hadn't topped 2.5% for nearly a decade before the pandemic, likely making the inflation spikes since then even harder to accept for most households.

Thursday’s report covers the personal consumption expenditures price index, a lesser-known measure compared to the consumer price index, which was released earlier this month and showed a similarly large increase. The Fed prefers the PCE index because it puts less weight on housing and also reflects changes in how Americans shop when prices rise, such as when consumers buy cheaper off-brand items.

The new inflation data arrives a day after Trump refused to sign housing legislation, approved by Congress, that is intended to spur more construction and lower home prices over time, a response to Americans' concerns about rising costs.

Trump responded to the CPI report earlier this month by saying he “loved the inflation.” He has previously dismissed Democrats’ focus on “affordability” as a “hoax.”

Inflation jumped to 9.1% under former President Joe Biden, but even as it fell back closer to 2% in 2024, voters remained angry about the cumulative rise in the cost of groceries, rent, and other necessities.

The PCE price index was last below 2.5% in April 2025, when Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Inflation then climbed steadily to 2.9% just before the Iran war.

Spokesperson Eric Alper said that Clayton-Thomas died “peacefully” Wednesday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Alper did not cite a specific cause.

Clayton-Thomas was a onetime street fighter and petty thief from Canada who briefly became a rock superstar, the front man of a nine-member group that sold millions of records and won two Grammys for “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” which beat out the Beatles' “Abbey Road” for best album of 1969. Calling out amid a jazzy parade of horns, keyboards and percussion, Clayton-Thomas’ urgent shout was a signature voice of the era, preaching love on the Motown cover “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a lasting legacy on Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die” and a cool head on his own “Spinning Wheel.” Meanwhile, Blood, Sweat & Tears helped inspire a wave of horn-led bands, among them Chicago, the Electric Flag and Ten Wheel Drive.

“A lot of the guys (in Blood, Sweat & Tears) would play a Broadway show matinee, then go up to Harlem and play Latin music or R&B and funk at night, or come down to the Village and play pure jazz the next night,” Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com in 2023. “I was just a blues player: give me three chords and I’ve got a song.”

At its peak, Blood, Sweat & Tears’ appeal was so broad it helped lead to the band’s downfall.

Hip enough to perform at the 1969 Woodstock festival, where they were among the highest paid acts, they also were known enough to the establishment to tour Eastern Europe the following year on behalf of the State Department. When Clayton-Thomas and other band members denounced the Communist regimes on the other side of the Cold War, Rolling Stone’s David Felton wrote that “the State Department got its money worth.” Yippies would turn up at a 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears show at Madison Square Garden, carrying obscene banners outside and dumping manure by the front gate.

The band had practical reasons for going along with the government: Clayton-Thomas, who had allegedly wielded a gun at his girlfriend, had been denied a green card and faced deportation. But after topping the charts in 1970 with the album “Blood, Sweat & Tears 3,” their appeal soon faded. A burned out Clayton-Thomas left the group in 1972, and neither he nor the remaining musicians ever regained their old stature. Blood, Sweat & Tears would continue recording over the next few years, and even briefly reunited with Clayton-Thomas, who went on to release more than a dozen solo albums and tour on his own for decades.

Clayton-Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. “Spinning Wheel,” covered by everyone from James Brown to TV star Barbara Eden, was voted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame a decade later.

Clayton-Thomas is survived by his daughters, Ashleigh Clayton-Thomas and Christine Graham.

Up from the streets

Born David Henry Thomsett in Surrey, England, and raised near Toronto and Ottawa, he was the son of a Canadian World War II veteran and of a pianist-entertainer who helped inspire her son’s interest in music. Thomsett was lucky to have the chance. He fought violently with his father, was living in the streets by his mid-teens and by age 20 was serving time in a reformatory for vagrancy, assault and other crimes.

An old guitar, left behind by a fellow inmate, changed his life. He taught himself to play and began spending extensive time in the early 1960s around Toronto’s Yonge Street music “strip,” where peers included the American rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, a mentor to Robbie Robertson and other future members of the Band and a guide for Thomsett early in his career.

Anxious to reinvent himself, he changed his last name to Clayton-Thomas while leading his own groups. In the mid-60s, he released such albums as “Sings Like It Is” and had a hit single with the anti-war rocker “Brainwashed.” He would also befriend a rising star, Joni Mitchell, whose childlike “Circle Game” helped inspire “Spinning Wheel,” and the venerable John Lee Hooker, who would indirectly contribute to Clayton-Thomas’ breakthrough in the U.S.

America beckons

Hooker had encouraged Clayton-Thomas to move to New York, where the American bluesman had an engagement at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. When Hooker unexpectedly departed for a tour of Europe, club owner Howard Solomon needed a replacement and recruited Clayton-Thomas.

“So I played him a couple songs on the guitar,” Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. “He said, ‘Do you have a band?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and went out into Greenwich Village looking for anybody carrying a guitar case or even looking like a musician, and we put together a little band and we opened there that night. We ended up staying there for several months.”

Around the same time, session man-producer Al Kooper was looking to form a jazz-rock group and was joined by such musicians as guitarist Steve Katz, drummer Bobby Colomby and horn players Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss. They called themselves Blood, Sweat & Tears, releasing the debut album “Child Is Father to the Man” early in 1968. Although praised by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner as “a fine, exemplary group,” members were torn between those allied with Kooper and those who thought his vocals too weak to attract a substantial audience.

By the end of the year, Kooper and others had departed, and the band was seeking a new singer. After Judy Collins saw Clayton-Thomas perform, she recommended him to Colomby.

“I got home and just a couple of days later, Bobby Colomby called me up and said, ‘Hey, Kooper’s gone. We got four guys left out of the nine. And we still got a record contract with Columbia. Do you want to come down and try out for the band?”’ Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. ”I said, ‘You’re damn right.’ I knew (bassist) Jim Fielder real well and I knew they were superb musicians. So I was on the next plane. We had a rehearsal that afternoon, an audition, and it was instant magic. We just knew right off the bat.”

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Bigg’s Bar & Grill in Chesterfield Township
• Fairway Bar & Grill in Eastpointe
• Miller’s Place in Capac
• Tapper’s Pub in Rochester Hills
• The Well in Detroit

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.

Doublet earthquakes happen when a pair of similar-sized quakes hit close in location and time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. On Wednesday evening, a 7.2 magnitude quake hit first, followed by a magnitude 7.5 just 39 seconds later.

The deadly one-two punch toppled buildings in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas and beyond. Some 1,500 people were injured and thousands were reported missing. The coastal region of La Guaira, which is north of Caracas, experienced some of the heaviest damage and casualties, officials said.

How rare are doublets?

While not as common as a typical earthquake where a main shock is followed by much smaller aftershocks, doublets can happen anywhere in the world, Christine Goulet, director of the USGS earthquake science center in California, told The Associated Press.

Doublets indicate a complex fault structure, like the one in Venezuela. Known as the Bocono fault, it runs along the backbone of the Venezuelan Andes for about 300 miles (500 kilometers). A previous doublet — of magnitudes 6.2 and 6.3 — struck an area west of Caracas in September 2025, killing at least one person and injuring more than 100 others. Most of the damage was reported in the towns of Zulia and Lara.

What caused Wednesday's double earthquake?

Most earthquakes occur along plate boundaries, which is where tectonic plates meet.

A rupture where the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates meet unleashed the two quakes this week.

The doublet occurred where the Caribbean plate, located north of Venezuela, moves eastward relative to the South American plate at an average rate of 0.79 inches (2 centimeters) a year.

“It’s a large displacement,” Goulet noted. “It’s on the order of the San Andreas fault.”

The movement was a shallow strike-slip faulting, which occurs when two blocks of rock slide past one another horizontally.

That kind of movement is not more dangerous by default, Goulet said.

“A more vertical motion can be more damaging,” she said, adding that other factors, including the length of the rupture, determine the amount of damage.

The boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates is less active than others, said David Naar, associate dean at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.

How common are earthquakes in Venezuela?

In the past century, only seven earthquakes of magnitude 6 and higher have hit in the immediate vicinity of the most recent ones, according to USGS.

These include the 2025 doublet that struck west-northwest of the latest quakes.

Individual earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher struck in 2009, 1989 and 1975. The most devastating one hit in July 1967. It was a 6.6 magnitude quake that killed hundreds of people.

José Vitriago, who lives in Caracas, remembers that one. He was 2 years old.

“Our house broke,” he recalled in an interview with state-owned TV station Venezolana de Televisión.

Vitriago said the doublet that hit Wednesday “was horrible, horrible.”

Overall, five earthquakes of magnitude 7 and higher have occurred in northern Venezuela or near the coast since 1900, according to USGS.

The most catastrophic earthquake occurred in March 1812 along the Bocono fault system, killing an estimated 30,000 people.

Will more earthquakes hit Venezuela?

Scientists cannot predict earthquakes, but aftershocks are common after big ones. The USGS said there’s a 99% chance of at least one magnitude 4 aftershock hitting Venezuela within the next week, and a 24% chance of a magnitude 6 one occurring.

Unlike other countries, Venezuela does not have an early earthquake warning system, which relies on sensors to detect the first waves of an earthquake.

“It’s very distressing that there was basically no time to evacuate,” she said. “That’s extremely unfortunate.”

The Cupertino, California-based company called the demand spike an “unprecedented challenge” for the consumer electronics industry.

“The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the company said in a written statement.

The new, entry-level MacBook Neo will now cost $699, up from $599. The 512 gigabyte MacBook Air now costs $1,299, up from $1,099. The one terabyte MacBook Pro is $1,999, up from $1,699.

The 128 gigabyte iPad Air is now $749, up from $599, while the 256 gigabyte iPad Pro Wifi is now $1,199, up from $999.

Analysts expect iPhone prices to rise later this year.

IDC analyst Nabila Popal said the latest price hikes were higher than she had expected, which suggests the iPhone price hikes may also be higher than expected, perhaps as much as $200 for the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models.

“I think the days of $50 price increases are over," she said.

Apple said that while it has shielded customers from the component price surges so far, "we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.”

Shares of Apple fell $13.29, or 4.5%, to $279.88 on Thursday afternoon.

Bradley Kyle Martin, 60, was arraigned Thursday at the 52-1 District Court in Novi on one count of using a computer/internet to communicate with someone for the purpose of committing a crime, and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes.

Martin — who is also a former reserve officer for the Dearborn Heights Police Department — pleaded not guilty to both charges and has opted for a court-appointed lawyer.

According to investigators, Martin had been conversing online for weeks with a decoy account created by a Michigan-based, citizen-led group to help law enforcement catch child predators.

“Mr. Martin believed that he was communicating with a 13-year-old child, sent explicit photos of himself, engaged in sexual conversations with this child and then came to Highland Township on Monday [June] 22 to meet up with this child, when he was ultimately arrested,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputy Ty Branscum at the arraignment.

The vigilante group says it had previously engaged Martin with a separate decoy account in December 2023, however after an investigation by Novi police and review by the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, no charges were filed.

Martin was issued a $75,000 cash/surety bond in the case with no 10% provision, and is scheduled for a probable cause conference at 9 a.m. July 8. His preliminary exam was set for 1:30 p.m. July 15.

“We have zero tolerance for predators of children,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in response to the case. “Anyone that has information about a person targeting a child should contact the Sheriff’s Office immediately in such situations. We will investigate and prosecute individuals involved in predatory activity to the fullest extent of the law.”

Over the 180-year history of The Associated Press, 38 journalists have fallen on the job while working for the independent not-for-profit news organization.

Thursday marks the 150th anniversary of the very first: Mark Kellogg, one of five civilians killed alongside Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his men at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Kellogg, 43, was embedded with Custer's troops. He was reporting for The Bismarck Tribune and New York Herald — the AP circulated his reports across the country — when Custer underestimated the size of a Sioux village that he attacked.

Custer and his outnumbered men made a last stand on a hill. There, they were annihilated by Native American defenders. Kellogg's scalped body was found not far away.

His last published dispatch read in part: “I go with Custer and will be at the death.”

It was more of an attempt at poetry than prophecy. “At the death” is a foxhunting term for the end of the hunt, suggesting Kellogg expected Custer to prevail.

Still, Kellogg's final words and fate circulated far and wide through his employers and the AP. It gave the obscure, part-time journalist — a widower who worked a variety of jobs to support his two daughters — fame in death.

He got to know Custer. He covered the campaign. He mingled with the soldiers and interviewed them at their camps, historian Sandy Barnard said.

Yet in other ways, Kellogg was much different from modern journalists. He carried a rifle into action, Barnard pointed out. And he made no attempt to avoid not just bias but racism against Native Americans, whom he called “red devils.”

“During the last stages of the campaign, Kellogg was probably more of a soldier than he was a newspaper man,” said Barnard, author of a Kellogg biography and other books on the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

The State Historical Society of North Dakota preserves Kellogg’s diary and various belongings, including eyeglasses, tobacco, clothing and a mosquito head net. The fragile diary, now digitized online, documents weather, distances covered, who was riding in front and in back, how many antelope they saw and other day-to-day operations, Deputy State Archivist Lindsay Meidinger said. The diary ends before the battle.

“It’s a primary source of the historical event,” Barnard said, “that not many other primary sources remain from that time period related to the Seventh Cavalry and Custer.”

“While his record as a journalist might be very small compared to modern reporters who go into combat, he certainly was doing exactly what they are doing,” she said.

Others who have perished while reporting for AP in war zones include:

— Mariam Dagga, a freelance visual journalist who was killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip last August;

— Anja Niedringhaus, a photographer shot by a police officer as she sat in her car in Afghanistan in 2014;

— Myles Tierney, a videojournalist killed while traveling in a convoy that came under fire in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1999;

— Joseph Morton, a war correspondent who was the only U.S. reporter known to have been executed by the Nazis following his capture alongside Slovakian partisans in 1944.

___

Associated Press corporate archivist Sarit Hand in New York and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed to this report.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote in a letter Wednesday to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that he had “credible information” that the Trump administration had a list of more than 500 migrant children it was targeting for a fast-track removal process and that the department was racing to act in days. He warned that the administration was abdicating “core humanitarian and child welfare mandates” and demanded an immediate halt to any plans to remove the children.

Wyden, who is the ranking member and senior Democrat of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Office of Refugee Resettlement, did not detail how he came by his information. His office declined to provide further details. The ORR, which oversees the care of unaccompanied migrant children, falls under the Department of Health and Human Services.

An HHS spokesperson denied any such plans.

“The new information I obtained leads me to believe that the Department is laying the groundwork for another lawless deportation effort, this time on a greater scale, across more countries of origin,” Wyden wrote.

“You have been entrusted with the care and safety of the children placed within the ORR network. Proceeding with this plan knowingly endangers their lives and violates your duty to these vulnerable children.”

Trump administration made a similar attempt in 2025

Wyden also issued an early warning last August ahead of what eventually became a chaotic weekend of efforts by the Trump administration to remove Guatemalan children in its care and send them home.

HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in “there are no plans to target these children,” calling Wyden's claims ”irresponsible fearmongering."

“The Trump Administration is working to identify the parents or legal guardians of unaccompanied alien children in our care because ensuring every child is placed with a properly vetted sponsor is our top priority,” she said.

Over the Labor Day weekend, dozens of migrant children either staying in government-supervised shelters or with foster families were taken from their homes and bused to airfields in Texas bound for Guatemala. A federal judge woken up in the middle of the night eventually stopped the planes. Lawyers for the children — many who had fled violence at home to come to the U.S. — later described how traumatic the middle-of-the-night removal effort was for them.

The administration insisted it was reuniting the Guatemalan children — at the Central American nation’s request — with parents or guardians who sought their return. Lawyers for at least some of the children said that wasn’t true and argued that in any event, authorities still would have to follow a legal process that they did not.

Some of the children in the plane last year were represented by the American Bar Association’s ProBar project. Lauren Fisher Flores, the legal director, said children that day were seen “crying, praying, vomiting” and some entered into a catatonic state. The effects were long-lasting.

“One child was hospitalized for several days due to nerves. For months, one young client refused to board buses for medical appointments or court hearings. All the rules and laws that exist to protect these children were unable to prevent them from experiencing something deeply traumatic," Fisher Flores added.

Congress established legal protections for migrant children

Migrant children traveling alone are usually entrusted to U.S. government care, and there are various legal protections designed to protect them once they’re in the U.S. and navigating the immigration system.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 is one of the key pieces of legislation designed to protect them. With some limited exceptions, it requires that children be placed in the “least restrictive setting possible,” which generally means that they can be released to a sponsor such as a relative in the U.S. while their immigration proceedings play out.

The children can apply for a specially protected status if they can’t return to their home country because of abuse or neglect and they can also apply for asylum.

The Trump administration has made it increasingly difficult for those children to be released to sponsors though. The administration says that they are doing due diligence to make sure that sponsors are thoroughly vetted and that in the past, children were released into dangerous situations.

But advocates say that the result has been children lingering for months in government shelters.

This time, Wyden said the children at risk of being removed come from various countries, potentially including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Afghanistan, and have been in U.S. custody — mainly in foster care — for at least 180 days. He said they were described as not having any “viable sponsor" who could come forward and take care of them in the U.S.

Not having an identified sponsor could mean the child's parents are in their home countries, are deceased or are too afraid to claim their children after ICE started arresting some parents who are not in the country legally during their reunification efforts.

Wednesday evening’s 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region.

Venezuelan officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble.

Here are some of the reactions from world leaders and celebrities to the earthquakes in Venezuela.

US State Secretary Marco Rubio

“The United States extends our deepest condolences to the people of Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the social platform X.

“America stands with the Venezuelan people during this difficult time and at the direction of President Trump, the State Department is immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”

UN emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement that Venezuela will need “all hands on deck” from the international community to deal with the aftermath of the earthquakes.

“I’m in close contact with our team in Caracas to ensure a full and urgent response, including search and rescue support and emergency relief for survivors. International solidarity coming in," Fletcher said.

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron took to social platform X to express France's solidarity with the Venezuelan people and said that a team of 85 French rescue workers specializing in search and clearance operations is “being deployed immediately” to Venezuela.

“France stands ready, alongside its European partners, to provide assistance to the affected populations in response to the needs identified by the Venezuelan authorities,” he wrote.

Venezuelan actor-model Alicia Machado

The 1996 Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who was born in Maracay, is using her Instagram account to give visibility to distressed Venezuelans and linking them to an initiative named Global Empowerment Mission for aid.

“Venezuela needs us united more than ever! We are waiting for you here,” Machado said in an Instagram post. “Our reconnaissance and emergency response team is deploying immediately and is expected to be on the ground by Friday to assess needs, coordinate with local partners, and begin response operations. Please keep the people of Venezuela in your thoughts during this challenging time.”

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that a team of military rescue workers, along with medical personnel, will depart for Venezuela on Thursday. She did not say how many people would be traveling.

“We will determine tomorrow exactly what additional personnel are needed to continue helping the communities that need it,” the Mexican president said.

Actor Édgar Ramírez

Emmy Award-winning actor Edgar Ramírez, a native of San Cristobal who has appeared in several movies and TV series in the U.S., posted more than 20 messages on his Instagram account by Thursday morning showing people who had disappeared after the earthquakes. He also shared an image of the Venezuelan flag that Oscar-winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis had posted.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil expressed his country's “determination" to support the government of Venezuela in its recovery efforts.

Lula said on X that he had instructed Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assess the situation in Venezuela “and to evaluate what assistance measures Brazil might adopt.”

"I reaffirm our determination to support the government of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez in the recovery of affected areas in this sister nation, whose people have demonstrated great resilience in the face of adversity," he wrote.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

“China has taken note of the reports concerning Venezuela. We extend our sincere condolences to the Venezuelan government and the affected people,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday in a news conference.

He added that “China is willing to provide assistance to Venezuela to the best of its ability, according to Venezuela's needs."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez

Sánchez said he spoke with the Venezuelan president on Thursday to say his country was sending a plane later that day with two government-sponsored search-and-rescue teams, along with other aid workers to assess needs on the ground.

“Our government is working to give all the possible assistance to our Spanish expatriates in Venezuela (too),” Sánchez said in his social media channels.

Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella

“I stand in full solidarity with the brotherly people of Venezuela following the devastating earthquake. Colombia stands with you during this difficult time with affection, respect, and hope. My prayers are with the victims and their families. God will provide,” Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella wrote on X.

The bank also announced Thursday that Marianne Lake, who had held several top positions in the company including chief financial officer and CEO of the consumer banking division, will retire at the end of the year. Lake was long thought to be a potential person to take over the company when Dimon retired.

The promotion of Petno and Rohrbaugh is a sign that JPMorgan’s board is also looking to its commercial and investment banking ranks as it develops the next generation of leadership, even as Rohrbaugh will now move over to run the bank’s giant consumer business. Petno and Rohrbaugh both ascended JPMorgan’s ranks through the company’s investment bank but worked on different sides of the house: much of Petno’s experience has been working with clients and doing advisory work, including natural resources investment banking, while Rohrbaugh came up through the bank’s trading desks, with a background in foreign-exchange derivatives and options trading.

“The changes announced today mark an important step in our Board’s thoughtful process around succession planning and development of our top leaders,” Dimon said in a statement.

There are two other potential successors, both women, who remain on JPMorgan’s operating committee, the group of top management at the bank who report to Dimon. Jennifer Piepszak, 55, is JPMorgan’s chief operating officer, while Mary Erdoes, 58, runs its asset and wealth management division. The bank disclosed Thursday that Piepszak and Erdoes each received $20 million equity-based retention awards, underscoring that the board is trying to preserve a broad bench of senior leaders as it plans for Dimon’s eventual succession.

But even with those retention bonuses for Piepszak and Erdoes, analysts noted that promotion of Petno and Rohrbaugh is a signal that the board is leaning toward them.

“Given that Lake has been viewed as a front-runner, her retirement reshapes the succession field for Jamie Dimon’s CEO role, while elevating Petno and Rohrbaugh into president-level roles that have historically served as the springboard for the CEO job,” said analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a note to investors after the announcement.

Further, the retention bonuses mean that the person who takes over for Dimon will have a full slate of senior executives to help them with the transition, analysts said.

Wall Street loves to speculate who will succeed Dimon, who is 70 years old and has been CEO since 2006. Dimon has had several health scares over his 20 years running the bank, including a throat cancer diagnosis in 2014 and emergency heart surgery in 2020. Still, Dimon has repeatedly said he enjoys being chairman and CEO, and has emphasized that JPMorgan’s board of directors will decide the timing of Dimon’s replacement.

Whoever replaces Dimon will inherit one of the most prominent roles on Wall Street and, more broadly, in Corporate America. Dimon is among the last of the generation of Wall Street CEOs who steered their firms through the 2008 financial crisis and is widely seen as the banking industry's elder statesman.

Before joining JPMorgan Chase in 2004, Dimon’s career was rooted more in consumer finance than trading and investment banking. He held leadership roles at American Express, Citigroup and Bank One. JPMorgan Chase acquired Bank One in 2004 in a deal to expand its consumer banking and credit card businesses. Bank One’s credit card division was considered a strategic asset in that deal.

Rubio used a three-day, three-nation trip to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain this week to try to convince all the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council that the Trump administration does indeed have their backs in negotiations to end the war President Donald Trump and Israel launched on Feb. 28.

That conflict sharply curtailed the region's oil exports and saw several Gulf countries take direct retaliatory Iranian missile and drone hits.

“They’ve shared with us some very concrete concerns, ideas,” Rubio said in Bahrain, the last stop on the trip. “And when I say concern, the biggest concern is that they really just want to be informed every step along the way as we enter these negotiations at both the technical and political levels.”

“We want them to be involved and we want the views of all these countries to be reflected,” he said. “We don’t want to and will not be making any decisions or commitments that in any way undermines the prosperity, stability or security of our Gulf partners.”

While the U.S. and the Gulf council members — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — eventually released a joint statement after the meeting that extolled areas of agreement about the end goals of the Iran agreement, there were small signs of potential discontent.

The joint statement said the two sides “stressed the need to maintain momentum and unity as negotiations proceed toward a more permanent end to hostilities and the shared objective of preventing Iran from ever developing or otherwise acquiring a nuclear weapon."

They also expressed opposition to any attempt by Iran to impose tolls, fees, or assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. They welcomed an Omani initiative to create a safe lane to evacuate stranded sailors from the waterway and stressed that any economic benefit Iran might realize “is conditional and reversible, contingent on Iran’s compliance” with the temporary agreement and a final deal.

The joint statement painted a rosy picture, yet the council secretary, General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, suggested in a statement that doubts remain.

He said it was emphasized during the meeting that any future understandings or arrangements must incorporate the requirements of the Gulf council countries to safeguard their interests and ensure “their security and stability.” His statement, released by the group, hinted that the Guld council members felt snubbed in the earlier talks.

“Such arrangements must be based on the principles of international law, respect for state sovereignty, good neighborliness, and non-interference in internal affairs, thereby contributing to the consolidation of regional security and stability,” he said.

Before Rubio spoke to the group, the meeting host, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, said that while the memorandum of understanding is welcome, many questions remain outstanding.

“While this progress is encouraging, it is critically important that Iran fully adheres to its obligations," including under the memorandum, he said.

He said that means preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, preserving freedom of navigation, ending all missile and drone attacks, halting support for proxy groups and abandoning attempts to interfere with Iran's neighbors.

The Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade Ball, their starting point guard, and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for power forward Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round draft pick, three first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by ESPN, has yet to be approved by the league.

The three first-round pick swaps will be in 2028, 2029 and 2030. The Hornets also get three second-round picks in 2029, 2032 and 2033.

The Hornets quickly moved to agree on a three-year, $74 million contract with new projected starting point guard Coby White following the trade, the person familiar with the situation told the AP.

White, the all-time leading scorer in North Carolina high school basketball history, averaged 15.6 points and 3 assists per game while shooting 39.1% from 3-point range last season for the Hornets after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.

The 24-year-old Ball, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, had three years left on a five-year, $203.9 million designated rookie contract with the Hornets, which was a franchise record.

An All-Star in 2022, Ball has struggled with ankle and foot injuries during his career, but he played in 72 games last season and averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, helping the Hornets win 44 games before being blown out in the play-in tournament by the Orlando Magic.

Ball finished second in the league in 3s made last year with 272, one behind rookie teammate Kon Knueppel.

Ball is considered an exceptional offensive player, but his shortcomings on the defensive end were at times a source of irritation for coach Charles Lee.

Still, Ball's ability to create opportunities for his teammates off the dribble, his exceptional passing and unique knack for getting off 3-pointers — with shots often coming off one foot — via a stepback move, make him one of the league's most dynamic scoring point guards.

But Ball was never able to get the Hornets to the playoffs in his six seasons with the club, with injuries playing a role. Before this season, Ball missed 141 games over the previous three seasons.

This trade is expected to be included as part of the transaction in which Minnesota agreed to send Julius Randle to Brooklyn in a deal that involved the Chicago Bulls, a second person with knowledge of the agreement told the AP. It will create an NBA-record trade exception of nearly $41 million for the Hornets.

The deals cannot be finalized until July 6, when the league moratorium on such moves is lifted.

It’s another blockbuster for the league, which has seen Giannis Antetokounmpo getting traded by Milwaukee to Miami for a package that includes Tyler Herro, a move that followed the Randle deal before the draft.

Reid, 26, has spent all seven of his NBA seasons with the Timberwolves.

After reaching the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025, the Timberwolves stagnated at times last season and were ousted in six games in the second round of the playoffs by the runner-up San Antonio Spurs.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly has never been shy about aggressive pursuit of roster improvement, from the package of draft picks he sent the Utah Jazz in 2022 for defensive ace Rudy Gobert shortly after taking the job in Minnesota, to the stunning trade of franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks two years ago.

To make this work, the Timberwolves had to give up one of the most popular players in their history in Reid, the 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year who would’ve been in line for a starting spot after the departure of Randle.

The 6-foot-11 Reid, who went undrafted out of LSU in 2019, worked his way into an excellent offensive player with a shooter’s touch from the outside who has the quickness to get to the rim. Playing through a painful shoulder injury this season, Reid appeared in 77 regular-season games while averaging 13.6 points and a career-best 6.2 rebounds per game.

Their five-game loss in 2025 to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder and their defeat by the Spurs last month made clear to the Timberwolves that they’re not yet at the championship level they’ve been chasing since building their roster around 2020 first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Now they’ll have the third pick in that draft to play next to Ball, one of the few remaining pure point guards in a league that has evolved toward more volume scorers serving as the primary initiators of the offense.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch lamented after the season his abrupt decision to make Edwards the starting point guard, a move Finch said last month set the whole team back.

Trusty veteran Mike Conley will be a free agent and is now more of a limited-role player, leaving Minnesota's front office looking outward for ball-handling options. The agreement to bring back Ayo Dosunmu went a long way toward solidifying the backcourt for the long term, but he’s more of a combo guard who can thrive off the ball.

Connelly even hinted at a move like this on Tuesday night after the first round of the draft.

“We have to ensure that we’re creating as many good shots as possible, specifically for Ant, and whether that’s on our present roster or whether it’s looking outside of our team, it’s something that we certainly have to address,” Connelly said.

Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson decline to address the trade during a news conference Thursday in which the team introduced first-round draft picks Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr.

“There will be a time when we will address the roster and the transactions and stuff,” Peterson said. “We want to make this day about Christian and Hannes. They have earned it.”

___

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami and AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

___

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

A news release issued by the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday also alleges that Mathers violated her SoberLink alcohol-monitoring device four times since May 28 — when she was arraigned for an OWI-third offense charge out of Chesterfield Township.

Mathers, the ex-wife of Detroit rapper Eminem, was scheduled to appear before 42-2 District Court Judge William Hackel III at 9 a.m. Wednesday for a probable cause conference in that case, as well as for an adjourned bond violation hearing and sentencing for a previous OWI arrest in February 2026 involving a hit-and-run crash.

She pleaded no contest to the two charges issued in the alleged hit-and-run only three days before her arraignment for the Chesterfield Township OWI, leading prosecutors to request the bond violation hearing for the previous case.

The judge also required Mathers to use an alcohol-monitoring device four times a day upon posting bond in that case.

Body camera footage from her May 2026 arrest showed Mathers slurring her words while attempting to complete several field sobriety tests after allegedly crashing into a parked vehicle.

“We really need to think about public safety. When an individual repeatedly drives while intoxicated and then fails to appear for critical court proceedings, it calls into question whether existing measures are sufficient to protect the public and ensure compliance with the judicial process,” said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido in the news release. “My office will continue to seek appropriate action to safeguard the community and uphold the integrity of the court system.”

Local 4 has reached out to Mathers’ attorney for comment about her potential whereabouts.

At least 60 people were killed when police opened fire outside Parliament in Nairobi in the June 2024 protests that were triggered by tax increases. The victims' families said that they were protesting against a lack of transparency in compensating the victims, after the government promised reparations.

President William Ruto said last week that the protest would be allowed, but that the government would also protect schoolchildren and workers and he warned against any attempts by the demonstrators to “shut down the country.”

Police erected roadblocks on all major highways around Nairobi, blocking motorists from accessing the city. The Parliament building was barricaded and businesses were closed.

Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said that 355 “criminals” were arrested in Nairobi and other towns. He said that the measures were necessary to “protect businesses and avert chaos.”

Journalists and witnesses said that many ordinary Kenyans appeared to be among those detained.

Police also fired tear gas at protesters outside Nairobi's main police station who attempted to present a petition.

Opposition leaders backed the protests, calling for transparency in the $15 million government’s compensation program.

During protests on June, 25, 2024, thousands of young Kenyans stormed the Parliament building, urging legislators to vote against a finance bill that had proposed an increase in taxes despite the rising cost of living. Police opened fire outside the building, killing dozens.

Ruto said last week that the government compensation represents “a state acknowledgment that harm occurred,” but was not an admission of guilt. He said that the compensation shouldn't be seen as a “reward for violence or criminality,” in a country where violent protests are common.

Several opposition figures — including former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, former Justice Minister Martha Karua and former Chief Justice David Maraga — marched alongside activists and the families of the 2024 crackdown victims, laying wreaths at the barbed-wire barricades around Parliament.

Edith Wanjiku, whose 19-year-old son Ibrahim Kamau died of gunshots to the neck, said that her family has yet to receive compensation although they had submitted documents to the state-funded Kenya Human Rights Commission.

“Only two out of 10 families whose children were shot that day near Parliament have been compensated and we are wondering what criteria the government is using,” she told The Associated Press.

Gillian Munyao, whose son, Rex Masai, also was killed, said that compensation can't replace justice.

“Arrest the killer cops, that's my message to the government,” she said.

The chair of the compensation panel, Makau Mutua, said on Wednesday that the process was still ongoing and that every verified claim would be paid.

Three police officers have been charged in the deaths of protesters.

Local 4 Lifestyle Editor Jon Jordan hares the history behind the timeless look and demonstrates simple DIY hacks to create terra cotta inspired decor at home.

Watch the segment above to see more!

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president's order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year's midterm election cycle.

Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits, both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump’s order should be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, saying in her ruling that the provisions of Trump's order seeking to create a federal list of eligible voters and using the U.S. Postal Service to determine who can receive a mail ballot are “legally void” because they "unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.”

It was the second ruling in as many days against executive orders Trump has signed seeking oversight of the nation's elections. A separate ruling Wednesday prohibited an executive order he had signed last year that would have required people to show documents proving their citizenship when registering to vote.

Order targeted mail voting, administration likely to appeal

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose state was among the plaintiffs, celebrated the court’s decision.

“Millions of independents, Republicans and Democrats across Arizona have voted by mail for decades,” she said in a statement, noting that nearly 80% of ballots in the state are cast by that method.

Mayes, a Democrat, singled out military families, voters in the state’s rural expanses and Native Americans who cast ballots from tribal lands.

“Donald Trump’s executive order targeted all of these voters,” she said. “But today, the courts affirmed what the Constitution makes clear: States run their elections, not the President.”

The White House stood by Trump's executive order and indicated the administration would appeal the ruling. The order, said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, “lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation.”

The administration, in its motions to dismiss the lawsuits challenging the order, argued that the motions were premature and that plaintiffs lacked the legal basis to bring their claim based on the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.

But in an interim order before Thursday's ruling, Talwani said the motions pertaining to this year’s election cycle were relevant: “In light of the EO’s specific deadlines over the next three months, and the reality that elections will be occurring throughout this period with the November 3, 2026 midterm occurring in just five months, postponing judicial review is impracticable and may inflict significant hardship on Plaintiffs,” she wrote. That order denied the Trump administration's motion to dismiss the challenges.

Executive order sought to give Postal Service a central role in elections

Trump’s executive order, the second one aimed at elections during his second term, comes as he continues to raise the specter of widespread voting by noncitizens as a reason to change election rules. But states already have detailed processes aimed at keeping their voter rolls accurate, and voting by noncitizens has been shown to be rare. It also is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.

Trump issued his second order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government — through the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration — create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters. It then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list.

Election officials argued that it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

The Postal Service has published a proposed rule required by Trump’s executive order in the Federal Register. Among other things, the rule would not apply to primary elections or overseas ballots.

Postal Service workers have pushed back against the order, saying they are not equipped to determine who is eligible to vote in each state. After Trump issued his order last spring, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association said forcing its members into such a role “risks politicizing one of the nation’s most trusted public institutions.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat whose state was among the plaintiffs, said the executive order illustrated how Trump was attempting to “abuse power in previously unthinkable ways” to interfere in elections.

She said it “strains credulity” to think the U.S. Postal Service could set up a workable system for pre-screening individual voters to determine whether they would be allowed to vote by mail, adding that it would be “a shocking violation of American constitutional rights.”

The Postal Service did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.

Trump's second election executive order faces multiple legal challenges

The lawsuit seeking summary judgment was filed by Democratic attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia. Also signing on were attorneys representing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which has a Republican attorney general.

The states also told the court that the move imposes a costly burden on election officials to comply and would spread fear about the possibility of prosecution. Stephen Pezzi, a lawyer for the Trump administration, had argued that no one would be prosecuted for violating the order.

The other lawsuit filed in Talwani’s court was by the League of Women Voters and other voting rights groups, which have sought a preliminary injunction against the executive order.

In yet another lawsuit filed against the executive order, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in May agreed with the Trump administration that it was too early to block the order because it had yet to be implemented. That lawsuit was brought by Democratic and civil rights groups, which have appealed.

Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year’s vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud. Trump also has said he wants to “take over” election administration in Democratic areas.

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Barrow reported from Atlanta and Hanna from Topeka, Kansas.

The name that put action sports on the map, then turned it into big business that eventually landed in the Olympics with its risk-taking, counterculture vibe, will debut its multimillion-dollar reboot with nothing less than the future of one of the sports industry's best-recognized brands at stake.

Sports like snowboarding, skateboarding and BMX biking that were founded on a spirit of devil-may-care individuality are becoming team enterprises.

Those same sports that were founded on the idea that it was more about hanging out and doing cool stuff than medals, money and winning are now building franchises that organizers say are selling as part of eight-figure transactions.

The debut of the new team concept, scheduled to cover both the upcoming summer and winter seasons, is set for Friday in Sacramento, California. Among the headliners are skateboarding's Nyjah Huston, Garrett Reynolds and Chloe Covell.

Eileen Gu, Chloe Kim, Mark McMorris and Scotty James are among those signed up for the winter portion.

“I love working on big ideas, and this is a big idea,” said Jeremy Bloom, the Olympic freestyle skier and former NFL receiver who was hired by MSP Sports Capital shortly after they bought a majority stake in the X Games from ESPN in 2022. “But ideas are only worth the word on the page. The execution of ideas is always the hardest part.”

Did the X Games really need a reboot?

What was wrong with the X Games? Nothing, really.

The winter version, traditionally held in Aspen, Colorado, drew 50,000 fans this year and ratings on ESPN and ABC rose 48%.

But when MSP — which has stakes in F1, and Premier League soccer teams among its investments — bought the property in 2022, it had a bigger vision.

It wanted to build a season-long race for a title. The way to do that was by creating summer and winter teams that hold drafts. Both seasons will run over three events — for instance, the summer league will go to Tokyo and New Orleans after the debut in Sacramento; the final event takes place late next month.

Earlier this year, the investment group UNA Sports Group bought the summer and winter teams based in New York for what the X Games said was an eight-figure transaction. Private equity investor Allen Thorpe bought the summer team in Los Angeles and the winter team based in Park City, Utah, the home of the 2034 Olympics. On Thursday, private equity group Summit Ventures and entrepreneur Ali El Ali bought the team based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Thorpe called the new version of the X Games “an entirely new category of sports ownership.”

Bloom sees owning a franchise not as a revenue stream but rather, a growth opportunity.

“When you set aside the NFL, which is really the 2,000-pound gorilla, it's not really a world where you're looking for, like, (cash-flow) return or profit-sharing return,” Bloom said. “You're just looking at growth. Growth in a brand, growth in fans, growth of viewership.”

Sports leagues have potential for growth (WNBA) but also carry risk (LIV)

A best-case scenario for owners of these X Games teams might be to replicate what happened in the WNBA where, for instance, the Indiana Fever is worth an estimated five times its former value since the arrival of Caitlin Clark.

F1 teams, thanks to spending caps and a surge in popularity driven by the Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” have also enjoyed a surge in value.

UNA, which bought the New York franchises, made the decision partly based on a study it published that projected the value of the global action sports market at $650 billion in 2027.

"Action sports today look remarkably like women’s basketball did five years ago or women’s soccer eight years ago: passionate participants, a loyal core audience, strong brand equity in the category leader, and a fragmented competitive landscape with no dominant league format," the paper said in detailing the strength of the league idea.

The paper made no mention of lessons learned from LIV Golf.

The league always hoped its franchises would generate value and was trying to sell minority stakes in the teams, saying they were worth $300 million. The team concept hasn't caught on and the pullout of the Saudi investment fund backing the league is putting the worth of those teams at risk.

Will fans follow sports beyond X Games, Olympics?

While golf still resides in the category of a niche sport, its schedule has a familiar cadence and the tug between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf largely was a difference in vision among some players who were rich and others who were richer.

Action sports has less of that. For every athlete like Huston or Gu — whose sponsorship income dwarfs what they've collected in prize money over the years — there are dozens more who have to scratch out paychecks in sports that have struggled to generate big prize pools.

“Skateboarding, depending on what your deals are, you can make some money,” said Bob Burnquist, a 14-time X Games skateboard champ who is the general manager of the Sao Paulo team. “But there were several times throughout your career, where I was there for glory and I did it and I knew it. Because if you quantify the risk, it's not really on my side. If I won the event, I'd make ‘X,’ but if I got broken trying to win the event, I'd owe the hospital.”

One of the lures for the athletes was a guaranteed base salary, the likes of which is basically unheard of in actions sports. Also, travel expenses will be covered and they'll receive a health-care stipend, in addition to a prize-money pool. That's among the reasons some of the biggest names, including Kim, Gu, Huston, James and McMorris signed on.

Now, the question is whether enough people will buy into the team concept to the point where they're willing to watch an entire season of action sports unfold.

Bloom — a once-in-a-generation athlete and entrepreneur who made his mark both in individual and team sports — is staking his reputation and that of the X Games that the new idea will work.

“It's still special to win a world championship and World Cup overall titles and make it to the Olympics, there’s no doubt,” Bloom said. “But I was really drawn to this idea and notion that for the first time ever, action sports athletes could feel that camaraderie.”

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Thayer Gorges, founder of Theory & Thread, joined us on Live in the D to discuss the growing resale trend and brought along several upscale pieces from her collection, showcasing how secondhand fashion can be both fashionable and sustainable.

Watch the segment above to see more.

Live in the D’s April Morton gives us a look at some of the events bringing the community together this weekend.

Watch the segment above to see more.

Evert, 71, was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2021. In December 2023 she revealed her cancer had returned.

She announced on social media on Thursday she already has had surgery “as the first step in my treatment and recovery” after tests revealed the cancer again had returned. She said she will begin chemotherapy “in the coming weeks.”

“Because of this, I will not be attending Wimbledon this year, and I will step back from my professional commitments over the next few months to focus on my health,” Evert said.

“Ovarian cancer is relentless, but I will stay optimistic and determined in continuing to fight this battle. I am deeply grateful to my medical team, my family, friends and everyone who has reached out with kindness and encouragement. I look forward to seeing everyone again soon.”

Evert is an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and has remained prominent in the sport as an analyst for ESPN.

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

Along with doubling the number of Community Center branches, the bank plans to hire an additional 150 employees, known as community managers, and provide additional programming at these locations.

The Community Center program focuses on Chase opening branches in low- and moderate-income communities, particularly in areas where residents may be underbanked or unbanked. Chase opened its first Community Center in Harlem in 2019 as an experiment and the program’s success led to 19 locations in operation across the country. Jamie Dimon, the bank’s CEO, has historically attended the grand opening of nearly all the Community Centers, and their openings are typically attended by local government officials and other dignitaries.

“We are doubling down on our efforts to expand access,” said Diedra Porché, head of Chase's community and business development division.

These Community Centers are still Chase branches, but they include open areas where financial educators, local nonprofit organizations and other groups can provide financial workshops to neighborhood residents. The programs and workshops are free to the public. The bank says the locally-hired community managers who run the centers are directed not to sell products, and attendees are not required to be Chase customers or interested in Chase products.

The centers are focused on financial education, ranging from teaching a person how to build a household budget to workshops for small business owners. The bank estimates it has hosted 14,000 of these workshops since the first community center opened, with more than 1 million attendees. Chase has set a goal of increasing the programming to reach 5 million attendees.

Banks by law are required to provide services to low-income communities under the Community Reinvestment Act. But how banks provide these services can be in several different forms. While Chase does charitable giving through the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Dimon has said in the past that he believes the bank can have a greater impact in low-income communities by opening branches in those neighborhoods, creating jobs and providing financing in underserved areas.

“We try to meet people where they are, and then give them the tools and resources they might need to take their next step successfully,” Porché said.

The program is also generally good business for the bank. While there are no salespeople involved in the actual programming, the opening of a community center branch in an underserved neighborhood tends to result in new accounts being opened and new customers for the bank. Chase has issued reports in the past that show its community centers lead to higher account openings, often far more account openings than what other branches in the area provide.

According to authorities, Jack Robb was driving nearly 90 mph when he blew a red light in Shelby Township on Jan. 7, 2024. Police said he was driving north on Hayes Road when he struck a westbound car on 21 Mile Road.

The driver of the car, 26-year-old Austin Southwell, was killed in the crash.

Prosecutors said Robb, who was 17 years old at the time, had drank alcohol and smoked marijuana prior to the crash.

On May 1, 2026, a jury found Robb guilty of second-degree homicide and he was remanded to jail.

Robb was sentenced Thursday, June 25, to 10-50 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections. He was also ordered to pay nearly $12,000 in restitution.

The shooting happened on Burgess near Outer Drive W and Lyndon Street on June 24, just after 9:30 p.m.

Detroit police officers responded to the area after receiving multiple ShotSpotter alerts. When they arrived, they found a 20-year-old man dead several houses away from a child who had also been shot.

The child was taken to a local hospital and is recovering from their injuries.

Police initially reported that the child is 7 years old. But on Thursday, police said the child is 9 years old.

Detroit police confirmed the child and the man are cousins.

A suspect has not been arrested.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detroit Police Major Crimes at (313) 596-2260. You can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-SPEAK UP or through DetroitRewards.tv.

How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results. The new research reexamined those decades-old recordings and compared them with the newly captured giggles of four young children while they were being tickled and playing at home.

It turns out that the chuckles of humans and great apes follow similar rhythms, with regular timing between their laughs, a uniting thread that likely reflects their ties to a common ancestor, researchers said.

“In a way, we are very similar to other great apes because we’ve been laughing in a similar way for 15 million years,” said study author Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at the University of Warwick in England.

Laughter communicates a playful, happy feeling without using words. Many animals can laugh too, but the giggles don’t follow human patterns as closely. When researchers tickle rats, for example, they respond with ultrasonic squeaks.

Scientists trying to uncover how laughter evolved have picked apart animals’ facial expressions, but less work has been done on how laughs sound. And compared with apes, human laughter has become faster and more complex. For one, our laughs sound different based on context — from a polite chuckle among colleagues to a full-bodied guffaw with close friends.

“We are like the masters of laughter, I would say,” said De Gregorio, whose findings were published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.

These giggles evolved to best suit animals’ different social lives, said Brittany Florkiewicz, who studies animal communication at Lyon College and had no role in the new research. She said the study’s findings make sense, and point to a need for more investigation.

Florkiewicz said she’d like to hear comparable recordings of other animals with playful facial expressions, like dogs, horses and cats. That could tell us more about how laughter evolved, so we can “understand what makes us uniquely human, but also what is similar between humans and other animals.”

Studying the origins of laughter may seem corny, but it's one aspect of human communication that can help us understand others — including how we learned to speak. Because sounds don't fossilize, scientists are using the evidence we do have to trace things back, one chuckle at a time.

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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.

The growth in gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — marked a rebound from a sluggish 0.5% in the last three months of 2025 when a 43-day federal government shutdown weighed on the economy. Thursday’s numbers were an upgrade from of Commerce’s previous first-quarter estimate of 1.6% growth.

Business investment surged, probably reflecting an investment boom in artificial intelligence. But consumer spending, which accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic activity, fell sharply from fourth-quarter 2025 and from Commerce’s previous estimate in a sign that consumers may be cutting back in the face of higher gasoline prices caused by the war with Iran.

“It was unsettling to see consumer spending revised even lower,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said in a commentary. "Spending is likely to tick up in (the second quarter), but it’s worth watching carefully... It’s been a tough few months for American consumers, but most have been able to make it through. The question is how much relief is coming” as the U.S. and Iran continue talks toward a resolution of the conflict.

Excluding housing, private investment jumped 10.6%, up from 2.4% in fourth-quarter 2025. In a sign of the AI boom, investment in information-processing equipment jumped at a 39.9% pace as companies scrambled to outfit their data centers. But Michael Reid, head of U.S. economics at RBC Capital Markets, said before Thursday’s report came out that “unfortunately, it’s not a sustainable path.’’ He expects data center investment to lose momentum going forward.

Residential investment, weighed down by high interest rates, dropped 7.8% from January through March, biggest fall since late 2022 and the fifth straight quarterly decline.

The federal government's spending and investment rose at a 9.4% clip in the first quarter after dropping 16.6% in October-December 2025 largely because of the government shutdown.

Imports, which are subtracted from GDP, grew at a slower pace than last estimated from January through March. They still subtracted 1.49 percentage points from first-quarter growth, but that was down from a 2.59 percentage-point hit in the previous estimate and was a major factor in Thursday's upgrade.

The U.S. economy — the world’s biggest — has continued to chug along despite the Iran energy shock. The American job market has proven especially resilient. Employers added an average 188,000 jobs a month from March through May after adding fewer than 10,000 a month in 2025 amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies.

Thursday’s report was the Commerce Department’s third and final estimate of first-quarter GDP growth. The first look at second-quarter economic growth is due July 30.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Detroit City Distillery
• Shankar Distillers in Troy
• Tashmoo Distilling Company in New Baltimore
• Two James Spirits Detroit
• Weiss Distilling Company in Clawson

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.

Gracie, who is about 3 years old, has been missing for nearly two weeks after escaping her enclosure at Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, said Vic Jones, who owns the remote property about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of San Antonio. He said Wednesday that Gracie had wandered into a part of the privately owned preserve that other giraffes previously avoided.

Jones said he has sent up helicopters to look for Gracie, a few sightings have trickled in, and a $5,000 reward is on the table.

But the giraffe, which stands roughly the height of a tree, hasn't turned up.

“She wound up going up and feeding in an area on the hillside and the rocky ledges that none of the other giraffes had ever gone on before,” Jones said. “And when she came down off of there, she came down on the wrong side of the gate.”

The ranch is in rural Real County, where its roughly 2,700 residents were put on alert to be on the lookout for a missing giraffe. Jones said the search area is extremely remote, and the likelihood of Gracie encountering any humans is low.

“People are not in danger of her because she’s not around people,” Jones said. 'She’s out in very, very rough, heavily wooded lands.”

The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the country. Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the mild climate and rugged terrain seems to serve as a good stand-in for most of the animals' native African environments.

He rattled off a list of animals that have gone missing over the years, especially after floods, but said this was his first giraffe.

“I’ve had wildebeests, I've had water buffalo, I've had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.”

While the middle of Texas is not a giraffe's native environment, Jones said Gracie should be able to find plenty of leaves and other vegetation to eat. He said other animals were not likely to bother her.

Jones said he initially had helicopters searching an area of about 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) with no luck. A few days later, there was a report that Gracie was spotted to the south.

But by the time they could search the area, Jones said, she was already gone.

“We're always two three days late for where the information is coming from, so that makes it tough,” Jones said.

Now, they're going on public display for the first time after a nonprofit organization paid a whopping sum of more than $7 million for the sketches after they ended up on an auction block following a family dispute over their ownership.

The four 1940s-era sketches titled “So You Want to See the President!” show people from all walks of life waiting to see President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. They depict U.S. senators, members of the military, the press and even a Miss America biding their time in the West Wing reception area, as they wait to be shown to the Oval Office.

The White House Historical Association spared no expense for the sketches to prevent them from being “lost forever,” such as to a private art collection, its president Stewart McLaurin told The Associated Press. The public will be able to see them through June 2027 at the historical association’s “The People’s House” education center near the White House, he said.

“And since they had been seen by the eyes of so many presidents and first ladies and senior White House staff and important visitors from around the world, we wanted the American people to see them," McLaurin said. “So we acquired them.”

The sketches had been put up for sale by a grandson of the White House official who received them as a gift from Rockwell.

Rockwell is famous for his scenes of American life

Rockwell, who became famous for his illustrations of everyday American life that graced covers of the Saturday Evening Post, spent hours at the White House people-watching from a chair in the West Wing lobby, McLaurin said.

But after his sketches were consumed by a fire that destroyed Rockwell's art studio in Vermont, he went back to the White House to collect more material.

“So it's really a combination of his memories from that first visit, the memories of the second visit,” McLaurin said. “And it is an array of these people representing the military and White House staff and members of Congress and the press corps and all kinds of people that literally, to this day, go through that space in the West Wing.”

The first of Rockwell's colorful sketches opens with scenes of the entrance gate, photographers waiting outside the White House entrance on West Executive Avenue and Stephen Early, a former AP journalist who became the third White House press secretary under Roosevelt, in a huddle with a group of journalists. Seated on red leather chairs and reading papers are members of the press and Rockwell, with a pipe in his mouth and legs outstretched.

The next scene shows Miss America — identified as Rosemary LaPlanche, the 1941 titleholder — in a yellow dress and her sash, sitting on a red sofa alongside her publicity man. A kilt-wearing Scottish officer also sits nearby as a Secret Service agent hovers.

U.S. Sens. Tom Connally, D-Texas, and Warren Austin, R-Vt., face each other in conversation as they sit on a red couch in the third sketch while a U.S. Navy “WAVES” officer looks on from a nearby chair. Gens. Joseph W. “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell and Edwin M. “Pa” Watson shake hands while being photographed, and an aide pushing Roosevelt's lunch cart is chased by Fala, the president's dog.

The final sketch shows more uniformed U.S military members huddled in conversation and, finally, an aide opening the door to the Oval Office, where the president is glimpsed.

“It's such a little aquarium of these people and we're like a fly on the wall as to what it was like at that particular period of time,” McLaurin said of the sketches.

They were a gift for Roosevelt's press secretary

Rockwell made the sketches for Early and gave them to him after they appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in November 1943, during World War II, McLaurin said.

Early, who died in 1951, had displayed them on the wall in his West Wing office and then kept them for many years after. In 1978, a family member turned the sketches over to the White House, where they were on display throughout the West Wing for more than four decades, sometimes in a hallway between the press offices that are mere steps from the Oval Office.

The family’s ownership dispute began in 2017 when Thomas Early, one of the press secretary’s sons, saw them on a wall in the White House while watching a television interview with President Donald Trump, according to court records.

William Elam III, a grandson of Stephen Early, said his mother received the drawings as a gift from her father, the press secretary, before he died, and that ownership had later passed to him.

The illustrations had gone to the White House in 1978 under an agreement that required they be returned to Elam upon request. The White House gave back the drawings in 2022.

A federal appeals court settled the dispute in May 2025, upholding a lower-court ruling in favor of Elam, according to court records. Elam put them up for sale.

Association says the sketches are ‘priceless’

Historians at the association have researched the people in the drawings to learn their stories, McLaurin said, and the exhibit will include a digital component that uses modern technology to bring the characters in the sketches to life.

The association is still figuring out what happens to the sketches after the exhibit ends in June 2027. They may be shown in other venues, and may eventually end up back in the White House, McLaurin said.

When the association learned the sketches were for sale, “our board affirmed that this is an acquisition that we should make,” he said.

McLaurin said the privately funded association, which was founded in 1961 by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and receives no taxpayer dollars, had feared the sketches would sell for even more than the $7.25 million it paid for them. That is the most the association has ever paid for a work of art for the vast collection it holds as part of its mission to help the White House collect and display artifacts that represent American history and culture.

“In our view, these are priceless works,” McLaurin said.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the move hadn't been announced.

The Cubs placed Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, adding to their injury woes in their rotation. Brown has a neck strain, and Cabrera is sidelined with a left hamstring strain.

Jameson Taillon, Cade Horton and Justin Steele also are on the IL. Matthew Boyd is set to come off the injured list and start in Brown’s spot in Thursday's series finale against the Mets.

New York received minor league slugger infielder Cole Mathis in the trade. The 22-year-old Mathis, a second-round pick in the 2024 amateur draft, is batting .272 with 10 homers and 39 RBIs in 39 games over two stops this year.

The 30-year-old Peterson is 3-6 with a 6.09 ERA in eight starts and eight relief appearances this year. He is eligible for free agency after this season.

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

“If they’re feeling the heat blaring through the glass, that’s a problem,” said Larry Shy, General Manager of WeatherGard, a Farmington-based window, roofing, and home improvement company. Shy says homeowners should also watch for air conditioning units running more frequently than usual and rising energy bills - all signals that aging windows may be undermining efficiency.

WeatherGard distinguishes itself from competitors on the strength of its product. While most window companies offer wood, fiberglass, or standard vinyl frames, Shy says none of them measure up.

“We stand alone. We have the only commercial-rated frame in the state of Michigan. Nobody else has it,” he said. The company’s frames, he explained, are engineered to meet commercial building codes - capable of being installed up to 20 stories high by law, compared to three stories for competitors.

“We’re a family business based in Farmington, Michigan - serving all of Michigan and the west side of the state as well. And we are the only ones with a true lifetime guarantee,” Shy said.

Beyond windows, WeatherGard operates as a full-service construction company, offering roofing, gutters, insulation, and custom entry doors. The company also sends design consultants directly to homeowners’ residences to help visualize changes before any commitments are made.

The company’s reach extends into the community as well. Through its WeatherGard Cares initiative, launched in 2022, the company has directed charitable dollars toward organizations including the Michigan Kidney Foundation, the Michigan Humane Society, Blue Star Service Dogs, and Habitat for Humanity.

“We’re donating $75,000 this year to one of a handful of local Michigan-based charities to give back,” Shy said. “Almost a quarter of a million dollars so far in the last few years that we’ve been able to give back.”

For homeowners considering home improvement projects, Shy’s advice is straightforward: do your homework, then make the call.

“They’re not doing themselves any justice if they don’t get in front of WeatherGard,” he said.

WeatherGard offers free in-home estimates. Homeowners can reach the company at 800-55-WEATHER or at weathergard.com.

In new overnight strikes, Zelenskyy said Thursday that Kyiv's forces hit two more Russian oil refineries in Ufa, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the front line, and an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Ukraine.

In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its aerial campaign against Russian military installations and energy facilities. Its success has caused fuel shortages and disrupted army supply lines, stalling Moscow’s full-scale invasion after more than four years of fighting.

Zelenskyy said in his daily address late Wednesday that Russia is moving more air defenses to the capital as well as to Valdai, a town some 500 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Moscow and the site of a residence for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said they are also protecting the Kerch Bridge, a vital supply route connecting the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“In the Moscow region alone, they have amassed hundreds of launchers” for air defense missiles, Zelenskyy said. “Nearly 90 launchers have been redeployed to Valdai from other regions of Russia.”

It was not possible to independently verify Zelenskyy's claims, which portrayed the Russian leadership as caring more about protecting itself than other cities and towns in the vast country. Russian officials made no immediate comment.

Ukrainian drones this month have hit Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city and Putin’s hometown. Ukraine is also trying to cut off Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.

The air defense changes, Zelenskyy suggested, would leave other parts of Russia vulnerable to Ukraine’s increasingly sophisticated long-range drones, which can now fly more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles).I

“There are many difficulties (for Russia), all because Putin refuses to end his war and to hear our proposals for a meeting, genuine negotiations, and a dignified peace,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin has refused, and a year of U.S.-led peace efforts made no significant headway.

Trump praises Zelenskyy

Western officials and analysts say Ukraine’s prospects have improved after more than four years of a grueling war of attrition as its domestic development and production of cutting-edge drones pin down the bigger Russian army.

Trump, who previously has been critical of Zelenskyy, said Wednesday the Ukrainian leader is “courageous” and “doing pretty well” in the war.

Zelenskyy said he won pledges of sustained foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including Trump, and that promised aid will further help Ukraine’s intensified campaign.

“Our operation, including the one concerning Crimea, has been carefully planned, and the way it is unfolding clearly demonstrates that if Ukraine receives exactly what we discussed with our partners at the G7 — and that depends on our partners’ decisions — we will quickly create conditions in which Russia will be forced to choose peace,” he said.

“We very much hope for a positive response from our partners,” Zelenskyy added. “They know exactly what we are talking about.”

Ukraine is wary of its neighbor Belarus

Belarus, whose factories have played a key role in supporting Moscow’s war effort, appears to have turned off signal repeaters on its soil that Kyiv says were used to help guide Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. Moscow launched its 2022 invasion of its southern neighbor from Belarus.

Zelenskyy demanded last week that Belarus, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, remove the relay equipment. He threatened to take action against the relay stations, presumably with a military strike that could bring the countries into direct conflict.

Ukrainian intelligence has determined that the repeaters are now off, Zelenskyy told journalists.

Even so, Zelenskyy said later Thursday on Telegram that “along our state border, Belarus is completing the construction of road infrastructure and storage facilities for ammunition and fuel, which have no purpose other than military use.”

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said he recently met with Zelenskyy’s representatives and warned them against using force against his country. At a meeting with the governor of the Moscow region, he said Belarus has no intention of entering the war and doesn’t want to fight Ukraine but would “stand alongside Russia.”

Ukrainian military officials on Wednesday ordered a mandatory evacuation for the approximately 1,000 people still in the Chernihiv region bordering Russia and Belarus starting July 1.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Lukashenko is walking a fine line.

“Lukashenko continues to stall and deflect the Kremlin’s intensified attempts to drag Belarus into the war in Ukraine while maintaining relatively neutral rhetoric towards Ukraine,” the institute said.

Ukrainian Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the armed forces, said last week that Ukraine is strengthening defenses on its northern border, including creating new drone units there.

Russia targets Ukraine's civilian gas stations

Russia launched a ballistic missile and 90 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

One drone struck a gas station Thursday in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, injuring four people, said regional administration head Oleh Hryhorov, adding that Russian forces have attacked the region's gas stations 13 times in June alone.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 269 Ukrainian drones from late Wednesday until early Thursday.

Several Russian airports temporarily restricted flights overnight during drone attacks.

In other developments, the French navy intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean that is suspected of being part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of aging vessels of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging sanctions, French authorities said.

The Deliver, sailing under the flag of Cameroon, had departed from the Russian port of Primorsk, authorities said.

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

The Indian River woman and her husband won the prize with a Club Keno ticket.

Patricia Lange, 77, won $50,000 when her Club Keno numbers (06-13-34-38-61-64-69-76-77-80) matched 9 of the 20 Club Keno numbers drawn in draw 2606168 on May 25, the KICKER multiplied to prize $100,000.

“We are the owners of the party store, so every day we buy a Club Keno ticket while we’re there,” said Lange. “My husband bought this ticket and saw we’d won big while he was watching the drawings. He came home and woke me up, so I knew it must be important because he never wakes me up.”

Her husband bought the winning ticket at their store, Pat & Gary’s Party Store, located at 3758 Straits Highway in Indian River.

Indian River is about 30 miles north of Gaylord.

Lange visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim the prize.

With their winnings, they plans to pay bills and restock their store for the busy summer season.

The annual event, hosted by the Lake Orion Lions, usually takes place in downtown Lake Orion, but this year, it will be held in Orion Township.

The carnival will be held at Civic Center Park on Joslyn Road, which is next to Wildwood Amphitheater.

All entertainment and the beer tent will be at Wildwood Amphitheater, located on Waldon Road near Joslyn Road.

There is a $20 entry fee for the entertainment area only from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Proceeds support the Lake Orion Lions Club, a charitable organization that helps those in need in the community.

Here is the schedule of events:

Thursday, June 25

• Carnival: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Beer tent: 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
• Live performance by Sax Maniacs: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday, June 26

• Carnival: 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.
• Beer tent: 5:30 p.m. to 12 a.m.
• Meet a future leader dog: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
• Live performance by Viva Las Vegas tribute to Elvis and Tom Jones: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Live performance by Stereo Kings: 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Saturday, June 27

• Carnival: 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.
• Beer tent: 5:30 p.m. to 12 a.m.
• Live performance by Nirvana Tribute: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Live performance by Scotty Doesn’t Know: 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Sunday, June 28

• Carnival: 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Gayle Jr., a 6’5”, 205-pound guard, wrapped up his collegiate career at the University of Michigan in style as his leadership paved the way for Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson Jr. to become lottery picks as transfers last season.

Roddy Gayle Jr. has signed to play with @DetroitPistons in the Summer League in Las Vegas. #GoBlue x #ProBlue pic.twitter.com/ELSb6V0fS8

— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) June 25, 2026

He played a key role for the Wolverines during their national championship season, providing veteran leadership, defensive versatility, and timely scoring.

Known as a physical two-way wing, Gayle Jr. projects as a potential three-and-D contributor at the professional level.

His combination of strength and lateral quickness allowed him to switch assignments effectively throughout his college career.

Offensively, Gayle Jr. excelled at attacking the basket, finishing through contact, and generating pressure at the rim.

He also showed the ability to space the floor as a catch-and-shoot threat while contributing as a secondary playmaker and transition scorer under former head coach Dusty May, earning him the nicknames “March Roddy” and later “April Roddy” due to his rise in the championship months of college basketball.

His willingness to defend, rebound, move without the ball, and fill multiple roles helped elevate Michigan’s lineup.

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Fraser Public Safety officers responded to a reported structure fire in the 16000 block of Woodlane Street on June 23.

Police say upon arrival, the house had visible fire and smoke, crews began an aggressive fire attack and search of the structure.

The search located an adult female resident inside the home and removed her to safety.

Authorities say the woman was treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel then transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment of injuries sustained.

Police say the fire was contained and extinguished, there was no further spread.

According to authorities no public safety officers or fire personnel were injured during the operation.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Fire investigators say they will continue to examine the scene and gather information to find the origin of the incident.

Van Hollen’s endorsement, shared first with The Associated Press on the day early voting begins in Michigan, makes him the first senator to back El-Sayed since Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed him shortly after he launched his campaign last year. It also comes on the heels of big wins for progressive challengers in New York U.S. House races on Tuesday.

The Aug. 4 race in Michigan has increasingly split Democrats along ideological lines, with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer backing U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow drawing support from other prominent senators.

Democrats will need to hold the Michigan seat if they want a shot at winning the majority this year. It opened by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ retirement and former Rep. Mike Rogers has an uncontested path to the Republican nomination.

In an interview with the AP, Van Hollen said he believed El-Sayed was the “strongest” candidate who can win in November, and “the candidate who’s willing to take on the status quo.”

“When I say the status quo, I mean not just the lawless Trump administration, but take on the Democratic establishment that has not fought hard enough for working people," said Van Hollen.

Senate Democrats have split across the field

Schumer last week publicly backed Stevens, a fourth-term congresswoman from suburban Detroit who is seen as the more moderate candidate in the race. She has also been endorsed by other senators from battleground states, including Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and former Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Stevens has also benefited from heavy outside spending, including nearly $8 million this month from United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

McMorrow, a state senator, has tried to carve out her own lane between Stevens and El-Sayed as an anti-establishment candidate with a reform-focused agenda. She has won endorsements from other senators, including Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, while also drawing millions in outside support.

El-Sayed, the former Wayne County health director, has run furthest to the left on issues including Medicare for All and halting all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, making him a favorite of the party’s progressive wing. He has campaigned with popular-yet-controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has millions of followers online but has said things such as that “America deserved 9/11.”

Earlier this month, the United Auto Workers endorsed him, saying its members “want a fighter in Washington, D.C. who isn’t afraid to push forward a strong working-class agenda with moral clarity.”

Van Hollen said he believes El-Sayed is best positioned to compete in a battleground state because he is running on affordability and against what he described as a political system too influenced by wealthy donors and special interests.

“This is not about left versus right. This is about very concentrated economic and political power at the top, and everybody else,” Van Hollen said. “And he’s fighting for everybody else.”

El-Sayed praised Van Hollen after receiving the endorsement, calling it the “culmination of an ongoing conversation” and describing the senator as a “mentor.”

With progressives coming off a string of wins in New York, El-Sayed said the results reflected the same frustrations he has heard from voters across Michigan.

“It’s not surprising to me that candidates who buck that system win,” El-Sayed said. “I really hope that folks in D.C., like Chuck Schumer, decide to pay attention, finally.”

Tensions with Schumer as Democrats debate their future

Asked whether backing El-Sayed amounted to a broader rebuke of Democratic leadership, Van Hollen said the endorsement was “not about personalities” but about backing a candidate who would take on both President Donald Trump and “the establishment Democratic Party” that he said is “too cozy with big money special interests.”

Van Hollen has not called on Schumer to step aside. Asked if he would be interested in leading Democrats in the Senate, Van Hollen told the AP that he has “not thought about doing that.”

But his endorsement lands at a moment of growing friction between Democratic leadership and the party’s left flank over how aggressively to confront Trump and what kind of candidates can win in battleground states.

Those tensions were exacerbated earlier this month in Maine, where Schumer had backed Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic Senate primary before she suspended her campaign and progressive Graham Platner won the nomination.

Van Hollen has also been among the Senate Democrats urging the party to rethink its approach after the 2024 election. He framed his endorsement of El-Sayed at odds with leadership as a “difference of opinion with respect to which candidates will best connect with voters.”

“I think it's pretty clear that Abdul is the candidate who can build a grassroots movement and others are not," said Van Hollen.

It's the first time F1's heat rules, introduced last year, have been used for a race in Europe.

A heat hazard applies when temperatures above 31 degrees C (88 F) are forecast for race day. It can get much hotter inside the cramped cockpits where drivers sit wearing layers of flameproof clothing. A forecast on the F1 website dated Wednesday said the maximum temperature expected for Sunday's race was 32 C.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri predicted the start would be the toughest to handle, without air flowing over the car and cooling the drivers at least a little.

“When you’ve got no air coming in, that’s when it’s the worst," he said.

While Alpine's Pierre Gasly has been running in the heat in his home city of Milan, Piastri has built his own hot-weather training setup in his bathroom.

“I’ve got a few portable heaters and a small bathroom and an exercise bike,” the Australian said. "You can cause yourself a lot of discomfort, a lot of pain by doing that. I do that for the benefit of my performance. Not for pleasure, that’s for sure.”

The FIA declaring the heat hazard on Thursday means drivers either need to use cooling equipment or carry extra weight to ensure there's no competitive advantage from not using the equipment.

Drivers wear vests which pump cooling liquid through a network of tubes, linked to pumping equipment inside the car. Some drivers dislike wearing the equipment because they say it's uncomfortable or distracting.

The FIA started work on cooling technology for drivers after the Qatar Grand Prix in 2023 saw drivers require medical attention after feeling unwell in the heat.

Heat hazard rules were first used at the hot and humid Singapore Grand Prix last year and also for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

One driver who isn't sweating the heat is Cadillac's Sergio Perez.

“I’m Mexican, so for me this is not too warm," he said. "It makes me laugh that all the Europeans are concerned about this level of heat. But for me it’s pretty average.” Perez said he'll still wear the cooling vest, though.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

‘I can’t imagine him not being there’: Wayne County family searches for kidney donor to save grandad’s life

Loved ones of 68-year-old Ed Nyberg are handing out flyers, putting up yard signs, and posting at local businesses in hopes of finding a living kidney donor who could save his life.

Nyberg, recently retired from a career at General Motors, learned he has Stage 5 kidney failure and is down to 9% kidney function.

If his kidney function drops further, he will need to start dialysis.

“It’s like a wall hits you. All of a sudden, they tell you you’re sick and that you might need a kidney transplant,” Nyberg said.

Nyberg is on the transplant registry for a deceased donor kidney, but the wait can stretch five years or longer, a time they worry he may not have.

Read more here.

Sen. Van Hollen backs El-Sayed for Michigan Senate in break from Democratic leadership

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is backing progressive Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, breaking with party leadership and intensifying a battle over the party’s direction in one of the most important Senate races of 2026.

Van Hollen’s endorsement, shared first with The Associated Press on the day early voting begins in Michigan, makes him the first senator to back El-Sayed since Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed him shortly after he launched his campaign last year. It also comes on the heels of big wins for progressive challengers in New York U.S. House races on Tuesday.

Read more here.

Oak Park, Ann Arbor among five Michigan communities to receive brownfield grants for local projects

The state is awarding more than $3.5 million in grants to projects in five Michigan cities that are expected to create approximately 80 jobs and 378 new housing units.

Funded through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) Brownfield Redevelopment program, the agency announced on Wednesday that the grants will support projects in Ann Arbor, Oak Park, Holland, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

Read more here.

Detroit Pistons acquire No. 53 pick Ugonna Onyenso from Knicks after Isaiah Stewart trade

The Detroit Pistons continued their busy draft-night activity Wednesday, acquiring the rights to center Ugonna Onyenso, the No. 53 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft, from the New York Knicks for cash considerations.

The move, announced by ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania on X, came hours after Detroit reportedly traded veteran center-forward Isaiah Stewart to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for three future second-round draft picks, further reshaping the Pistons’ frontcourt.

Read more here.

Weather: Showers exit early, but isolated strong storms possible this afternoon

Rain showers continue to push east across Southeast Michigan early this morning and most areas are expected to be dry by daybreak. While the morning commute should improve as the rain departs, we’ll be keeping an eye on the potential for a few thunderstorms later today.

A scattered thunderstorm or two may develop this afternoon, and while widespread severe weather is not expected, an isolated strong to severe storm cannot be ruled out. 

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Here are this year’s finalists:

• Beach House Day Spa in Birmingham
• Eden Day Spa in Detroit
• MassageLuXe Farmington
• Temple Collective Medspa in Milford
• Woodhouse Spa in Detroit

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.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 20 fell by 12,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite concerns that the war in Iran would trip up an already wobbly labor market, hiring has picked up in recent months following a miserable 2025 that saw fewer than 200,000 job gains. For comparison, about 1.5 million jobs were added in 2024.

U.S. employers delivered a surprising 172,000 new jobs in May and the economy is averaging 188,000 job gains in the three months since the Iran war began in late February. That’s the best three months of hiring since early 2024. The unemployment rate remains historically low at 4.3%.

The government issues its June jobs report next week.

Job openings also rose in April as employers posted 7.6 million vacancies, up from 6.9 million in March and the most since May 2024.

The government also reported Thursday that the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s southern border, where one-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes every day.

Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since April 2023, largely driven by more expensive gas. While energy prices have fallen considerably from their peak during the Middle East conflict, those higher prices put the squeeze on consumers’ budgets for months and may have made businesses more reluctant to hire.

Last week, Iran and the U.S. agreed to a deal to end the war and allow Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and sell its oil without restrictions.

With inflation still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, officials at the U.S. central bank left the benchmark interest rate at its most recent meeting last week.

Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to stoke inflation, leading a number of Fed policymakers to say they are actually willing to consider at least one interest rate hike this year. That could potentially help bring inflation down, but higher borrowing costs generally make businesses more reluctant to hire.

The Federal Reserve has signaled that it could raise interest rates at least once before the end of the year. Wall Street sees an 85% chance that the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate this year, according to date from CME Group.

Optimism over artificial intelligence has also injected a degree of uncertainty about the job market due to the investment required to develop it and because the powerful technology could alter or even replace some jobs.

Among the companies that have cut jobs recently are Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney, Starbucks and Walmart.

Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.

Thursday's report showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 750 to 224,250.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending June 13 increased by 21,000 to 1.82 million.

Funded through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) Brownfield Redevelopment program, the agency announced on Wednesday that the grants will support projects in Ann Arbor, Oak Park, Holland, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

EGLE awarded a $1 million grant to pay for demolition and removal of contaminated soil at the former Ann Arbor YMCA site at 350 South 5th Ave., Ann Arbor, where the city plans to construct a 20-story high rise with 330 affordable housing units. Ann Arbor officials are also working with the local transit authority to expand the platform of the Blake Transit Center next to the redevelopment site, improving public transportation in the area.

The project is expected to cost a total of $209 million and is scheduled to be move-in ready by the fall of 2028.

In Oak Park, EGLE is awarding $285,000 to support an expansion at Southfield-based construction company Barton-Malow’s site known as “The Yard,” located at 13000 West 8 Mile Rd., Oak Park. The funding will support the demolition of one of three buildings on the site, as well as the removal of an underground storage tank and treatment and disposal of contaminated groundwater.

The $25 million project is expected to be completed by next summer, and will create around 25 jobs, according to EGLE.

EGLE has also awarded $200,000 to transform a a contaminated former drycleaners site in Holland into a new floral shop; $745,000 to pay for environmental assessments, demolition and removal of contaminated soil at a former gas station site to allow for a 10,158-square-foot expansion of the Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy; and $1 million to redevelop a contaminated former paper mill into a new 48-unit affordable housing complex in Kalamazoo.

Last year, the EGLE Brownfield program dedicated $23 million in brownfield incentives to support 76 projects across 52 Michigan communities, resulting in more than $675 million in capital investment and creating 600 jobs, according to the state.

For more information about this latest round of Brownfield redevelopment grants, visit michigan.gov/egle.

Kenzo Kies, who played for the Guingamp reserve team, died after being pulled from the Rhone River this week. Both Guingamp and Saint-Etienne, where Kies spent seven years in the club's academy system, paid him a tribute in statements late Wednesday.

France recorded its hottest ever day for the second day running on Wednesday. The Meteo France weather agency said the national thermal indicator — an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations — hit a new record of 30 C (86 F), the latest in a series of never-before-registered highs. The mercury surpassed 40 C (104 F) in some locations, including in Paris.

At least 40 fatalities from drowning have been recorded in the past week as people seek relief in rivers and other bodies of water, despite authorities’ warnings about unsupervised swimming. Most of the drownings involved young people, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday.

According to reports in French media, Kies was pulled from the Rhone River on Monday in critical condition after drowning in a prohibited swimming area near Lyon. He had since been declared brain dead.

___

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

Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Cassidy, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present this time “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight on Wednesday, and the Senate then left town for a two-week recess.

It's unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers" for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a small group of his Senate GOP colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters that the president was “pleased with the outcome."

Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” he wrote.

The war powers measure blocked by the Senate on Wednesday was on a separate track from the nearly identical resolution adopted on Tuesday, which had also been passed by the House. Both votes were largely symbolic, and the measures do not carry the full force of law.

Cassidy had sharp words for Trump

Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his proof-of-citizenship voting bill. But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday’s vote on war powers.

Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Cassidy stood up and defended his vote.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

The two men “went back and forth,” Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume." Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.

“I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorized to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic."

Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had “a really great meeting." But he hinted at the discord.

“We like everyone in the room," Trump told reporters on his way out. "I don’t like a few people, but that’s OK.”

The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday's vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a housing bill that passed both chambers overwhelmingly this week and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.

Trump reverses on housing bill

Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn't sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn't know why Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.”

“It makes no sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.

Thune said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is “an affordability issue,” and that ”eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”

It's unclear if Trump might veto the legislation or if the late Wednesday night vote will change his outlook. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters’ affordability concerns heading into November’s midterm elections.

Trump and Senate Republicans have been at odds

Trump's move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.

Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they question the strategy and endgame.

Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing reelection.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the proof-of-citizenship voting bill, even though Thune has repeatedly told him that neither has the votes.

While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it’s just not realistic.”

Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.

“I think people at some point have to come to grips with that,” Thune said.

___

Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Ashoura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in A.D. 680 Imam Hussein was killed with his family and companions after refusing to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate.

The event cemented the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam and remains a powerful symbol of resistance against oppression and injustice.

The holiest day in the Shiite calendar

This year, Ashoura comes after months of war in Iran and Lebanon, homes to two of the world’s largest Shiite populations. Iran and the U.S. this week launched talks aimed at finalizing a fragile ceasefire agreement.

On the first day of the war, on Feb. 28, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. The 86-year-old Khamenei was not just Iran’s top political leader. He also had a final say on all religious matters and was revered by millions of Shiites worldwide. Ashoura comes just days before his funeral procession.

The war also spilled over into Lebanon, where Iran’s key ally, the Hezbollah militant group, has been battling Israeli troops for months.

Hezbollah entered the fighting days into the war by firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with Tehran. That sparked widespread Israeli aerial bombardment and a ground invasion that decimated large swaths of predominantly Shiite areas in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Ashoura comes as many of the more than one million displaced Lebanese people are trying to return to their villages in southern Lebanon. Cities and towns had held sermons and events in the buildup to the holy day surrounded by buildings reduced to rubble and ruins.

Ashoura is the holiest day in the Shiite calendar, marked by traditional mourning rituals that include chest-beating, elegies and lamentations. It is held on the 10th day of the month of Muharram.

Visitors arrive at Imam Hussein's shrine

In Karbala, the southern Iraqi city holy to Shiite Muslims, security was tightened as visitors arrived. Religious banners flew from the walls of Imam Hussein’s golden-domed shrine and actors played out scenes from the 7th century.

“We see all kinds of people here and they don’t lack food, drinks or services, thanks to God, despite the massive gathering,” Redha Nouri, who traveled from Ahwaz in Iran, said. “There will be more crowds coming tomorrow, but the Iraqi people are here and will serve them.”

Mourners observe the holy day in Iran

In war-stricken Iran, black-clad mourners filled streets, mosques and neighborhood religious halls across Tehran for a public holiday that brought much of the capital to a halt.

Shops were shuttered in many areas as processions of men beating their chests marched past and loudspeakers played elegies. Volunteers handed out tea and dates.

The previous evening mourners had gathering at the shrine of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini south of Tehran in a ceremony attended by President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials, Iranian state media reported. Khomeini led the 1979 revolution that ushered in Iran’s Islamic republic.

In a social media post laden with an apparent message of resistance to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, Pezeshkian noted how Hussein taught people to stand against oppression, the temptation of power and the pursuit of self-interest.

“We should neither oppress, nor accept oppression, nor remain silent before it,” he wrote.

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Gen. Esmail Ghaani, invoked the “spirit of Ashoura” in warning Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon or face defeat.

The annual ceremonies came as Iran’s leadership continues to draw on Ashoura’s language of sacrifice and resistance at a time of deep political and economic pressure.

The faithful in Lebanon attend sermons and visit graves

Families in the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre who lost relatives fighting with Hezbollah or working as paramedics wept during a sermon on the third day of Muharram. A cleric, who sat between portraits of current Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Kassem, compared the struggles the modern-day leaders faced in the war to that of Hussein and his companions in Karbala.

Banners in red and black bearing Hussein’s name were hung on every street.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, many flocked to the grave of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024.

Security is raised in Pakistan to protect the Shiite minority

Elsewhere, Pakistan deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel across the country following intelligence reports warning of possible militant attacks on Shiite Muslims, a minority in the predominantly Sunni country.

Although most Sunnis and Shiites live peacefully alongside one another, militant groups have repeatedly targeted Shiite communities, mosques, and religious gatherings in sectarian attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives.

As members of Pakistan’s Shiite minority prepare to take part in mourning processions, mobile phone service in some areas is expected to be suspended temporarily to help prevent attacks.

“Imam Hussein is a symbol of the highest struggle and sacrifice,” said Saadia Shah, 33, as she entered a congregation hall in the eastern city of Lahore with her two children. “His name gives us the courage to stand up to tyranny, to say what is right and oppose what is wrong.”

___

Associated Press journalists Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Ali Sadiq in Karbala, Iraq, contributed to this report.

🍇 Grapevine

🌅 Good morning! On this day in 1956, the last Packard — at one time considered America’s foremost luxury car maker — rolled off the production line at Packard’s plant in Detroit.

Here are a few things to know about for Thursday, June 25, 2026:

🌦️ 4Warn Weather: While the morning commute should improve as the rain departs, we’ll be keeping an eye on the potential for a few thunderstorms later today. Check out the 10 day forecast.

🚨Mathers Issued Bench Warrant: A Macomb County judge has issued a bench warrant for Kim Mathers after she failed to appear at her sentencing on Wednesday for a February hit-and-run crash. Read more.

🚔 Detroit Lion Arrested: Florida prosecutors announced that criminal charges will be filed against Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold in connection with a robbery and kidnapping investigation stemming from an incident in the Tampa area earlier this year. Read more.

🩺 Dialysis Center Investigation: The Oakland County Health Division has temporarily shut down a dialysis clinic in Novi after receiving concerning reports about a patient who died and multiple others who were hospitalized after receiving treatment. Read more.

🗓️ Huron Valley Warden Takes Leave: The warden of the state’s only women’s prison has gone on a temporary personal leave amid recent controversies over inmate deaths at the facility. Read more.

🏊 Morning Dive

Good morning ☀️

At Gleaners’ facility in Taylor, volunteers like Jeanne Antulis help pack and sort food that will ultimately reach families across Southeast Michigan.

“At the end of the shift they always tell you how many boxes you packed, how many pounds of food, how many meals it will supply. And that’s a really good feeling,” Antulis said.

Gleaners relies on volunteers to keep food moving from the warehouse to kitchen tables across the region.

“My hope is that I can keep doing it and Gleaners is around for a long time because there’s such a need for it,” Antulis said.

Gleaners leaders say the need spikes when kids are out of school and may lose access to regular breakfasts and lunches. To put the issue into perspective, Feeding America says one in five children in Michigan face hunger — roughly 400,000 kids.

That’s where the Hunger Free Summer initiative comes in, helping to provide meals to tens of thousands of children during summer break.

Read more about the program here.

🗞️ Other headlines to know today

• 7-year-old boy shot multiple times, man killed in shooting on Detroit’s west side
• Stolen truck, ski masks, pursuit: Warren police reveal new details in crash that killed innocent driver
• DDOT bus passengers hospitalized after crash with vehicle on Woodward Avenue in Detroit
• ‘I can’t imagine him not being there’: Wayne County family searches for kidney donor to save grandad’s life
• ‘Very frightening’: Mother questions Detroit police handling of teen curfew detentions downtown
• ‘Like a flying leaf blower’: Hazel Park residents complain Amazon delivery drones are too loud, fly too low
• BIG3 basketball returns to Detroit with star-studded games at Little Caesars Arena
• Vote 4 The Best finals: Vote now for your favorite Metro Detroit businesses
• ‘It was meant to be’: Michigan family reclaims late father’s prized Trans Am after cancer loss
• Prime Day: Here’s what you should know to get more bang for your buck
• Lake Orion Jubilee returns this year -- here’s what to know
• Highland Park police search for suspects after stolen vehicle chase, foot pursuit ends in Detroit crash
• Consumer Reports warns: A child can die in a hot car faster than you think
• Former Macomb County priest convicted of sexually assault will stay in prison, court rules
• Cemeteries may need help, Here’s what we know
• Warren hit-and-run driver sentenced in death of missing boy with autism
• Garden City man pleads guilty to charges for crashing Tesla into Ferndale store
• Find more Local News headlines here
• Find more Entertainment headlines here
• Find more Health headlines here
• Check out the latest ClickOnDeals here
• Introducing the ClickOnDetroit Help Desk: How it works and how to use it

🌎 Meanwhile

News from around the world via the Associated Press:

A sprawling legislative package aimed at lowering the cost of housing and spurring more home construction won bipartisan approval from Congress this week, but it’s hit a major roadblock in becoming law: President Donald Trump.

The White House supported the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, but on Wednesday Trump canceled the signing ceremony for the bill, saying he would not sign the measure until Congress passes legislation that would require proof of citizenship for all voters.

The measure is the culmination of months of negotiations by lawmakers who combined dozens of bills meant to address how housing affordability for both renters and aspiring homeowners in the U.S. has grown increasingly out of reach for many Americans. (Read more)

----

At least 164 people have died and 971 were injured after a pair of powerful quakes rocked Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Thursday.

Wednesday evening’s 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. Buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone” and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings. (Read more)

----

The Trump administration on Wednesday reached a multi-state settlement with chemical giant Chemours Co. over years-long, illegal discharges of synthetic “forever chemicals” used to make products resistant to water, grease and stains. The settlement is the first by the federal government to resolve enforcement claims against a manufacturer of harmful chemicals known as PFAS.

Under the agreement, filed in federal court in West Virginia, Chemours will pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million for alleged violations and spend $90 million over 15 years to mitigate PFAS discharges in three states: West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey.

The settlement allows Chemours —a spin-off of chemical maker DuPont — to continue manufacturing PFAS for commercial and military applications while preventing future contamination and protecting communities from existing pollution, said Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. (Read more)

---> Find more headlines from around the world right here <---

📝 Word Up

Today’s Word Up is: Lachrymose / ˈla-krə-ˌmōs / (adjective) — defined as “tearful; deeply gloomy; mournful.”

Example: “The movie’s lachrymose soundtrack made the audience weep during the final scene.”

🧹 Housekeeping

Hey, if you like this newsletter, let us know. We’d love your feedback. We also offer several other newsletters, including 4Warn Weather, All 4 Pets and more. Hopefully, we have one that caters to your interests — unless you’re only interested in miniature golf. We don’t have one for that, sorry.

✍🏽 Written and curated by: Jenny Sherman (Have something to say? Feel free to send an email here.)

The convention’s 2022 annual meeting passed a resolution apologizing to abuse survivors, several of them by name. It authorized reforms that included the creation of a database of credibly accused church workers.

It appeared to mark a reckoning within the SBC in tandem with the wider #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements — and a recognition that clergy sex abuse extended far beyond the much-publicized scandal in the Catholic Church.

But prominent survivors and advocates have largely given up trying to bring about change in the SBC after witnessing what they view as increasingly faltering efforts toward reform.

And now a counternarrative has reached the highest levels of convention leadership. Prominent Southern Baptists are promoting the view that although sexual abuse has occurred in the SBC, it never rose to a “crisis” level.

SBC president says issue of sexual abuse has been ‘weaponized’ and politicized

The SBC’s newly elected president, Florida pastor Willy Rice, has portrayed the 2022 report by consultant Guidepost Solutions as a “snipe hunt.” Rice said some people with political motives “weaponized” the issue against the large, conservative denomination.

Texas megachurch pastor Jack Graham, a former SBC president, similarly denied there was ever a “systemic sexual abuse crisis” in the denomination.

“The whole thing was a reckless hoax which has cost us not only millions of dollars but immeasurable damage to our witness,” Graham recently posted on the social media site X, alluding to costly lawsuits and impact on the SBC's reputation.

For survivors, such words are traumatizing but not surprising.

“For all those who watched us lead the reform, they also watched us get verbally attacked, maligned, bullied & in the end dropped,” survivor Tiffany Thigpen posted on X. She attended the 2022 annual meeting to advocate for reform but has avoided recent meetings.

Rice said churches should provide training on abuse prevention, report “any hint of illegal activity to the appropriate authorities” and care for victims.

The sexual-abuse reform effort “absolutely was weaponized, just like the #MeToo movement in the secular culture was weaponized,” Rice said. He drew a comparison with sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who denied them and characterized them as politically motivated.

Rice maintained that churches, like other youth-serving organizations, have learned much about the issue.

“To the degree that there have ever been times that Baptist churches or Baptist institutions did not handle abuse correctly, that has damaged our witness,” Rice acknowledged in a news conference at the conclusion of the SBC’s annual meeting earlier this month in Orlando, Florida. “We have tried very hard over the last several years to correct that.”

Rejecting the framing of sexual abuse as a crisis, once a marginal view in the SBC, is increasingly mainstream. Rice’s sole opponent for SBC president, Josh Powell, took a similar stance.

Rice was elected at an annual meeting where delegates also advanced a constitutional ban on SBC churches with women pastors, a measure requiring ratification next year.

Survivor says there's no political agenda for those speaking out about abuse

Christa Brown — a survivor of sexual abuse by an SBC pastor and longtime advocate for reforms — said that if anyone was politicizing the abuse issue, it was people involved in SBC power struggles, not the victims.

“For clergy sex abuse survivors, there has never been anything to gain in speaking out. To the contrary, it almost always comes with a heavy personal cost,” she said via email. “There's no political agenda.”

She added: “There is no place within the SBC where someone who was sexually abused by a pastor or church worker can safely report it and get a proper response. I’ve been working within this arena for over two decades, and this reality has not changed.”

The convention’s 2022 annual meeting authorized a database of church workers credibly accused of sexual abuse and the creation of a task force to oversee reforms. The task force was later discontinued without creating the database, due in part to liability concerns.

The issue was turned over to the denomination’s Executive Committee, which instead is referring churches to existing sex-offender databases while focusing on abuse prevention and education.

Brown said sexual abuse committed by clergy is uniquely traumatizing. Abusive faith leaders often manipulate the religious language of spiritual authority and forgiveness to manipulate the trust of a minor.

“Sexual abuse committed by clergy carries unique dynamics (and this is something that most SBC leaders just don’t seem to understand... or don’t want to understand),” she wrote.

Jules Woodson, a survivor who advocated for SBC abuse reforms at past meetings, said on X she has since needed to “step far away as it became apparent the #SBC has never been, & will never be, a safe place for me...A woman.”

2019 report ‘Abuse of Faith’ highlighted allegations of sexual abuse

SBC skeptics of the idea of a systemic abuse crisis often point to the numbers.

A 2019 report, “Abuse of Faith” by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, found that about 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers faced allegations of sexual abuse in the previous two decades, with more than 700 victims. The newspapers drew from publicly available records, such as arrests, lawsuits and confessions.

Skeptics said that for a denomination with more than 40,000 churches and millions of members, those numbers were lamentable but not symptoms of a widespread crisis.

But advocates note abuse often goes unreported, particularly when the perpetrator holds a position of authority and often receives protection from other church leaders.

By comparison, a landmark report on the Catholic Church, conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, benefited from access to internal church documents on cases that hadn’t gone public. It found that more than 4,000 priests were accused of abuse between 1950 and 2002, about 4% of those serving then.

“Given that publicly reported cases (which are based largely on criminal convictions) are the tip of the iceberg, people should be horrified at what the size of that tip reveals about how huge the whole of the SBC’s clergy sex abuse iceberg almost certainly is,” Brown wrote.

The Guidepost report concluded that survivors repeatedly met “resistance, stonewalling and even outright hostility from some” in the denomination’s Executive Committee. Leaders of major churches failed to report abusers to police or their congregations, the report said.

Two of those named in the Guidepost report sued the SBC for defamation; their cases are pending.

Critics also have challenged the report’s characterization of cases involving women, contending these were consensual affairs that were sinful but not abusive. The women themselves described the actions as assaults or abuse in court depositions.

But advocates for survivors say there’s ample evidence of failures at high levels, even beyond Guidepost's criticisms of the Executive Committee. They cite the 2018 firing of influential seminary president Paige Patterson over his handling of rape allegations and the multiple abuse accusations against the late Paul Pressler, once a dominant force in SBC politics.

North Carolina pastor Bruce Frank, who chaired the Sexual Abuse Task Force formed in the wake of the “Abuse of Faith” report, said survivors understandably have given up on denominational reforms.

“We made some difference. It fell short of what a lot of people who suffered through that could reasonably expect,” said Frank, pastor of Biltmore Church, based in Arden, North Carolina.

He favored a database of credibly accused pastors to help prevent predators from moving to unsuspecting congregations.

“The bottom line is, how do you protect the most people in a loosely bonded, decentralized body, in a place that heavily relies on volunteers?” he said.

___

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.

Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too much about millions of layoffs.

A new bipartisan nonprofit hopes to ensure that America can realize the economic gains promised by AI without its workers suffering.

RAISE US is starting with more than $500 million to deploy on new forms of education and training, putting a focus on partnering with states and major employers rather than the federal government.

Founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, the group aims to pilot programs and incentives to help American workers pivot to new careers in an economy that will increasingly be automated by artificial intelligence.

“We’re talking about a certain level of unemployment that could destabilize our country and our democracy,” Raimondo said in an interview. “If you want to lead the world in AI, you have to take action to make sure our democracy doesn’t crumble.”

The programs will first start in Arkansas, Maryland, Utah and Connecticut

The nonprofit is initially partnering with officials in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah, along with several of America's largest companies and charitable organizations. The group intends to develop policies that connect schools more closely to employers, so that layoffs can be replaced by the potential for new jobs with higher incomes. They also are exploring changes to corporate taxes and other incentives with the goal of keeping people working.

“Good things tend to happen when you convert have-nots into haves,” Holcomb said.

Among the companies serving as anchor partners with RAISE US are Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation and Bank of America. Other employers involved in the project include UPS, General Motors, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, chipmaker AMD, Cisco and IBM.

Raimondo, the former Democratic governor of Rhode Island who played a formative role in setting AI policy as the Biden administration’s commerce secretary, will be the nonprofit’s CEO.

The advisory board includes former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, billionaire investment manager Stephen Schwarzman, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and the economists David Autor, Erik Brynjolfsson and Raj Chetty.

AI has the potential to displace human workers from factories to offices

An April analysis by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that roughly half of U.S. jobs will be reshaped by AI over the next few years. The analysis said that as many as 25 million jobs could be eliminated in the U.S. over the next five years. Goldman Sachs, in March, separately released an estimate that a quarter of U.S. work hours could be automated by AI.

More than just a glorified search engine or a generator of video clips and novelty images, AI could fill roads with driverless trucks, create factories staffed by robots and supplant office workers, lawyers and doctors.

President Donald Trump has expressed little anxiety about the possibility of AI displacing human workers.

Asked on Tuesday ahead of touring a Mack Trucks factory in Pennsylvania if AI could cause truckers to lose their jobs, Trump told a reporter, “Right now, they’re not.”

The president has been banking on the buildout of AI data centers and power plants to drive hiring and overall economic growth. While AI-related investments have helped the economy, manufacturing has shed 68,000 jobs and the trucking transportation sector has cut 28,300 jobs since the start of Trump’s second term, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We have, right now, so many jobs that are going to be available and the biggest problem we have is getting the people,” Trump said. “So we’re really doing spectacular.”

Experts say education systems and labor policies aren't built for an AI economy

AI experts have warned of gaps between the transformations that AI could create and a 20th century social safety net of unemployment insurance and four-year college that seems ill-prepared for the scope, scale and speed of the change.

“AI is now disrupting multiple sectors simultaneously, faster than any institution can respond,” said Vivienne Ming, a neuroscientist who has written the book, “Robot-Proof: When Machines Have all the Answers, Build Better People.”

Ming said that she agrees with an argument by economists that the wealth generated by AI could create demand for more workers that could offset any job losses. But she said the skills that matter in an AI economy go beyond professions such as plumbing or construction and involve curiosity and intellectual flexibility.

“Neither our education system nor our labor policies are building the foundational human capital that AI-era work actually requires,” she said.

Raimondo said the new nonprofit wants to use states as a vehicle for testing ideas that Congress can later embrace as policies, paving the way for the possibility of more profound changes to both the tax code and the educational system.

“I don’t have a lot of hope for bold action by Congress in the next few years on this issue, and I don’t think we can wait a few years,” she said. “I also think there are many examples in history that when the federal government does take action, they will look around at what has been working in states. I feel pretty confident that they will look at the work that we’ve done.”

A scattered thunderstorm or two may develop this afternoon, and while widespread severe weather is not expected, an isolated strong to severe storm cannot be ruled out. The primary concern would be damaging wind gusts. The greatest potential for any stronger storms appears to be along and north of I-69, where a Marginal Risk (Level 1 out of 5) for severe weather is in place between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. Temperatures will rebound into the upper 70s with sunshine breaking through.

Friday looks mainly dry across Southeast Michigan, although a few isolated showers could develop south of I-94 during the afternoon. A warming trend then takes hold for the weekend. High temperatures will climb back to around 80 degrees Saturday and Sunday with a mix of sun and clouds.

The bigger story arrives early next week as heat and humidity build across the Great Lakes. Forecast models continue to show strong agreement that temperatures could surge into the upper 90s Tuesday and Wednesday, with some locations approaching the 100-degree mark. Combined with increasing humidity, heat indices may climb even higher. Periods of showers and thunderstorms will remain possible during the heat wave, but now is the time to start preparing for the hottest weather of the season so far. Whether it’s a sprinkler, splash pad, swimming pool, or lake, you’ll want a plan to stay cool as dangerous heat potentially settles into Southeast Michigan through the middle of next week as a strong ridge in the jet stream develops over the Great Lakes.

The ban has been widely celebrated by advocates who hope Vermont’s move will prompt similar action in other states to prevent the neurologic disease that robs people of control over their movements and affects about 1 million Americans.

“Vermont took the step to be the leader in this, and that’s significant because it shifts the conversation,” said Dan Feehan, with The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research. “Now, ‘will your state be the last to ban it?’ becomes the question.”

However, for some farmers, the ban could potentially threaten their already slim profit margins. Attempts to prohibit paraquat’s use in other states where the chemical is more heavily used have repeatedly stalled.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the safety of paraquat after saying there’s no clear link between the herbicide and Parkinson’s.

Syngenta, a Swiss chemicals company that has made paraquat for years, announced earlier this year that it would stop global manufacturing or selling of the chemical, but also defended the herbicide’s safety. Other companies continue to sell it.

“Despite decades of investigation and more than 1,200 epidemiological and laboratory studies of paraquat, no scientist or doctor has ever concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease,” the company said.

Paraquat is used widely in the US but banned in China and Europe

First introduced in the U.S. in 1964, paraquat became a popular weed killer for farmers.

It’s known as an extremely toxic chemical that is fatal if ingested and can cause chronic health problems on contact. Farmworkers are at particular risk, which has led the EPA to require special training for certified applicators of paraquat. The roughly hourlong training requires applicators to pass a 15-question quiz, and must be completed every three years.

It’s commonly used for protecting soybean, cotton and corn crops, but also for apples and grapes, according to the United States Geological Survey. As of 2018, the USGS reported more than 10 million pounds (4.5 million kilograms) of paraquat was used in the U.S., largely concentrated in the South, Midwest and California.

Despite its popularity, dozens of countries have banned the substance. The European Union and the UK banned paraquat in 2007. China banned domestic use of paraquat in 2017, along with Vietnam and Malaysia. Thailand issued a similar ban in 2019.

Health risks and links to Parkinson's

Defenders of using paraquat say the chemical is quickly absorbed by weeds, meaning that if rain falls — even after 30 minutes of application — it won't wash off into the soil. Companies like Syngenta say paraquat becomes immobilized once it touches soil. Yet there's disagreement over its harmful effects, with the Parkinson's community warning that people living near where paraquat is applied have increased risk of getting the disease.

Whether it causes Parkinson’s disease has been heavily debated and studied for years.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist who directs a global health program at Boston College and has campaigned against human exposure to toxic chemicals, said multiple studies have shown that environmental factors, including exposure to pesticides like paraquat, can increase the risk for Parkinson's disease.

The Parkinson’s community considers the Vermont ban a significant victory.

“No matter how you slice and dice it, there’s no safe way to use paraquat,” said Ron McConnell, a Vermonter who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s after getting exposed to a different toxic substance at his work in 2017. “This law that Vermont just passed really is protecting the farmers that use it and the farmworkers that use it.”

The ban goes into effect Nov. 1, but the statute gives farmers using paraquat on fruit-producing orchards, berries and small fruit crops until 2030 to transition away from using the herbicide.

Vermont farmers are bracing for changes

Greg Burtt, owner of a family apple orchard and Republican Vermont lawmaker, considers paraquat a “critical tool” in his operation.

He says he believes the ban will place farmers like him at a competitive disadvantage to growers in other states who can continue using the more budget-friendly paraquat. There are alternative herbicides, but some farmers warn that those could involve chemicals that risk killing the plant if not applied carefully. Mechanical tilling, crop rotation and hand weeding are also options, but come with separate downsides, notably increased labor costs.

“There’s a reason why it’s an industry standard,” said Burtt, who's used paraquat for 20 years.

He's not worried about getting Parkinson's because he interpreted the research on the herbicide to be inconclusive.

“I wanna be the first person to make sure that it’s safe because I don’t wanna die young over farming,” Burtt said. “And so if anybody’s had to wrestle with these questions, it’s me.”

___

Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

And the one-and-done era is far from done.

Those were some of the things that stood out from the two-day NBA draft in Brooklyn, which started with the Washington Wizards taking AJ Dybantsa on Tuesday night with the No. 1 pick and continued with a number of trades in the second round Wednesday night. Among the things that stood out in between:

Spurs vs. Thunder on the court and in the draft

The Thunder had trouble with Victor Wembanyama in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs had trouble when Wembanyama wasn't in the game in the NBA Finals.

Both teams took steps to address those big problems.

Oklahoma City took 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara from Michigan with the No. 12 pick. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in 2022, struggled badly in the series that ended the Thunder's title reign and the 260-pound Mara, the Big Ten defensive player of the year from Spain, could provide more of the physical presence they need.

“I’m excited to play against him, obviously, to play in the NBA," Mara said about Wembanyama. “But I feel like I’m going to play against him a lot. If it’s not NBA, it’s going to be on the national team.”

The Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals and Wembanyama at times looked exhausted, perhaps overworked because the Knicks were dominating when backup Luke Kornet was in the game .

Perhaps they can handle Wembanyama's breaks better now after drafting 6-9 Jayden Quaintance from Kentucky and acquiring the rights to Tarris Reed Jr., the rugged big man who powered UConn to the national title game.

Sizing up the small scoring guards

One of the pre-draft debates was who would go first when it came time for teams to start choosing among the smaller scoring guards in the class.

That moment arrived at the No. 6 pick. The Brooklyn Nets went with Mikel Brown Jr. from Louisville, a pick that seemed well received judging by the cheers in their home arena that hosted the draft.

“I think something that we saw with Mike was just how anxious and excited he was at getting out there in the NBA. ‘I got something to prove.’ It’s hard to measure,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “I think that’s something that will translate when you have a chip on your shoulder, you’re an extreme competitor.”

There were arguments for Darius Acuff Jr., and critics of the pick will only grow louder if Acuff looks like a better pro. He went with the next pick to Sacramento.

“I was good wherever I went,” Acuff said. “It wasn’t like a bad reaction on it.”

But there was from those who felt like he had a better body of work in his season at Arkansas.

Both have shown explosive scoring ability. The 6-4 Brown set an ACC freshman record when he scored 45 points in a game, making 10 3-pointers. But a back injury forced him to miss 14 games.

Acuff averaged 23.5 points, third in the nation, and led the SEC in scoring and assists. He was the SEC Tournament MVP after leading Arkansas to the title.

One-and-dones aren't done

The one sure thing in the NBA draft for years was that it would begin with a college freshman. From 2010, when Washington took John Wall, to 2022, when Orlando selected Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick was a player who spent one year in college.

That ended in 2023 when San Antonio took Victor Wembanyama. When Atlanta took fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in 2024, it was the first time that an international player who did not play at a U.S. college was selected first in consecutive years.

The one-and-dones have regained their place in a big way. The first eight picks were college freshmen, matching the record set last year, as were nine of the top 10 to match another record.

“We don’t know each super personally, but we spent some a good amount of time around each other. So we know each other kind of well,” said Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick by Utah. “We're going to continue to compete. I’m coming for these guys like I’ve been coming for them my whole career.”

The Knicks appear serious about savings

There was some skepticism when owner James Dolan said in an interview with WFAN Radio in New York that he wanted to avoid going into the second apron. After winning a championship for the first time in 53 years, would the Knicks really not spend whatever it took for the best chance to repeat?

Time will tell, but they were cautious with the draft.

The Knicks traded back from their original No. 24 spot and eventually out of the first round entirely. They came into the draft with the No. 31 pick, the first spot in the second round. They traded back from there as well.

First-round picks come with guaranteed salary slots, and high second-round picks are paid well. And the Knicks need to leave themselves as much room as possible if they want to pay key role players such as Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Deuce McBride.

They eventually left the draft with the Nos. 39 and 47 picks, German guard Jack Kayil and Vanderbilt forward Tyler Nickel. If Kayil ends up playing for the champions, he said they will find a player with their type of mentality.

“I think also one of my strengths is that I love winning and I give everything for that, and to come in this organization shows that they also want winners,” Kayil said. “So I think it’s a good fit.”

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Wednesday marked the midpoint of the 104-match tournament — technically, just past the midpoint, with 54 matches now in the books and 50 remaining before a World Cup champion is crowned in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19.

The U.S. has reached the Round of 32, which shouldn't be surprising. Mexico and Canada, the other host nations for this biggest World Cup in history, are also through to the knockout stage. And the stars are positively shining: Argentina's Lionel Messi has five goals to kick-start what he hopes is a run toward a second consecutive World Cup title. France's Kylian Mbappé has four, as do Norway's Erling Haaland and Brazil's Vinicius Júnior.

Stadiums are mostly filled; FIFA is touting record attendance. And there have been some feel-good stories, most notably the tale of Cape Verde goalie Vozinha and how his mother was able to come to this World Cup.

“The best is yet to come,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told SNTV earlier this week.

In other words, the second half of this tournament — just like the second half of matches — is when things might get really good.

Who's in

Through Wednesday's games, 13 teams have clinched spots in the Round of 32.

Mexico won Group A, Switzerland won Group B, Brazil won Group C, the U.S. won Group D, Germany won Group E and Argentina won Group J.

France, Norway, Canada, Morocco, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Africa also are assured of moving into the knockout stage.

“I know how it feels, but it's very difficult to explain how it feels,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said after his team clinched its first-ever appearance in the knockout stage. “I'm very happy for the guys.”

Who's out

A handful of teams already know they'll be among the 16 that don't survive the group stage and reach the Round of 32.

The Czech Republic, Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Qatar and Panama are certain to not advance.

Still hoping

With 13 teams into the knockout round and seven eliminated, that leaves 28 teams for 19 remaining spots in the Round of 32.

Some key matches left:

— Australia-Paraguay is a win-and-you're-in game.

— A winner of Japan-Sweden would be assured a Round of 32 spot, as would a winner of Austria-Algeria.

— Tiny Cape Verde would be into the knockout round with a win over Saudi Arabia.

— Colombia-Portugal will decide the winner of Group K.

The U.S. path

This much is clear: The only match the U.S. might play in the Eastern time zone will be the World Cup final.

The Americans will begin the Round of 32 in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. If they win, they'll go to Seattle for the Round of 16. Win that, and it'll be off to Inglewood, California, for the quarterfinals. Win that, and Arlington, Texas, will be calling for the semifinals.

The most likely opponent for the U.S. in the Round of 32 is Bosnia and Herzegovina. After that, it would seem likely that Egypt could be waiting.

What happens now (or starting Sunday)

Once group play ends, the drama really begins.

It's called the knockout stage for a reason — if you don't win in this round, you're knocked out of the tournament. (The only time that won't apply is the semifinals, since the losers of those games will get sent to Miami Gardens, Florida, to decide third place.)

A team will have to win five elimination games to win the World Cup title.

Scoring is up

Everybody should have predicted that the record for total goals in a World Cup would get smashed in this tournament. After all, there are 104 matches in this event, compared with just 64 matches in the format that was used over the previous seven World Cups.

And the record for most goals will fall, almost certainly on Thursday or Friday. There were 172 scored at Qatar four years ago; there have been 161 goals through 54 matches so far this year.

But what is noteworthy in this tournament is that scoring per game is at its highest level in more than 50 years — 2.98 goals per match.

An average of 2.81 goals per match were scored at Spain in 1982, 2.97 goals per match at Mexico in 1970, and 3.60 goals per match at Sweden in 1958.

That said, this year's games have been defensive battles compared to what happened in 1954 in Switzerland, when games featured a staggering 5.38 goals on average. That tournament included a game with a 7-5 final score, still the highest-scoring game in men’s World Cup history.

The pace

By the end of Day 17 of the World Cup on Saturday, 72 matches will be done, 32 will remain. That's the day the group stage ends and the knockout stage — where every match until the semifinals is of the win-or-go-home variety — begins.

And then things slow down. A bit, anyway.

There is only one Round of 32 game on the schedule for Sunday — South Africa vs. Canada at Los Angeles. Things pick up again after that and matches are planned every day until July 8. That means the tournament will have 27 consecutive days of play before everyone gets a day off.

A rematch?

Argentina and France gave us an epic World Cup final in 2022. It's not outside of the realm that we get a rematch this year; the way the bracket is looking at this point (and this could easily change), they should be on opposite sides, making a collision in the final possible.

Argentina has five goals through its first two matches, and Messi — who turned 39 on Wednesday — has all five of them. Messi now has 18 goals in World Cup play, an all-time record.

When Argentina plays in the Round of 32, Messi will basically get a home game in Miami. It won't be at the stadium that he and Inter Miami call home, but it will be in Miami Gardens and in what has been his home market for the last three years since he came to MLS.

Mbappe has four goals for France so far in this tournament, giving him 16 in World Cups, tying for second-most all-time with Miroslav Klose of Germany — who held the record before this year's tournament started.

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

Co-founded by entertainer and entrepreneur Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, the BIG3 tips off Week 2 action at 4 p.m. ET June 27, following an opening weekend in Los Angeles that featured several close contests and standout performances.

All eight franchises will be in action as teams continue their pursuit of the 2026 BIG3 championship. Saturday’s games will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Undefeated teams clash in featured matchups

Among the featured matchups is a battle between undefeated teams: the L.A. Riot and the Dallas Power.

Hall of Famer Dwight Howard leads the Riot, while former Detroit Pistons first-round draft pick Greg Monroe and the Power enter with a 1-0 record under Hall of Fame coach Nancy Lieberman.

Another showdown of unbeaten teams pits DMV Trilogy against the Chicago Triplets.

Co-captains James Johnson and Willie Reed lead Trilogy, while the Triplets are powered by Brazilian basketball standout Leandro Barbosa, named the league’s Player of the Week after Week 1, along with former NBA veteran and Pistons center Amir Johnson.

Hometown Amps face defending champions

Detroit fans will get a chance to watch the hometown Amps, who are seeking their first win of the season after an opening-week loss.

Led by Detroit basketball legend and NBA champion and Bad Boys member Rick Mahorn, the Amps face the defending BIG3 champion Miami 305.

Miami enters the matchup at 0-1 despite featuring reigning MVP Michael Beasley, who has won the award in back-to-back seasons.

The team will be without Lance Stephenson, who was suspended for Week 2 following an incident during last weekend’s game against the L.A. Riot.

Ball Hogs, Rig Hands round out the day

The day’s final matchup features the Houston Rig Hands and the Boston Ball Hogs, both looking to earn their first victory of the season.

Former NBA All-Star Derrick Favors leads Houston, while Hall of Famer Gary Payton coaches the Ball Hogs.

Open practice set for Friday in Warren

Ahead of Saturday’s games, the league will hold an open practice Friday evening at Warren Fitzgerald High School in Warren.

All eight teams are scheduled to participate in rotating practice sessions, with select players and coaches available for media interviews. Photo and video opportunities will also be available.

More than 30 House representatives, both Democratic and Republican, streamed into the reception at the Longworth House Office Building to show their support, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D.-California; Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Ted Lieu, a California Democrat who serves as the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

"I love Taiwan," declared McCaul, as he welcomed Han. “It’s very important to me to say that the United States supports you, Mr. Speaker."

“The support for Taiwan is bipartisan and bicameral — both houses, both parties,” Pelosi said. “It’s about peace. It’s also about commerce in terms of keeping the ships able to travel here.”

Han, who is leading an eight-person parliamentary delegation, arrived in the nation's capital on Tuesday night after a stop in Phoenix, Arizona, where the chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is building new fabs and producing advanced chips crucial to powering the A.I. boom. TSMC is the poster child of Taiwan's importance to the U.S. economy.

The delegation met seven Democratic senators earlier Wednesday, including New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It wasn't clear if Republicans senators also met the visiting lawmakers.

The Democrats called on the Trump administration to move ahead with the $14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan without further delay. “We remain committed to maintaining close and friendly relations with Taiwan, providing Taiwan with arms for self-defense and supporting deterrence against growing coercion from the People’s Republic of China,” they said in a statement.

Taiwan, which Beijing claims to be part of the Chinese territory and vows to seize by force if necessary, is a highly thorny issue in U.S.-China relations. Washington is obligated by a domestic law to provide the island with sufficient hardware to fend off any invasion from the mainland. President Donald Trump, after his May trip to Beijing, has said he would be reviewing the $14 billion arms sales package, which Beijing strongly opposes. Trump also has suggested that the arms sales package could be a bargaining chip. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. policy on Taiwan remains unchanged.

On Wednesday, several U.S. lawmakers showed their support for the arms sales package.

“I'm here today ... to affirm in the strongest terms that Taiwan is not a bargaining chip. It is an island of freedom. And we need to do all we can to preserve it,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D.-Texas. “ I believe we need to make available every weapon that Taiwan needs in its defense as quickly as it becomes possible.”

Lieu criticized the Trump administration for holding up the $14 billion package. “I urge the administration to reverse that and to allow their arms sale to proceed," he said.

Han, who is a member of Taiwan's opposition KMT party, in his speech complimented the U.S. for its achievements in the past 250 years and said the island, like the U.S., cherishes the value of freedom and democracy and that both sides shoulder the responsibilities of safeguarding the democratic system and of maintaining regional stability and peace.

Han touted the robust trade between Taiwan and the U.S. The island of 23 million people has surpassed Germany as the fourth-largest trading partner of the U.S., largely driven by the demand for Taiwan's advanced chips and other tech hardware.

Han also urged the U.S. to help Taiwan gain more international space. No country can have diplomatic ties with both Beijing and Taipei because of China's territorial claim over the island. Only 12 governments, including the Holy See, still recognize Taiwan's statehood. Beijing also has kept Taiwan out of many international organizations, including the World Health Organization.

“On the international stage, Taiwan feels very lonely in its heart," Han said. “I am here asking Taiwan's good friends in Congress ... to help us participate in global activities.”

Han is scheduled to leave on Friday for the inaugural nonstop flight by the Taiwanese carrier EVA Air between Washington Dulles International Airport and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which has also been touted as proof of deepening U.S.-Taiwan ties.

The Swiss got goals from Rubén Vargas and Johan Manzambi to beat Canada 2-1 on Wednesday and win Group B. Switzerland will get a week of rest before returning to Vancouver to face one of the eight best third-place finishers on July 2.

“I think that we deserve to be where we are right now,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said. “In three days from now, we will know the opponent of the next match, and now we have the possibility to watch this tournament, and to watch the matches, and we will take what we will get.”

Canada dropped to second place in the group and will play in the knockout round for the first time in team history. But the Canadians had been hoping for a win or a draw on Wednesday so they would play their round-of-32 match on home soil.

Instead, Canada will travel Inglewood, California, to play Sunday against South Africa, which beat South Korea 1-0 Wednesday night in Monterrey, Mexico, to finish second in Group A.

“We wanted to be here in Vancouver, but we still have a massive opportunity ahead of us to find a way to still electrify the nation, even though it’ll be from Los Angeles,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch said.

After Manzambi came off the bench and scored two goals in Switzerland’s 4-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday, he earned a spot in the starting lineup against Canada. The 20-year-old midfielder became the youngest player to score two goals off the bench in the World Cup and is among the breakout young stars of the tournament.

Vargas broke through for Switzerland about 40 seconds into the second half with a strike that sailed past sliding Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, hit the post and went into the net.

Breel Embolo then crossed the ball to Manzambi, whose shot went through the hands of Crépeau to put the Swiss up 2-0 in the 57th minute. The goal quieted the red-clad sellout crowd, which included Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani.

Canada pulled a goal back in the 76th. Promise David scored with a volley on his first touch of the game about a minute after he came on as a substitute. But despite a flurry of chances, the Canadians couldn't find the second goal to keep them at home.

Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka had a chance in the scoreless first half but his free kick in the 37th minute and sailed over the net as he let out a yell.

Ali Ahmed had one of Canada’s best attempts of the first half in the 42nd minute, but his shot to the near post was smothered by Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

On Thursday, Canada won its first World Cup match, 6-0 over Qatar, and put itself in position to advance. But the historic victory was bittersweet because Ismaël Koné was stretchered off with a broken left leg. Koné was at Wednesday’s game on crutches.

The Swiss opened the World Cup with a lackluster 1-1 draw against Qatar before they routed Bosnia with a flurry of late goals. Considered the favorite in Group B, Switzerland has played at the last five World Cups and advanced to the round of 16 in the past three.

“We needed some time to get really into this tournament, for many nations that was the case,” Yakin said. “There were big teams who won against small countries, so we really needed to get into this tournament fast, and the way we play football now, I’m very happy with that.”

Canada, making its third World Cup appearance, opened the tournament with a 2-2 draw against Bosnia.

“We have to give our team a lot of credit. We’ve had a lot of injuries, we’ve had a lot of adversity, we’ve had a lot of injuries, we’ve had to manage a lot of different situations,” Marsch said. “We still got a really good point in the first game, we had a fantastic performance against Qatar and on another day, even though we go down 2-0, maybe we get a goal and maybe we win the group. It was just a matter of fine margins.”

Bosnia beat Qatar 3-1 in the other Group B match Wednesday and could still advance as a third-place team. Qatar was eliminated.

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Thapelo Maseko scored in the 63rd minute off a precise cross from Tshepang Moremi and South Africa finished in second place in Group A behind Mexico, which won all three of its group-stage games.

South Africa will take on Canada, the second-place finisher in Group B, in a knockout game Sunday at Inglewood, California.

Maseko had five total shots in the match and leads South Africa with eight shots in the tournament.

When Maseko was asked what he would tell his younger self about his accomplishment, the Mamelodi Sundowns forward said: “The one thing I would say is ‘keep dreaming.’”

South Africa had opened its World Cup with a 2-0 loss to Mexico before using a late goal to earn a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic. It entered its final group-stage needing to defeat South Korea in order to advance. Bafana Bafana had failed to advance from the group stage in 1998, 2002 and as host in 2010.

South Africa head coach Hugo Broos described the faith he had in his team despite the difficult start to the tournament.

“The mentality in this group is amazing,” Broos said. “Everybody is working for everybody. We are not afraid of other teams.”

Sphephelo Sithole, who received a red card in the opening game against Mexico, also earned a start and helped South Africa keep a clean sheet.

“In the first two, three days, it wasn’t easy,” Sithole said. “I needed to pick myself up. I’m very proud of myself because I did.”

Maseko, who plays for South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, missed two big chances early in the match before scoring the winner.

The 22-year-old received the ball from a cross on the right side of the box — cut inside — and struck the ball low with his left foot through a defender’s legs and into the bottom corner.

South Africa’s bench players ran across the sideline to celebrate with Maseko for his first World Cup goal.

When the final whistle was blown, the bench stormed the field and the players embraced each other.

“(The final whistle) for me was a rush of emotions not only because we won the game, but also because it will probably be one of the last games of my career,” the 74-year-old Broos said. “When you can end a career in this way, I think every coach dreams of it.”

South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo raised some eyebrows when he decided not to start Son Heung-min, and instead bring him in as a substitute. He said that he preferred to bring Son onto the field when the South African defenders were lower on energy.

“If I knew the result beforehand, I probably would have made some different choices.” Hong said. “On the world stage like this, the responsibility is ultimately down to the head coach.”

South Korea opened this World Cup with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Czech Republic and lost to Mexico 1-0 in its second game. The Taegeuk Warriors could still advance in the tournament, pending the results of other games this week.

South Korea became the first Asian team to reach the knockout round in 2002, when it finished fourth overall. The Taegeuk Warriors also advanced out of the group stage in 2010 and 2022, both times reaching the round of 16.

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Maya Koluder-Ramirez is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

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

Annual day of Ashoura commemorations are observed on the 10th day of the month of Muharram in the lunar-based Islamic calendar. In Shiite communities, Ashoura is viewed as a symbol of struggle against injustice and tyranny.

This year, Muharram and Ashoura follow the war in Iran, where the population is overwhelmingly Shiite, and an interim deal to end it. In Lebanon, many Shiites have been marking Muharram after the devastation inflicted during the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“The gathering every year and the reaffirming of collective memory and collective grief allows every year for the story and the message to adapt to its current context,” said Noor Zehra Zaidi, an assistant professor of history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who focuses on Shiite Islam.

A period of mourning, remembrance and deep resonance

Shiite Ashoura commemorations mark the death of Imam Hussein, who was killed in the Battle of Karbala, in present-day Iraq. He fought against the army of then Caliph Yazid, to whom Hussein had refused to pledge allegiance.

Hussein’s killing is seen as having cemented the schism between Sunnis and Shiites, which stems from the early days of Islam and arguments over Muhammad’s successors as caliph, or leader. The Shiites wanted the caliphate to descend through Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law and Hussein’s father.

To Shiites, who make up the second-largest branch of Islam after the Sunni majority, the killing holds deep religious and historical resonance and plays a key role in shaping identity.

Gatherings, processions and grief rituals

In the U.S., many Shiites of various racial and ethnic backgrounds gather for assemblies where they typically listen to recitations of the Quran, elegies, lamentations and lectures.

"In many communities, emotional lamentation and weeping are considered acts of devotion because they express solidarity with the suffering (of) the Prophet’s household,” Zaidi said.

U.S. communities embody a lot of the diversity of rituals seen across the Shiite world, she said.

“Our community comes to life. It pulsates with a beautiful group unity, where everybody comes together,” said Adam Almaleky in Michigan. “It’s a program of self-development, self-purification, gaining closeness to God through Hussein.”

In Texas, 23-year-old Sakina Ali attends the gatherings, which are also held in other parts of the world, with four generations of her family. “We learn and we mourn,” she said, adding the atmosphere gives her goose bumps.

Around the world, mourning rituals of Muharram and Ashoura can include rhythmic chest-thumping or beating in unison and public processions. Some Shiites self-flagellate and draw their own blood in public mourning practices that are controversial, fervently upheld by some while shunned or opposed by other Shiites.

In Iraq, pilgrims converge on the holy city of Karbala, site of the battle and home to a shrine to Hussein. Large volunteer service stations there feed pilgrims, Zaidi said, adding that distributing food and drink is one of the most universal practices.

“One of the remarkable enduring features of Ashoura commemorations is the way that rituals and communities reflect local cultures, traditions and languages while still remaining centered on Karbala,” she said.

Some donate blood

As part of the Texas team of Who is Hussain, a London-based charity with teams in dozens of cities around the world, Ali has been helping organize a blood drive during this year's Muharram commemorations.

“It’s to save lives. It’s to do good in the name of Hussein,” she said. “Since this is such an emotional time and the community is coming out from everywhere … the impact is much bigger.”

Hussein, she said, "sacrificed his life … for morality and for justice,” adding, “If he did all of that, I can do good in my community as well, following his example.”

These blood drives happen elsewhere in the U.S. and beyond. Mustafa Jafri’s mosque in New Jersey has been organizing them for many years.

“We do it really to honor Imam Hussein and his companions and his family,” said Jafri, a physician and a board director at Masjid-e-Ali. “He gave his blood to stand against injustice and so we resonate and want to give our blood to save lives.”

It’s a practical way, he said, to translate some of Hussein’s values into action and to give back. The drives, he said, often also attract some non-Muslims from the community to donate blood.

Zaidi said the blood drives are a more modern phenomenon in Shiite commemorations.

Many say they draw inspiration and lessons from Hussein’s legacy

Jafri said it’s a time to reflect on how to better oneself and on "tackling injustices that are all throughout the world.”

Almaleky, team leader with Who is Hussain in Michigan, said that from Hussein, “I learn altruism. I learn principle. I learn dedication."

Even following tragedy, he added, “we continue to draw energy as a community, and no matter how difficult this world becomes, it doesn’t compare in the difficulty that the family of Hussein ibn Ali faced and Hussein and his companions faced.”

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

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday morning he couldn’t rule out a trip to the injured list for Soto, who exited a 9-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs after the fourth inning Tuesday night because of a tight back and did not play Wednesday

Mendoza said Soto, who was shown on SNY wearing a wrap around his back in the dugout Tuesday, was “getting checked out” before Wednesday’s doubleheader, though he said following the opener that Soto hadn't undergone imaging yet.

Mendoza said Wednesday morning he hoped Soto could be available at some point in the day but acknowledged a level of concern for the superstar outfielder, who is in the second season of a 15-year, $765 million deal.

“We’ve got to wait,” Mendoza said. “Obviously not ideal when a player like him comes out of a game. Those guys are tough and they know how important they are, and they take pride on being in the lineup everyday and posting.

“I just didn’t like how he looked yesterday. We’ve got to wait.”

Soto’s injury may delay his reunion with Lindor, who was activated prior to Wednesday’s nightcap, when he went 0 for 5 with an error. The 32-year-old shortstop has been sidelined since suffering a strained left calf while running the bases against the Minnesota Twins on April 22 — the same day Soto returned from an 18-day stint on shelf due to a strained right calf.

Lindor played in his third rehab game Tuesday, when he was 2 for 5 while scoring twice for Triple-A Syracuse. He made the four-hour trip back to New York following the game, which factored into the Mets’ decision to hold off on activating him.

“My job is to play shortstop as best as I can and to be the best version of myself to help the guys and just feed off each other,” Lindor said.

Mendoza said the Mets will proceed cautiously with Lindor following the longest injured stint of his 12-year career. Lindor, who missed just 15 games the previous four years, will likely sit out Thursday’s game and will also see more time than usual at designated hitter.

Lindor and Soto have played just nine games together this season for the last-place Mets, who haven’t recovered from the 12-game losing streak they endured during Soto’s absence. New York, which hasn’t finished in last place since 2003, is nine games behind in the race for the final National League playoff spot.

“I’m just worried about Soto,” Mendoza said. “I’m not thinking about Lindor back, Soto out. It is what it is, right? Hopefully we can get those two in the lineup for a long time here for the rest of the season and we can make a run at it.”

Mendoza also announced beleaguered starter Kodai Senga has been shifted to the bullpen. Senga gave up seven runs over 3 2/3 innings Tuesday as his ERA rose to 10.08. He hasn’t earned a win since June 12, 2025, when he suffered a hamstring injury covering first base against the Washington Nationals.

Senga, a noted creature of habit, has made just one relief appearance for the Mets. He threw the final 1 2/3 innings of Game 6 of the 2024 NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“We’re going to adjust his routine, he’s going to have to adjust his routine,” Mendoza said.

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Swanson had a go-ahead RBI triple and four RBIs to cap the monster doubleheader and lead the Cubs to a sweep of the reeling New York Mets with a 10-5 win.

Swanson hit a three-run homer and a grand slam in the Cubs’ 10-3 victory in the opener. The 11 RBIs in a doubleheader are a franchise record, breaking the mark of 10 set by Hall of Famer Ron Santo on July 6, 1970.

The only other player in team history with a nine-RBI doubleheader is also a Hall of Famer — Billy Williams, who did it on Aug. 21, 1968.

“A dream come true, just being able to have your name next to those guys,” Swanson said. “It’s amazing and special.”

The 11 RBIs are tied for the third-most in a doubleheader. Nate Colbert had 13 RBIs for the San Diego Padres on Aug. 1, 1972, a mark equaled by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark Whiten on Sept. 7, 1993.

“Dansby had an incredible day of baseball offensively, for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s fun to see.”

Swanson also homered Tuesday night and has three homers and 15 RBIs in the first three games of the series, which is slated to conclude Thursday night.

The 15 RBIs are the most ever by a Cubs player in a series of four or fewer games since 1920, when the RBI became an official statistic, and are the most by a Chicago player in a series of any length since Kiki Cuyler, another Hall of Famer, had 15 RBIs in a five-game set in 1932.

The 15 RBIs over the last three games are also the most ever by a shortstop, breaking the mark of 14 RBIs set by Nomar Garciaparra with the Boston Red Sox from May 10-12, 1999. The only other Cubs player with at least 15 RBIs in a three-game span is Sammy Sosa, who had 16 RBIs from Aug. 10-12, 2002.

“I couldn’t tell you a game that I’ve had like this,” Swanson said. “It’s one that you honestly dream about.

“Just very, very grateful.”

The three-game surge snapped a lengthy slump for Swanson, who entered Tuesday hitting .178 with three homers and 14 RBIs in his last 48 games dating back to April 24. Swanson is batting just .202 with a .688 OPS this season — down considerably from his career marks of .251 and .732, respectively, entering 2026.

“You say process, process, process and stick to it, but every player is aware of how they’re producing and helping the team,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “He’s been so consistent and persistent. That doesn’t guarantee results, but man, does it feel good when those come through.”

Yet with 11 homers and 46 RBIs through 80 games, Swanson is more than halfway to his fifth 20-homer season and almost halfway to his career-high of 96 RBIs, set during his final season with the Atlanta Braves in 2022.

“That’s why the game sometimes, like, drives you crazy,” Counsell said. “Because if you probably look at Dansby’s season right now, it’s kind of a normal season for Dansby. Maybe the batting average is a little bit low, but probably all the other numbers are right around where he’s been the last couple years. It’s just been peaks and valleys for him.

“The good times, you’ve got to take advantage of them. And when you have days like that and you’re kind of the primary driver of offense, that’s going to win your team games.”

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