Immigrant rights groups identified the man who was killed as a 26-year-old native of Colombia.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a post on the social platform X that ICE was surveilling an address for a person with a final order of removal. When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone coming from that address, “The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department said.

U.S. Sen. Angus King previously said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against ICE agents in Biddeford, a coastal city roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland.

“He was in a vehicle — pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent,” King said.

King, a Maine independent, said Mullin also told him the officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it was for not for the person who was shot.

King said Mullin told him that earlier information that the man was the target of an enforcement action was incorrect. He said Mullin “got new information, and when he got it he called me to tell me."

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said Mullin told her the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Messages seeking comment were left for the inspector general’s office and the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The Maine attorney general’s office, which is also investigating, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent. The office said the agent who killed him has been placed on leave.

Witness says he heard driver say, ‘I tried to stop’

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-floor window after hearing a “pop, pop, pop” sound and saw a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb” with an SUV behind it. The driver was wounded and the car started moving down the street until the SUV hit it again, Boucher said.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said, getting choked up. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop’ — clearly heard him say that.”

Boucher said he saw an ICE officer bring a medical bag to where the man was lying before an ambulance and fire truck arrived. At one point, Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.

“I was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect," Boucher said. "I don’t remember his exact words.”

The agents involved in the shooting didn’t have body-worn cameras, King said.

“The question is: What did he do with his vehicle?” King said. “Were officers threatened? Were the threats rising to the level that justified deadly force?”

The man was authorized to work in the US, advocates say

Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said the man who was killed was authorized to work in the U.S.

After the shooting, his family contacted the Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, but they aren't ready to speak publicly about the shooting, said the group's executive director, Mufalo Chitam.

Mary Hayes, who lives close to where the shooting happened, said the man lived nearby with his wife and daughter.

“I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground,” Hayes told the AP as she held a piece of cardboard with “No ICE Stop ICE” written on it. “I watched a little girl crying with a little pink backpack on because she’s never going to see her father again.”

The Colombian Embassy said it is in contact with U.S. authorities and “working to formally confirm the individual’s identity and nationality.”

Sadie Dilboy said the man killed in the shooting regularly came to her laundromat and would bring his daughter, who he'd give quarters to buy candy from the vending machine.

“He was such a good person,” she said. “He was always cleaning up.”

Anti-ICE protesters gather near the scene

Dozens of demonstrators critical of ICE and Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown gathered in Biddeford within hours of the shooting.

Amy Goodman, who is from nearby Wells, arrived with a sign that said “Stop Killing Us” and directed it toward police working at the scene.

“Sadly, it’s something we’re seeing a whole lot more often lately, and I’m mad about it,” said Goodman.

Police blocked access to the shooting scene, which is in a neighborhood of mostly multifamily homes, churches and businesses. Several protesters stood nearby, some holding signs condemning ICE's presence in the community and state.

A recent uptick in Trump's immigration crackdown

On July 7, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.

The shootings come amid a Trump administration push to carry out its mass deportations agenda. During the five-day period at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people.

The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, the arrests are surging. The administration’s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

“More than anything else, I want to know, ‘Why are you in Maine?’" Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said in a video on social media.

Hundreds of Maine ICE arrests since Trump’s return

ICE had a significant presence in Maine earlier this year, which prompted several protests. Immigration officials later said in late January that they had ceased “enhanced operations” in Maine after hundreds of arrests.

A Homeland Security spokesperson said at the time that some Maine arrests were of people “convicted of horrific crimes" including aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.”

Court records show that while some had felony convictions, others had unresolved immigration proceedings or had been arrested but never convicted of a crime.

ICE arrested 546 people in Maine between the start of Trump’s second term and March 11, 2026, the most recent data available, according to ICE arrest data provided to the University of California, Berkeley Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the AP.

About 45% of those arrested had criminal backgrounds. During the equivalent 416-day period before Trump took office, roughly 69% of those arrested had criminal backgrounds, the data show.

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This story was updated to correct the spelling of Cory Poulin’s first name.

___

Willingham reported from Boston and Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak in New York, Aaron Kessler in Washington and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.

No casualties were reported, but the attacks marked an escalation not seen since a Saudi-led coalition struck Houthi-controlled areas several years ago. Saudi Arabian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, in a video statement on Telegram, warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, saying these warnings should be taken "seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted.”

The internationally recognized government in Yemen said earlier that the strikes that hit Sanaa International Airport were meant to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.

The Houthis vowed to retaliate for the strike, which marked the first major escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia following a period of relative calm.

The U.N. Security Council, in an emergency meeting on the developments Monday afternoon, officials expressed concern about the risk of a wider escalation.

“Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation,” U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari told the 15-member council. “We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.”

For years, a Saudi-led coalition based in Yemen’s south has fought the Houthis in the north.

Saree said on Telegram earlier on Monday that Saudi Arabia launched the airstrikes in what he called the end of a period of “de-escalation.” He warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.”

In the latest Telegram update, Saree said the strikes in Sanaa were aimed at “closing it to humanitarian flights carrying patients and stranded individuals to and from Sana’a International Airport.”

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power. Tensions rose earlier this year between U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE as their yearslong partnership in the war in Yemen broke down, leading to the UAE pulling out of Yemen.

The official spokesperson of the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said Monday evening on X that air defenses dealt with ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward the southern region without providing further details.

The attack on the airport in Sanaa comes after tensions between the two sides flared earlier this month. The Houthis alleged that Saudi planes violated their airspace to try to prevent an Iranian plane from carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Yemen's defense minister, Gen. Taher al-Aqili, said in a post on X that the airport’s runway was struck Monday to stop an Iranian plane transporting the Houthi delegation from returning from the funeral.

In a video statement released shortly before the strikes, al-Aqili warned against infiltrating Yemeni airspace with Iranian aircraft.

“At this moment, we say that our patience has run out. Accordingly, we will respond appropriately to this treacherous and brutal act, and we will confront and deal with the hostile aircraft violating Yemeni airspace and sovereignty by all available means,” he said.

The Houthis said the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport, where it landed.

Video footage by the Houthi-controlled al-Masirah broadcaster appeared to show a missile striking a runway at Sanaa airport followed by a loud explosion.

A statement from the government in the south said that all airports in Yemen were “closed until further notice, with immediate effect.” The Yemeni defense ministry issued orders to evacuate the airport and surrounding areas.

Rashad al-Alimi, who leads Yemen's ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said Iran had made a request to operate a flight by Iranian airline Mahan Air from Tehran to Sanaa to return the Houthi delegation.

The council, which denied the request, said in a statement Monday that Houthis had insisted on receiving the Iranian flight “outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation.”

Hans Grundberg, the U.N.'s special envoy for Yemen, said in a statement that his office is monitoring Yemeni airspace developments and expressed concern about the risk of wider escalation. He called on involved parties to engage in dialogue that preserves the “relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022.”

Houthi-controlled areas were last targeted by the Saudi-led coalition before a U.N. brokered truce to cease hostilities came into effect in 2022.

Reports on Monday (July 13) indicated the board could discuss a possible buyout of Manuel’s contract during its Thursday meeting.

Manuel, however, told Yahoo Sports there are no current plans for him to leave his position.

“The president and I have had several great conversations over the past couple of days,” Manuel told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. “There are no plans for me not to continue to be the athletic director for the near future.”

Reached for comment Monday, Warde Manuel told @YahooSports, “The president and I have had several great conversations over the past couple of days. There are no plans for me not to continue to be the athletic director for the near future.”

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 13, 2026

Investigation into athletic department culture

The potential review of Manuel’s future comes as Michigan investigates the culture within its athletic department.

Details of the investigation have not been publicly released, but a report related to the review is expected to provide more information about the university’s findings.

John U. Bacon reported on X that, according to his sources, Michigan is preparing a buyout agreement with Manuel that he expects Manuel to accept.

Bacon also said some version of the university’s investigation could be released by the end of the week. The university has not confirmed those details.

I must say no story I've seen at UM has had more twists and turns, over more years, than this one. More than once, strong sources told me Manuel would be out soon, only to have circumstances change. This time seems truly different, but wait until the ink dries. https://t.co/NXJtniWGuk

— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) July 13, 2026

A tenure marked by success, controversy

Manuel has served as Michigan’s athletic director since 2016, overseeing significant success across the Wolverines’ athletic programs.

Michigan won national championships in basketball in 2026, football in 2023, men’s and women’s gymnastics in 2025 and 2021.

Manuel has also overseen major facility projects and helped guide Michigan through significant changes in college athletics, including conference realignment, name, image, and likeness opportunities, and the expansion of the College Football Playoff.

His tenure, however, has not been without controversy.

The athletic department has dealt with the fallout from the NCAA investigation into an advanced scouting operation involving former staffer Connor Stalions.

--> Ex-Michigan football coach Chris Partridge sues university; claims he was ‘Scapegoat’ in sign-stealing case

The case resulted in penalties against Michigan, including probation, financial penalties, and a show-cause order for former football coach Jim Harbaugh.

--> Ex-Michigan football coach Matt Weiss breaks silence, seeks dismissal of default ruling in hacking case

Manuel also has faced scrutiny over the department’s handling of former football staff member Matt Weiss' firing and federal indictment related to unauthorized computer access, as well as the university’s response to the Dr. Robert Anderson sexual abuse scandal.

--> University of Michigan to pay $490M to Anderson survivors

The department also navigated the departure of former football coach Sherrone Moore, whom Manuel promoted after Harbaugh left for the NFL.

Moore was later fired following allegations involving an inappropriate relationship with a staff member and was arrested after a confrontation related to the situation.

→ Paige Shiver sues University of Michigan over Sherrone Moore investigation records

Manuel’s background

Before returning to Ann Arbor, Manuel served as athletic director at the University of Connecticut and the University at Buffalo.

He is a former Michigan football player.

Manuel signed a five-year contract extension in December 2024.

The Board of Regents meeting on Thursday is expected to provide additional clarity on the university’s plans for leadership of the athletic department.

It was shortly after the 2012 presidential election and Republicans had lost badly to President Barack Obama.

Graham was calling with an outlandish proposal — “getting the band back together” — on a bipartisan plan for immigration reforms.

The move was classic Graham.

He has been called the “bridge.” The “dealmaker.” The senator at the center of all the action. And, more recently, “the Trump whisperer.”

Graham embodied a sort of institutional secret sauce that kept the Senate moving — and talking and arguing and laughing — with his hyperkinetic insistence on doing something when the place would otherwise seem destined to grind to a halt of atrophy and dysfunction.

After Graham’s sudden death over the weekend, it is unclear who, if anyone, will fill his role.

“Few have been able to frustrate and anger, amuse and engage me in a single conversation the way Lindsey could,” said Sen. Chris Coons, the Democrat from Delaware, who celebrated Graham’s birthday over dinner after the NATO summit in Turkey just days before the South Carolina senator died.

“I will miss having him as a partner in the Senate.”

Graham stayed at the center of the action

Many lawmakers like to see themselves as central to the action, but Graham was among the few actually positioned squarely at the heart of virtually every debate. With his relentless ability to adapt to the political times, he gave voice to issues at home and abroad, and insisted on drawing others into the arena.

There was almost no bipartisan gang in Congress that didn't count Graham as a member — from the gang of eight he hatched with Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to pass immigration reform through the Senate in 2013, to his recent effort with colleagues to impose sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine.

“We didn't agree on everything in our bipartisan immigration proposal,” Schumer said Monday, “but we agreed it was worth trying, because doing nothing was worse.”

At a time when Congress is increasingly broken, with lawmakers unable to carry out its basic legislative functions, let alone act with civility toward one another, Graham played a unique role in bringing the sides together.

The heartfelt statements and stories shared on Graham's passing, from other prominent senators as well as the back benches of the House, reflected the breadth and depth of his partnerships.

“We talked at all hours of the day or night, and traveled through all kinds of weather, meeting dictators and democracy defenders,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who joined with Graham on the Russian sanctions bill.

Blumenthal said their views often differed, “but he listened to me,” the senator said, "and sought to bridge our differences.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., opened the day's session noting Graham's empty desk in the chamber, covered with a black drape and white flowers.

Graham's friendship, he said, “made this job richer and its burdens lighter.”

His political shapeshifting drew criticism

Not that Graham was always successful. There have been plenty of times when GOP senators walked out of their private lunch meetings during a particularly stalemated time in Congress, simply shaking their heads at the latest plan from Graham to break the gridlock.

Graham’s political shapeshifting brought his detractors, to be sure, as did his unbridled pursuit of military intervention abroad.

His bipartisan immigration work with Schumer and the Democrats left Graham almost permanently outcast by the nativist and anti-immigration flank of his party.

And most decisively, Graham’s rapprochement with Trump, after having declared their relationship finished following Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol, damaged the senator's credibility among some would-be partners.

Still, Graham’s proximity to Trump during the president's second term kept him central to the action, the one senators of both parties would lean on to understand the White House's view.

“Many of us consider him the Trump whisperer,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who served as a manager in Trump’s first impeachment. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate.

“If we wanted to know what the president’s thinking was, or how he might be moved on something, you would go to Lindsey to discuss it,” Schiff said.

Graham's “voice is going to be really, really missed in terms of the relationship that Senate Republicans have with the president and his team.” Thune said on CNN, because "he was so good and so effective at talking to the president.”

Senators say Graham's humor lightened the load

In the chamber of 100 senators, with big personalities and bigger egos, Graham's self-effacing humor made it more bearable, helping to smooth the edges and bridge the divide.

He had “a wonderful sense of humor that he used to cut through the tension,” Schiff said.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in her own statement, told a story of seeking Graham’s support for her bill to ensure visas for Afghan refugees.

“I remember standing outside of a little phone booth in the Republican cloakroom last year as he spoke with the Vice President, holding up a sign that said ‘Save the Afghans’ and he put the phone on hold and said ‘OK OK I will go on your bill even if it gets me in trouble,’” she said.

“I will miss him.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on Graham's current term, which expires in January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said afterward that she will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon.

Nordone will be the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

“It is such an honor,” she said, as dozens of Graham staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling tears. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

Graham died on Saturday night at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but Nordone was often by her brother's side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads.

After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his sister, for whom he later became legal guardian. They were very close, and she was there as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year, along with her children and grandchildren.

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words," Nordone said, emotion rising in her voice. "But I'm going to do this. I got it.”

Introducing Nordone, McMaster said the two had spoken in “in the wee hours of Sunday morning” after Graham's death, and he asked her to serve.

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Nardone to fill the seat earlier Monday.

Nordone has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She lives in Lexington, is a graduate of the College of Charleston and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling.

How will a special primary work?

A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a fifth term this year.

The rare open Senate seat has ignited a scramble among South Carolina’s most ambitious conservatives, who have been eager to climb the political ladder.

Republicans just finished a sprawling and bruising contest to figure out their nominee for succeeding McMaster, who is wrapping up his second term. State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the nomination, overcoming a field that included Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — all of whom are now eyeing Graham’s seat following his death over the weekend.

According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s death, or July 21.

The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after that filing period closes, or Aug. 11. Any necessary runoff would follow two weeks after that, or Aug. 25.

From that point, the new nominee would have just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.

All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal election. For the special election primary, that would have been June 27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a message seeking clarity about the process.

Who could replace Graham?

Graham died on Saturday night, and a preliminary medical examiner report said he suffered a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic dissection.

In the hours after Graham's death was announced, South Carolina’s Republican circles were already swirling with rumors about possible replacements.

Evette, who has served nearly eight years alongside McMaster and received his endorsement in the governor's race, is one possibility. She lost the June 23 runoff to Wilson.

Mace and Norman could run in the special primary as well. Neither of them are running for reelection to their House seats.

But another Republican from the state, Rep. Russell Fry, could be a possibility. The two-term lawmaker represents the growing area around Myrtle Beach, and he's been a top Trump ally.

Businessman Mark Lynch, whom Graham defeated in the primary, may jump into the race. So could Mark Sanford, the state's former governor who served two separate stints in the House.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who lived in South Carolina before joining the Trump administration, has fielded calls about potentially replacing Graham but doesn’t have interest in the role and enjoys working for the president, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.

How does Graham's death affect the general election?

No Democrat has won a Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double digits. When Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin.

So while history suggests that Graham was en route to a fifth term, Republicans are carefully surveying the landscape.

Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews won the Democratic nomination last month and has raised more than $8 million in the race, and she had just under $3 million cash on hand at the end of May, according to federal filings. Graham had taken in $6 million, with just over $4 million on hand.

In a statement Sunday, Andrews called on South Carolinians to join her “in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude" to Graham for his service.

Harrison, noting that he and Graham “had our share of political disagreements,” wrote on social media that he “always appreciated that even in our fiercest political battles, we could still share a conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina and the institutions we were both privileged to serve.”

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Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

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Kinnard reported from Charleston, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

All of that comes as Iran has insisted it actually controls the critical waterway, and as the new exchange of fire threatened a return to all-out war.

U.S. Central Command announced on social media that the U.S. military had begun another round of strikes against Iran.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. military said.

Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Trump called it “another major attack.”

“We’re hitting them very hard. And it’ll continue, and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re knocking out all of their offensive capability and we’re controlling the straits. We’re putting the blockade back.”

Trump also provided new details on his administration doing an about-face and suggesting it will charge tolls for ships going through the strait, after previously suggesting that it wouldn’t.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” he said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

It's a change in U.S. policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls — as it was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7.8% to $81.92 a barrel on Monday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war.

Trump says Iran failed a test

Earlier, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the agreement reached last month was “built to test” Iran, adding that “when you’re dealing with sleazebags don’t mean much.”

Trump said he questioned why the U.S. was entering into a deal to create a ceasefire with Iran rather than moving toward a full deal first. Trump last week declared the ceasefire was “over.”

“They didn’t honor the test,” the president said.

Exchanges of fire in recent days, sparked by Iranian attacks on ships, had already cast further doubt on the interim peace deal. Washington had lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of that deal, which also called for the strait to be fully reopened.

“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on social media. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”

The president said the U.S. would be “reimbursed” by 20% of the value of cargo to help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”

The U.S. military said it will resume its blockade of Iranian ports Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT.

The struggle over the strait is escalating

Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees in accordance with the interim peace deal. The U.S. has disputed that.

Iran on Monday vowed to fight back against any U.S. interference in the strait. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mocked Trump on social media and used his support for tolls to legitimize Iran's position.

“POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service,” Araghchi wrote on X. “Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”

The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency overseeing international shipping, said it was waiting to find out more about Trump’s proposal but remained opposed to tolls for passage through international waterways.

“There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait,” it said in a statement.

The US had opposed charging fees in the strait

Meeting with Gulf leaders late last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken forcefully against Iran charging fees for transit through the strait.

“That’s international waterway. There isn’t a nation on Earth that supports having to pay money to go through the straits,” Rubio told reporters in Bahrain on June 25.

Rubio also said there was “zero support among the Gulf countries for any sort of toll or fees or anything that charges for the use of international waters. The president’s made it clear that’s not going to happen.”

A fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed through the strait before Iran effectively shut it down at the start of the war, driving up global prices of energy, fertilizer and other goods. Traffic had picked up after last month's agreement but remained well below prewar levels.

The American military has tried to establish a route through the strait along the coast of Oman that would be outside of Iranian control. Iran has attacked ships using that route, saying the U.S. is violating the interim peace deal. The U.S. has attacked Iran in response, drawing Iranian attacks on U.S.-allied Arab states.

US strikes as allied Arab states report a wave of attacks

The U.S. military said it struck dozens of sites Monday, including air defense systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment, and small boats in response to an Iranian attack on a container ship the day before. The U.S. said it used drone ships for the first time to hit an Iranian ship maintenance facility and submarine on Sunday.

Missile alert sirens sounded three times Monday in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. There was no immediate word on damage.

Separately, Kuwait's Foreign Ministry said its consulate in Iraq had been attacked. It did not immediately blame anyone for the attack or disclose damages or casualties.

The oil-rich kingdom — home to several U.S. military bases — also condemned Iran and “its factions and militias loyal to it in Iraq” for attacking what it described as “several border points” and a maritime oil drilling platform that belonged to the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

In Jordan, the kingdom's military said it shot down four Iranian missiles in an incident that “resulted in zero casualties or material damage.” Jordan also hosts U.S. military forces and aircraft.

In Iran, authorities reported attacks in Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Markazi provinces and said at least two people were killed, according to state-run IRNA news agency. Semiofficial Iranian media also reported strikes in the eastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, which is on a coast of the Gulf of Oman.

Iran blames the US for the chaos in the region

Those attacks on Iran raised the possibility that Gulf Arab states were retaliating. There were unclaimed attacks on Iran on Thursday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei blamed Washington for the chaos gripping the region. He said Iran wouldn't agree to visits by the International Atomic Energy Agency to nuclear sites the U.S. bombed in 2025. That's where Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to be entombed.

Trump suggested last week that the interim deal in the war was “over” and the U.S. ended waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in U.S. dollars. But mediators, including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt, have continued efforts to reach a final agreement to end the war.

Iran and the U.S. are nearly halfway through the 60-day period in which they were supposed to negotiate such an agreement, which was also supposed to address Iran's disputed nuclear program.

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Weissert and Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mae Anderson in New York, Josh Boak in Washington, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Stella Martany in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report.

Legislation will be introduced this week that addresses specific problems discovered in a state audit.

The Investigators at Local 4 have been following this story closely since first exposing issues at the Hawthorn Facility in Northville -- that’s the state’s only psychiatric hospital for children. The goal of this legislation is to better protect children.

---> Find full coverage of the Hawthorn Center here.

In 2022, Local 4 uncovered that an active shooter drill was held at the Hawthorn Center without warning patients or employees. Many people believed there was a real gunman, and several called 911 fearing for their lives.

Since then, the facility has closed, has been torn down, and a new facility is being built in its place. The new Hawthorn Center is expected to open this fall.

Michigan Senator Michael Webber is introducing this legislation. He said he has some concerns about the transition period to the new facility. That when kids were moved to Walter Reuther initially, the rooms weren’t ready, the beds weren’t right, and the kids had to stay in the lobby until it was ready for them.

Last fall, the state’s auditor general dropped its report, finding that:

• Nearly 30% of complaints alleging abuse, neglect, serious injury, or death, were not retrieved or acted on until two to 12 days after being filed (the state is supposed to respond within 24 hours).
• More than 10% of complaints lacked a date stamp, meaning it was impossible to tell if the state’s actions were timely.
• Video surveillance and audio recording systems were often missing or not working.

The legislation addresses those problems specificially.

“Since joining the Senate, I’ve heard heartbreaking stories from families who believed the system would protect their loved ones but instead felt abandoned,” Webber said. “These reforms are about restoring trust, making sure complaints are taken seriously and providing families peace of mind by knowing someone is watching out for those who can’t always protect themselves.

Senate Bills 1115-1122 are expected to be formally introduced on Wednesday, July 15.

If you need something investigated you can reach out to the Investigators at Local 4 through the ClickOnDetroit Help Desk or by emailing us directly at Local4Investigators@wdiv.com.

You can contact Investigator Karen Drew directly at kdrew@wdiv.com, and Kayla Clarke at kclarke@wdiv.com.

The bipartisan bill would give law enforcement broader authority to ticket drivers with modified or excessively loud exhaust systems and significantly increase fines for violations.

It was introduced after some of the bill’s sponsors State Reps. Jason Hoskins, Natalie Price, Carrie Rheingans, Sharon MacDonell and Matt Longjohn, received complaints from constituents about the issue.

Hoskins also added that this bill is similar to one Price filed previously.

Under current law, drivers cited for an illegal exhaust face a $100 fine.

The proposed legislation would raise the penalty to $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for a second offense.

The bill would also remove the requirement that officers measure the loudness of an exhaust system before issuing a citation.

State Rep. Jason Hoskins, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the goal is to deter modifications that amplify engine noise and disturb nearby residents.

“We worked with our friends and stakeholders in law enforcement, and they told us the law needs more teeth and the penalties right now just aren’t deterring people from making these modifications to their cars,” Hoskins said.

Hoskins acknowledged the proposed fines are steep but said the bill includes a provision that would allow first-time offenders to have their fines waived if they remove the illegal modification.

The proposal is drawing mixed reactions from drivers and residents.

Some argue that noise is simply part of urban life and that the bill goes too far.

“I don’t mind it,” Raya said. “I mean, it’s a city; if you live in a city, you’re going to hear the noise.”

Another opponent, Chauncey Price, said that while loud engines can be irritating, additional enforcement feels unnecessary.

“Leave people alone, let people live their life,” Price said. He added that he frequently hears loud vehicles at night near the freeway but doesn’t support harsher penalties for people who customize their cars.

Others support the effort.

“I find them kind of obnoxious, a little bit annoying when you’re a pedestrian sitting around,” said Nathan Cenovski, who described the modified exhausts as unnecessary and appearing attention-seeking.

Hoskins said he believes the bill would improve day-to-day life for many Michigan residents frustrated by persistent noise.

The legislation has been recommended to a committee and must still advance to a full vote in the state House.

No date has been set for when that vote might take place.

Community members alleged that he is now involved with choirs again, including The Willis C. Patterson Chorale, which Local 4 is told works closely with children.

Local 4 began looking more closely into The Willis Patterson Our Own Thing Chorale (OOTC) and learned that Lamar Willis is listed as the Accompanist and, in other areas, as an Assistant Director and Conductor, reinforcing the concern.

The OOTC also lists that it offers an Instructional Program for youth.

A flyer from 2025 offered “Free music lessons” for children aged 5-18. It also allegedly offers lessons for piano, strings, guitar, winds, and voice.

“The safety of children is our primary concern,” David Williams, Oakland County’s Chief Assistant Prosecutor, told Local 4. “Lamar Willis’ bond conditions prohibit him from having contact with anyone under the age of 18. When our office became aware of his possible involvement with a youth choir, we alerted investigators to his potential bond violation. We intend to work with the court to ensure there are appropriate consequences for any bond violation.”

Background and charges

The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office told Local 4 that Willis is still facing multiple charges, including four counts of second-degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and three counts of Accosting Children for Immoral Purposes, underscoring the seriousness of the case.

Records show Willis is scheduled for a pretrial conference next Thursday, July 23, before Circuit Judge Anderson. The trial date is tentatively scheduled for August 10, keeping the case moving toward trial.

Previous bond conditions barred Willis from having any contact with children or going within 100 feet of any school, emphasizing the restrictions at issue.

The charges stem from encounters that happened on school grounds during the 2022-2023 school year, according to authorities. Police spoke to 15 children throughout the course of the investigation, and those interviews led them to believe that there were five victims, making the allegations more concrete.

A few months after Willis was charged, he officially resigned. Officials don’t believe he has had any contact with the school since his resignation, which narrows the timeline of his involvement.

Willis began working with the Detroit Public Schools Community District in the fall, but he was placed on administrative leave when school officials were notified of pending charges, showing the immediate response.

Police said they first learned about the allegations against Willis from the district, which started the investigation.

Attempts to reach Willis, the choir, his attorney

Records show Willis is the President of Willis Entertainment Group, LLC, and a LARA search shows the address in Detroit. His biography on the OOTC’s website under “Our Own Thing Accompanist” says Willis is “currently the Minister of Music at Derrick Memorial Baptist Church, Music Director for the Legendary Martha Reeves and a member of ‘Notorious,’ a notable Detroit entertainment music ensemble. “

“Lamar Willis was under contract as assistant director and accompanist with the Willis Patterson Our Own Thing Chorale for the 2025/2026 season.

Mr. Willis’ contract term ended June 30, 2026, and he is no longer associated with the Chorale.

The Our Own Thing Chorale is for adult membership only.

The Instructional Program provides music lessons for youth.

It is separate and distinct from the Chorale. Mr. Willis was never associated with the Instructional Program in any way.

Respectfully,

Sharon Vaughters

President, Willis Patterson Our Own Thing Chorale."

Local 4 spoke with Willis’ attorney, Tyron S. Rucker, who still represents him. Rucker said that he was unaware of Willis’ involvement in the choir and thus could not comment on it.

When Local 4 reached out to Willis directly, the phone went to voicemail.

The mailbox was full, so we could not leave a message. After further attempts to reach Willis, he told Local 4 “no comment.”

The allegations against Willis

Prosecutors said multiple former middle school students reported that the teacher used his classroom as a “hangout room,” tried to get hugs from girls, and crossed boundaries in ways that made students uncomfortable.

In a notice filed Dec. 30, 2025, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office said it intended to introduce evidence under Michigan laws that can allow juries to hear about other alleged acts in cases involving sexual offenses against minors.

The alleged conduct, prosecutors wrote, involved students at MacArthur School (K-8), where Willis worked as a teacher.

It outlined additional allegations investigators said they gathered in police reports and interviews.

‘Hangout room,’ hugs, and alleged ‘cool teacher’ reputation

Multiple students allegedly described Willis as the “cool teacher” and said his classroom was a place students would go during the school day.

One student testified that she attended MacArthur and had Willis as a music teacher for several grades. She said Willis would allow couples to come to the classroom and “make affection” toward each other “kissing, rubbing up on each other, touching each other, things like that.”

On one occasion, the girl testified that Willis touched her butt and said: “Oh, yeah, your butt’s firm, you’re strong.”

She testified that Willis would routinely hug female students, not male students.

The girl also said Willis “grabbed his hand around my back and put his hand, like by my butt cheek.”

Willis also allegedly told students that his private parts were big, referring to his genitals.

Another student testified that students would go to Willis’ classroom to have PDA (public display of affection).

On one occasion, she testified that Willis took her into the storage room that was inside the classroom.

She said Willis took “our hands and pulled us in there.” While in the storage room, she said Willis tried to make them kiss. She testified that Willis “grabbed our heads and pushed them together.”

She also testified that Willis would force hugs on girls and “wrap his hands around my lower waist area.”

She said Willis’ hand “would be on the top of my butt.

This happened more than once.” Willis allegedly tried to put her hands in another child’s pants.

Willis ‘treated girls differently than boys’

Another child testified that they were in the eighth grade at MacArthur, where Willis was a teacher. They also testified that Willis had a reputation as the “cool teacher.”

The student testified that he spent a lot of time in Willis’ classroom and that Willis “treated girls differently than boys.”

“When it came to the girls, he had a natural, it’s like he had a natural instinct to touch them in certain places, as if it was, like, their hips, and then for the boys it would be a hand on a shoulder and then tell them whatever he wanted to tell them.”

On one occasion, Willis allegedly summoned six students to his classroom, and they went into a smaller room where he talked to the group about “sexual actions with females.”

“He listed us a number of pornography websites and listed us some experience stories that has happened with previous classes,” the student testified.

“He was giving us physical instructions of how you should properly make a female feel good and how you need to (explicit) and when you’re doing such activities you must (explicit) so you can (explicit),” the child said.

The student said Willis invited him and a female student to his class, and they had a private ballroom-dancing lesson.

Willis allegedly positioned them so the female student’s buttocks were touching the boy’s crotch area, leaving the boy feeling “very disturbed.”

‘He would grab your behind”

Another student testified that she was an 8th-grader at MacArthur and had Willis as a teacher.

She testified that “if you run into Mr. Willis or see Mr. Willis, or leave being with him, you had to give him a hug.”

She also testified that “couples would go to his classroom” if they just wanted to talk or “do anything.” She said, “They would like to touch on each other or do other things such as sexual intercourse.”

The student further testified that when she gave Willis a hug, “we would give him a hug and he would go under and he would grab your behind.”

The student also testified that Willis would offer private dance lessons.

During one private lesson, she said, Willis “spun me around and then my back half was on his front.”

She said she could feel “his belt and I could feel his private part.” When Willis spun her away, she testified that there was “a spot on his pants,” and she just “looked away.”

She also testified to an occasion where Willis allegedly pulled her into the storage closet with another student.

Another MacArthur student who testified said she used to be close to Willis. She referred to him as the “safe teacher.”

She said he was the teacher with whom you could get away with anything in his classroom.

She said couples would go to his classroom to do “whatever.”

She said Willis would always ask for a hug, but she would tell him that she had to get to class and leave. She testified that she felt “so uncomfortable that she stopped going for a while.”

In one incident, the girl reported feeling very uncomfortable; she said she went into his classroom during free time.

She said Willis came over and started running his fingers through her hair several times. She said she had to get up and walk away.

Willis ‘had a temper’

Another student testified that during “passing hour,” she and her friend approached Willis and asked him about puberty and other issues they were experiencing as they grew up.

She said he was usually approachable in these types of conversations, but this one got uncomfortable.

She said Willis asked if she had a removable shower head at their home.

She didn’t know where he was going with the line of questioning.

She said Willis told her to use the removable shower head to masturbate by placing it on her private area.

Another student testified that Willis was the “cool teacher” before everything happened.

She said everyone would go to his room and talk about their relationships.

She said he always had the curtains closed, and his room was “chill.” The student testified that Willis ‘had a temper’ and said he would frequently lash out at other students when they got on his nerves.

She said she remembered a time he had an adult temper tantrum at a choir show and began stomping his feet in anger in front of everyone. She testified that Willis referred to the students as a “waste of sperm” for horsing around.

Prosecutors said the girl also testified that Willis touched another girl’s butt and that Willis encouraged another female student to go into the closet to perform oral sex on her boyfriend.

The female student allegedly did not want to do it.

In the past, the top four teams in a conference would be placed in different regions to protect them from playing each other until the Final Four. For example, the tournament this past season had four SEC teams in the top eight overall seeds. Texas was third, South Carolina fourth, LSU fifth and Vanderbilt seventh. LSU was dropped down to seventh and Vanderbilt eighth in the bracketing to avoid having them be in the same regions.

Now if that happened going forward, the teams would remain where their seeds should have them.

“We put a lot of time into establishing those top 16 teams in the order they go in,” NCAA women's basketball committee chair Amanda Braun said in a phone interview. “You're splitting hairs to decide who has the edge and some of that is undone by those principles. To all of us, the work we did and the work those teams did justifies keeping them where they are in that group of 16.”

The men's selection committee will still separate out the top four seeds in each conference and put them in different regions.

The change would potentially only really affect the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 as those were the only conferences that had four or more teams in the NCAA field.

The women's tournament has started giving financial incentives — units — to teams for each round they advance in the tournament the past two seasons. Braun said that it wasn't brought up at all during the entire week of meetings that the committee had.

The change comes on the heels of the NCAA expanding its tournament field to 76 teams starting in 2027.

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Despite years of increased education spending, Michigan students continue to struggle on national assessments. The state ranks 44th in fourth-grade reading and 34th in fourth-grade math, according to the latest Nation’s Report Card.

The five major candidates running to become Michigan’s next governor agree those results must improve. However, the two Democrats and three Republicans offer sharply different approaches to addressing the problem.

Democratic candidates Jocelyn Benson and Chris Swanson argue that schools need additional resources, although they differ over whether Michigan residents should expect higher taxes.

Republican candidates John James, Mike Cox and Perry Johnson say Michigan’s education challenges are driven less by funding than by a lack of accountability, effective literacy instruction, and parental options.

Jocelyn Benson (D) calls for a new funding model

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democratic candidate for governor, said Michigan has increased education funding but still is not providing schools with enough money.

“We have seen increased funding, but it’s not enough. We have to redo our one-size-fits-all funding model and replace it with a weighted, equitable model,” Benson said.

Michigan provided $10,050 in per-pupil foundation funding during the 2025-2026 school year, the highest amount in state history. And the legislature passed an even great education budget, raising per-pupil spending to $10,250 for the 2026-2027 school year.

When asked whether Michigan residents should expect a tax increase to pay for her education proposals, Benson said she does not intend to raise taxes on middle-class families. However, she did not categorically rule out other changes to the state’s tax structure.

“I have no intention or plans to raise taxes on the middle class in particular in Michigan,” said Benson. “A lot of what we can do is close other loopholes that are antiquated in our revenue streams in Michigan and prioritize putting that increased revenue into our schools. I think the big thing that you’ll see shift in my budget process as governor is an increased focus and priority on funding public education.”

Mike Cox (R) proposes school grades and reading requirements

Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, another Republican candidate, also cited Mississippi’s improvement in fourth-grade reading.

“Mississippi went from 49th in fourth-grade reading to ninth,” Cox said. “We went from a mediocre 31st to 48th in the past 10 years. That’s a moral stain upon our state.”

Cox said Michigan has a results problem rather than a spending problem. His proposals include assigning letter grades to public schools and requiring students to demonstrate reading proficiency before advancing beyond third grade.

“We’re top five in spending, bottom five in outcomes, so some more accountability,” Cox said. “That’s what grading every public school is about right? That’s what making sure every third grader can read before they move on.”

Cox said advancing students before they can read proficiently makes it more difficult for them to catch up in later grades.

“Because if you push them on, what happens? Then they always feel behind, and then they start dropping out and they start causing problems,” Cox said.

John James (R) emphasizes accountability and school choice

U.S. Rep. John James, a Republican candidate, said Michigan does not need to spend more money on education. He said the state must ensure existing funding is being used effectively.

“I’m going to make sure that we have fiscal responsibility to ensure that, as we are losing school-age population, we are not overspending on overhead and waste in our school systems,” James said.

James’ plan includes expanding phonics instruction, providing education tax credits and giving parents more choices over where their children attend school.

He has also called for restoring Michigan’s former third-grade reading retention law, which generally required students who were significantly behind in reading to repeat the grade. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation repealing the retention requirement in 2023.

“Bringing back the third-grade standards that I mentioned that Gretchen Whitmer repealed, and also by putting forward my education tax credits that we passed last year in the working family tax cuts,” James said when asked how he would improve reading and math performance.

James has pointed to Mississippi as an example of a state that improved literacy outcomes while spending less per student than Michigan.

Perry Johnson (R) calls for performance incentives

Businessman Perry Johnson, the third major Republican candidate, said Michigan should return to basic literacy instruction and operate schools more like private businesses.

“We decided that we’re just going to throw money at it,” Johnson said. “But what happened is we eliminated phonics. You can’t do that.”

Johnson’s plan includes restoring phonics, placing a greater emphasis on vocabulary, and encouraging parents to become involved in their children’s education before kindergarten.

He also supports offering financial incentives to teachers whose students meet certain performance goals.

“In my companies, we always reward on the basis of performance,” Johnson said. “And I think that we’ve lost sight of the fact that we have to have something like that. If we incentivize teachers for actually achieving certain levels of performance, we’ll change the focus.”

Chris Swanson (D) disputes national rankings

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, another Democratic candidate, also said Michigan’s record per-pupil funding has not kept pace with inflation.

“Ten thousand fifty dollars, as I said, is the highest it’s ever been, but not quite where it needs to be based on inflation,” Swanson said.

When asked if taxes would go up under his administration to pay for increased education funding, Swanson responded:

“Definitely not go up,” Swanson said. “I myself am taxed enough, and I bet everybody out there watching could feel the same way. But we’re going to be efficient and effective on how we spend our tax money.”

Swanson also questioned whether Michigan’s national rankings accurately reflect what students are learning in the classroom. He said the assessments used to compare states might not align with Michigan’s curriculum.

“That is not accurate with the curriculum that they are teaching,” Swanson said when asked if he thought the metrics to rate Michigan school was off. “So, we’re going to do another assessment to figure out where we are with it. I think we’re much higher than what people think, especially even in math literacy.”

Astronomers have detected a type of sugar in space that's also found in raspberries and self-tanners. The sugar, called erythrulose, lurks in what's called the interstellar medium: thin clouds of gas and dust littered between stars.

Sugar does more than sweeten tea and powder doughnuts. Different varieties fuel our cells and even make up DNA. Scientists are itching to know how sugars form because they're a key ingredient for life as we know it.

Using two dish-shaped radio telescopes in Spain, researchers collected data from a large gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way. They identified the sugar in gas form by comparing telescope signals to samples in the lab. It's the latest kind of sugar detected in space — in a region crossed by NASA's twin Voyager, the farthest spacecraft to ever travel from Earth.

The results were published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Scientists have found interesting chemistry in our galaxy, including building blocks for genetic material and parts of the cell. They spotted a cousin to table sugar near the center of the Milky Way about 25 years ago, and black grains from asteroid Bennu retrieved by NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft yielded other sugars, including a key DNA ingredient.

The latest sugar isn’t essential for life, but can easily convert to a form that’s thought to be crucial to kick-starting life on Earth. And it’s one of the most complex sugars spotted so far, said astrophysicist Erika Hamden with the University of Arizona.

It's “a pristine example of the stuff that’s just floating out in the galaxy,” said Hamden, who had no role in the new research.

These interstellar investigations are all about understanding how life got started. Did faraway comets or space rocks deliver the essential ingredients to us? Or were the essential components already here that eventually gave rise to our solar system?

The new sugar lends evidence to the latter theory. Researchers want to look for more sugars in space and learn about how they convert to different forms.

Finding them in one spot means they're likely also hiding in distant corners of the galaxy along with other important bits, said study author Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrobiology in Spain.

“The key ingredients for the origin of life could be present in other regions across the galaxy, opening the possibility for life to develop elsewhere in the universe,” Jiménez-Serra said.

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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 U.S. military then began another round of strikes against Iran on Monday.

Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been named as her late brother’s temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate. Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress and an advocate for U.S. military aggression in Iran, died Saturday at 71 after a tear in his aorta.

The Latest:

Trump says US will seek Strait of Hormuz tolls as reimbursement for ‘protecting’ other countries

Moments after the U.S. military announced a new round of strikes on Iran, Trump called it “another major attack.”

“We’re hitting them very hard. And it’ll continue, and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

The president added: “We’re knocking out all of their offensive capability and we’re controlling the straits. We’re putting the blockade back.”

Trump also provided new details on his administration doing an about-face and suggesting that it will charge tolls for ships going through the Strait of Hormuz, after previously suggesting that it wouldn’t.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” he said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

Trump scales back 2 Utah national monuments

The move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments unravels protections established by former presidents for areas with unique archaeological and historical features.

It comes as Republicans under Trump have sought to drastically reshape the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Republicans have moved to expand oil and gas drilling, ramp up logging and remove habitat protections for imperiled species.

The altered monuments had been designated under the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law meant to preserve important sites. Democrats and conservationists warn of the disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain.

US military has begun another round of strikes against Iran, US Central Command says

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the command said on social media.

The strikes are just the latest volley between the two nations that began last week after Iran attacked a series of merchant vessels off the coast of Oman.

Trump offers no details on Thursday night address

When asked in an interview with Hugh Hewitt what his Thursday address will be about, Trump made it sound like nothing out of the ordinary.

“It’s just going to be a speech like a lot of my speeches,” he said, without offering any more detail.

Trump says memorandum of understanding was ‘built to test’ Iran

“Memorandum of understanding when you’re dealing with sleazebags don’t mean much,” Trump said during an interview with Hugh Hewitt.

Trump said he questioned why the U.S. was entering into a memorandum of understanding to create a ceasefire with Iran rather than moving toward a full deal first. Trump last week declared the ceasefire was “over.”

“They didn’t honor the test,” Trump said.

Trump promises at least 2 more rounds of strikes on Iran are coming

“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow — and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “They have nothing. They have nothing going, other than they have big mouths.”

The president did not elaborate but him saying that more strikes were coming previously preceded a new round of U.S. military strikes on targets in Iran.

Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Lindsey Graham, picked to fulfill remainder of his US Senate term

Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been named as her late brother’s temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on Graham’s current term, which expires in January. A person familiar with the appointment process but not authorized to speak about it publicly said Nardone would be sworn in Wednesday. She will be the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.

“It is such an honor,” Nordone said. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

Graham died over the weekend at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but Nordone was often by her brother’s side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads.

Senators deliver emotional tributes to Lindsey Graham after his sudden death

Graham’s desk was covered in black cloth and a vase of white roses as the Senate opened Monday afternoon.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune eulogized Graham as a friend and a statesman, saying he “died with his boots on” because he had just returned from his 10th trip to Ukraine.

One day “we will laugh together again,” Thune said, tearing up during his opening remarks.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the seniormost Senate Republican, said he was used to being the butt of Graham’s jokes. He “always brought a smile to your face and levity to the halls of Congress,” Grassley said.

Grassley said the Senate could “show our appreciation” for Graham by passing a bipartisan package of Russian sanctions that Graham introduced on Friday, just before his death on Saturday.

US military’s tally of deaths in the Iran war has risen to 14

That’s after a Navy pilot died in a helicopter crash on July 1 in the Arabian Sea. The Navy initially called it an emergency landing and said there was “no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action.”

The Pentagon’s war casualty count added one non-hostile death in July. A U.S. Central Command spokesman confirmed it was the pilot.

It’s the first death since 13 service members were killed in two separate incidents in March at the beginning of the war.

A total of 414 service members have been wounded, including a U.S. Air Force member added Monday.

While Iran and the U.S. have resumed strikes, it’s unclear if that’s what led to the injury. U.S. Central Command and the Air Force wouldn’t offer details. Most troops were wounded in March, while 34 were wounded in April and three in June.

Trump to address the nation on Thursday

The president posted on social media that he would be “making a Speech to the Nation” at 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

Trump appeared to refer to himself in the third person in the post.

He did not disclose the details of his planned speech, but the announcement comes after Trump said he would block Iran-related ships from traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and that the U.S. would charge a 20% fee on all cargo going through the waterway.

US military to resume Iranian blockade

The U.S. military says it will resume its blockade of Iranian ports Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT.

U.S. Central Command said on social media that it “will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas” and will “support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.”

A notice to mariners released Monday by the U.S. military warned of using force if ships don’t comply. It also said the military will let through humanitarian shipments.

The statement follows Trump declaring that the U.S. would be reinstating the naval blockade and charging a 20% toll on eligible cargo.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, would not say whether the military would be collecting tolls as part of the blockade and referred questions on Trump’s post to the White House.

UN maritime organization is against charging fees for passage through international straits

The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency which oversees safety and security measures in international shipping, said the group was waiting to find out more about Trump’s proposal but said its stance on tolls remains unchanged.

“We have always been consistent on its stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation. There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait,” the organization said in a statement.

Rubio has previously said the US wouldn’t allow tolls in the Strait of Hormuz

Trump’s announcement comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Gulf leaders late last month and said the U.S. would not support Iran charging fees for ships to go through the Strait of Hormuz.

“That’s international waterway. There isn’t a nation on Earth that supports having to pay money to go through the Straits,” Rubio told reporters in Bahrain on June 25.

Rubio also said there was “zero support among the Gulf countries for any sort of toll or fees or anything that charges for the use of international waters. The president’s made it clear that’s not going to happen. It’s not going to be a part of this. It cannot be a part of this.”

Judge blasts Trump’s IRS lawsuit as filed for ‘improper purpose,’ recommends attorney discipline

A federal judge said Monday that Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns was filed for an “improper purpose” as she referred attorneys for disciplinary actions.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams amounts to a stinging rebuke of the Republican president’s lawsuit, characterizing it as an exercise in self-dealing in which he sued an entity that is effectively under his control.

The suit concluded in May with a settlement agreement that created a since-abandoned $1.776 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the president, as well as immunity from tax audits.

“This was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” the judge wrote.

US military uses drone boats in a first-of-its-kind attack

U.S. Central Command says it used drone ships to hit an Iranian ship maintenance facility and submarine, calling it first.

“Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels hit the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, marking the first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations,” the command said on social media Monday.

The post featured video of the drone boats approaching a dock that had a submarine sitting on top of it followed by aerial footage of the explosion on Sunday.

The strike comes despite the Trump administration’s claim that it has completely destroyed Iran’s navy.

The Corsair drones also were used to help rescue a pair of Army aviators from the waters off Oman early in June after their Apache helicopter was struck by an Iranian drone.

ICE involved in fatal shooting in Maine, state House speaker says

Democrat Ryan Fecteau posted on Facebook that the shooting Monday in Biddeford, outside Portland, involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that the State Police and Maine Department of Public Safety were at the scene, and that he expects the FBI to investigate.

Few details are available. ICE, the FBI and the Maine Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Project Relief, an immigrant rights advocacy group, posted that “a young person” from its community was killed “during an encounter with ICE in Biddeford.” Protesters have already begun gathering at Mechanics Park in Biddeford.

This would be at least the ninth death from an encounter with federal immigration officials since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportations agenda and the second in a week, following the killing of a Houston man.

EU rallies dozens of nations to pledge $1 billion for recovery fund in Gaza

The European Union coordinated efforts to raise 900 million euros ($1 billion) in aid for Gaza, working with 65 governments and organizations including the White House and the United Nations, the bloc’s top diplomat said Monday.

Kaja Kallas announced the fund after a meeting of the Palestine Donors Group in Brussels.

“The EU is the most credible supporter, for the Palestinian people. We are the largest donor and the strongest backer of the two-state solution,” she said.

The meeting was the second gathering of the Team Gaza Initiative, an effort by the EU to rally support for recovery projects like sanitation and farming in the destitute and war-ravaged coastal enclave of some 2 million people.

Ukraine fears Graham’s death leaves weaker link to Trump

Just days before his death, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was standing in Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Square, giving Ukrainians reason for optimism: He said new hard-hitting bipartisan economic sanctions against Russia were within reach back in Washington.

Now Ukraine’s leaders are devastated. Graham had been one of Kyiv’s closest allies in Washington and a trusted intermediary with Trump, who had a strained relationship with Zelenskyy. They fear that without Graham, Ukraine’s ability to influence could be diminished across a broad range of issues.

“Huge and absolutely unexpected loss,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker with Zelenskyy’s party. “He was the closest link between Ukraine, our president and Trump,” he added. “Our position in Trump’s entourage might be weaker.”

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Ukraine and nine other countries announce a coalition to protect Europe from ballistic missiles

Ukraine and nine other countries have formed a coalition to protect Europe from ballistic missiles. The 10 countries announced the agreement at talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Monday, taking advantage of Kyiv’s experience of fighting Russia.

“Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe,” their statement said.

Zelenskyy went to France seeking help against Russia’s ballistic missiles, which have pummeled his country in the more than four years since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion.

Putin was unyielding after Kyiv’s long-range attacks on refineries, tankers and terminals have caused widespread fuel shortages. “Wherever they attempt to strike Russian territory, we will respond in kind, but our strikes will be several times more powerful,” Putin told pro-Kremlin activists.

Trump says all but Iran will have ‘fair and open’ use of strait — after paying US a 20% toll

A fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed through the strait without paying any fees before Iran asserted control over it after the start of the war.

Iran says it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees in accordance with an interim peace deal reached last month. The U.S. and others dispute that, citing international law on freedom of navigation, and the American military has tried to establish an alternative route outside of Iranian control.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called for the strait to be open, as it was before the war. “Freedom of navigation has to be respected,” she said.

Trump says Gov. McMaster should appoint Graham’s sister to finish his term

Trump says he’s recommended that Lindsey Graham’s sister be named as his temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate.

Trump posted on social media Monday that Gov. Henry McMaster should appoint Darline Graham Nordone to fulfill the rest of Graham’s term, which expires in January.

Graham died over the weekend at age 71, and McMaster is expected to announce his pick later Monday afternoon.

After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his sister, whom he later adopted. The pair were very close, and Graham’s sister was by his side as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year.

The Democratic Party’s direction also is at stake in Michigan and Wisconsin

Following the downfall of Graham Platner in Maine, progressives view the Upper Midwest Senate races as their last chance to shape the Democrats’ Senate caucus and prove their theory of the case in the midterm elections.

In Michigan, Rep. Haley Stevens is running against progressive Abdul El-Sayed for the state’s Democratic Senate nomination in a race Democrats must win to hold the seat held by Sen. Gary Peters, who is retiring and has endorsed Stevens.

In Wisconsin, democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong has surged in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary against more conventional Democratic lawmakers, including former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.

Michigan voters choose nominees on Aug. 4. The primaries in Minnesota and Wisconsin are Aug. 11.

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What happened to Minnesota nice?

In Minnesota, the two leading Senate candidates have clashed over electability, their ties to corporate interests and willingness to fight Trump’s administration.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, backed by progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, says her opponent, Rep. Angie Craig, is backed by “secretive dark money groups.”

“The very folks who are standing in the way of the things that people need to be able to afford their lives, who are Democrats, are funded by these corporate special interests,” Flanagan told The Associated Press.

Craig counters that Flanagan has raised campaign funds from major companies, and that if she becomes the Democratic nominee, Republicans would focus on her ties to an ongoing fraud inquiry into the state’s Medicaid programs. “To stop Donald Trump, we’ve got to win elections,” Craig told the AP.

The next big races between moderates and progressives are in pivotal Midwestern states

Progressives hope to prove economic populism resonates beyond deep blue enclaves. Democratic Party leaders worry progressive candidates could damage their brand and imperil their chances of retaking either chamber of Congress.

August primaries in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota will be another gauge of Democratic voters’ frustration with the establishment. The Upper Midwest is a battleground for progressives and moderates. The outcomes could impact Democrats’ chances in the upcoming midterms and shape their party’s future direction.

How will a special primary work?

South Carolina law requires a one-week filing period beginning July 21, for a special primary to be held on Aug. 11. A runoff if necessary would be held on Aug. 25, leaving the nominee just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.

All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal election. For the general election primary, that would have been June 27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a message seeking clarity.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development.

Trump, a Republican, issued proclamations under the Antiquities Act to reduce their size by about 90% each. He took similar actions during his first term, but those were reversed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The latest move comes as Trump and other Republicans have drastically reshaped the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have sought to expand drilling, mining and logging on public lands, while removing protections for imperiled species and rolling back rules for conservation.

“They took the land from the people quite honestly,” Trump said at a signing event at the White House Monday. “We’re giving it back.”

President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, and President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, created Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 under the Antiquities Act. The 1906 law gives presidents the powers to protect sites considered historic, archaeologically significant or culturally important.

Davina Smith-Idjesa, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said tribal leaders had braced for a reduction since Trump was elected to a second term. She said Monday it was “heartbreaking” and accused federal officials of sidestepping their legal responsibility to consult with tribal nations that would be impacted.

“From a Navajo perspective, Bears Ears is not simply a piece of federal public land,” Smith-Idjesa said. “This is a living cultural site that holds our histories, our ceremonies, our traditional foods and medicines and our ancestors’ footprints.”

Utah officials have long fought against the monument designation and have argued that the state should be in charge of controlling its own lands. Trump in his first term reduced their size, calling their creation a “massive land grab.” Combined they span more than 3.2 million acres (13 million hectares), an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

“This is a big day for Utah,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox as he stood next to Trump at the White House. “These monument designations are supposed to be the smallest area as possible to protect the antiquities.”

Bears Ears was the first national monument protected at the request of tribal nations that consider the land sacred. The landscape contains ancestral villages, ceremonial and burial sites and features in some tribes’ creation and migration stories. Its designation honored five tribes in the region — Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute and Uintah-Ouray Ute.

Home to hundreds of thousands of objects of cultural and scientific significance, Bears Ears is jointly managed by an agreement between tribal nations and federal agencies.

Grand Staircase-Escalante consists of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings. It holds large coal reserves, while the Bears Ears area has uranium.

The national monument designation provides sweeping protections not just for significant geological features or artifacts but also for the surrounding landscape, banning drilling, mining and new construction nearby. Proponents of Trump’s plan to downsize say the protective boundaries stretch too far and hinder mining for critical minerals.

Biden designated or expanded more than a dozen monuments and had a goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

Trump’s policies are largely the opposite: He wants to tap into the natural resource wealth of federal lands that total more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) and offshore areas under federal control, such as in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.

That’s drawn a sharp backlash from Democrats and conservationists, who warn of the wholesale disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain.

Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had said last year that federal officials would review and consider redrawing the boundaries of national monuments as part of a push to expand U.S. energy production.

Trump’s in his current term has used proclamations to lift commercial fishing prohibitions within expansive marine monuments in areas of the Pacific Ocean and in the Atlantic Ocean off the New England coast. Those monuments were created by Democratic and Republican administrations. The effort to boost the fishing industry, which has been challenged in court, marks a dramatic shift in federal policy by prioritizing commercial interests over efforts to allow the fish supply to increase.

The Supreme Court has affirmed the president’s authority to create national monuments, and both Democrats and Republicans have used the Antiquities Act. But there’s been debate about whether Trump has the authority to change the boundaries of existing monuments.

Some Republicans have tried to sell or transfer federal lands to states or other entities. Those efforts have largely fallen flat: A push by some GOP lawmakers in the House to sell public lands ran into bipartisan opposition, while another proposal by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah to sell more than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square kilometers) of federal lands was removed from Republicans' big tax and spending bill.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year turned back a lawsuit from Utah officials who sought to wrest control of vast areas of public land within the state from the federal government.

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Hannah Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

“Both sides kind of have their line that they’re not going to cross," Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates ace who is also a member of the union's eight-man negotiating committee, said Monday. “Whether that results in missing games or missing a season, we’ll see.”

Baseball's five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1 and MLB is expected to immediately lock out players. The more consequential deadline is in late February or early March, when Major League Baseball would announce whether it was postponing opening day.

Owners proposed a salary cap for the first time since the union fought off MLB's cap plan with a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that caused the first cancellation of the World Series since 1904. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says a cap is needed to lessen payroll disparity.

Soto, who signed a record $765 million, 15-year-old contract with the New York Mets as a free agent after the 2024 season, would be limited to a $265 million, six-year deal under MLB's proposal.

“Yeah, that sucks,” Soto said. “It shouldn’t be there.”

MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 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 some teams to spend more.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s biggest spenders, had a $415.2 million payroll on opening day this year. MLB has not made a proposal on how to phase in a cap, a process that would be key for high-spending clubs such as the Dodgers.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, at 34 in the eighth season of a $426.5 million, 12-year contract, said players are aware of the proposal's intent.

“It’s trying to minimize the years and obviously the totals. For sure, we see that,” he said. “I think baseball's in a good spot right now and we can’t mess this up."

Harper, in the eighth season of a $330 million, 13-year contract with Philadelphia, said he couldn't conceive of any scenario in which the players' association would agree to a cap.

“The opportunity for players to get paid is what this is all about,” Harper said, citing the union's legacy of fighting MLB since Curt Flood helped unite players in the 1970s. “We owe it to the guys that have come before us to do the same thing.”

Harper, who signed his first major league contract at age 17, also vowed to fight MLB's proposal to ban a player from signing until he was at least 20 years old by the Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from the graduating year of his high school class. MLB says college baseball provides a better development path.

“If you’re in the top three rounds as a high school kid, I think you should be able to do whatever you want,” Harper said. “It would really be tough for a guy like Jackson Holliday to not be the number one pick and not get the chance to go to the big leagues at 19 or 18 if he’s able to.”

Bargaining began in May and is expected to resume after the All-Star break. The union has asked for expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum.

Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft viewed the early negotiations as “back-and-forth proposals that may or may not be unrealistic.”

Skenes, a 24-year-old right-hander in his second full big league season, could see a sharp decrease in potential contract offers under MLB's system. He currently is on track to become a free agent after the 2029 season and has a $1,085,000 salary in his last season before arbitration eligibility. He also has earned nearly $5.6 million from the pre-arbitration bonus pool that started in 2022.

“MLB is kind of presenting their perfect-world offers and we’re kind of presenting our perfect-world offers," Skenes said. “So there’s a lot of time before there’s any real movement, I think.”

San Diego's Mason Miller, baseball's top closer, also could become a free agent following the 2029 season. A 27-year-old right-hander, he is earning $4 million this season.

“I still have some optimism,” he said. “The place that the game's at right now, I think killing that momentum is kind of fruitless for everybody.”

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AP Assistant Sports Editor Jake Seiner contributed to this report.

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

“You watch a Triple-A game, most everybody that’s coming out of the bullpen left-handed or right-handed is throwing 95-plus,” the Boston Red Sox manager said. “Back in the day, it was you'd get a lead and you'd get to the lower part of a bullpen and you’d see some guys coming out throwing 88.”

Heading into the All-Star break, velocity is on track to set a record for the sixth straight season.

Four-seam fastballs averaged 94.7 mph through Saturday, up from 94.5 mph last year, 93.7 mph in 2021 and 91.9 mph when Major League Baseball first started tracking in 2008. The average was 94.4 mph for the first half of 2025, and this year's final figure could increase by a tick.

“Definitely expecting anybody you’ve never heard of to throw a 95-plus,” said the New York Mets' Marcus Semien, a three-time All-Star who made his major league debut in 2013, when four-seamers averaged 92.7 mph. “Before you'd know who the guys were who were throwing 98. Now, you just expect that this new guy is probably throwing 98. So that shows how everybody’s trained.”

Expectations have changed. In David Auburn's “Proof,” which won the 2001 Pulitzer Price for Drama, a mathematical research work is described as “streamlined: no wasted moves, like a 95-mile-an-hour fastball. It’s just ... elegant.”

That figure no longer is notable.

Right-handed pitchers are averaging 95.2 mph in 2026, up from 95.0 mph last year. Right-handed relievers are averaging 95.6 mph.

The Triple-A average of 93.6 mph is up from 92.7 mph when tracking started at that level in 2022.

“People are learning the biomechanics of the body a lot better and it’s easier to figure out why people are throwing hard,” said Athletics pitcher Hogan Harris, whose four-seam average has increased from 92.6 mph as a rookie in 2023 to 95.0 mph this year. “There’s so many young kids throwing hard now and then you see a lot younger people in the big leagues, so my thought is they see a guy that’s throwing 100 when he’s 22 and, boy, he’s not going to throw 100 when it’s 30, so let’s get in there now.”

Six pitchers are at 100 mph in average four-seam velocity led by a pair of relievers, the Athletics' Mason Miller (101.3 mph) and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Edgardo Henriquez (100.6 mph).

Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski, a 24-year-old starter, is averaging 100.5 mph, up from 99.3 mph as a rookie last year. He has thrown a big-league high of 670 pitches at 100 mph or higher. The Brewers skipped his start Sunday because of arm fatigue.

“I think it’s always been there,” Misiorowski said. “Jumping up that next tick was really cool, so I think I’m happy where I’m at and I think is free and easy.”

As velocity increases, so does pitch mix among fastball types.

Four-seamers are 30.4% of pitches this season, down from 31.8% last year and 35.8% in 2019.

Sinkers increased from 15.5% last year to 16.6% and cutters from 7.5% to 7.8%. Offspeed pitches rose from 13.6% to 14.3%.

“It is exponentially harder to hit and I hit .200 in my career, so that should show you how well I would do in the game today. The thing that I think gets me when I watch games is it’s not just one fastball anymore," said New York Mets interim manager Andy Green, whose last big league season with extensive playing time was in 2006. “It’s easy for us that played a couple of decades ago to malign the offensive players for not hitting from a batting average perspective what used to be hit, but there’s so much to contend with, so much information, so much awareness of what hitter handles what fastball shape. The game’s gotten harder, there’s no doubt about it."

Big league batters are hitting .244, just below last year’s .245 and above the .243 in 2024.

"At the end of the day, us as hitters have to find a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it," Chicago Cubs star Alex Bregman said.

Hard-throwing has become part of youth player development, according to San Diego closer Mason Miller, who leads all pitchers with a 101.3 mph average for his four-seamer.

“It’s kind of just been that trajectory,” he said. “But it’s hard to be successful for a long time and healthy for a long time doing it.”

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AP Baseball Writers Jay Cohen and Janie McCauley contributed to this report.

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

The National Weather Service is predicting that more than 90 temperature records across the U.S. will be tied or broken this week through Wednesday — and most of those will be overnight heat records.

Health experts say overnight temperatures that fail to cool down are even more dangerous than daytime temperatures that soar.

It has already been a sweltering start to the summer across much of the U.S. due to the long-lasting heat dome expected to blanket much of the country this week. The blistering temperatures over the past few weeks have caused heat-related deaths in New Jersey and helped fuel wildfires in the West.

No relief from the heat at night this week

Temperatures were not forecast to drop below 80 F (27 C) at night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami; Tampa, Florida; Galveston, Texas; and Charleston, South Carolina, the National Weather Service said.

Over the next few days, places in the Midwest and Northeast known for frigid winters will see nighttime temperatures remain above 70 F (21 C), including Fargo, North Dakota; International Falls, Minnesota; and Portland, Maine.

Hot temperatures at night pose a bigger danger

Health experts say that high overnight temperatures are particularly dangerous because there's no time for the body's core temperature to cool down and recover from daytime heat.

“That’s where the health outcomes are amplified, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable communities,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.

Just a few degrees of increased body temperature can lead to heatstroke or put too much strain on the heart.

Dangers of heat can sneak up on you

If temperatures at night don't cool down your body, the health risks more often show up the next day, said Kristie Ebi, a public health and climate scientist at the University of Washington.

“Mortality starts the second or third day" because the body's unable to cool, she said on Monday.

Being proactive is crucial during a heat wave

Early warning signs include heavy sweating, muscle cramps and headache. “It’s hard to know you’re getting in trouble with the heat. This is why we need to be more proactive," Ebi said.

It's important to find a way to cool off, whether stepping into air conditioning or wrapping a cold towel around your neck.

And health experts say don't forget to check in on friends and family members, especially those who are older, pregnant or who have health challenges that might make it more difficult to handle the heat.

How to beat the heat without air conditioning

Even without air conditioning at home, there are ways to find relief.

Stop by a library or a mall. Sit in front of a fan and spray water on your skin. Put your feet in cold water. Soak your clothes in water. And of course, drink plenty of water.

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Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed.

By saying that an interim ceasefire gave it the right to establish the terms under which ships traversed the strait, and threatening and firing upon vessels that did not use its preferred route, Iran has sought to exert control over the waterway and gain negotiating leverage with the United States.

On Monday, President Donald Trump sought to tip the scales. He reimposed a blockade on Iran and said the U.S. controls the strait and would charge fees to ships for safe passage — essentially borrowing from the Iranian playbook.

The announcement came as the U.S. and Iran have been ramping up attacks against each other to assert control over the strait, threatening a return to all-out war.

The world has long considered the strait — which passes the coastlines of Iran and Oman — a free-to-use, international waterway. But soon after it was attacked by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, Iran claimed sovereignty over it, disrupting world energy markets and driving up prices.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

Both Iran and the US say they control the Strait of Hormuz

In a posting on Truth Social on Monday, Trump said the U.S. "will be, from this point forward, known as THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT."

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile arsenal, says Tehran controls the strait. "We will not allow a rogue and child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference in it,” the Guard said Sunday.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, established in 1982, no country has the right to claim international waters and all ships have the right of unimpeded passage.

Even though the U.S. and Iran haven't ratified the convention, “that doesn’t matter, because this has become part of universal custom, so all states can rely on it under all circumstances,” said Marc Weller, director of the International Law Program at the University of Cambridge.

Still, both Iran and the U.S. have been using tools to exert control over the strait and constrain traffic.

“You have two nations, both of which are very capable — the U.S., because it has the most powerful Navy in the world, and Iran, which is geographically well positioned to disrupt commerce throughout the Strait of Hormuz — (and) can exercise a significant degree of control,” said Raymond Waid, who leads the maritime industry group at law firm Liskow & Lewis in New Orleans and a former Navy officer.

Maritime data agency Kpler said crossings declined by around 52% between Friday and Monday compared with the same period a week ago. About 14 ships passed through the strait on Sunday; before the war, about 130 ships passed through the strait daily.

Iran says it has made ‘sincere’ efforts to ensure safe shipping

The ability to disrupt shipping in the strait gives Iran leverage over the global economy.

Tehran used this leverage early in the war by attacking transiting ships and demanding payment in some cases to allow vessels through. Just the fear of being attacked by Iranian drones or speedboats was enough to deter ship traffic.

After an interim ceasefire was announced last month, Iran insisted that ships register with the recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority to have their crews and cargo vetted.

Iran also is demanding that ships only use a route near its coastline instead of a southern route along the coast of Oman, where the U.S. military had started guiding ships through. The central part of the strait has been mined by Iran, so few vessels have tried to pass using that route.

Tehran is suspected of attacking ships that have used the Oman route. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, which issues maritime security alerts, said it received reports of six ships attacked in the strait near Oman since June 25.

Iranian officials assert the right to manage traffic through the strait

Washington and Tehran have debated what they agreed to regarding the strait. U.S. officials say the interim agreement signed last month called for the strait to be reopened while a more permanent resolution to the war was negotiated.

Iranian officials have said a clause in the interim deal gave them the right to manage ship traffic and that, so long as they didn't charge fees for 60 days, it was up to them to decide operating conditions.

The interim agreement stated that Iran will “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.“ It also called for Iran to ”conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the strait.”

The US now says it will charge a fee for safe passage

The U.S. said Monday it will charge a 20% toll on cargo shipped through the strait “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”

That's something the U.S. previously opposed, and any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation.

The new U.S. plan echoes an earlier Iranian claim — which it opposed — that said it might charge tolls that could reach as high as $2 million per vessel.

Countries can levy fees on ships for a specific service when passing through an international strait, said Weller, the international law professor. For example, Chile collects fees in the Strait of Magellan for pilotage and other services that ensure safe passage, he said.

“A fee would be possible, but it has to be a fee commensurate with the actual service granted,” he said. “So it’s not anything Iran should earn money off. It’s not $2 million per vessel or something like that.”

The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency which oversees safety and security measures in international shipping, said the group was waiting to find out more about Trump’s proposal but said its stance against tolls for passage remains unchanged.

Late Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi used Trump's support for tolls to mock him and legitimize Iran’s position.

“POTUS is absolutely right," he posted on X. "Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service ... 20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”

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AP Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York contributed to this report.

The progress came as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a motorist in Maine on Monday, and Houston prosecutors complained the administration was still withholding critical information in their investigation into a fatal shooting by an ICE officer last week.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the evidence turned over by U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen's office included previously withheld hard drives containing statements, police body camera video and other materials in the Minnesota killings. Federal prosecutors also turned over Good’s badly damaged SUV, she said.

“The wonderful thing now is we have all the evidence,” Moriarty said. “Any time the government is responsible in whatever way of taking the life of a community member we need to have a full and thorough investigation.”

Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed in her vehicle while leaving an anti-immigration enforcement protest in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Her death and that of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis just weeks later during a Jan. 24 protest, sparked outrage across the country and calls to rein in immigration enforcement.

The Minneapolis immigration crackdown, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,” ended in February after being billed as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever.

At least nine people have been killed nationwide since the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign began last year. No one has been charged in connection with the deaths, and the federal government has suggested state prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers.

Lawyers for Good’s family said the transfer of evidence represented “an important and meaningful step towards justice and accountability.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which took custody of the federal evidence, said it couldn't comment on the specifics of the materials but said “great strides have been made” to ensure a “thorough and complete review” of the shootings.

Spokespersons for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota, as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.

Legal wrangling in another ICE-related shooting may have led to evidence release

Moriarty said local investigators have been poring over the evidence after receiving it in recent days, but declined to provide details on what prompted the federal government to turn it over.

Documents recently filed in a lawsuit brought by state and local officials against the Homeland Security and Justice departments, however, suggest the breakthrough came after federal officials asked the state in June for evidence gathered in the investigation of ICE agent Christian Castro.

Castro, 52, was charged with assault and falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. Prosecutors say Castro fired through a home’s front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh while in pursuit of another man.

State and local prosecutors said they would provide evidence in Castro's case as soon as the federal government agreed to share its evidence in the shootings of Pretti and Good.

“We are willing to share evidence with you if the exchange is reciprocal,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans wrote in a legal filing to federal officials. “Each of the federal agencies with whom we have discussed sharing evidence in this case has declined to do so thus far. None has provided any substantive reason for its refusal aside from relaying the perspective that these shootings are solely ‘federal’ matters.”

The pressure may have increased on June 18, when Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison amended their lawsuit to add details about the federal government’s refusal to share the evidence collected in the fatal shootings.

Just four days later, Ellison and Moriarty said in a court filing that the FBI, U.S. Attorney's office and state officials “have recently re-engaged in discussions about the prospect of mutual information sharing.”

Ellison, in a statement Monday, said he remains “deeply troubled” it took more than half a year for federal officials to hand over the materials.

“It should never have taken this long,” he said. “I hope that this is the beginning of a major course correction on the part of the federal government.”

Moriarty said she's not prepared yet to drop the lawsuit against the Trump administration, which seeks access to evidence in the three shootings, but is open to a resolution.

Houston investigators complain feds are leaving them in the dark

Prosecutors in Houston, meanwhile, echoed similar concerns about obtaining critical information from federal officials as they look into last week’s death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for decades.

The homeland security department has acknowledged officers stopped Salgado Araujo while looking for someone else, but maintains the homebuilder rammed an ICE vehicle while attempting to leave the scene. The agency says that prompted an officer to open fire in self-defense, though it has yet to provide evidence to back up that claim.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Monday that his office doesn’t even know the identities of the ICE officers involved or where they are nearly a week later, which he said is highly unusual when an officer shooting results in a death.

“The federal government has not invited us in," Teare said. "The federal government is not collaborating with us with this investigation.”

The man killed Monday in Maine was from Colombia. Federal officers claimed he tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers pursuing him for deportation. The shooting took place in Biddeford, a coastal city of about 23,000 people roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland.

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Associated Press reporter John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this story.

Mariano Rajoy, a member of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, made the comment in a column for Spanish outlet El Debate ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal match between the European neighbors.

“They’ve won every match they’ve played at this World Cup and are currently top of the FIFA rankings. They also have an exceptionally strong squad. That said, one thing they don’t have is any French players," Rajoy wrote on July 10.

On Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French broadcaster BFM TV that “France has no skin color. Any contrary claim stems from stupidity, racism or a combination of the two."

A day earlier, French Football Federation President Philippe Diallo wrote on X that “Mariano Rajoy’s remarks about the French team carry intolerable whiffs of racism,” adding that “they also raise questions about the deplorable climate that gives rise to such sentiments. Our players do not need a certificate of nationality from a former Spanish prime minister.”

A spokesperson from Rajoy's Popular Party on Monday said the remarks were sarcastic and made without malice.

“These columns are written without ill intent,” spokesperson Borja Sémper said. “This expression is used without ill intent.”

Spain's ruling Socialist government swiftly condemned the remarks by Rajoy, who was prime minister from 2011 to 2018.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez referenced the comments without naming his predecessor, writing on X: “There are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth, or skin color. Others measure it by our roots in a country and our will to contribute to it. Playing soccer. Caring for our elders. Or opening businesses. France, we’ll see you in the semifinals. May the best one win and may racism lose."

France will face Spain on Tuesday at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. France midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery was asked about the comments the day before the game in a news conference at the venue and said he hadn't seen them.

“This French team has players from different backgrounds and origins,” Zaire-Emery said through a translator. “So does the country. We are a united group, a united team, and that’s all that matters.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also spoke out Monday, saying the Popular Party's leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, needed to disavow the remarks.

It's not the first time France's team has faced racism during this year's World Cup.

Earlier this month, France captain and star player Kylian Mbappécondemned a Paraguayan senator over remarks she made following Paraguay’s loss to France in the round of 16.

Celeste Amarilla, a senator from Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party, posted a series of comments on X mocking the French player’s origins, upbringing, education and appearance after France won on July 4 with a penalty by Mbappé.

The statement released Monday was signed by top economists, along with computer scientists and some executives at tech companies including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.

“AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years,” says the letter organized by Stanford University's digital economy lab. “This could drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy, larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame. It could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards.”

The letter, which has only four sentences, says leaders must “build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society.”

The Stanford lab says the letter has so far been signed by more than 200 economists and AI researchers, including 16 winners of a Nobel Prize.

Computer scientist and AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio was among the signatories and said in a separate statement that based on the trajectory of AI development, “it is highly plausible that AI will drastically transform our economies.”

“We must be intentional and make collective, democratic choices, rather than letting market forces play out and risking leaving most citizens behind,” wrote Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal.

Opal’s Hallmark Shop, located at 24311 Harper Ave. in St. Clair Shores, has been a familiar stop for generations looking for cards, gifts, and seasonal items for life’s biggest moments, from graduations and birthdays to sympathy cards.

“It’s like the grocery store,” customer Tracey Moro said. “You know, it’s where you go to get your cards and your gifts. It’s going to be different, not being here.”

For years, customers described the store as more than a place to shop, a “home away from home” where staff knew regulars by name and helped people find the right words when it mattered most.

“If the walls inside Opal’s Hallmark shop could talk,” employee Lisa said. “Oh, they’ve seen some stuff.”

Shoppers, including Jacqueline Migan, said they were saddened to learn the St. Clair Shores location will permanently close at the end of the week.

“The people,” Migan said when asked what she’ll miss most. “I feel really bad for them. The people that worked here have always been very, very nice. Very helpful. And you hate to see a business close.”

Store owner Steve Beskange said the business has deep roots in the community.

He said his father started Opal’s Hallmark in 1955, when the shop was about half its current size.

“Every card was handpicked by my dad,” Beskange said. “This was one of his three stores.”

Beskange said he purchased the shop from its previous owner in 1977 and has operated the Harper Avenue location for 49.5 years. As for the decision to close now, he said simply, “It’s time.”

“I appreciate all the years of wonderful companionship between us and our customers and the city,” Beskange said. “Yeah, it’s been wonderful.”

Employees said the goodbye has been emotional, especially as longtime customers stop in to express how much the store has meant to them.

“We have so many that are so sad,” Lisa said. “They share their sadness, which brings it back to our sadness. It’s kind of hard. It’s kind of emotional, a little bit.”

Beskange said after the store closes, he plans to focus on spending time with family and traveling.

The Opal’s Hallmark location on 23 Mile Road in New Baltimore will remain open.

The St. Clair Shores store’s last day is Saturday, July 18.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams accused Trump and his lawyers in a scathing ruling of having manipulated the court system when he sued a federal agency under his control, bypassing a requirement that parties in a lawsuit must have adverse interests. The lawsuit ended in a settlement that granted the president immunity from tax audits and established a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been unjustly persecuted.

The judge stopped short of explicitly voiding the deal shielding Trump from tax scrutiny but said the government cannot claim in official proceedings that the agreement was the result of a legitimate legal process.

“Whether Executive Branch actors can privately agree to give themselves and their former clients blanket immunities and billions of dollars in tax monies for legally undefined grievances was never an issue advanced to this Court,” said Williams, an appointee of President Barack Obama. “The question is whether the Parties could do so by claiming to be adverse and engaging the legitimacy of a court proceeding. The answer is a resounding ‘no.’”

The ruling comes just ahead of a key confirmation hearing

Though the practical impacts of the ruling may be limited since the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed months ago and the administration has already abandoned the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that came out of it, the order nonetheless amounts to a scathing rebuke and tees up a politically uncomfortable line of questioning for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he faces the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law," Williams wrote in her ruling.

She added: "Ensuring that our courts are used only for the express purpose created by the Constitution is the obligation of every judge and an obligation that this Court must discharge in light of the matter before it.”

The $10 billion suit against the IRS and Treasury Department in January accused the agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president’s tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020.

In May, however, the administration announced that it was settling the case and creating a fund to compensate people who believe they've been mistreated by the criminal justice system. The fund was quickly shelved amid bipartisan backlash, though the Trump administration has said it intends to proceed with a separate element of the deal affording Trump and family members protection from tax audits.

From the start, the judge had appeared skeptical of the complaint and assigned a group of attorneys to determine whether there was a conflict in the case since, as sitting president, Trump was suing “entities whose decisions are subject to his direction.”

Even after the settlement was revealed, she directed Trump attorneys to lay out their positions on whether the parties in the case were truly adverse to each other, whether the dismissal of the lawsuit was premised on deception and whether the case should be reopened.

She made clear in her ruling that she was not satisfied by the lawyers' answers.

“After a review of the record, and the Parties’ statements, the Court declines to adopt or accept the credulous exercise of divorcing President Trump’s current job title from an understanding of what happened here,” she wrote.

The ruling also raises the possibility of disciplinary actions

The judge referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito, who filed the case, for possible disciplinary action before the state bar in Florida and said another lawyer, Daniel Epstein, will not be granted permission to file within the Southern District of Florida for up to a year.

A spokesman for the Trump legal team responded to a request seeking comment from Brito with a statement that blamed the IRS for allowing the president's tax returns to be leaked.

The judge also ordered that her ruling be sent to the state bars in New York and the District of Columbia, where ethics complaints have been filed against Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.

Williams pointed to Blanche’s congressional testimony in early June in which he revealed that the fund was no longer moving forward. Though nothing had been filed in court, Blanche appeared confident in his testimony that he “could speak for, and bind, both sides of this matter,” Williams said.

“Acting Attorney General Blanche’s apparent capacity to speak for both Plaintiffs and Defendants, sign a ‘settlement’ document on behalf of all Parties to this action, and then repudiate part of that agreement, demonstrates that there was only one party whose interests were being represented throughout this case,” the judge wrote.

The judge also raised ethical concerns about Blanche and Woodward’s involvement in the settlement given Blanche’s past representation of Trump as well as Woodward’s previous defense of Jan. 6 defendants and a co-defendant in Trump’s classified documents case.

“Instead of either recusing because of their previous representations or vigorously defending this lawsuit as required to do so by DOJ policies and procedures, these lawyers agreed to a ‘settlement’ involving a staggering amount of money potentially benefitting former clients,” she said.

Blanche denied in a CNN interview last spring that he had developed the settlement terms, saying, “The president has outside counsel, and their counsel, the Department of Justice, not me."

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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Mattingly passed on a guaranteed spot in the AL dugout when he left his job as Toronto's bench coach to manager John Schneider after the World Series, which the Blue Jays lost in seven games to the Dodgers.

A six-time AL All-Star, Mattingly thought at the time he was finished with baseball.

He's not only still in the game — he's now the interim manager for the Philadelphia Phillies and has them back in the thick of the playoff race.

He'll also coach against Schneider and his Blue Jays staff at Tuesday's All-Star Game played in Philadelphia's home Citizens Bank Park.

“It is weird being on the other side,” Mattingly said Monday. “I was kind of torn a little bit. But then I go home and my 11-year-old asked me, ‘Do we get to go on the field for Home Run Derby?’ It's like, OK, well, I'm done with that. He made that decision.”

Mattingly is taking directions from a pair of his sons in Philadelphia.

Mattingly originally took the job in Philadelphia to serve as former manager Rob Thomson's bench coach at the urging of his young son, Louis.

"He was kind of like, ‘Dad, you can’t stop. You’ve got to keep going,”’ Mattingly said in January.

Mattingly kept going and joined a Phillies organization where another son, Preston, is the general manager.

Mattingly said in November he left his role in Toronto after reaching his first World Series because of a desire to spend more time with his family.

It's one big family reunion in Philly.

Blue Jays All-Star second baseman Ernie Clement said Mattingly was missed in Toronto.

“It's awesome that he teamed up with Preston,” Clement said. “They're just doing a great job.”

Mattingly is 45-24 with the Phillies since he took over when Thomson was fired in late April after they had lost 11 of 12 games and were tied for last in the majors. Led by All-Stars Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, Jhoan Duran, Jesús Luzardo and NL starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez, the Phillies are just two games back of Atlanta in the NL East.

Mattingly has said he would be interested in having the interim tag removed and possibly returning for a second season as manager. He said Monday he wanted to table that discussion until the offseason.

Mattingly is in his 23rd straight season as a major league manager and coach, having managed the Dodgers and the Miami Marlins.

Mattingly played 14 seasons as a first baseman in the major leagues, all for the Yankees, from 1982-95. The 1985 AL MVP, he captained the Yankees in his final five seasons. He never reached the playoffs until 1995, when he hit .417 with a homer and six RBIs in the five-game Division Series loss to Seattle.

The 65-year-old Mattingly said he feels “as grateful as can be” for his career, even if it ends without a World Series ring.

“I've been in this game for a long time," Mattingly said. “I've done a lot of tremendous things for my family. I don't feel unlucky at all.”

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

“Audiences on every sofa and in every movie (theater) seat would feel the impact of this unlawful merger,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the case, said in a news conference from Los Angeles. He said the deal would result in higher prices, fewer movies and TV shows and lower quality of content overall.

A Paramount-Warner combo would bring together two of Hollywood's last five legacy studios. It would also mean putting Warner's HBO Max, libraries filled with fan favorites like “Harry Potter” and even CNN under the same roof of Paramount-owned CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service.

In Monday's complaint, the states said such a tie-up would also “inflict substantial harm” on movie theatres and basic cable distributors. Bonta's office said the states are asking Warner and Paramount to not close this merger “until after the judicial process concludes." And if the companies do not agree, the coalition would then file a temporary restraining order.

Paramount said Monday's lawsuit “distorts settled antitrust law" and maintained that its merger would instead create a "stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”

The company, which was bought by Skydance just last year, vowed to “vigorously defend” the transaction.

Warner deferred to Paramount for comment. Beyond California, states joining Monday's lawsuit include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Where Paramount's takeover of Warner stands

Monday's antitrust case arrives at a pivotal time for the Paramount-Warner transaction — which, after months of what became a very public bidding war with Netflix, received shareholders’ stamp of approval in April and then a blessing from President Donald Trump's administration just last month.

The companies have hoped to close their deal sometime in the third quarter of this year, recently signaling an effort to complete the process in the coming weeks. The states’ lawsuit could throw a wrench in those plans, at least for now.

The clock is ticking. Paramount also pledged to give shareholders some compensation if that process isn’t complete by Sept. 30 — in the form of a 25-cent per share “ticking fee” for every quarter past that date. And it’s agreed to a regulatory termination fee of $7 billion.

Beyond the U.S., Paramount has touted additional regulatory clearances it says it’s received in a handful of other countries, including China, Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, other reviews remain in progress, including in the European Union and the U.K. — which has separately suggested it may intervene.

Including debt, Paramount’s proposed purchase of Warner is valued at nearly $111 billion (or $31 per share) based on current outstanding shares.

Critics decry merger

Warner and Paramount argue that merging will be good for growth in the industry and give consumers access to more content, especially if HBO Max and Paramount+ libraries are combined. But critics have decried what further consolidation could mean in an industry already controlled by just a few major players.

Monday's lawsuit from the states pointed to movies that make their way into theaters and the wider TV landscape — noting that a combined Paramount-Warner could control nearly a third of both the theatrical film distribution market as well as basic cable programming.

Such a combination would create “a massive company with unprecedented power and influence over news and entertainment across the globe,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is among those challenging the deal. Beyond consumer impacts, she also said the merger would “put jobs and businesses nationwide at risk.”

Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have already voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal. Monday's challenge garnered applause from groups like the Writers Guild of America, who warn that consolidation would result in "fewer jobs, lower wages for entertainment workers, less variety of programming, and higher prices for consumers”

Paramount argued on Monday that delaying the merger “will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood."

The company added that the states' case would “shield” larger streaming rivals like Netflix from meaningful competition.

Political questions

Throughout Paramount's quest for Warner, questions of political influence have also piled up — with criticism falling largely along party lines in Washington. No Republicans signed on to the states’ case on Monday.

Democrats have long expressed skepticism about whether regulators working under Trump would scrutinize the deal as heavily. Several attorneys general joining Monday's lawsuit took aim at the Justice Department's decision to not challenge the deal — pointing in particular to the president's close relationship with the billionaire family of Paramount CEO David Ellison.

“Something happened and perhaps that something had to do with a mega-billionaire named Ellison," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters on Monday. “We are seeing more and more instances where the Trump DOJ is just rolling over for corporate consolidation," she added.

Last month, DOJ leadership released a lengthy statement in support of the deal — maintaining a Paramount-Warner combo would “increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers.” The Justice Department had maintained that politics would not play a role in its review.

Trump himself previously made public comments about Warner’s future, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be in approving a merger.

Many eyes are on CNN, a network that has long attracted ire from Trump and his allies.

Paramount’s CBS has already seen significant turmoil and shifts in editorial leadership since coming under Skydance ownership last year — and if Warner merger goes through, the reach of that could grow. Several Trump administration officials have also been far from shy from sharing their hopes for CNN under Paramount ownership, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling reporters in March that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

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Mikella Schuettler contributed from Phoenix.

The incident happened near 22 Mile Road and Card Road.

No one was injured, but neighbors say the outcome could have been far worse.

‘Like a bomb going off’

Diyan, a neighbor who did not want her last name used, said she and her husband were asleep when the blasts began around 2 a.m.

“They were literally like a bomb going off; our house shook. It was bad,” Diyan said.

When she opened her front door, the damage was already done.

“Sure enough, we open up the door, and there’s firework debris everywhere,” Diyan said.

The fireworks damaged part of her home’s exterior and an American flag.

She said she’s thankful they didn’t hit her windows.

“If those windows would’ve shattered, our daughters’ rooms would’ve been set on fire,” Diyan said.

Caught on camera

Surveillance video shows the suspects running down the street before appearing to throw fireworks at the nearby homes.

These were not small firecrackers; neighbors described them as aerial explosives capable of causing serious damage.

Neighbor Tony Schepke called the incident alarming.

“It could have been a disaster to anybody’s home. It’s just totally uncalled for,” Schepke said. “That’s the kind of stuff where people get hurt, fires start.”

Diyan said she hopes whoever is responsible faces consequences.

“It’s really sad. It’s not funny because, honestly, someone could really get hurt,” Diyan said. “To the parents that have their kids out at 2 o’clock in the morning. Shame on you.”

Investigation ongoing

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and took a report.

They are actively investigating the incident.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said Monday (July 13) that while the investigation is ongoing, no specific type of lettuce, grower, or supplier has been identified.

Other food items also have not been ruled out.

“Although we do not have a definite product identified as the source of the outbreak, we want to let Michiganders know what we have learned so far so they can take steps to protect their families,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the department’s chief medical executive. “Early information has shown lettuce as a common product that regularly comes up during the investigation.”

What is Cyclospora?

Cyclospora is a parasite that infects the intestines and can cause watery diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps.

The illness is typically spread by consuming food or water contaminated with the parasite.

Michigan usually reports only 40 to 50 cases of cyclosporiasis each year, making the current outbreak unusually large.

What investigators know

State health officials said they have completed more than 1,000 interviews with infected individuals while working with local, state, and federal partners to trace the source of the outbreak.

“We really need that kind of coordination to happen at the national level,” Bagdasarian said. “As soon as other states get their numbers to the CDC, we hope they can take a broader look to see whether these outbreaks are related.”

Because symptoms can take up to two weeks to develop after exposure and food distribution networks are complex, officials said the investigation could take time.

Officials emphasized there is no evidence linking the outbreak to swimming or other recreational water activities. Instead, investigators continue to focus on contaminated produce as the likely source.

Previous cyclospora outbreaks in the United States and Canada have been linked to bagged salad mixes, fresh cilantro, basil, raspberries, snow peas, and green onions.

Health officials said the investigation has been complicated by cyclospora’s long incubation period, with symptoms often taking up to two weeks to develop after exposure.

“That means investigators have to ask people about foods they ate, restaurants they visited, and grocery purchases from two to six weeks earlier,” Bagdasarian said.

How to protect yourself

As a precaution, the department is urging residents, restaurants and commercial kitchens in affected counties to take extra care when handling lettuce and salad greens.

Health officials recommend purchasing whole heads of lettuce instead of bagged, pre-washed lettuce or salad kits, discarding the outer two to three leaves before preparation and thoroughly washing the remaining leaves under clean running water.

When possible, greens should be cooked to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius), which kills the parasite.

The department also recommends washing all fresh produce under running water and peeling fruits and vegetables when possible.

People at higher risk of severe illness or dehydration, including older adults, young children, organ transplant recipients and people undergoing chemotherapy, are encouraged to take extra precautions.

“Produce may have been grown on the other side of the country, possibly even in other countries, then processed somewhere else before coming into Michigan,” Bagdasarian said. “Many suppliers also distribute produce to multiple grocery stores and restaurant chains, making it harder to pinpoint the source.”

When to seek medical care

Anyone experiencing frequent watery diarrhea should contact a health care provider and specifically request testing for cyclospora, as routine stool tests may not detect the parasite.

The illness is typically treated with antibiotics, along with rest and fluids to prevent dehydration.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said it will continue providing updates as the investigation progresses.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week that a fan named Terry Thompson had wagered $18.5 million with FanDuel and was eventually rewarded with a personalized video from Harper.

In the video, Harper addressed the fan by name and even mentioned the man's young son. Harper shared a screenshot Monday of the request on Cameo, an app that allows users to pay celebrities to record custom videos.

“Had I known FanDuel’s true intent, I would not have made the video,” Harper said. “The same is true had I known anything about Terry or his situation."

The Inquirer reported Thompson lost $1.5 million, according to a lawsuit that the Public Health Advocacy Institute filed in March in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia on behalf of Thompson and against FanDuel and DraftKings. Thompson also was reported to have lost money to DraftKings.

The video was marked with FanDuel's logo. Harper said in the video he reached out at the request of Thomson's VIP manager on the site, “your host Bryttanni at FanDuel."

Harper addressed the situation on a social media post Monday, hours ahead of his scheduled participation in the Home Run Derby.

“I did not know FanDuel would do this,” Harper wrote. “I did not consent to it, and FanDuel had no right to do it.”

Asked for comment, FanDuel said it was "committed to fostering a culture of responsible gaming and protecting our customers.

"Unlike illegal offshore sportsbooks, FanDuel employees are trained to recognize and flag signs of problem gambling and offer resources and tools, and we continue to review and strengthen our policies to ensure we have the industry’s strongest consumer protection initiatives.”

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

Graham, 71, died Saturday evening after a tear in his aorta, according to a statement from his office Sunday. The shocking news came as another prominent Republican senator, former Republican leader Mitch McConnell, has been hospitalized for almost a month. McConnell broke a weekslong silence about his health Sunday, saying he was still recovering after suffering from pneumonia and falling in his home.

The continued absence of McConnell, R-Ky., and the surprise death of the South Carolina senator have shaken Republicans who were already at odds with Trump and stalled on several priorities as they return from a two-week recess. And the reduced Republican numbers in the 53-47 Senate are sure to add confusion to what was already expected to be a chaotic and difficult few months before the November midterm elections.

Despite consolidated power in Washington, Republicans have been unable to move much of their legislation forward as the Senate, House and White House have disagreed on legislative priorities and as Trump has criticized Senate Republicans, in particular, for not passing his legislation to require proof of citizenship for voters. Graham, who was one of Trump’s closest friends in the Senate, often served as a pivotal intermediary.

“He was a great — like a gauge, a temperature gauge of the Senate,” Trump said of Graham on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, noting he had talked to Graham on Saturday. “He could go in and get something approved. He would just get people on his side.”

As the Senate convened Monday, Graham's desk was draped in black cloth and held a vase of white roses, as is customary when a senator dies in office. In his opening remarks, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said “it's difficult to count the ways in which Lindsey's friendship made this job richer and its burdens lighter.”

Graham "was as loyal as they come and a trusted adviser,” Thune said.

Republican priorities are stalled

The Senate left town two weeks ago after a rough few weeks for Republicans. Trump blocked senators 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 questioned the strategy and endgame.

He also refused to sign a bipartisan, election year housing bill that had passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, arguing that they should pass his bill to require proof of citizenship, the SAVE America Act, instead. The housing bill became law Friday at midnight after he declined to sign it but did not veto it.

The alliance between Trump and Senate Republicans has also been weakened after the president endorsed the opponents of two Republican senators who had been reliable votes, John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Cassidy challenged Trump directly on the Iran war in a Capitol meeting between Trump and Republicans just before they left town.

Senate’s agenda is uncertain

Republicans return to a number of important agenda items, including the confirmation of Trump’s pick for attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the confirmation of Jay Clayton, whom Trump selected to be director of national intelligence and later temporarily blocked. Both will testify in confirmation hearings this week.

Senate Republicans also must find a way to navigate Democratic opposition and Trump’s continued ire to keep the government open and prevent a government shutdown when the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Graham was a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as is McConnell.

Graham also sat on the Judiciary Committee that will consider Blanche’s nomination and is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which has been under pressure from House Republicans and Trump to move a budget package with increased defense spending for Iran.

There is also bipartisan legislation to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions that Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut had announced on Friday after an agreement with the Trump administration.

Blumenthal told The Associated Press on Sunday that Graham was “absolutely focused on this moment” as they announced the sanctions package after months of negotiations. He said he hopes Graham’s memory will inspire the Senate to move forward.

“We’ve really reached this moment where all of the stars are aligned and we will be lacking Lindsey’s spectacular advocacy,” Blumenthal said.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also urged passage of the sanctions bill as they spoke about Graham on the Senate floor Monday.

Graham’s death came after a trip to Ukraine

Senate leaders have not announced how they will honor Graham, who died after a tear in the inner wall of the aorta, called an aortic dissection, related to hardening of Graham’s arteries, according to his office. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing, his office said.

Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. Thune said it was Graham's 10th trip to the country, and he “died with his boots on.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday appointed Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as his temporary replacement in the Senate. She will serve for the remainder of his term, which ends in January.

A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a fifth term this year.

Possible candidates include three Republicans who fell short for the party’s nomination for governor this year — Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. Also in the mix is Rep. Russell Fry, who was elected to the House in 2022.

McConnell not expected to return immediately

McConnell’s Sunday announcement revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.

The Kentucky Republican, who is retiring in January, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital in June and has undergone a battery of tests to try to determine what led to his fall. He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation facility.

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” McConnell said, adding that he is now “regaining my strength.”

He said he cannot return to the Senate “quite yet.”

Los Angeles City Attorney's Office spokesman Ivor Pine confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday that Jackson's case has been assigned for a pre-filing diversion available to eligible individuals. The City Attorney Hearing is an alternative to misdemeanor criminal prosecution.

Though charges will not be filed against Jackson at this time, the case remains open and can be re-evaluated if there are more developments.

At the time of the arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department said officers were called to Jackson's home in the West Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. NBC4 reported that Jackson allegedly attempted to take a phone away from a woman when he thought he was being recorded, and the woman had scratches on her arm.

Jackson has been the Rams’ starting left tackle for the past three seasons, starting 45 regular-season games and six playoff games. The former undrafted free agent re-signed with the Rams on a three-year, $57 million deal in February 2025.

The Rams issued a statement following the arrest saying the team was aware of the incident "and we take these matters very seriously. Due to this being an ongoing legal situation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

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

The festival features vendors, food and a safari experience — a major expansion from previous years.

“We had a few animals last year but now we have over 100 animals that call the safari home this weekend here at Hart Plaza,” said Desirae Tolbert, vice president of marketing and communications.

The event is designed to be both a cultural celebration and an educational experience, drawing visitors who want to learn more about African history and the African diaspora.

“We are intentional about celebrating the culture of all walks of the diaspora, so there’s no one monolithic you know culture,” Tolbert said.

Among the vendors at this year’s festival is B&B African Prints, a business focused on bringing traditional African fabrics into a modern American context.

“My business partner and I really wanted to bring African prints, truly African prints to modern American culture,” said Dawnyel Verrett of B&B African Prints. “We’ve been really inspired by sort of African meets Asian.”

For some vendors, the Detroit festival holds a special personal significance.

“This one in Detroit means a lot to myself because of the people in Detroit. They are very very interested in not only the artifacts but the culture itself, so whenever these three days a year comes for me it’s like visiting home, from home,” said Omar Sillah of African Arts.

Now in its fifth decade, the festival has cemented itself as a Detroit summer staple.

“This is actually our 43rd year doing the African World Festival, so we’re not new to it but it’s just become a staple. It’s just what you do every summer,” Tolbert said.

The African World Festival runs through Sunday night, wrapping up at 11 p.m. at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.

From fast-paced races to packed cheering sections, the energy is loud, proud and deeply personal.

“When I come here I feel complete really because I’m not alone,” said Beth Ilanan, an athlete competing at the games.

At the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, hundreds of athletes arrive with unique stories — but one thing they all share: their wheels.

Athletes compete in a wide variety of events, both individual and team-based. For many, the games are about more than medals.

“It’s all about camaraderie, bringing people together,” said Freddie Smith, another competing athlete.

The games take place every year and rotate from state to state — but organizers say this year’s Motor City stop holds a special significance.

“We love the Motor City, we came here because it’s a city of resilience,” said Jennifer Purser, co-director of the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

That resilience is exactly what the athletes here embody.

None of it happens without partners, families and friends cheering on the competitors throughout the week. Jamie Minor, Target’s senior director of stakeholder engagement, spoke to the sense of community the games create.

“They come together they see each other sometimes just that one time a year and they have this like community within a community and you can just feel the love and support throughout this whole environment,” Minor said.

For athlete Rickey Riley, the message is simple — and meant for everyone.

“Never give up,” Riley said.

The games continue through Tuesday in Detroit.

Update: Michigan reports 2,640 Cyclospora cases; Lettuce identified as possible source of outbreak

On July 13, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reported 2,640 cyclosporiasis cases since June 22, up from 1,562 on July 10. Of those reported cases, 44 were hospitalized.

“Anyone experiencing gastrointestinal illness, such as sudden and ongoing diarrhea, should contact their health care provider and their local health department,” MDHHS said in a statement last week.

The cases remain the highest in Monroe, Lenawee, Washtenaw, Wayne, Shiawassee, Jackson, Oakland and Livingston counties. MDHHS and local health officials are still working on identifying the source of the outbreak.

Related --> Precautions to take as cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan exceed 1,500

What is cyclosporiasis?

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a parasite and infects the small intestine.

Healthcare providers can diagnose the illness by testing a stool sample.

If infected with cyclosporiasis, people may experience watery diarrhea with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements.

The illness can last from a few days to over a month if the illness is not treated. Symptoms could relapse.

The timeframe from becoming infected to becoming sick usually takes about one week but can range from two days to two weeks or more.

In the US, outbreaks of cyclosporiasis have been linked to various types of fresh produce. People can get infected with Cyclospora more than once.

Anyone who experiences symptoms of cyclosporiasis should see their healthcare provider.

Read more --> What is cyclosporiasis? Know the signs, prevention as Michigan health officials investigate outbreak

Produce linked to previous outbreaks

Health officials said the following foods have been previously linked to Cyclospora outbreaks in the United States and Canada:

• Bagged salad mixes and kits (pre-cut lettuce blends with romaine, iceberg, red cabbage, carrots)
• Fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
• Fresh basil
• Raspberries
• Snow peas
• Green onions (scallions)

Produce recommendations

MDHHS provided a list of recommendations on July 6 on preparing, processing or serving raw produce, including restaurants and other commercial kitchens.

Health officials said to take the following steps to reduce risk of exposure:

• Lettuce/leafy greens: Buy whole heads of lettuce (rather than prewashed, bagged lettuce or salad mixes), throw away the outer 2–3 layers of leaves and wash the inner leaves under running water. For leafy greens that can be cooked, cooking is the safest option.
• Cilantro, basil: Wash thoroughly under running water, separating the leaves. Safest when cooked.
• Green onions: Trim the root end and remove the outer layer, wash thoroughly under running water. Safest when cooked.
• Raspberries: Their bumpy surface makes them especially hard to clean; the parasite can hide in the tiny crevices. Safest when cooked (pies, jams etc.). Consider frozen raspberries as an alternative (freezing may reduce but does not guarantee elimination of the parasite).
• Snow peas: Wash under running water and rub the surface. Safest when cooked.

MDHHS said the recommendations are essential for people who have a higher risk of dehydration or weakened immune systems, such as patients on chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, infants and young children and elderly people.

General rules, routine food practices

Health officials said general rules of thumb to reduce the risk of getting the illness are to cook food -- when you can -- to 158 degrees or higher to kill cyclospora, and wash all fresh produce under clean running water, even if you plan to peel it.

Food safety reminders

Here are some reminders on food safety practices, according to the MDHHS:

• Wash hands with soap and water before and after handling or preparing food.
• Scrub firm fruits and vegetables, such as melons and cucumbers, with a clean produce brush.
• Cut away any damaged or bruised areas on fruits and vegetables before preparing and eating.
• Wash and sanitize utensils and surfaces before and after handling food. Wash and sanitize display cases and refrigerators where fresh produce is stored.
• Wash and sanitize cutting boards, surfaces and utensils used to prepare, serve or store fresh produce.
• Refrigerate cut, peeled or cooked fruits and vegetables as soon as possible. 

But through her brother's decades of public service, Nordone has been by his side, supporting him in speeches, appearances and even campaign ads.

Besides being a frequent attendee at Graham's political events, Nordone is woven deeply into her brother's personal and political biography. After both of their parents died in just over a year, Graham, then age 22, became legal guardian for his 13-year-old sister.

Now, after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tapped Nordone to serve in Graham's seat until January, Nordone is heading to Washington, tasked with representing the interests for which her brother advocated with passion.

A special primary held next month will sort out what Republican moves forward in the general election to face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.

From brother to legal guardian, Graham raised his sister

While Graham was in his early 20s, his life — and that of his sister — was turned upside down. Their mother died in 1976 after battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. Fifteen months later, his sister, then 13, discovered their father after he suffered a heart attack in his sleep and died.

Graham was just beginning law school at the University of South Carolina. With both parents gone, he pivoted, saying that his chief goal was to ensure his sister was cared for.

“I can remember the day my father passed away, standing in the living room of that house, absolutely scared to death,” Nordone told NPR in 2015. “Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised me he would always be there for me and always take care of me.”

Making regular treks from school in Columbia to Seneca, where his sister was being looked after by relatives, Graham kept tabs on his sister from then on and became her legal guardian. After he became a military lawyer in the Air Force, he adopted her, to ensure that she would receive his military benefits.

Graham’s bond with his sister was indelible

Graham, who never married or had children of his own, once joked as he ran for president in 2016 that his sister could be among a “rotating” cast of White House hosts standing in as first lady.

But the bond between the two, aside from being integral to Graham’s own biography, was evident in their public appearances. When Graham filed his candidacy paperwork in March for this year’s election, Nordone was by his side, along with her children and grandchildren.

“What have I learned in this life I’ve led? I take nothing for granted. I count every blessing, every day,” Graham said then, going on to recount how he and his sister forged through life together from that point. “I understand what a blessing my life has been and the only way I can pay you back for the blessings I’ve received is to be the most thoughtful, relevant, aggressive senator.”

Nordone married, had children and ultimately grandchildren and has worked with people with disabilities. Talking to C-SPAN in 2015, Graham said of his own life that his sister's success “is the highlight of it, by far.”

Bob McAlister, a former consultant to Graham on several campaigns, reflected on how the difficulties in their growing up bonded the siblings in a way that most would not understand.

“He grew up with nothing,” McAlister said. “The back of the bar where he and his sister grew up was always kind of top of mind to him. ... And I think the way he and Darline grew up just had an indelible impact on him, and for some reason, it gave him the drive that he had to do what he did.”

“A lot of people have different ideas about Lindsey from what they’ve seen on TV and all that, but everything about him can be traced back to his boyhood, the way he grew up, the way he took care of his sister," McAlister added.

Graham's sister played a political role in his life, too

Graham often talked about his background, and the plight he shared with his sister, in campaign appearances, and she was there for many of them.

She also popped up in a 2014 campaign ad, as Graham sought a third Senate term, saying he brought assurances after their parents' deaths that he would take care of her.

“He never let me down. Never. I don’t see how he did it, to take on the responsibility of raising a little sister,” Nordone said. "That came from within for Lindsey.”

Trump recommended Graham's sister as interim appointee

Hours ahead of McMaster's announcement, President Donald Trump said on social media that he had recommended that the governor pick Nordone, calling the selection “a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”

___

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

Voters in Virginia and Nevada — both states where abortion is already legal through at least 24 weeks of pregnancy — are considering state constitutional amendments to create a right to abortion.

And in Missouri, which in 2024 became the first state to use a constitutional amendment to undo an abortion ban, voters are being asked to override that to bring back an abortion ban, with limited exceptions, and to write into the state constitution a ban on some gender-affirming care for minors.

Here's a look at the situation.

One of the most conservative states could undo its ban

The measure put on Idaho's ballot through a volunteer-run petition drive would create a law, not an amendment to the state constitution.

Idahoans United for Women and Families, which is leading the campaign, shared with The Associated Press a letter from state election officials Monday verifying that it has qualified for the ballot.

It would allow abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be somewhere past 21 weeks into a pregnancy, though there’s no fixed time frame. The change would make the state's law similar to what it was before the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to ban abortion.

Idaho now is one of six states where an abortion ban at all stages of pregnancy does not include exceptions for the health of the girl or woman. Like most other bans, it does allow abortion to save the life of the woman or in pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

It also became the first state, in 2023, to make it a crime to help a minor obtain an abortion without the consent of their parents. Despite a court challenge, most parts of that law have remained intact.

David Ripley, the CEO of the anti-abortion group Idaho Chooses Life, is preparing to campaign against the measure.

“This is going to have a profound impact on Idaho,” he said, “and will basically invalidate virtually every pro-life law that the legislature has enacted over the last 30 to 40 years.”

Missouri is considering a turnabout

Whichever way the ballot measure vote goes in Missouri, it's already a state with several firsts after Roe was overturned.

It was the first state to begin enforcing a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy. And in 2024, it became the first state to use a ballot measure to roll back a ban. Even after that, though, abortion access was deeply limited by state regulations until a court ruling in June blocked enforcement of many of them.

In the state, where Republicans dominate the government, there have been legal battles surrounding the language of the constitutional amendment. The one before voters, unlike the previous ban, would allow exceptions in the cases of medical emergencies and fetal anomalies. Like the earlier one, there would be exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Two states are considering amendments to preserve the right to abortion

Both Nevada and Virginia currently allow abortion through at least 24 weeks of pregnancy. That means amendments to preserve the right to an abortion would likely not have a major impact on access to abortion in either state.

The amendments could be factors, however, in driving voter turnout in states where both Democrats and Republicans have prevailed in statewide elections in the last five years.

Nevada voters already approved the amendment in 2024 by a nearly 2 to 1 margin. But the state constitution calls for amendments to pass in public votes twice before they take effect.

The measures could be a test for abortion-rights groups

Some groups want to see state laws that go further than Roe v. Wade did and lift restrictions on abortions throughout pregnancy.

In June, the National Abortion Federation, an organization of abortion providers, opposed “rigid legal cutoffs that ban or restrict abortion care at viability or arbitrary gestational lines.” The organization does not raise money for political campaigns, but its positions may indicate what some other groups are thinking.

In 2024, a South Dakota measure called for banning abortions during the third trimester and allowing some restrictions in the second trimester, while protecting the right to them in the first trimester. Voters rejected it.

Most national abortion-rights groups did not support it either. Since Roe was overturned, abortion rights advocates have lost four statewide votes on reproductive rights. Their side has prevailed in 14 referendums over the same period.

Melanie Folwell, executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families, says national groups that sit out these votes are thinking narrowly.

“I would encourage them to get out of their bubbles of activism and actually begin to engage with the public on where folks are at,” she said.

The FBI’s Detroit Field Office announced it is assisting the Michigan State Police in the investigation into the infant’s death.

Officials said the newborn’s body was found June 28 inside a portable restroom at the Electric Forest Music Festival in Rothbury.

Investigators are seeking information from the public that could help identify and apprehend those responsible.

View this post on Instagram

The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual or individuals involved in the infant’s death.

Michigan State Police continue to lead the investigation with assistance from the FBI.

Officials have not released additional details about the circumstances surrounding the infant’s death or identified any suspects.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Michigan State Police or the FBI Detroit Field Office.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 9.6% to $83.30 after the United States and Iran each said the Strait of Hormuz is under its control. Fighting in the region has kept oil tankers from using the strait to deliver crude to customers from the Persian Gulf, which drives up fuel prices worldwide.

The gains for oil prices accelerated immediately after President Donald Trump said he’s reinstating a blockade to prevent tankers carrying Iranian oil from using the strait. He also called for 20% payments on all cargo shipped through it to reimburse the United States for providing protection in the area.

Brent’s price, though, remains well below its wartime peak of nearly $120 per barrel for its most actively traded contract.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.8%, coming off its fourth winning week in the last five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 138 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%.

Chip stocks like Micron Technology helped lead the way lower. Micron fell 4.4%, eating into what had been a stellar rise of 243.1% for the year so far.

Real profits are behind the rise because the AI rush has created surging demand for computer memory and other computing building blocks. But worries are rising that stock prices have shot too high and that the demand may not be sustainable if AI doesn’t deliver as much profit and productivity as expected.

Nvidia fell 3.5%. Because it’s the largest stock on Wall Street by value thanks to the euphoria around AI, it was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

The day’s losses began in Asia, where South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 8.9%. That included a 15.4% plunge for SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul, the worst since it began trading in 1997.

The South Korean tech giant just launched shares of its stock trading in the United States on Friday, raising roughly $26.5 billion. Those shares jumped 13.1% in their first day of trading, but they fell 9.3% Monday.

Other areas of the AI industry held up a bit better, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s shares in Taiwan rose 1%. The chipmaker said its revenue in June soared nearly 68% from a year earlier, bringing its total revenue growth for the first half of the year to 35.6% from a year earlier.

But TSMC’s stock that trades in the United States fell 2.9% later in the day.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 60.06 points to 7,515.34. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 138.37 to 52,498.64, and the Nasdaq composite sank 408.43 to 25,873.18.

Much of Wall Street’s attention this week will be on profit reports from companies saying how much they earned during the spring. On Tuesday alone, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo are all releasing their latest quarterly results.

Analysts are forecasting that companies in the S&P 500 index will deliver overall growth of 23.6% from a year earlier, according to FactSet. If they’re right, it would be the second straight quarter of growth better than 20%.

Companies across industries will need to deliver strong growth to justify the big moves their stock prices have made. Indexes are near records despite their sharp recent swings due to worries around AI stocks.

Companies usually turn in results that top analysts’ expectations, including in 37 of the past 40 quarters, according to FactSet. If they do so again by the usual margin, earnings growth for S&P 500 companies in the latest quarter could end up being the best since 2021.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose with the price of oil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.61% from 4.56% late Friday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began.

Yields have risen worldwide on worries about expensive oil and high inflation, which could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates. Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

In stock markets abroad, indexes moved modestly in Europe.

In Asia, the swings were sharper, beyond South Korea’s plunge. Stocks fell 2.1% in Shanghai, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.9%

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The government said it is banning the group behind the attacks, the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, or IMCR, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

It also banned Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which it said is a threat to national security. The move makes it illegal to support the groups. Committing sabotage on their behalf will be punishable by up to life imprisonment.

Parliament must approve the bans, which the government expects to take place by the end of the week.

Security Minister Angela Eagle said in a statement that the IMCR has claimed seven attacks in the U.K. The group had said online that it was responsible for a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London in recent months, including fires at synagogues and Jewish charity ambulances, as well as a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government. No one was injured in the blazes.

“Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe,” she said. The Quds, or Jerusalem, Force is the Guard’s expeditionary unit.

Britain also imposed sanctions on the IMCR that will allow authorities to freeze any assets it has in the U.K.

The IMCR sprang up online earlier this year and has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Law enforcement officials and intelligence experts say Iran-backed proxy groups are behind a growing number of attacks in Europe, most targeting the Jewish community and opponents of Iran’s Islamic government.

They typically work by recruiting members of criminal groups to carry out sabotage and other attacks.

Earlier this month, two Romanian men were given prison sentences over the stabbing of a journalist from a Persian-language television station, an attack the judge said was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Monday she had summoned the Iranian ambassador to “condemn Iran's malign behavior” and stress Britain's commitment to protecting the Jewish community.

A group under Russian military intelligence also designated as a threat

Authorities said Monday that Britain is also designating the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency, as a national security threat. The U.K. says the group conducts foreign intelligence collection and hostile covert operations on behalf of the GRU.

Authorities said the new measures will make it easier for police and intelligence agencies to tackle what they call “thugs for hire," or anyone supporting the proxy groups.

“We have already taken tough action against the Iranian regime and those linked to it, and against Russian operatives and networks targeting our country. These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from Iran. Tehran long has denied orchestrating attacks abroad, despite such cases stretching over the decades since the 1979 revolution.

The U.K. banning the Revolutionary Guard came after it has been declared a terror group by the United States and the European Union.

Britain has resisted following suit, though it has sanctioned people it says are members and supporters of the Guard.

The bans announced Monday are not under counterterror legislation, but under a new law giving the government powers to tackle proxy organizations carrying out hostile activity on behalf of foreign states.

Following Monday’s (July 13) announcement, Rice joins a six-member class that includes former Villanova coach Jay Wright, former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, former Kansas coach Ted Owens, former BYU standout Danny Ainge and the late UCLA great Walt Hazzard.

The Class of 2026 will be formally enshrined during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration on Oct. 22 at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Missouri.

Rice’s record-setting Michigan career

Rice starred for the Wolverines from 1986 to 1989 and remains one of the program’s most accomplished scorers.

He capped his collegiate career by leading Michigan to its first NCAA national championship in 1989, earning NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors after averaging 30.7 points over the Wolverines’ six NCAA Tournament victories.

Rice finished his career with 2,442 points, the second-most in Michigan history, while his 949 career field goals remain a program record.

During Michigan’s 1989 championship run, Rice set NCAA Tournament records with 184 points and 75 field goals, marks that still stand today.

Rice led the Big Ten in scoring in each of his final two seasons, averaging 27.7 points per game as a senior to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors.

A two-time consensus All-American, Rice earned first-team honors as a senior after averaging 25.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, following second-team recognition as a junior.

Michigan later honored his legacy by raising his No. 41 jersey into the rafters at Crisler Center in 2005.

A decorated NBA career

Selected fourth overall by the Miami Heat in the 1989 NBA draft, Rice went on to enjoy a 15-year NBA career, becoming one of the league’s premier scorers.

A three-time NBA All-Star, he earned 1997 NBA All-Star Game MVP honors, was named to the 1996-97 All-NBA second team, and helped the Los Angeles Lakers capture the 2000 NBA championship.

His legacy has also been recognized with induction into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 2010.

Michigan’s Hall of Fame legacy

Rice becomes the third Wolverine inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, joining Cazzie Russell (Class of 2011) and former Michigan head coach John Beilein (Class of 2022).

Michigan’s National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame honorees

Glen Rice — Class of 2026

• Led Michigan to the 1989 NCAA national championship
• NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1989)
• Two-time consensus All-American
• 1989 Big Ten Player of the Year
• Second all-time leading scorer in Michigan history (2,442 points)
• Holds Michigan career record for field goals (949)
• Set NCAA Tournament records with 184 points and 75 field goals during 1989 championship run

John Beilein — Class of 2022

• Michigan’s all-time winningest coach (278 victories)
• Two Final Four appearances (2013, 2018)
• Two national championship game appearances
• Four Big Ten championships (three regular season, one tournament)
• Coached 829 career collegiate victories across six schools

Cazzie Russell — Class of 2011

• Three-time consensus All-American
• 1966 National Player of the Year
• Led Michigan to three straight Big Ten championships (1964–66)
• Guided Michigan to the 1965 NCAA championship game
• First overall pick in the 1966 NBA Draft

The aorta is our largest artery, like a highway that arches up from the heart and then curves back down through the abdomen — carrying oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body as other arteries branch off from it.

What doctors call an aortic dissection happens when a tear in its inner lining lets blood rapidly leak between its other layers, according to the American Heart Association. That reduces blood flow to vital organs, and sometimes can lead to a rupture that pours blood into surrounding tissues. It often can be caused by an aortic aneurysm, a weakened spot on the artery that can bulge like a balloon.

Risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol that in turn stiffens arteries — called atherosclerosis — and smoking. It's more common in older people but also can be caused by certain genetic conditions in younger people.

A preliminary medical examiner's report shared by Graham's office said the aortic dissection was related to artery hardening.

Symptoms tend to be sudden, with severe stabbing-like pain, often in the chest or back but sometimes in the neck, jaw or abdomen depending on where in the aorta the tear happened. According to the heart association, people also may suddenly lose consciousness, have clammy or sweaty skin, experience stroke-like symptoms such as sudden weakness on one side of the body, or show signs of shock, including rapid heart rate or confusion.

Fast treatment improves the chances of survival. Depending on where the tear occurred and its extent, surgeons may try to repair it or patch the torn section of the aorta.

—-

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.

Watch the video above to learn about her upcoming concert on July 18 and to see Mary Wynn perform the song “Make It Personal” during her appearance on the Music Monday segment on “Live in the D.”

“Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe,” the 10 nations said in a statement in Paris at talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He was asking two dozen leaders for help in developing measures against Russia's missile attacks that have pummeled his country and made the rest of Europe wary of Moscow’s wider ambitions on the continent.

Zelenskyy and the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom said they recognized “the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles,” which are harder to stop than cruise missiles or drones.

“We believe that protecting Europe requires a comprehensive solution, in the form of an integrated missile defense architecture, to deter and neutralize future missile threats,” the statement said. “We recognize Ukraine’s unique experience, gained through its defense against the war of aggression waged by Russia.”

The statement gave no time frame for setting up the defense system and said the plan remained open to other countries.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine and its partners could, within the next 12 months, jointly develop a mass-produced, low-cost system with missiles that would let Europe supply itself with new antiballistic capability and provide it to others around the world who need protection.

Putin shows no sign Russia is backing down

Russian President Vladimir Putin was unyielding, vowing Monday emphatic retaliation to Kyiv's recent long-range attacks on refineries, tankers and terminals that have caused widespread fuel shortages.

“Wherever they attempt to strike Russian territory, we will respond in kind, but our strikes will be several times more powerful,” Putin told a meeting with pro-Kremlin activists.

European foreign ministers were meeting separately in Brussels where they discussed Ukraine’s needs and Russia’s threats to the continent.

Zelenskyy is keen to accelerate efforts with European countries to develop its air defenses ahead of winter, when Russia usually intensifies its attacks to deny Ukrainians electricity, heat and water.

Ukrainian officials were in Paris to present a proposed Anti-Ballistic Program and meet with government leaders, national security advisers and defense companies who might take part, Zelenskyy said.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge last week to give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense systems to counter the ballistic missiles could mark a major breakthrough for Kyiv. However, experts and Ukrainian officials warn that turning the idea into reality would probably take years. It was unclear how quickly a European system could be built.

Ukraine wants to push Putin into negotiations

Kyiv and its European backers want to press home Ukraine’s recent successes and compel Putin to negotiate an end to the fighting, although Moscow has shown no willingness to compromise despite peace efforts by the Trump administration.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow will closely follow the Paris meeting but dismissed its aspirations.

“This is a coalition of warmongers,” Peskov said. “They are driven by the profound delusion that it’s possible to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, so this is a coalition of the deluded, a coalition of those who incite the war.”

Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge recently, analysts and Western officials say. Its strikes on supply routes behind the front have robbed the Russian army of momentum and made its progress slow and costly, they say.

Ukraine says it hit 105 Russian vessels in 8 days

Ukrainian forces struck 105 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov next to the Crimean Peninsula between July 6-13, said Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.

The vessels included tankers, dry cargo ships, a ferry and tugboats, Brovdi said on the Telegram messaging app.

The campaign is part of a broader Ukrainian effort to isolate the Crimean Peninsula, which is enduring its worst fuel crisis since it was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, and disrupt Russian logistics. Crimea is a key rear base for Russian forces occupying parts of southern Ukraine.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims, and Russian officials made no immediate comment.

European leaders demonstrate their commitment to Kyiv

The Paris meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, which brings together more than 30 countries and about 25 heads of state and government, appeared to be a demonstration of a long-term commitment to Ukraine and a warning to Russia, as Moscow tests Europe's resilience.

Zelenskyy’s trip to the French capital followed the death of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters in Washington. Lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko called Graham "the closest link between Ukraine, our president and Trump.”

The trip also comes amid a major reshuffle of Zelenskyy's government that saw Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko step down Sunday.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he would summon the Russian ambassador to France and impose sanctions against Russian hackers. He told BFMTV-RMC that the issue is about “a vast cyber campaign aimed at sabotage and espionage, carried out by Russia in about 10 European countries.”

Ukraine's neighbors have also felt the war's impact.

In the latest incident, a drone launched during Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine’s Odesa region crashed and exploded on Moldova’s territory, Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. It said the incident was “serious and unacceptable.”

Ukraine fires over 300 drones toward Moscow

Ukraine has aimed at targets deep inside Russia with its domestically developed long-range drones and missiles.

Russian air defenses downed 350 Ukrainian drones heading toward Moscow since late Sunday, including 50 near the capital, the capital's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said 81 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight, adding that three people were killed and three were injured by the attack in the Pionersky settlement in the western part of the Moscow region.

The Ukrainian air force, meanwhile, said Russia launched 134 long-range strike drones and three guided aviation missiles at Ukraine.

A strike on port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region set fire to a docked merchant vessel carrying fertilizer under the flag of Togo, killing five crew members and wounding 10, said regional military administration head Oleh Kiper.

Russia says it thwarted a major Ukraine drone operation

Russia’s Federal Security Service said it had thwarted a Ukrainian plan for a drone attack on the Ukrainka air base in the far eastern Amur region and the Shagol air base in the Chelyabinsk region in the southern Urals.

Small drones were smuggled into Russia’s Bryansk region using air balloons and bigger transport drones, then taken by car near the air bases by Ukrainian agents, who were arrested, the security service said.

A covert Ukrainian operation a year ago, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, destroyed or damaged nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet with drones carried secretly into Russia, according to Ukrainian officials.

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Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Lorne Cook in Brussels and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.

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

The shooting came less than a week after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a Houston man after an altercation with agents while he was driving to work.

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the agent opened fire after the man “weaponized” his vehicle against ICE agents.

Authorities have released few other details about the shooting. The FBI is leading the investigation. Gov. Janet Mills said the Maine State Police are working with the state attorney general’s office, chief medical examiner’s office and federal officials to determine what happened. ICE didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Maine death follows Houston shooting

Department of Homeland Security officials said in a statement that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, ignored commands while trying to evade arrest during an enforcement operation on July 7. The department said he attempted to ram his car into an agent, who opened fire in self-defense.

Araujo's family said he was on his way to work at a construction job. He died on the way to the hospital.

The shooting drew immediate criticism from immigrant rights groups and some Democrats, who called for an independent investigation.

Video footage in several previous shootings has contradicted the accounts of federal officers. No immigration officers have been charged in those fatal encounters.

Man shot during vacation trip traffic stop

A fatal late-night traffic stop in Texas in March 2025 marked the earliest deadly shooting by federal officers during the nationwide immigration crackdown. It took almost a year for records in the fatal shooting of the 23-year-old U.S. citizen to be disclosed.

A Homeland Security Investigations team was conducting an immigration enforcement operation with local police when agents stopped Ruben Ray Martinez on his way from San Antonio to South Padre Island. Family members said he had just turned 23 and was with his best friend on his way to celebrate.

DHS officials said Martinez was told to exit the vehicle, refused and instead “intentionally ran over” an agent. Another agent fired shots through the open driver's window, striking Martinez, who died at a hospital. The HSI agent was treated for an undisclosed knee injury.

Martinez's mother said she was contacted by investigators with the Texas Rangers who told her there was video that contradicted the account given by federal agents. Federal and state authorities have declined to comment on potential discrepancies.

Nurse shot during Minneapolis protest

A Border Patrol officer shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, during a Jan. 24 protest against the Metro Surge immigration operation in Minneapolis.

Federal authorities immediately described Pretti, a U.S. citizen, as an armed agitator who was a threat to officers. But bystander video showed Pretti was on the ground and had been holding a cellphone during the interaction with officers.

The video showed an officer appearing to pull a gun from Pretti's waistband and step away before the first shot was fired by another officer, followed by more shots. Pretti had a permit to possess a firearm.

State and local officials pushed back against the federal officials' initial characterizations of Pretti, with Gov. Tim Walz calling the comments “despicable.”

Driver shot behind the wheel of an SUV

Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, was repeatedly shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Videos show she was turning the wheels of her car away from officer Jonathan Ross when he opened fire. Trump administration officials have repeatedly defended Ross, claiming his life was at risk from the moving vehicle.

Good’s death caused a firestorm across the country. The U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn’t share information on the shooting with state authorities.

State and local officials subsequently sued to try to stop the immigration sweeps. Protesters with whistles trailed officers who, in response, deployed tear gas and other chemical irritants.

Cook from Mexico shot during a traffic stop

ICE agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop Sept. 12 in suburban Chicago. Relatives said the 38-year-old line cook from Mexico had dropped off a child at daycare that morning.

At the time, DHS officials said agents were pursuing a man with a history of reckless driving who was in the country illegally. They alleged Villegas González evaded arrest and dragged an officer with his vehicle.

Homeland Security said the officer opened fire fearing for his life and was hospitalized with “serious injuries.” However, local police videos showed the agent walking around and dismissing his injuries as “nothing major.”

DHS has said the death remains under investigation.

Farmworker fell from greenhouse roof during ICE raid

Authorities were arresting dozens of farmworkers July 10 at Glass House Farms in southern California when Jaime Alanis fell from the roof of a greenhouse and broke his neck. The 57-year-old laborer from Mexico died at a hospital two days later.

Relatives said Alanis had spent a decade working at the farm in Camarillo, about an hour east of Los Angeles. Officials said he fell about 30 feet (9 meters) from the greenhouse roof.

Homeland Security said Alanis was never in custody and was not being chased by immigration authorities.

Man struck on California freeway after running from officers

A man fleeing from immigration officers outside a Home Depot store in southern California died after being hit by an SUV as he tried to cross a freeway on Aug. 14.

Police in Monrovia, northeast of Los Angeles, said ICE agents were conducting enforcement operations when the man was hit while running across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210.

The man, identified by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, 52, of Guatemala, died at a hospital.

Homeland Security said Montoya Valdez wasn’t being pursued by immigration authorities when he ran.

Gardener from Honduras killed on Virginia interstate

A pickup truck fatally struck Josué Castro Rivera on a highway in Norfolk, Virginia, as he tried to escape authorities during a traffic stop on Oct. 23.

Castro Rivera, 24, of Honduras, was heading to a gardening job with three passengers when ICE officers pulled over the vehicle, according to his brother, Henry Castro.

State and federal authorities said Castro Rivera ran away on foot and was hit by a pickup truck on Interstate 264.

Homeland Security said Castro Rivera’s vehicle was stopped as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and that Castro Rivera had “resisted heavily and fled.”

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Leah Willingham in Boston and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed.

Give Merit Co-Founder and Executive Director, Kuhu Saha, along with graduate Martz Rich, shared how the event inspires students as they prepare for what’s next.

Watch the segment above to learn more!

We also discussed how disruptive behavior from children can affect everyone else’s dining experience and whether families should be asked to leave if the behavior continues.

Watch the segment above to see more!

Recoup and Recover, an outpatient behavioral health clinic in Wyandotte, has built its model around that reality. The facility offers medication-assisted treatment, intensive outpatient programs, partial hospitalization, and therapy services designed to meet patients where they are - without requiring them to leave their families or responsibilities behind.

“A lot of people have children. They can’t leave. They have pets at home that they can’t leave,” said Safaa Elmessiri, Behavioral Health Program Coordinator at Recoup and Recover. “Intensive outpatient is a great option, and partial hospitalization is even better for someone who’s ready for treatment - the most extensive therapy.”

The clinic’s partial hospitalization program runs five days a week and represents its highest level of outpatient care. Intensive outpatient typically involves three days a week of four-hour sessions. Both differ sharply from once-a-week traditional therapy.

Central to the clinic’s approach is treating substance use disorder and mental health conditions simultaneously. Elmessiri said the two are almost always linked.

“We really get to the root of the problem, and that’s what we need - what people in recovery need - to understand exactly what’s going on with them so they can have a solid foundation of the recovery process,” she said.

That means exploring co-occurring disorders, examining why substances are being used, and building coping skills that address the underlying causes rather than the symptoms alone.

Elmessiri said the clinic identified a need in the downriver area before opening. “We did a lot of research and we see a gap in certain areas, and we just wanted to fill that gap of services for the individuals who are struggling,” she said.

For anyone on the fence about seeking help, Elmessiri offered a simple message: don’t wait for certainty.

“If you think, ‘I have a problem,’ and you don’t know if you should reach out or not, just reach out - because you never know. A conversation is all it takes,” she said.

She added that the ongoing addiction crisis makes their work urgent. “Recovery is possible, and we are here for whoever’s struggling. You know, you’re not alone.”

Recoup and Recover is also offering a scholarship for one individual to receive services at no cost. Those interested can submit their story at recouprecover.com.

For appointments, call 734-570-2900.

In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page.

His death was “sudden and unexpected,” the statement said, adding that he “remained cancer free” when he died. A cause of death wasn’t specified. “Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” his family wrote.

Tributes were paid by fellow actors and directors, including Steven Spielberg, who helmed the first “Jurassic Park” movie.

“I adored making all the ‘Jurassic’ movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world,” Spielberg said in a statement.

Actor Sharon Lawrence wrote on Instagram: “Condolences and appreciation for the immense joy and mastery Sam Neill brought our industry."

Actor came to world's notice with ‘Dead Calm’ and ‘My Brilliant Career’

Neill was one of a host of actors and directors who achieved international fame after an explosion of Australian films that began in the late 1970s, along with Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Jane Campion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. His range was remarkable, playing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy “Sweet Revenge” to chopping off Hunter’s finger in “The Piano” to poking his own eyes out in the sci-fi horror “Event Horizon.”

He portrayed both saintly and sinner: In “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” he played Damien the Antichrist, and he also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in “The Tudors.”

The actor first came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong’s 1979 film “My Brilliant Career,” which also introduced Judy Davis. He later appeared in Phillip Noyce’s “Dead Calm,” a classy thriller set at sea and co-starring the then-relatively unknown Nicole Kidman.

Neill twice co-starred with Meryl Streep, in Australian director Fred Schepisi’s “Plenty” and — again for Schepisi — in “A Cry in the Dark,” a film about the sensationalized aftermath of a dingo killing a baby in the Australian Outback.

He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 miniseries “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.” Neill also earned three Golden Globe nods — for “Merlin,” “One Against the Wind” and “Reilly: Ace of Spies.”

Richard E. Grant, a longtime friend who co-starred with Neill in 2019’s “Palm Beach,” described him in a post on Instagram as “an officer and a gentleman in the truest sense.” Grant said Neill had “guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my life.”

‘Jurassic Park’ was his best-known film

Perhaps Neill achieved his highest level of fame in “Jurassic Park,” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs.

His character was thoughtful and reasonable, a scientist who warned the mastermind of the theme park before the chaos: “Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?”

Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn’t return for “The Lost World: Jurassic Park II” in 1997. He came back for the third episode in 2001 and “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.

“It’s probably a little late to learn these things,” he told the New York Daily News in 2001, “but I finally feel I’ve worked out how to be an action hero. I’m happier with Grant this time. He’s gnarly and grizzled, but he looks like he knows what he’s doing.”

Early life in Northern Ireland and New Zealand

Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. He was born Nigel Neill, but told interviewers he started to go by Sam because there were too many Nigels at his school.

His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island and he was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in “Sleeping Dogs” in 1977, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade.

Neill’s other film roles included playing a Soviet submarine officer who memorably dreams of a home in Montana in “The Hunt for Red October” and an investigator in director John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.”

On the small screen, Neill played the malign Chester Campbell in TV’s “Peaky Blinders” and Thomas Jefferson in the four-hour CBS miniseries, “Sally Hemings: an American Tragedy.” On Apple TV+, he was on “Invasion,” playing Oklahoma Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a man late in his career searching for his purpose. In 2024, he starred opposite Annette Bening in the Peacock series “Apples Never Fall.”

Beloved in New Zealand as an unassuming celebrity

The actor became known in New Zealand as a modest and unassuming person who didn't embrace celebrity. On social media, he often posted images of his farm animals, many of them affectionately named after celebrities and friends, like Laura Dern the chicken, Kylie Minogue the duck and Helena Bonham Carter the cow.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned Neill as “one of the greats” in a statement posted to social media.

“He started out when there was barely a film industry to speak of,” Luxon wrote. “For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today.”

Neill was also a vintner and under his Two Paddocks brand, he produced pinot noir and riesling wines from his winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island.

His memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?” came out in March 2023 and he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to film,” a title approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill told The Guardian in 2023, referring to his cancer diagnosis and treatment. “But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends.”

He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.

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Kennedy reported from New York.

The Buffalo Bills' franchise player was voted the NFL’s top quarterback by The Associated Press in a preseason survey.

The 2024 AP NFL Most Valuable Player beat out Patrick Mahomes, who earned the top spot each of the three previous seasons.

Allen received five first-place votes from a panel of eight AP pro football writers, who ranked the top five quarterbacks entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Allen appeared on all eight ballots and also got one second-place vote, one third and one fourth.

Mahomes finished second just ahead of reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford. Lamar Jackson came in fourth and Joe Burrow was fifth.

1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Allen followed up his MVP season with another excellent campaign in 2025, but the Bills had their streak of five straight AFC East titles ended by New England and were knocked out of the playoffs in the divisional round against Denver, costing coach Sean McDermott his job.

Allen threw for 3,668 yards, 25 TDs and had 10 picks for a 102.2 passer rating. He ran for 579 yards and 14 scores, making his fourth Pro Bowl and finishing third in MVP voting.

Allen and the Bills are still seeking their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season despite seven straight playoff appearances.

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mahomes finished his worst season in the NFL on the sideline after suffering a torn ACL in Week 15. The Chiefs were 6-8 with Mahomes and lost all three games without him.

Still, the three-time Super Bowl MVP — a unanimous choice for No. 1 in this survey in 2023 and 2024 — commands enough respect to earn two first-place votes and finished second behind Allen. He had 3,587 yards passing for 22 TDs with 11 picks before going down with his first significant injury in the NFL. Mahomes is aiming to be ready for Week 1 as Kansas City tries to rebound from its first losing season under Andy Reid.

3. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Stafford earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career, and beat out Drake Maye for his first NFL MVP award last season.

He got one first-place vote, two seconds and appeared on all eight ballots in this year's preseason survey. The Rams went 14-6, including a pair of playoff victories and a loss to Seattle in the conference championship.

Stafford led the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs. He threw eight picks and finished second to Maye with a 109.2 passer rating.

4. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson, a three-time All-Pro and two-time NFL MVP, had his first losing season as a starter, going 6-7, and the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs.

Jackson threw for 2,549 yards, 21 TDs and seven picks, posting a 103.8 passer rating. Jackson had a career-low 349 yards rushing and two scores.

Jackson got two third-place votes and appeared on six ballots.

5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Burrow played only eight games last season because of a toe injury, leading the Bengals to a 5-3 record. It was the third time he played 10 or fewer games due to injuries.

Burrow bounced back the following season to win the AP Comeback Player of the Year award the previous two times.

The three-time Pro Bowl QB threw for 1,809 yards, 17 TDs and five picks with a passer rating of 100.7. Burrow appeared on five ballots with one third-place vote.

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

Thunder Over Michigan returns with a theme tied to America’s 250th anniversary - and a roster of performers that reflects the occasion. The centerpiece is the Royal Air Force Red Arrows, the British aerobatic team making a rare stateside appearance. The nine-jet formation act hasn’t performed in the United States since 2019 and is only touching down at five shows nationwide.

“They came all the way over to the United States just performing five shows in America this year in honor of America 250,” said Jordan Hanhilammi of the Thunder Over Michigan marketing team. “They haven’t been here since 2019, and so this is one of only five shows that they’re performing at, and it’s going to be really, really cool.”

Hanhilammi, who has worked in the air show industry for years, said he has never personally seen the Red Arrows perform - until now.

Joining the Red Arrows on the bill is a USAF F-16 demonstration jet painted in special red, white, and blue livery for the anniversary. But perhaps the most historically significant aircraft on the flight line won’t be moving nearly as fast.

“The Privateer is an aircraft of World War II, and this is literally the only one that’s flying in the entire world that’s going to be at the event,” Hanhilammi said.

Michigan’s own role in aviation history is part of the show’s DNA this year, he added. “Michigan is an instrumental part of that and has a really exciting, rich history tied with aviation,” Hanhilammi said. “Bringing that aviation life to life at the show is going to be a really exciting segment.”

The event isn’t limited to what’s happening overhead. Gates open at 3 p.m. daily, with flying beginning around 6 p.m. and programming running until 10 p.m. On the ground, attendees can browse aircraft up close, interact with pilots, and explore a Meijer-sponsored Adventure Zone featuring STEAM exhibits for children.

Performers are also accessible after their flights. “People that come to the show have the chance to meet them,” Hanhilammi said. “These folks, they perform these incredible performances in the sky, and then they come out, and they meet fans, and they sign autographs, they do pictures. They’re there for the fans, and it’s really exciting.”

A smoke-and-thunder jet truck and evening pyrotechnics round out the ground-level entertainment. “It’s as photogenic an event as you can go to, for sure,” Hanhilammi said.

Proceeds benefit the Michigan Flight Museum, based at Willow Run Airport. “The proceeds from tickets and stuff, they go back into the museum, which just celebrates aviation history, has all kinds of ever-evolving exhibits and things going on there year-round,” Hanhilammi said.

Tickets and more information are available at thunderovermichigan.org.

Neill achieved his highest level of fame in “Jurassic Park” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.

Neill earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 miniseries “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.” Neill also earned three Golden Globe nods — for “Merlin,” “One Against the Wind” and “Reilly: Ace of Spies.”

Some notable reactions:

Steven Spielberg

“Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.” — in a statement.

Richard E. Grant, actor

“Knew @samneilltheprop for 3 decades and finally worked with him on ‘PALM BEACH’ in 2018. An officer and a Gentleman in the truest sense. Guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my Life … Sail on, kind Sir. — via Instagram.

Cillian Murphy, actor

“Like everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors … RIP.” — in a statement.

Nicole Kidman, actor

“Sam was one of the greats, a joy to be around,” she said. “We met when I was just 18 and he took me under his wing and we stayed friends for life. He was charming, kind, funny and intelligent. He will be greatly missed, and my heart goes out to his family.” — in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Colin Trevorrow, director

“Sam Neill was a deeply soulful and beautiful man. He was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength. I’ll remember him for his tranquility, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It’s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend. Forever grateful.” — via Instagram.

Christopher Luxon, prime minister of New Zealand

“Sir Sam Neill was one of the greats. He started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today — one of our greatest cultural exports.” — via X.

Sharon Lawrence, actor

“My condolences and appreciation for the immense joy and mastery Sam Neill brought our industry. Do yourself a favor and find ‘DEAN SPANLEY’ on a streamer- he’s wonderful and it will soothe someplace in your spirit that needs it now. — via Instagram.

Joel Tobeck, actor

“This man made me feel like I could fly. Even when I was all over the place in his presence he made it ok. We loved to talk rugby. RIP my old mate. Sam Neill, a true gentleman.” — via Instagram.

Rachel Griffiths, actor

“Such a shock — loved by so many — I’ll be cracking two paddocks tonight,” referring to wine from the actor’s vineyard, via Instagram.

Kylie Minogue, singer

“Vale Sam,” a Latin term for “farewell” that’s often used in Australia and New Zealand, via Instagram.

Toni Collette, actor

“I love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much. Continue in peace wherever you are.” — via Instagram.

Lesley-Ann Brandt, actor

“Sending love and condolences to your family. A remarkable man and artist. NZ loses a giant and one of its greatest gifts.” — via Instagram.

Kate Mulvany, actor

“It was the greatest of honours to shout at Sam onscreen and to laugh ourselves silly offscreen. He was truly the most wondrous human. Not was. Still is. Will always be. Such is his incredible legacy of life, art, advocacy and love.” — via Instagram.

Perhaps even more astonishing? He has only two PGA Tour victories since. He has played in the final group at a major only once.

What hasn't changed is his optimism that he can get back to his best golf, now matter how far away that looks for a player who is No. 51 in the world, who has not been to the Tour Championship the past two years, who has not been in the conversation at a major in five years.

“If you give up on reaching your ceiling, then I don't see a point in playing anymore,” Spieth said Monday. “So for me it's always about I'll do everything I can to be trying to be at the very best in the world, because I know that I can be. I have been. It's nice to have the blueprint.”

The blueprint was nearly a decade ago — the pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam that ended with a bogey on the 17th hole at St. Andrews in 2015, his British Open title two years later, and playing in the final group at Carnoustie in 2018 as he tried to keep possession of the claret jug.

He feels he is on the right track and keeps getting a bad hand. The analogy he used earlier this year was having a bad shoe at the blackjack table, staying put because as soon as he walks away, fortunes surely will turn.

He's still at the table.

“I'm quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at,” Spieth said. "It’s better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It’s without a doubt better than it was then. It’s just not quite showing up in results.

“At the same time, it’s a stay-the-course mentality,” he said. “Sometimes you get rewarded right away, like I did back then maybe in a bit of a lucky fashion, and I understand that sometimes it’s delayed. And that’s how it feels like it is right now. ... So I'm just waiting for that opportunity.”

The return to Royal Birkdale at least allows him to remember how it felt to walk up to the 18th green with victory secure, sitting on the edge of a pot bunker with the claret jug as dozens of photographers captured the image of a 23-year-old often referred to then as “Golden Child.”

What he can't relive is the finish. He lost the lead on the 13th hole even though his bogey felt like stealing a shot — he took a penalty drop from a dune covered in high grass, hit a blind shot from the driving range and limited the damage with a chip-and-putt for bogey, just like always.

Then came the 6-iron he nearly holed on the par-3 14th and the 50-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th hole — “Go get that,” he famously said to caddie Michael Greller — and two more birdies.

“Maybe the best shot and best putt I've ever hit don't exist anymore,” Spieth said with a smile.

The par-3 14th is gone now. The R&A instead wanted the 15th hole to play as No. 14, and it built a new par-3 15th that measures 241 yards and has yet to get many positive reviews.

“Undecided,” Rory McIlroy said last week.

“As is always the case in par 3s, you have to wait until a tournament plays to see how the par 3 plays,” Tommy Fleetwood said on Monday.

Perhaps the biggest change for Spieth are the conditions. It was wet and green and lush in 2017, the wind coming out of the opposite direction. Now it is mostly yellow, brittle and firm, and much of England is coping with a heat wave.

Players were in shorts for the Monday practice round, which followed a “Last Chance Qualifier” that Joe Dean of England won with a 68 to secure his spot in the field.

“It’s going to play quite different than the last time we were here,” Spieth said. “We’ve had an opposite wind, too, the last couple days. ... Holes that are close to being drivable become mid- to long irons, and just with the wind switch, the difference into and down are so dramatic over here that picking a strategy is going to be key.”

A change of scenery might not be the worse thing for Spieth. He arrived over the weekend and relived some of those shots in the closing stretch, at least on the holes still there. But at this stage in his career, it's more about looking forward.

“I'm always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player, just more so that I know that I can do it," Spieth said. “I know my ceiling is where that level was, and so I’m going to strive for it with the type of player that I am now.”

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

Looking on from the stands alongside his father, Eastern Michigan women’s golf coach Josh Brewer had a moment of inspiration.

“It can really happen at a place that’s kind of a doormat,” he said.

Brewer, 1998 IU alum and college golfer himself, went on to coach 12 seasons at the University of Georgia. But it’s at Eastern Michigan—by Brewer’s admission, a doormat in the women’s game—where his team has authored its own unlikely title-contending story.

Ranked 226th in Division I when Brewer took over as coach two years ago, Eastern Michigan did what seemed impossible: make the national match play semifinals in May despite having never previously qualified for an NCAA Tournament at all.

“I’m scared to death, like I’m in some coma in a hospital somewhere and this entire year did not happen,” Brewer said with a smile. “It’s just been a magical year and a magical journey here at Eastern.”

The Eagles’ run to a MAC Championship, through powerhouse Texas in the quarterfinals, ultimately meeting and falling to powerhouse Stanford, prompted two reactions:

Wow…and…how?

Their turnaround begins with a vision and a bankroll emblematic of the modern era in college athletics.

After being let go at Georgia in 2024, Brewer needed some convincing success was achievable at EMU.

“I was literally laying on the guest bed doing the Zoom. That’s how much interest I had [in taking the job],” Brewer recalled of his hiring process in 2024. “Keith [Stone] at GameAbove probably doesn’t want to hear that. The one thing I took from the whole thing: he said, ‘I want you to think different if you take this job.’ And I go, ‘okay, I get a schedule and he goes, ‘no. I want you to think different.’ I saw the lake, saw the golf course, and I’m like, ‘oh…we might have something here.’”

Eagle Crest Golf Club, their home course overlooking Ford Lake, might be the only thing that hasn’t changed since Brewer took over two years ago.

GameAbove, an investing organization chaired by alumnus Keith Stone, has gone above and beyond to give both the men’s and women’s golf teams a facelift.

The group gifted $8 million for a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility which opened just prior to Brewer’s arrival in May 2024. An additional $6.5 million was pledged to coincide with the head coach’s hiring.

“Schools are constantly flying, flying private, staying in all these luxury hotels, playing in these big events,” Brewer explained. “GameAbove helped us get to that level, just being able to compete equally.”

As is becoming standard in high-level athletics, Eastern Michigan hired a golf general manager, Dan McLean.

“Michigan or Alabama, obviously their number one is football,” Jordan Young, Director of Golf Operations at GameAbove said. “At Eastern Michigan, we chose golf to be number one.”

Of the $35 million GameAbove has pledged across the board to EMU Athletics since 2019, Young estimates nearly $20 million has been directed towards the golf teams.

“We wanted to get into the game as far as being competitive and NIL is one way we were able to do that,” Young continued. “Now let’s be honest. How many people want to play golf at Eastern Michigan? It’s in Michigan.”

Now? More players are enticed to commit from more places on the map.

Two seasons ago, all but two athletes hailed from within 215 miles of campus in Ypsilanti. This year, only three were Americans and two were twins.

Eastern built a competitive roster by luring top 200 amateurs Janae and Jasmine Leovao from Long Beach State. They added Thailand’s Baiyok Sukterm, the top ranked NAIA player from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Brewer also brought Belgium’s Savannah de Bock along when he was fired at the University of Georgia.

Jarring to outsiders—or those used to business as usual at a middling mid-major—Brewer argues the team’s approach mirrors other competitors.

“Oregon is fortunate to have (Nike co-founder) Phil Knight. I think Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, TCU, and Texas A&M are all fortunate to have billionaire oil men,” Brewer said. “Every university or athletic department has someone who has funded it. We just catch a little more grief about it because we’re Eastern Michigan and not the University of Michigan. If it was the University Michigan, no one would say a word about it, but they’re scared this little upstart might not be going away.”

During their Cinderella run through the NCAA field, the Eagles were met with newfound scrutiny and accusations. Some folks, ranging from national sports talk radio pundits to anonymous social media commenters, ran with a notion the Leovao twins did not attend the school at all.

Janae and Jasmine hail from Oceanside, California. According to Brewer and Young, both players took online courses in the spring and sometimes traveled separately to four events in their home state, but they spent fall in Ypsilanti and walked at graduation.

“The team actually trained in California and competed in California almost as many as eight weeks,” Young said. “Everything we ever did, we knew people were watching over us and we had to make sure everything was under compliance rules.”

“We only had, I think it was 24 or 25 days of classes before March 9th this year and they were in class for 15 of them,” Brewer added. “And you know what they were doing the other days? We were traveling as a team. It’s funny. I should shut it down. It’s kind of made me mad now because it’s a discredit to them for how hard they work.”

For a school with just six top five finishes in any Division I sport since 1940, the investment and execution which led to this season’s result is almost unbelievable.

By all accounts, it is legitimate.

But is it repeatable? Has Eastern Michigan found the blueprint to level the playing field in the modern era of college sports?

“I feel like we have a pretty good idea, but it’s also you’ve got to be humble,” Brewer said. “The transfer portal opened 48 hours after the national championship. There are plenty of kids and families in there that reminded me of Eastern Michigan and where we’re at. Such disrespect. So yeah, I carry a chip on my shoulder every damn day.”With the regional trophy over his shoulder, Brewer grinned again.

“They don’t want to see us at the national championship, I promise.”

Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene and two New York Yankees, first baseman Ben Rice and outfielder Cody Bellinger, gained American League starting spots because of injuries.

Rice, third in the major leagues with 29 home runs behind Schwarber (32) and the Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (31), starts at first because Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is skipping the game to rest a bad back. Guerrero's initial replacement, the Athletics' Nick Kurtz, sprained a thumb.

Bellinger replaced Yankees teammate Aaron Judge, who hasn't played since May 31 because of a fractured rib. Greene took over from Minnesota Twins outfielder Bryon Buxton, sidelined by a hip injury. Bellinger will be in right and Greene in left.

Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sánchez and Toronto right-hander Dylan Cease were announced as starting pitchers on Sunday.

Even without Ohtani, NL manager Dave Roberts of the two-time champion Dodgers has three of his players in the starting lineup along with two Phillies and two Braves.

New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto bats second, followed by Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, Washington shortstop CJ Abrams, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies, Phillies right fielder Brandon Marsh, Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages and Braves catcher Drake Baldwin.

AL manager John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays has Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout leading off, followed by Alvarez at designated hitter, Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Bellinger, Rice, Green, Rice and Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement.

Sánchez will be the 14th pitcher to start an All-Star Game in his home ballpark, the first since the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw in 2022. He will be the Phillies' first All-Star starting pitcher since Roy Halladay in 2011.

Cease will be the Blue Jays' first All-Star starting pitcher since Halladay in 2009.

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

How much of the money will be delivered, and when reconstruction of Gaza can begin, is unclear. The ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that took effect in October is effectively stalled.

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica announced the fund after a meeting in Brussels of the Palestine Donors Group, which includes EU and Middle East nations along with international organizations and financial institutions.

“The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, and the situation on the ground for civilians is not getting better," Šuica said. She said the money will move through “trusted partners" but didn't give details.

Few places in the Palestinian territory of over 2 million people have been left unscathed, and the United Nations, World Bank and EU estimate that reconstruction will cost $70 billion.

The U.N. has said Gaza has more than 60 million tons of rubble, enough to fill nearly 3,000 container ships. It will take over seven years to clear, with additional time for demining.

The meeting also brought together Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the Board of Peace set up by U.S. President Donald Trump to lead Gaza's reconstruction; Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; Ali Shaath, the head of the new Palestinian committee meant to administer Gaza’s daily affairs but still unable to enter; and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

Mladenov has made clear that the next steps in implementing the ceasefire are stalled over the difficult issue of disarming Hamas militants in Gaza.

“We are investing not only in the Palestinian future but also in the regional stability, shared security and just and lasting peace for everyone together,” Mustafa said, calling for “a resilient, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state" — something Israel's current government has opposed.

The Palestinian Authority seeks a role in Gaza’s reconstruction, but the U.S. 20-point plan only makes a reference to the possibility of a future Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, EU ministers discuss the West Bank

Separately, top diplomats from the 27-nation EU debated how to respond to increased Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

The bloc's executive, the European Commission, has tabled options including cutting off trade with Israeli settlements in the territory.

Nations like Ireland and Spain are calling for forceful action. The Czech Republic, Germany and others alongside the commission are more cautious, seeking to apply incremental pressure. Some nations have signaled they would veto sanctions.

Do sanctions “have a meaningful impact or not? What role could they play as a political message, and would this be escalatory in a wrong direction?” said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the European Council's legal service had found that severing trade ties with Israeli settlements in the West Bank — not technically sanctions — would require a majority vote and not total unanimity from bloc members.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said a clear majority in the EU agrees on severing commercial ties with the settlements. He dismissed arguments that tough action would boost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances in an election in October: “I hope that now it’s time for decisions.”

U.S. Rep. John James, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Perry Johnson, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and Mike Cox are running for governor.

Swanson and Benson are running as Democrats, while James, Johnson and Cox are running as Republicans.

Current Governor Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited and cannot run again.

Local 4’s Ty Steele sat down with the five candidates on the ballot for Michigan’s next governor in the upcoming primary election and asked them a series of questions that voters are most concerned about, including education, affordability, economic growth, public safety and data centers.

Michigan’s primary election is on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

You can watch the full interviews below:

Jocelyn Benson (D)

Mike Cox (R)

John James (R)

Perry Johnson (R)

Chris Swanson (D)

The heat dome is already impacting areas to the west of us. Check out the difference in today’s forecasted temperatures for areas near Montana and North Dakota verses closer to Georgia and Florida.

High temperatures here in Metro Detroit this afternoon will be above normal, in the low 90s, under mostly sunny skies.

We won’t see much relief from a breeze, as winds will be westerly only around 5-10 mph. Winds will stay light tonight with overnight low temperatures mainly in the low 70s.

Tomorrow looks to be the hottest day of the week with highs near 100°. With additional humidity, heat index values will be near 105° at times. For this reason, from noon until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday all of Southeast Michigan will be under a Heat Advisory.

It’s not just us - multiple states will be under some sort of heat advisory or warning this week. Approximately 90 million people across the country will be impacted by the heat.

Temperatures overnight Tuesday only drop to the mid 70s. We’ll have another sun-filled day Wednesday with highs in the mid 90s. Highs Thursday will be in the lower 90s.

In heat like this, remember to stay hydrated, take breaks in the shade or air conditioning if working outdoors, check on those who are sensitive to the heat, and don’t leave your kids or pets in a vehicle.

We’ll finish out the workweek with partly cloudy skies and highs near 90°, bringing the next chance of rain in Friday night.

Chances of rain linger this weekend with afternoon temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.

“Surgery. Prehab. Return to martial arts practice. Go again. Final fight of the contract. Please God!” McGregor wrote on Instagram on Monday.

McGregor’s first fight in five years lasted only 1 minute, 9 seconds because of a knee injury sustained while attempting an opening roundhouse kick on Saturday.

McGregor’s return to the octagon was highly anticipated but ended in disappointment when he awkwardly landed on his right knee in the opening seconds. McGregor went to the mat two more times in failed attempts to continue before the scheduled five-round match was halted by the referee.

On Sunday, McGregor's manager, John Kavanagh, said his client did not have a previous knee injury.

“That opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warmup. Never an issue,” Kavanagh wrote on Facebook. “Knee went when he (threw) the very first kick. Doesn’t get any worse than this.”

Following the fight, McGregor also said he had no previous injury.

“I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight,” McGregor said on X. “I had no injury / injuries going into the fight."

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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts

Peters, who will retire this year after serving in the Senate for 12 years, announced the endorsement on Monday, stating that Stevens will be “ready on day one to fight for Michigan.”

The endorsement marks a reversal for Peters, who told The Associated Press in late May that he intended to stay neutral in the race.

Roxie Richner, a spokesperson for El-Sayed’s campaign, called the endorsement “expected” but “disappointing to watch Sen. Peters succumb to the Stevens’ campaign’s desperation after committing to let the voters decide.”

“This is the establishment backing the establishment,” Richner said in a statement issued by the campaign on Monday. “Ultimately his entry emphasizes the stakes of the race, it’s the politics of the past vs. the politics of the future, the politics of corporate power vs. the politics of worker power, the politics of cynicism vs. the politics of hope. Nothing says change like the last two senators trying to pick the next one.”

Democratic leaders have increasingly rallied behind Stevens as the Aug. 4 primary approaches — especially after Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow opted to exit the race, abruptly reshaping the Democrats’ upcoming primary into a two-person contest between Stevens and El-Sayed.

Stevens, a four-term House member, has campaigned as a more moderate Democrat focused on manufacturing issues in the critical battleground state. El-Sayed, a former public health official who has never held elected office, is running on a more progressive platform that includes Medicare for All and campaign finance reform. He’s also been outspoken about the war in Gaza, which has become a major fault line within the Democratic party.

Peters won two Senate races in Michigan and led Senate Democrats’ campaign arm during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

His endorsement adds to Stevens’ growing support from the Democratic establishment, with the race being viewed nationally as a broader fight over the party’s direction.

“Senator Peters knows what it takes to win in Michigan, and he knows what Michigan needs from our next U.S. Senator: grit, effectiveness, hard work, and Michigan common sense,” Stevens said in a statement. “I am honored to have his support.”

The Democratic winner will likely face Republican Mike Rogers, a former member of the U.S. House running uncontested for his party’s nomination, in what is expected to be one of the country’s most expensive and closely watched Senate races.

Police said the baby, believed to be less than four weeks old, was found on June 28 near the camping area at the Electric Forest Music Festival in Rothbury, according to police. The body was found by an employee of the portable restroom vendor during routine maintenance.

Michigan State Police has been investigating the circumstances surrounding the infant’s death.

On July 13, police said the FBI is offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Michigan State Police said that while they are not able to provide many details into the investigation, they can confirm that preliminary autopsy findings determined that the infant was viable and was born alive.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is urged to contact the Michigan State Police by calling 1-855-MICHTIP. You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

The series of executions, due to be carried out by the end of this month, highlights the nation’s aging death-row population. One of Florida's prisoners scheduled to die in July, a man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend's parents in 1986, is 80 years old and would be only the second known octogenarian to be executed in the U.S.

For some, it renews questions about the humanity of administering capital punishment to inmates who might soon die from natural causes. For others, it illustrates how lengthy appeals designed to ensure constitutional protections and prevent innocent people from being executed can also delay justice.

“Is this intentional, as though to say, we’re not going to let a natural death help you escape executions?” asked the Rev. Dustin Feddon, a Catholic priest who has been ministering to Florida death row inmates since 2013. Noting the church's opposition to capital punishment, he added: "To execute those that are the most frail and elderly is even more cruel and unusual.”

Marilyn Gifford, whose sister's killer is set to die Tuesday, doesn't see it that way.

“I’m just happy it’s ever happening in our lifetime,” she said. “I wish my mother was alive to see it.”

Death warrants follow decades on death row

On June 25, Dusty Ray Spencer, who was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife in 1992, became the oldest person executed in Florida in modern history. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the 74-year-old's appeal that his liver disease rendered him susceptible to excruciating pain from lethal injection.

Dennis Sochor, convicted of killing 18-year-old Patricia Gifford just hours into 1982 after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party, would be just a week older if his execution is carried out on Tuesday. Marilyn Gifford said she and her family plan to be there.

Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, has spent nearly four decades on death row after being sentenced in the murders of his ex-girlfriend's parents. He is scheduled to die July 28 and would become the second oldest prisoner known to be put to death in the U.S., after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr. Moody was executed in Alabama in 2018 for killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney.

There are three inmates older than Occhicone on Florida’s death row.

The scheduling of executions is up to the governor

It's unclear why Florida set the executions for the three prisoners consecutively. Maria DeLiberato, legal director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, noted that in Florida, the governor has practically sole discretion when it comes to the scheduling of executions. In many other death penalty states, the scheduling is up to the courts.

About half of Florida’s 242 death row inmates have exhausted their appeals and could see their death warrant issued at any time. The family of Michael Sheridan spent a year calling and writing to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, requesting he sign a death warrant, before Sheridan's killer was executed earlier this year.

DeSantis' office did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment. He oversaw a record 19 executions in 2025, more in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The state has executed nine inmates so far this year.

DeSantis said last year his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited for decades.

“Some of these crimes were committed in the ’80s,” the governor said last year. “Justice delayed is justice denied."

Death row gets older

The average age of inmates executed in the U.S. has crept up from the 30s to the 50s over the past half-century, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. While some inmates committed capital offenses later in life, lengthy appeals and mandatory reviews have resulted in many spending decades on death row, sometimes developing medical conditions that can complicate efforts to execute them.

Occhicone has several age-related ailments, including kidney and prostate problems, according to his attorneys. He needs help getting in and out of the shower, they noted.

Under Supreme Court precedent, those who were under 18 when they committed their crimes cannot be put to death. But advanced age alone doesn't provide a legal case for avoiding execution, said Gerod Hooper, an attorney with Florida’s Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, a state agency that provides post-conviction legal representation.

“You’d have to say it’s unconstitutional to execute this 80-year-old because he’s mentally deficient, he doesn’t have capacity to be executed," Hooper said. "Or because of some underlying medical condition, the drug cocktail they inject would cause undue pain and suffering.”

Death row inmates with dementia in Utah and Alabama have avoided execution and later died of apparent natural causes. An inmate in Idaho received at least one stay of execution because of cancer and other health problems, but state officials continue to push for his death.

‘He could live another 20 years’

At the time of Gifford’s disappearance, Sochor was free on probation from a 1980 rape conviction.

“I knew him as a child, and he was a bully,” said Frank Frandel, who grew up as a family friend in Portland, Michigan. “I could believe he could be violent like that.”

Frandel offered no sympathy for Sochor's advanced age, pointing out that Sochor’s father will turn 99 this year.

“He could live another 20 years,” Frandel said. “So no, I don’t feel sorry for him being at that age.”

The 18-year-old, who once found classes boring and put in only enough effort to pass, found renewed purpose to come to school everyday.

“It motivates me. I like making connections with the kids, I like helping them,” Dillon said.

It began in his junior year when he enrolled in career training courses. Soon, Dillon said, his grades improved. He graduated in June from Chief Leschi Schools in Washington and is now considering going to college for a teaching degree.

Administrators at the school say a shift in focus to technical training and career readiness is paying off, with more students not only staying in school but graduating on time.

Those gains are emblematic of progress across the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education, which oversees 183 primary and secondary schools serving over 40,000 students. In 2015, just over half of high schoolers at BIE schools graduated within four years. That number soared to a record high of 79% by 2025.

Some BIE educators attribute that surge to local innovations. Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland says they reflect the Trump administration’s commitment to Native American students, including efforts to strengthen teacher training. In addition, the way graduation rates are reported across BIE schools was changed to address flawed data collection that previously depressed the numbers.

But concerns loom that changes reshaping the BIE under the Trump administration — including the planned dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and continued fallout from cuts instituted by DOGE — could undermine progress and prevent struggling schools from improving.

Reporting standards net more accurate data

The surge in graduation rates reflects, in part, more accurate reporting rather than a sudden leap in student academic improvement, according to agency officials.

For years, school administrators across the system used flawed methods to track graduation rates, often counting students who had transferred to other schools as dropouts.

“We had to come to a consensus and set an accountability framework for our schools,” said Carmelia Becenti, the agency’s chief academic officer.

Beginning in 2018, BIE began standardizing data collection methods. In the years since, Becenti said, the data has painted a more accurate and encouraging picture.

An AP analysis of BIE data found that graduation rates across the system are up 55% since new reporting standards began rolling out, with nine of its secondary schools reporting 100% growth or higher.

New approaches help students connect

Less than one-third of BIE schools are operated by the agency itself. The rest are run by tribes and receive federal funding. At some of those, educators say data collection is only part of the story.

Don Brummett, superintendent of Chief Leschi Schools, said his staff has been working to correct a “disconnect” between the high school's previous laser focus on getting students ready for college and many students’ goals of finding a job upon graduation.

“We devalued the trades. That was a mistake,” Brummett said.

The school launched its career and technical curriculum in 2020 with funding from the Puyallup Tribal Council. Since then, Brummett has seen students who might otherwise have dropped out instead enter health sciences, education and fisheries management and find new motivation to stay in school.

Dillon, the recent graduate, said hands-on job training was a better match for his learning style.

“It was kind of the first time I felt excited to go to school,” said Dillon, reflecting on his time helping second graders practice reading skills and learn the life cycle of a frog.

Between 2019 and 2025, Chief Leschi Schools reported four-year graduation rates rose from 53% to 87%.

A focus on trades is just one of the ways tribal-controlled BIE schools have innovated to keep students on track. At Choctaw Central High School, a BIE school operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw, administrators said a COVID-era experiment in virtual learning contributed to a surge in graduation rates from roughly 70% to 93%.

“For certain kids that have more responsibilities at home, kids that need to work, we saw that (virtual learning) gave them a flexible schedule and an opportunity to earn their diploma,” said principal Alaric Keams.

When pandemic lockdowns lifted, the district maintained a virtual learning option for all high schoolers.

But not all tribal governments have the resources to pay for these kinds of programs or take over management of BIE schools.

Peter Lengkeek, chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, says the BIE-operated high school serving his community is chronically understaffed and crumbling under a backlog of deferred maintenance, including a gymnasium with sinking walls and a rodent infestation. It has reported graduating fewer than 60% of students on time in recent years.

“If we were able to, we would step in and try to remedy a lot of these things,” said Lengkeek. “We have to rely on the government to fulfill its treaty promise.”

Tribal leaders push back against education changes

From the dismantling of the federal Department of Education to DOGE reductions that swept out longtime staffers, as well as repeated threats of deep funding cuts, tribal leaders fear the progress that has been made could be undermined.

In November 2025, the Department of Education began handing off oversight of dozens of programs that serve Native students to BIE.

At a tribal consultation session in February in Washington, D.C., dozens of tribal leaders spoke in opposition, saying the transition could overwhelm the already understaffed and stretched BIE with additional responsibilities. Several accused the department of ignoring its legal responsibility to seek their input before moving forward.

“We are here too late,” said Herschel Gorham, lieutenant governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. “The ink was dry on the agreements before the tribes were ever notified. That should never, ever happen.”

Jason Dropik, executive director of the National Indian Education Association, said turmoil at the agency's Washington office trickles down to schools, pointing to a Trump administration executive order that aimed to turn the BIE into a school choice system but was scaled back after an outcry from tribes.

“That caused some delays and disruptions to services,” Dropik said. “When drastic changes go into motion without tribal consultation, there can be unintended consequences for our students.”

Lengkeek worries the BIE could be consumed by political upheaval while schools like the one serving his community continue to underperform.

“This system holds the future of our nations in its hands,” Lengkeek said. “We need stability. We need increased funding. We need infrastructure.”

——

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

Lawyers for Robert Tulloch, now 43, and prosecutors reached an agreement, avoiding a three-day planned resentencing hearing. In court Monday, a shackled Tulloch held his head down and appeared to breathe heavily as the horrific details of the stabbings were recounted.

Tulloch was automatically sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the 2001 stabbing deaths of Half and Susanne Zantop. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that mandatory sentences of life without parole are unconstitutional for juveniles, and later applied that decision retroactively.

The rulings gave hundreds of juvenile lifers a shot at freedom, including five men serving life sentences in New Hampshire for murders they committed as teenagers. Tulloch’s resentencing hearing, the last of the five, would have begun Monday in Grafton County Superior Court in North Haverhill, New Hampshire.

A daughter of the victims requests the longest possible sentence

Tulloch apologized to one of the professors’ two daughters, Veronika Zantop, who joined the hearing remotely, and talked about how she and her family were affected by the death of her parents.

A psychiatrist with two sons, one of them the same age Tulloch was when he committed his crimes, she said she can appreciate that brain functioning can change over time. But she does not believe it's true for Tulloch, saying he meticulously planned the killings and followed through in a cold, predatory manner.

“This wasn't a crime of passion or retribution,” she said. “He wasn't using substances, he wasn't psychotic. There was just sheer depravity.” She urged that he stay in prison “for the longest possible sentence.”

Tulloch abandoned his prepared statement.

“After listening to that, I feel disgusted by even thinking I could say anything that would mean anything,” he said.

Tulloch's lawyers asked for a 30-to-40-year minimum sentence

In a court filing last week, Tulloch’s lawyers argued that a minimum sentence in the range of 30 to 40 years is appropriate, based on a review of other murders committed by juveniles in New Hampshire and cases nationwide that were affected by the Supreme Court rulings.

Judge Lawrence MacLeod resentenced Tulloch to a minimum of 45 years to life. He could be considered for parole in 2046 when he's 62 years old, the same age Half Zantop was when he was killed.

MacLeod said he reviewed the applicable law, the circumstances of Tulloch's offenses, his conduct while in prison, the outcomes of the other New Hampshire cases and Veronika Zantop's statement.

“The agreed upon sentence provides certainty that Tulloch will remain incarcerated for a substantial period of time, allows Tulloch to pursue some measure of rehabilitation, and it secures important protections for the community,” New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement.

Attorneys Richard Guerriero and Oliver Bloom said Tulloch’s prison records show he has matured, and that after some initial misconduct early on, he’s had no major infractions since 2012 and no minor infractions since 2017.

Quoting from Tulloch’s therapy records, they said he has expressed “significant remorse” for what he sees as a heinous and unforgivable crime, his “warped youthful thinking,” and his “good capacity for empathy.”

The teens came up with a plan to kill, steal money and live overseas

According to Tulloch’s friend, James Parker, the teens were bored with their lives in Chelsea, Vermont, when they concocted a plan to kill strangers, steal their money and move to Australia. For several months, they knocked on doors in New Hampshire and Vermont pretending to be conducting a survey on the environment before being let in by the Zantops. Susanne Zantop, 55, was head of Dartmouth’s German studies department and her husband, Half Zantop taught Earth sciences.

Parker, who was 16 at the time, told prosecutors Tulloch stabbed Half Zantop and then directed Parker to attack Susanne Zantop. Tulloch also stabbed her. Fingerprints on a knife sheath and a bloody boot print linked the teens to the crime, but after being questioned by police, they fled Vermont and hitchhiked west. They were arrested at an Indiana truck stop weeks later.

Parker, who cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder, was released from prison on parole in 2024 at age 40, having served nearly the minimum term of his 25-years-to-life sentence.

“I think it’s unimaginably horrible,” Parker said during his parole hearing when asked by a board member what he thought of what he did. “I know there’s not an amount of time or things that I can do to change it, or alleviate any pain that I’ve caused.”

Many states have banned life sentences for juveniles

The Supreme Court rulings addressed only mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles, leaving the U.S. the only country that allows discretionary life sentences for minors. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have banned the practice, while another five states allow it but have no one serving such a sentence, according to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.

New Hampshire lawmakers have rejected attempts to end life sentences for juveniles, but Tulloch's case could bolster future attempts. After Tulloch argued in 2018 that sentencing juveniles to life without parole violated the state constitution, the judge asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in, but it declined. Last July, MacLeod agreed with Tulloch, finding that the constitution categorically prohibits such sentences as “cruel or unusual” punishment.

Among the juvenile lifers nationwide who have been resentenced after the U.S. Supreme Court rulings, more than 75% have received sentences of less than 40 years, according to a study published in 2024 in the Journal of Criminal Justice.

In New Hampshire, one man was resentenced to life without parole after refusing to attend his hearing or authorize his attorneys to argue for a lesser sentence. Others received sentences of 25-, 40- and 45-years-to-life.

A public visitation will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by a 12 p.m. public memorial service on July 14 at the Bethesda Christian Church, 14000 Metro Parkway, in Sterling Heights

Barker, 38, was a lead wildland firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service Rifle Helitack crew, assigned to the Knowles and Gore fires near the Colorado-Utah border. According to officials, a fast-moving burnover incident led to emergency conditions, and despite efforts to deploy emergency shelters, Barker and two other firefighters — Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Ariz., and Sydney Watson, 26, of Warrior, Ala. — were killed.

When her remains were returned to Michigan the morning of July 9, members of the Detroit Fire Department lined nine overpasses on I-94 to honor her as they were escorted home.

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Full honors will also be rendered by the U.S. Forest Service at Barker’s memorial. The D.S. Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home in Warren is assisting the family with local arrangements.

Congo since May has been battling the outbreak of a type of Ebola with no approved treatment or vaccine. Last week, the Congolese health minister, Roger Kamba, said the virus had spread to two more provinces.

The striking staff at Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, includes epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and gravediggers who say they have not been paid by Congolese authorities. The protesting staff shut the hospital and blocked the road leading to it, even burning a tire outside.

“We don’t know how it is possible to not have been paid for two months,” Bahati Claude, a health worker at the hospital told The Associated Press. “We don’t want to give up the job.”

The treatment center is different from the one in Ituri where a study of two badly needed treatments began earlier this month.

Congolese authorities declared the Ebola outbreak on May 15, after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organization. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, and the delay in confirming the outbreak came in part because tests were done for a more common type of Ebola.

During a visit to Ituri last week, Congo's health minister said the government is verifying a list of those working to control the outbreak, as some unrelated names have been added to the payroll.

“We must ensure that these payments reach the right people,” Kamba said. “We have faced a few challenges, notably changes to the lists, which have led to complaints from people saying they are not being paid even though they are working. We have the means to sort this out.”

There are 1,926 confirmed cases in the country, including 702 deaths, according to Congolese authorities.

Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted Monday on X that a second U.S. citizen, a humanitarian worker in eastern Congo who had contracted Ebola, was transferred to Germany. The first American to test positive for the virus was a doctor working in Congo during the early weeks of the outbreak.

Emily Barker, a member of the U.S. Forest Service Rifle Helitack crew, was assigned to the Knowles and Gore fires when a fast-moving burnover incident led to emergency conditions, trapping her and several other first responders.

Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Ariz., and Sydney Watson, 26, of Warrior, Ala., were also killed. Hutcherson was a member of the U.S. Forest Service Kaibab National Forest, and Watson was assigned to the U.S. Wildland Fire Service Rifle Helitack.

All three were dispatched to the fire as part of the helitack crew, a team of firefighters transported by helicopter to quickly respond and assess a wildfire. Once on the ground, helitack crew members build firelines — or cleared strips of land — using hand tools, chainsaws and other firefighting tools.

Fire shelters were immediately deployed when conditions worsened, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Two other firefighters on the crew survived and are being treated for injuries.

“This is an incredibly difficult moment for the entire wildland fire community,” said Forest Service Deputy Chief Sarah Fisher, in a statement. “Our heavy hearts are with the families during this unimaginable time. We recognize the tremendous impact this loss has on them and are deeply grateful for the devotion their loved ones brought to our organizations. We will honor their memory with compassion and support as their selfless service and commitment create an enduring legacy.” 

The Knowles and Gores fires have since merged with the Snyder fire and latest estimates suggest that more than 28,000 acres have burned along the Colorado-Utah border.

The circumstances surrounding the firefighters’ deaths remain under investigation and as of Monday morning the fire was still 0% contained.

The team announced bullpen coach Dan Hubbs will serve as interim pitching coach for the remainder of the season.

Sunday's 9-1 loss at the Chicago White Sox left the Athletics with a nine-game losing streak entering the All-Star break. The Athletics' 5.21 ERA ranks next to last in the major leagues, ahead of only Colorado's 5.44.

At 41-55, the Athletics are fourth in the AL West.

Emerson joined the Athletics in 2014 as bullpen coach and was promoted to pitching coach in 2017.

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

Dean was clinging to a one-shot lead when he hit into a pot bunker on the 18th hole and splashed out to 3 feet. The massive grandstands on both sides of the green were about two-thirds full, and they offered applause for the winning putt that Dean would love to hear on the weekend.

At least the 32-year-old Dean, who once delivered groceries to pay the bills, now has a chance.

He finished one shot ahead of Andrew Wilson. Aldrich Potgieter, who made bogey on the final hole to finish two shots behind, got into the Open later Monday when Louis Oosthuizen withdrew because of a back injury.

The R&A created this final qualifier to give 12 players a last chance to make the field, and to give the spectators at Royal Birkdale something more to watch than players chipping and putting during a long practice round.

“To see the amount of people out here today, it's been great,” said Dean, who will be playing in his third British Open, his first since Royal Troon in 2024. “We stopped at a local Premier Inn and we had a few people ask if we were playing in the qualifier today, which obviously you don't usually get. Yeah, I think it has drawn a lot more people.”

The top two alternates — Potgieter and Matti Schmid — were required to play to keep their status on the reserve list. They were joined by a collection of players who narrowly missed various qualifying opportunities. They remained the top two alternates when the competition ended, and the list was filled out by order of finish from Monday’s competition.

Dean lost out on a 3-for-1 qualifier at West Lancashire two weeks ago and was invited to compete. It paid off most handsomely on the back nine. He was tied for the lead when he hit 6-iron for his second shot on the par-5 14th hole that rode the wind and bounced along the firm turf to 4 feet.

“Probably the best 6-iron I've ever hit,” Dean said.

He made his British Open debut at Royal Birkdale in 2017 and tied for 70th. Dean is No. 268 in the world and currently 67th in the Race to Dubai on the European tour. This was a good addition to the schedule as the final major of the year. Plus, he's getting married on Tuesday.

“It was cheaper,” he said, referring to the unusual day of the week to exchange vows.

Dean also is the only player at Royal Birkdale to spend time delivering groceries, a part-time job he started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and kept for nearly four years to help fund his career when he didn't have a card and was mostly playing one-day events.

“I had a great time doing it,” Dean said. “Met some really good friends and grounded me really well.”

Wilson birdied the par-5 17th to give himself a chance but had to settle for a par on the 18th.

The last chance to win came down to Potgieter, but his flip wedge to the 17th went some 20 feet long and he made par, and his drive on the 18th landed near the spectator railing. His approach from the rough was one pace from clearing a pot bunker, instead bouncing back into the sand. By the end of the day, it didn't matter.

Schmid moved up to first alternate.

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

Brian Powell, 57, was charged with six counts of forgery and seven violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act in April 2026, after he reportedly falsified water safety tests while acting as president of Michigan water services provider, Douglas Environmental.

In Michigan, private water service providers are required to submit regular water testing to the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). If contaminant levels in the water exceed the state’s established safety standards, service providers are required to notify the agency of that fact immediately.

The investigation into Powell and Douglas Environmental began after an EGLE administrative review of the data submitted by Powell highlighted multiple discrepancies, leading the attorney general to pursue charges.

Further review led investigators to discover that water safety tests were falsified on six separate occasions in 2023 at the Moon Lake Mobile Home Park in Shiawassee County; Thornapple Lake Estates in Barry County; and Fenton Harbor Condominiums in Genesee County. Additionally between 2020 and 2023, Powell allegedly failed to report water tests that exceeded maximum contaminant levels at Hickory Hills Mobile Homes in Calhoun County; Green Brook Estates in Livingston County; North Bay Mobile Home Park in Genesee County; Fenton Harbor in Genesee County; Vicinia Gardens in Genesee County; and Western Pines of Genesee County.

Even though Powell was solely responsible for reporting the company’s test results to EGLE, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel asserted that both the company and its president shared liability in the misrepresentation of data.

Douglas Environmental pleaded no contest in June 2026 to one count of conducting a criminal enterprise and six counts of forgery, and was required to pay a $50,000 fine. Powell pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery, resulting in his sentence of two years’ probation. The other charges were dismissed.

“Ensuring the safety of Michigan’s drinking water depends on accurate reporting, and when that trust is broken, it puts public health at-risk,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos in a statement after the plea. “This resolution underscores that falsifying water-quality data carries real consequences. Michiganders deserve complete confidence in the safety of their drinking water.”

Nessel’s office says no residents at the mobile home parks were harmed as part of the scheme, according to EGLE testing.

“While thankfully residents were not harmed in this particular instance, EGLE relies on accurate data to identify problems before they become threats to communities,” Nessel said. “My office will continue working with them to protect Michiganders and hold accountable those whose actions could compromise our water.”

Blaney drove like NASCAR's King while ruling the Cup Series race from qualifying through every stage in a weather-delayed victory which left the Team Penske Ford driver in contention for the points championship.

Blaney won every stage after starting on the pole and led 171 laps in his win. The race was delayed 3 hours, 9 minutes by rain and lightning and ended at 1:45 a.m. on Monday.

The 171 laps led are the most at a drafting-style track since Petty led 184 of 200 laps for his first Daytona 500 win in 1964.

As a result, Blaney is third in the NASCAR points race, only 65 behind leader Denny Hamlin. Tyler Reddick is second.

Even Blaney was shocked to learn he is in the thick of the championship race heading into Sunday's race at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“Really?” Blaney asked when told he is only 65 points out of the lead. “Wow! Wow!”

It was a race to remember for Blaney and Team Penske. Blaney's dominance began when he won the pole while joined by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano on the front row. He then survived the long weather delay to answer every challenge while winning Stage 1, Stage 2 and then surviving a three-wide battle on the final lap.

“I couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” Blaney said. "Sat on the pole, won both stages and won the race.

“My car was incredibly fast, leading. I could defend moves without having to throw, like, low-percentage blocks. I just never really did that.”

Blaney knew he had the speed to recover if he briefly lost the lead.

“Some moves are kind of unbeatable to defend as the leader,” he said. “I would just let people get to my inside. If they passed me, great, I think I can probably develop a run to get them back.”

Blaney's crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, made the crucial decision to keep the No. 12 Ford on the track after Blaney brushed the wall with 29 laps remaining. Blaney worried he felt a “terrible” vibration following the contact with the wall but Hassler was able to quickly determine there was no serious damage.

“We were able to get some pictures really quick, see that the damage wasn’t too bad,” Hassler said. “Obviously we saw there was a little bit. ... We looked at it, there were 30 cars on the lead lap, not a lot of laps left. Our chance to win was to stay out, take a little bit of a risk. Fortunately it worked out for us.”

Blaney fought off challenges from Bubba Wallace and Christopher Hill, who finished second, on the final lap. Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top four. Wallace was penalized for passing below the double yellow lines and finished 29th instead of second.

Blaney said he didn't have the best-handling car but enjoyed being able to rely on his superior speed with the race on the line.

“That was kind of a fun dynamic of my car is really fast, handles a little worse than theirs,” Blaney said. “Their car handles better but isn’t quite as quick down the straightaway. Fun how all that played out.”

Now Blaney will continue to chase the Toyotas of Hamlin and Reddick for the points lead. Blaney's strategy is simple: "Just keep doing what we’re doing."

Asked if he can win the championship, Blaney said “I don’t think it’s out of the question.

"We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. That surprises me we’re that close. I think before San Diego I was like 160 out. It shows you how quick things can kind of ebb and flow. ... Never know when we can get there or not."

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

After the long holdup, Jay-Z started the show at 12:17 a.m. Monday and told the audience that “somebody rushed the door” and that he didn't want to start performing and have “people get trampled” on their way in.

“Really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everybody was OK,” he told the crowd before thanking them for their patience and promising a “good time tonight.”

In a statement, the Yankees, Jay-Z's Roc Nation and Live Nation said hundreds of people in large groups without tickets “stormed over peaceful ticketholders, and in some cases, breached security" and the stadium had to shutter entrances for an extended period of time before being able to cautiously reopen.

Video from outside the stadium showed a large crowd of people standing around an entrance. A different video from inside the stadium showed people rushing inside through an open door before several security guards were able to stop additional people from entering.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said it did not have information about arrests at the stadium over the incident.

Full forecast --> Extreme Heat Watch issued for Southeast Michigan as dangerous heat builds

If you need a place to cool off during this week’s extreme heat event, there are plenty of cooling centers open to the public across Metro Detroit.

Check out the list here:

Wayne County

20th District Court

25637 Michigan Ave., Dearborn Heights , MI, 48127

Caroline Kennedy Library

24590 George Street, Dearborn Heights , MI, 48127

Eton Senior Center

4900 Pardee, Dearborn Heights , MI, 48125

Berwyn - Senior Center

26155 Richardson, Dearborn Heights , MI, 48127

John F. Kennedy Library

24602 Van Born Road, Dearborn Heights , MI, 48127

William Ford Senior Activities Center

6750 Troy Street, Taylor, MI, 48180

Garden City Police Department

6000 Middlebelt Road, Garden City, MI, 48185

Booker Dozier Recreation Center

2025 Middlebelt Road, Inkster, MI, 48141

Allen Park Community Center

15800 White Street, Allen Park, MI, 48101

Garden City Public Library

31735 Maplewood Street, Garden City, MI, 48185

Jefferson Barns Community Vitality Center

32150 Dorsey Road, Westland, MI, 48186

Community Center

3525 Dix, Lincoln Park, MI, 48146

River Rouge Police Department

10600 W. Jefferson Avenue, River Rouge , MI, 48218

Kennedy Memorial Building

3240 Ferris, Lincoln Park, MI, 48146

Ethel Stevenson Senior Center

4072 W. Jefferson, Ecorse, MI, 48229

Radcliff Center

1751 Radcliff Street, Garden City, MI, 48185

Westland Fire Station 3

28801 Annapolis Road, Westland, MI, 48185

Taylor Sportsplex

13333 Telegraph, Taylor, MI, 48180

Southgate Senior Center

14700 Reaume Parkway, Southgate, MI, 48195

Southgate Veterans Library

14680 Dix Toledo Highway, Southgate, MI, 48195

Westland Fire Station 1

35701 Central City Parkway, Westland, MI, 48185

Westland City Hall

36300 Warren Road, Westland, MI, 48185

Westland Police Department

36701 Ford Road, Westland, MI, 48185

Kirksey Recreation Center

15100 Hubbard, Livonia, MI, 48154

Copeland Center

2306 4th Street, Wyandotte, MI, 48192

Robert and Janet Bennett Civic Center Library

32777 Five Mile Road, Livonia, MI, 48154

Carl Sandburg Library

30100 Seven Mile Road, Livonia, MI, 48152

Romulus Public Library

11121 Wayne Road, Wayne, MI, 48174

Senior Plaza

2620 Holbrook Street, Hamtramck, MI, 48212

Westfield Activities Center

2700 Westfield Street, Trenton, MI, 48183

Canton Public Library

1200 S. Canton Center Road, Canton Charter Township, MI, 48188

Summit on the Parkway

46000 Summit Parkway, Canton Charter Township, MI, 48188

Grosse Ille Public Safety Building

24525 Meridian Street, Grosse Ile Township , MI, 48138

Flat Rock Community Center

1 McGuire Street, Flat Rock , MI, 48314

Sumpter Township Community Center

23501 Sumpter Road, Belleville, MI, 48111

The Helm 158 Ridge Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, 48236

Click here for more information on cooling centers in Wayne County, contact information and center hours.

Macomb County

Armada Senior Center

75400 North Ave.

Bruce Municipal Office

223 E Gates St.

Center Line City Hall

7070 Ten Mile Road

Center Line Parks and Recreation

25355 Lawrence Ave.

Chesterfield Community Center

48400 Sugarbush Road

Chesterfield Senior Center

47275 Sugarbush Road

Chesterfield Township Library

50560 Patricia Ave.

Clinton-Macomb Main Library

40900 Romeo Plank Road

Clinton-Macomb South Library

35679 South Gratiot Ave.

Fraser Public Library

15260 15 Mile Road

Harrison Township Public Library

38255 L’Anse Creuse Street – Suite A

Lenox Township Public Library

58976 Main Street

Clinton-Macomb North Library

54100 Broughton Road

Memphis Fire Department

35095 Potter St.

Memphis Public Library

34830 Potter St.

Macomb County Health Department

43525 Elizabeth Road

Macomb County Sheriff’s Office

43565 Elizabeth Road

Salvation Army – Mount Clemens

55 Church St.

Anton Art Center

125 Macomb Pl.

Ray Township Senior Center

64255 Wolcott Road

Lois Wagner Memorial Library

35200 Division Road

Recreation Authority Center

18185 Sycamore St.

Macomb County Health Department

25401 Harper Ave.

Sterling Heights Public Library

40255 Dodge Park Road

Sterling Heights Senior Center

40200 Utica Road

Sterling Heights Community Center

40250 Dodge Park Road

Sterling Heights Athletic Hub (beginning Monday, July 20)

35630 Van Dyke Ave.

Macomb County Health Department

27690 Van Dyke Ave.

Warren City Hall

Atrium & Civic Center Library

Busch Branch Library

23333 Ryan Road

Burnette Branch Library

23345 Van Dyke Avenue

Miller Branch Library

5460 Arden Avenue

Washington Township Government Office

57900 Van Dyke Ave. (1/2 Mile north of 26 Mile Road)

Click here for more information on cooling centers in Macomb County, contact information and center hours.

Oakland County

Costick Activities Center, open July 13-17

28600 W. Eleven Mile Road, between Middlebelt and Inkster Roads, Farmington Hills, MI

Fire Station, open July 13-17

31455 W. Eleven Mile Road on the Farmington Hills City Hall campus, Farmington Hills, MI

Oakland County provides a map for cooling centers that is updated when cities notify the county of open centers, for the most up to date cooling centers click here. When on map cooling centers will show individual contact information and hours.

Washtenaw County

AADL-Downtown

343 S 5th Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48104

AADL-Mallets Creek

3090 E Eisenhower Parkway Ann Arbor, MI 48108

AADL-Pittsfield

2359 Oak Valley DriveAnn Arbor, MI 48103

AADL-Traverwood

3333 Traverwood Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48105

AADL-Westgate

2503 Jackson Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Chelsea Library

221 S Main Street Chelsea, MI 48118

Dexter Library

3255 Alpine Street Dexter, MI 48130

Manchester Library

912 City Road (M-52) Manchester, MI 48158

Milan Library

151 Wabash Street Milan, MI 48160

Northville Library

212 W Cady Street Northville, MI 48167

Saline Library

555 N Maple Road Saline, MI 48176

Salem-South Lyon Library

9800 Pontiac Trail South Lyon, MI 48178

Washtenaw County Human Services Building (Atrium)

555 Towner Ypsilanti, MI 48197

YDL-Superior

1900 Harris Road Ypsilanti, MI 48198

YDL-Whittaker

5577 Whittaker Road Ypsilanti, MI 48197

YDL-Downtown

229 W Michigan Ave Ypsilanti, MI 48197

All county building lobbies in Washtenaw are also available as cooling sites during normal business hours.

Click here for more information on cooling centers in Washtenaw County, contact information and center hours.

Livingston County

Salvation Army Building in Howell

503 Lake St. 48843

Open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – Noon and 1 – 4 p.m.

Monroe County

Bedford Branch Library

8575 Jackman Rd, Temperance

Bedford Senior Community Center

1653 Samaria Rd, Temperance

Blue Bush Library

2210 Blue Bush Rd, Monroe

BridgePoint Church

875 Lewis Ave, Temperance

Carleton Library

1444 Kent Street, Carleton

Dorsch Memorial Branch Library

18 East First Street, Monroe

Dundee Area Senior Citizen Center

284 W Monroe St, Dundee

Dundee Branch Library

144 East Main St, Dundee

Ellis Library

3700 South Custer Rd, Monroe

Erie Library

2065 Erie Rd, Erie

Frenchtown-Dixie Library

2881 Nadeau Rd., Monroe

Ida Library

3016 Lewis Ave, Ida

Maybee Library

9060 Raisin Street, Maybee

Milan Seniors Citizen Center for Healthy Living

45 Neckel Ct, Milan

Monroe Family YMCA

1111 W Elm Ave, Monroe

Newport Library

8120 N Dixie Hey, Newport

Opportunity Center at the ALCC

120 Eastchester Street, Monroe

Rasey Memorial Library

4349 Oak, Luna Pier

Robert A Vivian Library

2662 Vivian Rd, Monroe

S. Navarre Library

1135 East second Street, Monroe

Salvation Army Campus of Hope

815 E. First Street, Monroe

South Rockwood Library

5676 Carleton Rockwood Rd, S. Rockwood

Summerfield-Petersburg Library

60 East Center St, Petersburg

The Monroe Center for Healthy Aging

15275 S Dixie Hwy, Monroe

Click here for more information on cooling centers in Monroe County, contact information and center hours.

The blaze at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar was the city’s deadliest in 17 years. It broke out late Sunday in a northern part of the Thai capital, and firefighters needed half an hour to bring it under control. The fire left 25 people hospitalized in critical condition, city officials said.

Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation.

By daybreak Monday, the site had been cordoned off as dozens of forensic officers sought clues about what caused the fire. The bar's street-facing windows were blown out, and debris littered the sidewalk, including charred television sets, speakers and an electric guitar. Associated Press journalists looking through the shattered windows could see empty beer bottles still sitting atop burned tables.

The bar, which in Thai calls itself a brewery or beer hall, claimed to accommodate as many as 600 customers. It was not clear how many were present Sunday night.

According to Bangkok’s Erawan emergency services center, 73 people were hurt. The Bangkok city government said there were 28 dead, one more than Erawan’s tally.

The dead were trapped in bathrooms

National Police Chief Kittharath Punpetch said most of the dead were found trapped in windowless bathrooms near one of the rear exits, where they may have sought shelter from the flames.

He said the exit was not used, and people may have been blocked from reaching it by a table set up in a hall to sell candy, or because it was too dark to find the way out.

Access to another exit near the kitchen might also have been narrowed by shelving units and lockers, said Kittharath, who visited the scene Monday. There were signs that at least some of the exit doors might have been locked, he added.

Investigators focused on the ceiling above a performance stage, where they found materials that may have been used as decorative elements, he said. Police will examine whether flammable materials were used in the interior and how electrical wiring was installed across the ceiling.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that a musician who was performing at the bar told him he saw smoke coming out of a circuit breaker near the stage before the power went out. Then an explosion was heard, and thick smoke quickly filled the place.

Video posted on social media showed people fleeing as flames shot out of the single-story building and black smoke billowed into the sky.

Buddhist monks prayed for the dead

Several Buddhist monks visited the site Monday to pray for the victims, while nurses handed out face masks to help protect people from lingering smoke and fumes from the building.

A registration site was set up to gather information from relatives looking for loved ones.

Singer Sukanya Wongwongwai said she was performing nearby when she heard about the fire and rushed to the scene because several of her bandmates were performing at the bar. She said one of them died, three were hospitalized and one had not been located. Her band later announced on Facebook that the missing member was also found hospitalized.

“From what I heard from people who were inside when the fire started, everything went dark. The power was out, and there was smoke everywhere, so they couldn’t locate other people,” she said.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the bar offered apologies and condolences and said it was cooperating with investigators. It said the bar’s owner suffered serious injuries and was in an intensive care unit.

Mourning family members identify the dead at a morgue

Family members gathered at Bangkok's Institute of Forensic Medicine to identify the dead.

Keo Oudone Poungpany, 24, was at the institute to identify his younger brother's body. Both of the brothers, migrant workers from neighboring Laos, were working as bar employees when the fire broke out.

Poungpany said he was using a restroom outside the bar when the fire began.

He described walking back toward the bar and encountering dozens of people running away from the flames and hearing loud noises.

From the outside the bar, he began shouting for his brother. “The heat was unbearable, I couldn’t get back in,” he said.

“For now, I want to bring my younger brother’s body back home,” Poungpany said. “I want to bring him home to my parents. My parents are waiting for their kids to come back together, but now one is gone.”

In 2022, 14 people were killed by a fire at a music bar in the eastern part of the country. And more than a decade before that, 67 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire during a Jan. 1, 2009, New Year’s Eve celebration at the Santika nightclub in Thailand's capital. That blaze was apparently sparked by an indoor fireworks display.

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This report corrects the total number of dead from the 2009 fire at Bangkok's Santika nightclub to 67. The number 66 in previous versions was based on an earlier story that had not been updated.

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Sahatthaya Kraikhunthot contributed to this report.

Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, who worked at the global electronics company Analog Devices, was accused of helping an Iranian business associate get around American export control laws. U.S. prosecutors say the business associate’s Tehran-based company makes navigation systems for the military drone program of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Authorities say the scheme included the creation of a front company in Switzerland.

The second defendant, Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, called Abedini in court documents, was not on trial. He is believed to be in Iran after an apparent prisoner exchange for an Italian journalist.

Sadeghi was found guilty on three of the five charges. He showed no visible reaction to the verdict, which came early in the fourth day of jury deliberations. He and his lawyers did not comment as they left court, and he will remain free until sentencing Oct. 13.

Sadeghi, a 43-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, chose not to testify. A father of two, he lost his job at Analog Devices due to the charges. Although he was arrested in December 2024, long before the current war with Iran, his trial has unfolded during the conflict.

“At its core, this case is straightforward. You cannot send goods, especially the goods at issue in this case, to Iran. Period. Full stop,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter told the jury. “The defendant knew that, and conspired with Mr. Abedini to do that.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dolan, in his closing remarks, said documents, text messages and photos proved that the illegal acts were the “fruits of this relationship” between Sadeghi and Abedini.

“The evidence established that he knew what Abedini was doing because he told him in writing,” Dolan said. “He helped him anyway.”

Sadeghi's attorney, William Fick, told jurors that the scheme laid out by the prosecution “makes no sense” and was full of holes. He said Sadeghi was only offering advice to a longtime friend about how to get business with the semiconductor company, and wasn’t responsible for procuring the parts for Abedini.

Fick said there was no proof the parts ended up in Iran, and he disputed that the Swiss company was a front.

“If you look at the world through dirty glasses, everything looks dirty,” Fick said. “That is fundamentally what the prosecution is asking you to do here.”

Fick also said prosecutors hadn't shown Sadeghi gained anything from the alleged plan — although the prosecution pointed out that they didn't need to prove a motive.

“He had nothing to gain and everything to lose,” Fick said. “He has lived in the country for decades. He was a well-regarded, respected employee on his way up in the company.”

Prosecutors had hoped to introduce evidence during the trial related to an Iranian drone used in a 2024 attack that killed three U.S. troops at a remote base in Jordan.

However, before the trial, defense attorneys sought to exclude any evidence related to Abedini’s role in drone manufacturing or attacks on American troops.

The judge agreed, ruling that prosecutors could only give general evidence about Abedini’s Iranian company and how its technology had potential military applications, including for drones. During a hearing in February, prosecutors acknowledged they didn’t have evidence that Sadeghi “knew anything” about the technology he was accused of exporting was allegedly used on the drone involved in the Jordan attack.

Both defendants have been charged with export control violations. Abedini is separately charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization that resulted in the deaths of three service members.

Abedini was arrested at an airport in Italy on a U.S. warrant in December 2024, but was released a month later and returned to Iran. Three days after his arrest, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained while reporting in Iran. Sala, who was believed held as a bargaining chip for Abedini’s release, returned home in January 2025.

It was among several wildfires in western Europe as the region bakes under its third red-alert heat wave this year.

In Spain, 10 people were still unaccounted for Monday from a fire that ripped through a remote southern expatriate community last week, killing 13 people in one of the country's deadliest blazes.

The Fontainebleau forest fire is unusual for its proximity to the French capital — about 70 kilometers (42 miles). The region hosts the Fontainebleau Chateau favored by Napoleon and is popular with visitors from Paris and beyond.

French President Emmanuel Macron said all necessary means were being deployed to fight the fire of ″exceptional scale.”

Two water-dumping planes were deployed over the area along with hundreds of firefighters, regional fire service spokesperson Paul Laurain told public broadcaster France-Info.

The head of the regional administration, Pierre Ory, told French media that an investigation is underway and that arson was being considered a possibility.

A new fire has broken out in another section of the forest, Ory said. The initial fire is still not contained and was continuing to spread at a moderate rate.

“Winds are turning, which is significantly complicating the work of the firefighters," he said.

Trains to and from the bustling Gare de Lyon train station were disrupted late Sunday but were returning to normal Monday morning. A section of the busy A6 highway leading southeast of Paris was shut down because of fire risk.

Large fires in southern France have already scorched thousands of hectares (acres) since last week, disrupting the Tour de France cycling race and stretching firefighting resources.

France is experiencing the peak of its third heat wave of the summer, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across western and central areas and around 37 C (98 F) in Paris.

Spain reeling from deadly wildfire

A 93-year-old British national died Sunday in a hospital from injuries sustained in the Los Gallardos wildfire, elevating the death toll to 13.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was expected to visit the site of the fire on Monday. Regional authorities said the blaze was contained Sunday after affecting some 70 square kilometers (27 square miles) of forest and farmland — larger than the size of Manhattan.

Spain is experiencing extreme heat, which combined with wind and little rainfall is creating the ideal conditions for small wildfires to grow unchecked.

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.

Homes evacuated in UK due to fires

In the U.K., people were evacuated from several dozen rural homes in north Wales after a wildfire broke out across a mountainside on Sunday, British media reported.

Wildfires also burned in several locations across England as another heat wave — the third this year — brought hot, sunny and dry conditions.

The Met Office said record heat waves since May have led to 2026 becoming the first year to record temperatures of 35 C (95 F) or higher on six separate days. That broke the previous record set in 1976 and 2020, when five days were recorded with such temperatures.

Natural England’s fire severity index has put much of England at “very high” risk of wildfires, with some areas in southern England and the Midlands at “exceptional” risk.

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Naishadham reported from Madrid. Eva Van Dam in Paris and Sylvia Hui in London contributed.

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A previous version corrected the age of a British national who died Sunday.

She did it in “Furiosa” and the upcoming “Dune: Part Three.” Now she's under the blazing California sun for “Lucky,” a propulsive Apple TV crime thriller that has her trading blows with goons, bloodying her otherworldly face.

“Listen, I’ve been to the desert so many times at this point it’s kind of unreal. I don’t look like a desert creature, and yet I’m always there and I love it,” says the actor. “People like to see me struggle, and they like me to survive. And, luckily, I enjoy doing it, too, so it works out.”

Taylor-Joy plays the title character in an adaptation of Marissa Stapley's novel about a con artist who wakes up in a hotel room and realizes she's been betrayed by a close ally and is forced on the run.

Lucky is soon pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss over a missing $10 million. Her widowed father isn't much help: He raised her to be a criminal but is now behind bars, only helping from a phone call.

“She’s at an inflection point when we meet her in the book and in the show where she’s got to chart her own course. She’s got to take things into her own hands, and she’s got to really decide how she wants to live her life,” says Lauren Neustadter, an executive producer.

A character evolves

The seven-episode series premieres Wednesday, and even in the first episode, Lucky has to fight her way out the closed trunk of a car and slam a screwdriver into the neck of a bad guy, finding herself alone in the desert. “How can someone so small cause so much trouble?” a goon asks.

“We see this character evolve from beginning to end. She starts off being all about the con, and the question is, ‘Where will that go? How will she evolve and who will she become?’ And I think that it’s one of the things that makes this show so special,” says Neustadter.

The series co-stars Annette Bening, Drew Starkey and Timothy Olyphant, with a female-centric soundtrack that includes a stirring theme song by Fiona Apple and tunes by Sleater-Kinney and Siouxsie Sioux.

Bening plays a cold-blooded mob leader who gets stuck between trying to save her son and tangling with her brutal boss and former lover. She's as likely to order a killing as be executed herself.

“She is an abused woman and she’s an abuser,” Bening says. “So, she’s so intriguing. I thought the writing was really good. And I did want to play this kind of borderline sociopathic woman.”

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media company approached Taylor-Joy with the book, asking her to not just consider leading the series as an actor but also offering to make her debut as an executive producer.

“I remember crossing my fingers and thinking, ‘God, I really hope I like this book.’ And then I did and I fell in love with Lucky and I felt that I had something to contribute in this space, which I think if you’re coming on as an executive producer is the feeling that you want to have,” says Taylor-Joy.

The show — created by Jonathan Tropper and written and showrun alongside Cassie Pappas — is a crime thriller but with a family drama at its heart, one that prompts Lucky to wonder if there's another way to live.

“Thematically, that’s what Jonathan and I were really drawn to, is this idea of how much does family affect who you are versus how much can you break that path and write yourself a new one,” says Pappas.

Lucky leans into grifting skills to survive

Lucky has grown up grifting with her dad, stealing money-filled envelopes at birthday parties and faking injuries to get free hotel rooms. Now on the run, she leans into those skills to survive but also yearns for a better life.

“We all struggle against sort of the restraints of our past and the baggage we were given by even good parents and getting to a point where we can figure out who we are,” says Tropper. “Hers just has much higher stakes because the act of her trying to figure that out could get her killed.”

For Taylor-Joy, in addition to leaping off trucks, dodging killers and stealing cars onscreen, she got to make casting decisions and advise on the look and sound of the show behind the camera.

“I think we had a wonderful time making it, and I think you can feel that on the screen, despite the screwdrivers through the head,” she says with a laugh.

On Monday, a group of financial regulators is set to issue guidance intended to remind banks and other financial institutions of their know-your-customer requirements with respect to credit risk management, particularly as it relates to borrowers who are not authorized to work in the U.S.

The newest warning is one of several measures the Trump administration has taken to discourage people in the U.S. illegally from interacting with the larger U.S. financial system. The measures, over the last nine months, are designed to strongly encourage banks to remove them as customers while not expressly mandating that the banks do so.

The joint announcement is planned from three of the nation's bank regulators: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Association. The agencies said that banks should take into account that people in the U.S. illegally may not be able to repay a loan because of deportation. In short, they say, people working in the U.S. illegally pose overall risk to the financial system.

There is limited data on how many people in the U.S. illegally have bank accounts and have loans through the banks.

This comes as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order signed in May that requires banks and other financial institutions to take a closer look at the citizenship of their customers. That order started the most recent wave of banking regulation changes, ordering bank regulators and government departments to look for signs that people without legal status are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards.

Among other things, the guidance being issued Monday advises financial institutions to “identify, measure, monitor, and control these risks through safe and sound underwriting practices that assess a borrower’s willingness and capacity to repay according to the terms of the credit obligation” according to a news release.

In May, Treasury’s financial crimes arm — also known a FinCEN — issued an advisory to banks telling them to watch out for identity theft, payroll tax fraud, and money laundering schemes tied to hiring people who are not authorized to work in the U.S.

The advisory calls on financial institutions to be alert for more than a dozen red flags that indicate an individual is in the U.S. illegally.

The White House has also taken other measures to discourage people in the U.S. illegally from using the financial system. The Treasury last November announced that it would reclassify certain refundable tax credits as “federal public benefits,” which bars some immigrant taxpayers from receiving them, even if they file and pay taxes and would otherwise qualify.

Tax experts said immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents as children, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients, and immigrants with Temporary Protected Status would be affected by the planned change.

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Sweet contributed from New York.

Growing awareness of the dangers social media poses for young, developing brains has shown up in a wave of new restrictions globally. Australia, the U.K., Turkey, Indonesia and others have passed bans on kids under 16 or 15 from using platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Laying out a list of her concerns about the use of social media by kids, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — a doctor by training — said that children under 3 should have no exposure to screens at all.

“I believe we need to consider phased and gradual access for different age ranges because childhood won’t wait and once it’s gone, we can never give it back,” von der Leyen told reporters.

“Just as we don’t give our children keys to the car before they have their license, or we do not let them buy alcohol until they are legally allowed. We need to set the age at which they can, the children can, legally access social media,” she said.

Von der Leyen noted infinite scrolling as one of the “addictive” traits that tech companies must address.

The commission has also been targeting tech companies through other means, and last week used its sweeping Digital Safety Act to warn Meta that it needs to disable addictive design features such as infinite scrolling or risk a hefty fine.

Von der Leyen said there should “phased and gradual access for different age ranges” to social media. Children under 13 should only have “time-limited” access under the supervision of parents, teachers or other caregivers, she told reporters.

Teenagers should be given gradual access to platforms that can prove they are “age appropriate” and safe for them, she said.

While she didn't go into further detail, she and the European Commission — the EU’s powerful executive branch — are likely to come up with a proposal for the 27 member countries to weigh in the near future. Von der Leyen’s policy proposals carry great influence with EU member countries.

A special panel set up to study child safety online delivered its report to the EU chief on Monday. The report said that when it comes to safety, “the burden of proof needs to be on providers, not regulators, parents and children.”

“Until they demonstrate that their services are safe by design, social media and other digital services providers should have restricted access to children under the age of 13 in the EU,” said the report, which is likely to influence von der Leyen's thinking.

It recommended that “further precautionary age restrictions” should be considered by EU countries for children over 13.

Many social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok already prohibit anyone under the age of 13 from signing up for an account. But those restrictions have been criticized for being too easy to get around and the EU's digital regulators accused Instagram's parent Meta Platforms earlier this year of failing to keep underage users of the site.

The European Commission is working on its own age verification app that will let users prove their age while keeping their identity anonymous.

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Chan reported from Toronto.

Several members of Emery’s family spoke to Local 4 on Saturday evening. They say he was at the food court with his cousin just before 5:30 p.m. when gunfire began.

“I was sitting at the table eating my food and the next thing I heard was ‘boom’ and then another ‘boom’ - I said, ‘that’s not fireworks, that’s gunshots - so I look around at the mall and everyone just scatters out,” Demond Clayton said.

Clayton was sitting down to eat inside the food court on Saturday evening.

“I calmly get underneath the table and I realize after I hear the echo, the bullets are already fired. So, I get up, I have on my Meta glasses as you see right here and I started recording and it was just chaos everywhere, people just scattered. The mall cleared out in less than 15 seconds,” Clayton said.

Auburn Hills police say their officers were already inside the mall when they got reports of gunfire.

Officers got to the food court and found 20-year-old KeShawn Emery, who is from Pontiac, dead and a 19-year-old woman injured. She is expected to be ok.

“Also located the shooter who was still on scene. He was cooperative with the officers and taken into custody immediately,” Scott McGraw, Deputy Chief of Police for Auburn Hills Police Department, said.

They say he is a 22-year-old man from Detroit.

“The shooter and the deceased male were involved in an altercation earlier today,” McGraw said.

Police say that altercation happened inside one of the mall’s bathrooms.

“They ran into each other again inside the food court,” McGraw said.

Police say the alleged shooter told them he was jumped by the man who died and another unknown man before the shots were fired.

“It was actually a ‘fight or flight’ moment and people got out of there and it was very heartbreaking,” Clayton said. “In the video, you see a mom drop her baby’s bottle and everything. She’s just panicking to get out of there. I picked it up to give it to her and she walks out and she walked out of the way and the mall was just completely empty.”

The mall remained closed the rest of Saturday as police investigated.

The prosecutor will make any charging decisions and police ask anyone with information to reach out to them directly.

The park was previously known as Hawthorne Park.

In 2023, the city of Pontiac teamed up with Oakland County Parks to renovate the space.

Pontiac Oaks Park is 122 acres, 55% bigger than Hawthorne Park was at 77 acres.

The bigger park features new walking trails, a new pavilion, an 18-hole disc golf course, a boat launch, fishing dock on two lakes, and a cleaned-up shoreline.

Pontiac Mayor Mike McGuinness and parks & recreation planning Supervisor Simon Rivers joined Local 4 Live to tell us more about the project and what visitors can expect from the park.

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

The two leading candidates, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, have clashed over electability, their ties to corporate interests and willingness to fight Republican President Donald Trump's administration in Washington. Millions of dollars in political ads have blanketed televisions and phone screens for a race that has become emblematic of Democrats' deeper divides.

The increasingly bitter contest will be among the next races where progressive candidates are facing more moderate rivals. August primaries in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota will be another gauge of Democratic voters’ frustration with the establishment. The races across the Upper Midwest may also offer another test of the electability of hard-left candidates.

After notable progressive successes so far this year, party leaders worry these candidates could damage Democrats' brand and imperil their chances of retaking either chamber of Congress this fall or maintaining the governor's mansion in a battleground state ahead of the 2028 presidential election. The progressive left says recent results prove their message is the party's path to victory.

Flanagan, who is backed by progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, last week convened a press conference to condemn “secretive dark money groups and special interests” she says are at work in the Minnesota race. She argued the groups are working to elect Craig, a more conventional Democrat backed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and other senior Democratic leaders.

“What we are facing right now in our party,” Flanagan told The Associated Press, “is the very folks who are standing in the way of the things that people need to be able to afford their lives, who are Democrats, are funded by these corporate special interests. That is the choice I think that we have, and people are onto it.”

Craig counters that Flanagan raised campaign funds from major companies while chair of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association. She says that if Flanagan becomes the Democratic nominee, Republicans would focus on her ties to an ongoing fraud inquiry into the state's Medicaid programs.

“The coalition we’re building is people in Minnesota who understand that in order to stop Donald Trump, we’ve got to win elections,” Craig told the AP. She warned that Minnesota is often underappreciated as “the very definition of a swing state, and we simply can’t take this U.S. Senate seat for granted.”

Craig argued that it was important that Democrats do not reject corporate funding while Republicans continue to embrace backing from wealthy donors. She also said she supports major campaign finance reforms restricting the role of money in politics.

“But until we get to that day, it’s naive to think that we’re not going to need resources,” Craig said.

Upper Midwest becomes next theater in Democrats' progressive vs. moderate fight

The Minnesota primary, in which Flanagan and Craig are vying for the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, is Aug. 11. Wisconsin also holds its primary that day — one week after voters will choose nominees in Michigan on Aug. 4.

In Michigan, Rep. Haley Stevens is running against progressive Abdul El-Sayed for the state's Democratic Senate nomination in a race Democrats must win to hold the seat held by Sen. Gary Peters, who is retiring and has endorsed Stevens. And in Wisconsin, democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong has surged in the state's Democratic gubernatorial primary against more conventional Democratic lawmakers, including former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.

In each case, progressives hope to prove that an economically populist message resonates with voters beyond deep blue enclaves where they have had recent success, like New York City and Denver. But Democratic leaders fear that the insurgent candidates risk blowing winnable races for Democrats with messages considered too radical for most voters.

Craig also criticized progressives for gambling with Democrats' chances to retake the Senate due to poor campaigning and vetting of candidates. She noted the recent downfall of Graham Platner, who easily won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maine in June but dropped out of the race last week after facing an allegation of sexual assault, which he denies.

“We just saw one of our best Senate opportunities go down in flames in Maine, potentially, with that same coalition,” Craig said.

“And many of the same people are working on the lieutenant governor’s campaign as Graham Platner’s campaign," Craig added. "My coalition is statewide. I’m going everywhere. I’m talking to everyone. I’m working to bring people back to the (Democratic Party).”

Following the fallout from the Platner scandal, progressives view the Upper Midwest Senate races as their last chance to shape the Democrats' Senate caucus and prove their theory of the case in the midterm elections.

“Abdul El-Sayed was already the most important primary candidate in the nation, and this underscores the importance of that race, both in the primary and the general,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a political action committee that backs Flanagan and El-Sayed.

The organization views this year's Senate races in Michigan and Maine as key tests of whether progressives’ message and organizing strategies could prove effective in competitive races. The high-stakes strategy was meant to assuage potential concerns among Democratic voters that progressives are unelectable in competitive races ahead of the party’s 2028 presidential primary.

“Our hope is to not have an outlier but a pattern of shake-up-the-system economic fighters who win tough swing state elections," Green said.

A long populist history in the Midwest

The Upper Midwest has populist traditions going back decades, including by electing progressive and conservative populists, said Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. The region was often a model for the Progressive Era’s reform-minded policies, but it also elected some of the most stridently conservative Cold War voices like Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.

“What’s interesting about the Upper Midwest is that you get well-developed and articulated left populism, and well-developed and articulated right populism in competition and combat. It produces some very lively election seasons,” Schier said.

More recently, the Great Lakes region has been the nation's marquee political battleground, with state legislatures and the presidential winner swinging between Democratic and Republican candidates for the last decade. No matter who wins, the results of the midterm primaries in the region will have major ripple effects in national politics.

“This culture will take broad concerns that populists bring up and trumpet them throughout the electoral system, and that’s true on both the right and the left up here," Schier said.

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

The auto club reports drivers are paying $3.95 on average per gallon of unleaded fuel, and around $59 for a full 15-gallon tank of gas.

Though gas prices averaged about 67 cents less per gallon this time last year, the latest prices are nearly 30 cents lower than Michiganders were paying last month — with prices only dropping below $4 last week for the first time since April.

In Metro Detroit, average daily gas prices decreased to $3.97 — or about 4 cents less than last week’s average. Metro Detroiters paid 81 cents less per gallon this time last year, according to AAA.

The most expensive averages reported by AAA were in Ann Arbor ($3.99), Jackson ($3.98), and Metro Detroit ($3.97), with the least expensive averages reported in Marquette ($3.79), Flint ($3.91), and Saginaw ($3.92).

Domestic gasoline supply decreased from 214 million barrels to 212.1 million, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), while gasoline demand decreased from 9.13 million barrels per day to 8.84 million. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.7 million barrels per day.

Daily national, state, and metro gas price averages can be found at Gasprices.aaa.com.

The EU decision affects nine people and four entities accused of links to an online spying network that the bloc said has targeted governments and carried out sabotage operations against critical infrastructure like heating and power plants since 2010. Britain slapped sanctions on 24 people and entities.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said those hit by the sanctions “contribute to Russia’s efforts to destabilize the EU, its member states and international partners.”

France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland, “among others,” have fallen prey to the network, she said in a statement.

Germany summoned Russia's ambassador, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Paris intends to call in Russia's envoy in the coming days. He told French BFM television that the aim of the cyberactivities is “either to capture information, or sabotage the operation, for example, of railway infrastructures, as it was the case in Poland.”

The EU focused its sanctions, which are mostly asset freezes and travel bans, on the 16th Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. Kallas said the FSB has been “controlling a variety of cyberthreat groups,” and said it “has conducted a wide range of malicious cyberactivities with growing severity.”

Some countries have accused Russia of using cyberattacks and propaganda to interfere with elections.

In April, Sweden said a pro-Russian group with links to Russia’s security and intelligence services was behind a cyberattack on a heating plant last year. The announcement followed warnings from officials in Poland, Norway, Denmark and Latvia that Russia is attacking critical infrastructure across Europe.

With its sanctions, the EU notably targeted a member of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, Yevgeny Bashev, and a company it says he runs, Impuls.

“The company provides technical and material support to cyberattacks and attempted cyberattacks conducted by GRU Unit 29155,” the sanctions notification said. It said the actions of Impuls “constitute an external threat” to EU member countries and have had “a significant effect” on an unnamed country outside the bloc.

Britain said Impuls recruited hackers and cyber specialists from Russian universities and academies. It slapped sanctions on Bashev as well as three other senior GRU officials “for their role in directing GRU cyber and hybrid threat operations.”

Britain believes Russian intelligence agencies “have tasked cybercriminals to collect intelligence to support Russia’s military and foreign policy objectives, threatening security across Europe.”

Conversation about adaptations often revolves around how closely they follow a source text. But in a country where Homer’s story is taught and retold at all schools, many point to how the epic has been kept alive for nearly 3,000 years: not despite reinvention, but because of it.

“What we want children to understand is that every new creation is exactly that — a new creation,” Filippos Mantzaris, who teaches “The Odyssey” to seventh graders, told The Associated Press.

The film, starring Matt Damon as King Odysseus and a number of Hollywood stars, follows Homer’s outline: the king's 10-year journey home from war during which he battles gods and monsters to find a palace overrun by rivals.

Students grow up interpreting Homer

In seventh grade, “The Odyssey” is taught in all Greek classrooms.

In Mantzaris’ class, students eagerly debate Odysseus’ encounters with monsters and other adventures. They are taught to compare the hero’s intelligence with his strength, ask whether revenge is moral, whether the battle-hardened king is truly a role model, and whether his killing of his wife’s suitors is justified. Role-playing exercises encourage children to imagine what they would do in Odysseus’ place.

“It’s an amazing literary text, with which children can identify, perhaps see Odysseus in themselves, but also see their own homeland,” Mantzaris said.

Kyriakos Agapiou, 12, said reading the poem in Mantzaris’ class taught him that “everything is possible and we should never give up.”

Farm scientist Nikos Varelas attended a stage adaptation with his 4-year-old son, after the pair read youth versions of both “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” together.

“It is our duty as parents, as Greeks,” Varelas said.

Interpreting the story as theater, said actor Manos Pintzis, who portrayed Odysseus in the local production, helps children discover mythology in a way books alone cannot.

“You don’t tell a child, ‘Just read the story because you have to,’ because the child will resist when something is forced on them,” Pintzis said. “When the child sees all of this unfolding before their eyes — that becomes a valuable step toward learning, to willingly learn what they’re expected to study.”

Greeks are used to foreigners playing their heroes

In conservative circles in the U.S., much of the attention has focused on Nolan’s casting choices rather than his adaptation of Homer’s story.

Elon Musk claimed Nolan had desecrated “The Odyssey” after Black actor Lupita Nyong’o was picked as Helen of Troy — despite not having seen the movie. Conservative commentators including Matt Walsh argued the film prioritized identity politics, echoing past fan criticisms of sci-fi and fantasy reboots that cast Black and Latino actors as beloved characters of a different race or ethnicity.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Nolan said backlash “comes with the territory,” adding “these conversations that happen before people see the film — they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet.”

Nolan told the AP he wanted to make the film accessible and relatable, and “not look back to sort of past Hollywood versions of how to take on the ancient world.”

“You want to question people’s assumptions about how things should be portrayed in movies and what those are based on,” he said of his overall approach to the film. “There’s a challenge to that and a risk to that. But my hope is that by creating a cohesive world, people understand the world as they watch the movie and they feel they understand it.”

The controversy hasn't found much purchase in Greece, where people are used to foreigners playing ancient Greeks.

Scotsman Gerard Butler bellowed “This is Sparta!” as King Leonidas in “300.” Oklahoma-born Brad Pitt played Achilles in “Troy.” Ireland’s Colin Farrell starred as Alexander the Great alongside Angelina Jolie as his mother.

Anthony Quinn’s performance in “Zorba the Greek” way back in 1964 remains one of Greece’s most beloved screen portrayals of a Greek character.

Nolan’s version continues the tradition with a star-filled cast including Nyong’o, Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya and Charlize Theron, with narration from rapper Travis Scott.

In Greece, the small nationalist party Niki objected to the casting and a Greek government decision to provide roughly 6 million euros ($6.9 million) in subsidies to support local production. The party said Greek taxpayers were funding an imposition of “woke-type ideology” on Greek history and cultural identity, citing Musk.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni offered a blunt rebuttal.

“It is not the state’s role to dictate to a creator how they should artistically interpret a work or a myth,” she told the Greek popular culture magazine, Lifo. “Can we seriously be having a conversation about whether the state should censor Christopher Nolan?”

History’s great stories survive through retelling

Christos Tsagalis, professor of ancient Greek literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, said it's ultimately up to moviegoers to judge whether the latest interpretation of “The Odyssey” works. What matters, he said, is whether it captures something fundamental about one of history’s great stories.

Homer’s works — retold and reinterpreted across generations — have endured by becoming universal, he said.

“I think it’s wonderful that something that is created at a specific point in time by a given people is shared by so many people across the globe. It’s shared culture,” Tsagalis said.

“It’s a fascinating story,” he said. “It is like a movie.”

Isle Royale campground closed through July due to wolf activity, National Park Service says

Visitors to Michigan’s only national park will be unable to stay at the Three Mile Campground this month due to ongoing wolf activity, officials announced last week.

Park Service rangers at Isle Royale National Park say that campsites and off-trail camping zones camp at the campground — located on the northeast side of the island — will be closed through July 31 out of an abundance of caution after a wolf has been spotted sniffing and pawing at tents, dragging backpacks away from campsites and even entering a tent.

Read more here.

Protecting yourself against alpha-gal syndrome

A burger is cooked the way you like. Next, your body is in full revolt with hives, nausea and vomiting. You think it’s the food. Could it be the bug bite you overlooked from earlier in the day?

It’s called alpha-gal syndrome, and health experts say it’s an emerging condition that is still not fully understood.

Alpha-gal is a type of sugar found in the tissues of most mammals, but not in humans or other primates. Normally, eating meat poses no problem for the human body. But a tick bite can change that. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites the Lone Star Tick is the main carrier, but blacklegged and western blacklegged ticks can develop the syndrome.

Read more here.

Motor City Cruise hosting Youth All-Star Draft for Metro Detroit students — here’s how to register

The Motor City Cruise is hosting its most popular youth initiatives this summer.

The NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons announced the return of its Youth All-Star Draft initiative for the 2026-27 season. The program gives students in grades 1-8 an opportunity to earn exclusive basketball experiences through a series of skills competitions and camps.

Registration details and information about the draft and team selection process will be shared with eligible participants in August.

Read more here.

Eastbound I-94 back open in Detroit after rollover crash investigation

Eastbound I-94 near M-10 is back open after an hours-long closure stemming from a single-vehicle crash early Monday morning.

Police say the rollover crash occurred around 2:40 a.m. with serious injuries reported. The road was closed for several hours for a crash investigation, with traffic being diverted at Trumbull St. The road reopened to traffic around 8 a.m.

Read more here.

Weather: Extreme Heat Watch issued for Southeast Michigan as dangerous heat builds

An Extreme Heat Watch has been issued for all of Southeast Michigan from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday as dangerously hot and humid conditions are expected to develop across the region. The 4Warn Weather team has also issued a 4Warn Weather Alert for Tuesday due to the dangerous heat.

Mostly sunny (High UV Index) with highs in the low 90s this afternoon. Temperatures will climb into the 90s today through Wednesday, with the most intense heat expected on Tuesday.

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Footage shared online by first responders shows a huge blaze raging and plumes coming out of the front door of the Na Ladprao beer hall in the northern part of the Thai capital. People are seen trying to flee as thick black smoke billows into the sky.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, but Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said investigators would examine the ceiling materials and whether any emergency exits may have been obstructed, potentially making it more difficult for people to evacuate.

The Bangkok city government said the fire broke out shortly before midnight Sunday.

By Monday morning, the site had been cordoned off as dozens of Thai forensic officers combed through the burned remains for clues about what caused the fire.

The building's street-facing windows had been blown out and debris littered the sidewalk, including charred television sets, speakers and an electric guitar. From outside, the scale of the devastation was visible through the shattered windows, where burned-out tables, some still holding empty beer bottles, remained inside.

Some Buddhist monks visited the site Monday morning to pray for the victims, while nurses handed out face masks to people nearby to help protect them from smoke and lingering fumes from the burned-out building.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the scene that 27 people died.

Anutin said a musician who was performing at the bar told him that he saw smoke coming out of a circuit breaker near the stage before the power went out, then an explosion was heard and thick smoke quickly filled the place.

Many of victims were found at the restrooms at the back of the bar, Anutin added.

Bangkok Gov. said 63 people were taken to the hospital, 22 of them in critical conditions. He said authorities are working on identifying victims as many did not carry an ID or were unconscious.

Firefighters took about half an hour to bring the fire under control. Photos of the aftermath show charred tables and chairs, and the damaged interior of the bar.

A registration spot was set up to gather information from relatives coming at the scene looking for their loved ones.

Singer Sukanya Wongwongwai said she was performing nearby when she heard news of the fire and rushed to the scene because several of her bandmates were performing at the bar. She said one of them died, three were hospitalized, and one hasn't been located.

“From what I heard from people who were inside, when the fire started everything went dark. The power was out and there was smoke everywhere, so they couldn’t locate other people,” she said.

In 2022, 14 people were killed by a fire at a music bar in the eastern part of the country. And more than a decade before that, 67 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire during a Jan. 1, 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration at the Santika nightclub in Thailand's capital. That blaze was apparently sparked by an indoor fireworks display.

___

This story has been updated to correct the death toll from the 2009 fire to 67.

“Lindsey Graham was a friend whose kindness I’ll always remember. My heartfelt condolences go out to his friends and family mourning his loss.

After John passed away, Lindsey checked on me to make sure I was okay. And when the president insulted my family during one of the hardest periods of my life, Lindsey publicly demanded an apology. Those acts of decency and compassion meant more than he ever knew.

We didn’t always agree, but we never stopped talking through the toughest issues facing our country or searching for common ground where we could find it. I am grateful for his friendship and the respect we shared despite our differences.

May he rest in peace."

Park Service rangers at Isle Royale National Park say that campsites and off-trail camping zones camp at the campground — located on the northeast side of the island — will be closed through July 31 out of an abundance of caution after a wolf has been spotted sniffing and pawing at tents, dragging backpacks away from campsites and even entering a tent.

“The wolf has become increasingly bold, showing signs of habituation and a growing reliance on human food,“ the Park Service reported. ”The park has addressed the issue through hazing, improved trash and recycling management, and stricter food storage rules, but wolf interest in human food and trash continues."

Park rangers say the wolf’s focus on tents and backpacks is “a serious concern.” The temporary closure will allow for staff to increase hazing efforts — including loudly shouting, stomping, clapping, sounding airhorns, and discharging paintball guns — to discourage the wolf from returning.

Staff will also install noise-producing devices around Rock Harbor, Three Mile, and Daisy Farm Campgrounds to alert staff and visitors of wolf presence.

“Visitor safety and the protection of wildlife are our highest priorities,” said Park Superintendent Denice Swanke, in a news release. “We ask for your support in securing food, trash and scented items consistent with 2026 food storage guidelines.”

The shelters at the campground will remain open and the closure will be reevaluated on Aug. 1 to determine whether additional closures are necessary.

Police say the rollover crash occurred around 2:40 a.m. with serious injuries reported. The road was closed for several hours for a crash investigation, with traffic being diverted at Trumbull St. The road reopened to traffic around 8 a.m.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The 25-year-old Adams died two weeks after helping South Africa reach the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time.

Authorities have not released a cause of death.

"Cape Town central police registered an inquest for investigation following the discovery of the body of a 25-year-old male on Saturday," police said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation.”

Police said the body was discovered at a property in the Cape Town neighborhood of Schotsche Kloof at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, but gave no more details.

Adams' father, Juanito Adams, told South African TV news station eNCA on Sunday that the family were waiting for the results of an autopsy and had not yet made any funeral plans.

“As you all know, it was an untimely death. The family is struggling to process it,” Juanito Adams said. “It won't be easy to carry on. People say it will become easier, but it won't. You just learn to live with it.”

Adams played in all three of South Africa's group games as it produced its best performance at the World Cup. He did not feature in the 1-0 loss to Canada in the round of 32 on June 28.

South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie said Adams had played in his team's group game against Czech Republic hours after learning that his grandmother had died. McKenzie asked the public and media to “exercise restraint and compassion” and not speculate on the cause of Adams' death while authorities conduct an investigation.

There were moments of silence and tributes for Adams at the England vs. Norway and Argentina vs. Switzerland World Cup quarterfinal games on Saturday.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

That suggests the generational divide on Israel’s actions since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza extends beyond politics to religious identity.

“I pray for people in the land of Israel. I don’t need to pray for the state,” said Cameron Bernstein, a 27-year-old medical student in New Orleans. She was raised with strong ties to Israel, where she celebrated her bat mitzvah, but said that now “it doesn’t play a role in my life, more than another country with people I love.”

The survey of 1,022 Jewish adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that this split on support for Israel is particularly apparent among adults like her who identify as religiously Jewish. Jewish adults who are religiously unaffiliated but identify as Jewish in other ways tend to have less of an emotional connection to Israel in general.

Among the religiously Jewish adults — who make up 68% of Jewish adults overall — about 6 in 10 say that being Jewish is “extremely” or “very” important in their life, regardless of their age.

But about half of older religious Jewish adults say that supporting Israel is “extremely” or “very” important for their Jewish identity, similar to the percentage who say that about celebrating Jewish holidays. By contrast, only about 4 in 10 younger religious Jewish adults emphasize support for Israel, while about 7 in 10 say celebrating Jewish holidays is highly important.

Susan Boyer, 72, from Southern California, equates supporting Israel with supporting the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland in the Middle East.

Like many other Jewish Americans, the retiree believes Israel is an essential refuge against the possible repetition of large-scale massacres of Jewish people, like the Holocaust, especially as concern about antisemitism rises among Jewish adults.

“I’ve been defending myself as a Jew since I was a child ... getting mugged by girls in my classes for being a Jew,” Boyer said. “It’s invasive into your daily living that you have to constantly, constantly be defending yourself as a Jew, constantly making sure that nobody is redefining you or nobody is like insulting your land.”

To Ari Pollack, a 30-year-old arts fundraiser in Wisconsin, Israel’s military operations — especially in the last few years — provide fodder for antisemitism and thus make everywhere less safe for Jews.

“I’m personally pretty opposed to basically everything Israel’s doing these days,” said Pollack, who grew up attending religious school. “A source of a lot of frustration that I have for the Jewish establishment is that sort of dogmatic teaching of pro-Israel ideas that I’ve had to unlearn as an adult. And it’s part of what’s kept me away from, you know, attending regular synagogue services.”

Like about 3 in 10 religious Jewish adults under 45, Pollack says that Israel has committed genocide during the war in Gaza, a charge that Israel has vehemently denied. That’s compared with about 2 in 10 Jewish adults ages 45 and older.

The poll suggests that other elements of Judaism remain important to many younger Jewish adults. Americans under 45 who identify as religiously Jewish are more likely than older Jewish adults to say that marking or celebrating Shabbat or avoiding certain foods, like pork or shellfish, are highly important to their Jewish identity.

Phoebe Wapnitsky, a 32-year-old in Connecticut, also strongly opposes Israel’s military actions, which she perceives as unaligned with Jewish values.

“Standing against oppression, promoting social justice — those are the roles that Judaism plays in my life,” she said, adding that she felt disconnected from Israel even before the Oct. 7 attack.

Brian Ebarb, a 47-year-old attorney in Louisiana, also says his Jewish identity was about “action and community” — but those include supporting Israel.

“When the government makes mistakes, it should be criticized,” he said, but added that shouldn’t become an excuse for attacking an entire people. “The existence of the state of Israel is so precarious that we have to be careful and not allow criticism of Israel to become criticism of Jews worldwide.”

___

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

___

The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll included interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and the margin of sampling error for Jewish adults is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

A delicate drop shot which made Alexander Zverev change direction so suddenly that the German player over-extended his right knee at a crucial point of the third set.

Sure, there were plenty of the usual whizzing, missile-like baseline winners from Jannik Sinner in his four-set victory over Zverev in the Wimbledon final. He also showed off the new variety of his game, though — which came in handy when Zverev unleashed more power than he had used before against the top-ranked player.

The variety of shots were what Sinner’s two coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, appreciated most from their player in Sunday's match.

Just like the Big Three and Big Four before them — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — Sinner, Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz (who is out injured) are continually evolving their games, Cahill noted.

“Alexander is now playing a different style of tennis against Jannik,” Cahill said. “We know Jannik is going to have to improve in certain areas to handle that type of game. Carlos is going to come back really strong, as well — as we all hope … You need to keep adding things to his game.

“We saw a lot of the stuff he doesn’t normally like doing, even in the final today: sliced backhands, a couple lobs, couple drop shots. Really stepping up when he needed to in the big moments.”

Deficit to Alcaraz in Slams count reduced

Sinner’s second consecutive Wimbledon victory matched the two titles that Alcaraz won before him at the All England Club and raised his overall tally to five Grand Slams — narrowing the gap to Alcaraz’s seven.

Alcaraz missed the French Open and Wimbledon this year due to a right wrist injury and it remains unclear if he’ll return in time for the year’s final Grand Slam at the U.S. Open.

Zverev’s performance in London leapfrogged him ahead of Alcaraz into the No. 2 spot when the new rankings were released Monday.

Zverev’s run on the grass followed his first major title at the French Open last month – after Sinner’s stunning second-round meltdown in Paris.

“Big, big respect to Sascha, because he’s doing something amazing. His game is growing and growing,” Sinner said, using Zverev’s nickname. “You have always someone who is pushing you to the limit. We hope that Carlos is coming back, as well, because tennis needs him.

“Having Novak still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really, really nice,” added Sinner, who beat the 39-year-old Djokovic in the semifinals. “At the same time, you always need to work hard.”

Sinner's mom couldn't watch on Centre Court

Sinner twice had to come back from a set down in a five-set marathon against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round — when he also had to deal with blood seeping through his shoe due to a toenail issue.

He didn’t lose another set until Zverev unleashed a barrage of serves at up to 139 mph (224 kph) and backed those up with huge forehands to the corners.

Sinner knew he had a challenge to face when the first-set tiebreaker was decided by an inside-out forehand winner from Zverev.

So did Sinner’s mom, Siglinde, who couldn’t bare to watch some of the more tense moments on Centre Court.

“My mom, I see her, she left the stadium a couple of times,” Sinner said on court during his victory speech, glancing over after she had returned in time for the trophy ceremony. “It’s not easy.”

Chasing the sun

Amid stifling heat and humidity in Paris in late May, Sinner had his 30-match winning streak ended after coming within one game of a straight-set victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56.

Sinner went in for medical exams in Milan after the Paris defeat and acknowledged during Wimbledon that doctors discovered what was bothering him — without revealing the details.

“His medical records are his medical records. We won’t speak about any of that,” Cahill said. “But it’s up to us to make some changes, to do some little things differently.”

Sinner now leaves the court often between sets to refresh himself, change his shirt and get a moment of air-conditioning. During another heat wave the week before Wimbledon began, he used an ice vest to cool down.

“Look, he’s a redhead that lives in the north of Italy, that grew up in the snow and the Alps. Hot weather is a little bit different for him than it is for most people,” Cahill said.

“The more time he spends in the heat, the better he’s going to be at it,” Cahill added. “We might even make some changes to the preseason, chasing the sun a little bit more, getting him more acclimatized to playing in these types of conditions.”

___

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

🍇 Grapevine

🌅 Good morning! On this day in 1930, the first FIFA World Cup matches ever played were held simultaneously in Montevideo, Uruguay -- where France defeated Mexico 4-1 and the U.S. triumphed over Belgium 3-0.

Here are a few things to know about for Monday, July 13, 2026:

🌡️ 4Warn Weather: Temperatures will climb into the 90s today through Wednesday, with the most intense heat expected on Tuesday. Check out the 10-day forecast.

📆 Bridge Opening: After weeks of speculation over the possible opening date of the Gordie Howe International Bridge following a canceled ribbon cutting ceremony last month, officials have finally set an opening date. Read more.

💔 Mall Tragedy: Family members have identified the 20-year-old man who died Saturday afternoon after getting shot inside the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets. Read more.

🎆 Firework Fines: Sterling Heights residents racked up more than $22,000 in fines over Fourth of July weekend for illegal firework use, and city leaders say state law is tying their hands when it comes to keeping neighborhoods safe. Read more.

💦 ‘It would be a swamp’: A Warren resident says his water bill has stayed around $40 a month for years. Then, out of nowhere in May, it spiked to more than $580, with no clear explanation. Watch more.

🏊 Morning Dive

Good morning ☀️

From fast-paced races to packed cheering sections, the energy at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games is loud, proud and deeply personal.

Hundreds of athletes arrive with unique stories — but one thing they all share: their wheels. Athletes compete in a wide variety of events, both individual and team-based. For many, the games are about more than medals.

“It’s all about camaraderie, bringing people together,” said Freddie Smith, a competing athlete.

The games take place every year and rotate from state to state — but organizers say this year’s Motor City stop holds a special significance.

“We love the Motor City, we came here because it’s a city of resilience,” said Jennifer Purser, co-director of the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

That resilience is exactly what the athletes here embody.

Get the full story here.

🗞️ Other headlines to know today

• Eastbound I-94 closed near M-10 after rollover crash
• Motor City Cruise hosting Youth All-Star Draft for Metro Detroit students -- here’s how to register
• Taylor man killed in stabbing remembered by family as ‘larger than life’ as woman faces murder charge
• Prosecutors deny charges against Clinton County Sheriff after pistol stolen, found in minor’s possession
• A partisan friendship, Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell pays tribute to Lindsey Graham
• AARP drops Center Line hearing aid provider after 99-year-old loses over $1,300
• Triple teen shooting at Detroit house party left 3 in serious condition, now a suspect in custody
• Southfield approves $65.1M redevelopment of former BCBS campus
• ‘It hits you in the gut’: Detroit nonprofit says 400 pairs of shoes stolen before youth giveaway event
• Man left for dead after being shot in Michigan
• A multi-jurisdictional car chase got this South Lyon man arraigned on multiple felony charges
• Shelby Township man charged with murder after stepdad fatally shot inside home
• Detroit auto shop customers say cars stuck for months, items missing
• Macomb County fence company owner pleads no contest to multiple cases, including embezzling from dad
• Michigan Sen. Gary Peters backs Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in contentious race to succeed him
• Park lover alert! Time to shape the future at Huron-Clinton Metroparks
• Southgate man seeks kidney transplant as family launches GoFundMe for travel costs
• Precautions to take as cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan exceed 1,500
• Michigan churches strengthen safety after recent attacks on houses of worship
• 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:

The United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran into Monday morning over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing over the weekend. Iran retaliated by targeting countries across the Middle East.

Missile alert sirens sounded at dawn Monday in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. There was no immediate word on damage.

Iranian state media acknowledged the latest attacks on its soil early Monday, describing explosions in several locations with at least one person being killed. (Read more)

----

Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health.

McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of tests to try and determine what led to his fall. He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation facility.

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” McConnell said, adding that he is now “regaining my strength.” (Read more)

----

Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy, died after a tear in his aorta, according to a preliminary medical examiner finding shared by his office.

The tear in the inner wall of the aorta, called an aortic dissection, was related to the hardening of Graham’s arteries. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing.

Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had turned 71 years old just two days before dying on Saturday night. His office had originally said he had suffered from a “brief and sudden illness.” (Read more)

---> Find more headlines from around the world right here <---

📝 Word Up

Today’s Word Up is: Temerity / tə-ˈmer-ə-tē / (noun) — defined as “unreasonable or foolhardy; reckless boldness; rashness”

Example: “The defense attorney shocked the courtroom with his temerity in accusing the judge of bias.”

🧹 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 ’90s sitcoms. 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 gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors and other equipment, as well as electricity, more expensive. Economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year.

While it won't be as large a spike as occurred in 2021-2023, when inflation peaked at 9.1%, massive AI spending is likely to keep prices rising more quickly than the Federal Reserve would like. Such increases could lead the central bank to lift its key interest rate later this year to cool spending and bring down inflation. Higher rates from the Fed often boost borrowing costs for auto loans, mortgages, and business loans.

Fed officials will closely watch June's inflation report, to be released Tuesday, for further signs of AI's impact on prices. Inflation last month likely cooled as gasoline prices have fallen after a ceasefire was reached between the U.S. and Iran, though whether that trend continues is now unclear as the U.S. and Iran have resumed fighting.

AI spending is lifting prices for consumer electronics

Just four large tech companies — Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft — are expected to invest $720 billion this year, mostly on data centers.

Those data centers use a lot of semiconductors, and chip supplies have run low. As a result, economists at JPMorgan Chase estimate that the cost of some computer memory chips will have soared by as much as 400% between 2024 and the end of this year.

Americans are already seeing higher prices for a range of consumer electronics, including laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, and computers. Electricity prices are also jumping as data centers absorb a growing share of new electrical capacity.

In a high-profile announcement last month, Apple announced it was boosting prices for laptops and iPads by about 15% to 25%. A topline MacBook will now cost $1,999, up from $1,699.

Many analysts expect price hikes will come for iPhones next.

“The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage," Apple said in a statement. “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”

On the same day, Microsoft announced that the price of its Xbox video game console will increase $100 by Aug. 1, citing higher prices for memory chips. Sony is also charging more for the PlayStation, while Dell Computer and HP have raised prices for their laptops.

A “wave of AI-related cost pressures spilling over into consumer prices is still in the early stages of building,” analysts at investment bank Evercore ISI recently wrote.

It's the latest in a series of waves that have boosted inflation

The impact on broader measures of inflation may be relatively modest, with many economists forecasting that AI investment will boost core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, by roughly a half-percentage point by the end of this year.

Still, that could be enough to offset declining prices elsewhere, as the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs continues to fade and as rental costs cool. Core inflation, according to the Fed's preferred measure, was 3.4% in May and some economists now expect it may decline only slightly by the end of the year, remaining well above the Fed's 2% target.

The boost from AI may prove temporary, but it follows previous waves of higher prices stemming from tariffs and the gas price spike resulting from the Iran war. The Fed typically “looks through,” or ignores, temporary price increases, rather than boosting rates to fight them, but an ongoing series of temporary price shocks could threaten to create more sustained inflation, which has already been above the Fed's target for more than five years.

“In isolation one or two such shocks is perhaps transitory, something they’re willing to live with,” said Abiel Reinhart, an economist at J.P. Morgan. "A sustained series of shocks, or a wider range of shocks, becomes more concerning to them.”

Federal Reserve officials have increasingly focused on AI

Fed policymakers are increasingly focused on AI's inflationary impact. Kevin Warsh, who took over as chair May 22, has said he believes that over time AI will make the U.S. economy more efficient, which should reduce inflation even as growth accelerates.

He acknowledged in remarks July 1, however, that AI investment is now boosting demand, but declined to speculate on how inflationary the impact would be.

Yet many Fed officials worry that demand for AI-related gear will continue to outstrip available supply, a recipe for persistent price increases.

“If this creates a sustained impulse to demand relative to supply in inflation, I do think that’s the kind of situation where you don’t look through this,” John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said Thursday. Williams is also vice chair of the Fed's rate-setting committee. Williams has supported keeping rates unchanged, but his comment suggests that under some scenarios he could support a hike.

According to the minutes of the Fed's June 16-17 policy meeting, released Wednesday, many other officials share Williams' concerns.

Another channel through which AI could raise inflation is through its huge demand for electricity, which has caused many utilities to raise prices. Power companies throughout the U.S. are adding more capacity, an expensive step that can also boost electricity costs.

According to the government's consumer price index, electricity prices rose 5.9% in May compared with a year earlier, a bigger increase than overall inflation, which was 4.2%. After a pandemic spike, electricity price gains had dropped back to about 2% annually in early 2025.

While prices for computer chips could peak this year and then decline, experts expect electricity demand from AI will push up utility costs into 2028 or even beyond. In February, economists at Goldman Sachs forecast that electricity prices will rise 6% this year and next, and an above-average 3% in 2028.

“We do know what effect AI is having on inflation now, and it is inflationary, not deflationary,” Dario Perkins, an economist at TSLombard, wrote this week.

Next, your body is in full revolt with hives, nausea and vomiting.

You think it’s the food. Could it be the bug bite you overlooked from earlier in the day?

It’s called alpha-gal syndrome, and health experts say it’s an emerging condition that is still not fully understood.

What is alpha-gal syndrome?

Alpha-gal is a type of sugar found in the tissues of most mammals, but not in humans or other primates. Normally, eating meat poses no problem for the human body. But a tick bite can change that. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites the Lone Star Tick is the main carrier, but blacklegged and western blacklegged ticks can develop the syndrome.

“People are putting the pieces together that tick bites can actually cause a food allergy in people,” said Mark VanderWerp, manager of education and training at Rose Pest Solutions.

According to VanderWerp, something happens after a tick bite that sensitizes the body to alpha-gal sugar which is the same sugar found in the meat people eat every day.

“When you go to eat a burger, a venison steak, a lamb gyro, you are exposing yourself to that alpha-gal sugar, which all these other mammals make, and once you become sensitized to that, that can be a serious issue, where you have major allergic symptoms,” VanderWerp said.

Those symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, hives and intense itching. In severe cases, the reaction can be life-threatening.

A mysterious delay

What makes alpha-gal syndrome especially difficult to diagnose is the timing of symptoms.

“The really mysterious thing is there’s often a big delay in onset,” VanderWerp said. “So, you may have eaten something, and you may not notice symptoms for two, four, six hours in some cases. So, that’s quite strange and again it makes it a little hard to diagnose that you have this.”

The Lone Start Tick is in Michigan, but it’s not the most common species.

“Other ticks, including the famous blacklegged tick, that is the Lyme disease tick, also produces this alpha-gal sugar in its saliva, and so that can also cause this disease, this syndrome as well.”

More than a meat allergy

The condition is sometimes called red meat allergy or tick bite meat allergy, but VanderWerp said the impact goes beyond what’s on someone’s dinner plate.

“It’s not just food allergy, it’s anything that has that alpha-gal sugar in it,” he said. “So, this can be pharmaceuticals, this can vaccines. Other animal products, sometimes like beauty products, may contain animal products that would have that alpha-gal sugar.”

The CDC says there is currently no treatment or cure for alpha-gal syndrome.

The Mayo Clinic reports that some people carry the sensitization without ever experiencing symptoms, meaning they may not even know they have it.

“You could be positive for this alpha-gal sugar sensitization and still not be symptomatic,” VanderWerp said. “So, just because you’ve been bitten by a tick and you maybe have some sensitization to the sugar doesn’t mean that you’re gonna suffer at all symptomatically.”

Hundreds of thousands affected — and still off many radars

The syndrome is far more widespread than most people realize. According to VanderWerp, the condition affects an estimated half a million people in the United States — and was virtually unknown until about 20 years ago.

“It’s kind of fascinating that this disease that we think affects up to maybe half a million people in the U.S. was completely off anyone’s radar until about 20 years ago, and even now we’re still learning about it,” VanderWerp said.

Testing has become more accessible in recent years. Over-the-counter test kits are now available, though results typically take one to two weeks to return.

Michigan on watch

Alpha-gal syndrome is not a reportable disease in Michigan, meaning the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services does not track solid case numbers the way it does for other infectious diseases.

However, the department says it is concerned.

State health officials say the conditions are right for the Lone Star Tick population to continue growing in Michigan and with it, the risk of alpha-gal syndrome.

How to protect yourself

The best defense against alpha-gal syndrome — and all tick-borne illnesses — is avoiding tick bites altogether.

“If the tick doesn’t bite you, you’re in the clear,” VanderWerp said.

Ticks do not jump or fly. They climb tall grasses and brush, waving their legs as animals and people pass by, waiting to latch on. VanderWerp said being aware of tick habitats is the first line of defense.

“Right now, we are in tick habitat, and so what you’re looking for is kind of thick, overgrown, shrubbiness next to oftentimes more manicured or trail type features,” he said. “The reason ticks like these zones is they want traffic patterns where animals are going to pass.”

When heading outdoors, experts recommend tucking pants into socks or boots, wearing long sleeves and applying EPA-approved insect repellents. Products containing DEET are effective but require reapplication throughout the day. Clothing-based repellents offer longer protection and can remain active through multiple washes.

“There are a number of products that can repel ticks,” VanderWerp said. “DEET is obviously a famous one, and that’s very common to use for mosquitoes as well as ticks. That works well, but fairly short life.”

For those who prefer alternatives, VanderWerp noted that the EPA’s My Repellent Finder tool allows users to search for repellents based on activity, duration and personal preferences. The resource is available on the agency’s website.

Yard maintenance matters, too. Moving swing sets and fire pits away from the edges of yards — where manicured lawns meet wooded areas — can significantly reduce tick exposure close to home.

After spending time outdoors, the MDHHS recommends performing a full-body tick check, showering and tumble drying clothes on high heat for at least 10 minutes.

Residents who find a tick can email a photo to MDHHS-Bugs@michigan.gov for identification. Knowing the species can help a doctor determine the appropriate next steps.

Detroit residents take notice

For some Detroiters enjoying the outdoors along the riverfront, the threat is real — and personal.

“They’re scary to me. That’s why I have long pants on and I wish we didn’t have them,” said Joan Nagrant, a Detroit resident. “We have a dog too, so we have to be extra cautious with her.”

Kellie Mitchell, also of Detroit, said her approach is straightforward: “Watch out for them. Be a little bit more cautious.”

Virgil Simpson Jr. said he makes a point to stay away from areas where ticks thrive.

“I won’t even hang out in the woods out here. I just stay on my path,” Simpson said. When asked if he avoids wildlife altogether, his answer was simple: “No. I stay away from them.”

Mostly sunny (High UV Index) with highs in the low 90s this afternoon. Temperatures will climb into the 90s today through Wednesday, with the most intense heat expected on Tuesday. Afternoon highs are forecast to reach the upper 90s, while oppressive humidity will push heat index values to near or above 100 degrees. The combination of heat and humidity will create dangerous conditions for anyone spending extended time outdoors, so limit strenuous outdoor activities during the hottest part of the day, stay well hydrated, take frequent breaks in air-conditioned locations, and check on elderly neighbors, young children, and anyone without adequate cooling.

The intense heat begins to ease later in the week, although warm and humid conditions will persist with highs around 90 on Thursday and Friday. Rain chances return by the end of the week, with the next opportunity for showers and thunderstorms arriving late Friday night into Saturday morning.

Yes, both those teams are currently in first place.

Pro drafts — even those with lotteries — generally start with some of the weakest teams from the previous season. But because baseball doesn't conduct its draft until the middle of the ensuing season, sometimes the teams picking at the top have already made impressive strides. The White Sox lost 102 games last year and Tampa Bay dropped 85. Now they're in contention — and adding possible help for the future via the draft.

Here are a few teams that actually reached 90 wins the same year they had the top pick:

2008 RAYS (97-65)

This was Tampa Bay's fourth No. 1 pick in a 10-year span, and the Rays haven't had one since. Starting in that 2008 season, which ended with a World Series appearance, Tampa Bay became a lot more successful. The Rays didn't take full advantage of that final No. 1 pick, selecting infielder Tim Beckham when Eric Hosmer and Buster Posey went later in the top five.

2024 GUARDIANS (92-69)

Cleveland won the draft lottery, then proceeded to win the AL Central. The Guardians drafted Travis Bazzana, who made his big league debut earlier this season.

1984 METS (90-72)

The Mets began their mid-1980s rise in '84, finishing 6 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East with Dwight Gooden winning Rookie of the Year honors. New York would peak two years later with a World Series title, but this draft pick — outfielder Shawn Abner — never played for them.

1977 WHITE SOX (90-72)

Chicago's rise in 1977 — from 64 wins to 90 — was short lived. But the White Sox drafted a keeper that year in Hall of Famer Harold Baines. He'd go on to play more than two decades in the major leagues and was part of division champions in Chicago in 1983 and toward the end of his career in 2000.

Trivia time

Cholowsky, of UCLA, became the school's first No. 1 overall draft pick since Gerrit Cole in 2011. But there was another UCLA star, drafted in the first round, who has been worth even more wins above replacement than Cole. Who was it?

Comeback of the week

The Mets led 9-4 and, according to Baseball Savant, had a 94.2% win probability after Juan Soto's three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth against Kansas City on Tuesday night. The lead didn't even last until New York's next at-bat.

The Royals scored five runs in the fifth, then added seven more in the seventh on their way to a 16-12 victory.

Then on Sunday, the Mets blew a two-run lead in the ninth and lost to Boston 3-2 in 10 innings. Meanwhile, the rival Yankees swept three straight in Washington, coming from behind in the eighth inning or later in each game.

Performance of the week

Toronto's Dylan Cease had a no-hit bid broken up in the ninth inning of a 10-0 win over San Francisco on Wednesday. He finished with 11 strikeouts and one hit allowed in eight-plus innings.

Honorable mention: Kansas City's Tyler Tolbert went 5 for 6 with a homer in that big comeback victory over the Mets. He tied a major league record with hits in 12 straight plate appearances.

Trivia answer

Chase Utley, drafted with the 15th overall pick in 2000, was worth 64.6 WAR according to Baseball Reference.

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

Peters, who is retiring after 12 years in the Senate, said Stevens “will be ready on day one to fight for Michigan.” The endorsement, which was announced Monday, marks a reversal for Peters, who told The Associated Press in late May that he intended to stay neutral in the race.

But since then, Democratic leaders have increasingly rallied behind Stevens as the Aug. 4 primary approaches and concerns grow that El-Sayed is too far left to succeed in November. Holding the Michigan seat is viewed as critical to Democrats’ hopes of reclaiming the Senate majority.

Stevens, a four-term House member, has campaigned as a more moderate Democrat focused on manufacturing issues in the critical battleground state. El-Sayed, who has never held elected office, is running on a more progressive platform that includes Medicare for All and campaign finance reform. He's also been outspoken about the war in Gaza, which has been a fault line within the party.

Concerns about Michigan have only intensified after Democrats’ attempt to flip a Senate seat in Maine was thrown into turmoil when nominee Graham Platner withdrew from the race following a sexual assault allegation last week. Democrats there must now choose a new nominee to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Peters’ endorsement also comes after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of Michigan’s Democratic primary earlier this month, transforming the race into a head-to-head contest between Stevens and El-Sayed.

“Senator Peters knows what it takes to win in Michigan, and he knows what Michigan needs from our next U.S. Senator: grit, effectiveness, hard work, and Michigan common sense,” Stevens said in a statement. “I am honored to have his support.”

Peters won two Senate races in Michigan and led Senate Democrats’ campaign arm during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

His endorsement adds to Stevens’ growing support from the Democratic establishment, with the race being viewed nationally as a broader fight over the party’s direction.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York has also backed Stevens, along with Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. El-Sayed has support from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and, more recently, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

The campaign has grown increasingly contentious in recent weeks.

El-Sayed has attacked Stevens over tens of millions of dollars in outside spending supporting her campaign, including by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Stevens has criticized El-Sayed for not disclosing his personal financial records.

During a July 7 debate, each accused the other of running a negative campaign.

“Abdul has spent this entire campaign attacking me,” Stevens said.

The Democratic winner will likely face Republican Mike Rogers, a former member of the U.S. House running uncontested for his party's nomination, in what is expected to be one of the country’s most expensive and closely watched Senate races.

The NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons announced the return of its Youth All-Star Draft initiative for the 2026-27 season.

The program gives students in grades 1-8 an opportunity to earn exclusive basketball experiences through a series of skills competitions and camps.

How the program works

At the center of the initiative is the Motor City Skills Challenge, presented by the Michigan Beef Industry Commission.

Students can earn consideration for the 2026 Motor City Cruise Youth All-Star Draft by participating in the organization’s second annual Mini-Cruisers Pistons Academy Camp, select Pistons Academy camps and community events featuring the Skills Challenge.

Pistons Academy coaches will evaluate participants on basketball fundamentals, effort, teamwork, sportsmanship, and overall engagement.

The Skills Challenge itself includes basketball drills, skill competitions, interactive instruction, and player development activities.

Students selected through the draft will be placed on youth teams and invited to participate in Motor City Cruise Youth All-Star Draft events throughout the 2026-27 season.

Registration details and information about the draft and team selection process will be shared with eligible participants in August.

Mini-Cruisers Camp returns in July

The second annual Mini-Cruisers Camp is set for July 15-17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit.

The three-day camp will feature basketball instruction led by Pistons Academy coaches, Motor City Cruise staff, and the team’s mascot, Nitro.

The camp is open only to registered participants.

Additional Pistons Academy camps featuring the 45-minute Motor City Skills Challenge will be held throughout the summer, with stops in Southfield, Sterling Heights, Brighton, Canton and Northville.

To sign up for the Motor City Cruise Mini-Cruisers Camp and other Pistons Academy Camps, click here.

Community events round out summer schedule

The Skills Challenge will also be featured at two community events this summer.

The NW Goldberg Cares HOOPFEST on July 18 in Detroit and the Detroit Youth Sports Showcase on Aug. 15 at Robert C. Valade Park will both offer students a chance to compete and potentially earn a spot in the draft.

Register here for the NW Goldberg Cares HOOPFEST, and register here for the Detroit Youth Sports Showcase.

The Motor City Cruise said the initiative is designed to encourage youth development both on and off the court and to create memorable experiences for young athletes and their families.

Additional summer camps

Upcoming Pistons Academy camps include:

• Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield on July 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
• An all-girls summer camp at The Compound Athletics in Sterling Heights on July 28 from 9 a.m. to noon ET.
• Legacy Center Sports Complex in Brighton on Aug. 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
• High Velocity Sports in Canton on Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
• Hillside Middle School in Northville on Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.

Kia America issued the same “park outside recall” for Kia Tellurides in 2024, citing a fire risk that can arise if the front power seat slide cover or knob becomes dislodged or damaged.

In a press release issued last week, the company said it’s aware of at least seven seat fires and 11 seat motors that have melted as a result of the defect. It also noted that an improper repair to the power seat slide cover under the previous recall could also lead to the motor overheating and catching fire.

Telluride owners whose vehicle is included in the recall should park outside away from structures until they’re able to take it in to a local dealership for repairs — which will include a free installation of an electronic fuse assembly to prevent continuous operation of the seat motor.

Kia will begin notifying owners of the recall starting on Aug. 13. Affected vehicle identification numbers and license plate numbers covered in the recall will be searchable on nhtsa.gov starting Friday, July 17.

In the meantime, owners can contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542 or visit Kia’s owner portal for more information. 

The tear in the inner wall of the aorta, called an aortic dissection, was related to the hardening of Graham's arteries. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing.

Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had turned 71 years old just two days before dying on Saturday night. His office had originally said he had suffered from a “brief and sudden illness."

Trump, who talked to Graham frequently, said he was “like a member of the family. It’s very tough.” He said on NBC’s ”Meet the Press" that Graham had called him on Saturday night after returning from a trip to Ukraine and “sounded a little bit tired, but perfect.” The president ordered that flags across the country be flown at half-staff until next Saturday evening.

A noted foreign policy hawk, Graham was one of the most influential figures in Washington on international affairs and he advised Trump on matters such as the Iran war and Russia. On Friday, Graham had announced an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions.

As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Graham also had a central role during Trump’s second term as Republicans pushed major legislation on party-line votes while holding a narrow 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Under South Carolina law, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement for Graham, who was seeking a fifth term in November. A new nominee will be selected in a special primary, which is required to be held within weeks of a vacancy. The winner of November's general election will start a full six-year term in January.

Graham had a close, complicated relationship with Trump

Graham, elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving in the House, long promoted a policy of robust U.S. military interventionism and strong national defense that in later years would put him at odds with the growing isolationist wing of his party.

Over time, Graham became well-known for his close ties with Trump, whom the senator briefly ran against for the presidential nomination in 2016.

Their relationship would begin on a rough note, with Graham calling the then-New York businessman “unfit for office.” Graham used a profanity to describe Trump after Trump made disparaging comments about Arizona Republican John McCain, Graham's best friend in the Senate and a Vietnam War veteran. McCain and Graham, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., were known as the “Three Amigos” and frequently traveled together to promote their foreign policy views around the globe.

During a campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump read out Graham’s personal cellphone number and continued to belittle him throughout the 2016 race as Graham made it clear he would not support Trump.

Graham, however, shifted significantly once Trump won the White House and emerged as one of Trump's top allies — speaking with him frequently and becoming a regular presence on the golf course alongside the president — even as McCain remained a critic.

In a 2018 interview with The Associated Press, Graham explained his pivot by saying McCain taught him that the country must move forward after elections and that meant “you have an obligation” to help the president. McCain ran twice for the White House.

“And I’ve tried to be helpful where I could because I think he needs all the help he can get,” Graham said of Trump. “You can be a better critic when people understand that you’re trying to help them be successful.”

Graham was a prominent defender of Trump during the president's two first-term impeachments — a reversal from Graham's role as a House prosecutor during Democratic President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998, when he urged senators not to make up their minds before listening to all of the arguments. Both Trump and Clinton were eventually acquitted.

Graham appeared to break with Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, saying in a dramatic speech on the Senate floor that night, “Count me out. Enough is enough." But the senator soon returned to Trump's side and the two remained close during Trump's second term.

Foreign policy was a focus for Graham

Graham had just been in Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the senator visited his country 10 times during the years since Russia invaded in February 2022. “Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” Zelenskyy said.

He was also one of the chief backers of Trump's war in Iran, having advocated for years for direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. Graham continued to defend Trump this summer even as many of his fellow Republicans questioned a tentative June ceasefire agreement that they worried could send billions of dollars to Iran.

“I’d rather try diplomacy than take it off the table,” Graham said of Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Tehran.

Graham's travels made him a familiar face to dozens of world leaders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Graham understood that the security of Israel and the United States was inseparable.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” Netanyahu said.

Graham led both the Senate Budget and Judiciary committees

As Budget Committee chairman, Graham helped oversee a Senate procedure that allowed Republicans to pass significant policies such as last year’s tax law without the threat of a Democratic filibuster.

He had previously led the Senate Judiciary Committee when Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020. The senator was in line to regain that gavel if the party kept its majority after the midterm elections and had pledged to confirm "as many conservative judges as possible.”

Graham was a key player in the Senate’s efforts to craft a massive immigration overhaul in 2013 as a member of a bipartisan group. The legislation passed the Senate with 68 votes but was never taken up by the House, so it did not become law.

Graham’s views on immigration, particularly an endorsement of a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. without legal status, put him at odds with some Republican factions.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who was his ally on that issue, said Graham was “part of every important policy issue and an indispensable player” in bipartisan negotiations.

An ‘irreplaceable’ force in the Senate

Graham often worked across the aisle, even as he remained fiercely loyal to Trump. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said in a statement that “personal relationships often mattered more to him than the political disagreements of the day."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Graham was “over the moon” with the Russian sanctions deal announced Friday. “The last thing in the world I would have guessed was that he was sick or ill or in any way vulnerable,” Blumenthal said.

Jaime Harrison, a former national and state Democratic Party chairman who unsuccessfully ran against Graham in 2020, said that even during their “fiercest political battles” the two men "could still share a conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina.”

Graham was unique in the Senate for his influence not only on Trump, but also with his fellow Republicans who were aware of his ability to sometimes move the president’s thinking. He was also known for his sense of humor, often deployed to defuse tensions.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican, said Graham will be missed for his “quick wit and infectious laughter.”

McMaster said in a statement that Graham was “irreplaceable.” Former Republican President George W. Bush said Graham “understood how the world works” and “was a kind and funny man who loved our country and loved serving it.”

Graham often spoke about his humble roots, growing up in the back of a South Carolina bar and helping to raise his sister, Darline, after his parents died at a young age. Graham was not married and did not have children.

Special election to replace Graham could be within weeks

Graham won 57% of the GOP vote in South Carolina's primary in June and was up against Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, and several minor party and independent candidates in November.

His death will likely prompt a scramble to fill a rare open Senate seat.

A number of Republican names began circulating as possible replacements to serve out the rest of Graham’s term, including three candidates who fell short for the party's nomination for governor this year — Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

Also in the mix is Rep. Russell Fry, who was elected to the House in 2022.

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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C. Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Will Weissert in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Brian P. D. Hannon in Bangkok and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.